After finishing his talk with Paul, Shirou went back to his room to make final preparations for leaving the Greyrat household.
First, he took out his magic notebook, which recorded his long-time exploration and research into Servant Emiya's power. It was, without a doubt, the most important thing to him, so he brought it with him.
Besides that, there were many products of his sword magic practice in the room. The projected objects were weapons from Servant Emiya's memories, as well as some weapons and tools from this world.
But compared to the magic notebook, these projected creations were not valuable.
Shirou only needed to project something successfully once to be able to project the same thing infinitely.
So he ignored these projected creations, leaving them where they were. He then searched through the cabinet and found another notebook.
This notebook was very different from the magic notebook. It didn't record magic, but rather Shirou's review and strengthening of his cooking knowledge over the years.
The most important part was the unique dishes he developed based on the local characteristics of this world, including many made with monster ingredients.
Shirou had been constantly increasing the number of dishes, and trying to recreate some of the dishes he remembered in a simpler and clearer way.
Now, he took out this cooking notebook that he had treasured for many years, but he didn't take it with him. Instead, he held it in his hand and went to the living room.
In the living room, Zenith and Lilia were taking care of the two newborn babies, Norn and Aisha.
As soon as Shirou walked over, Aisha, who had been lying quietly in her cradle, suddenly opened her arms and made baby sounds.
Zenith and Lilia didn't have time to figure out what was going on, but when they saw that it was Shirou, they smiled knowingly.
"Aisha really likes Shirou. She didn't react so strongly when Paul came over."
Zenith said with a smile.
"This is a good thing."
Lilia also had a smile on her face. She had expected Aisha to repay Shirou's kindness for her in the future.
Now that Aisha was showing closeness to Shirou, it was undoubtedly a good thing for her.
Shirou was troubled by Aisha's reaction. He looked at Aisha, who stretched out her arms to him as soon as he walked over, and didn't know what to do.
Zenith couldn't help but smile and say:
"Do you want to hold her?"
"Let me hold her?"
Shirou was shocked. He had never held a baby before. Even with his younger sister Miyu, he rarely had such close contact.
However, looking at Aisha's big eyes full of longing, Shirou couldn't refuse. He hesitantly picked up the red-haired baby girl who was less than a year old from the cradle, and found that she was lying obediently in his arms, with a smile on her face.
"It's amazing. This is the first time Aisha has been held so calmly."
Zenith said in surprise, "When Paul held her before, this little girl threw a fit for a while."
"It seems so..."
Lilia also said unbelievably.
Most importantly, in her eyes, the scene of Shirou holding Aisha was so harmonious, as if they were real siblings.
But that was impossible.
"Waa Waa Waa..."
When Shirou picked up Aisha, and the latter didn't resist at all, Norn suddenly started crying in the cradle next to her.
Although Norn often cried, it was rare for her to cry so intensely this time.
Shirou was at a loss.
Zenith joked, "Maybe Norn is jealous. Shirou, you should hold her too, maybe she'll stop crying."
"That's impossible."
Shirou denied Zenith's words, not believing that a baby so young would have such complex emotions.
But he couldn't just ignore Norn.
So he let go of Aisha, who looked reluctant, and went to Norn's crib, picking up the blonde baby girl from the cradle.
"..."
An incredible scene happened.
Norn stopped crying as soon as Shirou picked her up. Not only that, she grabbed Shirou's chest very dependently, as if she didn't want him to leave.
"This..."
It was incredible that a newborn baby would have such a thing, whether it was a coincidence or just a pure instinct.
Looking at the baby girl in front of him, Shirou felt a strong reluctance at the thought of not being able to watch the two younger sisters grow up.
But in the end, he put Norn back into the cradle, turned around with a firm expression and said:
"Zenith, Lilia, I think you should know that I'm leaving the Greyrat household."
"Yes."
Zenith and Lilia were undoubtedly mentally prepared for this. They had a feeling for it as early as Ghislaine's arrival, no, even before that.
If Shirou was an eagle about to spread its wings and soar, then the Greyrat household was just an empty nest, not a place where he could stretch his limbs.
What he needed was a bigger and wider stage.
However, these were all Zenith and Lilia's own imaginations. Shirou didn't have such thoughts. He said silently, "Although I'm leaving to learn the stronger Sword God Style, my goal has never changed, and that is to become stronger, strong enough to protect you, to protect the people I want to protect, no matter what. So, I will come back one day, and I will definitely come back."
Shirou said what was in his heart.
Zenith and Lilia were naturally very touched by this.
Zenith then hugged Shirou tightly, the blonde woman stroked his head with a smile, and said gently, "Shirou, you are such a serious and stubborn child. We know some things even if you don't say them. After all, you are a child who values family more than anyone else."
Zenith had noticed it ever since she brought Shirou back.
That was, Shirou was carrying some extremely heavy burden, with some unspeakable pressure.
Although he never showed it on the surface, both his obsession with swordsmanship and his resilience in the face of difficulties proved that Shirou's heart was always in a state of being chased.
He seemed to be running at full speed all the time, because once he stopped running, a huge shadow would attack from behind, catching up with him and completely swallowing him.
This situation lasted for a long time, until recently, after Norn and Aisha were born, it gradually eased up a bit.
However, the outbreak of the Red Dragon's battle changed everything, causing the pressure on Shirou to attack again, and becoming more serious than in the past.
The most obvious point was that the smile on Shirou's face became less than before.
The boy with that streak of white hair seemed to have suddenly become another person, or rather, he had returned to his original self.
Not daring to stop for a moment, constantly running, as if afraid of being caught up by some huge shadow.
In the past, with the Greyrat family watching over him, he would restrain himself more or less, and wouldn't go all out and become obsessed like a madman.
But what about the future?
When Shirou went to a strange place, without his family around him, what kind of obsessive, persistent and crazy state would he enter?
Zenith couldn't even imagine such a scene.
So, she hugged Shirou tightly, almost with all her strength, reluctant to let go.
"Zenith?"
Shirou felt Zenith hugging him tighter and tighter. He didn't know what she was thinking, and could only feel the warmth of the woman with slight stiffness.
It could be said that Shirou had never felt this kind of warmth brought by an adult woman, whether in his previous life, or in this life, or even in Servant Emiya's memories.
The term "mother" was almost completely foreign to him.
What Shirou had always felt was his father's strictness, and he rarely experienced his mother's tenderness.
So, when Zenith showed him this almost loving attitude, his first reaction was to be at a loss, completely not knowing how to respond.
"Sigh..."
Zenith hugged Shirou and sighed.
She had always had a clear understanding of Shirou's obsession, but she actually had doubts in her heart in the past, wondering if Shirou cared about the Greyrat family.
After all, no one knew what happened before Shirou was five years old, and he never told anyone about the story before that.
Maybe the family that Shirou was talking about always referred to his family before he was five years old.
Zenith instinctively had such doubts in her heart.
But in the matter of Paul's affair with Lilia, Zenith changed her mind.
When Lilia was pregnant and Paul didn't dare to face the facts, Shirou took the initiative to stand up, scolded Paul under pressure, and said he would take her away.
At that time, Zenith was honestly very happy, even happy enough to forget the pain of Paul betraying her...
Because compared to Paul's betrayal, which she had expected for a long time, it was Zenith who was even more happy that Shirou was willing to show his family's importance to her.
After all, Shirou's actions made Zenith realize that he really regarded the Greyrat family as family, and regarded himself as a mother, so he scolded Paul like that.
Just realizing this made Zenith almost overjoyed extent.
Shirou is her child, and she is Shirou's mother.
Zenith only needed to know this point to accept anything and face any uneasiness bravely.
But for this reason, she still revealed her little wish in her words, touching the boy's head, and said expectantly, "Shirou, remember to come back soon."
"Yes, I will be back soon, Zenith."
Shirou hesitated, but in the end he didn't call her mother like Paul did.
After all, he had no experience in this regard, so he just used his own style, but in his heart, Shirou had indeed regarded Zenith as his mother.
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