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

Shirou shook his head.

"But I have it."

"???"

Seeing Shirou's puzzled expression, Philip couldn't help but laugh and patted him on the shoulder. "Haha, I was just joking. Of course, if you don't want to take this as a joke, I can take it seriously right away. After all, Boreas has been detached from the power politics of the capital for too long. If a suitable way can be found, it wouldn't be impossible for Boreas to return to the capital directly."

"..."

Shirou did not respond to Philip's words.

He had long understood that the head of the Boreas family was by no means an unambitious person; the other party harbored a vast ambition far beyond imagination, but had simply never had the opportunity to show it.

If Shirou were as greedy as Philip, interested in power and status, he would probably go along with the conversation and accept the other party's proposal at this point.

Unfortunately, Shirou is not that kind of person.

He values ​​peace in the present more than future power and status. He would not accept it if his desires led to the danger of those around him.

So Shirou quickly rejected Philip's suggestion, saying, "I have no interest in that, Philip, please don't bring it up again."

"Ok."

Philip's emotions came and went quickly, perhaps he just hid them well. "In that case, I will help you explain to Luke that you have no intention of inheriting Nottos's position. With my Bereas clan as your guarantee, I think he can rest assured."

"Thank you."

Shirou nodded, grateful for Philip's actions.

Philip smiled and waved his hand, then said, "By the way, what I just said wasn't just to help you out. Alice's condition is really not right right now, you'd better go and check on her as soon as possible."

Something's not right?

Shirou looked confused.

Philip sighed with a hint of helplessness, “It’s embarrassing to admit, but today is Alice’s birthday party. We planned for Alice to dance at the party to show her charm to the people of the territory. But as you know, Alice has a personality that these past few days. Whenever we start practicing dancing, she immediately runs away and hides somewhere, which makes the progress extremely slow.”

"So Alice still hasn't learned to dance?"

"almost……"

Philip's tone was quite helpless.

He knew his daughter's temperament very well, but he couldn't think of any strategy to educate Alice properly.

During this period, Shirou's education of Alice was quite effective, making her a little more obedient than before, which is why she came to Shirou for help.

"The banquet is starting tonight. At least let Alice go to the banquet. If she, as the main character, is unwilling to attend, then there will be a real problem."

Philip's tone was very heavy, clearly indicating his extreme helplessness about the situation.

Shirou realized the extent of the trouble Alice had caused and quickly nodded, saying, "I understand. I'll go find Alice."

"Well, then I'll leave it to you, Shirou."

Philip was not too surprised that Shiron would agree to this.

After all, since Shirou came to the Boreas family, he has been quite helpful, and even has strange nicknames such as "Wishing Machine Shirou, help me" and "Shirou-sama".

Of course, most people don't have any malicious intent towards this.

On the contrary, Shirou's prestige within the Boreas family is now incredibly high, almost rivaling that of Lord Sauros.

Philip wasn't just helping Shirou unilaterally; he spoke quite enthusiastically, "When it's your next birthday, Shirou, I'll definitely have the Boreas family prepare something special for you. You can look forward to it!"

"That's...ok."

Although he wasn't particularly looking forward to any birthday, Shirou knew he couldn't stop the other person.

In short, after accepting Philip's request, Shirou quickly went to find Alice.

He immediately went to the high point of Boreas Castle. After activating Eagle Eye, a red-haired figure quickly came into view, lying furtively in the stable.

"Humph!"

When Shirou approached, Alice was sulking alone.

Shirou came to Alice's side and sat down next to her.

If it were the old Shirou, getting this close to Alice would probably have resulted in her kicking him away immediately. But now, Alice, upon sensing his arrival, showed no resistance whatsoever. Instead, she leaned her head against Shirou's back without any hesitation and huffed, "Dad sent you to find me, didn't he?"

"Yes."

Shirou and Alice sat back to back on a haystack in the stable. "I heard you didn't want to attend the birthday party this afternoon, so Philip sent me to persuade you."

Shirou told the truth without lying.

"Hmph, I would never go to that kind of bullshit banquet!"

"why?"

"Because I don't want to go!"

Seeing Alice's stubbornness, Shirou remained silent for a moment, then quietly said, "Alice, are you afraid of failure?"

"Wha, what..."

"You're afraid of losing face at the banquet and being laughed at by others."

"I... how... how could I..."

Alice stammered a denial, but her reaction spoke volumes.

Shirou, however, felt no confidence in his ability to see through Alice's mind. He simply murmured wistfully, "I used to be just like you, extremely, extremely afraid of failure. The thought of the consequences of failure, the way others would look at me, would overwhelm me with fear, making me afraid to do what I should have done. However, it was because of my cowardice that something terrible happened, and to this day, I still regret my cowardice..."

"Shirou, you'll regret it too?"

"What, do you think I'm someone who can't fail?"

Shirou smiled and looked at Alice.

His overly gentle expression made Alice unable to look away.

Shirou then spoke up quietly: "So what I want to say is, don't be afraid of failure, and don't fear the consequences. Because when you are afraid of what you have to do and try to escape, you will often face a more painful ending. At that time, you will really regret why you didn't prepare yourself from the beginning. It's better to give up and surrender than to win even if you can't win despite your best efforts."

As Shirou spoke, he recalled how Miyu had fallen into complete depravity after being captured by the Eindsworth family.

If it weren't for his junior classmate Sakura sacrificing her life to awaken him, he would probably have spent his entire life in pain and regret.

"..."

At the same time, Alice turned her head and saw Shirou's reminiscing expression. She had a complicated look on her face. It was obviously the first time she had seen Shirou look so sad.

She could empathize with similar feelings, and could even vaguely sense Shirou's unspeakable regret.

"Alright, I'll go to the banquet then."

As Alice spoke, she stood up and patted Shirou's head, saying, "Don't make that face again."

"why?"

Shirou couldn't help but laugh when he saw Alice acting like an adult in front of him.

Alice replied earnestly, "Because I will protect you from now on. No matter what happens, I will protect you, Shirou. You can trust me!"

Chapter 147 Conflict at the Banquet! Luke challenges Shirou to a duel!

"..."

Shirou was taken aback by Alice's unexpected words and fell silent for a moment.

This was the first time he had ever heard someone say they would protect him no matter what, and Shirou even felt a little touched for no reason.

Despite being moved, Shirou never forgot the purpose of his trip.

He then chuckled and patted Alice on the head, saying, "Well, you'll have to learn the Silent Blade first and become a high-level swordsman. If you can't surpass me, you're not qualified to talk about protecting me."

"Hmph, I'll definitely surpass you, just you wait and see, Shirou!"

"Alright, alright, since you can even surpass me, then the birthday party this afternoon should be a piece of cake, right?"

"This……"

Alice's expression turned complicated when she realized that Shirou was waiting for her there.

But since she had already made that boast, she couldn't very well deny it now. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Of course! It's just attending a banquet and dancing, I'll show you!"

"it is good."

Shirou breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Alice had finally been persuaded.

He had originally planned to offer Alice some things he could do if he couldn't persuade her otherwise.

He used this trick often before to get Miyu to listen to him.

Now, when he faces Alice, he finds himself able to treat her the same way he would treat his own sister.

It was at this moment that Shirou suddenly realized that he seemed to have unknowingly made Alice a substitute for Miyu.

He had previously regarded Silphi as a substitute for Miyu in the village of Buena, and now he has unknowingly made the same mistake again...

For a moment, Shirou couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions and estrangement, realizing that he would have to find a way to distance himself from Alice in the future.

He needs to regain his independent thinking and stop doing such rude things to others so casually.

After all, no one wants to be a substitute for someone else, and Shirou understands this better than anyone else.

While Shirou was lost in thought, Alice seemed annoyed by his daze and suddenly nudged him with her elbow, shouting, "Aren't you supposed to be going to a banquet? Why are you standing there like that?"

"Um... oh."

Upon hearing Alice's words, Shirou nodded.

However, due to that fleeting thought, he silently distanced himself from Alice, which puzzled her, but she didn't pay much attention to it.

The two then proceeded to the Boreas family's banquet hall.

……

Before attending the banquet, Alice needed to have her servants dress up, so she left temporarily.

Shirou was alone at the banquet. Since he had nothing to do, he simply helped the other servants with their work, tidying up the venue, arranging guests, and serving food.

An ordinary person would certainly not do such an undignified thing, but Shirou himself liked to do odd jobs and he had no intention of considering himself a nobleman, so he naturally did not care about other people's opinions.

The Boreas family was already used to Shirou's unique behavior, so they didn't suddenly come out to advise him. As for the visiting guests, they generally didn't know Shirou, so even though he did many things that only servants would do, no one cared.

Many guests at the banquet even regarded him as a servant of the Boreas family, and quite a few women also had a great liking for him.

In just a few minutes, no fewer than five or six noblewomen secretly gave him flirtatious glances, and some even went so far as to touch him, indicating that Shirou didn't need to make any effort at all.

Shirou had absolutely no interest in being offered a sugar daddy's help.

He politely declined the advances of the wealthy women who showed interest in him, minimizing his presence as much as possible.

Unfortunately, despite Shirou's best efforts to minimize his presence, a certain blonde girl still spotted him immediately.

"Hey, it's you again, Shirou. What a coincidence."

The moment Ariel discovered him, Shirou was already prepared to run away, but Ariel actually came straight to him.

By this time, most of the people at the banquet already knew Princess Ariel, so they were completely surprised that she would take the initiative to greet a servant, and they all looked puzzled.

Shirou himself was drenched in sweat when he saw Ariel facing him in public.

How exactly does this second princess plan to torture herself?

Can't you leave yourself a way out?

"Your Highness, Princess, hello..."

Shirou responded with extremely stiff words.

This reaction undoubtedly displeased Ariel. The blonde girl walked straight over, pouting, and said, "Why are you suddenly being so formal? You can still call me Ariel as before, it's fine."

"No, that won't do..."

Shirou didn't know that Ariel was the second princess of the Asura Kingdom before, and only regarded her as an ordinary noble girl, so he was not too reserved and treated her as an equal.

Now that he knows the other party's identity as a princess, Shirou certainly doesn't dare to try to get close to her anymore.

According to the kingdom's laws, this might be a capital offense.

Moreover, even if he wasn't beheaded, Shirou himself couldn't stand the influence of Ariel's overly affectionate behavior on him. After all, no one could stand the sharp gazes of a group of nobles and wealthy merchants around them.

Just as Shirou was feeling helpless and at a loss, Ariel's two attendants walked over from a distance.

Luke and Dillick had already introduced themselves.