Jobless Reincarnation: Emiya the Great Hero Must Show His True Skills

"Shirou, what just happened to you?"

Seeing Shirou's reaction, Ariel completely disregarded his recent defeat and covered her mouth with a smile, "It's like he saw something terrifying."

"No, I was just startled."

"Shocked?"

Seeing Ariel's innocent and naive appearance, Shirou certainly couldn't say that it was because her chest was pressing against him, so he could only change the subject, pointing to the dark red sphere in the distance, "That thing suddenly appeared in the sky, which makes people feel very uneasy."

"In the sky... Ah, there really is."

Ariel quickly observed the sphere that Shirou had observed and noticed the unusual scene appearing in a corner of the sky.

But Ariel didn't think too much about it. She said quite naturally, "Maybe it's a magical creation made by some great sage. Such things are rare, but they do exist."

"Does it not not exist?"

"Yes, for example, the aerial fortress owned by Pergius, the founding hero of the Kingdom of Asura, will probably appear in that direction based on the timeline... Look!"

Ariel pointed in a certain direction.

Shirou followed the girl's finger and saw a huge cloud. Upon closer inspection, he discovered a castle floating in the cloud.

The castle was enormous, partially obscured by the clouds, yet it stood proudly.

"That's the Sky Castle?"

This was the first time Shirou had ever seen that aerial fortress, which reminded him of the aerial garden that Emiya, as a Heroic Spirit, had witnessed.

Its owner was Assasin Semiramis, the empress of the Assyrian Empire, who rose to fame for poisoning her husband, King Ninus.

Although the two have completely different structures, they look almost identical.

As a blacksmith, Shirou can only make swords, but that doesn't mean he can't do anything else.

Maybe I'll have the chance to replicate the Hanging Gardens in this world someday.

As Shirou stared blankly at the massive aerial fortress, gradually forgetting the chaos brought by the dark red sphere due to the overwhelming visual impact, Ariel, who was standing next to him, suddenly leaned closer, her face almost touching Shirou's.

"Wow!"

Faced with the near-instantaneous closeness, Shirou was so frightened that he quickly backed away.

"what are you doing?"

He looked at Ariel with disbelief, unable to comprehend the princess's sense of distance, which seemed far too frivolous.

Ariel calmly replied, "I was just wondering why you were hiding your strength, Shirou."

"Hidden strength?"

“I witnessed your battle with Lord Kyrie Irvine just now.”

Ariel spoke quite frankly, "From what I understand, Lady Kyrie, as the Sword King, is ranked fourth in the Holy Land of Swords. Above her are only the current Sword God and two Sword Emperors. Shirou, you were actually able to fight her under Kyrie's training. Even if Lady Kyrie held back, your strength is definitely not as simple as it seems. If you hadn't refused Luke's duel, Luke would probably have lost a lot of face in public."

"This……"

"With such powerful abilities, and the ability to forge magical items like the [Black Key], why do you stay in a small place like Boreas, Shirou?"

Ariel's gaze was fixed on Shirou's face, as if she wanted to see right through the red-haired boy before her. "You clearly have a better future and can go to higher places, so why do you waste your talent and not fully demonstrate your strength?"

"..."

Ariel spoke all she wanted to say in one breath.

After listening to Ariel's words, Shirou let out a silent sigh after a long while.

“I understand what Your Highness means, but for me, life is good enough now.”

"Is that enough?"

Seeing the confusion on Ariel's face, Shirou quietly spoke:

"I once thought about doing something great, becoming a great person, a hero who saves everyone, and I did try and work hard for that purpose, trying to save everyone I could save."

"However, after reaching that goal, I realized that the justice I hoped for simply does not exist. Saving one group of people often means sacrificing another. Absolute justice does not exist in this world, nor does absolute salvation exist anywhere."

"Even so, I still didn't understand what I had done wrong. It wasn't until someone important to me almost disappeared, and someone who considered me the most important person sacrificed themselves for me, that I realized that compared to the justice of most people, compared to saving the lives of those who were unrelated to me, what I really needed to do was protect the people I needed to protect and save the people I could save. That was what I should do most."

"..."

Shirou's words were a mix of Emiya's experiences and his own.

Through his insights from both experiences, he has reached his current conclusion—

Even if he can't save everyone, even if he can't become a hero of justice, all he needs to do is save those he can save and achieve the justice before him. That's enough.

There is no such thing as a hero who can save everyone, but saving the people who are important to you is something that every human being must do.

Ariel fell silent inexplicably upon hearing Shirou's heartfelt words.

Her gaze drifted into the distance, and she slowly spoke, "I actually understand what you're thinking, Shirou."

"Eh?"

“From birth, I have never been able to decide what I do. Everything I do is just going with the flow, following the expectations of those around me, and doing things that are completely contrary to my own goals. But even so, I have gained the recognition of others. Dilik, Luke, and many other people in the Kingdom of Asura all have high hopes for me, believing that I can be the one to save everyone and become the king of the Kingdom of Asura.”

"King Cheng... Hu..."

Upon hearing Princess Ariel's words, Shirou was visibly shocked.

After all, Ariel, as the second princess, seemed to be the least likely to become queen.

Is such ambition truly lurking in their hearts?

Do you think I'm capable of becoming king?

Ariel slowly turned her head, revealing a radiant smile.

"I...I don't know..."

Shirou couldn't bring himself to say something against his conscience, so he could only hesitate before speaking.

Seeing this, Ariel smiled and said, "I understand that this is difficult, and many people understand it too, so most people don't have any hope for me. But I know that this is the only moment I can make a choice. For me, for Princess Ariel, the only moment I can choose according to my will is to become king, and if I want to protect those I want to protect, and save those I want to save, I must achieve this goal. In that respect, aren't we very similar, Shirou?"

"indeed……"

Shirou nodded.

Both he and Ariel embarked on paths they did not wish to take when they had no other choice.

Both of them stubbornly continued on their path, even knowing that the end result might be utter destruction.

For a time, Shirou finally began to accept Ariel somewhat and no longer regarded her as a wicked woman with a treacherous heart.

If he hadn't genuinely lacked interest in the struggle for the throne, he might actually have intended to help the other side.

Although I can't help her directly, I can at least establish a friendly relationship with Ariel.

However, just as he was about to speak, he saw Ariel chuckle and say mischievously, "Oh dear, you weren't fooled by me just now, were you? Actually, I've never thought about inheriting the throne. That kind of thing is too tiring for me. Even if I were forced to do it, I wouldn't be interested."

"what?"

"Huh? Shirou, what's with your reaction? You don't really think I want to be king, do you?"

Ariel's sudden change in attitude left Shirou momentarily stunned.

He stared at the girl in front of him for a long time before realizing that she had been deceiving him all along.

In an instant, a complex mix of emotions, both complex and indignant, welled up inside Shirou. His face darkened with anger, and he turned and stormed off!

Chapter 152 The Princess and Muramasa.

"Hey, Shirou, don't go!"

Seeing that Shirou looked angry, Ariel quickly chased after him.

She grabbed Shirou's arm and said with a smile, "Apologize, okay? I apologize! I was wrong, I was wrong, I didn't mean to joke with you."

"..."

Shirou hesitated for a moment at Ariel's completely unprincess-like attitude, but finally sighed helplessly.

He still doesn't understand Ariel's thoughts at all.

He neither understood why the other party wanted to win him over, nor whether the other party truly wanted to become the king of this country.

Ariel wears so many masks that even she herself probably doesn't know what she looks like underneath.

Shirou breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Ariel, asking, "Let's not talk about what happened earlier. By the way, Your Highness, why are you still staying at Boreas Castle? Wasn't Alice's birthday party already over?"

"Who said I came to the Boreas Clan's place just to attend Alice's birthday party?"

"what?"

Seeing Ariel's calm words, Shirou was completely bewildered.

Ariel, however, spoke calmly: "Although I ostensibly used this reason to persuade Dilik and Luke, as well as the nobles above, my real purpose in coming to the Boreas clan was simply to find the blacksmith Muramasa."

"Why do you want to see Muramasa so much, Your Highness?"

Shirou looked puzzled. He knew that Ariel had spent a lot of money to buy the weapon he had forged—the indestructible Sacred Blade—but although the weapon was special, it shouldn't be worth the princess traveling so far to find the forger himself.

At least Shirou didn't understand why Ariel had come looking for him.

In response to Shirou's confusion, Ariel finally showed a bit of seriousness and slowly said, "Why do you want to see Muramasa? Simply put, I'm just curious about what kind of person could forge this sword, that's all."

As Ariel spoke, she took out the indestructible Supreme Saint that was hanging from her waist.

Shirou then realized that Ariel had brought the weapon he had forged with her sometime earlier that day.

Ariel continued, "Shirou, do you know that the royal palace is not an interesting place? It is full of complex power struggles and chaotic political competition. As the second princess, I am second only to my brother Gravel in status, but I still do not live a peaceful life. Or rather, it is because I have too many interests that countless people flock to me, hoping that I can inherit the throne and rule the country."

"It's a given."

Shirou spoke up quietly. Although he didn't understand politics very well, he could understand human nature to some extent.

As the second princess, Ariel could not escape the corrupting influence of human desires, especially since the other party was indeed not a fool and possessed ample abilities.

Ariel sighed and slowly said, "Is it a given? But I've never really been willing to accept this kind of taking it for granted. After all, it's a responsibility that has nothing to do with me, and it's even the root of my pain. If I could, I would rather give up my status as a princess and start over as an ordinary person."

"But that's impossible."

Shirou refuted Ariel's idea with clear words.

Ariel could not be an ordinary person, not only because of her status as a princess, but also because of her shrewdness and ability to see through people's hearts.

Especially the latter.

As the saying goes, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.

Ariel possesses immense potential, and naturally, she cannot escape the responsibilities that belong to her.

Ariel herself was well aware of this, and she said quietly, "Even if it's impossible, I have no chance of becoming queen. I have two older brothers and one older sister. Although my sister has already decided where she will marry, my brothers are currently fiercely competing with each other for the throne. As long as they are around, I have no chance of becoming queen."

"..."

Shirou, unaware of the power struggle for the throne, offered no comment.

"And even if I choose to fight back, so what? I have neither the talent to fight back nor the shield to protect me. My brothers only need to send an assassin to kill me, and they can easily wipe me out. Among my men, only Dirich has a vague fantasy about me becoming queen. The others just want to gain something from the struggle for the throne."

Ariel was a smart woman, so she had already seen through the situation.

Even though she has a high priority in the succession to the throne, she is inferior to her two brothers in both age and number of companions, so her chances of winning are indeed very low.

Therefore, it would be wiser to give up the unattainable dream of the throne as soon as possible and live a life of enjoyment.

Even if she can't become king, Ariel is still the princess of the world's largest kingdom, Asura, so of course she can enjoy life to the fullest.

No one can blame Ariel for her thoughts.

Because this is something that is perfectly reasonable.

Anyone in the same situation would probably make a similar choice.

No one will voluntarily take on responsibilities beyond their capabilities.

Seeing that Shirou seemed to understand her thoughts, Ariel smiled slightly and continued, "However, my thoughts changed after I saw this sword."

"You saw this sword?"

"Yes."

Ariel wore a nostalgic expression, as if recalling the first time she met the "Indestructible Saint." "Perhaps it's because I've been navigating the royal palace since I was little, but my eyes have become able to see the more essential aspects of things. Some people's souls are dim and obscure, like worthless rotten wood, while others' souls are burning and fiery, like yours, Shirou, like a tempered blade that has been refined and is now shining brightly."

"..."

Shirou was surprised that Ariel could see through him to this extent. He finally realized why Ariel had always cared so much about him.