The Red Dragon's threat was over.
With the Red Dragon's disappearance, the Buena forest gradually lost its magical energy buildup. The monsters scattered and fled, no longer gathering.
The villagers also quickly returned to their village.
Although not everyone, many villagers witnessed Shirou defeating the Red Dragon. Such a legendary feat couldn't be hidden. It quickly spread by word of mouth among the villagers, even spreading beyond Buena Village.
"He's amazing, the young master of the Greyrat family!"
"A dragon slayer at only twelve years old, that's something only a legendary hero could do!"
"I always thought Shirou was a strong kid, but I never expected him to be able to kill a Red Dragon!"
"..."
Afterward, the villagers expressed their feelings, happy that the village had survived. They were also more grateful and respectful to the Greyrat family, who had risked their lives to protect the village.
As the head of the Greyrat family, Paul's condition wasn't good.
After bringing Rudeus and Shirou back to the Greyrat house, he immediately found Zenith and asked her to heal Shirou.
Zenith was shocked when she saw Shirou's appearance.
Although Shirou looked fine on the outside, with no injuries, both his hair, which was turning white, and his weak breathing, which was barely audible, proved that his life force had reached its lowest point.
Zenith used all her strength to cast healing magic. Rudeus also came to help. Together, they barely managed to keep Shirou alive.
The mother and son took turns healing Shirou, each casting spells until they couldn't go on, then switching.
Later, Zenith couldn't use magic anymore because she didn't have enough magic power. Sylphy, who had come from home, volunteered to take over, alternating with Rudeus to cast healing spells on Shirou.
After three whole days, Shirou's life signs gradually stabilized. He finally regained consciousness and opened his eyes.
"Where am I..."
Shirou opened his eyes. A severe headache and tearing pain disoriented him, making him unsure of who he was.
But he soon saw the overjoyed Greyrat family and Sylphy, who was standing nervously nearby.
Shirou then remembered himself and how he had chosen to release Servant Emiya's power to save his family, using the projected "Nine Lives Blade Works" to kill the Red Dragon.
"Sorry, I seem to have worried you."
Shirou said with mixed feelings. He could tell from everyone's tired faces that the family hadn't slept well these past few days because of him.
"Don't worry about it, Shirou."
Zenith was the first to rush over with a smile. She hugged Shirou, pressing him close to her skin. "After all, you protected Paul and Rudy, and yourself. You're my hero."
"Zenith..."
Shirou understood Zenith's attitude.
When he and Rudeus went to rescue Paul, Zenith must have been more worried about her husband and son than anyone else.
If Paul had died on the battlefield, or if he and Rudeus had died, Zenith would have been in terrible pain.
Now, everyone had survived. No one had died. It was the best possible outcome.
"Shirou."
Paul also came over from the side.
Shirou thought he would be jealous because he and Zenith were so close, like he used to be.
But Paul didn't feel that way this time. Instead, he hugged Shirou as excitedly as Zenith did. Tears streamed down the man's face.
"Thank you, thank you so much."
Paul's emotions poured out like a flood.
He still remembered the tearing pain in his heart when Rudeus was about to be swallowed by the Red Dragon.
If Shirou hadn't suddenly intervened and saved Rudeus, Paul couldn't imagine how regretful and unforgiving he would have been.
So, just as Zenith thought Shirou was her hero, Paul felt the same way. He saw Shirou as the hero who had saved him and his family.
The rest of the family went without saying.
Apart from Norn and Aisha, who were less than a year old and couldn't even talk, everyone else – Rudeus, Lilia, and Sylphy – felt gratitude and respect for Shirou, seeing him as the hero who had saved everything, who had saved the family.
Rudeus and Sylphy were even more powerless because of this.
They both realized how weak and helpless they were in the face of a real crisis. If it hadn't been for Shirou, they wouldn't have been able to solve such a crisis...
They were both frustrated by their own weakness.
That night, the Greyrat family held a grand feast to celebrate the end of the crisis and the fact that no one had been harmed.
Although Shirou's hair could never go back to normal, and he would forever have a strand of white hair at his forehead, Shirou himself didn't care. Such a small change in his hair didn't bother him much.
But that strand of white hair constantly reminded the others in the Greyrat family, making them realize what Shirou had sacrificed for them.
So, at the feast, Paul was more open than ever before.
Maybe it was because he had been drinking, or maybe it was just his personality, but after the feast began, he hugged Shirou, crying and blubbering about how touched he was.
As a father, he hadn't been able to protect his own children. Instead, he had been protected by his child, who had given everything. He was both touched and unwilling, regretting that he hadn't worked harder to train himself in the past.
To be honest, Shirou was annoyed by Paul's clingy attitude. Although his body had recovered, it hadn't fully healed. He was still sore.
And most importantly, his magic circuits had been emitting a faint pain ever since they were fully activated, even dragging down his whole body.
This was clearly a side effect of overusing Servant Emiya's abilities.
Yes, after this battle, Shirou finally realized the consequences of merging with Servant Emiya's soul.
Now, part of Shirou's body was now equal to the structure of Servant Emiya. If he continued to use Servant Emiya's power in the future, it would cause him to shift himself further towards the Servant, not only would his original body gradually die out and begin to turn into a Servant, but his spirit and will would also be even more influenced by Servant Emiya, even turning into Servant Emiya himself.
Although Shirou himself didn't care if his spirit was twisted, and he didn't mind his body turning into a Servant, the consequence of becoming a Servant was that his limit would also be locked by Servant Emiya's limit. The highest limit would be the limit that Servant Emiya could reach.
That was undoubtedly something Shirou didn't want to see.
His experience in his previous life had made him realize that Servant Emiya's power alone wasn't enough to protect the people he wanted to protect.
If he wanted to defeat all enemies and protect the people he cared about, he had to completely surpass Servant Emiya's limit and reach a higher level!
So, Shirou decided that he would never use Servant Emiya's power like this again unless it was absolutely necessary.
While Shirou was having all sorts of thoughts, the Greyrat family's feast went on late into the night.
Originally, Shirou was supposed to be the one cleaning up after the feast, but everyone stood up to take care of him, sharing the work of cleaning up.
Shirou was sent straight to his room to sleep.
Shirou was both happy and helpless about this new situation. After returning to his room, he had nothing to do, so he simply studied magic.
"Triple-Linked Crane Wings and Nine Lives Blade Works, I've regained those two powers."
Shirou opened his magic notebook, reorganized and restructured its contents, and finally focused on the last page, which contained the section on "Unlimited Blade Works."
As Servant Emiya's most powerful ability, Shirou naturally knew how heavy this power was.
If possible, he hoped he would never have the opportunity to use this power in his entire life.
However, Shirou also knew that fate was often unreasonable.
Often, the more you don't want something to happen, the more likely it is to appear in front of you in a cruel way at an unexpected moment.
Looking at the sly moonlight outside the window, Shirou felt a vague sense of pressure and crisis.
At least this time's Red Dragon made him feel very strange, as if there was a strange feeling that the Red Dragon appeared here because of him.
But he quickly abandoned that cowardly thought.
No matter why the Red Dragon appeared in this village, what he had to do would not change. He had to become stronger, strong enough to change all the tragedies and protect the people he wanted to protect!
To this end, he still had his original idea. That was, not to be immersed in the powerful power of Servant Emiya, but to invest in the abilities that Servant Emiya did not have!
Sword God Style, he still needed to take another step on this path.
...
Winter turned to spring.
Time passed again without anyone noticing.
Buena Village regained its peace after the Red Dragon battle.
One day, a tall beast-woman with long gray hair and wolf ears came to this village. She had a strange black long sword around her waist, holding a letter printed with the Greyrat mark, she walked into the village.
Paul's former teammate, Sword King Ghislaine Dedoldia had arrived.
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