Jobless Reincarnation: Emiya the Great Hero Must Show His True Skills

The memory of the great fire he experienced as a child in his previous life instinctively surfaced in his mind. The past memories and pain, like some kind of demon, suddenly swept over him.

Without a moment's hesitation, Shirou rushed straight into the fire scene.

Whether it's the Heroic Spirit Emiya or Emiya Shirou, they would both make the same choice at this moment!

"Rudy!! Lilia!!!"

The moment Shirou rushed into the burning house, his vision was obscured by thick fog. He quickly covered his mouth and nose with his hands, drew the longsword from his back, and cleaved through the flames.

He followed his instincts and went to the living room, where he immediately saw the maid Lilia, who had been choked by the thick smoke and was lying on the ground.

Shirou knew that Lillia had been injured in the past, which made it difficult for her to walk and even run.

Faced with this sudden fire, the other party was probably unable to react at all and simply lost consciousness due to the thick fog.

Although Shirou could have found a way to get Lillia out the moment he saw her, he didn't do so. Instead, he turned around and rushed up to the attic.

Facing the attic door, which remained as closed as ever, he didn't hesitate for a moment this time. He kicked the door open and immediately saw Rudeus huddled in the corner of the room, trembling with fear due to the sudden fire.

Chapter 20 The Hero Who Saved Everything

fire.

Crimson flames.

Like a funeral dirge from hell.

When Rudius awoke, he was greeted by a raging fire.

The strong smell of sparks irritated his nasal cavity, and the smoke stung his pupils, causing tears to involuntarily stream down the boy's face.

The whole world was illuminated by the red fire at this moment.

A roar followed immediately.

Flames roared and burned fiercely, illuminating the entire world, which was in ruins and turned into a boiling, churning mess.

Why would this happen so suddenly?

Why did this happen to me?

Although I already had a pretty good idea of ​​the answer—it was because I wasn't paying attention while reading and knocked over the candle, causing the flames to engulf the entire house.

However, Rudius still refused to admit that it was all his fault.

This was just an accident, a fluke of bad luck.

I didn't make any mistakes.

The mistake lies with everything except me!

That's right. If Paul and Senis hadn't abandoned their child and gone on a trip, they would never have failed to notice such a large fire.

Lilia, as a maid of the Grellat family, shouldn't she have tried to stop the fire when she saw it?

Although Lilia's legs are still weak due to past injuries, making it impossible for her to even run for a short time and only able to move slowly, doesn't she have any problems at all?

Most importantly, there's his older brother, that boy named Shirou... If it weren't for him, if it weren't for him...

Rudius kept shifting the blame in his mind, constantly blaming others for the cause of everything, and shirking the responsibility for the mistakes that should have been his.

This was the thing he was best at in his past life, and also the thing he did most often in his past life.

None of it is my fault.

It's all other people's fault.

You're all the reason I've become a NEET; the whole world seems to be targeting me.

I've tried so hard, I've done so well, so why did it end up like this? What did I do wrong?!

Just how badly do you want to hurt me before you stop?!

Rudius's mind unconsciously returned to the same state as in his previous life. When faced with an insurmountable predicament, his mind began to instinctively seek escape, escaping reality by giving up facing it and shifting the blame to something outside of himself.

Admittedly, in his previous life, he used this trick to evade responsibility for nearly twenty years. He constantly shifted the blame to everyone except himself, thus accepting his parents' upbringing, his siblings' sympathy, and enjoying a decadent life, making others pay the price for his cowardice.

As long as you have no psychological burden, you won't be aware of reality no matter how much you fall into depravity.

As long as one completely isolates oneself from the world outside oneself, then even the most selfish thoughts can be tacitly approved.

When a person isolates themselves, they stop considering the thoughts of others. They only think about their own pain and are immersed in their own sorrow, without ever thinking about the suffering they are causing to those around them.

Admittedly, this approach is very effective when dealing with people's goodwill, but when faced with the malice of the world, running away will only plunge you into an even deeper abyss.

Whether it was the despair after being kicked out of their home, or the raging fire that is now closing in on them.

Escaping may bring inner peace, but it can't solve the real problem!

"Snapped!"

A spark suddenly burst forth from nearby, and Rudius's pupils, seeing the blazing flames, finally realized that the fire wouldn't simply disappear because he was shirking his responsibility.

The flames so close to his skin even caused him to feel a strong burning and stinging sensation.

What to do? What to do? What to do!

In an instant, Rudeus's mind was thrown into utter chaos.

He knew what he should do now: at the very least, drive away the flames in front of him completely, or at the very least, escape from this enclosed room.

But, is it really possible to get out?

Can I really leave this room and face the harsh reality?

Thinking about the accusations he might face after leaving the house, and the anger Paul and Senis might vent when they returned after he set the house on fire, Rudius even considered dying in the fire.

If you just die, you won't have to take any responsibility, right?

Since I've already died once, maybe dying again won't make a difference?

Perhaps the gods can still grant their wishes, giving them a chance to start over, or even, like the protagonists in some novels, the ability to return from death...

Rudius began to experience escapism and hallucinations.

He gave up all struggle and huddled in a corner of the house, waiting for the moment when the flames would completely engulf him.

And at this moment——

"Rudy! Lilia!"

The boy's voice suddenly rang out in the burning house.

Compared to Rudius, the boy's voice was so steady and powerful, as if he had never known what confusion or escapism was, and would use all his strength to completely defeat the enemy called reality the moment he encountered any trouble.

"Shirou..."

Rudius froze the moment he heard the boy's voice; he hadn't expected the voice to come from inside the house.

impossible.

He shouldn't be home right now, right?

The house is already burned down like this, did he somehow manage to break in?

Looking at the flames around him that seemed to have devoured everything, Rudeus could hardly imagine that anyone could make such a choice.

If it were him, he would certainly try to find a solution, but once he realized that the matter was beyond his capabilities, he would give up without hesitation.

It's none of my business anyway, so it doesn't matter if I can't do it...

Rudius had this thought in his mind: he felt that normal people should have the same thoughts as him, possessing limited kindness, but mostly choosing to escape reality.

Therefore, he didn't think the boy would appear here, let alone appear before him to save him like a hero in a story.

How could anyone do such a thing...?

No normal person could ever do that!

"Boom!"

The instant Rudius had this thought, as if entangled by a red tongue, a pillar engulfed in fire collapsed.

Although he was lucky enough to only fall next to Rudeus, the feeling of being close to death still made Rudeus's face turn terrified.

He then realized that having experienced death once would not make him no longer afraid of death.

On the contrary, because he had experienced death and knew how terrible it was, he was more afraid of death than anyone else.

Death is a terrible thing.

"I don't want to die..."

The will to survive finally arose in the spirit, but the body was unable to do anything at this moment. The trembling muscles seemed to no longer belong to themselves and did not move according to their own thoughts.

Rudius then realized that cowardice was a disease.

This disease can erode a person's spirit without them realizing it, and turn them into an incompetent person without them even realizing it.

They are unable to make the right judgment when faced with any dangerous situation.

Am I going to die here?

Don't want to die.

I really don't want to die.

I don't want my hard-won new life to end here...

Rudius strained with all his might to try to move his legs and take action, but his hands and feet just trembled incessantly, completely out of his control.

If there were a disease called weakness in the world, then he would undoubtedly be terminally ill.

In contrast, his older brother, Shirou, was never afflicted by this disease, nor had he ever come into contact with it. He always firmly did the right thing and never flinched because of fear.

It was only at this moment that Rudeus suddenly realized that his feelings for Shirou were not fear or guilt, but envy.

It was something that didn't belong to me, something I had never possessed.

If I could have something like that, would everything be different...?

As the flames drew ever closer and the thick smoke engulfed his mind, Rudius's vision became increasingly narrowed, to the point that he could no longer clearly discern his surroundings.

In that very instant—

"boom!"

The door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

It was like an illusion, or perhaps the manifestation of some kind of fantasy.

The hero who saves everything.

He showed up.

Chapter 21 Don't worry, because I'm here!

Shirou kicked open the attic door.

Although he was well aware that his relationship with his younger brother Rudeus was terrible, and that the latter had always been unwilling to accept him or get along with him, these problems were nothing compared to the tragedy that was about to happen.

No matter how much the other person dislikes them or how distant they are from each other, they are now considered brothers from the same family.

And so what if the other person isn't your brother?

For Shirou Emiya, saving others is an obsession.

He may have abandoned the foolish ideal of becoming a champion of justice, but his body never forgot the fact that was already engraved in his heart.

So he opened the attic door without hesitation and quickly found Rudius.

"Rudy, come quick!"

Seeing Rudeus trembling, Shirou reached out his hand to him without hesitation. Even though the attic, the source of the fire, was filled with thick smoke and flames, he did not back down an inch.

"..."

Rudeus froze in place when Shirou reached out his hand.

Even though it was a hand reaching out to save him, for some reason he felt as if he saw something terrifying.

That's a denial of oneself.

It was a self-criticism of his past foolishness.

This is more terrifying than physical beatings and scoldings; it directly erases all the legitimacy of his past through his behavior, laying bare all of Rudius's past mistakes in the sunlight.

It could be said that this is something more terrifying than death—admitting one's mistakes and folly.