Chapter 40: How Can I Be a Freeloader!
Even though Shirou's combat strength was high enough to be ranked among Heroic Spirits, he still had to dutifully attend school.
Yesterday, he was teaching the King of Heroes how to play video games; today, he had to attend class at school.
If Shirou had summoned Gilgamesh back then, the King might have said, "What's with the class, mongrel! Hurry up and take this King to the arcade!"
Although he could use Hypnosis to make himself skip school for the day, too many people would be involved, making it too troublesome, besides being unnecessary.
.
.
.
Yatsushirodai Elementary School.
During Math class.
The cute female teacher at the podium was facing away from the class, holding chalk and writing a math problem on the blackboard.
Da da da...
The sound of chalk meeting the blackboard continuously echoed in the slightly quiet classroom.
Shirou was looking intently at the blackboard, but his eyes were focused too closely.
In front of him, a pale blue light screen, invisible to others, silently unfolded.
[Name: Orihara Shirou]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 7 years old]
[Height: 134cm to 135cm]
[Race: Human]
[Bloodline: None]
[Special Abilities: 『Unlimited Blade Works』]
[Physical Strength: 240 (10)
Neural Reflexes: 361 (10)
Vitality: 334 (10)
Mental Power: 137 (10)]
Aside from growing 1cm taller, there seemed to be no other changes.
A few seconds after the light screen popped up, Shirou, having finished reading it, closed it directly.
Then, he lowered his head, concentrating fully on the notebook on his desk. He held a pencil in his right hand, recording the method for solving the problem.
Snap—
The lead suddenly broke, leaving a black mark on the clean white notebook.
Shirou pressed the back of the pencil, and a fresh lead emerged from the tip. He then grasped the pencil and wrote rapidly, marking the pristine notebook with dense black writing.
A moment later.
Shirou looked at his masterpiece, the corner of his mouth curving slightly in satisfaction.
"Caster and Assassin have both been dealt with. There are only four enemies left."
Next up were the four opponents: Archer, Rider, Berserker, and Saber.
He was one step closer to completing the main quest.
As Shirou rested his cheek on his hand and looked down at his notebook, the math teacher at the podium suddenly looked at him.
"Now, would the student over there please answer this question?"
Shirou was startled, not expecting to be suddenly called upon.
He then looked at the shape drawn on the blackboard.
The math teacher adjusted her glasses and asked Shirou:
"Could you tell me which line, A or B, is longer?"
Fortunately, this was still elementary school; if it were high school, Shirou might not have been able to answer some of the knowledge.
After all, some knowledge is transient...
"They are both the same length." Shirou answered without hesitation.
"...Mm, correct." The math teacher was momentarily taken aback, then nodded in satisfaction.
"That's right, this is an optical illusion. Some people can see through it, and some can't. It's truly fascinating that people looking at the exact same thing can arrive at completely different conclusions."
It wasn't until the end of class that Shirou suddenly realized that problem didn't seem to be an elementary school one. (If you are a fan I think you will remember this question from Persona 5 XD)
During the break, it was already evident that, although it was still elementary school, the rudimentary forms of social cliques were already emerging.
The upper and lower tiers, the dazzling clubs and the boring ones, appearances and grades—students wielded various 'weapons' to test their social hierarchy against each other.
However, Shirou knew that in the seemingly distant future, all these relationships would be reshuffled. After the students went through three cycles of separation and regrouping, they would completely disperse and integrate into the melting pot of society.
Despite knowing all this, Shirou felt no sense of superiority. Perhaps the events he was currently experiencing prevented his heart from being stirred by such an ordinary world.
Rather than joining in the clumsy yet dazzling youthful school life—a season where one is chased by change and uncertainty while rushing forward—Shirou preferred to look at the scenery.
Interpersonal relationships, life experiences, aspirations for the future—he had already gone through all of them. After losing everything and starting over, Shirou began to focus on things he hadn't noticed before. Perhaps it was for this very reason that he saw more of the scenery.
The azure sky, the orange-red dawn, the peaceful dusk, the starry night sky which he could see just by looking up—Shirou cherished every second of these sights now.
Only these things could make Shirou, whose mind was filled with countless fragments of memory, linger and never tire of seeing them, no matter how many times he looked.
"Orihara, what are you doing? Why are you staring blankly at a bare tree?"
The child at the neighboring desk interrupted Shirou's enjoyment at an inappropriate moment.
"..." Shirou turned his head and stared at the child for several seconds, then spoke, while the latter looked confused.
"You've been secretly going to the arcade to play KOF this past few days, haven't you?"
"How do you know!?" The child at the neighboring desk looked at Shirou in astonishment. After all, they only had some interaction at school because they sat close to each other; otherwise, they had virtually no connection, let alone secretly going to the arcade together after school.
This was precisely why Shirou's sudden revelation surprised him so much.
The child couldn't possibly know that Shirou had gone through countless loops; even without actively gathering information, he had heard this repeated so many times his ears were practically calloused.
In any case, after that, the child at the neighboring desk behaved himself and didn't bother Shirou until lunchtime arrived.
With the ringing of the lunch bell, the atmosphere in the classroom immediately became relaxed. Some ravenous students rushed to the cafeteria, while others stayed in the classroom discussing various topics.
Speaking of which, even though it was an elementary school, the student club activities at this school were rich and varied.
Clubs like the Literature Club, School Newspaper, Astronomy Association, Modeling Club, Anime Association, Karate Club, and so on...
Among them, Hanafuda (Flower Cards) was what surprised Shirou the most. After observing the club's activities once, Shirou jokingly called it the 'Cervical Spine Killer Card Game.'
"Shirou~!"
Rin arrived at the back door of the classroom at some point, a slightly expectant smile beaming on her small face as she waved at Shirou.
The students in the classroom were already used to this. Aside from instinctively glancing over, they all returned their attention to their own conversations.
Shirou stood up, left his seat, and walked over to Rin.
"Let's go."
"Mm!" Rin nodded and followed Shirou closely.
When they arrived at the cafeteria together, Shirou was about to buy his own lunch, but Rin bought it for him a step ahead.
He suddenly had the feeling of being a freeloader.
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