IBHJ 1382

“Gurgle gurgle… chatter chatter…”

The villagers spoke rapidly, gesturing animatedly with their hands, their painted faces lively with expression—but their words meant nothing to Shirou. The sounds tumbled past his ears like water over stone, strange and ungraspable.

He glanced sideways at Tiamat.

She gave him a small, confident nod, then reached up and gently patted his back.

Her eyes glowed with a subtle violet shimmer as she whispered:

“【Message Connection】—activated.”

A pulse of invisible light passed between them.

Suddenly, as though a new frequency had tuned itself into his mind, the chaotic stream of words began to settle—shapes forming from the noise, meaning threading itself into language.

“Thank you for slaying the earth demon. Are you… a hero?”

The speaker was a boy no older than ten, his face decorated with tribal ink, his wide eyes gleaming with curiosity and awe.

Shirou blinked. “A… hero?” he repeated, caught off guard.

Thwack.

A man beside the boy lightly bonked him on the head with the shaft of a spear.

“Don’t be rude to our village’s savior,” he chided, then turned to Shirou with a respectful nod.

“Please, if you don’t mind—come rest in our village. It would be an honor.”

Shirou smiled. “Thank you. That sounds perfect, actually—I was just starting to feel a bit worn out.”

The man motioned for them to follow and led the way deeper into the cave.

Given their situation—stranded without fuel, cut off from the Gaia star region, and unable to even restart Tiamat—this encounter was far more than welcome.

In fact, it was the best thing that could’ve happened.

“Maybe my luck isn’t cursed after all,” Shirou mused to himself, stepping into the darkened tunnel.

They walked for quite a while, the air growing cooler and damper with every step. Eventually, the narrow cave opened up—wide and echoing—into a massive underground chamber.

And there it was.

A village.

Hundreds of thatched huts lined the cavern floor, lit by bioluminescent moss clinging to the high stone walls. The air was filled with soft, distant voices, the flicker of firelight, and the everyday bustle of life.

An underground world, hidden from the stars above.

The moment Shirou and Tiamat stepped into the underground village, curious eyes began to gather from every direction.

One by one, the villagers emerged from their homes—men, women, children—whispering among themselves, casting furtive glances at the newcomers. Some tried to hide their interest; others made no attempt at all.

A young boy, no older than five, tugged at his mother’s sleeve and pointed at Shirou.

“Mama, how come they don’t have totems on their faces?”

The woman blanched. Her eyes widened in alarm as she clamped a hand over the child’s mouth, then turned to Shirou with a trembling smile, bowing her head in apology.

Shirou gave her a calm nod. He wasn’t bothered by the stares or the pointing. But his eyes scanned the crowd with quiet scrutiny.

They were undeniably humanoid. In fact, down to their skeletal structure and muscle composition, they appeared no different from modern Earth humans.

Except for one thing.

Their skin.

Not tan. Not bronze. Not even sun-darkened.

Golden.

Their bodies shimmered faintly, like humans dusted in powdered gold—eerie and radiant under the bioluminescent light of the cavern walls.

Shirou narrowed his eyes slightly and opened a mental link through Tiamat.

【Tiamat, any readings?】

She walked silently beside him, her expression blank, eyes flickering faintly as data passed through her systems.

【Their biological makeup differs from Master’s. Structurally close, but chemically divergent.】

【What about their genetic sequences?】

【Also distinct. The base components used to encode their genome differ significantly. Only their appearance resembles Earth humans.】

A coincidental convergence in evolutionary development?

Or something more deliberate?

【Could this be an echo of Tethys's designs? Some remnant from the timeline before the Gaia star system was fully established?】 Shirou wondered.

But before he could fall too deep into speculation, Tiamat’s voice returned—calm, but edged with warning.

【The villagers themselves are weak—biologically unremarkable. However… I’ve detected a powerful, aberrant lifeform at the village’s center. Also, a large-scale barrier is covering this entire cavern. Please remain cautious, Master.】

【Noted. Stay alert.】

Their silent conversation ended as the spear-wielding man stopped in front of a structure that resembled a massive wasp’s nest carved into the stone itself. Strange, spiral-like markings glowed faintly on its surface, and an opening yawned at the center like a breathing wound.

“Our village chief awaits inside,” the man said, motioning toward the opening. “Please, this way.”

Shirou nodded—but inwardly, he tensed.

He stepped inside.

The interior was dim and cavernous, carved in a descending spiral like the inside of a funnel. It wasn’t a room.

It was a pit.

A massive one.

The man stepped to the edge of the enormous pit and cupped his hands to his mouth.

“Village Chief! The hero who defeated the earth demon has arrived!”

His voice echoed into the darkness below.

For a moment, silence.

Then, a deep boom rumbled through the ground. The earth trembled under their feet as golden light surged from the depths like a rising tide. Cracks along the stone walls flared with light—and something massive began to climb out of the pit.

A shape.

A presence.

A golden giant emerged, towering nearly fifty meters tall. His body gleamed like forged sunlight, rippling with muscle. Compared to the thousand-meter titanic form Shirou had once seen from Adam, this one wasn’t as colossal.

His glowing, gem-like eyes settled on Shirou and Tiamat.

“Thank you for your hard work,” he said, his deep voice oddly gentle. Then, after a pause, he leaned slightly, his massive brows furrowing.

“Are you… are you an angel?”

Shirou tilted his head.

“An angel?”

“Yes.”

“No.” He shook his head calmly. “You’re mistaken.”

The golden giant blinked, then scratched the back of his head in relief.

“Ahh, I see. That’s good. The time hasn’t come yet anyway. Besides…”

He chuckled, voice low and tired.

“There’s no one left in our village worth taking.”

Hearing this, Shirou raised an eyebrow.

But the giant quickly straightened again, tone lightening.

“Passing hero, for saving us from the earth demon, we offer you our hospitality. If you wish to stay for a few days, we’ll treat you as one of our own.”

Shirou offered a small smile. “That’s very kind. We were just wondering where we could rest.”

With Tiamat’s systems running dry and no means to return to the Gaia star system—especially after narrowly fooling the Golden Universe’s flying fleets—laying low was the most sensible move.

And so they stayed.

…

The underground village welcomed them like saviors.

Everywhere they went, villagers greeted them with wide smiles and offerings. Children followed behind them in giggling flocks, trying to imitate Shirou’s stride. Craftsmen carved trinkets in his likeness. One old woman even gave Tiamat a garland of glowing fungi.

Only one thing broke the illusion of paradise.

The food.

It was… beyond words.

Even Artoria—who had once stoically eaten dishes Shirou wouldn’t feed to a stray dog—would’ve stared at these alien meals in frozen horror, chopsticks trembling in her hand.

Flesh that shimmered like mercury. Jelly that moved upward on its own. Soups that hissed.

Thankfully, Shirou had come prepared.

Before entering the Origin Era, he’d stockpiled food inside the imaginary space of the black mud—simple things. Instant meals. Energy bars. Potato chips. Chocolate.

He shared some with the villagers.

They recoiled in horror.

“It’s crunchy!” one woman cried, dropping the chip like a cursed object.

“It smells like poison,” muttered another.

“Why would anyone eat this?”

Shirou could only smile wryly.

Well—different worlds, different standards. What was comfort food to him was a nightmare to them. That was just how it was.

You really couldn’t expect everyone to share the same taste.