It had been a long time since Shirou felt genuinely taken aback with his Master, but this was certainly one such instance while silently observing Beacon's initiation trial in spiritual form.
The actions that Ruby had taken were odd to say anything of the least, but at the same time, they seemed to be grounded on some basis of thoughts revolving around future foresight. Honestly, it was hard to believe, especially when Shirou considered that Ruby was a not-so-secret comic nerd who lined up for limited edition releases as if her life was on the line. Frankly, it would have been no surprise if she had ended up woefully misguiding herself into believing something that wasn't real, and yet, Shirou was now doubting his prior judgements.
It wasn't the way that Ruby was acting that got to him, but the nature of the words that she'd just spoken in pursuit of Jaune Arc.
Salem and the Queen of Grimm wasn't something that Ruby should have been privy to considering that Beacon, Anima, and Vermillion had been the farthest she'd ever been from home.
If not for Archer, even Shirou wouldn't have been informed of Salem's existence. The only real saving grace Shirou realized was that Ruby still seemed ignorant of the story revolving around the conception of the present Remnant. In which case, could he attribute everything he'd heard into some far-fetched guess?
No. Obviously not.
Somehow, someway, Ruby may actually be able to infer or see things from the future. This could be just as much of a danger as it could be a boon, and if one thing was genuine, it was that Ruby was trying to prove it to him, likely to recruit his aid.
Well, congratulations were in order because Shirou was actually starting to believe her. However, whether it was the right thing to confide with him or not, that was still too early to conclude. After all, what his Master wished to save and protect, may differ from what Shirou wished to save and protect. Moreover, what if the things she potentially saw in the future were created due to his and her actions prior? Would that not mean that by trying to change an outcome, they would be indirectly creating it? Or...what if the current trajectory of the future was already doomed for failure and Ruby was trying to stop that? More importantly, was the future Ruby saw from her point of view alone? In which case, many aspects that answer how or why would be neglected in favour of Ruby's own perspective bias.
.
.
.
Shirou ended up shaking his head. Future foresight was a complex thing, but come what may, he'd already agreed on a course of action.
In this world where humanity was already on the brink of extinction, he, a man once propositioned by Alaya, was called forth? It was too coincidental wasn't it?
Whether Ruby could predict the future or not, sadly it didn't change what he and 'Archer' had already planned not just for Ruby's sake, but for Remnant as a whole. There had to be a meaning about why he alone was summoned as a Heroic Spirit in a world bereft of a wish granting chalice. Just as Alaya had her Counter Guardians to safe-keep the will of humanity, Shirou could not factor out that he may have been summoned with a similar purpose in mind.
"Give it back!"
Noting that Ruby was suitably distracted in her quarrel with Pyrrha, Shirou slipped away in spiritual form such that no one could see him unless he materialized. Moreover, with his connection with Ruby, he'd still be able to communicate with her despite the distance between them, creating the illusion that he was still next to her.
Shirou sighed at the act of decievement.
A Hero's duty was never done, and for the sake of Remnant, a Witch, a Wizard, and Ruby's own happiness, the future stage had to be set.
YOU ARE READING
The Huntsman of Red V2
AdventureGuardian, Protector, Hero, and perhaps something more, that was what he had always meant to her, but to others he was simply known as the Huntsman of Red, Remnant's final hope. This story is not mine, it belongs to Parcasious
