While Shirou followed Ghislaine to train with the Sword of Light, growing towards the path of the Sword Saint, the trouble he caused in the royal capital didn't completely stop.
First, there was Shirou and Eris's challenge at the Water God Style dojo.
Although Shirou lost the challenge and Isolte won, almost everyone who witnessed the fight had already accepted Shirou in their hearts to some extent.
After all, if Shirou hadn't been unwilling to use dirty tricks and had chosen to fight fairly, Shirou would probably have won.
The Water God Style disciples had a hard time dealing with these rumors.
Although they were grateful to Isolte for protecting the honor of the Water God Style, they also admired Shirou's strength, but they couldn't admit it openly.
For the Water God Style disciples, admitting that a Sword God Style disciple was stronger was more unbearable than being killed.
Of course, this was only for ordinary Water God Style disciples.
For Isolte, the strongest of the current Water God Style disciples and a near Water Saint, she would rather have admitted defeat than win.
Afterward, she clearly realized that Shirou had obviously let her win at the end, not continuing to use fighting spirit to protect his wooden sword, which led to her victory.
If Shirou had gone further and continued to strengthen his wooden sword, Isolte would probably have been defeated.
Isolte didn't understand why Shirou had given her the victory, but she vaguely realized that he might have done it for her sake.
Isolte developed a hard to explain feeling for this, wanting to find Shirou quickly, to tell him her thoughts, and even apologize to him.
However, after Isolte used her connections to find Shirou in the royal capital, she finally got the news that Shirou and people from the Boreas family had left the royal capital.
At that moment, she even had the urge to leave the royal capital and go to the Boreas family to find Shirou.
Of course, the urge was just an urge. Isolte didn't have the ability to go so far to find someone, nor could she abandon the Water God Style dojo. She needed to stay at the Water God Style dojo and hone her skills.
"Thump."
"Thump."...
Isolte kept swinging her sword in the Water God Style dojo.
Her aura grew stronger every second, and the surging fighting spirit was like a wave, making the surrounding disciples afraid to approach. Even the Water God Style teachers didn't dare to easily touch Isolte's bad mood.
Most people thought that Isolte was disappointed by the previous fight, unable to accept almost losing to a Sword God Style disciple, so she was working hard to improve.
Taking advantage of other people's misunderstandings, Isolte was able to practice swordsmanship alone without any distractions.
Her swordsmanship was full of confused thoughts, completely lacking the calmness and order of the past, but she had no other way and could only use this method to vent her inner feelings.
Just then, an old woman walked over with a blonde girl in swordsman clothes.
"What's wrong? Did someone upset you?"
The current Water God Reida Reia walked over from a distance. She didn't seem to know what had happened in the dojo and looked at Isolte with curiosity.
"Master!"
Isolte bowed respectfully at the Water God's arrival.
She was curious about the blonde girl next to the Water God, but didn't pay too much attention and told her everything that had happened in the dojo earlier.
"Oh?"
After listening to Isolte's story, a sharp light flashed in Water God Reida's eyes, "Ghislaine's disciple came to challenge, and almost defeated you?"
"Not almost. Normally, Shirou would have won, but for some reason, he seemed to let me win at the end..."
Isolte looked complicated.
She didn't know why Shirou had given her the victory, but the result made her feel genuinely unacceptable, and her whole body was filled with a boiling, indescribable emotion.
Water God Reida saw Isolte's appearance and almost instantly realized the girl's budding feelings.
A slight smile curled on her lips, and she slowly said, "That's not important. What's important is that you think you lost to him, and that the Sword God Style boy chose to let you win to help you."
"That's about it..."
Isolte basically figured out the truth afterward.
Otherwise, she couldn't explain why Shirou's wooden sword was broken in the end.
Normally, a wooden sword strengthened with fighting spirit wouldn't break easily.
Isolte realized that Shirou might have given up the victory to avoid hurting her or to protect her honor.
This undoubtedly made Isolte very uncomfortable, and she couldn't even calm down.
As an experienced elder, Water God Reida almost immediately saw through Isolte's girlish heart.
She was just sorry that the boy named Shirou was already a Sword God Style disciple, and even Ghislaine's disciple, which was equivalent to being directly related to the Sword God.
It was unlikely that such a person could be brought to the Water God Style.
The hostile relationship between the Water God Style and the Sword God Style had lasted for thousands of years, and Isolte's newly sprouted love was unlikely to be realized.
Thinking of this, Water God Reida felt some empathy for Isolte. She slowly said, "You're now feeling unable to accept what that boy did, feeling helpless that you purely accepted help but can't repay the favor. For you now, there's only one way to solve all the problems."
"What way?"
"Get stronger, become a Water Saint, or even a Water King, and then find that person in a stronger state."
Water God Reida said quietly, "As long as you're strong enough, there will be a day when you can help him."
"..."
Isolte thought about Reida's advice.
Water God Reida then had Tristina step forward and said slowly, "By the way, let me introduce our dojo's new disciple. Her name is Tristina. She's the same age as you, so you can get to know each other better in the future."
"Hello, my name is Tristina."
Tristina looked at Isolte cautiously, sensing a remarkable strength from the blue-haired girl in front of her.
Isolte looked at the blond girl in front of her and nodded silently, "I'm Isolte. I'm the senior disciple of this dojo. If you have any questions about swordsmanship in the future, you can come to me."
"Okay."
Isolte and Tristina quickly became friends.
It was easy for two girls of the same age to establish a connection, and they talked to each other afterward and learned that they both cared about the same man.
Isolte undoubtedly cared about Shirou, while Tristina had a good feeling for Emiya, who had attacked Darius and saved her that night.
After knowing each other's feelings, they became even closer.
However, they obviously didn't realize that the people they both cared about were the same person.
...
Shirou's impact in the royal capital wasn't limited to the Water God Style dojo.
After the Darius attack, another thing was happening quietly in the Asura Kingdom.
All the nobles were asking about the identity of one person – the blacksmith Muramasa!
Yes, since the auction ended that day, when the second princess Ariel bought the [Durandal] for an indescribable price, almost all the nobles were very interested in the blacksmith Muramasa who forged the weapon.
The bigger the person, the more interest they had in such a powerful weapon as the [Durandal].
Especially since Darius had just been assassinated that day.
It was the same as giving the [Durandal]'s defensive capabilities a free ad.
Many great nobles wanted to get such excellent weapons to add to their safety, because not all nobles could afford expensive magic items like Darius.
Unfortunately, the identity of the blacksmith Muramasa was a mystery.
Due to the old blacksmith's deliberate concealing, most people's understanding of the blacksmith Muramasa was limited to knowing that he was a young man. Other than that, they had no information about his specific appearance or identity.
Most blacksmiths were still denying that Muramasa was a young man.
They felt that Muramasa's forging was comparable to some top-level dwarf masters, or even the legendary Yurian Halisko, who forged the forty-eight Holy Sword magic swords.
Unless it was an unimaginable forging master, it would be impossible to do such a miraculous thing.
Yes, something miraculous.
Shirou's swordsmanship talent might be average, but his forging skills could be said to have been recognized by the entire Asura Kingdom. Every blacksmith who had the honor of witnessing the [Durandal] was immediately impressed by the weapon, either driven mad or vowing never to forge weapons again.
After all, most blacksmiths in this era could no longer forge Holy Sword-level weapons. Even the strongest blacksmith would feel ashamed from the bottom of their heart when they saw the [Durandal].
It was like seeing an impassable cliff, an insurmountable barrier.
That was why so many people were eager to find the real Muramasa, hoping that he would forge top-level weapons for them.
However, Muramasa's identity was still extremely secret, and no one could know his true nature.
Of course, there was no airtight wall in this world.
When status and power reached a certain level, even things with no clues at all could be traced.
"Reporting Ariel-sama, we've discovered the possible location of the blacksmith Muramasa."
In a magnificent castle.
A servant rushed in and reported to the blonde girl by the window.
The blonde girl, Princess Ariel, the second princess of the Asura Kingdom, slowly turned around. She wore the [Durandal] with its completed scabbard at her waist, and a smile of satisfaction curled on her lips.
"Where is he now?"
"According to the investigation, although we don't know his personal identity, his weapons should have been forged at Boreas Castle. The supplier of the materials has provided confirmation."
"Very good."
For the princess, even if the blacksmith deliberately concealed his identity, as long as the suppliers of the forging materials were investigated, clues could be found.
Ariel smiled brightly and said expectantly, "I really want to know the true identity of such an extraordinary blacksmith. It seems that it's necessary to go to Boreas..."
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