Stray Chapter 69: Future Gospel

"Speaking of which, what should I call you?"

This is the end of the matter, Xia Ran simply put all the doubts behind, completely put herself into the state of getting along with new friends, and asked seriously——

"Two rituals? Shi? Or can I just call you shiki?"

"Two rituals are my name, but I'll be happy if you just call me shiki."

Putting her hand lightly on her chest and closing her eyes, she said, "In this way, at least tonight is meaningful to me."

"Meaningful..." The magician chewed on this sentence, and if he understood something, he then pointed at himself and introduced himself. "Although you must have known it long ago, I think it's polite to say that I'm Xia Ran."

"I do know this..." The girl in the kimono opened her eyes, nodded lightly, and then stopped talking, just stared at him quietly, as if waiting for something.

“…”

“…”

The air was quiet for a while, only the atmosphere of silence permeated.

"Well, what should I say now?"

Xia Ran sighed, feeling that this situation was really the worst for him to deal with. He really didn't have the worry and anxiety he had before, but this feeling was equally torturous and made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Would you like to keep your eyes wide open here? Anyway, give yourself a little arrow that you can continue to click and have a conversation, right?

"You can say anything, but I've never had friends, and I don't know how friends talk..."

The girl in the kimono replied gently, but what she said made Xia Ran feel a little pitiful.

He sighed again, and then quickly combed his thoughts: "Then let me talk about it, although it may be some boring little things, in your opinion, it is probably not a trivial problem. Well..."

"Of course not. If you really want to tell me about this kind of thing, I'll be very happy..." She smiled and shook her head, saying seriously.

"Okay, let me think about how to say..."

What exactly is this situation? Xia Ran reluctantly used her brain and began to chat with her about some small things, including her daily life, her past nightmares, and her experience in the mission world...

At first, he felt angry and funny about this inexplicable development, but gradually he calmed down completely. He said whatever he thought of, and she listened to him happily.

The snow doesn't stop, and the white debris hides the darkness.

Floating, swaying, like a feather, falling.

I don't know how long it has been like this. When talking about this encounter, Xia Ran also seemed to think of something and looked at the girl in the kimono: "Speaking of which, I still stay here and haven't left. , is it because of you, Shiki?"

"It looks like you really want to end it as soon as possible. It must be hard for you to be forced to talk to me..."

She couldn't help laughing, and then she glanced at the end of the gray and wide night before turning back and said softly.

"No no no, I didn't think so, I just asked by the way, and you must know what I'm thinking now."

Xia Ran shook her head vigorously, not knowing how serious she was. He stared at the girl in the kimono and said so.

He really suddenly felt sorry for her now, so he didn't want to leave her as soon as possible, and the idea of ​​walking away - and it was useless to think about it - from just now until now, he has been trying very seriously As a friend, talk to her.

"I don't know this, because since you said that reading minds is too foul, I haven't deliberately read your thoughts anymore..."

She looked away like a butterfly avoiding the sun. She didn't look at him seriously. She just closed her eyes and sighed. She seemed to be happy because of his answer. look.

"Is that so? It's really reassuring."

Xia Ran nodded, indicating that she believed it.

"Then, let me tell you, you can still stay in this world now, it has nothing to do with me, I just know that you will stay until now, so I'm just waiting for you here... About the reason why you can continue The reason for the stay."

The girl in the kimono explained it directly, her tone was as if she was talking about tomorrow's weather, and she seemed casual——

"Actually, it's because the will of the "world" has been called by your previous actions, just like the state where the knight king was frozen before his death... It's not that hard to understand, you probably just Haven't you noticed what information you've received since before? "

"Huh?"

Xia Ran was stunned for a moment, then realized something and opened the information prompt page that he had not read. Because of the frequent screen refreshes just now, he really never paid attention to the information prompt that appeared later.

Because he subconsciously felt that there would be nothing else worth caring about, nothing more than the acquisition of free attribute points and credit reminders.

After opening it, he found that at the bottom of the page, a completely different prompt message did appear——

The reminder that it is a contract of rules is constantly flashing, and I don't know how long the reminder has been, but he has not paid attention to it.

He opened the details of the reminder with his mind. The next moment, Xia Ran heard a voice exactly. , children, the voices come together:

"I am ready to give you the opportunity, in exchange for the fulfillment of that wish, to accept your death."

“…”

“…”

Xia Ran was silent for a while, and he almost instantly understood what the voice meant.

Like what happened to Artoria, Inhibition seems to have taken a fancy to him and plans to sign him as a wage earner.

It's like the moment when Arturia called the will of the "world", her time has stopped, as long as the contract is not over, she will always be in the history of the battle of the sword fence Wandering, time does not advance.

Xia Ran's current experience is probably similar, but he is not in a dying state, nor is he fixed in a certain history, but at the last moment, the repulsion of the restraining force against him has completely disappeared. .

That's why he has been able to stay in this world until now without being rejected.

Wait, if you say so-

"If I haven't agreed or rejected this contract, can I keep getting stuck?" He looked at the "two ceremonies" with anticipation.

"Of course this is impossible."

The girl in the kimono showed a peaceful smile and calmly denied his whimsy——

"Only if you can come in handy, it will give unlimited opportunities to drive you as a prop, provided you can come in handy for it."

In other words, that is to say, if he has never clearly agreed or refused, the restraining power will not be wasting power on him all the time, allowing him to stay in this world.

"Ah, what a pity..." Xia Ran sighed in disappointment, not too surprised that she received a restraining contract.

——Even Emiya Shirou can, he has no reason not to.

"What if I sign this contract?"

"Isn't it very clear? It will give you a chance to return to this world in the future, but as a price, if you really die in this world, it will accept your death... "

She looked at him and continued speaking in a natural tone.

"In other words, if I don't die or die in this world, this contract will have no binding force on me?" Xia Ran pinched her chin and thought carefully.

"As long as the contract is established, your information will be absorbed by that mechanism, and then sent to the seat to be recorded as a spiritual foundation... Just like the king of knights, her body is not on the seat at all, which means that she is still on the seat. A living person, but because she signed a contract and has her information on the seat, she can still be summoned."

The girl shook her head and said that she knew everything, so she answered without any concern, as if she didn't think it was a question that needed attention at all.

“Take the Holy Grail War you just conducted as an example, borrow its information from the heroic spirit body located in the Throne of Heroes, and then inject this information into the framework of the class, and the heroic spirit clones produced are Servants... "

"Although there is no way to summon your body, as long as the information is recorded on the seat as a spiritual foundation, then your information is likely to be summoned as a Servant, possibly in the past, in the future, or in the future. On another world line..."

"It's like a clone?" Xia Ran nodded as if he understood, "Although it's not directly controlled by me, I can only know what "I" did after the fact? "

"Yes, because the information that constitutes the Servant will return to the seat when the Servant dies or the summoning ends. The body can naturally know its actions as a Servant in a recorded way like a book."

She glanced at him and explained it casually.

"But only if you return to this world, can you update the information through the contract with the restraining force... You can know what "you" did, and the information changes brought about by your own growth will also Bring change to the spiritual record on the throne. "

"Sounds like an interesting on-hook game...but I'll think about it." The magician nodded solemnly.

It is no wonder that I received such a contract, and the emotional restraint power is not a loss. It was originally a defense device for the "human world" made by people's unconscious aggregates. It absorbed countless records and countless powers. It will exist forever until the end.

"Xia Ran, I also have something I want to ask you... Although it's a little regretful, after I ask, our conversation today will end, and that's why I came here."

At this time, the girl in the kimono said seriously, staring at him with pupils that were several times more mature than they looked.

"Oh, tell me, I'm listening..." Xia Ran hurriedly stopped other thoughts and answered.

"What do you want?"

She quietly took a step forward and reached out to touch his face. The pupils she stretched out were transparent, with endless depths. She seemed to be able to see the lack of humanity in the pupils in the depths of the heart. Only things like Divine air.

"—Tell me, what is your wish? As long as it is a wish, I can usually fulfill it."

That's right!

Xia Ran had expected this for a long time, so he thought about it seriously. At this moment, many thoughts flashed in his mind, but they were not the correct answers.

He is very sure that she is definitely not simply here to be a wish machine for himself, there must be a more profound reason, and he only has one chance, if she says something wrong...

Thousands of thoughts went back and forth in an instant, Xia Ran seemed to have made a decision. He looked directly at her, responded to her with his eyes, and expressed his thoughts in his heart word by word——

"Tell me, what is your wish? Can I help you make it happen?"

Maybe it's the story of the nine-tailed cat...

Maybe it's just to see her pitiful...

Maybe there is no reason, I just take this opportunity to ask directly...

She laughed.