In the darkness stood a short, elderly man.
He wore traditional clothing of this country. His frail, shriveled body gave off an overwhelming sense of pressure, and his wrinkled face was set with a pair of extremely sharp eyes.
Judging by his appearance, he should have been close to a hundred years old.
The native humans of "Britannia" only lived about thirty years, while most fairies retained youthful appearances.
Because of that, Shirou lacked a proper frame of reference and might not be able to judge accurately.
His first instinct was that this old man had lived at least five hundred years.
"Hey, did you come into this room for a reason?"
The old man spoke. Shirou narrowed his eyes. No mistake, this was Shinji's grandfather, the so-called vampire whispered about in rumors.
"What's wrong, young man? Why aren't you saying anything?"
The old man spoke to himself in a cheerful tone.
"If you don't answer, I'll have to treat you as an intruder. Heh… now, how should I deal with you?"
Shirou remained calm. "I was invited here by Shinji. Intimidating a guest before even understanding the situation. Is that how the Matou family does things?"
"Shinji invited you?"
The old man, Zouken Matou, frowned in suspicion. His cowardly and useless grandson had invited someone his own age over?
That was strange.
Even stranger was the red-haired boy in front of him. There was an aura about him that didn't match his age at all.
He had just tried to intimidate him a little. Any normal child would have gone pale by now.
But not only did this boy remain completely unfazed, he even…
Zouken Matou was startled. His own presence had been suppressed instead?
And those eyes…
The amber pupils of the red-haired boy seemed to hold some kind of power, as if they could easily see through everything about him.
"..."
An old man and a boy, separated by nearly a century in appearance, faced off.
The air grew heavy and suffocating. Just then…
"Amamiya!"
An excited child's voice came from upstairs.
"Dad said yes! You can stay here!"
Shinji Matou rushed down the stairs in high spirits and ran up to Shirou.
"What are you standing here for? Listen, Dad agreed!"
"Also, one of the servants ran off a few days ago because Grandpa scared them away. If you can help with housework… huh, Grandpa?"
Zouken Matou clicked his tongue in displeasure. "So it really is someone Shinji brought back."
"Grandpa! This person is…"
Shinji quickly explained the situation.
Naturally, the prideful boy left out the part about being bullied, only saying he had met a friend on the street.
While he spoke, the old man kept staring at Shirou's face, and Shirou met his gaze without flinching.
"What's your name?"
"Shirou. Shirou Amamiya."
Hearing that name, Zouken Matou immediately lost interest.
He had thought the boy might come from some special Magus family.
For example, not Amamiya, but something like Emiya…
So he was just an ordinary kid?
Well, even if his own grandson was a disappointment, it wasn't impossible for a true genius to stand out at seven or eight years old.
Zouken Matou paused, then said, "Since you're a guest my grandson brought home, I won't say much.
But just to be safe, let me ask you first. You wouldn't harm innocent people, would you?"
A sharp glint shot out from his cloudy eyes, as if trying to pierce straight through Shirou.
"Grandpa?" Shinji blinked.
Shirou replied flatly, "Of course not. Shinji is my friend."
Zouken Matou said, "I see… My apologies for earlier. I was rude to treat a guest like that.
Ah, Byakuya has already agreed to let you stay, hasn't he? If you like it here, you may stay as long as you wish. There's no need to mind me."
Shirou asked, "You live here too, old man?"
Zouken Matou replied, "Yes. But as you can see, I'm nothing more than a decaying shell. I simply spend my days deep within this mansion, quietly waiting for death.
…Well then, I'll take my leave, Shirou Amamiya. Please get along with my grandson."
The old man disappeared with light steps into the darkness of the corridor.
Silence returned to the Matou residence.
Not only did their voices fade, even the constant chirping of insects fell completely silent.
"Hey, Shinji, your grandfather…"
Shirou turned to the seaweed-haired boy beside him, only to find him deeply moved, tears welling in his eyes.
"Shirou… is my friend… ugh…"
...
...
"Clairvoyance."
Unlike Mystic Eyes, which lean toward Magecraft applications, this was an innate ability possessed by the human body.
Throughout history, many great warriors recorded in legend possessed Clairvoyance.
At lower levels, Clairvoyance grants exceptional static vision, dynamic perception, and long-range sight. However, it remains an ability largely limited to combat.
Shirou Amamiya also had the aptitude for Clairvoyance. His hawk-like eyes should have been ranked at C.
But in another Britannia, Shirou had faced constant betrayal, deception, and malice from fairies day after day. His perception had been honed far beyond anything imaginable in Proper Human History.
On top of that, it had been further altered through Magecraft by a certain genius witch.
The final result was this.
"Mystic Eyes of the End."
Shirou Amamiya's eyes could trace everything back to its source, all the way to the endpoint of causality, in other words, the origin of all things.
From Shirou's perspective, the rumors calling Shinji's grandfather a "vampire" were not entirely wrong.
His outward body might already be withered to that extent, but what lay inside was even more rotten.
Ordinarily, he should have completely broken down long ago. Yet this old man still retained his sanity.
He continued to rot and deteriorate through repeated reincarnations, yet still maintained the ability to think.
What kind of obsession could sustain someone to such a degree?
Did he even still remember his original purpose?
"Humans really are fascinating…"
Shirou Amamiya thought as he sank his head into the soft, unfamiliar pillow.
For now, he had found a place to stay. But the road ahead was still unclear.
Where should he go next?
And what exactly was the purpose of this human named Shirou Amamiya?
Gazing at the familiar yet unfamiliar starry sky outside the window, Shirou suddenly felt a trace of loneliness.
Knock knock knock.
There was a knock at the door.
"Shirou! Are you still awake?"
"I'm not asleep yet."
Hearing that, Shinji Matou pushed the door open and walked in.
"What's that?"
Shirou noticed the seaweed-haired boy holding a brick-shaped object, showing it off proudly.
"It's my new game console. Want to play?"
"Hand it over."
Shirou sat up and snatched it from Shinji's hands.
…Forget it. Until he figured out his future, he might as well enjoy this rare second childhood.
...
...
And just like that, a week passed at the Matou family.
Although freeloading at someone else's house and doing no chores at all wasn't really Shirou Amamiya's style, the Game Boy was simply too fun.
Human civilization was terrifying.
One morning, Shinji suddenly burst into his room in excitement.
"Shirou! Shirou! Wake up!"
"Hm? Let me sleep a bit longer. Stop bothering me."
Shirou buried his head under the blanket.
He had stayed up until after four in the morning the night before.
Meanwhile, Shinji tugged at the blanket, shouting excitedly.
"Shirou! Get up! I'm getting a little sister!"
"What does that have to do with me…?"