Shirou and the others officially headed toward the Shirone Kingdom.
But perhaps because of the meeting with Hitogami last night, Shirou's condition was worse than usual. His dull look and gloomy appearance made it clear that he was troubled.
Ruijerd and Eris looked at him, wanting to ask, but not knowing how to bring it up.
In the end, Ruijerd asked, "If you have any trouble, tell us. We can come up with ideas together."
"No..."
Shirou didn't expect Ruijerd to worry about him, and realized that he was not strong enough.
Last night, Hitogami revealed that he had been watching him all the time, which made him very confused. He felt like he was being watched by some higher-dimensional being at all times, and even feared that some kind of danger was gradually approaching him.
This made him behave more chaotically than usual, like a frightened bird.
Due to excessive tension, Shirou even wanted to tell Ruijerd and Eris about Hitogami, and ask them to help him think of a solution.
Or at least pour out his troubles to someone other than himself, so that he could share the pain.
But he didn't do it after all.
First, he didn't think it was necessary for the two of them to worry about it. After rising to the level of a god, this was completely meaningless.
Second, Shirou was worried that if Ruijerd and Eris knew about Hitogami, it would lead to Hitogami also having the ability to enter their dreams and contact them.
Unlike him, Ruijerd and Eris are both straightforward types, and could easily be deceived by Hitogami.
Shirou didn't want to see that happen no matter what.
"No, you don't have to worry about me."
Shirou finally shook his head, not telling the truth, but he still reminded them, "However, if you ever dream of a strange being who wants to give you advice, be as careful as possible."
"Someone giving advice in a dream?"
Ruijerd and Eris were both confused, thinking that Shirou was confused.
But seeing Shirou's serious attitude, they nodded.
"...Although I don't know what you're talking about, I'll remember it."
"This lady will listen to you."
Seeing Ruijerd and Eris believe him, Shirou sighed in relief and nodded.
His vigilance against Hitogami had reached an extremely serious level.
He was very worried that the people around him might be tricked by Hitogami into doing something irrational.
While the group was chatting, they didn't stop moving, and continued to head north.
As they moved along the road, they could see a whole field of rice paddies.
The rice from the King Dragon country is exported all over the world. The rice that Shirou used to eat in Buena Village was basically from here.
When they got to the inn, Eris and Ruijerd were unfamiliar with rice.
They didn't eat rice at Randolph's shop before, but only ate fried meat.
So Shirou taught them how to use chopsticks.
Eris and Ruijerd were both curious about this special tool, and quickly felt the charm of rice.
Shirou also collected some rice, thinking that he could cook it for the people around him when he had the opportunity.
After several months of travel.
They finally arrived at the Shirone Kingdom.
...
Although the Shirone Kingdom is a small country, it is an ancient country with a history of about two hundred years.
In this world where history changes in units of thousands of years, the number two hundred may give people a feeling of not being too old, but this is because in the war four hundred years ago, all the human countries except the Asura Kingdom and the Holy country of Milis had been destroyed.
The only major country that rose after the Human-Demon War was the Dragon King Kingdom, and the others were small countries that didn't even make the list.
The Shirone Kingdom is one of the many small countries.
But one thing that makes it stronger than many small countries is that in the early stage of its founding, it formed an alliance with the Dragon King Kingdom and became a vassal state of the Dragon King Kingdom, thus gaining a foothold in the constantly disputed southern part of the central continent.
And for Shirou, the Shirone Kingdom has another special place.
That is the country where Roxy used to stay.
Although Shirou had already confirmed through his far sight that Roxy had gone to the Demon Continent, he was still concerned about the place where Roxy had stayed.
Because wherever someone has lived, they will leave traces of life.
Shirou was very curious about what kind of impression the people here had of Roxy.
Of course, more important to him now than these things is the whereabouts of Lilia and Aisha.
Although his far sight can observe a very large area, the area of a country is too large, and even far sight is not enough for him to find the two people almost immediately, and it will take a long time to search.
Shirou told Alice and Ruijerd about this, and they both said they didn't care and were willing to spend a long time searching with Shirou.
...
A few days later.
Shirou and the others officially arrived in the capital of the Shirone Kingdom, Ratakia.
In this world, major cities are almost always surrounded by walls.
For example, Ars, the royal capital of the Asura Kingdom, and Milishion, the capital of the Holy country of Milis, are like that.
The capital of the Shirone Kingdom, Ratakia, is no exception. Around the outside is a circle of solid walls that look very fantastic. Although it is impossible to be as large as the capitals of those two major countries, it doesn't look outdated.
After entering Ratakia, Shirou and the others found a suitable inn.
Since Shirou had a lot of money after completing the Milis pope's commission, they no longer needed to haggle over money and could completely find a more comfortable inn.
But Eris insisted on sharing a room with Shirou, and the latter was reluctant but willing to accept.
After all, to Shirou, Eris is just a sister.
Sleeping in the same room as his sister is not a big problem.
At least, that's what he thinks.
After staying at the inn, Shirou quickly thought about what to do next.
First, based on the pictures he saw with his far sight, he knew that Lilia and Aisha were working as maids in a place that looked like a palace, and that their situation was worrying.
Shirou naturally wanted to get the mother and daughter out of danger as soon as possible.
But he also knew that many things couldn't be rushed.
The first thing to determine is the location of that palace.
Although when talking about palaces, it is definitely the royal palace, it is also possible that the situation is wrong, and it is just a private residence of some large noble.
Shirou had to consider the worst-case scenario first.
In addition, since robbing people in the royal palace would inevitably cause dissatisfaction with the Shirone Kingdom, just like Paul's forcible seizure of slaves caused dissatisfaction with the Milis nobles.
There is a high probability that a conflict will break out between the two sides.
Shirou therefore decided that this matter should only be done by himself, and that Eris and Ruijerd should not be involved.
Of course, even if he said that, the two would not listen to his ideas even if they forcefully intervened.
So Shirou deliberately gave false information, asking Eris and Ruijerd to search other areas of the Shirone Kingdom capital, while he himself focused on the royal palace area of this country!
...
Early the next morning.
Shirou, Eris, and Ruijerd split up.
Eris and Ruijerd were both excited, saying that they would do their best to help Shirou find his family.
Shirou was grateful on the surface, but secretly apologized. But he really did not want to involve the two in this unnecessary dispute.
After that conversation with Paul, he had realized that protecting his family was a mission he had to complete himself.
This was something he couldn't avoid no matter what, and it was best not to rely on the strength of others. It was a task that he had to complete himself.
After leaving the inn, Shirou came to the area around the royal palace of the Shirone Kingdom.
It looked quite large, but since Shirou had been to the capitals of the three major powers, the Asura Kingdom, the Holy country of Milis, and the Dragon King Kingdom, he felt that the royal palace of the Shirone Kingdom was really stingy.
The level of this castle was only at the level of the Boreas family.
This shows the national power of the Shirone Kingdom.
Shirou even suspected that with his strength as a Sword Saint alone, he was enough to overturn this entire country.
Of course, he wouldn't be too arrogant, and he still had to maintain a certain amount of vigilance.
After coming to the area around the royal palace, Shirou first checked his equipment.
In order to ensure that this operation went smoothly, he brought all the Noble Phantasms he could bring.
Whether it was Galatine, Avalon, the demon sword Muramasa, the Evil Dragon Blood Armor, or even the Dream Summon cards, all of them were brought along.
Galatine, encased in Avalon, was carried on his back.
The demon sword Muramasa hung at his waist.
The Evil Dragon Blood Armor had already been worn under his inner clothes, enough to make him ignore all sword injuries.
With confidence in his strength, Shirou seriously used his far sight to cover the entire Shirone Royal Palace with his search range.
Whether it was lucky or unlucky.
He immediately found Lilia and Aisha.
However, in his vision, the situation of this mother and daughter was not safe.
Lilia seemed to have violated some rules and was imprisoned by the people of the royal palace. Although Aisha wanted to save her mother, she was blocked by the knights.
Through his far sight, Shirou could clearly see Aisha's appearance.
The girl's facial features were a bit similar to Lilia's, and her brown hair tied into a ponytail was very similar to Paul's. She was wearing an overly loose mini-maid outfit.
Normally, that face should give people a lively and free impression, but now it was completely twisted and covered with tears and snot.
Shirou noticed the suffering of Lilia and her daughter because of this. He didn't have time to think too much, and directly flipped over and jumped into the interior of the Shirone Royal Palace.
Although Sword God Style is not a style that excels at stealth, Shirou, relying on his far sight, was like having a full-map cheat, and could easily avoid all the patrolling knights and successfully sneak into the royal palace!
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