Shirou decided to support Ariel's political fight, but he knew those around him might not agree.
After all, it's a fight inside the Asura Kingdom, a battle between people wanting to be king, a muddy mess full of greed and chaos.
The Greyrat family just got back together after a long time, without even enjoying a single good day together. Suddenly getting pulled into this kind of mess, nobody would accept that easily.
But Shirou can't ignore Ariel's tough situation, and he can't ignore the Boreas family stuck in the middle of it.
Yes, Shirou still remembers the Boreas family being in trouble because of the big move event.
He hadn't paid much attention to it before, but it wasn't because he forgot about the Boreas family or ignored their kindness to him. It's just that he had to put all his energy into finding and saving Zenith.
Everything in the world has a priority, what's most important and what's less.
Shirou puts his family above everything else. Now that his family is safe, Shirou finally has time to deal with other problems.
The problems that Ariel and the Boreas family are facing are what Shirou wants to solve now.
Of course, even for Shirou, telling his family this news is still very hard, and he might not be able to decide to do it.
So, he didn't say what he was thinking right away. Instead, he let his family enjoy being together again and waited for the best time to tell them the news.
...
The Greyrat family got back together after many years, but things are pretty chaotic.
First, Norn and Aisha waited so long for their family to come back. They were so excited, and when they actually saw Paul and Lilia, they were even more excited.
The only thing that made them sad was that Zenith had become a useless person.
Aisha didn't feel too strongly about it because she's Lilia's daughter, but Norn looked sad when she saw her mother.
Shirou didn't bother Norn while she was sad. He turned to Aisha and asked about what's been happening at magic school lately.
According to Aisha, nothing special has happened at magic school. Norn and Aisha have both gotten in without any problems.
After getting in, Aisha has shown a strong talent for magic, almost like Rudeus when he was little.
But Aisha doesn't seem interested in studying magic. She'd rather spend her time doing maid work, cleaning the house and taking care of the plants as soon as she gets home from school.
Besides Aisha, Norn isn't doing very well at magic school.
In the first magic test in the first year of beginner classes, she was the only student who didn't show any magic talent. Some people at magic school are like that, but it made Norn feel really bad. She even started to be scared of going to school.
After all, she's the only one in the Greyrat family without magic talent. Everyone else is like a super genius.
It's understandable that Norn feels bad about herself.
Shirou understands Norn's situation completely. He's not really a genius himself, so he knows how helpless it feels to face someone who is really talented.
When he met that girl named Sara before, he had a similar problem and solved it in the end.
So, he's thinking that if he has time, he'll find a way to help Norn with her problem.
If he still has time to stay at magic school, and doesn't have to go to the Asura Kingdom right away.
Besides Norn and Aisha, everyone else at magic school seems to be doing well.
Juliet and Nanahoshi have completely taken over Shirou's smith shop and are running it well. Even when Shirou isn't there, the two of them will sometimes work together to make magic items and sell them to students who need them.
Basically, Nanahoshi comes up with the ideas, and Juliet makes them.
This has made Shirou's smith shop more famous for making magic items than for smithing itself.
Shirou doesn't have much to say about it, except that he's thinking about asking Nanahoshi to design the All-Sealing Amulet Breaker for him sometime.
Since she's seen that "Fate" cartoon, he basically just needs to say the name and she should know what kind of item it is and be able to help make it.
At this point, Shirou doesn't mind that Nanahoshi knows everything about him. In fact, he thinks it's convenient.
Besides them, since Ariel and the others left, the student council at magic school doesn't have any leaders.
A lot of the troublemakers who were being held back by the student council are starting to cause problems again.
This would have caused a lot of chaos, but Linia and Pursena, the two beastkin princesses, came out and stopped the chaos.
They said they did it because they had already admitted that Shirou is their boss, and they were worried that Shirou would be angry if he came back and found the school in chaos. So, they took action to keep order at magic school.
Shirou really doesn't know what kind of face to make at all of this. He ends up thinking that maybe he should be a little nicer to those cat and dog girls in the future.
After learning about what's happening at magic school, Shirou gathered the Greyrat family together.
Paul, Lilia, Zenith, Rudeus, Norn, Aisha.
Roxy, who used to be the Greyrat family's tutor, also came, making a total of eight people including Shirou himself.
After many years apart since the end of the big move, they finally managed to truly get back together.
Everyone in the Greyrat family is feeling mixed emotions. They're happy, but they're also confused about the future.
At this time, Paul, as the head of the family, should stand up and lead everyone, guiding the family towards new goals and hopes.
But maybe he's tired from dealing with Zenith's situation, or maybe he's just given up and doesn't have any motivation anymore. Paul didn't stand up to speak. Instead, like everyone else, he looked at Shirou.
Yes, it seems that the backbone of the Greyrat family has unknowingly shifted from Paul to Shirou. Everyone is waiting for him to speak.
"..."
Seeing everyone's expectations, Shirou paused briefly, then said decisively, "Now that everyone is here, let's begin."
He didn't say exactly what they were starting, but everyone basically knew what he meant and showed serious expressions.
Shirou then slowly said, "First of all, I'm very happy that the Greyrat family has finally been able to get back together today. Although for various reasons, some of us may not have seen each other for a long time, I hope everyone understands that everyone here is a member of the Greyrat family, and we are important family to each other. This bond and connection wasn't broken even by the big move, long suffering, and its effects."
"..."
Shirou's words made everyone in the room show complex expressions. After a long time of suffering, everyone has been hoping for this family reunion for a long time.
The only person who didn't show much of an expression was Zenith, who still looked dazed.
But for some reason, Shirou thought he saw a light of some kind of emotion in Zenith's eyes.
Since it might just be his imagination, Shirou didn't pay too much attention to it. He then took out all the rewards from exploring the transfer maze and slowly said, "Thanks to clearing this transfer maze, we got a lot of stuff. These rewards might not be much for an adventurer group, but for an ordinary family, it's enough to live for years, even decades. With this money, we can live in any country without any problems."
"Huh? Does that mean we're leaving this country?"
Norn couldn't help but ask.
"No, if we could, I think everyone would want to go back to the Asura Kingdom, or even Buena Village. But because of the big move, that small village has completely disappeared, and even the entire Fittoa region is gone. The Asura Kingdom is also in a civil war right now, so going there to live is like a one in ten chance of survival."
Shirou said quietly, explaining the current situation in the Asura Kingdom, and stopping everyone from thinking about returning to the Asura Kingdom or even Buena Village.
Of course, everyone had already prepared themselves mentally for this, so they didn't have much to say about it.
"This magic city is a nice place too."
Paul, who has the strongest feelings for Buena Village, even built that home with his own hands, now took the initiative to show his attitude. "It's okay to stay here and not go back. Yeah, there won't be any problems. It's just that there seem to be a lot of magicians here, and it might be hard for a swordsman like me to find work."
"Dad, you can be a security guard at magic school."
Rudeus said with a smile, "With your skills, you'll definitely get hired easily."
"A security guard... I guess I can really retire and live my life now."
Paul looked like that was a fine idea, not thinking there was anything wrong with a former lord knight becoming a security guard.
That's because he's never cared about status and fame.
Norn and Aisha were also happy about this, because if Paul became a security guard, they wouldn't get in trouble for being late to school.
Everyone was looking forward to the future, thinking about a peaceful and quiet life. Shirou was silent for a moment.
He didn't even know how to say what he needed to say next.
But he knew he had to say it.
Of course, before that, he talked about Zenith's situation first.
"Paul and I are going to try our best to find a way to heal Zenith."
Shirou spoke first, "Even though Zenith's condition is obviously very bad, and normal medicine can't help at all, we won't give up on trying to heal her. Even if there's only a little bit of hope, we'll do everything we can."
"Okay."
Everyone agreed with this. Nobody thought that Zenith, who is now a useless person, was a burden. They would try to take care of her, even heal her.
Lilia was especially eager to do this. She's always been very close to Zenith, and she doesn't want to see Zenith like this.
Aisha seemed a little stiff about Lilia staying with them, but she didn't say anything in the end.
"Okay, next I need to explain one last thing."
Shirou took a deep breath, realizing that he couldn't run away anymore and had to tell everyone the most important thing.
Hearing his words, everyone in the room looked nervous, realizing that something important might be about to happen.
"..."
Seeing everyone in the Greyrat family looking at him with expectant eyes, seeming to believe that he could make the right decision and lead the family to a better future, Shirou hesitated, wondering if he should tell them this news.
But some things can't be avoided forever and must be faced.
"Everyone, I have to tell you something important. It's about the succession war in the Asura Kingdom. I plan to join it and help the second princess, Ariel, take the throne."
"...Huh?"
Hearing Shirou's words, everyone in the room looked confused.
Everyone looked at each other, not expecting to hear such a thing.
Shirou didn't hesitate and immediately told them the thoughts he had been considering for a long time, including that he might have to fight the current water god after he goes, and that it would be even harder than exploring the transfer maze.
"Why? Why do you have to go, Shirou?"
Rudeus was the first to say that he couldn't accept it. He couldn't understand Shirou's reason for joining this meaningless war.
This is what most of the Greyrat family thinks.
The civil war in the Asura Kingdom is too far away and has nothing to do with ordinary families like them.
Shirou immediately told them his thoughts, including his support for Ariel and his relationship with the Boreas family.
"This is my own thing, so I plan to join that war by myself. I might not be able to take care of things at home for a while, and I might even die in that war... If that happens, I hope everyone won't be sad. Even without me, the Greyrat family can continue to exist."
Shirou said all his thoughts in one breath. Everyone in the room was silent.
Paul, as a former noble, knows how chaotic the Asura Kingdom is and how ugly political fighting is.
So, after being silent for a while, he stood up first and looked sharply at Shirou. "Are you serious, Shirou? Are you saying that you're going to leave your family and join a meaningless war that has nothing to do with the Greyrat family?"
"..."
Paul's question hurt Shirou. He had given up justice for his family before, and now he was going to sacrifice his family for a war.
Breaking his principles over and over again is obviously very hard for him.
But Shirou didn't waver because of this. On the contrary, his heart was very firm, and he deeply confirmed that this is what he wanted to do!
---
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