A Dimensional Journey Begins with the Dragon Clan

Chapter 1249. Is Matou Shinji a magician?

  Did this guy know this and still do that?

Since yesterday, things that should only be known to the protected people have been treated as irresponsible and interesting rumors————!

"——Shinji, you bastard!"

Emiya Shirou grabbed his shoulders.

“Don’t stare at me like that. Didn’t I say I didn’t know? You’ll regret it if you make baseless assumptions like this, Emiya.”

Shinji shook off his hand and sat down in his seat.

The bell rang to signal the start of the class meeting.

“————————Hmm.”

After glancing at Shinji, he could only return to his seat obediently.

  ···········

The day ended like this.

After school, the students left the school like a receding wave.

"————————"

Although Shinji has been questioned, the current information is still insufficient.

Regarding the incident in the mixed woods, he just said that he happened to be there.

"...First of all, if we don't get solid evidence..."

It is still unclear whether that guy is the Master.

However, he is definitely involved in Meizhu's disappearance.

"The only way to identify the Master... is to take off his clothes and check the Command Seals?"

But then again, there wouldn't be a Master who would allow such a thing to happen.

"——It's almost there. Maybe Toosaka knows a good idea."

stood up from his seat.

We agreed to meet in the corridor after school.

———After meeting up with Tousaka, we walked around the school.

According to Toosaka, there should be "curse carvings" in some places in the school to support the deployment of the barrier.

Even though Toosaka found and eliminated it a few days ago, new curse stones are created every time, or curse stones that disappeared a few days ago appear again, making it impossible to completely eliminate the barrier.

"Because the barrier itself has already been deployed. All we did was weaken its effectiveness. It's better than doing nothing. The other party won't activate the barrier without a complete one, right?"

That seems to be the case.

"Tousaka. I want to ask you something. Is that okay?"

After removing the curse hidden on the roof, Emiya Shirou called out to Toosaka.

"Hey, what's wrong? Is there anything else on the roof that looks weird to you?"

"Ah——No, it's something else. There's nothing strange here. I can only feel this far."

"Is that so? In that case, the cursed signs that are still active should have been almost eliminated. Emiya-kun, you can't even sense magic power, but you're extremely sensitive to abnormalities. I didn't expect that you could eliminate all the cursed signs in the school so quickly."

Toosaka was in a good mood.

Hell, he was glad to be of use, but now was not the time.

"Hey, Toosaka. Can a Master identify other Masters? For example, even if a Servant is hidden, he will be able to detect the abnormal atmosphere just by running into him..."

"Eh, that's not the case... But if there is no manipulation, it is still possible to identify the Master."

"Because the Master is a magician, we can find him by searching for magic power. And since he has a contract with a superior familiar like a Servant, his magic power will leak out even if he wants to hide it."

"Even though Emiya-kun was too slow to notice, there is still magic left when I walk. If a magician saw me, he would know that I am the Master at a glance. I think he would be able to recognize me if I saw the Master."

"Is that so...!? But Toosaka, you don't know that I'm a magician. What's going on?"

"What? This, do you want me to tell you?"

Toosaka suddenly changed the subject and adopted a mischievous tone.

...I always feel that there is a very ominous premonition.

"No, never mind. I kind of imagined it, just now."

"That's a wise decision. Yes, that's right. Even if they are not magicians, some people have a little bit of magic power. Magicians won't recognize anyone who doesn't have a certain level of magic power as a magician."

"Yeah, that's what I thought... Hey, so, how am I now?"

“Hmm… there’s still no change. It’s an incomplete summoning to begin with, and the connection with Saber is very weak except when healing injuries. Well, Emiya-kun is a special case, so this is the case.”

……call.

In this case, Shinji is not the Master.

Even if he doesn't know, as long as Toosaka sees it, he will be able to tell whether it is the Master or not.

If Shinji is the Master and has a contract with the Servant, Toosaka should be able to sense the magic power leaking out.

"What? Although we are looking for the Master, if we really want to find him, we can find him in no time. We just need to follow the traces of the powerful magic power left behind."

"That's not necessarily true. Although it's just a hypothesis, as long as you have an item that hides magic power, you can make it invisible to the enemy... However, items that can eliminate the powerful magic power of a Servant should be very rare. I don't think there is such a Master."

"So, if someone beside Tousaka is a Master, it would be impossible to tell if he has that kind of tool, right?"

"Well, I mean, even though there are tools, I think no matter how hidden it is, it can still be detected if you get close. Since we have already made a contract with the Servant, there will be a conflict with the world anyway."

"If you can't tell whether it's a Master even when he's right beside you, it can only be that this Master doesn't use a Servant. There may be exceptions, but it's 90% correct."

Back to the classroom.

Although he has no clues about the Master, Toosaka seems to be satisfied with having eliminated most of the curses.

No matter what, the other party would not remain silent when faced with such a severe obstacle. She seemed to think that there would be movement soon.

"You are really patient. Even though it won't take long, who knows how long it will take."

"Really? I don't think the guy who cast this kind of barrier will remain silent after being hindered. In my opinion, it should be tomorrow. If he is hindered for the second time, he will definitely not be able to bear it."

Toosaka was snorting and laughing at the Master whom she had never met.

"Oh. Is that so?"

"That's right. Well, I have some things to do so I'll go back first. I still have to buy a lot of things to prepare for the decisive battle tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow then. Also, go home early today and don't think about taking shortcuts or anything like that."

"Hmm? What, are you worried about me, Toosaka?"

"Uh...! No, that's not it! It's just because we have become partners. If something goes wrong, my plan will fail! I just reminded you of something to be careful of!"

Toosaka suddenly started to panic.

That flustered look is not like the usual Tousaka at all, and it's obvious that she's trying to hide her shyness. ———I see.

Now I know why she usually looks so cool, and I can understand her inner thoughts a little bit.

"In short! Emiya-kun is completely defenseless, so don't act rashly! I am an exception, but if it were anyone else, they would have killed you immediately."

Toosaka snorted and turned to leave.

"ah--------"

Looking at the receding figure, Shirou Emiya suddenly...

"Tousaka. Is Archer with you now?"

Asking such a meaningless question.

"Yes, what's the matter? Do you want to talk to him?"

"…Nothing. I was just wondering if Toosaka and him were getting along okay."

In response to the sudden question, Toosaka looked at me in confusion and said "Huh?"

---Then.

"Haha, that's good, don't worry. Although he's a little eccentric, he's a good guy. Don't look at him like that, he's actually like a child, it's quite fun to get along with him."

Toosaka said happily before disappearing down the stairs.

  ···········

Maybe it was because he was worried about Mizue, but before he knew it, Shirou Emiya had already walked to the archery field.

There was no one in the dojo far away from the school gate.

The club activities have already ended, so there won’t be anything to gain even if we come here.

Turned around and walked towards the school gate.

———However, on the road leading to the school gate, standing as if blocking the way, was the figure of Matou Shinji.

"Hey, are you planning to go back now? The recent incident has caused quite a stir. Shouldn't students go back home as soon as possible?"

In this place, he didn't have the confidence that he could remain calm while looking at Shinji in front of him.

He tried to walk past Shinji without noticing him.

"Oh. I was so tired that I didn't even have the energy to say hello to my friends. Really, it's all because of you doing something as boring as destroying a spell that things turned out like this."

Shinji's voice came with a hint of laughter.

"------!"

Then Emiya Shirou immediately jumped back and took a stance.

"The destruction spell——You can say something like this, which means you are..."

He took a stance and glared at Shinji.

"Yes, that's what happened. You keep destroying the barrier, but it's the insurance I prepared. If it disappeared like that, I would be so scared that I wouldn't even dare to come to school."

"————————"

……I see.

This is where Shirou Emiya's naivety lies.

When she saw Shinji in the grove, she knew that he was the Master but was unwilling to admit it. She was not aware enough.

"Wait a minute. There's no need to act like that, Emiya. The noisy Toosaka is gone, so let's just talk it out as men. You know I don't like fighting."

"Talk...? You don't intend to fight me?"

"How could this be possible? It seems to me that you, Emiya, were forced to become a Master, right? It's the same for me. I'm not a magus and I don't have any intention of fighting, but I became a Master."

"Right now, I'm looking for a way to end this without having to fight anyone. So I have no intention of fighting you, Emiya."

"...Is that so? Then what's with that barrier? They prepared something like that and said they had no intention of fighting."

"You're so stupid. That was just for self-protection. There's also the famous magus Tousaka in the school. He won't hesitate to see a fight between Masters. In that case, a Master who isn't a magus must have some measures to protect himself. That barrier is just for that purpose. As long as no one attacks me, I won't activate it."

"————————"

...That does make sense.

I don't know whether Shinji is the Master or how he became the Master.

But I think I can trust what I just said.

Since Shinji said that, I should nod and believe it.

But, before that——

"Shinji. It was you who attacked the female student yesterday, wasn't it?"

This problem must be solved first.

"...What happened yesterday? Well, there's really nothing I can do about it. My Servant is a stubborn horse, and will attack people if left alone. I'm just a human chosen as a Master. I'm not a magician like Tousaka, so it's not easy to make a Servant obey."

"—Then what happened yesterday was just an accident? Was it something your Servant did without your permission?"

"Yeah, I'll be careful next time. I don't want to cause trouble where I am. From now on, I'll let that guy just focus on protecting me."

"Are these words true, Shinji?"

"Yeah. What good would it be for me to lie to you? I could have kept it a secret, but I came all the way here to confess it to you. Emiya, are you doubting me? If I were to be attacked by you all of a sudden, I would have no choice but to fall out with you, so I'll tell you the truth first - I don't want to fight anyone."

…For a moment, Emiya Shirou couldn’t believe this.

However, if Shinji really thinks so, this is exactly what he wants.

"I understand. I trust you. As long as you don't do anything, I won't do anything. That's all, Shinji."

"That's great. For someone like you, Emiya, you're pretty good at understanding. But I'm still troubled by this. Why would I come to talk to you like this? Could you please understand a little more?"

Shinji extended his hand as if he wanted to shake his hand.

That is to say.

"Would you like to cooperate with me, Emiya? You may not know this, but the Matou family is originally a family of magicians... Although the magic arts were cut off in my father's generation, the knowledge still remains. How about it, you are a layman who has become a master, so you should be reliable, right?"

"————————"

  Matou is from a family of magicians...?

Toosaka never mentioned this matter.

No, it's just like what Shinji said, my bloodline has been cut off and I've been excluded as an outsider.

"Well, even without Tōsaka, we can still survive the Holy Grail War if we work together. I don't think we should even consider this, right?"

"————————"

Emiya Shirou looked at the outstretched hand.