Emiya Shirou Doesn't Want to Work Overtime [233]

“It was just a coincidence.”

“Coincidence?”

Clearly, Shirou Emiya’s vague answer didn’t satisfy either Shana or Alastor.

So many factors combined couldn’t simply be waved away as mere coincidence.

They stood before an old, somewhat rundown two-story apartment. Just from the rust stains spreading across its outer walls, one could tell how many years it had weathered.

Click…

With a quiet creak, Shirou pushed open the door to the middle room on the second floor.

The second floor had three rooms in total, but one had already been turned into a storage room.

If Shirou hadn’t quickly contacted the landlord about renting the place, the middle room likely would’ve ended up as storage as well.

The interior was extremely dim. Shirou casually reached for the switch nearby.

The lights flickered more than ten times before finally stabilizing.

The room itself wasn’t large—rather, it felt somewhat cramped. With every essential piece of furniture crammed inside, it naturally appeared crowded.

After all, it was just a single-room layout with a bathroom attached. Fitting so much furniture into such limited space wasn't exactly pleasing to the eye.

In the center of the room stood a low, square table with two floor cushions. The landlord was thorough enough to consider guests might occasionally visit, thus providing the bare essentials.

Shirou Emiya wasn’t picky about his living environment. After all, he knew he wouldn’t be staying here long anyway, so he didn’t have high expectations.

Removing his shoes, he entered the room.

He’d tidied up a little during the day, making sure there wasn’t too much dust left around—at least clean enough for a decent sleep.

Although Shirou wasn’t attending school here, the café owner assumed he was a student and scheduled his shifts accordingly, only after school hours. Thus, Shirou had plenty of time in the morning to clean up.

“This place looks like no one’s lived here in a long while. You're fine with staying here?”

Surprisingly natural, Shana walked right in behind Shirou, casually making herself at home.

“Don’t you need to return to your own place?” Shirou asked, glancing back at her.

“For a Flame Haze, sleeping outdoors is perfectly normal. We’re different from you humans—we have no permanent home.”

Shana answered Shirou matter-of-factly, as though having no place to stay was entirely natural.

Indeed, Flame Hazes spent almost all their days wandering from place to place, hunting down Crimson Denizens wherever they surfaced. They rarely stayed in any single location long, and it was common enough to defeat a Denizen outside of town and end up sleeping on the side of the road afterward.

“It sounds pretty tough. But without people like you around, humanity probably would’ve been devoured completely by those Denizens already.”

Shirou retrieved a packet of tea leaves from a cabinet, heated a kettle of water, and brewed a pot of tea. He set out a cup in front of Shana, carefully pouring the steaming tea into it.

“Sorry there isn’t anything else to offer.”

Steam gently rose from the cup, brushing against Shana’s tense face. Her expression relaxed slightly as she held the cup in her hands and took a small sip.

After having explained so much about Crimson Denizens earlier, she really had gotten thirsty.

Though she’d made a contract with a Crimson Lord, Shana was still fundamentally human—not like Heroic Spirits, who required neither sleep nor food, just a steady supply of magical energy.

“What are your plans next?”
“First, we should search the city for Friagne’s whereabouts. It’d be better than passively waiting around for him to attack us again. Besides, if he activates a Fūzetsu somewhere else to devour humans, we won't necessarily reach him in time to stop it. It's better to be proactive.”

Shirou shared his thoughts frankly with Shana. Thankfully, Friagne’s target this time had been Shirou himself. Had Friagne targeted someone like Sakai Yuuji or other humans incapable of moving within a Fūzetsu, there would’ve undoubtedly been heavy casualties before Shirou or Shana could intervene.

Finding Friagne’s hideout early at least gave them some degree of control.

Right now, Shirou himself likely posed a significant threat to Friagne.

“Hmm—”

Shana thought briefly, nodding in agreement with Shirou’s reasoning. Compared to waiting passively, she naturally preferred taking initiative. But then—

“Hm?”

As though suddenly recalling something important, her voice immediately rose sharply.

“You're just a human! Don’t keep thinking about confronting Crimson Lords yourself! Defeating the Hunter is my responsibility!”

“Alright, alright, alright!”

Shirou had no intention of arguing with her. In his experience, it was usually better to simply follow along with such strong statements rather than argue pointlessly. Besides, who could truly predict how events would unfold later anyway?

Still, the sooner Friagne was dealt with, the sooner the city would be freed from danger.

For now, though, they should rest and recover properly. The search for that “Hunter” could wait until tomorrow.

Even the Holy Grail War allowed for time to rest. Didn’t everyone still attend school and go shopping during daylight hours?

“What are you doing now?”

After Shana quietly finished drinking her tea, Shirou moved the low table aside and took out two futon sets from the closet, neatly spreading them on the floor.

Laying out bedding itself wasn’t strange.

The strange part was that Shirou took out two sets.

“Aren’t you staying here tonight?” Shirou asked directly.

Since she didn't have a place of her own, naturally, she'd have to spend the night here. Shirou certainly wasn’t about to kick her out onto the street.

Besides, Shirou had no particular reservations about a girl staying over.

Sakura and Fuji-nee had both stayed overnight at his home countless times. Shirou was long accustomed to it.

If she wanted to stay, then she'd stay. It wasn't a big deal.

Or at least, that’s how Shirou saw it.

“I—When did I say I was staying over!?”

But Shana reacted explosively, like a cat whose fur had suddenly bristled, loudly scolding Shirou.

“Didn’t you say you had nowhere else to stay? The room is a bit small, but there's definitely enough space for two people.”

In reality, if it were a group of guys, even seven or eight people could manage to sleep in this tiny room without trouble.

“Only by resting properly can we hunt down Friagne effectively tomorrow, right?”

Shana couldn’t argue against that logic. While she certainly could find a hotel to stay in, she quickly reconsidered: Since the Hunter was targeting Shirou, staying here and waiting was actually the most efficient choice.

Compared to finding a hotel elsewhere and rushing over at the first sign of trouble, simply staying right here was clearly best.

Shana rarely interacted with other people and had only minimal understanding of emotional subtleties. Unlike ordinary high school girls, she instinctively evaluated situations based on efficiency and practicality.

After weighing the pros and cons, she found Shirou’s suggestion reasonable enough and nodded in agreement.

“Fine!”

---

T/N: shana is cute

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!