IBHJ 1225

Manaka turned to Xuanzang. "Aren't you going to take that thing back?"

Xuanzang shook her head gently. "Things arise when conditions are right, and fade when conditions change. When the time comes, it will naturally find its way back."

"I see..."

"The five poisons of the heart are pride, greed, anger, ignorance, and doubt," Xuanzang said with a kind smile. "That Bodhisattva was consumed by anger and ignorance, while you struggle with doubt. I hope you can find some peace in your mind."

Manaka nodded respectfully. "I appreciate your wisdom."

"Then I'll be on my way now," Xuanzang said, bringing her palms together.

"Wait, Xuanzang," Ayaka said, looking confused. "Aren't you going back to Tír na nÓg?"

"Now that I understand why I was brought here, I won't be returning. But I would appreciate if you could pass along a message to Bedivere for me."

"What message?"

"Where we come from and where we go isn't decided by others—it's determined by ourselves alone. Amitabha." With her palms still pressed together, Xuanzang turned and walked away.

After she left, only Manaka, Ayaka, and Ritsuka remained, creating an awkward silence between them.

Manaka glanced briefly at Ayaka before looking away.

"Are you leaving too, Manaka?" Ritsuka asked.

She nodded, gesturing toward Ayaka. "She'll help you find your sister."

Ritsuka hesitated for a moment. "What about my Beast? Don't you want it anymore?"

"I couldn't defeat you today, but someday I'll come back for it," Manaka replied.

"Oh... I see," Ritsuka said, her voice quiet as she lowered her head in disappointment.

Manaka looked at her with troubled eyes. "Look, Ritsuka, I don't know what's going through your head right now, but I'm not your friend. I can never be your friend."

Manaka figured Ritsuka was trying to save her soul—maybe out of guilt for failing to save Olga Marie back then. Or maybe she was just naive enough to think they could actually become friends? Why else would she look at her that way, reaching out to help with such genuine sincerity?

But it wasn't possible. She couldn't become friends with anyone. Even if it hurt Ritsuka, she had to crush that naive hope.

At least, that's what Manaka thought. But Ritsuka's strange expression in response wasn't what she expected at all.

"Of course we're not friends," Ritsuka said plainly. "I just wanted you to be my companion. I never thought about becoming friends with you. My friends have to be people who stay in my life permanently. I don't become friends with people who just flash by like fireworks, because that only ends up hurting me. And that's exactly what you are, Manaka—a brilliant flash that disappears too quickly."

Manaka could only stare at her, stunned. There wasn't even a hint of deception in Ritsuka's eyes—just raw honesty and innocence.

So that's it? She had misunderstood everything from the beginning.

In Ritsuka's mind, companions and friends were completely different things.

But now Manaka could see clearly that the person standing in front of her wasn't genuinely warm-hearted. She was just like Manaka herself and Demonic Bodhisattva—a broken soul with an enormous emptiness inside.

No wonder she's a Beast.

No wonder she wanted to save Manaka, to make her a companion.

Because Ritsuka herself was desperately searching for salvation.

The person she had been trying to save all along was actually herself.

‘Ritsuka, where does all your pain come from?’ Manaka looked at her with sadness and sympathy.

She felt hurt that Ritsuka had rejected her, but at the same time, she couldn't help feeling sorry for the massive emptiness she saw in Ritsuka's heart. Eventually, her expression grew calm, and she turned to leave.

As she walked away, Ritsuka called after her, "Stay safe, Manaka! I haven't given up on making you my companion!"

"Don’t worry, I won't die until I've paid you back for your ‘kindness’," she replied without turning around.

Once Manaka was gone, Ritsuka and Ayaka got ready to head back to Tír na nÓg.

As they were about to leave, Kirschtaria showed up with the other Heroic Spirits.

"Krista! Where have you been?" Ritsuka asked, surprised to see him.

"I ran into those Imperial soldiers again and was stuck dealing with them for a while, leader."

"Oh, so that's why they didn't show up here—you guys were keeping them busy! That's awesome! I knew I could count on my companions!"

"Looks like quite a lot happened here," Kirschtaria said, looking at the hardened mud and the massive tree towering above them. "By the way, my name is Kirschtaria, not Krista."

"Sure thing, Krista."

Kirschtaria let out a deep sigh.

…

Shirou snapped out of his daze and frowned.

"What's wrong?" the witch asked.

"No, it's nothing," he said, shaking his head. He'd just felt a strange flutter in his chest, like he was face-to-face with the Lord of Salvation. For a moment, he thought something weird had shown up again, but the feeling quickly faded away.

After a moment, he turned to her. "Let's keep going."

It had been several days since they'd been teleported to this steel world. By now, they were getting pretty close to their destination, but throughout their journey, they hadn't seen a single living thing. Everywhere they went was just abandoned steel, black oil, or bare dirt.

There were no pretty flowers or clean rivers anywhere—it felt like they were just trudging through some post-apocalyptic wasteland. This was definitely not the poetic, magical journey Artoria had been hoping for, and she wasn't shy about letting Shirou know it.

"Are you sure we can actually contact the others when we get there?" she asked, pointing toward the horizon.

"We should be able to," he nodded. "I can feel the planet's aura pulling me in that direction."

The truth was, he wasn't really sure himself, but for now, all they could do was trust his gut feeling and keep moving forward.

"This is such a pain," she muttered, shooting him an annoyed look. "It would be so much easier if we could just fly there."

She'd wanted to hop on her staff and fly straight to their destination, but he wouldn't let her.

"You've already lost your immortality, and you're not exactly in great shape. Think of this as exercise," he said, deliberately ignoring the death glare the witch was giving him.

He certainly understood that flying would be easier and less tiring, but it would also make them stick out like sore thumbs—they'd be easy targets with limited ability to maneuver or dodge if attacked. With this unfamiliar territory and the Empire hunting them down, the risk of getting caught was just too high.

After walking a while longer, the sun began to set as the planet rotated, gradually plunging their side of the world into darkness.

They managed to find a decent hiding spot among some steel ruins that would keep them out of sight.

The witch drew a [Fire] rune on the ground, and instantly an orange-red flame appeared, dancing in the breeze and giving off welcome heat.

Shirou projected two blankets, wrapping one around himself and holding the other out to the witch.

"I don't need it," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"You want to catch another fever?" he asked pointedly.

She rolled her eyes but took the blanket anyway, wrapping it around her shoulders.

"Look, you're just like me now—a regular mortal with a body that can actually get sick," he reminded her. "You need to take better care of yourself."

"I know, I know..." she mumbled. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a piece of bread, offering it to him.

He took it without hesitation and bit right into it, not even bothering to brush off the dust.

The rich wheat aroma filled his senses.

The bread had been a parting gift from Nerissa when they left Avalon. That short, somewhat absentminded fairy was probably the first one to realize that Artoria wasn't immortal anymore—that she had become human.