Fate: I Will Eventually Become the Hero of Justice

Chapter 117

Shirou woke to the sight of sunlight peeking through a crack in the door, even though the room was still dim. He could hear the commotion outside, where Artoria and the apprentice knights were preparing as if they were headed into battle.

He suddenly remembered that it was the day of the selection, which explained the young people's excitement.

"Guinevere, why are you still wearing those sloppy clothes? Today's the day of the selection!" Kay frowned at Shirou, who was dressed in his usual grey linen clothes.

"I'm not going," Shirou replied with a smile.

"What do you mean you're not going? It's a grand event! Come on, let's go!" Kay insisted, pushing him forward.

"Okay, okay, I'll go. Stop pushing me," Shirou said, resigned to his fate.

"If you're going, let me get you some armor," Kay said, rubbing his chin.

"Forget it, I just want to have some fun. Wearing armor is too tiring."

"Alright," Kay thought for a moment and said, "Besides, there's no suitable armor for you in the estate."

Shirou smiled, knowing that it was true. He looked like a slender thirteen-year-old boy, and there was no armor in the estate that would fit him properly.

The apprentice knights had already left on horseback, and Shirou, Artoria, and Kay were walking slowly toward the town.

The apprentice knights, unaware that the Sword in the Stone had already been predetermined for Artoria, were eager to fight for the throne. But both Shirou and Kay knew the truth and only joined in to be a part of the excitement and increase their numbers.

"Oops!" Kay suddenly slapped his forehead and turned to Artoria. "Sis, I forgot to bring my spear. Can you go back and get it for me?"

"As a knight, how could you forget your spear?" Artoria frowned.

"Well, cavalry battles have been obsolete for a long time, and I've only been farming lately. Military horses are rare, too. Anyway, could you please go back and get it for me?" Kay pleaded.

"Okay," Artoria nodded, mounted her horse, and rode off to retrieve Kay's spear.

As they watched Artoria ride away, Shirou turned to Kay and asked, "Did you do that on purpose?"

"Sort of," Kay nodded.

"Why?" Shirou asked.

Kay scratched the back of his head and smiled helplessly. "As her older brother, I can't help but feel a little protective. When I think about the future of all Britain resting on her small shoulders, it's hard to watch her ride off into danger without feeling anxious."

Shirou remained silent, lost in thought.

After pulling the Sword from the Stone, Artoria could no longer be a knight and had to abandon her identity as a woman completely to become a king and pursue the vision of destruction that destiny had bestowed upon her.

Thinking of the righteous and obsessed girl he had met during the Fourth Holy Grail War, who was more like a knight than a king, Shirou couldn't help but shake his head.

He knew the ultimate fate that Artoria would eventually face, but there was nothing he could do.

In other worlds, civilizations could only rise and fall or wither away on their own. But in the ancient Britain of the Nasuverse world, it was destined to perish by the will of the heavens.

Since King Gilgamesh's rebellion, the Age of Gods had begun to disappear. By this time, the Age of Gods in continental Europe had already ended, and only remnants of it remained in Britain.