It had been two years since Aisha Greyrat was born, and she was a completely ordinary child who required constant attention.
So, Zenith and Lilia hardly had any time to teach him anything, they were simply too busy taking care of her.
He had tried to lessen the burden by occasionally being the one responsible for meals. And he would lend a hand supervising her when the adults had something important to do.
She was born as his half-sister, she shared some of the blood in his veins, and yet Shirou couldn't call her his sister, nor could call himself her brother.
Unlike with Zenith and Paul, they knew he was their son, and he knew they were his parents but he didn't address them as such, regardless, all parties knew their relationship.
But, Aisha was a baby, and she needed to be told he was her brother.
When he was told to introduce himself, he found his tongue freezing as he struggled to speak.
During the War he had met Illya, who had been Kiritsugu's true child, which made her his big sister. He had learned of her past, and he had seen how warped her view of the world was.
His final moments of his past life were a static filled mess, but he had seen her smiling form as she faded away.
He wanted to protect her, to save her, to atone for living a life with Kiritsugu while she suffered, and he had failed.
The duty of a brother was simply something he was incapable of, as he couldn't protect his sister.
And he knew it wouldn't be right to force his atonement on Aisha, she didn't deserve to be a mere replacement, and so he just couldn't categorize her as his sister.
He would protect her, he'd give his life for hers, and yet he couldn't call himself her brother.
Still, he did care for her, and he wished she'd grow up happy.
Her mother, Lilia, had seemed to thaw bit by bit after giving birth. Her cold impassive nature was slowly melting away.
She started to giggle with Zenith as they talked, and she started to smile fondly at Paul, and her entire expression as she held her daughter was filled with familial love.
Lilia had also stopped glaring at him, and her hatred had seemingly vanished. She wasn't exactly any nicer to him, but she did seem more respectful of him in general, and she trusted him enough to watch her child.
And oddly enough, it sounded like she was trying to get Aisha to say his name as her first word, which she had succeeded in.
Behind her reserved nature, she was a meek superstitious girl. Meek might've seemed like an odd descriptor, but he had seen her fluster quite easily with Paul and Zenith teasing her.
And she was also prone to believing some pretty odd things, which led her to being easily frightened of non-physical things.
She also had the occasional nightmare, and when she woke up, she would whisper to her daughter that she would make sure that Aisha had a better life than she had.
He had decided to not Reinforce his hearing late at night anymore, as he didn't want to eavesdrop on her.
…
…
With a new child in the house, which meant another mouth to feed, Zenith began taking extra shifts at a local clinic.
He would accompany her most of the time, he had learned Healing to help people after all.
Outside of the house, Zenith had truly begun talking to him more seriously. She no longer treated him as just a smart child.
She was impressed with his Healing, even telling him he would have no trouble getting a job in a city hospital.
And then she became quiet for a while after that before she suddenly hugged him from behind one day.
"Rudy, I want you to live your life however you want to. It might've been simple aversion, but I haven't preached anything to you, and yet you're still so gentle. I don't want to pick your future, but please be careful."
She went on to explain that Healers weren't exactly fairly compensated or treated the best, that rather than people, they were commonly seen as tools.
A Healer's role was to heal and protect, even if that meant risking their life, and yet they were simply used up and then discarded.
Overall, it seemed she wanted to impart some of her wisdom to her son. She basically wanted him to know his value as a Healer, but more importantly, as a person.
She didn't want to dictate his path in life, but she was apparently worried for him and she didn't want him to go down a blind road.
She also informed him that his sharp eyes would soften whenever someone thanked him for healing them, and then she teased him for being so soft and cute.
Her words sounded like she was mostly talking to herself as she teased him.
…
…
Sylphiette had picked up magic rather quickly, her spell casting had developed extremely fast, especially when it was compared to his own earlier progress.
Shirou hadn't learned much from her personally, but Roxy was all too glad to have an excellent study subject. She had three entire journals worth of unsorted notes, and she seemed to be close to something solid.
There was already the concept of a magician's strong or weak spells, as an example, Sylphiette was pretty good with Wind and Water spells, and particularly bad at Fire spells.
So far it seemed to be the case of the caster's mental state. Sylphiette had been slightly burnt as a child, and didn't like fire. However, there was more to this that could be researched and explained.
Honestly, this world's magic as a whole seemed to be under studied in general, and an inexperienced mage like Sylphiette was perfect for observation.
Familiarity with a spell was the only way to improve a person's way of casting it, or so everyone believed.
Knowledge, experience, affinity, how these affected a magician and their spells were what Roxy was investigating.
Knowledge, this encompasses what the caster understood about the spell and element they were casting. There seemed to be an intuitive grasp on what a mage was doing after they casted a spell.
And testing with Sylphiette, explaining and teaching her about a spell before she used it, produced an above average result.
Experience, this was loosely related to familiarity, but instead it focused on the caster's actual experience with the real elements.
Sylphiette was bad at Fire magic, her major issue was that she lacked control and she was averse to even using it. In her mind, flames were hot, wild, and dangerous.
Her Fireball only performed badly because it wasn't controlled. The base temperature was too high and it couldn't be launched on a proper path.
Affinity, the least understood concept and the one Roxy was mostly looking into. The same spell with similar parameters casted by different mages cost differing amounts of Mana.
This concept was further hidden by the first two, simply because the spell changed from knowledge and experience, so the base effects were forgotten.
But regardless, it was a fact that mages could be talented in a specific element.
Sylphiette, for example, used less Mana and had a better instinctual understanding of Wind and Water Magic, and even though she didn't have any negative experiences with Earth Magic, she also wasn't good at it.
Roxy was certainly learning much from her second student.
Shirou tried to stay out of it, he didn't want to let something slip that he couldn't explain, so he just let her come to her own conclusion. Even if she got something wrong, he knew she'd learned from her mistake.
Mana Veins was something else she was researching. Where Mana was generated and stored before use had previously been described as simply in the body.
He had subtly guided her to recognizing the actual spiritual pathways inside her body. She was definitely equal parts shocked and excited.
And both of her students were proving a fundamental fact had actually been incorrect, as their Mana capacity had been steadily growing along with them.
On the practical side of her research, Roxy had learned how to control her Mana and cast some spells without a chant.
She also taught Sylphiette, who demonstrated that it had been extremely easy for her, which was something else to investigate.
He definitely appreciated her discovery.
By feeling their carefully manipulated Mana from their silent spells, he was able to skip a step in his own casting.
Now he could silently load the spell before firing. He wasn't good enough to entirely do away with the chant, which was probably a limit of his own nature.
He had also learned from them that he wasn't doing Healing right. When he felt their Mana as they casted that spell, it was entirely different from what he did.
Their version of the spell would take hold of the flesh and reform it, but he couldn't cast that spell.
All he could do was inject someone with his Mana and then use that to heal them, sort of like a stimulant that simply sped up the natural recovery.
There was probably more to it than that, but he couldn't explain what was wrong in order to get some help understanding it.
Sylphiette, on a non-magical note, had bonded rather quickly with Roxy. The discrimination they both faced because of their hair color was something Roxy helped her with.
And, since Roxy was an actual Demon, the young girl no longer had a negative reaction to being labeled one as well, in fact she rather liked being closer to her tutor.
She even asked her parents many times over if she was actually a Demon, her excited and eager tone completely baffled them. Her disappointment also confused them.
Laws, her father and a friend of Paul, would occasionally find and chat with Roxy about his daughter. He had also eventually invited Rudeus out for some light hunting, where he would gently interrogate him.
It seemed like Sylphiette was no longer bullied and had become a lot more active, but she still wasn't making any other friends. Which was apparently a concern for her parents.
He had tried to be a bridge for her and the other kids, but they didn't take too kindly to him simply because he was a knight's kid.
Their taunts didn't affect him, but he had to hold back an offended Sylphiette, and when she tried to cast a simple spell at them he had to stop her. They ran away after the stray magic hit the dirt and kicked up a dust cloud.
He tried to teach her about discipline, but then he foisted that responsibility onto her parents and Roxy.
From his view their friendship wasn't particularly strong, and he didn't want his teachings to leave her after they eventually parted. It was best she learned from someone she respected.
He was able to teach her some cooking, the basics of swordplay and archery, but nothing caught her focus like magic did. When she came over, it was mostly for Roxy.
Of course, she had been acting a lot closer after a small incident where she got lost in the forest and he had found her.
She had simply been exploring, and hadn't been home at sunset, so a small search party was formed. Turns out a magic beast had spooked her and so she had run away until she escaped it and had gotten lost.
He had found her, while her father and some other guys hunted down the magical beast. And even though he had Healed her, she had trouble standing, so he carried her home on his back under the moonlight.
…
…
Going back a year after Aisha was born, the nighttime noises between Paul and Zenith returned. Shirou had heard some stuff about how much she also wanted a daughter before he filtered out the sounds.
Anyway, so Paul's pent up energy had disappeared, but that didn't matter as he had truly begun sparring seriously. And after a year of that, his son's sword scratched his neck, he only bled lightly, but that didn't erase the fact.
After being healed by his son, he began talking.
"I was a few years older than you are now when I achieved your skill, so I understand just what your strength means. It's time we talk about your future."
He had copied Paul and lowered his sword. "Okay."
Paul went on to explain how Rudeus should be starting school, but that place would be completely worthless for someone like his son.
And how Rudeus was already familiar enough with the important topics, and that etiquette and history were unimportant.
Paul also complained about bratty nobles, and their behavior.
In the end he recommended Rudeus become an adventurer and explore the world.
"Sure, as long as I can help people, I don't mind being an adventurer."
"That's my boy. Remember this, son, we as humans have a small window of time when we truly have the power to do something. So chase your dreams with everything you have, and don't regret anything when your time comes."
Zenith had said something similar.
Both of his parents apparently valued personal freedom.
Zenith warned him about his path, and how to live his life freely.
Paul advised him not to waste his life, and to live without regrets.
'I have no regrets, this is the only path.'
This thought echoed in Shirou's soul.
"Understood."
"Great, but, ah..." Paul scratched at the back of his head. "Individually, we don't have a lot of time, but families have built up power over time, and uh, I know I complained about nobles, but um, there's nothing wrong with asking them for help."
He appeared nervous, or at least embarrassed.
"Okay."
"Ah anyway, what I'm trying to say is a single person is limited in the scope of what they could do, so it might be better if they had connections. A party, partners, friends, and family, make strong bonds to cover your weak points."
"Paul?"
It seemed like he was struggling to get to the point.
"Yeah, so I may have brag— talked about how smart and strong you are with my cousin, and his child is struggling behind their peers, so uh, I may have owed him a favor or two, and he wants you as a tutor."
"Oh."
"I know I just talked about doing what you truly want, and how insufferable nobles could be, but my cousin's not that bad, so I doubt anyone he raised could be that bad, and you'll get some money too, and you'll be forming a bond."
"Okay, I'll do it."
He still needed to repay Paul for playing a part in his birth, and this wasn't too bad. He had just about reached the limit with his magic training and with his spars now, as they were more like duels currently.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you deserve a break. I can tell you're pretty sore from sparring all day, your nighttime noises haven't been lasting that long lately."
"Hey hey, you take that back right now, I'm still in my prime. Ah, wait." Paul looked up at the sky and began mumbling. "I don't think we've had the talk yet, so should I tell him now? Is he ready? Eh, I'll just let him figure it out on his own."
"So, when do I depart?" He decided to ignore the irresponsible mumble.
"Oh, I think I can get everything ready in a month, so be ready to leave any day after that. Make sure to say goodbye to little Sylphy before that, it's not good to make a girl cry."
"Okay, though I doubt I mean that much to her."
"Hmm, you are my son right?" Paul suddenly asked and began looking at him with scrutiny.
"Seriously?"
'Did he somehow discover something?'
"Just checking." He shrugged. "As a test, answer this: how many lovers should a man have? One or two?"
The faces of Sakura, Rin, Saber and Rider, flashed through his mind in an instant.
"Ah, well…" He scratched at the back of his head, and he could feel his cheek flush. "D-does there need to be a limit?" He stared at the ground. He didn't really understand his own feeling towards the girls he had gotten to know, but he knew he was attracted to them all.
Silence reigned through the yard for a while. And then Paul broke down laughing, when he eventually calmed down he rushed forth and lifted his son high above his head.
"I didn't believe Zenith at first, but you really can be cute. I didn't think your face ever changed, but you got so embarrassed. If I was a girl I might've swooned, but anyway, that answer is perfect, just don't ever tell your women that."
Shirou's face flushed a deeper shade of red.
And even though he was embarrassed, he could feel his body relax as the world appeared just a bit brighter.
"S-stop it! Put me down!"
"Ah, so cute! Zenith! Lilia! Come outside! Rudy's blushing like a maiden!"
Even though he Reinforced his body, he couldn't escape Paul's arms as his cheeks burned bright.
