The days of winter slowly passed, but the snow was far from melting.
Shirou and Rudeus each grew one year older, but life didn't change much.
Especially Shirou. Every morning he routinely patrolled the village, and in the afternoon he spent all his time practicing swordsmanship and magic. Only in the evening did he leave a little free time for himself.
But even this only free time was used to teach Sylphy how to cook, planning that after he left this house, Sylphy could also make delicious meals for the Greyrat family.
The thought of leaving the Greyrat family made even Shirou feel a little emotional, his heart filled with endless reluctance.
But Shirou also understood even more that if he wanted to protect his family in the future, to use absolute power to protect the people he wanted to protect in the face of any danger, he had to embark on this difficult path.
At least, he didn't want to endure the tragedy he and his sister Miyu had experienced on that snowy night again.
He woke up from his dreams countless times, his heart still filled with endless panic and disorder from that battle.
Although he had single-handedly fought his way through the Holy Grail War and saved his sister that night, it was only thanks to the help of Servant Emiya.
If he hadn't been so lucky at the time, getting possessed by Servant Emiya, he and Miyu would have faced inevitable tragedy!
Shirou didn't want to face that kind of tragedy again, so whether for himself or for his family, he had to continue to improve his swordsmanship!
Of course, now that he had learned the Soundless Slash and broken through to become an upper-level Sword God Style user, Shirou's swordsmanship improvement could be said to be minimal.
He gave everything to hone his swordsmanship, but swordsmanship didn't give him, a mortal, corresponding feedback. Every day of wielding the sword was like talking to a silent statue. No matter how passionate Shirou's words were, swordsmanship would never give him any extra response.
This made Shirou realize that he probably really couldn't make any breakthroughs in Sword God Style in a short time.
If he, a mortal, wanted to improve his swordsmanship further, the only way was to find a more powerful swordsman to guide him.
Sword King Ghislaine, no matter what, he had to ask her to take him as a student!
Shirou made up his mind silently.
But he didn't do too much about it. At least until Paul's letter to Ghislaine was answered, all he could do was wait patiently.
…
"The essence of cooking is care. Only by putting in the desire to make the person eating the food feel good can you create truly excellent food."
Shirou patiently explained cooking to Sylphy in the kitchen.
Although he had already taught her a lot of basic cooking knowledge, he would repeat the essence of cooking, the release of care, to Sylphy every day.
The essence of cooking is the devotion of effort. Only by putting love and expectation into the food can you make food that makes the person eating it feel good.
"Okay."
Sylphy nodded as if she understood.
A child as young as her obviously couldn't understand Shirou's words right away, but she was very patient, feeling that Shirou's words, like his cooking, were full of emotion and warmth, making people want to keep listening.
As Shirou continued to teach Sylphy the basic knowledge of cooking, and also taught her some of his own unique cooking skills through practice, the Greyrat family's door was suddenly knocked on.
Shirou curiously opened the door and found that everyone else in the Greyrat family, whether Zenith, Rudeus, Paul, or Lilia, were now gathered in the living room, indicating that the person outside the house was a guest.
Rudeus volunteered to open the door and found that the blonde half-elf Laws was standing outside.
A thick layer of snow had accumulated on the shoulders of his coat, His expression was also slightly hurried, not only showing no intention of entering the house, but also showing some urgency.
"Father, why are you here?"
Sylphy was stunned when she saw this, not expecting Laws to suddenly come to the Greyrat family. "Are you here to take me home today?"
In the past, Laws was very happy for Sylphy to stay at the Greyrat family, and sometimes even allowed her to spend the night here. He had never visited so suddenly like today.
Laws looked at Sylphy and was filled with emotion. Not long ago, Sylphy still looked timid and hesitant even when talking to him. He didn't know when she had become so confident and cheerful, even surpassing him and his wife.
He guessed this was all thanks to Shirou. Under his subtle influence, Sylphy's personality had also begun to become lively and outgoing.
Laws thought about these things in his heart while looking at Paul in the hall. He was stunned for a moment when he saw him, feeling that this knight lord was inexplicably decadent compared to the past, but he didn't have time to think too much and quickly said: "Mr. Paul, the monsters in the forest have become more active recently, and it seems they may attack the village. In order to ensure the spring sowing goes smoothly, it's best to hunt the monsters before the end of winter and eliminate all the monsters in the forest."
Hearing Laws' words, the people of the Greyrat family nodded in agreement, feeling that they should start hunting monsters early to eliminate the village's hidden dangers.
This was naturally Paul's duty as lord.
However, after hearing this, Paul took a sip of wine and said impatiently: "It's too risky to hunt monsters in the winter. The snowy weather severely obscures visibility and it's easy to be ambushed by monsters. Let's wait until spring."
"This…"
Although Paul's words were reasonable and flawless, Laws always felt that his attitude was a bit strange.
If it had been the Paul of the past, he would have made some preparations in advance to solve the village's problems, even if there were some risks.
So Laws looked at the others in the Greyrat family curiously, wanting to know why such a change had happened to Paul.
The others in the Greyrat family were also very puzzled by this, not understanding the reason for Paul's change.
Shirou had some understanding of this because he had been observing his family.
Paul's change seemed to have happened after he had clashed with him that day and showed his upper-level Sword God Style strength.
Before that day, Paul was still the same as before, serious and dutiful, trying his best to fulfill his fatherly duties.
However, possibly due to the impact of Shirou catching up in swordsmanship, Paul began to lose his confidence as a father.
This was understandable. The two children of the Greyrat family, whether Shirou or Rudeus, were too smart and well-behaved.
They had each shown talents far beyond ordinary people in swordsmanship and magic, and had even become upper-level swordsmen and water saint-level mages at a young age, catching up to the achievements that Paul had taken half his life to reach.
This was undoubtedly very unacceptable for a father, and could even lead to a sense of loneliness.
So since Shirou showed his Soundless Slash, Paul had become less and less like a father, not only losing that dignity, but also becoming more emotional than before, often drinking heavily and slacking off, and starting to become degenerate.
Of course, because Paul's habits were still maintained, he did a good enough job of keeping up appearances, so that others didn't notice the fact that he had started slacking off, but Shirou's overly keen observation still allowed him to feel Paul's change.
And the thought that all of this was caused by him made Shirou feel uncontrollably guilty…
"Laws, I'll go to the forest with you to eliminate the monsters."
Shirou took the initiative to speak, making a suggestion, "I'm already an upper-level Sword God Style user now, and I'm capable of eliminating most of the monsters."
"Shirou, you're already advanced-level?"
Laws clicked his tongue slightly after hearing this, but then felt it was somewhat natural, as if he wouldn't be too surprised by anything Shirou did.
The others in the Greyrat family were confused when they heard that Shirou was going to deal with the monsters alone.
Zenith immediately said: "It's too dangerous. The forest in winter isn't that safe."
Rudeus and Sylphy also remained skeptical, not wanting Shirou to take such a big risk.
"Let him go."
In response, Paul showed a completely different reaction, "With this kid's abilities, dealing with monsters is easy for him."
"Honey, what are you talking about?!"
Zenith was shocked, never expecting her husband to say such a thing.
Seeing that the couple was about to argue, Shirou quickly spoke to comfort them: "Don't worry, Zenith, I'll be fine. I've participated in monster hunts with Paul several times before, and there haven't been any problems."
"This…"
Seeing Shirou's insistence, Zenith couldn't stop him.
She then sighed and accepted everything.
So Shirou left the Greyrat family with Laws, went to the village to gather militia, and headed to the forest to hunt monsters.
Paul watched Shirou leave, his fist clenched and then released, but in the end he didn't choose to chase after him.
He just silently picked up the wine glass on the table and poured one cup after another into his stomach, drinking until his entire person was disoriented and dizzy.
"Damn it, that Shirou kid… can't he let me show some fatherly responsibility…"
Paul said vaguely, and silently went upstairs after nightfall.
He wanted to go back to his room, but because he was too drunk, he walked a few steps further and came to the maid Lilia's room.
Feeling extremely down, Paul just wanted to hug his wife and vent the bitterness in his heart.
Lilia was startled by Paul's sudden embrace, but seeing the fatigue on his face and the tears in the corners of his eyes, she softened for a moment and couldn't bring herself to take strong action.
A sleepless night…
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