Emiya Shirou Doesn't Want to Work Overtime [242]

“But the fact that it hasn’t happened yet—doesn’t that mean Friagne hasn’t completed this technique?”

Shirou Emiya questioned Shana in return. If Friagne’s Devouring the City had already been established, Shana wouldn’t even have had the chance to notice something like this.

A Crimson Lord famed for cunning wouldn’t wait patiently, holding back while giving Flame Hazes time to discover his scheme—not if he could accomplish his goals instantly.

Why hadn’t Friagne activated the technique when Shana arrived? There was only one simple explanation: the technique wasn’t finished yet.

And it wasn’t something he could complete instantly either.

If Friagne had been only one step away from finishing such a horrifying ritual, he wouldn’t have bothered hiding at all. He would’ve gone all-out, rapidly devouring human Power of Existence, recklessly creating Torches—and Shirou and Shana would’ve had no chance to stop him.

Friagne possessed numerous Rinne capable of rapidly stealing human existence, but Shirou Emiya and Shana were only two people. No matter how swiftly they fought, they couldn’t instantly eliminate every Rinne scattered throughout the city.

If Shirou could think of something so obvious, Friagne surely would’ve thought of it too.

Yet Friagne didn’t do that. Such a straightforward move would be impossible for Shirou and Shana to prevent. Clearly, the reason he didn’t was because it wouldn’t achieve his goal.

This technique wasn’t simply about setting up numerous Torches. Each Torch had to contain a particular Unrestricted Spell that, when Friagne activated it, would instantly release all their accumulated Power of Existence simultaneously.

That was why, when Sakai Yūji had witnessed the doll devour his classmate’s existence, it had first completely drained the existence before releasing some back to create a Torch, instead of creating a Torch as it devoured.

Devouring and simultaneously forming Torches would’ve been faster, yes—but it wouldn’t have achieved the outcome Friagne desired.

If Devouring the City were as simple as planting Torches, then Crimson Denizens could’ve long since become powerful Crimson Lords by swiftly slaughtering massive numbers of humans and instantly converting them into Torches, long before Flame Hazes arrived.

If it were that easy, the human world would already be chaos.

“And besides,” Shirou continued, “from last night until now, there hasn’t been a single Fūzetsu, nor any explosions suddenly appearing in the city. Meaning, during this period, Friagne hasn’t acted at all. No new Torches have been created.”

Shana slowly lowered her Nietono no Shana. She wasn’t unreasonable; Shirou Emiya’s explanation was logical and well-founded.

The reality indeed matched Shirou’s analysis: things hadn’t yet become critical. There wasn’t yet a need to frantically eliminate all the Torches.

But Shana still couldn’t understand why Shirou was so concerned about these Torches. In every meaningful sense, they were already dead. Walking the earth were nothing more than empty shells.

“This isn’t a good place to talk,” Shana said, frowning at the increasingly dense crowd gathering around them. Flames surged from her palm.

She casually waved a hand around her, and instantly the crowd grew dazed, eyes losing focus, staring blankly ahead.

“I erased this moment from their memories.”

With that, Shana vanished instantly from the spot.

Shirou didn’t linger either, quickly leaping away from the scene.

Although Shana wasn’t specialized in using complex Unrestricted Spells, these basic techniques were fundamental to all Flame Hazes. Like Fūzetsu, memory erasure was a simple spell Flame Hazes frequently employed.

It was similar to the Suggestion Magecraft frequently used by magi—both designed to prevent ordinary people from discovering and entering deeper into an extraordinary world.

After all, not everyone was like Shirou Emiya, relying exclusively on imperfect Reinforcement Magecraft and rarely-used Projection Magecraft.

“If we eliminate most of the Torches, the Hunter’s plan will collapse on its own.”

On the rooftop, Shana spoke calmly. Although she was currently choosing not to destroy the Torches because of Shirou Emiya, it didn’t mean she’d given up on the idea entirely.

It was still the simplest, quickest method—both to halt Friagne’s scheme and force him out into the open.

Friagne would never sit by idly, allowing a plan he’d spent so long carefully laying out to fall apart easily.

Shirou understood this clearly too.

“Those Torches aren’t human anymore. As humans, they’ve already died. Even if left alone, they’ll vanish soon enough.”

Alastor’s solemn voice resonated calmly in front of Shana. After countless years of experience, he clearly understood why Shirou was so insistent on saving the Torches.

“Have either of you ever seen a Torch who isn’t subconsciously ignored—someone who can be noticed clearly by others, living among people just like a human, with self-awareness?”

Shirou didn’t directly oppose Alastor’s reasoning. A life lived as a puppet was indeed no better than death.

If Shirou had never met Sakai Yūji, perhaps he would’ve listened to Alastor’s advice, letting Shana destroy the Torches.

But since there existed at least one Torch capable of living normally as a human, didn’t that mean other doll-like Torches had the chance to regain awareness too?

They might not become fully human, but they could at least live human-like lives.

“Tenmoku Ikko.”

Shana softly spoke a name.

“The original wielder—and creator—of the Nietono no Shana I hold now.”

She slowly looked at the sword in her hands, quietly speaking.

“A Mystes, huh?” Alastor responded knowingly.

Torches possessing Treasure Tools were known as Mystes. Fundamentally, they were still Torches—but they possessed something other Torches did not.

“Mystes?”

Seeing Shirou’s confusion, Alastor quickly explained the concept to him.

“No wonder…” Shirou murmured. He finally understood why Sakai Yūji was able to live like an ordinary human.

“If those Torches were all transformed into Mystes, then theoretically speaking, wouldn’t they regain consciousness and live human-like lives again?”

Shirou wanted to save those Torches. But he didn’t want the people he saved to become mere soulless puppets, aimlessly wandering. Saving them that way would be meaningless.

“Theoretically, yes, but where could you possibly find so many—”

Alastor paused briefly, intending to reject Shirou’s hypothesis outright. After all, Treasure Tools were exceptionally rare. Most Crimson Lords and Flame Hazes didn’t possess even one.

Those who did were either incredibly fortunate or exceptionally resourceful.

But a sudden thought struck him mid-sentence—the young man standing before him didn’t exactly lack Treasure Tools.

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T/N: LETS GOOOOO SHIROU EMIYA THERE GOES MY HEROOOOO

This is a fan translation of 卫宫士郎不想加班 by 此世无存. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!