Hearing Shirou's question, Archer gave him a meaningful glance. Unfortunately, since Shirou was standing in front of him with his back turned, he did not notice it.
"Who knows? After all, someone like Emiya Shirou can even become a Heroic Spirit. If that is possible, then something like that is not impossible either, right?"
Shrugging, Archer did not give a direct answer.
"That is a bit too much."
Hearing that, Shirou scratched his head, feeling like there were far too many elements to process.
Just counting what he already knew and excluding himself and the one he had just seen, there were at least five Emiya Shirou.
The four from the doors, plus Archer behind him.
Adding himself and that one just now, they could practically start another Holy Grail War.
"Heh. We have already crossed into another world, and this is what you cannot accept?"
Seeing Shirou struggling to process it, Archer mocked him lightly.
Compared to Shirou, Archer had lived for a long time and he had been exposed to very different kinds of information.
Even if he had not paid much attention, concepts like parallel worlds and otherworldly settings were already somethings he had already experienced.
So his ability to accept such things was naturally much higher.
"I cannot win against you in an argument… Do you have any clues about that Fuyuki I saw just now?"
Too lazy to argue further, Shirou changed the topic.
"No. In the end, that Fuyuki was nothing more than a fragment."
Archer shook his head as he answered.
He was telling the truth. There was no need to target Emiya Shirou in this situation.
To put it bluntly, the two of them were now in the same predicament, struggling together in an unfamiliar world.
Even if he was reluctant, he had no choice but to accept it.
At least now, all he needed to do was pull Shirou back when something went wrong, instead of constantly dealing with him back in reality.
And the place they were in now was already chaotic enough. Based on his understanding of this Emiya Shirou, the other would definitely do things that would make him want to draw his blades.
Out of sight, out of mind. If he did not see it, he would treat it as if it never happened.
"An extracted… fragment?"
Shirou did not quite understand what Archer meant.
"You must have noticed, right? In that Fuyuki, aside from you and that person in the black mud, there was no one else. Not just humans but even other living creatures did not exist."
Archer pointed out the key point directly.
There was another detail he did not mention:
Not only were there no living beings, even corpses were not there.
If it were truly just an extracted fragment, it would be impossible for even corpses to be completely absent.
Even with blurred memories, something like scattered remains would still exist.
He chose not to say it to prevent Shirou from piecing together more from these clues.
Some things were still too early for him to understand.
"That is true…"
Listening to him, Shirou was somewhat convinced.
When it came to magecraft and the supernatural world, Archer clearly knew more. If the essence of a magus was to study magecraft, then Shirou was merely someone who used it as a tool.
He did not care much about understanding its principles and as long as it worked that was enough.
"Then that settles it. Unlike me, you seem to have brought other things along with your body into this place, so it is normal for you to see additional things. Do not overthink it."
Seeing that Shirou had been successfully led to his line of thinking, Archer added another explanation.
Unlike Shirou, who had arrived carrying all sorts of strange elements, Archer himself was simply here as a Servant.
His memories on this matter were not very complete either, since they came from fragments of residual magical energy, but he had gained a general understanding of this place.
Overall, it was a world where Oripathy and disasters caused by it existed everywhere. That was precisely why he chose to be somewhat lenient with Shirou.
"Different, huh? By the way, Archer… have you already… been eliminated? when did it happen? Was it more than two years ago?"
At this point, Shirou was completely convinced.
After all, something as strange as crossing into another world had already happened. Accepting other absurd things was not that difficult anymore.
At the same time, this was the first time he had heard Archer talk about his own situation here, so he took the chance to ask.
He only knew that Archer had once been in the northern plains of Ursus, and had disappeared more than two years ago.
So his "exit" must have happened around that time.
There seemed to be a two-year gap between them.
"…Who knows? Even a Servant is not invincible. If someone seizes the right opportunity, they can still be defeated. I merely paid the price with my life."
As he said that, Archer seemed to recall something and continued:
"You have already come into contact with Originium, right? Does it feel terrible?"
"It does. It feels like… diluted black mud? The moment I touched it, I saw many images and heard many voices. After that, I even saw clearer scenes in my dreams."
Although he did not know why Archer suddenly brought it up, Shirou still explained his first experience with Originium.
Even if Archer was irritating, he had helped him countless times here.
Whether it was the shroud, or pulling him out of those memories multiple times.
"Then that makes sense. Although I still do not know the true nature of that stuff, for people like us who have magic, Originium is essentially a deadly poison. You can draw magical energy from it, but in return, your mind gets contaminated. The reason I 'exited' was because of that."
After hearing Shirou's explanation, Archer nodded and continued.
"Gulp—"
Shirou swallowed.
Combining Archer's words with his own experiences, he could tell that what Archer said was true.
And since Archer manifested as a Servant, maintaining his existence required magical energy.
That made his statement even more credible.
"So do not go out of your way to come into contact with Originium. You have a physical body so you do not need magic to sustain your existence."
Seeing Shirou's reaction, Archer knew his words had gotten through.
Honestly, talking to this guy was really troublesome.
"So will I still become an Infected?"
After processing what he had heard, that was the first question that came to Shirou's mind.
After all, the people at Rhodes Island were researching his blood. If he could still become infected, then what exactly were they studying?
"Maybe. To be honest, I do not know either. But the advice I can give you is to avoid Originium as much as possible. Especially if there is something else you want to do."
Naturally, Archer could not know for sure.
After all, neither of them belonged to this world and while he was a Servant, Shirou was alive and had a physical body.
"But someone is studying my blood. They said my constitution is special, maybe even the type that is not easily infected. It supposedly has great research value."
Hearing Archer's warning, Shirou frowned slightly, wondering whether Archer was mistaken or if Rhodes Island's research was off.
"..."
With a look that said "just as I thought," Archer felt a wave of exhaustion.
Good thing he said it early. If he had been any later, this guy might have already started acting on it.
After thinking for a moment, Archer said:
"Do not forget that you are not a native of this world. And it seems that what they consider 'human' here is not the same as what we know. Also, I am talking about the relationship between Originium and magical energy."
"Oh… I think I get it. So what you mean is that I should minimize contact with Originium, right?"
Shirou found Archer's reasoning quite convincing.
"In this world, it is hard to completely avoid Originium. The advice I can give is this: do not cross that final line. Once you cross it, there is no turning back."
From what Shirou had revealed, Archer could roughly guess what stage he was at.
It was only a matter of time before that truth would be discovered. If possible, Archer wanted him to realize it later rather than sooner.
The longer it could be delayed, the better.
Given Emiya Shirou's personality, once he confirmed the truth, he would definitely act immediately.
As someone who had already walked that path, the only thing Archer could do was warn him not to cross that final line.
"What line?"
Maybe it was just his imagination, but Shirou felt that Archer's words which were already hard to understand had now become even more vague, almost abstract.
They were both Emiya Shirou. Could he not just say things plainly?
"You will understand what I mean later. As for now… it is time for you to go back. Do not come here again for a while. I am not your babysitter."
Archer ended the conversation. If it continued, too many things might be uncovered.
He understood the saying "the more you speak, the more mistakes you make," so he effectively told Shirou to leave.
Even though this place existed within Shirou's consciousness, Archer still held a certain degree of control.
Unlike last time, he did not use force. This time, he simply snapped his fingers lightly and sent Shirou away before he could say anything more.
"You really are troublesome… and I do not have that much magical energy left."
After Shirou completely disappeared, Archer sighed and muttered to himself, clenching his hand slightly as he sensed the amount of magical energy he had left.
It could last for a while, but eventually, it would run out.
Before that happened, he wondered whether Shirou would be able to grow enough to stand on his own.
He did not ask for much, he just wanted his thinking to mature a bit.
"I hope he settles down for a while."
With that, Archer's figure vanished.
Then a fierce wind swept across, and the snowy plain gradually disappeared, revealing the desert beneath.
Dusk, a barren wasteland, and scattered across the land were tiny Originium crystals.
"..."
Opening his eyes, Shirou looked at the familiar ceiling and silently sat up.
At least this time, that guy had not thrown him out violently. But at the end, he had still left him with another cryptic remark.
He already had enough things giving him a headache, and now Archer's words added more to it.
Shirou felt like he really needed some headache medicine.
Of course, that was just a thought.
"I will take a cold shower and prepare breakfast. No point overthinking it."
After giving himself a bit of a pep talk, Shirou decided that, for the time being, he would stop thinking about anything else.
First, focus on preparing breakfast for the morning.
Before that, he needed to wash up, just like usual.
Walking into the bathroom, Shirou planned to wash his face first to wake himself up a little, in case he spaced out and slipped.
"At this time… let me think. For breakfast, I will clear out the fridge. I can also prepare lunchboxes for the three from the Guard Department. Then I will restock in the afternoon."
As he ran hot water over a towel, Shirou thought about what to do that morning.
Deliberately avoiding other thoughts.
But some things cannot simply be avoided by intention alone.
After wiping his face with the warm towel, Shirou looked at himself in the mirror.
Messy red hair from just waking up, slightly drowsy brown eyes, and a shirt that looked a bit tight from his growing frame.
As he kept looking, he felt like the reflection in the mirror overlapped with a fragment from his memory.
A version of himself dressed in red, with black arm guards, staring coldly back at him through the mirror.
Smash—
Before he realized it, his right fist had already shattered the mirror in front of him.
Because he had unconsciously used reinforcement magecraft, he did not get hurt.
Though cleaning up the shattered pieces would be a bit troublesome.
"..."
However, his thoughts were clearly not on that.
"It is just a fragment. Do not think too much about it… it only left such a deep impression because our eyes met. Just like Archer said, it is only a fragment."
Thinking of the version of himself in the black mud, and recalling Archer's words, Shirou quickly calmed down.
"It only feels this way because that scene was too striking. Calm down…"
Taking a deep breath, he attributed his reaction to how strongly that image had affected him. Since they shared the same appearance, it was only natural he reacted like this.
A version of himself bathed in black mud… just imagining it made his skin crawl. But that was exactly why it was so unforgettable.
After cleaning up the broken glass on the floor, Shirou decided not to bathe anymore.
That shock had already woken him up far more effectively than a cold shower or coffee ever could.