DOTM: Chapter 607/609

Chapter 607: Dinner Is Ready!

Although Artoria was in a dying state, she was indeed not dead yet.

Even if she gave up participating in the Holy Grail War and returned to the time when she was severely injured, she would still have enough time to make her final arrangements, including having Bedivere return her sword to the Lady of the Lake before she passed away.

That much time would be enough for proper rescue work to save her life, and then she could lead the knights who still followed her to clean up the mess in the country. Although Britain was already in chaos at that time, King Arthur's forces still held an absolute advantage in strength. If she wished, she could completely pacify Britain again.

Artoria did not want to do this because she had doubts about herself. She believed she was not a qualified king, which was why the Knights of the Round Table completely split and Britain fell into chaos.

Ethan, however, did not care about Artoria's feelings. He directly and bluntly stated these facts in simple terms.

This was like having someone tear open your scar in front of you and then having everyone gather to watch. That feeling was definitely not good. If Artoria had not known deep down that what he said was not wrong and had not suppressed the urge to strike, she would probably have drawn her sword and attacked him like many others would have.

Perhaps seeing the awkwardness on Artoria's face, Shirou proactively helped her change the subject, preventing everyone from dwelling too much on the question, "Why would you rather trust a cup than trust yourself and the knights who still follow you?"

"You just said Britain is fine... what do you mean?"

"Britain is a place. You know where it is. Do you think they are doing very badly now?"

"Uh..."

Shirou understood Ethan's meaning. For the region of Britain, it seemed to make little difference who ruled. The people living there were doing quite well now, so there was no need for King Arthur to worry about saving them.

One could even say directly that no great monarch is irreplaceable.

"Besides, there's the concept of parallel worlds."

"You understand what parallel worlds are, right?"

Shirou nodded. The theory of parallel worlds often appeared in various anime and films. Even a normal person would have a sufficient understanding of this theory, so he naturally knew what parallel worlds were.

"Emiya... that is, the one from the future who became a Counter Guardian... What is a Counter Guardian? We will talk about that later... He is the future you, but not necessarily your future."

Ethan finally stopped fiddling with the orange peel, then tapped his hands lightly. A blue stick figure appeared on the table around which everyone was gathered.

"Suppose this is you. You are talking to us now. Later, you might encounter a few choices. You want to make a hearty dinner, but you do not have some ingredients at home. You choose to go out and buy vegetables, or you use other existing ingredients as a substitute."

As Ethan moved, the little figure split into two. One remained still, while the other looked like it was walking, making his meaning clear to everyone.

"Maybe you want to buy a fish, or maybe you want to buy a chicken. Every time you make a choice, a parallel world might appear."

"You mean, Emiya is the future I became after making some choices, but I might have other futures because of different choices?"

"That is the idea... Actually, it is already impossible for you to become Emiya."

When Ethan appeared, this world line already became a brand new world line. Moreover, even in the original plot, although Shirou had countless choices within the story, the outcome of none of those choices would lead him to become Emiya.

In other words, Emiya himself was Shirou from another world line and was not within the many possible futures that the Shirou standing before them could branch into.

"So that is how it is."

"So... the future is still in your hands. What kind of person, or existence, you will become in the future still depends on yourself."

Ethan's words were not just explaining parallel worlds to Shirou. They were also meant for Artoria and Illya.

"It is the same for you."

Artoria still did not speak. Her mind was a bit confused. Compared to her, Illya had already understood these principles, but she was just momentarily unsure what her future should be, which led to her confusion.

"It is okay if you cannot figure it out right away. You still have plenty of time anyway."

Seeing what was troubling Illya, Ethan offered a brief comfort, then lowered his head and continued to tinker with the orange peel in his hands.

The dining table fell into silence. After hesitating for a while, Artoria finally spoke again.

"You said there are countless parallel worlds... is it possible that there also exists one..."

"...a world where you did not become king?"

"Yes."

Artoria's self-doubt had reached its peak. She believed she was not suitable to be a king, and everything that happened to the Knights of the Round Table and Britain was simply because she was unqualified.

From this perspective, Artoria was indeed just a young girl, and an inexperienced one at that.

"You should know about the rise and fall of countless dynasties throughout history, right? Did that knowledge not teach you anything?"

Artoria did not answer. Ethan realized this was a very stubborn young girl. She was already seriously doubting herself, and anything said now would be futile.

"The world you are talking about also exists. In many worlds, there is no King Arthur, and not even the Knights of the Round Table."

Although King Arthur is a famous figure, whether he actually existed cannot be definitively determined. In some more realistic worlds, King Arthur is just a legendary figure.

"How is Britain?"

"Britain is fine, no need for you to worry excessively."

It was the same sentence, but what Artoria was thinking was that she was indeed not an excellent king. The country under her rule was no different compared to a world without her.

"Your thinking is too pessimistic."

At this point, some more impactful scenes were needed to dispel her self-doubt.

"Actually, worlds where King Arthur led Britain to prosperity and strength also exist."

Seeing Artoria's expression of "I am indeed a useless king," Shirou had been worried whether she might do something drastic, like suicide or something similar.

Just as he was thinking about how to comfort her, Ethan happened to mention such a world, and he immediately became encouraging.

"That is great! So such worlds do exist after all. SABER can definitely do it too, right?"

"Of course, if she wants to."

Given the situation in Britain at the time, with Artoria's personal strength and the support of the remaining Knights of the Round Table, pacifying Britain again was truly not a difficult task.

The key was whether Artoria was willing to do these things.

"Does such a world really exist?"

"Of course."

If only talking about this Type-Moon universe, Ethan was not really sure if there was a world where King Arthur did not fall but instead reached higher peaks.

However, he himself had helped cultivate a rather special King Arthur. The Britain under that King Arthur's rule was very powerful now, definitely surpassing the Britain under Artoria's control.

"If you do not believe me, I can take you to see."

"This... I am afraid that might not be possible?"

Artoria's situation was very special. She did not even know what her current body was like and was not sure if she could follow Ethan to a parallel world.

"Nothing is impossible... Uh, your situation probably requires figuring out first if this is your main body or a clone, and if it is the main body, what mechanism created it."

However, whether it was the main body or a clone, after Ethan took some time to figure out the situation, there would not be any problems.

Even for the other Heroic Spirits whose main bodies were on the Throne of Heroes, Ethan could take them out to play. If he wanted to, he could directly summon the main bodies of these Heroic Spirits from the Throne of Heroes.

The reason was simple. When he returned to this world, Madeline casually threw something to him. He did not pay much attention at first, but just now he discovered it was actually the ownership of this world.

When he was sitting there with his head down playing with the orange peel, he was studying what this ownership thing was.

He finally found out it was various rules and authorities of the entire Type-Moon world. However, because he had just obtained ownership of this world, his current authority was not very large.

Since this world was not created by him, and his understanding of the world's rules was not deep enough, simply put, Ethan only had the title of owner and nothing particularly special beyond that.

However, summoning Heroic Spirits from the Throne of Heroes was something he could do. In this regard, the entire Throne of Heroes had become his private collection room.

This was the only benefit at the moment. The rest would probably have to wait until he thoroughly understood the rule structure of this world and completely mastered all the authorities.

From another perspective, it seemed Emiya, the Counter Guardian, had also become the subordinate of his subordinate? However, he had not completely controlled this world yet, and he did not know if Alaya would give him face and hand Emiya over.

"Huh? The chef problem is solved?"

In a daze, Ethan realized that the chef he had been thinking about for so long was now solved. Even if Emiya could not report for duty temporarily, there was still an excellent chef right in front of him.

Shirou had not gone out to buy groceries. Cú Chulainn brought back quite a bit when he returned, and Miss Sakura Matou, who often came to help Shirou cook, also brought a lot of ingredients. It seemed she knew that Shirou's house had a lot of guests recently and specially came to help.

"Senpai has a lot of guests at home recently!"

"Yeah, but it is livelier with more people... With so many people, how about we have hotpot!"

(To be Continued.)

Chapter 608: Let’s Go To School!

Shirou was adopted by Kiritsugu Emiya when he was very young, and for most of the time, it was just the two of them living alone in this large house.

Besides often seeing Taiga Fujimura, Shirou's social circle was very small. Although he had a good personality and was enthusiastic and polite to everyone, only a few people truly became his friends.

So after Kiritsugu passed away, the Emiya house was mostly quiet and deserted. Situations like a group of people gathering to eat were almost unheard of.

After finishing a lively dinner, Shirou specifically escorted Sakura Matou back home. When he returned and saw everyone still gathered, Shirou and Artoria finally remembered to ask about the identity of the unfamiliar woman next to Ethan. They had been so preoccupied with talking about Artoria earlier that they had almost forgotten.

"This is Diana, daughter of Zeus."

Without needing to say anything else, the simple phrase daughter of Zeus made everyone understand how special Diana's identity was. Recalling Ethan's earlier natural intimacy as he lay on Diana's lap also revealed the true relationship between the two.

"So... you are actually an Olympian god?"

"You do not need to guess my identity. My real name is Ethan, and I am indeed not a well-known figure."

Scáthach already knew this. Cú Chulainn, Artoria, and even Shirou had been guessing Ethan's true identity before, suspecting he was actually some famous being.

It was only now that they received a definitive answer from Ethan. He was indeed not a well-known figure. However, no one felt that he was not powerful enough.

Someone who could distort the rules of the world, effortlessly defeat Scáthach, a demigoddess with god-slaying achievements, even when his physical condition was not good, and who even had a demigoddess girlfriend...

Ethan's power had exceeded the limits of their imagination. Considering that he seemed able to travel freely between countless worlds, they could not think of an accurate adjective to describe him.

"But... why have you become a child?"

"My body had some issues. To completely clear those problems, I underwent physical reconstruction. Even without this accident, I would have reconstructed my body sooner or later."

"Reconstruct your body?"

Shirou did not understand these things, but Cú Chulainn, who possessed extensive magical knowledge and was a powerful warrior himself, immediately understood why Ethan would do this.

"Is it because your original body could no longer meet your needs?"

"Something like that. In any case, it is all for the sake of advancing to a higher level."

"That is really impressive."

Cú Chulainn carefully examined Ethan's current body. Previously, Ethan could easily defeat him without even moving his hands. Now that he said he had reconstructed his body and reached a higher level, he wondered just how strong he was now.

But if he could not tell, did he not still have his master?

"When Ethan fought us before, he was a powerful demigod. Now he has become a true god."

"As expected."

Cú Chulainn looked unsurprised, while Shirou gasped and swallowed a large gulp of saliva.

"A god~"

A god appearing in his house and eating at the same table with him. Even having experienced it firsthand, it still felt unbelievable.

"If someone had told me back then that I would have the chance to eat with a god someday, I would definitely have thought it was April Fool's Day."

After chatting a bit more casually, Shirou assigned rooms to everyone. Although he guessed that these people probably did not need to sleep, he still fulfilled his duty as a host and arranged everything for his guests.

Only after he had seen to his guests did he go back to rest.

Illya had been sitting there the whole time. He knew that his older sister had something to discuss with Ethan, so he wisely stayed away.

"How about we talk in the yard?"

"It is too cold."

"Alright."

Winter nights are not particularly comfortable. It was fine for Ethan, but although Illya liked snow, she hated the cold. Why would she go outside to brave the cold wind when there was not even any snow at the moment?

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I do not know."

It was not just the two of them in the room. Diana was sitting nearby, silently watching the conversation between the two children, pretending to be invisible.

However, with her being a grown person and her long legs placed there, it was impossible not to ignore her. So although Illya was talking to Ethan, her gaze remained fixed on Diana, constantly examining her from head to toe.

"What do you want?"

"I do not know."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"...I do not know..."

Illya withdrew her gaze. She was currently very confused, completely unsure of what she should do.

Her original motivation was revenge. Killing Shirou and obtaining the Holy Grail was almost her entire reason for living. As long as she achieved this, she could wait for death without regrets, or perhaps she would not achieve it and would be killed before accomplishing her goal.

After all, in the Holy Grail War, people always die.

As a result, she inexplicably summoned Ethan, a strange Berserker, and then this Berserker did not follow the script and directly destroyed the Holy Grail War.

Not only that, but because of the distortion of world rules, the Einzbern family was effectively wiped out, and the Holy Grail was also destroyed as a result. It could be said that the Holy Grail War no longer existed.

She also learned the truth about why Kiritsugu did not come to the Einzbern house to pick her up back then. It was because he was severely injured during the Holy Grail War, causing his strength to decline significantly, making him unable to break through the Einzbern family's barrier and thus unable to rush in and take her away. He had not abandoned his biological daughter.

This made her original persistent goal meaningless. She still felt jealousy toward Shirou, but the hatred had mostly dissipated.

In this situation, she did not know how she should interact with Shirou. Although she was actually his older sister, it seemed he had been treating her more like a younger sister during this time and taking care of her.

Even though she never gave him a pleasant look, he did not get angry. He really was a good-tempered person.

"How troublesome~"

He was not afraid of Illya wanting something bizarre, nor was he afraid of her wanting to do something strange. He was only afraid of her current state, completely without goals, not knowing which direction to move in, like a living zombie, feeling that if she suddenly died tomorrow, it would not be a big deal.

"Find something interesting to do."

"What sort of thing?"

"Like studying magic or something. Is your talent not quite good? You could consider becoming a magical girl."

"Huh?"

Illya's expression finally showed a clear change, not just simple surprise, but a look of Are you kidding me combined with very obvious disdain.

"A magical girl? Why would you think I would want to become something like that?"

"Uh..."

Ethan scratched his cheek. He could not possibly say that the parallel world's Illya became a magical girl, could he? Although she was tricked by a cunning magical staff, becoming a magical girl was a fact, and she did quite well later on.

Illya stared at Ethan with a suspicious gaze.

"Could it be... that a parallel world version of me became a magical girl?"

Ethan did not answer, but his awkward yet polite smile made Illya realize the answer.

"Just... how strange is that world?"

She could not imagine what it would be like for her to become a magical girl. Even though her physical age was still very young, her mental age was what it was, and she would only feel embarrassed about things like magical girls.

"That world... Kiritsugu chose his family after understanding the truth of the Holy Grail War. So he destroyed the Holy Grail War, took care of the Einzbern family, saved your mother, and let you grow up like a normal child. It is just that some strange things happened that led that version of you down an extraordinary path."

"Is that so?"

Illya heard about everything the Kiritsugu in another world did, and then thought about Ethan's earlier theory about parallel worlds. Every choice could create a parallel world. Perhaps the Kiritsugu in her world chose to complete his mission.

As if guessing what she was thinking, Ethan reached out again and stroked Illya's hair. In his current state, he could not easily reach the top of Illya's head as he could before, so he had to adjust his posture to do so. He slightly half-stood and leaned forward to touch her hair.

"In this world, Kiritsugu also chose his family. It is just that he learned the truth a bit late. It was precisely because he chose to destroy the Holy Grail that the Einzbern family treated him as a traitor and did not allow him to enter their territory again."

Seeing a hint of a smile appear on Illya's face, Ethan sat back down. The room became quiet until Diana suddenly broke the silence.

"Since you have nothing to do, would it not be good to experience the life of an ordinary person, just like those Heroic Spirits?"

Ethan realized this was truly a good idea. Since being separated from Kiritsugu, Illya had not experienced a normal life. Perhaps living a period of ordinary daily life could help her understand what she truly wanted.

"The life of an ordinary person?"

"Considering how you are now... perhaps going to school is a good option."

He did not expect Illya to make any friends, but the main purpose was to help her correct some flawed worldviews. Illya's worldview was completely different from ordinary people's, which often led her to do things that ordinary people found difficult to accept.

"School? I have already mastered the knowledge taught in school. What would I go to school to learn?"

Ethan was not afraid of Illya saying this, because he had already thought of a suitable school.

"You can learn magic."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 609: Morning Routine

Illya did not directly agree, but she did not refuse either. It seemed she was not strongly against the idea of going to school to learn magic. She just had not decided whether to go or not.

Moreover, she was certain that what Ethan meant by learning magic definitely did not involve going to one of the magic academies in this world, because Ethan had specifically mentioned studying magic.

She knew that the magic system Ethan possessed was completely different from what she had learned. She was indeed a little interested in this entirely different system, which was why she had not directly refused.

Time passed quickly, and Illya stayed at Ethan's place until nearly dawn. Then she flopped down, completely taking over Ethan's room, and slept soundly.

Ethan did not necessarily need to sleep, but his own territory was just occupied like that.

He shrugged helplessly at Diana, tidied up the bedding, and left the rest for Diana to handle.

Coming out of the room, Ethan glanced at the faintly lit horizon and simultaneously felt a slight magical fluctuation from the storage shed.

At this time, and practicing magic in that place, it had to be Shirou. Although he had only learned a few basic spells, he had persisted in practicing for many years, never stopping even though his progress was slow.

In this regard, Shirou's ability to grow from an unknown Master to an excellent mage in just a few days during the Fifth Holy Grail War was not simply because Emiya, his future self, had given him a cheat.

Years of persistent work and practice were the reason he could master those abilities in a very short time. Even if Emiya, borrowing the fact that they were the same person and there was a miraculous sense of synchronization between them, could transmit his combat skills and methods of using magic through this connection, Shirou would still not be able to master these abilities without a sufficient foundation.

However, in this world line, the Fifth Holy Grail War did not truly happen, and Shirou did not have the opportunity to receive the full guidance of his future self, so his current magic level remained at the stage of having only learned the basics.

The door to the storage shed was open, and Ethan could see Shirou sitting on the ground, diligently practicing, from the doorway. Although his body's magic was being mobilized, the spell still had not been successfully cast.

This was not Shirou's fault. Although the rules of this world had largely recovered, they had not fully returned to their previous state, so mages still had not regained the ability to cast magic.

But seeing the faint light of magic in Shirou's hand, it was probably only a matter of a day or two before it fully recovered.

"Up so early?"

"Actually, it does not matter whether I sleep or not. I talked with Illya for most of the night, so I just decided not to sleep."

"Ah, is that so?"

Shirou stopped his practice and got up, gently patting his slightly stiff legs. Sitting on the ground in the middle of winter would not be comfortable even for a short while, let alone for as long as he seemed to have been sitting there.

"Um, breakfast might take a little longer. How about I find some snacks for you first?"

"That is too kind. Actually, I am fine even without eating."

After a few simple pleasantries, both fell silent. Shirou did not know how to communicate with Ethan, a true god. He did not even know what kind of words to use to start a conversation.

Ethan, on the other hand, was observing Shirou's talent. Shirou's talent was not bad. In fact, it could be said to be very good. He just needed to find the right path.

In addition, he had to master the correct way to cast magic. Kiritsugu, not wanting Shirou to become a mage, had always tried to brush off teaching him, even teaching him the wrong way to mobilize magic. Every time Shirou mobilized magic, it was painful and prone to failure, hoping to force him to give up on his own, but Shirou persisted.

Originally, in the Fifth Holy Grail War, Shirou would have mastered the correct way to use magic circuits, but none of that happened now, and he was still using the wrong method. And he could still learn magic using the wrong method for magic circuits... should I say he is worthy of being the protagonist?

"Um... Illya... how is she?"

The brief silence was finally broken by Shirou. He was still very concerned about this sister who had suddenly appeared.

"What aspect are you referring to?"

"Physically."

He already understood Illya's situation. When Ethan distorted the world's rules, it also changed Illya.

But was there really no problem with a special life form suddenly becoming a true human? No one could guarantee this. Perhaps only Ethan could make an accurate judgment.

"Are you very worried about her?"

"After all... she is Kiritsugu's biological daughter."

"Do not worry, her body is perfectly fine, even better than an ordinary person's. After all, her physical fitness and magical talent originally surpassed ordinary humans, and when the rules were distorted, it only changed her life form. These qualities were not stripped away, but rather retained."

"That is good."

After tidying up the storage shed, Shirou and Ethan walked toward another room.

The Emiya residence was large, with a main house, a storage shed, and a dojo. Besides the house, Kiritsugu also left Shirou a large inheritance, but Shirou hardly used the inheritance left by his adoptive father, relying more on part-time jobs to earn the money he needed.

After finishing his magic practice, Shirou came to the dojo. Since Saber, or Artoria, moved in, the dojo had become Artoria's territory. When she had nothing to do at the Emiya house, she liked to sit here quietly and meditate.

Of course, it could also be understood as spacing out. Shirou, on the other hand, would take time to learn some basic swordsmanship from Artoria.

Although the Holy Grail War would no longer be fought, Emiya's appearance still made Shirou vaguely understand some things, so he worked even harder to improve himself.

With a powerful Servant who could serve as a Saber by his side, he naturally wanted to ask for guidance.

Of course, with Shirou's current strength, he would only be unilaterally beaten by Artoria. His bamboo sword basically had no chance of touching her.

Ethan watched for a while and found that although this Artoria's usual strength was only average, she would fully utilize her own magic during combat to enhance her various qualities. This allowed her to unleash astonishing power when swinging her sword, strong enough to clash head-on with the Berserker Heracles, and move at terrifying speed.

In fact, several people in Ethan's team also followed this path, especially Mordred and Galahad, who were both practicing these techniques.

In terms of the application of these techniques alone, Artoria far surpassed Mordred and Galahad. She hardly wasted a single bit of magic, using every bit at the most suitable moment. This behavior had become instinct.

"Artoria's combat talent is truly amazing."

Diana also came here and sat on the edge with Ethan, watching the two practice.

"I am not surprised at all. After all, the Arthur we know is also outstanding in combat talent."

"That is true."

Diana also thought of Arthur. When she was a child, she had received guidance from Arthur and had many of her basic movements corrected.

Unfortunately, due to the huge difference in their talent, Diana no longer had many opportunities to spar with Arthur. Perhaps she could spar with this female version in front of her.

Speaking of this, Diana remembered that Ethan was planning to take Artoria to meet Arthur, or rather, let Artoria see that completely different British Empire.

"It is going to be very interesting when those two meet. I do not want to miss that scene."

"You definitely will not miss it."

Diana suddenly seemed to think of something and burst into happy laughter.

"I am also looking forward to Arthur's reaction when he sees you in this state."

"..."

Ethan covered his face. He suddenly realized that Arthur might not be the only one watching the show. Merlin, the instigator, would definitely run over to watch the fun.

"If you keep looking like you are watching a show, I will turn you into a child too. Anyway, your strength has pretty much reached a bottleneck, and you should be considering breaking through the barrier between demigod and god."

"I do not want to use this method. I want to break through this bottleneck purely with my own strength."

Diana was very opinionated and very stubborn. Outsiders could not change her mind, and it was difficult even for close people to change something she had decided.

When she said she wanted to break through that boundary with her own strength, Ethan stopped bringing up the topic. At this time, he would only choose to silently support her and help her think of solutions when she encountered difficult problems.

"Thank you for being willing to understand and support my idea."

"That is fine. But could you please stop patting my head like you are praising a child?"

Diana laughed very happily, her eyes almost disappearing from smiling.

"Is this not good? I do not want to miss this novel experience. Perhaps after this time, there will not be such an opportunity again."

"There are even more novel things. Why are you not willing to try?"

"Hmph."

The hand that was originally patting his head suddenly turned into a fist and heavily struck his head, making Ethan's skull ache. He was dizzy for quite a while before recovering.

At this moment, Illya walked in, yawning. Seeing Shirou and Artoria sparring, she muttered boredly, "Is my idiot brother still practicing these basic things?"

She did not care much about what Shirou practiced diligently every day.

"With this time, he might as well learn more magic knowledge from me... his magic is too weak."

(To be continued.)