Shirou was adopted by Kiritsugu Emiya when he was very young, and for most of the time, it was just the two of them living alone in this large house.
Besides often seeing Taiga Fujimura, Shirou's social circle was very small. Although he had a good personality and was enthusiastic and polite to everyone, only a few people truly became his friends.
So after Kiritsugu passed away, the Emiya house was mostly quiet and deserted. Situations like a group of people gathering to eat were almost unheard of.
After finishing a lively dinner, Shirou specifically escorted Sakura Matou back home. When he returned and saw everyone still gathered, Shirou and Artoria finally remembered to ask about the identity of the unfamiliar woman next to Ethan. They had been so preoccupied with talking about Artoria earlier that they had almost forgotten.
"This is Diana, daughter of Zeus."
Without needing to say anything else, the simple phrase daughter of Zeus made everyone understand how special Diana's identity was. Recalling Ethan's earlier natural intimacy as he lay on Diana's lap also revealed the true relationship between the two.
"So... you are actually an Olympian god?"
"You do not need to guess my identity. My real name is Ethan, and I am indeed not a well-known figure."
Scáthach already knew this. Cú Chulainn, Artoria, and even Shirou had been guessing Ethan's true identity before, suspecting he was actually some famous being.
It was only now that they received a definitive answer from Ethan. He was indeed not a well-known figure. However, no one felt that he was not powerful enough.
Someone who could distort the rules of the world, effortlessly defeat Scáthach, a demigoddess with god-slaying achievements, even when his physical condition was not good, and who even had a demigoddess girlfriend...
Ethan's power had exceeded the limits of their imagination. Considering that he seemed able to travel freely between countless worlds, they could not think of an accurate adjective to describe him.
"But... why have you become a child?"
"My body had some issues. To completely clear those problems, I underwent physical reconstruction. Even without this accident, I would have reconstructed my body sooner or later."
"Reconstruct your body?"
Shirou did not understand these things, but Cú Chulainn, who possessed extensive magical knowledge and was a powerful warrior himself, immediately understood why Ethan would do this.
"Is it because your original body could no longer meet your needs?"
"Something like that. In any case, it is all for the sake of advancing to a higher level."
"That is really impressive."
Cú Chulainn carefully examined Ethan's current body. Previously, Ethan could easily defeat him without even moving his hands. Now that he said he had reconstructed his body and reached a higher level, he wondered just how strong he was now.
But if he could not tell, did he not still have his master?
"When Ethan fought us before, he was a powerful demigod. Now he has become a true god."
"As expected."
Cú Chulainn looked unsurprised, while Shirou gasped and swallowed a large gulp of saliva.
"A god~"
A god appearing in his house and eating at the same table with him. Even having experienced it firsthand, it still felt unbelievable.
"If someone had told me back then that I would have the chance to eat with a god someday, I would definitely have thought it was April Fool's Day."
After chatting a bit more casually, Shirou assigned rooms to everyone. Although he guessed that these people probably did not need to sleep, he still fulfilled his duty as a host and arranged everything for his guests.
Only after he had seen to his guests did he go back to rest.
Illya had been sitting there the whole time. He knew that his older sister had something to discuss with Ethan, so he wisely stayed away.
"How about we talk in the yard?"
"It is too cold."
"Alright."
Winter nights are not particularly comfortable. It was fine for Ethan, but although Illya liked snow, she hated the cold. Why would she go outside to brave the cold wind when there was not even any snow at the moment?
"What do you want to talk about?"
"I do not know."
It was not just the two of them in the room. Diana was sitting nearby, silently watching the conversation between the two children, pretending to be invisible.
However, with her being a grown person and her long legs placed there, it was impossible not to ignore her. So although Illya was talking to Ethan, her gaze remained fixed on Diana, constantly examining her from head to toe.
"What do you want?"
"I do not know."
"Then what do you want to do?"
"...I do not know..."
Illya withdrew her gaze. She was currently very confused, completely unsure of what she should do.
Her original motivation was revenge. Killing Shirou and obtaining the Holy Grail was almost her entire reason for living. As long as she achieved this, she could wait for death without regrets, or perhaps she would not achieve it and would be killed before accomplishing her goal.
After all, in the Holy Grail War, people always die.
As a result, she inexplicably summoned Ethan, a strange Berserker, and then this Berserker did not follow the script and directly destroyed the Holy Grail War.
Not only that, but because of the distortion of world rules, the Einzbern family was effectively wiped out, and the Holy Grail was also destroyed as a result. It could be said that the Holy Grail War no longer existed.
She also learned the truth about why Kiritsugu did not come to the Einzbern house to pick her up back then. It was because he was severely injured during the Holy Grail War, causing his strength to decline significantly, making him unable to break through the Einzbern family's barrier and thus unable to rush in and take her away. He had not abandoned his biological daughter.
This made her original persistent goal meaningless. She still felt jealousy toward Shirou, but the hatred had mostly dissipated.
In this situation, she did not know how she should interact with Shirou. Although she was actually his older sister, it seemed he had been treating her more like a younger sister during this time and taking care of her.
Even though she never gave him a pleasant look, he did not get angry. He really was a good-tempered person.
"How troublesome~"
He was not afraid of Illya wanting something bizarre, nor was he afraid of her wanting to do something strange. He was only afraid of her current state, completely without goals, not knowing which direction to move in, like a living zombie, feeling that if she suddenly died tomorrow, it would not be a big deal.
"Find something interesting to do."
"What sort of thing?"
"Like studying magic or something. Is your talent not quite good? You could consider becoming a magical girl."
"Huh?"
Illya's expression finally showed a clear change, not just simple surprise, but a look of Are you kidding me combined with very obvious disdain.
"A magical girl? Why would you think I would want to become something like that?"
"Uh..."
Ethan scratched his cheek. He could not possibly say that the parallel world's Illya became a magical girl, could he? Although she was tricked by a cunning magical staff, becoming a magical girl was a fact, and she did quite well later on.
Illya stared at Ethan with a suspicious gaze.
"Could it be... that a parallel world version of me became a magical girl?"
Ethan did not answer, but his awkward yet polite smile made Illya realize the answer.
"Just... how strange is that world?"
She could not imagine what it would be like for her to become a magical girl. Even though her physical age was still very young, her mental age was what it was, and she would only feel embarrassed about things like magical girls.
"That world... Kiritsugu chose his family after understanding the truth of the Holy Grail War. So he destroyed the Holy Grail War, took care of the Einzbern family, saved your mother, and let you grow up like a normal child. It is just that some strange things happened that led that version of you down an extraordinary path."
"Is that so?"
Illya heard about everything the Kiritsugu in another world did, and then thought about Ethan's earlier theory about parallel worlds. Every choice could create a parallel world. Perhaps the Kiritsugu in her world chose to complete his mission.
As if guessing what she was thinking, Ethan reached out again and stroked Illya's hair. In his current state, he could not easily reach the top of Illya's head as he could before, so he had to adjust his posture to do so. He slightly half-stood and leaned forward to touch her hair.
"In this world, Kiritsugu also chose his family. It is just that he learned the truth a bit late. It was precisely because he chose to destroy the Holy Grail that the Einzbern family treated him as a traitor and did not allow him to enter their territory again."
Seeing a hint of a smile appear on Illya's face, Ethan sat back down. The room became quiet until Diana suddenly broke the silence.
"Since you have nothing to do, would it not be good to experience the life of an ordinary person, just like those Heroic Spirits?"
Ethan realized this was truly a good idea. Since being separated from Kiritsugu, Illya had not experienced a normal life. Perhaps living a period of ordinary daily life could help her understand what she truly wanted.
"The life of an ordinary person?"
"Considering how you are now... perhaps going to school is a good option."
He did not expect Illya to make any friends, but the main purpose was to help her correct some flawed worldviews. Illya's worldview was completely different from ordinary people's, which often led her to do things that ordinary people found difficult to accept.
"School? I have already mastered the knowledge taught in school. What would I go to school to learn?"
Ethan was not afraid of Illya saying this, because he had already thought of a suitable school.
"You can learn magic."
(To be continued.)
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