Chapter 104: Jealousy from the Loki Familia, Shirou Forges the Scabbard Avalon!
"!!!!"
The moment the words left her mouth, Lefiya instantly fell into regret.
She had been too happy from being praised by Shirou, and in her elation, she had actually blurted out, "Between Ais and me, who do you like more?"
Although this had indeed been a question lingering in her heart for a long time—so much so that it often kept her awake at night.
The reason she appeared on the city wall that morning was also because she couldn't sleep.
She had suddenly seen Ais sneaking out of the Loki Familia's base early in the morning.
Being too curious, she secretly followed and ended up witnessing the meeting between Ais and the Sword Demon.
To avoid being discovered, Lefiya could only squat in a corner the whole time, silently, and unintentionally witnessed the entire battle between Shirou and Ais.
Even though Shirou wore a cloak and a mask in front of outsiders, Lefiya's intuition still allowed her to recognize his identity.
To be honest, deep down, Lefiya had already suspected that Shirou was the Sword Demon.
Anyone who witnessed what happened on the 20th floor of the dungeon would naturally realize that Shirou Emiya was not an ordinary person.
Even if he were the legendary Sword Demon, it wouldn't be surprising.
Compared to Shirou's identity, what Lefiya cared more about was the fact that he and Ais were secretly meeting.
Just the thought that the two might develop a close relationship cast a cloud over her heart.
That was precisely why Lefiya forcefully insisted on having Shirou become her teacher too.
Even though she didn't truly want to learn anything—she just didn't want Shirou and Ais to grow even closer and leave her behind.
However, at first, Lefiya would never admit that.
In her eyes, she was just trying to protect her beloved Ais-senpai from being deceived by a suspicious man. She had entered the tiger's den only to save the person she cared about the most.
But after receiving direct guidance from Shirou in archery—and even being praised for her talent—Lefiya's heart soared, and she subconsciously asked the question that had been buried deep inside her.
"N-no! That's not what I meant!"
Faced with Shirou's bewildered expression, Lefiya froze for a few seconds before realizing the shameful thing she had just said.
The intense embarrassment made her cheeks flush red all the way to her ears.
"Just now, I just meant to ask who is more outstanding—me or Ais-senpai!" Lefiya hurriedly tried to come up with an excuse. "Y-yeah, that's right. I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to know, from a disciple's standpoint, who you think has more potential—me or Ais-senpai!"
"Oh, I see..."
Shirou let out a sigh of relief.
He wasn't an idiot, of course—he understood what Lefiya really meant.
But he felt she only said such things because she was still young and had unrealistic fantasies about him.
Shirou had a very clear understanding of himself.
He never believed that someone would fall in love with him.
That kind of thing had always been unrelated to him.
So he went along with her excuse and calmly responded, "In terms of strength, Ais is definitely much stronger than you right now. But in terms of talent and potential, it's not so clear."
"Eh? Really?"
Lefiya had only meant it as an excuse—she didn't believe for a second that she could surpass the Ais-senpai she admired so deeply.
But she didn't expect Shirou to believe she had potential on par with Ais. That truly surprised her and was hard to believe.
"It's true." Shirou could see Lefiya's doubt, so he encouraged her, "Talent and strength are not the same.
Talent doesn't immediately translate into strength.
It's like forging: no matter how fine the raw iron, it still needs a long process of refinement and hammering before it can become a truly sharp sword.
Right now, you're like an unshaped sword billet.
You still need time and training to reveal your edge.
But I'm optimistic about you. I believe when your talent blossoms, you won't be inferior to Ais."
"..."
She didn't expect Shirou to seriously evaluate her like that, even saying she might not be inferior to the Ais she admired. Lefiya couldn't help but feel conflicted and disgusted with herself.
Both Shirou and Ais had clear goals and were always moving forward toward them.
By comparison, Lefiya felt far too lost—constantly having strange and confusing thoughts.
As a result, she felt she would never be able to keep up with them and would be left far behind.
There was only one solution: to be like Shirou and Ais—to pour everything into the path of becoming stronger, and give it her all to catch up.
"I understand now!" Lefiya's resolve gradually hardened. "Please train me, Emiya—no, Master!"
"No, no, don't call me that."
Shirou scratched his head awkwardly.
When Ais called him "Master," it was under his Sword Demon persona—like there was a veil between them—so it didn't feel too awkward.
But Lefiya knew his true identity. Being called "Master" by a girl his age gave Shirou some strange, complicated feelings, even if he usually didn't mind such things.
"Eh? I can't?" Lefiya looked disappointed after being rejected. "Then I'll just call you Emiya—no, Shirou!"
"Fine by me."
Shirou didn't really care what others called him. In fact, hearing his name like this felt more natural.
As soon as she got permission, Lefiya's face bloomed with joy—as if she'd received a special reward. She looked thrilled, unable to hold back her smile.
Shirou and Lefiya continued training on the city wall for a while longer. Only after the sun had fully risen did Lefiya reluctantly leave.
Once everything ended, Shirou originally planned to head straight to the Hephaestus Familia to practice forging—but unexpectedly, he ran into a familiar face on the way.
"Yo, Emiya! Long time no see—missed me?"
The red-haired goddess Loki ran up to him with a big smile.
Shirou wasn't too surprised to see this mischievous goddess again. Since Ais and Lefiya had already returned to Orario, it was only natural that Loki would come back too.
"Since you've come to see me, I'm guessing you want to talk about the Dark Faction."
Shirou didn't waste time and got straight to the point.
"Aww, can't I just come to see you for fun?"
"Don't say disgusting things."
"Hey hey hey! Even I'll feel hurt if you say I'm disgusting!"
Loki laughed and threw her arm around Shirou's shoulders.
The god and human chatted for a while, just like old times, before Loki finally got down to business.
"Okay, just like you guessed, I came to talk about the Dark Faction," Loki's eyes suddenly turned serious. "To put it simply, my Familia and I found traces of the Dark Faction in the port city Meren. The fishing god Njord is cooperating with them—he's smuggling mutant plants into the sea."
"Fishing god Njord? Mutant plants into the sea?"
Shirou looked surprised—Loki's trip had actually yielded valuable information.
He then shared what he and the Freya Familia had discovered in Daedalus Street, and their suspicion that the Dark Faction's base was likely in the sewers there.
"Huh? So much happened while I was gone?" Loki was dumbfounded after hearing everything. "Damn it! I missed your battle with Kali—what a shame!!"
"That's what you're upset about?"
Shirou looked speechless—he hadn't expected Loki to care more about missing his fight with the War God.
But Loki just grinned. "Come on, I'm a god! Of course I want to see extraordinary humans show their brilliance. After all, we gods came down to the mortal realm looking for entertainment."
"Well, that's true."
Shirou knew the gods in this world came down because they were bored of the heavens and wanted fun in the mortal world.
That's why they tended to focus on strange things.
Of course, Loki was still a responsible deity. She quickly digested Shirou's intel and muttered, "I see… So Daedalus Street really is the Dark Faction's base. I had a feeling, but this confirms it—it's going to be a real headache."
"Is Daedalus Street that much of a problem?"
"It's Orario's no-man's-land—the only place with no Familia stationed there," Loki explained. "In other words, it's the one area where everyone wants a piece of the pie. If any Familia tries to make a move there, the others will grow wary—and might even be enraged."
"It's really that serious?"
"More than you think," Loki said sternly as she looked at Shirou. "Even though Orario was built by gods for fun, gods are no different from humans in nature—selfish and easily angered by the smallest things.
Most gods seem easygoing only because their personal interests haven't been touched. But once something affects them, even the gentlest god can instantly turn into a war-crazed beast."
"..."
Although Shirou had never witnessed such a thing, he could imagine what would happen if the balance in Orario was broken—gods clashing and bloodshed erupting.
After all, gods couldn't truly die, so they acted with far fewer scruples than humans.
Any minor provocation could cause a god to go berserk.
While gods were not allowed to use divine power in the lower world, that didn't mean it was impossible. If they were willing to risk returning to the heavens, they could wreak havoc before leaving.
Even the weakest, gentlest god—once using divine power—could instantly become an overwhelmingly destructive force, possibly even destroying an entire city.
Gods were like nuclear bombs.
Orario was essentially a city filled with countless nuclear bombs.
Its stability depended solely on the mutual deterrence between gods.
This kind of deterrence may appear stable, but in reality, it is extremely fragile. Once the balance is disrupted, it will instantly trigger a shocking chain reaction and cause massive destruction.
"I see."
After understanding this point, Shirou also realized why Loki said that Daedalus Street would be so troublesome.
It was precisely because there was no specific deity governing it that Daedalus Street attracted the attention of all the gods.
It was like a piece of untouched cake—everyone wanted a bite, but because of mutual fear and deterrence, no one dared to make the first move.
However, once someone takes the first action, the surrounding wolves—who had been enduring their hunger—would immediately pounce and devour the one who moved first alive.
Because of this, taking any action in Daedalus Street becomes extremely troublesome.
Let alone trying to locate the whereabouts of the dark faction within Daedalus Street.
"The dark faction must've calculated this and deliberately established their base in Daedalus Street," Shirou sighed. "Even the Loki Familia can't afford to incur the wrath of everyone."
"No, it's not entirely hopeless," Loki smiled. "While no Familia can casually enter Daedalus Street, as long as there's a suitable reason, it shouldn't be a problem to investigate."
"A suitable reason?"
"Didn't you discover another Orario underground beneath Daedalus Street? This hasn't been widely spread yet—presumably because the Guild is deliberately suppressing the flow of information.
So, as long as I use this to make a deal with the Guild and pretend to be investigating the underground Orario, I should be able to bring people in to explore Daedalus Street."
"I see." Shirou immediately understood Loki's plan.
While Daedalus Street was indeed under the scrutiny of all gods, the Guild was the ultimate authority in Orario.
If Loki could obtain the Guild's permission, the other Familias likely wouldn't question it and would allow Loki Familia to conduct the investigation.
The underground Daedalus Street was also unknown to the Guild, so it would certainly draw their attention.
The two continued to discuss the details of the deal with the Guild. Once everything was settled, Loki quickly went to the Guild headquarters to obtain permission from the heavenly god Uranus, who managed Orario.
Shirou didn't know much about the god Uranus, but he knew that Uranus was the founder of Orario and the creator of the Babel Tower.
Daedalus, who built the Babel Tower, was one of Uranus' followers.
At the same time, as the most responsible of the heavenly gods, Uranus had spent nearly all his time in prayer since descending to the lower world, using divine prayer to suppress the malice of the dungeon.
It could be said that it was precisely because of Uranus' existence that monsters in the dungeon did not flood out and that peace was maintained in Orario.
Shirou deeply respected such a kind-hearted and dedicated god. But even so, a faint sense of doubt lingered in his heart.
Was the heavenly god Uranus truly doing all this solely for the sake of the humans aboveground?
According to Loki, so-called gods were ultimately no different from humans—they had the same emotions and were just as selfish and self-interested.
If that were the case, could Uranus truly be entirely selfless? Had he gone through all this effort without desiring any form of reward?
Even a true ally of justice would rarely act without any expectation of return. The only ones who would do that were hypocrites. Yes, like Shirou Emiya himself—doing good without expecting reward, yet never truly upholding justice in his heart. Because he was simply following someone else's ideal, acting toward a goal that wasn't his own.
Then what about Uranus?
Was he a true ally of justice—or merely a hypocrite? Where did Uranus' sense of justice come from?
While Shirou pondered this, Loki soon returned from the Guild. She had successfully obtained Uranus' permission for the Loki Familia to explore the sewers beneath Daedalus Street.
"That's settled then. Once I return, I'll gather the members and start the exploration. Shirou, you should prepare as well. It's all thanks to you that we could confirm the situation in Daedalus Street. So, once we find the dark faction's base, I hope you can come and help."
"You want me to join too?"
"Of course! After all, the dark faction might still have a few evil gods left, with unknown divine powers. We'll definitely need you, the 'God-Slayer,' to step in!" "Don't call me by that chuunibyou nickname..."
Shirou sighed but agreed with her logic. He was also quite interested in the dark faction's base. If he could explore alongside Loki Familia, that would be ideal.
So Shirou and Loki parted ways to prepare for the expedition to the dark faction's base. Although the main force this time would be the Loki Familia, Shirou remained highly cautious about the dark faction.
From the intel obtained from Ishtar, he knew that the dark faction not only still harbored the death god Thanatos, but also a corrupt divine spirit clone called the "Bull of Heaven," which had the power to rival top-tier Familias.
To prepare for possible danger, Shirou decided to forge more useful weapons using his abilities.
However, just as Shirou, ignited with renewed enthusiasm, was busy forging weapons, Loki suddenly brought troubling news.
"Sorry, Shirou. You might not be able to let you join the expedition to Daedalus Street after all." "Why?"
Shirou looked at Loki in surprise, not understanding why she'd suddenly change her mind.
"Well..." Loki hesitated but eventually spoke, "It's those kids in my Familia—they don't want outsiders joining the operation." "Just that reason?"
Shirou looked at Loki, thinking there had to be more to it.
Loki sighed again and slowly explained, "Alright, I guess I'm partly to blame too."
"Because of you? What did you do?"
"Ahaha, it's nothing major—I just praised you a bit too much, hoping they'd acknowledge you. I told them how you defeated Apollo and Kali, and how you were key to locating the dark faction's base. Of course, it was all true..." Loki scratched her head awkwardly. "But I forgot how competitive those brats are. Instead of admiring you, they got jealous. So they insisted that I don't bring you along—they want to take down the dark faction with their own strength."
Loki's words left Shirou speechless.
He could completely understand the current mindset of the Loki Familia members—they had likely been compared to him by Loki, triggering strong defiance and a desire to prove themselves.
More importantly, most of the Loki Familia didn't get along with Shirou. In fact, many were hostile toward him.
Only Ais and Lefiya were close to him.
When someone finds out their rival is doing better than they are, most people feel resentment—sometimes even hatred.
"I didn't expect even Riveria to oppose your joining," Loki added helplessly. "As the vice-captain, her stance left no room for others to support you, even if they wanted to. Ais and Lefiya did speak up though—especially Lefiya. She even stood up to Riveria for once!"
"Lefiya?"
"Yeah, can you believe it? A mere elf daring to defy the royal elf Riveria, questioning her decision and asking for you to join... Oh man, you should've seen Riveria's face turn green!"
"Lefiya's okay, right?"
"Of course. Riveria might have a sharp tongue, but she's soft on the inside. She scolded Lefiya, but didn't actually do anything. Still, your chances of joining the investigation team are now completely gone."
"Alright then." Shirou shook his head, not overly bothered. Of course, that didn't mean he felt nothing.
But Shirou was very aware that this expedition would likely end in disaster for Loki Familia.
Because whether it was Thanatos and his followers or the Bull of Heaven, they posed massive threats. If not handled properly, the consequences would be severe.
What was worse, the enemy clearly already knew about their plan and would be fully prepared, waiting in ambush.
Charging into a trap like that—even for a top-tier Familia like Loki's—was a recipe for defeat.
Of course, Loki Familia wouldn't see it that way. They were probably still confident, thinking they could wipe out the dark faction in one go.
But without Shirou's help, it was more likely they would be wiped out instead.
Still, Shirou wouldn't help them. Because he wasn't some brainless do-gooder.
If the Loki Familia didn't want him around, then he'd let them suffer a bit—so those self-proclaimed heroes would finally understand what it truly meant to be one.
Heroes weren't stage-play warriors.
They were mortals who endured suffering and torment, clawing through despair to find hope.
A hero wasn't a person, but a manifestation of will.
And right now, the Loki Familia lacked the will to become true heroes.
Still, although Shirou didn't intend to help the Loki Familia, he didn't want Ais and Lefiya to be hurt in the process.
Ais was Level 6, so she was probably safe. But Lefiya was only Level 3, so her chances of surviving a crisis were much lower.
Therefore, Shirou decided to forge some protective equipment for Lefiya to ensure her safety.
With that in mind, a few images of Noble Phantasms flashed through his head, but none seemed quite right—they couldn't give him peace of mind.
Just then, he saw the golden sword he had always carried since forging it.
As King Arthur's holy sword, this blade had no sheath, so Shirou had wrapped it in cloth, making it look like a wooden stick.
But most holy swords had scabbards.
Especially the true Noble Phantasm of Artoria—Excalibur.
Its scabbard was particularly special, named Avalon, the "Distant Utopia."
Its effect was to automatically heal the wielder of all wounds. In addition, when used with the holy sword, it could deploy a massive barrier that could negate and even reflect all external attacks!
If Shirou could forge the scabbard of the holy sword—Avalon—and give it to Lefiya, perhaps that would ensure her safety!
With that thought, Shirou didn't waste a moment and immediately began preparations to forge Avalon!