IBHJ Chapter 790

After casually skimming through the papers, Shirou signed his name with a decisive stroke and said, "I'd like to schedule a meeting with the department heads to discuss the implementation of a new policy."

The sales manager took the document and said, "Alright, President. I'll get in touch with the military as soon as possible and pass the document along to the production department."

Shirou was stunned, thinking that the manager's response was off.

To test his theory, he asked the sales manager, "Are you a pig?"

"Sure thing, President. I'll head down and get right on it," the manager replied with a straight face.

Sure enough, it was a completely disconnected response. Shirou rubbed his temples, understanding why the manager was behaving so abnormally. Everything that happened in this dream was something that had actually happened before.

All the NPCs in the dream, their lines and dialogues, as well as their behavioral logic, were fixed. The only ones who could act independently were Skadi and him.

Shirou couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had the good habit of keeping a diary before, as it made it easier for him to understand the situation.

The legendary spear Gungnir was already in his hands, which meant that before his death, Odin had already been in touch with him. With his habit of keeping a diary, there might be clues about Skadi drinking from Mimir's Well.

With this in mind, Shirou deftly flipped open the first page of the diary and looked down, his eyes suddenly narrowing. On the first page, it was written in bold:

"I can't find it, and I'm starting to think Odin might be playing me. But I've found another way out - the invisible vortex."

Shirou wondered if his past self had already noticed the existence of the invisible vortex back then. On second thought, it made sense. After all, in this reset world, Angra Mainyu had been strangled to death by the invisible vortex.

Shirou read on carefully:

"I always hoped that someone would come along and hold up this collapsing sky. But now, I only believe in myself..."

The text on the first page ended abruptly. Shirou quickly flipped through the pages. The beginning of the notebook was filled with random bits and pieces about the Fourth Holy Grail War, followed by happy, peaceful everyday moments after the war, as well as the madness he experienced from the nightmares. Shirou already knew all this stuff. He kept flipping pages non-stop until he reached the diary entries about the Frost Giants:

[[July 20, 2003] - "Ever since defeating Skadi in Iceland, I've been using the internet and reaching out to magi circles, trying my best to spread this information. But instead of being taken seriously, I've been treated like a madman. The Mage's Association even gave me a Sealing Designation for exposing magecraft. No one believes me, everyone thinks I've lost it, even my closest friends.

They even called the cops on me, wanting to lock me up in a mental hospital to get me 'treated'. Everyone's convinced I have some kind of mental illness, but I know I'm totally sane. But this feeling of being the only sober one in a crowd of drunk people is really frustrating. Having everyone doubt me like this is really disheartening.

If it wasn't for Teacher still believing in me, I would have completely fallen apart. Part of me really wants to see humanity get trampled and crushed. ∎∎∎∎∎∎ I know my emotions are out of control. ∎∎∎∎∎∎ I won't show it in real life, ∎∎∎∎∎∎ I can only vent in my diary. ∎∎∎∎∎∎ it would make Teacher worry.

To be honest, I reached my breaking point a long time ago, but I don't want to make her worry about me. She's already given me so much care and support, how can I keep letting her stress over me? ∎∎∎∎∎∎ Bastard! ∎∎∎∎∎∎ I've always wanted to see the look on the faces of the Mage's Association and those idiots when the Frost Giants invade. That must be quite a sight. I think I'm starting to understand why Gilgamesh gets such a kick out of seeing others' destruction. It's a refined pleasure, isn't it?"]]

Reading this passage full of incoherent angry words, Shirou felt a heaviness in his heart. Because it wasn't about someone else, it was about him. Speaking the truth and warning others with sincerity, only to be ridiculed and trampled on, with even his closest friends treating him like a madman, a lunatic... There's nothing more painful in this world than that. Thankfully, at that time, he still had his teacher by his side. Otherwise, he would have truly fallen apart.

Shirou faced the despair of his past and turned the page with a heavy hand. He wasn't here to dwell on his sorrows, but to find the truth and a way to save Skadi.

[[February 18, 2005] - "Now, with Taiga's help, I've come back to Fuyuki City and used military loans to buy the land of the Einzbern Castle at a bargain and build a compressed food factory to supply food for the military. But that's not my main goal. I know deep down that modern weapons can't stop the giants from invading. The Americans have already dropped a hydrogen bomb on Iceland, despite all the pushback they got. Even though it wiped out many Frost Giants, it also made the dimensional hole even bigger, and these really weird and scary trunks started growing out of that hole. After those trunks grew out, the mystical barrier that formed made nuclear weapons completely useless. ∎∎∎∎∎∎ I know destruction is coming. There's only one path to salvation - becoming a god ∎∎∎∎∎∎!"]]

Reading this page, Shirou knew in his heart that the strange trunk had to be the branch of the World Tree reaching out from the Connection Point into this world. Nothing could destroy Yggdrasil, not even Odin could do more than seal it away.

[[February 23, 2006] - "Now, the Frost Giants have launched an all-out invasion, and Odin's been killed by that Beast. Right before he disappeared, he passed on all the Nordic divinity to me and hid us away. I have to hurry, I can't waste any time... I need to merge with the divinity before the giants completely take over and end the Age of Man! Before that Beast finds me. I have to merge the divinity with my ∎∎∎∎∎∎!"]]

Seeing this page, Shirou looked stunned: "Odin was killed by a Beast? And he gave the Nordic divinity to me? That's impossible... I get using the invisible vortex to merge with divinity. But isn't the Nordic divinity all with Skadi right now?"

Shirou quickly flipped through the pages. He had a feeling that what the Runes of Wisdom wanted to show him was here.

[[March 7, 2005] - "Why? Why can't I merge no matter what? This doesn't make sense... ∎∎∎∎∎∎ The power of that invisible vortex should work like this! Ahhh, what exactly do I need to do to make this work? ∎∎∎∎∎∎ Who can give me the answer, who can come and save me! ∎∎∎∎∎∎ Why am I even doing this pointless thing! Wouldn't it be easier to just sit back and wait to die?

They discovered me. They noticed me... I'm going to die, I'm going to die. They've already found me! No... I have to take a chance! I'll force the divinity to merge with me! I have to risk it, because at this rate teacher is going to die... February 26, 2006."]]

Shirou raised his eyebrows.

Wait, February 26? He tried to remember today's date and was shocked when he realized that today was February 26!