Shirou's body still hadn't reached its growth spurt, so even when Paul gave him the smallest sword in the house, it was basically as tall as him.
And so, a very strange sight appeared on the roads of Buena Village –
A red-haired boy who looked no more than seven or eight years old, carrying a long sword behind him that was almost as tall as he was, walking slowly along the country roads.
The villagers couldn't help but show their curiosity towards him. Everyone was wondering where this young child came from.
"Hello, I'm a child of the Greyrat family. You can call me Shirou."
Since he was patrolling in the name of the Greyrat family, Shirou wouldn't act too out of line, and tried to act like a member of the Greyrat family as much as possible.
Hearing Shirou's words, the villagers, who were originally a little wary, immediately showed relaxed expressions, and even came up to greet him warmly.
"Are you Paul's child?"
"Paul already has such a big child!"
"Red hair is a rare color. It's said that the lord's daughter in the Fitowa region also has such bright red hair..."
"Shirou, what's the sword on your back? Are you a knight yet?"
Various questions rang out from the villagers. Shirou tried to respond calmly.
In his past life, after his dad Emiya Kiritsugu died, he had to take on the responsibility of the family from a young age, and get along with the neighbors around the Emiya house.
Therefore, this level of interaction was nothing to him, and he could even handle it with ease.
After all, the Greyrat family had a very special status as the lords of Buena Village, and Paul himself had a cheerful personality, so the villagers generally had a friendly attitude.
After responding to the villagers' enthusiasm one by one, Shirou began to patrol along the village.
Buena Village wasn't big, but it wasn't small either.
Dozens of villagers lived on the fertile land. In front of the village were endless fields, with a few houses scattered among them. There was a watermill house by the river, a clear rural scene.
Shirou was patrolling in place of Paul, and because it was a rotating patrol system, he only needed to walk around the village in the morning, which could almost be considered the end of his task.
He took a short walk around the village, basically familiarizing himself with the village environment, and found a small hill in the middle of the village, with a lush tree on top.
After passing the tree, there was a forest.
Although Paul had said to try not to get close to the forest, out of curiosity, Shirou still came to the edge of the forest and found a tall tower.
"Is it a watchtower?"
Shirou looked at the top of the tower, showing a curious expression, but found that the upper level of the tower was opened, and a long-eared blond man walked down from it.
"You are?"
"Hello, my name is Shirou, and I'm a child of the Greyrat family."
"I see, so you're Shirou. I've heard Paul mention you."
"Oh?"
Faced with the blond man's warm attitude, Shirou was surprised. The man smiled and introduced himself: "My name is Laws, I'm a half-elf, and I'm a hunter in this village. My job is to monitor the forest. Because of my work, I often meet with Mr. Paul."
"I see."
Realizing that the man was the one guarding the forest, Shirou felt a little respect.
After all, for this village, guarding the forest was a very important and dangerous task. Most of the monsters would appear from the forest, so it couldn't be taken lightly.
Because he had heard about Shirou's talents from Paul, Laws didn't treat him like an ordinary child and invited him to rest on top of the tower.
"Mr. Laws, how often do monsters appear in the forest?"
"Not very often. Plus, there's a monster hunt held regularly every month, so you can't see any monsters appearing normally."
"Monster hunt?"
"Mr. Paul hasn't told you about it?"
Seeing Shirou's surprise, Laws calmly explained: "Because magic tends to stagnate in the forest, the chances of monsters appearing are often high, so it's necessary to eliminate monsters regularly, so that they don't have a chance to grow. For this reason, every month, the village's knights, hunters, and civilian security associations, among other male members, will all go into the forest to sweep away monsters."
"Sounds like a very important task."
"Of course, for the safety of this village, it's almost the most important task." Laws said with a proud expression, "As a hunter, I participate in the monster hunt with Mr. Paul every month. It's my most important duty."
Shirou understood the relationship between Laws and Paul, and realized the importance of exterminating monsters.
He really wanted to participate in such an important work, but he knew that Paul would probably not agree.
Next, Shirou stayed in Laws's tower for a while, and the two continued to talk about monsters.
According to Laws, most of the monsters in the forest were sudden mutations of some kind of beast, such as ordinary wolves being turned into magic wolves by magic, and ordinary snakes being covered in magic and becoming magic snakes...
Due to the influence of magic, both living things and plants could mutate.
And after eating things that had been mutated by magic, individuals were also prone to corresponding mutations, and accumulate at the top of the food chain. This was the truth of how monsters were created.
"Then according to this, humans, as the top of the food chain, wouldn't they be more likely to mutate?"
Shirou curiously asked his question.
"Food chain?" Laws was taken aback by the term Shirou used, but then thought it was very reasonable. "Shirou, you're really a knowledgeable child. Your statement is very correct. Humans have been passed down for generations, and it may be precisely because of the influence of magic that all kinds of races have been born."
Shirou and Laws's conversation unknowingly reached noon. The two even established a friendly relationship that crossed age, and recognized each other.
Laws invited Shirou to come to the tower to chat often in the future, and Shirou agreed.
"I really didn't expect that Paul would have such a smart and serious child like you. If only my daughter could be like you."
"Laws, you have a daughter?"
"Yeah, she was born about two years ago, her name is Sylphiette, and she can't walk much yet."
"I see, she was born in the same year as Rudy..."
Laws knew that Paul also had a biological son named Rudeus. Although he hadn't met him, he had heard about him from Paul.
Speaking of his daughter, Laws's face suddenly became a little ugly, and he said with a complicated expression, "Ah, I really hope Sylphi doesn't have to suffer too much in the future."
"Suffer?"
Unexpectedly, Laws would suddenly say such a thing, and Shirou couldn't help but show a confused expression.