Chapter 18: Day 6 ②

"I'm shocked! It was just fever from the bath!"

When I came to, I was once again on a futon in the detached room. What was different from last time was that a wet towel had been placed on my forehead, and a washbasin filled with water was prepared beside the futon.

The round clock hanging on the wall was ticking steadily, and it was already past ten in the morning when I woke up.

I had barely woken up and realized my condition when Rin, who was writing something next to me, started scolding me for about an hour...

"I know you like baths, but you need to know some moderation. If a Berserker attacks, you can't just say, 'I have bath fever and can't move.' That's utterly pathetic."

"I'm sorry."

Regarding this, I truly had nothing to say but apologize. Only words of apology came out of my mouth.

When I asked, I learned that Shirou had made breakfast for me instead, and it was Lia who had carried me here. I had caused trouble for everyone.

While being lectured, I managed to remember what had happened to me. It seems that when Lia entered and I couldn't get out of the bath, I got overheated and sank into the water right in front of her.

Even so, it's surprising that a Servant can get dizzy from the heat. Since we can feel heat and cold, it's not a strange thing, but... No, or is it because Saber is in a special position?

"Tohsaka, I think that's enough, isn't it?"

"It has nothing to do with you, Shirou! Just hurry up and get back to your training!"

Shirou, who was probably training with Lia, wiped the sweat from his neck with a towel and was peeking in from the room entrance. The medical patches stuck to his skin looked painful, but Shirou smiled without seeming to mind.

"Alto, she's saying this, but Tohsaka was really worried, you know. It was Tohsaka who stayed by your side and nursed you."

"Shirou!"

Tohsaka's face turned red, and she shouted at Shirou. Shirou scratched his head, saying, "My bad, my bad," without sounding repentant at all.

In fact, Rin must have been watching over me the whole time. When I woke up, the towel on my forehead was still cold. She was deliberately writing in the room I was assigned; otherwise, since she has her own room, there would be no need for her to do it here.

As for Shirou, if he was moving from the dojo to the main house, he wouldn't pass through this detached room. It seems he made a special trip to check on me.

Since I mostly lived alone, I know the loneliness of not having anyone nearby when you're feeling unwell. I fully understand how grateful I am for this kind of consideration.

...Well, since falling ill this time was undeniably my own fault, the feeling of apology takes precedence over happiness.

"Oh, right. Alto, would you mind coming shopping for dinner with me? I think the afternoon is going to be busy, so I want to go early."

Shirou spoke to me as if he suddenly remembered. I lifted my face, which I had been drooping in self-loathing, and saw Rin right in front of me. She made no attempt to hide her suspicious expression.

"Shirou, why are you asking Alto? You have Lia."

Rin's question was perfectly valid. Although we are allies, I am still Rin's Servant. If he's going out, he should take his own Servant, Lia.

"It'd be too pitiful for Lia if I asked her to help with training and then shopping on top of that."

"You... What do you think a Servant is for?"

"That's a separate issue, isn't it? If you're always tense, you'll get tired."

"...Haa."

Feeling that it was pointless to say any more, Rin narrowed her eyes, let out a sigh, and stopped her line of questioning.

"I don't mind. I wanted to get some fresh air outside anyway."

Seeing this as an opportunity, I quickly added my voice. With Lia there, Rin shouldn't have any problems even if there was an attack.

And although it's rude to say this to Rin, who was worried about me, judging by her behavior, there's no telling how long I would have to endure her scolding.

"—Well, if Alto says it's okay, and Lia is here, I don't mind."

"I see, thank you. Well, since training is over, can we go now?"

"Yes. Understood."

Now that it was decided, I had to change right away. It wouldn't be good to keep him waiting, and I also wanted to move my body soon.

I stood up from the futon and picked up my usual casual clothes folded beside me. I reached for the buttons of the pajamas—which I certainly don't remember putting on myself—that someone had dressed me in.

"W-W-W-W-Wait!!! H-Hold on, Alto!"

"Shirou!? What's wrong!?"

Shirou raised his voice in a panic at the moment I had undone all the buttons and was about to take off the top. Instinctively, I scanned my surroundings and took a defensive stance.

...However, as far as I could see, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. And it seemed only Shirou was panicking, while Rin wasn't particularly agitated.

"Shirou, what in the world..."

"Alto! Please, don't come any closer!"

I tried to rush toward Shirou, but his voice stopped me. And soon after, I realized.

Shirou was desperately averting his gaze, specifically to keep me out of his sight. I wondered what the matter was, and then it hit me. Since I'm borrowing Saber's appearance, I naturally look like a woman. Of course, any man would panic and shout if someone of the opposite sex started undressing right in front of them.

I thought I had recovered, but I want to retract my previous statement. My body might be fine, but my head hadn't fully woken up yet.

"I-I'll wait in the living room!!"

With a dada-da sound of footsteps, Shirou, his face bright red, disappeared into the hallway.

"Alto, you should be a little more mindful of other people."

"...Yes. I'll be careful."

Rin looked toward where Shirou had run off and warned me with an exasperated expression. I nodded honestly.

However, I guess I also need to be careful with Shirou. To me, Shirou is nothing more than my past self, but to Shirou, I must appear as just a 'girl' who is considerably stronger than average.

Haa... Somehow, thinking about how I'm being perceived makes me gloomy.

Ultimately, it was thirty minutes later that I headed to the living room.

Knowing Shirou was waiting in the living room, Rin brought out a different set of clothes, saying, "Since you're going out anyway, you should dress up."

For my own honor, I want to say that I hated wearing those clothes. Even before this, I would have preferred to wear just a T-shirt and jeans, but since I look like Saber, I wear a blouse and skirt. That was my maximum concession.

However, when she said, "You caused trouble for me, your Master, so you wouldn't refuse, would you?" by bringing up the trouble I caused, there was no way I could refuse.

Judging from the gleeful remarks Rin made while dressing me, she seemed to have wanted to try different clothes on me for some time, but I wish she had only kept that thought to herself.

Well, that's enough preamble. What I'm wearing now is a red, long-sleeved top with a white cross on the chest, a black mini-skirt, and black knee-high socks.

In a word, it's a smaller version of the clothes Rin wears. Additionally, my hair is tied up in two pigtails with black ribbons.

However, since my hair doesn't have the waves that Tohsaka's does, it doesn't look like the same hairstyle.

I don't think it suits me very well, but Tohsaka seems quite pleased with it.

Well, as long as she's satisfied, I guess it's fine... When did I become Rin's dress-up doll?

After finishing the lunch Rin had prepared, Shirou and I set out for the shopping district, walking side by side.

By the way, there was another small conflict just to get here. Lia, who we met during lunch, started confronting Shirou for inviting me shopping. She raised her voice, asking, "Why are you taking Alto and not me!"

Well, it is true that Shirou is the one being unconventional considering he is taking another Master's Servant. Lia is undeniably right, but her words didn't seem to faze Shirou.

If Lia offered to go, I think he should just go with her.

Is there something he wants to talk about with me? I'm starting to not understand what Shirou is thinking.

Whoops, I quickly pressed down on my skirt with my right hand. I was deep in thought, so I had neglected to pay attention to it. When I'm concerned about the hem of the skirt flipping up with every step, it inevitably makes me walk pigeon-toed. Besides, this skirt is clearly too short.

What kind of unusual magecraft does Rin use to move around without her short skirt flipping up?

I realized I was thinking about something pointless and couldn't help but sigh. I looked up at the cloudy sky and sighed again.

When I think about it, I might look incredibly pathetic right now. What would my old man think if he saw me like this?

...Old man, the son who inherited your dream is, for some reason, like this now.

"Oh, by the way, Alto, how are things with Lia?"

As we walked distractedly toward the shopping district, Shirou spoke up, seeming to have braced himself for something. However, the question was somewhat vague, so I had to think for a moment.

"What do you mean by 'how are things'? As we live together, I don't think any particular problems have arisen."

If anything, we might be too comfortable with each other for Servants who are supposedly just in an alliance.

I don't mind at all, but it's strange that Lia allows another Servant to be this close to her.

"I see. I don't know why, but your personalities seem different, and I'd prefer for you to get along."

"That's certainly not an issue. I don't know what Lia thinks of me, but I care about her regardless of the alliance."

"Yeah. That's good then."

Shirou murmured that in a relieved tone. While giving that answer, I recalled the Archer from my own time.

I had no intention of getting along with him, neither then nor now. It wasn't about compatibility; I always thought that I and he were fundamentally incompatible, and he must have felt the same way.

It's impossible for me and him to talk like I'm talking with Shirou now. I can't even imagine it, and even if I could, I wouldn't want to.

...It suddenly occurred to me, what kind of impression does Shirou have of me, who was summoned as Archer this time?

I think we're getting along reasonably well, so I'm not too worried, but since I have the chance, I might as well ask.

"By the way, Shirou. I have one thing I'd like to ask you."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Don't you feel that my conduct is displeasing, or that we are absolutely incompatible? In short, do you have any complaints about me as Archer?"

These are the things I felt toward him. I can't say that Shirou doesn't feel the same toward me, standing in the same position. But Shirou, when asked, seemed to have not understood what I was saying and froze for a clean beat.

"N-No, of course not! Before anything else, I'm not dignified enough to complain about other people's manners."

"Is that so? That's good."

"But why so suddenly?"

"No, I was just worried that you might be finding me, the Archer Servant, unpleasant."

It seems it was just a needless worry, but I was certainly relieved. Even if the other party is me, I want to get along as well as possible.

"I don't know why you'd think I'd find you unpleasant, but I definitely don't dislike you. No—even so, Alto is really interesting."

"Eh?"

"Ah, calling someone 'interesting' is rude, isn't it? Sorry. What I mean is, you're somehow not very Servant-like, I guess. I heard from Tohsaka that Servants are summoned to obtain the Holy Grail, but I didn't expect one to ask their Master, 'Do you dislike me?'"

"...Ah, haha."

A dry laugh escaped me involuntarily. Perhaps it's because my history as a Servant is short, or because my life after being summoned hasn't changed much from my previous one, but I sometimes forget that I am a Servant. It's especially noticeable when I first wake up.

I try to be careful, but without realizing it, I might be treating people too much like friends.

"Other Masters, huh? Both Shinji and Tohsaka told me to be prepared, whether sooner or later. Also, I don't actively want to fight the other four Masters, but if I just stand by, innocent people might get hurt. Alto, do you know of any way to end this Holy Grail War peacefully?"

That is to say, a way to avoid fighting without any casualties, I suppose.

Although he asked me, I don't know such a way. I was ultimately defeated before I could find out what the Holy Grail actually was. I also no longer have any means of knowing how the Holy Grail War concluded afterward.

Regardless of the process, the information I have about the Holy Grail War—since I couldn't witness the end—is not much different from what Shirou knows.

"To end this Holy Grail War, we must defeat the other Servants without exception."

"Then, we'll end up having to fight after all..."

"...However, although it's only a possibility, there might be a way to end it with two or more Servants remaining."

I do know that there is an irregular—the key is Gilgamesh.

"Possibility? Don't we have to defeat the other six Servants? Won't we still have to fight until there's only one left?"

"The point is, we just need to defeat six Heroic Spirits. If we defeat the Servant who was summoned as an irregular, perhaps..."

"Is there such a person?"

"I don't know. It's only a possibility."

I know Gilgamesh is here, but I don't know if defeating him will end the Holy Grail War. Since I don't understand the Holy Grail War system at all, this thought shouldn't have been voiced as a well-founded idea.

Upon hearing this, Shirou let out a muffled, "Mh," looked down, and seemed lost in thought, but he looked up again soon after.

"It's no good. With so little information, I won't be able to come up with a good plan even if I think about it. For now, I guess all we can do is search around for the other Masters and Servants, combining it with gathering information."

Although he still had questions, a slightly brighter Shirou turned his face toward me again.

"Oh, speaking of the 'Holy Grail,' I just remembered. I heard that Servants answer the summoning because they want the Holy Grail to grant their wish, but what will you wish for, Alto?"

"My wish...?"

"Yeah. I casually asked Lia too, but she cleverly dodged the question."

"My, wish..."

The safety of Saber, perhaps? I certainly wished for that just before I died.

What I must do now is to bring this Holy Grail War to an end with everyone surviving, without a single person missing.

However, this is not something to be wished for on the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail War ends once the Grail is obtained, so for the wish after winning to be that everyone survives the Holy Grail War would be putting the cart before the horse.

"Could it be that you don't have a wish?"

"No, of course, I have a wish. However, my wish is not something that I want the Holy Grail to grant. What I desire is not something to be granted but something to be grasped with my own hands."

"Hmm, is that so? Lia also said something difficult."

"Even though our appearance is the same, her wish is likely different from mine. I assume so, anyway."

"—I see. But I think it's a good thing to have a wish."

Shirou smiled, looking happy for some reason, and then cut his gaze from me to look up at the sky.

"It seems we've arrived. Shirou, what shall we have for dinner today?"

While talking as we walked, we had somehow arrived at the shopping district. People passing by were glancing at us, but mostly it must be because of my rare blonde hair.

Recalling that Shirou had made breakfast for me, I had successfully managed to take over the dinner duties while we were walking and talking. He had been reluctant, saying, "You didn't cause any trouble," but he finally gave in when I said I would make his favorite food.

"Uh, Alto, can you make Japanese food?"

"Yes, you can count on me. I've been studying by reading books, so general dishes shouldn't be a problem."

"I see. Then can I request Japanese food? I wanted to try something made by someone other than me or Sakura. I don't get the chance to eat food from other people's homes."

Hmm. If that's the case, any menu Shirou is likely to know would be uninteresting. Then, if I combine recipes from Rin's house... that wouldn't be bad.

"Understood. Then, let's start with selecting the ingredients."

Renewing my determination, I moved my feet to look for the fish I had planned for the main dish.

"Did we buy a little too much?"

"Yeah, just a little."

Both our hands were full of bags packed with groceries. Buying enough food for 'four people + Taiga' naturally resulted in an immense amount. No, even considering that, I put too much passion into it and over-purchased.

"Well, then... What is that smell?"

My steps, which I had just taken to pick up the luggage and head home, were stopped by a scent drifting in the air.

This sweet, savory aroma... there's no mistaking it. It's from the Edomae-ya stand. It's an amazing food stall that operates with a lineup of the three yaki (grilled) foods: Taiyaki, Takoyaki, and Dorayaki.

In particular, the Taiyaki is very popular with local students because it's only 80 yen but packed with bean paste.

"Shirou, this very savory aroma is from the Edomae-ya."

"Ah, I see the Edomae-ya over there, indeed. It has the same appetizing smell as always. It's unusual for them to come all the way out to Miyama."

"Um. They're selling Taiyaki."

"Yeah. They look like they're selling Taiyaki from any angle. Their Taiyaki isn't too heavy on the bean paste; it's quite refined, you know. I never get tired of it."

"A-Ah! That's not what I mean. Look. They look delicious, being freshly baked. And it seems there are no customers right now, so we can buy one right away."

"They certainly look delicious, but we just had lunch. Oh. It has nothing to do with us, but it seems there's a discount for four or more."

............

"Shirou, you absolutely understand, don't you? Is it fun to torment me?"

"Bwah! Hahahahahahaha... Cough, cough..."

"----------"

I stared at Shirou in silence. Something, along with anger, surged up from within my body. The surrounding wind began to whip up.

Ah, no, I'm certainly not doing this intentionally. My body is automatically entering battle mode, and I'm glaring with a hint of bloodlust. It's definitely not my fault.

"S-Sorry. I was messing around a little too much. How about... since we're here anyway, should we buy some for everyone?"

"...Yes. I hope this will cheer Lia up."

Even as I said that, my eyes were glued to the Taiyaki and wouldn't move away.

I feel like I've become obsessed with food—especially sweets, to be more precise. I have a feeling that my mind is unknowingly being influenced by my body... Well, it's best to simply eat what the body craves, right? Yes.

Having secretly finished my self-justification, I silently held out my hand to Shirou. I took the 500-yen coin from the bitterly smiling Shirou, handed him my luggage in return, and then ran off toward the Edomae-ya stand.