Shinji Matou At Your Service

Chapter 194: Lio Shirazumi

Let's tell the story of a boy.

The boy had flowing, ear-length golden hair and a pair of amber-colored eyes. With a combination of delicacy and handsomeness on his face, he easily scored at least 80 points in terms of appearance. Even in the world of anime and manga, where there are countless handsome boys and beautiful girls, he could be considered a top-tier bishounen. In a different setting, with his handsome face, he could easily live a successful life and find a beautiful girl to live happily ever after.

However, this is the world of Type-Moon, and this beautiful boy has set his sights on a girl with an extremely high difficulty level to pursue, accompanied by a dangerous girl named Shiki Ryougi. Thus, tragedy befell him.

In 1995, he encountered Shiki Ryougi and confessed his feelings to her shortly afterward.

As expected, the confession failed.

This was quite normal. Pursuing a girl, especially someone like Shiki Ryougi, was never an easy task. One failed confession was not a big deal. He just needed to find the right direction, seize the right opportunity, and continue to work hard.

However, the boy, still in his immature teenage years, did not see it that way. After his confession was rejected, he was deeply hurt and felt that his whole life had turned dark. This was something that often happened at that age, known as the "Spring season." As long as he could get through the most difficult time, the wounds would slowly heal, and life would still be filled with sunshine.

However, during this most difficult time, a lovelorn youth was prone to sinking, falling into decadence, and coming up with unreasonable and bizarre ideas. The boy had such a thought. He wanted to prove that he was not "weak" by resorting to violence, by beating others.

Because the reason Shiki rejected him was, "I hate weak people."

This thought changed the trajectory of his life. In a brawl, the boy accidentally killed his opponent. In contact with the brink of death, his spirit on the edge, he came up with the idea of hiding the body by wanting to devour it entirely, and in doing so, he realized his true nature.

With the help of Souren Araya, who arrived shortly after, the boy awakened his origin, "Consumption," and used the excuse of studying abroad to drop out of school.

Afterward, under the influence of his urge to "consume," he committed one murder after another. The bodies of the victims were mostly marked by the traces of being devoured by wild beasts, with a gruesome appearance. It was this series of grotesque murders that accelerated the deterioration of Shiki's personality at the time and indirectly led to her coma.

During the process of killing, the boy felt fear and became increasingly insane. He started believing that he was insane and that killing was inevitable, but he needed companions who were equally crazy.

He tried to create a cocktail drug, which he dubbed "Bloodchip", to make other people turn into "special people". His delusions made him believe that soaking the drug into his blood would allow others to awaken their origin like him. This behavior caused numerous deaths and disappearances. It was only when the Shiki fell into a coma that the boy gradually stopped his madness.

However, this cessation was temporary. After two years had passed, the boy still hadn't found any companions, and he turned his attention back to Shiki again. To attract her attention, he decided to commit another bizarre murder.

Unfortunately, this time, his luck wasn't as good as before. Just as he was preparing to commit the crime, a man wearing a black coat appeared before him.

Emiya Kiritsugu, after giving up his life as a magus killer following the conclusion of the Holy Grail War, stayed in Japan and spent the rest of his life peacefully with his wife Irisviel, his daughter Illyasviel, and his partner Maiya Hisau.

However, this didn't mean he gave up magecraft or the skills he honed through slaughter. He was well aware of the importance of the Einzbern family to his wife and daughter. If the Einzberns were to learn that they were still alive, it would surely lead to a new battle.

Furthermore, he promised Maiya that he would help her find her son, Sigma. The country from which Maiya hailed was still engulfed in turmoil, and having good skills was necessary for finding someone there.

To avoid losing his wife and daughter again and to help his partner, Maiya, find her son, Kiritsugu dedicated himself to training in magecraft and marksmanship every day. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the current Kiritsugu Emiya was stronger than before he married into the Einzbern family or during the Holy Grail War.

In front of Kiritsugu, there was a commission letter that had arrived from the city of Misaki.

Normally, Kiritsugu, who had given up being a magus killer, no longer accepted any commissions. However, there was one exception, and that was Matou Shinji, who had played a role in the reconstruction of the entire Emiya family.

The content of the commission was simple: Find the culprit behind the series of bizarre murders that occurred in Misaki City in 1995 and 1996 and eliminate them.

The commission letter also included a simple dossier, including the suspect's name and some clues that Shinji had gathered.

Kiritsugu didn't know for what purpose Shinji had sent him this commission, but he knew that he was willing to accept this seemingly simple task. Although he had given up on saving the world and the dream of becoming a hero of justice, he didn't mind doing something within his power for the sake of his sense of justice. For example, helping a few good people or punishing a few villains.

After informing his family that he would be away for a few days to take care of some business, Kiritsugu packed his belongings and set off for Misaki City.

Having received Kiritsugu's response, Shinji also resolved a matter that had been weighing on his mind.

Lio Shirazumi was the earliest assistant to Souren Araya and the first person awakened by Araya. Due to going through a contradiction in stimulating Shiki, he was ultimately abandoned by Araya. However, even as a discarded individual, he achieved something that Araya hadn't. He pushed Shiki to the brink of collapse and severely wounded Mikiya Kokutou, causing him to lose an eye, just as described in the seventh chapter, "Murder Speculation (Part 2)" of "The Garden of Sinners."

Originally, Shinji intended to personally take care of this hidden danger for his friend. Unfortunately, his investigative abilities were limited, and he had many other things to attend to, such as spending time with Sakura, spending time with Fujino, spending time with Fujou, spending time with Justeaze, and so on. Why were they all girls? Well, let's add spending time with Mikiya too (gathering information). Anyway, he just didn't have the time.

So, he sought the help of an expert.

Indeed, experts were truly experts. The person Shinji had spent half a month trying to find was located by Kiritsugu in just three days. When he found the target, the person was wearing clothes similar to Shiki and was holding a dagger, preparing to attack a passerby.

Without panicking at the realization that his killing act had been witnessed, Lio Shirazumi abandoned the nearby passerby and stared intently at Kiritsugu. His tongue licked his lips, revealing a fierce smile like a wild beast that had spotted its prey.

The blond youth, dressed in the same clothes as Shiki, started running. He held a dagger in one hand and moved low, gliding along the narrow alleyways.

Kiritsugu raised his eyebrows in surprise. The approaching figure didn't move like a human but more like a snake, swiftly moving in and out of Kiritsugu's field of vision, making it difficult to determine his next move.

When the distance between the two closed to about five meters, the snake-like movements suddenly transformed into those of a wild beast.

Like a starving tiger pouncing on its prey, Lio Shirazumi lunged above Kiritsugu's head, aiming the dagger at his neck.

At this critical moment, a muffled sound emerged from Kiritsugu's throat.

"Time Alter: Triple Accel!"

With this forbidden incantation, Lio Shirazumi's movements within Kiritsugu's field of vision slowed down, allowing him to discern the patterns on the blade. At the same time, Kiritsugu's physical abilities reached an unimaginable height, enabling him to narrowly evade Lio Shirazumi's slashing attack towards his throat.

Just as the lethal blow missed, Lio Shirazumi was about to give chase, but he suddenly noticed a dark barrel in front of him.

A gunshot resounded, and Lio Shirazumi heard the sound of his head shattering.

Kiritsugu's beloved gun, Thompson Contender, had completed its mission. His right hand rested on the trigger guard switch, and the gun hung diagonally from his shoulder.

As the break-action magazine opened, the spent cartridge flew through the air, leaving faint traces of gunpowder residue before falling to the ground with a crisp sound in the quiet night.

With his left hand reaching into his coat pocket, Kiritsugu skillfully dialed a number on his mobile phone.

"The mission is complete."

PS: Lio Shirazumi had a despicable nature, evidenced by his act of licking every inch of Shiki's body with his tongue in the original.

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