Chapter 66: Saber's Feelings
Suddenly, all the burdens vanished. She felt as if she were at a loss for what to do, as if the very meaning of her existence had disappeared along with them.
Artoria Pendragon's life had been set in stone since the moment of her birth.
In such a life, she carried out her duties as King like the most precise of machines, never deviating, never harboring any emotions.
There was no one who could judge whether such a life for her was right.
But at the very least, now that the young girl stood before him, Shirou did not want her to return to that life ever again.
At that moment, the girl suddenly looked at Shirou.
Meeting that gaze, which held a hint of doubt and confusion, Shirou raised an eyebrow and asked,
"What's wrong?"
"I still don't understand…" Saber tilted her head. "Why are you doing so much for me, Shirou? You have no reason to help me like this…"
Hearing that the girl was still struggling with this, Shirou couldn't help but laugh.
"Has this been bothering you for a long time?"
As he asked this, Shirou took her hand.
Saber struggled symbolically for a moment, but failing to break free, she let him hold it.
Despite having gone through so many battles, the young girl's hands were completely unlike those of someone who had experienced a battlefield—fair and soft.
"Saber."
Suddenly, Shirou put his hands on the girl's shoulders with a serious expression.
Saber was taken aback by such a sudden move; she didn't quite understand what he wanted to do, but her heartbeat began to accelerate uncontrollably.
Thump... Thump...
As if it were about to jump out of her throat, Saber's cheeks flushed with color due to this state of mind.
"Wh... what is it... Shirou?"
Then, the words Shirou spoke next left Saber completely stunned.
"Saber, no... Artoria, I love you. Stay by my side forever."
Saber's cheeks were slightly red, revealing a shyness no different from any other young girl.
"I don't understand... Shirou, why would you love me... I don't get it..."
"Love is just love, Saber. Why would you need a reason for that?" Shirou replied.
"I... I..." The girl's eyes misted over; her chaotic and complicated state of mind made her appear somewhat anxious.
Shirou, however, continued to speak to her unhurriedly.
"You can reject me, but I will still help you. This is called being a 'simping dog'."
Saying this, Shirou looked at Saber very seriously and said earnestly,
"So, Saber, I want to—"
Saber froze immediately. Seemingly having thought of something, her face flushed red, and she subconsciously took a step back.
"Stop!"
That said, Saber ultimately couldn't withstand Shirou's "sugar-coated cannonballs." The time they had spent together over the past week had already made their bond quite deep; in the end, she couldn't escape Shirou's clutches.
After that, the relationship between Shirou and Saber went to the next level. Although their days passed as usual, once night fell, the list of things they could do grew much longer.
Scáthach also came to spar with Shirou during this time, but it always ended with her being easily defeated by him.
"Just you wait, next time I will definitely defeat you!" Scáthach said, covering her torn bodysuit—which had been shredded yet again—and throwing down a harsh challenge to Shirou.
"Then I'll be waiting for you."
Shivering with rage at Shirou's words, Scáthach walked away quickly.
Besides Scáthach, Nero had also come to challenge Shirou to a duel out of sheer itch for a fight. Even though she already knew of Shirou's strength, Nero's attitude remained extremely arrogant.
"Hmph! I only need to make a slight move—"
An instant later, she was pinned to the ground by Shirou and thoroughly rubbed into the floor. No matter how much he kneaded or molded her, she had no power to resist and could only beg for mercy with little whimpers.
"Waaah! I won't move anymore! I give up!!"
.
.
.
Waking up one morning, Shirou subconsciously reached out to touch the soft body in his arms, only to find it empty.
"Hm?"
His pale golden eyes opened, and he surveyed his surroundings with slight confusion.
"Where did she go…?"
Shirou got out of bed and headed to the living room.
Because it was still early, Sakura and Illya had not yet woken up, so the house was quite quiet.
Arriving in the living room, he still did not see Saber.
However, he heard the doorbell ring right after.
Shirou opened the door, but what he saw were two girls who shouldn't have appeared in this era.
"Um, hello Senpai, my name is Fujimaru Ritsuka!"
"Er... hello, I am Mash Kyrielight..."
The girl with orange-red hair was looking up at Shirou full of energy, while the girl with short pink hair standing next to her looked a bit reserved, her hands folded in front of her abdomen.
"You two..."
The moment Shirou saw these two girls, he had already roughly figured out what had happened.
Then, the girl named Fujimaru Ritsuka grabbed Shirou's right hand, held it up to her chest, and said earnestly,
"Senpai, please come with us to the Singularity. This is a request of my lifetime!"
"Senpai, you've already said that line to many people..."
Mash, standing next to her, muttered softly.
"Are you two from the future?" Shirou asked at this point.
"Yup, yup. As expected of Senpai, you're not surprised at all about where we came from. The doctor was right after all," Fujimaru Ritsuka said with a look of admiration.
Shirou sighed helplessly.
"Geez, I was originally planning on taking a month-long vacation."
Now it seemed he would have to take his vacation in the Singularity instead.
Moreover, Shirou already had a premonition that the place they were going to next had something to do with the suddenly vanished Saber.
"There's no helping it, then. Let's go."
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[Detecting——]
[Judgment——Attribute: Chaotic Good]
Hum——
Accompanied by the electronic synthesized sound from the detection gate, Shirou followed Gudako and Mash inside the institution that stood amidst the snow-covered land.
This was the future organization for the preservation of human history, the Chaldea Security Organization.
Built as a magical workshop that could not be interfered with by any nation and could keep its secrets.
Chaldea was not an observatory built to look up at the stars in the universe from Earth, but an observatory built to look down at everything on Earth from the void.
The purpose of this organization was to ensure that human history could continue long and resiliently.
Thus, this research and observation institute was built, gathering researchers from various fields, regardless of whether they specialized in magecraft or science—all to observe a world that could not be fully understood by relying solely on magecraft, nor fully measured by relying solely on science.
This was an institution established jointly by various nations to prevent the extinction of humanity.
Arriving in front of a tightly closed door, Fujimaru Ritsuka stepped forward to verify her identity, and the door slid open to both sides.
"Let's go in, Senpai!"
"Yeah."
Shirou followed her into the central control room.
In the next second, a vast space, like a tactical conference room, presented itself before Shirou's eyes. The surroundings were deep blue and filled with a sense of the future.
Located right in the middle of the central control room was a massive, glowing, azure-blue globe hovering in mid-air.
"Yo~ Welcome to Chaldea, Orihara Shirou."
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