Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

No matter how hard I try to get into his world, I can never make him happier than he is now.

Shirou is Ye Sizhen's savior and also her first love.

Therefore, the only way Ye Sizhen can repay this kindness is to allow Shirou to continue living his peaceful life in the status quo.

"I think it's about time I took my leave."

"Ah, please wait a moment, Shirou should be back soon."

Irisviel tried to persuade her to stay, saying, "Miss Shizuru, you just said that you came to Japan to find Shirou."

Could you explain the situation? What exactly happened?

Irisviel seems to believe there is some misunderstanding between Ye Sizhen and Shirou, so she is eager to clear up the misunderstanding between them.

But... that's not how it is, Ye Sizhen thought.

Shirou did nothing wrong.

The mistake lies in this world that doesn't allow Shirou to live a peaceful life.

Ye Sizhen swallowed the faint pain and revealed a gentle smile.

"No need, Mrs. Alice, the misunderstanding has been cleared up."

"Huh? Is it untied? When?"

Ye Sizhen did not answer directly, but said:

"I am leaving Japan now; my stay here is over."

"Don't worry, I will never approach Shirou again."

After figuring things out, Ye Sizhen no longer felt depressed; instead, she felt somewhat happy.

Just thinking about Shirou's frustrated expression when he returned home and found that he had left Fuyuki made her smile.

"But...no, please wait. It's best to wait until Shirou returns—"

"I will leave a letter for Shirou, please pass it on for me."

I'll explain the situation to him in the letter, is that alright?

Ye Sizhen's words left Irisviel with no reason to try and keep her.

By the time Shirou finally got home, it was almost noon.

There was nothing he could do; he and Qingzi didn't go to sleep until almost five in the morning.

Aoko is still fast asleep in her love hotel bed. It's already quite an achievement that Shirou managed to overcome his fatigue and rush back.

Of course, Ye Sizhen had already left the Rain Palace residence several hours earlier.

"Although I really want to hold a family meeting right now to discuss Shirou's matter of hiding a strange woman in his room..."

But let's wait until you finish reading this.

As Irisviel said this, she handed him a letter addressed to "Shirou Amamiya" on the front, with a serious expression.

It was a very special-looking envelope. It wasn't old, but rather the surface of the envelope gave people the illusion of being full of historical weight.

After returning to his room without saying a word, Shirou opened the envelope.

……

……

"Dear Shirou Amamiya:"

"By the time you read this letter, I think I should have already left Japan—"

Hehe, I've wanted to try saying something like this for a long time, and I'm starting to get the hang of it.

"You must be very confused by the fact that I left without saying goodbye in this way, but I insist that this is the right thing to do."

"If I could, I wouldn't have left any message..."

But it seemed the noblewoman wouldn't let me leave easily without leaving something behind, hence this letter.

"I heard about your life up to this point from Lady Alice."

"I'm truly moved... Shirou, you're an even more remarkable man than I ever imagined..."

"Yes, it would be even more perfect if he could get rid of the bad habit of always lying to girls."

"This is pretty much the last chance. In exchange, tell Shirou about me."

"I've always had a dream... I want to build my own museum."

"Even a magician of mediocre talent like myself can be trained in that academy... That's my dream."

"By the way, this is something you haven't told anyone, has it?"

"Is it because I thought Shirou wouldn't laugh at me that I only told you?"

"However, it is not easy to establish your own pavilion. Spiral Pavilion has very few branches outside the mainland."

"Since ancient times, magicians have been fighting each other for powerful spiritual sites."

"Good spiritual sites are very limited, and besides, Western magic organizations would not agree to let excellent spiritual sites become the territory of Eastern magic organizations."

"In the world of magic, money alone is not enough... To reach your goal, you must rely on power."

"Actually, not long ago, I gained new power."

"Based on an unexpected encounter and a series of coincidences, I obtained a kind of divine magic that is different from modern times..."

"A magician's life, dedicated to hard work and dedication for over a decade..."

"The pride and honor of being recognized as a talented woman by the Spiral Pavilion..."

"All of this past seemed to lose its meaning the moment I learned the magic of the Age of Gods."

"Thought fingerprints are so powerful that they can make people doubt themselves."

"And so, I felt both frustrated and happy... a joy that nothing could replace."

"I feel like I'm getting very close to my dream."

"Does Shirou also have something he wants to do? If it's you, it must be a very remarkable ambition."

"Of course—there's no such thing as a free lunch."

"You're so smart, you should have already vaguely guessed it..."

"That's right. As a condition for obtaining the magic of the Age of Gods, I accepted a certain request."

"The magician who granted me the privilege of mind key patterns has asked me to go to Japan and capture a boy named Amamiya Shirou."

"Before this, I didn't know any Amamiya Shirou, and I only learned about the Holy Grail War ritual when I was doing my research."

What kind of person is Shirou? Is he a good person or a bad person? What kind of experiences has he had?

These details are not important to me—

"Anyway, as long as I catch him, I can have the privilege of the thought key forever."

"To exchange the life of a complete stranger for one's own dream... there's no better deal than that."

"Shirou, you must be very disappointed."

"I'm such a selfish woman... the kind of magician you hate the most, the typical one, not worth saving at all."

"But then again, even a heartless and cold-blooded woman like me wouldn't be so wicked as to harm my savior."

"So—let's just drop this matter."

"I've decided to let you go, Shirou."

"Please pretend our meeting never happened."

"Please be more careful in the future, cherish the precious life you were given a second chance at, and don't be fooled by women of unknown origin again."

Respectfully submitted by Ye Sizhen

"Ah...right, right, about the Tohsaka-san you're looking for."

She's currently being held in the workshop I set up in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city. Please give her my regards.

Besides the letter left by Ye Sizhen, the envelope also contained a simple map of Dongmu, which she had drawn herself.

The circled area marks an abandoned factory located on the outskirts of Fuyuki. This factory served as Ye Sizhen's temporary workshop and the place where she took Rin Tohsaka in after defeating her.

It takes about an hour to get there from Amamiya Residence.

If you calculate it that way, even if Shirou rushed there at top speed, the place would probably already be deserted.

Waiting for Shirou there was only Tohsaka, who had been sealed inside the barrier for four or five days and was still lively and energetic.

It's true... they don't plan to leave me any contact information.

"She really is a heartless woman."

Shirou stared at the crumbs of Chinese pastries on his plate and thought resentfully: I probably won't see Shizuru again.

"...You clearly promised to let me taste your cooking."

At the same time, the contents mentioned in the letter also caught his attention.

This perfectly matches the information that Matou Tsuruno and the others obtained from interrogating Atoram last night—

Someone is targeting Shirou Amamiya and carrying out a secret, unspeakable plan.

only……

Shirou discovered a problem:

The guy who taught Ye Sizhen the Shindai Magic and the guy who asked Atoram to capture Shirou—these two don't seem to be the same person.

How many people are watching me?

Never mind, there are more important things to do right now than worrying about that.

Shirou explained the situation to Irisviel and immediately went out to rescue Rin Tohsaka, who had been trapped for many days.

……

……

Ye Sizhen arrived at the designated location, a manor by the sea.

This is still Japan, but it is no longer within the boundaries of Fuyuki City.

When she left the Amamiya residence, she played a little trick:

Ye Sizhen revealed to Irisviel that she planned to leave Japan immediately.

In this way, Shirou would naturally assume that Ye Sizhen had gone abroad and thus give up the idea of ​​finding her whereabouts.

However, Ye Sizhen did not actually leave Japan.

Of course, she couldn't leave, after all—

The magician who ordered her to capture Shirou Amamiya is currently in Japan.

"Master."

The man who appeared before her was a wolf-like gray-haired man.

—Kiz, the magician of the "Wandering Sea".

Although Ye Sizhen calls him "Master," he is not Sizhen's mentor at the Spiral Pavilion.

This beautiful man from the "Wandering Sea" granted her the privilege of a thought key, using some unknown power.

There was only one thing Ye Sizhen was very clear about:

Although he has a youthful appearance, he is a mystery that existed on the surface before it became diluted—

A genuine monster that has lived for over 2000 years.

"Here he comes."

Kiz asked, "Shizane, have you caught Amamiya Shirou yet?"

"Yes," Ye Sizhen replied expressionlessly.

"Where are the others?"