Every once in a while, I remember that sword fight.
That day,
I lost my answer and simultaneously found it.
But not a single thing has changed.
In my fading memories, I see us. He's still him, and I'm still me.
It's not like I believed that anything would change with us as a result of that fight.
It's been two years since then.
I came face to face with my ideal.
I won't get my answer
for a long, long time.
Epilogue
I really appreciate your consideration,
but I've told you a million times that I can do without breakfast.
I can't have that.
You're allowing me to live here.
So it's the least I can do as your attendant.
You're still not a morning person.
That's surprising.
Having at least one little quirk like that
gives a girl some charm, right?
Schedule-wise, I have a special lecture on cutting in mineralogy today.
How about you?
I think I just have primary subjects all morning.
Then we're together half the day.
Let's meet at our usual spot this afternoon.
Tohsaka...
No, forget it.
What's the matter?
Do you know that person?
No, we've just walked by each other a few times.
It wasn't that...
This is a bit belated, but it just hit me how strange this is.
Why is an outsider like me being allowed to study magic at a place like this?
For the last time, you aren't an outsider.
I told you Clock Tower's rules, remember?
When you're a noted Magi's rightful heir,
you're at constant risk of having others try to kill you.
Given that, a Magus has the right to be accompanied by a follower or pupil for their protection.
You're enrolled here as my follower,
so act a little more dignified.
I know that. I'm grateful to you, Tohsaka.
You ought to be. Getting you in wasn't easy.
Well, it's only a three-year special exemption.
But be careful.
As a school, this place has rules,
but none of the normal social laws.
Even if it's just a "minor" ritual in the Far East,
you're a Magus who survived the Holy Grail War.
You did that.
Some here won't take kindly to that, so if you let down your guard...
Your guard is down.
Guess again!
Sherou!
Luvia?
Don't be so impersonal!
You're not currently on the clock as her butler, right?
"Miss Luvia" is perfectly fine, Sherou!
Don't get so chummy with him!
Oh, Miss Tohsaka...
We're classmates, as well as neighbors living in the same apartment building.
What's so inappropriate about that?
Everything about it is inappropriate!
Relax, Tohsaka.
Let's try to get along with our classmates, okay?
Anyway, we only got the third floor of that building thanks to Luvia, right?
Sherou!
Hey!
Don't let it go to your head!
Oh, dear! O-Oh, oh, oh, oh!
Change in plans!
Our next class will be...
Self-defense.
The class where one expresses one's vitality through physical ability.
The Edelfelt family's designated heir,
Luviagelita Edelfelt,
will do you the honor of schooling you.
Excellent!
You might be mistaken for a gorilla! Miss Gorilla!
That's right, keep talking!
It hurts! It hurts, it hurts!
What's the deal with that nouveau riche bitch?
I nailed her right in the medulla oblongata, so why wouldn't she go down?!
Luvia isn't a bad person, so just—
Where did you two meet, anyway?!
Well, not long after we moved here, we both got lost...
Ow, ow, ow! Ow!
Oh, well...
I'll settle things with her eventually.
So, what will you do?
You got an invitation, right? To officially join the Mages Association?
Yeah.
A Magi's natural talents and the color of his soul are evaluated and recorded.
He then becomes a Magus affiliated with Clock Tower.
Isn't that a good thing?
Your activities would be limited in some ways because you'd basically be indebted to the Association.
But it comes with a lot of perks for a Magus,
so most people would jump at it.
Yeah.
I guess you're right.
Becoming a Clock Tower member and a genuine Magus...
It's the right decision.
But what I believed in was...
Tohsaka?
Sorry, I overslept. I'll start breakfast right now.
Emiya...
Will you go somewhere with me today?
What is this place?
Glastonbury.
A certain king's grave.
That day, you said you regretted not getting the chance to say a proper goodbye.
I'll give you two some time alone.
I forgot that you were a king, Saber.
Thank you.
For what it's worth, I'm here now, Saber.
This sure is a nice place.
Yeah, it is.
It feels weird to think that, in a place like this, people once led lives nothing like ours.
Like they say, it's a big old world.
It's already been six months since we came to England.
For me, every day is one surprise after another.
How about you?
It's the same as you.
I've learned how insignificant I am.
I became a Master, fought with Saber,
and survived the Holy Grail War, right?
I boasted, "I can do anything if I put my mind to it."
But by the very next day, that arrogance had faded away.
I'm not surprised.
You never change, Shirou.
I understand now.
The Holy Grail War was a major event.
But when you see it from the outside like this,
it was only one event of many.
But there are things that were left behind.
And things that will change.
I might not have personally matured.
But I just saw for myself how special that battle was.
I'm the opposite.
I'm starting to believe it wasn't anything special at all.
The Holy Grail War, Clock Tower, simple days like this...
They'll never fundamentally change.
You borrowed Saber's strength,
but in her life, Saber herself relied on the strength of people of the past.
We're all connected.
I think we go through life using not only our own strength,
but also the hard work of those who came before.
Clock Tower is steeped in ancient traditions.
So every day, while I'm studying, I feel like someone is judging me.
Like they're saying, "What will you add to this?"
Oh, I get it.
I guess that's only natural.
Hey! Wake up, numbskull!
Everyone's already left for the assembly!
Are you boycotting it or something?
Hurry!
The closing assembly of our second year is about to start!
Issei...
How are things going on the mountain?
The rebuilding of the main hall just got underway.
Everyone is working hard.
Times such as these truly test a head priest's mettle.
Admittedly, I'm barely even a novice...
But it's enough to make me want to bow in gratitude to our parishioners.
Yeah, I'll come by to help out soon.
That reminds me, how is Shinji doing?
He's been in the hospital for quite some time.
Oh, don't worry.
He should be discharged any day now.
Sakura's been going to visit him daily.
Oh, his little sister is checking in on him every day, eh?
Yeah, from what I can see, she's worn him down.
Sakura's a tenacious girl, so he's been browbeaten into letting her look after him.
That's wonderful news.
Just the two kids I was looking for!
It's been a month since anyone's heard from him,
and at the start of the new semester, a new teacher will be coming.
We'll look after Kuzuki's personal effects at the temple.
He turned up at the temple out of nowhere in the first place,
so I suppose it's fitting that he left us the same way.
Well, if it isn't the student council president.
Patrolling campus so early in the morning?
Or are you making maintenance rounds of the club rooms?
Tohsaka!
I tire of saying it so often,
but you really are diligent that way, aren't you?
I've grown rather tired of our rote exchanges, myself!
Why not chance a different guess every once in a while?
Surely you haven't been deliberately repeating yourself, Tohsaka!
Of course I have.
What? You never figured that out?
Ryuudou sure is uptight,
don't you think?
Wh-What's the meaning of this, Emiya?!
What manner of relationship are you in with this foul vixen?!
Uh, I...
Anyway, come get me in my classroom later, Emiya.
I'll wait until you get there.
Wh-What in the world?
There you are, president!
Mitsuzuri Ayako...
President, would you mind explaining that budget?
Why is my club's budget the one to get slashed?
The archery club isn't the only one!
All club budgets have had to be reviewed.
I don't buy it!
You'll stand right there and explain yourself!
Say, Emiya...
Were you ever in the track club?
Track club?
No, I was always in the archery club.
Oh...
Well, I guess these things happen.
When I was looking at the sunset, some memories came back.
You have to admit, it's flown by in a flash...
It's been a month since the Holy Grail War ended and you signed on as my pupil.
At this rate, the next year will fly by.
After that happens, we'll be leaving this school behind.
What do you plan to do after graduation?
Follow in your father's footsteps?
Uh, yeah... Why?
After I graduate, I'm going to London.
After all that's happened, the Mages Association gave me a letter of recommendation.
London? The Mages Association's headquarters?
That Clock Tower place?
I've been invited as the Tohsaka family heir.
They say I can bring a pupil with me if I like.
Um, does that mean...
So.
What will you be doing?
Damn it, you always go right for my weak spot.
What?
Look...
This is important, so give me a straight answer.
Will you come with me?
Don't ask when you already know the answer.
Then let's continue to have a productive relationship, Emiya!
I'm gonna whip you into shape until you're a proper Magus, so brace yourself!
My life's goal is to make you into a new man—
one who's thoroughly happy.
Thanks for bringing me with you.
Excuse me.
You are the exchange student from Japan?
Actually, that would be Tohsaka.
I know that.
I was referring to you.
You're from Fuyuki City, in Japan, right?
You don't seem to have the makings of a Magus.
I imagine you were an outsider who was caught up in the ritual and missed his chance to get out?
I find it puzzling.
After surviving that troublesome war,
to what end have you come to Clock Tower?
To what end do you study magic?
Good question.
Since coming here, I've learned many things,
and in many ways, I've been out of my depth.
But I want to keep believing in what I believed in before.
I want to dedicate my life to that.
Meaning what, exactly?
Well, I realize how dumb this sounds...
But I want to become something.
A hero of justice.
I see. That certainly is idiotic.
But it is not humorous.
A hero of justice, you say?
This place is, indeed, a small world.
Tohsaka?
Did we have plans for dinner?
I was waiting for you.
Well? What did you do about enrollment?
Oh, I turned them down.
You aren't angry?
I knew this would happen.
Oh, but if you aren't going to join Clock Tower,
I guess that means I'll be thrown out in three years, too.
No, that doesn't mean you have to—
Are you sure, though?
I've been thinking about it nonstop,
but I don't think I'll ever be able to change how I live.
Even when I know I'm not right, I can't change paths.
It's just as he said...
I'll meet the same fate.
He's right. I agree with him there.
You're full of mistakes, Shirou.
You're probably on the same path, heading in the same direction.
The difference might be in how far you can go.
What matters is where you end up, and how far you came, right?
Even if your destination and the result end up being the same,
if you manage to walk a little further afterward,
I know you'll get your proper ending.
I see.
I really hope it turns out like that.
No, I guess I'll have to ensure that that's what happens.
I wouldn't worry.
I mean, you've had your answer all along.
But are you really sure?
Clock Tower is an important place to you, right?
I'll be fine.
In the end, I'll probably settle down at Clock Tower.
But I want to look around and get stuff out of my system.
You know, see the world.
So now it's my turn to drag you around with me, huh?
Yeah, though that's all a ways off yet.
Regardless, having fun, suffering, seeing the sights,
and eventually having our own happily ever after.
That's the future in store for us.
A boy once said,
"I don't want to watch people die."
If people can be saved,
could it be possible to save every person that's suffering?
What the boy was trying to cut down was himself.
He wielded his sword for what he came to believe in.
There is no longer a path where his battle ends and he turns back.
However, he did get his answer.
He has regrets.
And he doesn't know how many times he has wished to do it all over.
This fate is set in stone,
and Emiya will probably go on cursing it.
But even still,
I was not wrong.