Buzz! Buzz!
The faucet opened and closed. Shirou was brushing his teeth and rinsing his face in the washroom.
A habit at home, he just couldn't change it.
After breakfast, the others, exhausted, went to sleep.
As for Saber's affiliation, she had actively chosen Rin.
No other reason, after discussing all night, Bazett realized the chores she had to do were just too many.
The matter of the priest had already been reported to the Association.
But since the church had become a ruin, the person in charge had yet to arrive.
As a result, she now not only had to run around for the hostages taken by Manaka, but also had to fabricate a reasonable cause for the church explosion.
The problem was, she had zero experience in this area.
Now she was overwhelmed and exhausted.
And then she asked a fatal question, 'Can someone tell me, how does one arrange a gas leak?'
'Are there gas tanks inside the church?'
'Even if there are, how do you explain the battle at Einzbern Castle?'
'Also a gas leak?'
'Whose gas leak flies into the sky and sets off fireworks?'
'Huh?'
All in all, Bazett put on a mask of pain.
In the end, a request that wasn't really a request, she asked Shirou to let her handle the priest.
Tohsaka Rin agreed.
Rather than hatred, as a magus, what needed consideration now wasn't revenge, but personally punishing Manaka. This was also the reason she had strongly requested to obtain Saber.
"Phew—"
The battle was going to start at night.
Having finished his wash, Shirou had nothing to do, so he planned to go to the Dojo to practice swordsmanship.
He temporarily gave up on physical strength.
It wasn't going to improve in a short time.
Swordsmanship, on the other hand, had risen quickly. According to unreliable hints from System Shirou, he should be close to B rank.
Sure enough, actual combat really trained people.
Too bad red A exited too early.
Otherwise, Shirou really wanted to freeload on his superb defensive sword techniques.
Arriving at the Dojo, the blonde girl was kneeling at the center, eyes closed in meditation.
Her exquisite, peerless side profile made Shirou sneak a look for 0.1 seconds longer, and then he looked directly, fair and square.
Artoria suddenly opened her eyes, "Berserker?"
The King of Knights quickly realized, "You intend to practice your skills here?"
"That's right," Shirou went to the corner and picked up a bamboo sword.
He tried its feel and found it not very comfortable, 'But whatever, it will do.'
"You don't forget to hone your skills even at a time like this?", Artoria felt like she had found the reason Berserker was so excellent.
"No, uh… how to say this," Shirou couldn't really explain, so he just silently accepted it.
When he got into stance, he had originally wanted to digest the experience from fighting with Artoria before switching to Hosting mode.
Unexpectedly, the Ahoge King actively picked up her sword and stood opposite Shirou.
"You need a sparring partner, Berserker," Artoria had a serious face.
Just short of saying, 'I wasn't satisfied with yesterday, time to settle the score.'
Shirou: "..."
"Actually," he told the truth, "Saber, my swordsmanship, in terms of real skill, isn't very strong. I just rely on a Noble Phantasm during combat."
"A Noble Phantasm that can improve sword skills?"
Artoria paused, surprised, "Is it okay to tell me something like that?"
"Is it not okay?", Shirou was confused.
Artoria froze for a moment, the corner of her lips curled, "I understand now."
'Hm?'
Shirou tilted his head and mentally showed a Black Question Mark Face meme.
'You understand what?'
"Hya!", The King of Knights struck Shirou on the head with a blow.
It hurt a little, making the corner of his mouth twitch.
"What are you doing, Saber?"
"Revenge!", Artoria's serious tone held satisfaction, "Now we're even."
"..."
'A woman's heart really is hard to fathom.'
Even a straightforward King of Knights occasionally had some hard-to-understand behavior.
In the sparring match with Saber, he didn't go straight into Hosting mode.
Not only did he want to digest the previous battle, but he also wanted to see how much distance remained between him and top-tier Servants in terms of martial skill.
The result was obvious, Shirou got crushed.
Looking at his system-self easily overwhelming Artoria, he had thought the Ahoge King's swordsmanship was at the lowest tier of A-rank.
Turns out, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.
Even the worst A-rank couldn't be challenged by his C-rank.
"Berserker, I'm very glad you didn't use your Noble Phantasm."
A king's praise.
The boy didn't show off by using his Noble Phantasm, and instead demonstrated his true ability.
True inside and out. That's a rare and precious quality.
"Thank you," Shirou wasn't happy about it.
This crushing defeat made him realize he still had a long road ahead.
At all times and in all places, he couldn't slack on his training.
He set such a goal.
Then—
'System Shirou, come out and work now.'
A different system really made a difference.
The Ahoge King, who just moments ago was calm and collected, turned into a different person in just ten minutes.
She got crushed by the system.
Forget the trash talk that made her mentally collapse. For now, just know that in her battle with System Shirou, she almost couldn't find any openings.
That's right, no openings.
Normally, no matter what school of thought or how exquisite the technique, there would be some habitual starting stance or move.
For example, Cu Chulainn's rapid, deadly straight thrusts.
His starting move would be the spearhead tilted downward, almost touching the ground.
Red A's was reverse grip on Kanshou and Bakuya, blades pointing backward, edge down.
That allowed him to throw both blades quickly into the Triple-Linked Crane Wings.
Artoria herself, two hands gripping the sword, placed to the right near her shoulder, hands nearly level with her chest, sword tip pointing straight up.
A kind of hammer grip, also called the Tail Form.
Even though she wore heavy armor, her footwork and moves leaned toward unarmored swordsmanship.
That also indirectly proved, her swordsmanship was high-level, but not perfect.
Saber(Emiya) was different. His techniques were once praised as flawless.
He would change his grip depending on the strategy.
For instance, when dealing with Gilgamesh's Key of the King's Law, he'd use a two-handed sword with one hand, freeing his left hand to prepare for sudden situations.
But once it was time to close in and finish the enemy, or needed to get serious, he'd use both hands on the sword.
System Shirou was different.
He had no fixed starting move. Whether attacking or defending, it was chaotic yet flawless.
When facing him, Artoria felt powerless. Like the one fighting her wasn't even a person.
But rather, a figure who had, from ancient times to present, mastered all sword techniques in existence.
This was the system.
One of modern technology's greatest inventions, Ai.
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