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IBHJ Chapter 692
🕑 Added 2024-01-29 03:25:00 +0000 UTCGlancing down at his own small, tender hand, Shirou frowned. He didn't remember when he had fallen asleep or how, but there was no doubt that he was asleep and had fallen into that strange dream again.
"If you're well rested, get up and continue training, Shirou," Scathach said with a gentle smile.
"I'm sorry, Shishou. I'm not feeling too well today, so I think I'll stop here for now," he put on an apologetic expression and replied smoothly.
"Has the illness in your body flared up again?" she asked, looking concerned.
As expected, this was a continuation of that bizarre dream from before, he realized. Back when he was at the Gate, he had this strange dream. And at the end of that dream, he won the 4th Holy Grail War but entered "All the World's Evil" to pull Scathach out, which led to his body being eroded and destroyed by the black mud.
Although she had treated him with the Primordial Rune, the erosion from the black mud had clearly already left hidden dangers in this body. So she was worried about his health. However, according to his own feelings, the Scathach in this strange dream he was having was indeed slightly more understanding and gentler than the one in reality.
Seeing her concern, he shook his head with a reassuring smile, "No, please don't worry, Shishou. I'm just feeling a little out of sorts today."
"Then you should rest properly and continue your training when you feel better," she said warmly, concern evident in her voice.
It was just as he thought - there was a noticeable difference between the Scathach in this dream and the one in reality.
He made a judgment in his heart. Although the Scathach in reality behaved quite amiably like a big sister, she was actually mentally jaded from living too long, an extreme sadist. Of course, after his tender care back then, she had regained some youthful vigor, but there was still a noticeable difference from the Scathach before him now. However, since this was a dream, there was no need to overanalyze things.
Shirou stood next to Scathach and looked around the spacious dojo, feeling pretty confused about how he had fallen back into this dream.
Wait, what if Kiara did something to him while he was dreaming? Thinking of this, Shirou started to feel a little worried. He was afraid that while he was having this dream, she might be taking advantage of his unconscious body.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Loud crashes sounded from outside the dojo.
Shirou stepped out and stopped short at the sight. This was no single room dojo - it was part of a spacious residence with a large courtyard. There, over thirty men in suits were going at each other intensely as they sparred. Among them, a chestnut-haired girl in a ponytail barked commands while wielding a wooden spear. Hearing her, the men fought with even greater ferocity.
The ponytailed girl noticed Shirou and turned, eyes bright. "Big brother's here!" she yelled excitedly.
Those men in suits stopped what they were doing and looked at him, murmuring to each other in hushed tones. Strangely, they all called him "Big Brother." He felt confused.
A chestnut ponytailed girl bounded up to him eagerly. "Big brother, did Master teach you more advanced techniques today?"
"Um...who are you?" Shirou asked.
"Eh?! You forgot me?" Her face fell. "That makes me so sad! Wah wah..." She cried briefly before perking back up. "I'm your kouhai, Fujimura Taiga!"
Fujimura Taiga? Shirou studied the chestnut-haired girl before him closely. She looked unfamiliar.
He knew Taiga was the infamous EX-rank Luck mascot in the Nasuverse. But having transmigrated into Fujimaru Shirou's body, he had altered Shirou's path - he never became Emiya Shirou.
So in this life, he had never crossed paths with Fujimura Taiga at all. No connection whatsoever.
Why then, he wondered, would he dream about her of all people? It seemed far too strange. Shirou couldn't help but be baffled by it.
"Master's here!"
The men in suits whispered excitedly, their gazes fixed behind Shirou.
He turned to see Scathach emerging slowly from the dojo, already dressed sharply in black office attire. Clearly, the "Master" they were referring to was Scathach.
As Scathach approached, she smiled at the men. "Have you been training properly?"
"Yes, Master!" they responded eagerly in unison, standing straighter.
It wasn't because they were captivated by Scathach's office attire. The men knew clearly that failing to respond would make this demoness beat them mercilessly.
Scathach nodded approvingly, then turned to Shirou with a smile. She stretched out her slender palm. "Come, Shirou, hold Master's hand. I'll take you home."
Staring at her fair palm, his mouth twitched. Which preschool was she from?
The other disciples, including Taiga, looked at him with great envy — only big brother got to enjoy such gentle treatment from Master. It was truly enviable.
Being led home hand-in-hand by Scathach made Shirou feel embarrassed, but she had grabbed his little hand herself and led him out of the estate.
Just as they were about to leave, Scathach turned her head and looked sternly at Taiga and the others. "You better train properly. Your boss paid a lot to send you all to me. And if you don't put in the effort as my students..."
She trailed off with a chuckle, but everyone shuddered as if thrown into an ice cellar, hurriedly nodding in agreement.
Shirou wasn't surprised by Taiga and the others' reactions. The group of soldiers Scathach had trained before reacted the same way when they heard her laughter. No - they may have been even more pitiful. Even Artoria, who was personally trained by Scathach, would shudder when she heard that laughter.
She was a serious sado-masochist, he had seen through Scathach's true nature long ago.
Shirou wasn't too curious about Taiga and the others' reactions. But he was definitely intrigued by the setting of this dreamscape.
As dusk approached, the entire city had an extremely yellowish look. With Scathach leading him by the hand, their shadows stretched out long as they walked forward. He subtly probed her about the details of this dream.
Whether it was the dream version or the real Scathach, neither seemed to have their guard up with him. He easily coaxed the background story of this dreamscape out of her.
It turned out after the 1994 Holy Grail War had ended, the incarnated Scathach stuck around in Fuyuki City for a while. And during her time there, Scathach's beauty had attracted some unwanted attention. Many thugs and gangsters had eyed her body.
At first glance, this seemed like an extremely clichéd third-rate plotline. But in the turbulent 1990s, incidents like this occurred frequently in Japan, especially amidst the economic bubble and high unemployment pressures. These things were commonplace.
Obviously though, she easily dealt with these hooligans and gangsters. And her agile fighting skills immediately caught the eye of Fuyuki's underground boss - Fujimura Raiga. He hired her at a premium wage to be the martial arts instructor for his men, handing over his granddaughter Taiga and his underlings to her for training. He also helped resolve her status as an undocumented immigrant, and gifted her that estate to use as her residence.
Incidentally, according to his memory, that estate should have been the "Emiya Residence" that Kiritsugu had purchased from Raiga in the original world line. Of course now it was known as the "Scathach Estate."
Additionally, Scathach had taken on another identity - the homeroom teacher at the elementary school Shirou had attended when he was little. She had even used some spells to assign herself as the teacher for his class.
In other words, Shirou now had to address Scathach as "Sensei."
After getting a handle on the situation, he speechlessly covered his forehead.
What kind of dream was this?! Scathach had completely invaded his life!
Of course, he was only speechless for a moment. He started analyzing how to break out from this dream he had fallen into again.
Last time, he had escaped by crushing Angra Mainyu with "Mortal Awakening," before being woken up by Salter's voice.
So, what were the conditions for breaking out of this dream? Did he need to defeat some existence, or be woken up by someone in reality?
Shirou didn't know, but he knew he had to wake up soon. Because that great pervert was still locked in the same cell as him!
The longer he lingered here, the more he was exposing himself to danger in reality!
So how could he escape from this bizarre dream?
April 5, 1994, Tuesday...April 5, 1994, Tuesday...
Shirou suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong, Shirou?" Scathach looked at him curiously.
"Oh, nothing, Shishou." He shook his head and continued walking.
He had remembered what happened on April 5, 1994, Tuesday...No, to be exact, what happened on April 10, 1994, Saturday.
That was the biggest turning point in his life!
One of the Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors, Forest of Einnashe, and Night of Wallachia had attacked Fuyuki City and opened a hole leading to the "Root." To destroy Forest of Einnashe, he had pushed it into that hole, which sent him back into the past!
Could it be that this strange dream was related to the trajectory of his life? In order to break free from this dream, did he need to replay major events from his life story? For example, defeating Forest of Einnashe and Night of Wallachia again? Shirou furrowed his brows deeply as he pondered this idea.
Comments
JeanMartin Freites
If nothing else I definitely am enjoying seeing the trajectory of this alternate Shirou.
