Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

"Everyone inside possesses formidable Imperial Arms!"

Esdeath licked her lips, which were as soft and plump as jelly.

With one interesting thing after another happening, how could Esdeath not be excited?

Even during her career as a Grand General of the Empire, she had never encountered so many interesting things.

A red-haired youth with boundless potential fights against northern barbarians, leading a night raid organization that continuously assassinates important officials of the empire.

All of this was telling Esdeath that she wouldn't feel bored for the foreseeable future.

She quickly stood up from her chair and gave orders to the guards beside her.

"All personnel undergo reorganization! Prepare to return to the capital!"

"it is good--!"

After the guards relayed the message to the troops outside, a deafening sound rang out from outside.

Those imperial soldiers had long since grown tired of staying in this icy, snowy place.

If Esdeath hadn't been searching for information about the Northern Dangerous Species within the palace, they might have already prepared to return to the capital.

Hunting dangerous species is also one of Esdeath's hobbies.

After this war, she knew she might never come back to this place, so she had already decided to kill a few dangerous creatures and take them back as souvenirs.

That's why they came to the palace to see their records of the dangerous species here.

The weaker of the dangerous species are not capable of becoming part of her collection.

Esdeath did not continue to meet with Shirou Emiya.

She has now left Shirou Emiya to Riva's management. If Esdeath were to meet Shirou again now, not only Shirou, but Esdeath herself might not be able to control her urge to fight him.

After all, the previous battles weren't very satisfying, and Esdeath is still itching to spar with someone.

She couldn't just find any excuse to beat up her subordinates.

Moreover, such a disproportionate battle could not make Esdeath happy.

But the arrival of the Empire's urgent intelligence was like a godsend for her.

Esdeath had already pacified the northern battlefield, and all the cities of the northern alien races had been turned into ice sculptures under her attack.

Countless civilians were slaughtered in the attack of the imperial army.

The capital of this northern foreign tribe was turned into a ghost town overnight.

Those who were lucky enough not to be killed by Esdeath could not escape their fate of being beheaded. Her subordinates had already surrounded the entire city and were constantly cleaning up the battlefield.

Even those who hid in the cellar were inevitably killed by the soldiers.

On that very day, a race disappeared from the world.

No army will ever again threaten the Empire's northern border.

The military camp where Emiya was located was the palace of the northern barbarian tribe that Esdeath had breached.

In such a short period of time, there is no way to make Emiya her subordinate except by using violence.

This is not something that can be accomplished overnight, so Esdeath is not in a hurry for Shirou Emiya.

She entrusted Shirou Emiya to Rival in order to gradually weaken him, like a spider ensnaring its prey, until he finally fell into the spider's fangs.

The first step is to use Riva's life-saving grace to bind Emiya Shirou to his own troops.

Otherwise, if Shirou Emiya had found an opportunity to escape, Esdeath wouldn't have abandoned her duties to find him.

She couldn't possibly be monitoring Shirou Emiya all day long; he was just a potential subordinate, not worth her expending so much energy on.

If Emiya wants to run away, no one can stop him except himself.

Despite not possessing a Teigu, he surpasses even those who wield Teigu. This is Esdeath's assessment of Shirou Emiya.

As long as Emiya remains in the military, Esdeath has various ways to mold him into the person she wants him to be.

Furthermore, due to his relationship with Riva, Emiya had to consider any potential conflicts with Esdeath because of Riva's life-saving grace.

Esdeath is Riva's boss, and a ruthless, sadistic killer at that. Emiya has to consider what kind of punishment Esdeath would give Riva if he were to clash with her.

It might even kill the person who saved your life.

This is probably an outcome that Emiya would not want to see.

Meanwhile, Emiya is recovering from his injuries.

Emiya finds himself trapped in an endless cycle called healing.

Although he often had the faults himself, he did not regret it.

He sat up from the hospital bed once again. In fact, Emiya did not have any major injuries, only varying degrees of frostbite on his internal organs.

After resting for a while, Emiya felt much better, and his breathing became much easier.

However, Emiya believed that Rival, who was lying next to him, was feeling very uncomfortable.

The blood had seeped through the bandages, and just looking at it made Emiya feel a great sense of guilt.

If it weren't for his impulsive act, Mr. Leva wouldn't have suffered such serious injuries.

"Don't worry, young Emiya! Cough! Cough!"

Riva sat on the hospital bed next to Shirou Emiya, patted him on the shoulder, and coughed involuntarily, but still indicated that he didn't need to feel guilty about it.

To act, you have to do the whole thing.

Using a self-inflicted injury as a pretext is certainly an excellent method.

Esdeath slashed fiercely at Riva's chest, and blood gushed out from Riva's chest like a fountain.

Shirou Emiya even managed to take a few steps forward despite almost half of his body being completely frozen, before collapsing to the ground.

He had absolutely no way to counter Esdeath's freezing.

They could only watch helplessly as Liva lay dead in a pool of blood.

Emiya Shirou stared intently at Esdeath, his eyes growing even angrier.

But right now it's just impotent rage.

His entire lower body was frozen into an ice sculpture. If you hit it hard, Shirou Emiya's lower body would shatter along with the ice.

"Send them to the medical camp."

Esdeath gave Shirou Emiya a cold-blooded look before returning to her tent.

Of course, what appears to be a serious injury is actually something that the people here can recover to their full strength in about three days.

Therefore, he can only bully country bumpkins like Emiya, and doesn't understand the concept of strong recovery.

Although Emiya possesses the most powerful regenerative abilities.

"Lord Riva! Lady Esdeath has a task for you."

A soldier stood in front of Liva and whispered his report to him.

After all, this is a ward, and many injured patients need to rest.

Although only Rival and Shirou Emiya are resting here now, most of the soldiers have already recovered and gone out.

Otherwise, Esdeath wouldn't have ordered an immediate return to the capital.

She still kept an eye on her wounded soldiers.

Riva apologized to Emiya and then walked out with the soldier.

"Assassinate those ministers?"

Liva nodded outside the tent, indicating that he understood and began to think about it carefully.

If we can find a way to bring Emiya under our control, Esdeath will basically be unable to appear in front of him anymore, and this mission just happens to give Emiya an opportunity to get away from Esdeath.

It was also through Riva's constant subtle prodding that Emiya was able to accept Esdeath. If they were always meeting, even though Riva was Emiya's savior, there would be no way to force Emiya to accept Esdeath.

These things need to be done step by step, slowly.

Thinking of this, Riva asked Emiya, who was still in the hospital room.

"Would you like to leave the army with me temporarily?"

Chapter Sixty-Three: A Fatal Strike

The sky was a clear, bright blue, and the brilliant sunlight illuminated the entire town, making it extremely bright.

The soldiers stationed in the city also lined up in neat rows, and then dispersed to carry out items that were placed inside the tents.

It appears these soldiers are preparing to return to the Empire and are sorting through some of the things they gained during the war.

Emiya followed behind Riva, watching the soldiers who were getting ready very quickly and excitedly.

He just always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

The lingering, faint smell of blood in the air made Emiya somewhat uncomfortable.

After the massacre, the army cleared the area in order to establish a base, as they couldn't sleep on corpses every day.

Therefore, during the time Shirou was awake, he did not see any people from other countries besides those from the Empire.

However, this is a military camp, so it's perfectly normal that only people from the Empire are here.

As for the smell of blood, Emiya simply believed it was the result of a battle between the two armies.

After all, war is inherently accompanied by bloodshed.

"Mr. Leva, where are we headed?"

Emiya looked at Riva, who was constantly crossing the camp in front of him, and asked her a question.

Although Emiya accepted Riva's invitation, he did not know where he was going.

Emiya had just arrived in this world and was unfamiliar with everything, yet he found himself on the battlefield.

She also clashed with Esdeath several times and stayed in the medic's tent.