After Amiya confirmed that all the ingredients Shirou needed were available aboard Rhodes Island, Shirou's schedule for tomorrow afternoon was temporarily decided.
At the very least, the preparation on his side would require an entire afternoon.
After all, most of the cooking time would be spent stewing.
Now that the topic of chocolate was gone, Shirou no longer knew what to talk about.
Mainly because there was a slight generational gap between them.
Treating the two girls like ordinary children did not feel appropriate. Both of them were Rhodes Island operators who had experienced countless missions already, and their thinking and logic were far more mature because of it.
But treating them as adults did not feel quite right either...
For a moment, Shirou found it difficult to locate the proper middle ground.
Still, there was no need to rush.
Taking advantage of the moment, Shirou narrowed his eyes slightly and rested for a bit.
Using large amounts of magical energy in the testing grounds earlier, combined with everything that had happened beforehand, had still left him somewhat exhausted.
"..."
After quite a while, Rosmontis finally noticed that Shirou had fallen asleep with his head lowered.
After thinking for a moment, Rosmontis put away her terminal, moved slightly closer toward Shirou, then gently leaned against his body and closed her eyes as well.
"Hm? Honestly... Rosmontis is way too lacking in caution."
Some time later, after finishing her work, Amiya noticed that Rosmontis had already fallen asleep while lightly leaning against Shirou's lap.
Thinking about it carefully, something similar had happened during dinner yesterday too.
Though that time it was mainly because Blaze had been making so much noise that Rosmontis ended up moving closer toward Shirou.
After checking the time, Amiya estimated that according to the normal process, the others would still need another ten or so minutes before finishing their examinations and coming out.
Rosmontis looked like she was sleeping quite comfortably, so perhaps she should also...
"Uh..."
Just as Amiya was thinking about it, Shirou's brows suddenly tightened deeply.
Seeing his expression, Amiya immediately used her Originium Arts and discovered that Shirou's emotional fluctuations had become rather intense.
"Shirou? Are you alright?"
From the look of it, Shirou was probably having a nightmare.
So Amiya gently pushed against his body, trying to wake him up.
Under Amiya's light nudging, Shirou's expression quickly eased, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Since his head had been lowered, the first thing he saw was the white creature lying across his lap.
"...Illya?"
He softly called out the name, then noticed the pair of cat ears atop the white-haired figure's head and finally remembered who it actually was.
It was Rosmontis.
"Are you alright? Your expression looked really bad just now, so I woke you up."
Seeing that Shirou still appeared somewhat dazed, Amiya cautiously used her Originium Arts to sense his emotions.
Although they were somewhat disordered, they still remained within a normal range.
"I am fine. I just dreamed about some unpleasant things."
Gently rubbing the space between his brows with his right hand, Shirou let out a quiet sigh.
He had dreamed about memories related to that person again.
Looks like he would need to prepare himself for another long stretch of nightmares.
His sleep quality had already been terrible to begin with, and now he had unlocked an entirely new category of nightmares.
At this rate, he really might end up following in Yith's footsteps.
He definitely did not want to experience severe sleep deprivation again.
"I see... Is it because of that magic crystal?"
After hearing Shirou's words, Amiya lightly held the left side of her coat, where the magical crystal currently rested inside an inner pocket.
The stone in her possession showed no reaction at all, just as usual.
"It has nothing to do with that. I already had this problem to begin with, so there is no need to worry too much."
Noticing Amiya's conflicted expression, Shirou carefully waved his hand slightly.
Well, only his right hand.
Rosmontis was currently sleeping against his left side, so he moved very cautiously.
"Mhm... Alright then. But if there is a problem, you absolutely have to say something, okay? Otherwise treatment might be delayed."
Looking at Shirou's current state, along with the fact that his emotional fluctuations had stabilized considerably, Amiya finally believed him.
Still, if he frequently suffered from nightmares in the first place...
That did not seem very good either.
She would need to report this matter to Doctor Kal'tsit later.
Frequent nightmares could indicate that Shirou's mental condition was not particularly stable.
"I will. Do not worry."
Hearing Amiya's words, Shirou replied calmly.
As for whether he would actually speak up about it...
That depended on the situation.
Some things could not be solved simply by talking about them.
"Mm... That expression on your face says you are not planning to tell anyone anything at all, right?"
Sensing that something in Shirou's emotions felt off, Amiya immediately pointed at his nose and said so directly.
She understood that everyone had personal troubles they did not want to reveal to others.
But Shirou blatantly lying to her right in front of her was a little too much, was it not?
"..."
Was this Originium Art not a little too overpowered?
Just as the atmosphere had fallen into an awkward deadlock, Amiya let out a helpless sigh before saying:
"I know this request may be a little difficult for you, but if possible, it would still be better to let the doctors understand your condition as much as they can. That way, Rhodes Island can also arrange better treatment for you."
Blaming someone would not earn their trust.
She had to move people emotionally and persuade them logically. She needed to use gentler words in order to gain the trust of others.
"I will do my best."
Faced with this kind of gentle persuasion, Shirou could not directly refuse anymore and could only answer in a somewhat tactful manner.
"Alright, let us stop this topic here then! Also, Shirou, who was the Illya you mentioned earlier? Is she someone you know well?"
Amiya did not continue pressing the matter.
Continuing the discussion under the current circumstances would only make things more awkward.
It was better to change the subject instead. For example, using the unfamiliar name Shirou had called out after waking up was a pretty good topic.
For some reason, Amiya felt as though she had seen or heard that name somewhere before.
She just could not remember clearly.
Out of curiosity, she asked Shirou about it.
"Illya... How should I put it... She is my older sister?"
Since Amiya had changed the topic, Shirou naturally followed along and answered.
It was not just Amiya who wanted to avoid awkwardness.
He felt the same way.
Especially when someone like Amiya was genuinely trying to help him, he found it even harder to reject her outright.
"Why are you phrasing it like a question?"
Hearing Shirou's answer, Amiya looked confused.
If she was his older sister, then she was his older sister.
Why did he make it sound uncertain?
"The reason is a little complicated... I do not actually have memories related to that."
All Shirou could do was answer with an awkward laugh.
After all, he truly did not possess memories related to that matter himself. His understanding of their relationship came entirely from the memories of other versions of Emiya Shirou.
Illyasviel von Einzbern was Kiritsugu's daughter, which made her his adoptive older sister.
She had appeared as the Master of Berserker during the Fifth Holy Grail War.
Although their first few encounters had not exactly been pleasant and had even been rather painful emotionally, once he understood her motivations, it became genuinely difficult to blame her.
Strictly speaking, the two of them were both victims of the Holy Grail War.
"I see..."
Seeing Shirou's awkward smile, Amiya chose not to continue asking.
The moment he started talking about Illya, his emotions had completely calmed down already. The reason she deliberately kept him talking was simply to help distract him from the nightmare he had just experienced.
That Illya...
She was probably someone extremely important to Shirou.
Otherwise, he would not have shown such a gentle expression while speaking about her.
How nice...
Having siblings and things like that.
Meanwhile, Shirou himself seemed completely unaware of Amiya's intention behind the conversation, nor did he notice that speaking about Illya had calmed his emotions considerably.
Right now, he was still thinking about what sort of explanation he should give if Amiya continued asking questions.
After all, his relationship with Illya was genuinely rather complicated.
Fortunately, Amiya showed no intention of pressing further, which made Shirou quietly sigh in relief.
Watching Amiya pick up her terminal and become busy again, Shirou shifted his attention toward the white Feline girl resting on his lap.
If one only looked at the silhouette and hair from behind, it really would have been easy to mistake her identity.
But once the cat ears and tail were included, it became immediately obvious who she was.
He still did not understand why Rosmontis trusted him so much, constantly exposing such a defenseless side of herself to him.
Carefully adjusting his position so Rosmontis would not be sleeping in such an awkward posture, Shirou completely lost any desire to nap himself.
He might as well let Rosmontis sleep more comfortably.
"She really is tired... She should go back to her room and sleep properly."
Just as Shirou was dutifully acting as a pillow, he suddenly heard a faint voice that sounded strangely familiar.
Extremely familiar.
"Saber?"
Raising his head, Shirou looked around everywhere, but he did not see the familiar golden figure.
There were only Rhodes Island operators moving back and forth, along with doctors wearing white coats.
"Mm...?"
Rosmontis, who had been resting on Shirou's lap, woke up because of his sudden movement.
Not only Rosmontis, even Amiya looked at Shirou in confusion.
"Sorry... Amiya, among Rhodes Island's operators, is there someone called Saber? A female knight with blonde hair."
After gently calming the awakened Rosmontis, Shirou turned toward Amiya and asked.
The reason he did not immediately rush out searching was partly because he himself had not determined where the voice came from.
The other reason was that Amiya, the leader of Rhodes Island, was right here for him to ask directly.
After receiving education from Yith, Shirou naturally was not going to choose the inefficient and troublesome option anymore.
"Saber? A blonde female knight? Mm... as for the former, no. But regarding the latter... Shirou, do you know Miss Nearl?"
Although she did not understand why Shirou was suddenly asking these questions, Amiya still answered seriously.
For some reason, Shirou looked unusually anxious.
"Nearl...? Is her real name Artoria?"
Hearing that unfamiliar name, most of the hope that had flared up inside Shirou was instantly extinguished.
Perhaps he was simply too exhausted right now, which caused him to hallucinate sounds.
After all, he had mistaken Rosmontis for Illyasviel von Einzbern earlier too.
Still, Shirou held onto a faint trace of expectation as he asked Amiya the question.
What if?
What if he had not imagined it?
Even if only the slightest possibility existed before him, Shirou did not want to let it slip away.
At the very least, he wanted Amiya herself to completely shatter that hope before giving up.
"Miss Nearl's name is Margaret Nearl. Here, this is her photo."
Sensing that this matter seemed extremely important to Shirou, Amiya specifically pulled up a photo of Nearl for him to confirm.
"Ah... it is not her."
The moment he saw the photograph, Shirou immediately knew it was not the person he was searching for.
After all, Saber did not have animal ears on her head.
She only had a single ahoge.
"I do not recognize the names Artoria or Saber either."
Feeling the disappointment in Shirou's heart, Amiya herself could not help becoming somewhat downcast as well. She hurriedly picked up her terminal and began searching through records.
Unfortunately, while Rhodes Island did have people with somewhat similar-sounding names, none of them were the person Shirou sought.
"It is alright. I probably just heard wrong."
Seeing Amiya taking his casual remark so seriously and helping him search so earnestly made Shirou feel somewhat embarrassed.
"It is fine. Rhodes Island often helps search for people anyway. I will remember the names and characteristics you mentioned, and if we discover anything, I will notify you immediately, Shirou."
Unlike Shirou, who looked apologetic, Amiya did not think there was anything troublesome about it.
Even without using her Originium Arts, the fact that Shirou had become so agitated earlier that he forgot about Rosmontis entirely was enough to prove how important that Saber was to him.
Unfortunately, the clues she currently possessed were too few, so Amiya also felt awkward about pressing him further.
"Thank you very much..."
Hearing Amiya's words, Shirou froze slightly before replying.
For her to help so seriously based purely on his own speculation...
Other than thanking her, he truly did not know what else to say.
After calming the startled Rosmontis somewhat, Shirou's emotions gradually settled as well.
Although the possibility of it truly being Saber was extremely low...
Shirou still held onto a small amount of hope.
Besides, he was not in a hurry to find her immediately.
After all, tomorrow afternoon he would be allowed into the kitchen to cook...
If it really was the Saber he knew, perhaps she would follow the scent of the food here.
Even if the chances were slim, it still gave Shirou a reason to take tomorrow seriously.
And with Amiya trying so earnestly to help him, there was no way he could stop at making only drunken featherbeast soup.
Since she looked forward to his cooking skills so much, then he would properly repay those expectations.