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

However, the more you think this way, the more irresistibly the shadows of the past come crashing down on you.

In the end, Rudius even found himself becoming as withdrawn as before, staying in the attic all day and not daring to go out even once.

That's why Rudius was more resistant than ever before when Paul and Senis suggested going on a long journey.

No!

Absolutely do not go out!

The outside world is full of enemies!

Apart from that tiny room, everyone else just wanted to see him make a fool of himself!

Rudius harbored such delusions; he himself was aware of his own weakness, yet he could not escape the nightmare that enveloped him.

To Rudeus's utter surprise, Shirou offered to stay with him.

Nevertheless, he still did not approve of this older brother, feeling that the other party would one day kick him out of the house, just like his own older brother had done in the past.

You must never trust anyone, and you must never place your trust in anyone.

Rudyus became increasingly withdrawn, locking himself completely in the attic.

Even at night, he didn't go out at all; his only companions were magic-related books and a burning candle.

Exhausted, he fell into a deep sleep without realizing it, not even noticing that he had accidentally knocked over the candle...

Chapter 18 Sylphiete

Paul and Senis have already set off on a long journey. Although they said they would try to return within a day and would never leave Shirou and Rudeus alone at home for too long, in a world without convenient means of transportation like trains and airplanes, long-distance travel is inevitably full of uncertainties.

No matter how well you plan your trip and make your decisions, unexpected events may still occur along the way, causing the trip to take longer.

So Shirou had made up his mind from the beginning to take good care of his family during these few days, especially his younger brother Rudeus, with whom he still had some distance between them.

Of course, due to Rudius's resistance, the other party always locked himself in the attic room.

Shirou could only entrust Lilliado with taking care of Rudeus and ensuring that food and water were delivered to him on time.

He himself had to take on Paul's responsibilities, patrolling the village of Buena every day to ensure that no new monsters appeared in or around the forest.

After packing his things, Shirou slung his longsword over his shoulder and prepared to leave.

Before leaving, he glanced at the attic and found that there was no sound coming from there, and Rudius was not staring at him from the attic window as usual.

He silently shook his head, not paying too much attention, and then went out and left.

Upon arriving in Buena Village, the villagers were as welcoming as ever, greeting Shirou with smiles as they saw him.

"Shirou, are you free to rest today?"

When they passed by Mrs. Somar's house, a beautiful single young woman gave him a flirtatious wink, her fiery attitude almost overwhelming Shirou.

"Ahem, I have to go on patrol, let's talk about it another time."

"Hey, when's the next one?"

"Next time will be when I'm free, so see you then!"

Shirou, not daring to be bothered by Mrs. Somar, fled immediately in fear.

He walked through the open space of Buena village, past the iconic tree surrounding the village, and arrived at the towers surrounding the forest.

Before he even went inside, he suddenly saw a young child squatting outside the tower. The child seemed to be waiting for someone and was squatting on the ground counting the insects on the ground.

The moment Shirou arrived, panic instinctively flashed across the girl's face. She seemed terrified of strangers, shrinking back the instant Shirou approached.

"..."

Seeing the girl's panic, Shirou couldn't help but reveal a slightly subtle expression, after all, he didn't think he looked like a bad person.

Just then, he got a close look at the girl and found that she was very pretty, with a strong androgynous look, and short green hair.

"Green hair...Are you Roltz's daughter?"

"You know Dad?"

Upon hearing Shirou mention Roltz's name, the girl finally stopped being frightened, and a surprised expression appeared on her face when she faced Shirou.

Before Shirou could answer, the narrow door at the top of the tower opened, and the blond half-elf Roltz greeted him with a smile: "Yo, Shirou, you've come!"

"Yes." Shirou nodded in response to Roltz's words, then asked curiously, "Is this child your daughter?"

"Yes, this is my daughter, Silphie. Isn't she adorable, Shirou? She'll be your wife from now on!"

"Don't tease me."

Shirou shook his head; he knew Roltz was just joking.

Moreover, Silphie is only three years old, the same age as her younger brother Rudeus, so it's impossible for her to be discussing such topics at such a young age.

Before he went up to the tower, he noticed that Hilfi was staring at him, so he hesitated and rummaged through his pocket.

Because his training is so demanding, Shirou often carries homemade dried sweet potatoes or dried fruit with him to replenish his energy when his body reaches its limit.

He then took out the dried fruit and handed it to the little girl: "Silphie, I have received a lot of care from your father, so please accept these things."

"Can I?"

"of course."

Seeing the smile on Shirou's face, Sylphie hesitated before taking the dried fruit and taking a small bite.

"It's so delicious!"

"Hehe, that's good, but don't eat it all at once. If you eat it all today, you won't be able to eat it tomorrow. Things that make people feel happy should be preserved for as long as possible."

"..."

Hilfi clearly didn't understand Shirou's words. The girl just nodded as if she understood and happily munched on dried fruit.

Seeing this, Shirou smiled and shook his head, saying, "Never mind, it's fine if you want to finish it today. If we have a chance to meet again in the future, I will still share it with you."

"Yes, thank you, big brother."

She received Hilfi's thanks.

But Shirou did not come for that purpose.

He silently shook his head, then stepped onto the tower.

"You don't actually have designs on my daughter, do you?!"

Upon entering the room at the top of the tower, Roltz spoke in a strange tone.

"What are you thinking? I'm just trying to repay your kindness in taking care of me all this time."

Shirou waved his hand, signaling to Roltz not to have any strange misunderstandings.

In fact, when he saw Silphie just now, he inexplicably recalled his former sister Miyu. Perhaps it was out of love for her that he took such good care of her, or perhaps it was simply out of nostalgia for his sister.

Of course, Roltz knew that Shirou wasn't that kind of person, so he smiled calmly and started chatting with Shirou about forests and monsters as usual.

"Although the number of monsters in the forest has not changed recently, their movements have been unpredictable, as if they are migrating in a planned manner."

"Migration? Has anything like this happened before?"

"Such a thing has never happened in the known time, but similar situations have occurred in some past records of Buena Village. Without exception, those examples all stemmed from the disintegration of the monster society caused by the arrival of some powerful monster."

"Monster society disintegrating?"

"Yes, monsters, like humans, have their own social systems. Powerful monsters lead weaker monsters, and weaker monsters control even weaker monsters, just like the Asura Kingdom, which adopts a feudal system."

Roltz spoke calmly, “Generally speaking, this kind of social structure is very stable and basically does not change much. If the social structure of monsters changes, it means that some external force has disrupted the original balance. The most likely possibility is the arrival of some powerful monster, which caused the strongest monster to lose its position, and the small monster society also completely disintegrated!”

Chapter 19 Fire

Although Roltz was not an adventurer, his years of experience living in the forest as a half-elf gave him a deep understanding of the social structure of monsters.

He noticed Shirou's confusion and explained further, "Generally speaking, monsters are classified into fixed ranks. According to the Adventurers' Guild's ranking, monsters are divided into E-rank to S-rank. To defeat a monster of a certain rank, you need an adventurer team of at least the same rank to accept the corresponding quest. That's why the lowest-rank F-rank adventurer team can't even accept monster-slaying quests and can only start with the most basic miscellaneous quests."

"I see. So, what is the approximate level of the monsters in that great forest?"

"Originally, thanks to Mr. Paul and our regular clearing operations, the most powerful monsters in the great forest were only E-rank slime kings or non-aggressive plant-type monsters. These monsters generally wouldn't attack ordinary people unless provoked, and they could even enhance the forest's ecosystem. That's why we deliberately preserved them."

Roltz slowly began to speak, “These monsters have now clearly migrated, and some have even left the forest. If nothing unexpected happens, it is possible that even more powerful monsters have invaded the interior of the great forest.”

"An even more powerful monster?"

“D-rank monsters, or even higher-rank monsters, can only be handled by an adventurer party of the same rank.” In response to Shirou’s surprise, Roltz spoke with a deep gaze, “I have already planned to discuss this matter with Mr. Paul, and even request a higher-ranking lord to handle the crisis.”

"Well... Paul just happened to be away on a trip today."

"How could it be such a coincidence?"

To his surprise, Paul wasn't home. Roltz paused for a moment, then sighed helplessly. "Let's put this matter aside for now. The monster migration has only just begun, which means it will be a long time before the arrival of powerful monsters. Until then, I will keep a close eye on the situation in the forest."

"Well, please."

"it is my responsibility."

Shirou and Roltz continued their conversation about monsters.

Roltz described the few monsters he had ever seen in his life, from giant snakes to demon wolves to demon-like creatures.

Although Roltz, as a forest ranger, had not experienced much, what he told Shirou greatly broadened his horizons and gave him a better understanding of the world.

Time passed by unnoticed, and it was time for Shirou to leave. He bid farewell to Roltz and turned to leave the tower.

Are you still here?

Shirou looked at Sylphie in surprise, not expecting that she had stayed at the bottom of the tower the whole time and had hardly left.

"Mom isn't home today, so I have to stay with Dad."

"...Don't you have any friends to play with?"

"Dad said it's best not to easily associate with other people your age."

"This……"

Shirou could understand Roltz's good intentions; he was probably worried that Sylvie would be bullied because of her hair color when she interacted with her peers.

Even so, it's impossible for the other party to completely cut off social contact.

It's impossible for a person to go through their entire life without ever talking to other people.

Thinking of this, Shirou felt that he should help Sylphie in some way, at least not let her continue to be alone like this.

However, he couldn't think of any good ideas.

After all, his younger sister, Miyu, had completely cut off social interaction, stayed at home all the time, and never went to school, studying entirely on her own.

He couldn't help Miyu make friends with others back then, so naturally he didn't have any good ideas for dealing with Silphi now.

Furthermore, Silphie has the problem of green hair. If she is hastily introduced to other children, it would be terrible if she were ostracized and bullied by them.

We should try to plan things out in the long term.

Shirou then gave all the dried fruit in his pocket to Sylphie, promising to give her snacks later as well, before setting off on his way home alone.

As he passed through the village, he suddenly noticed thick smoke rising from the hillside where the Grerat manor was located in the distance.

He initially thought that someone was burning wheat straw at this time to increase the fertility of the land, but upon closer inspection, there was no cultivated land on the other side of the hill.

A strange sense of foreboding welled up in Shirou's heart, and he instinctively quickened his pace.

As they approached the Grerat manor, a villager they recognized rushed over in a panic, his face full of anxiety, and said, "Shirou, something terrible has happened! Your house is on fire!"

"what?"

I never expected to hear such news; the ominous premonition in my heart suddenly became a reality.

Without a second thought, Shirou took off running as fast as he could, pushing his still-young body's potential to its limit, and finally reached the Grellard mansion on the hillside.

What comes into view is a fiery red.

Flames were billowing from the entire house, and since the house was almost entirely made of wood, the flames quickly engulfed every area of ​​the house.

Shirou quickly assessed that such a massive fire was virtually impossible to extinguish without the aid of modern firefighting equipment.

I've heard that there have been so-called magicians in this world who could use powerful magic to unleash floods and extinguish flames.

However, Shirou didn't know where to find a magician, and the current situation didn't allow him to hesitate at all.

You must make an immediate decision: whether to try to rescue people from the burning house on your own, or to turn around and seek help from others!

"Damn it!"