Looking at the Originium crystal on Rope' hand and connecting it with what she had just said, Shirou stood there in a daze for quite a while before finally reacting.
This seemed to be the first time Shirou had ever heard Rope personally talk about her Oripathy. In the past, she would always brush the topic aside whenever he brought it up. Of course, that was only when dealing with him.
When facing doctors, Rope would still honestly explain her condition. Most of what Shirou knew about her Oripathy had come from those moments.
As for Rope' own thoughts regarding Oripathy, Shirou had never deliberately asked, nor had he intentionally focused on it.
It was not because he did not care.
He simply did not want to tear open someone else's scars.
Asking an infected person what they thought about Oripathy was like asking him what he thought about the Holy Grail.
Just imagining it already made Shirou want to punch someone, yet Rope had directly said it out loud herself... The courage needed for that was immense.
After standing there blankly with his mouth open for a long while, Shirou finally took a deep breath, adjusted his expression, and said:
"Then Rope, what do you think an ordinary girl is supposed to be like?"
"...Buying cute little accessories to dress herself up? Or lining up every day at famous restaurants recommended online?"
After being asked that question, Rope thought for a moment before describing what an ordinary girl looked like in her mind.
Before meeting Shirou, she had always envied girls who could live that kind of life. They could buy pretty accessories and clothes to dress themselves up, go queue for delicious dessert shops with friends, then take pictures and post them online.
It was simple, yet beautiful.
But for the version of her back then, struggling to survive in the slums, that sort of life had simply been too dazzling.
Although she now had enough money to buy pretty accessories and dress herself up as well, every time she saw—
"Hmm..."
After hearing Rope' words, Shirou sank into thought.
What she described sounded normal enough, but when he carefully thought about the people he knew... none of them really matched that image.
No, that was not quite right.
It was more accurate to say that each of them matched it to some extent, just not in an obvious way.
Croissant liked running market stalls, Exusiai liked apple pie, Texas liked staying alone in the dorm eating Pocky, while Sora, as an idol, fit several of those points.
As for the LGD side... Swire also seemed to fit a bit of everything, and he had heard from her that Chief Chen would buy clothes and accessories too, although she rarely wore them. Still, her taste was excellent.
And Hoshiguma, from what he heard, spent all her money on alcohol and motorcycles.
Thinking about it that way, what Rope said was somewhat correct, yet not entirely correct.
Ordinary girls...
Everyone he knew was ordinary in their own way. Some of them just had stronger personalities than others.
So... what truly made Rope feel out of place among ordinary girls was her identity as an infected person.
That self-loathing unique to the infected.
"In my eyes, you already are an ordinary girl. So do not put too much pressure on yourself. Just do what you want to do."
After thinking for a long time, Shirou merely reached out and patted her on the head, trying his best to show a gentler smile.
"So that is how Shirou sees it? Then... what about you?"
Feeling the repeated pats on her head, Rope' head moved up and down along with the rhythm. But after a few pats, she quickly leaned back to escape that evil hand.
She was not very smart to begin with. If he kept patting her like that, even her arithmetic skills might start having problems.
After moving back, she finally asked the question she truly wanted to ask.
After all, who would willingly tear open their own scars and face the thing they least wanted to face?
If she had not wanted to know what Shirou thought, she would never have done something like this herself. Her mood was terrible now. Tonight she would probably eat half a bowl less rice.
But considering Shirou's method of comforting people had actually been pretty decent, she generously decided to add an extra bowl of rice tonight instead.
"Me?"
Shirou clearly had not expected the question to be thrown back at him. If Rope' expression had not looked as normal as usual, he would have suspected that this had all been part of her plan from the start.
"Of course. I already told you about my troubles, so Shirou has to talk too. Otherwise it would not be fair to me."
Rope looked directly into Shirou's suspicious gaze. Only after he finally looked away did she secretly let out a sigh of relief.
As expected, her past experiences really were useful.
After all, as someone who had spent years surviving in the slums, knowing how to act innocent was perfectly reasonable, right?
"Mm... I feel like I got tricked somehow."
Shirou muttered to himself, unable to shake the feeling that something was strange even though he could not pinpoint exactly what.
Still, what Rope said made sense. Since she had brought up such a sensitive topic, he needed to show equal sincerity in return.
It just felt somewhat like being forced into a purchase.
After closing his eyes and thinking for a long time, Shirou suddenly widened his eyes and stared at Rope, trying to find some flaw in her expression.
"Hmm? Are you finally going to say it?"
She still looked exactly the same as before, making Shirou start wondering whether all those endless overtime shifts in the LGD had simply made him overthink everything lately.
"This is getting into the territory of embarrassing black history, but when I was young, I really admired my foster father. So my dream, or rather the ideal I pursued, was heavily influenced by him."
With a helpless sigh, Shirou gave a warning in advance.
As long as he declared beforehand that all of this counted as embarrassing black history, there would not be any awkwardness later.
"And I also made a promise to Kiritsugu. I said that I would inherit his ideals."
As Shirou spoke, Rope curled herself up on the chair and quietly listened.
Although Shirou skipped over many details while talking, Rope could still tell that a large part of his ideals had been influenced by his foster father, the man named Kiritsugu.
But even after speaking for so long, Shirou still had not actually revealed what that dream was, making Rope feel as though countless tiny hands were scratching at her heart, leaving her unbearably restless.
"So then, what exactly is that dream?"
Raising her right hand high, Rope asked the question.
"...I wanted to become a partner of justice. But I started thinking that way ever since Kiritsugu saved me from the fire when I was little."
After spending so long building up to it, Shirou could only reveal the answer directly once she asked.
Still, he specifically emphasized that it had been something from his childhood. As for how much he had sacrificed for that ideal throughout middle school and high school, he had no intention of mentioning it.
Mainly because he himself found it embarrassing.
Secondly, there was no need for everyone to know about it.
"Eh... that actually sounds pretty fitting for an ordinary boy."
After finally hearing the answer she wanted, Rope' first thought was that the dream sounded somewhat plain.
Most people had probably thought about something like that before.
They just forgot about it once they grew up.
Admiring characters on television and wanting to become heroes like them.
But as people got older and experienced more of the world, they naturally gave up on those dreams.
In that regard, Shirou was surprisingly childish.
She never expected someone his age to still hold onto that sort of ideal.
"Haha, thanks for the compliment."
Letting out an awkward laugh or two, Shirou replied.
This reaction was already within his expectations, so he did not feel particularly shaken by it.
Compared to constantly talking about ideals, he preferred proving things through actions.
"That is not what I meant. I just did not expect Shirou's dream to be so... ordinary."
Seeing Shirou's expression, Rope immediately realized he had misunderstood her meaning and hurriedly tried to explain herself.
Unfortunately, the more she explained, the worse it became.
The expression on Shirou's face gradually started falling apart before he suddenly reached out and began kneading her cheeks.
It was almost like kneading mochi, though slightly cool to the touch. Or perhaps Shirou's hands were simply warmer, creating that illusion.
"I was wrong, stop kneading already."
With her cheeks being squished around, Rope hurriedly surrendered.
"Hmph, hmph."
But Shirou did not stop just because she admitted defeat. After smugly humming twice, he continued kneading her cheeks for nearly another minute before finally letting go.
"Ugh... my face is all swollen now."
The moment he stopped, Rope immediately pulled away from Shirou and covered her cheeks with both hands.
Compared to earlier, her face had become even redder. It was hard to tell whether it had been rubbed red by Shirou or whether she was blushing from embarrassment.
Either way, it did not change the fact that she desperately wanted to rub his face back in revenge.
But after seeing the terrifyingly gentle smile on Shirou's face, Rope could only abandon the thought.
Fine. Her way of speaking really had been the problem this time, so she could only accept it.
"You are right. This really is the most ordinary dream imaginable. It is just that there is an idiot who stubbornly remembered his childhood dream all the way until now, and will probably continue remembering it far into the distant future."
While kneading Rope' cheeks earlier, Shirou had finally realized something.
The "ordinary" Rope referred to was the ordinary of this world, not the ordinary within his own understanding.
In this land... the ideal of becoming a person saving others really was an extremely common dream.
There were countless people carrying such ideals. On Rhodes Island, one could probably throw a brick and hit someone with that exact same dream.
Those people hoped to change the state of this land, or save more people suffering because of Oripathy and catastrophes.
They really were dazzling in their own way.
"The distant future?"
After hearing those words, Rope froze slightly.
She did not quite understand what he meant, but from the expression on Shirou's face, she could sense... a trace of sorrow and self-mockery.
It was rare.
This was the first time Rope had ever seen such an expression on his face.
Ever since she had been taken in, Shirou had always maintained a gentle and approachable demeanor. Although he occasionally got angry, that was only because she or the children had done something wrong.
When he got angry, he was genuinely terrifying.
But very quickly afterward, he would return to his usual self.
Yet this same Shirou now looked somewhat similar to how she herself used to look while struggling through life in the slums, when she felt lost about the present and the future.
He looked... helpless.
"No, it is nothing."
Hearing Rope' question, Shirou realized he had accidentally let some resentment toward a certain someone slip out.
Just as Shirou was considering whether he should head back to the Penguin Logistics dorms to rest, he suddenly felt a very slight weight settle on top of his head.
It was Rope' hand.
She was now standing right in front of him, her hand resting atop his head.
"Well, I am not very good at comforting people, and I do not know how much Shirou has sacrificed for this dream. But there is one thing I can say for certain."
Shirou could clearly see how gentle Rope' expression was, and her voice was equally soft.
She was completely different from the lazy purple mochi in his memories, and he had no idea why she had suddenly become like this.
It was precisely that curiosity that made him continue listening.
"For me, for the children at the Fuyuki Shop, for the Lungmen citizens you helped before, and for the infected people in the slums... Shirou, you really are a genuine partner of justice, you know?"
"And just like you told me earlier, do not put too much pressure on yourself. Just do what you want to do."
Rope directly returned the exact same words Shirou had said to her earlier, completely unchanged.
Humans were strange creatures.
When looking at someone else's problems, people could often think with perfect clarity. But the moment those same issues were applied to themselves, they immediately became tangled in hesitation again.
That was true for her, and it was true for Shirou as well.
Although she did not know why Shirou had suddenly started resisting this ideal and dream of his, as far as she was concerned, the Shirou who had created this place they could call home was unquestionably a partner of justice.
If he himself could not acknowledge that fact, then she and the other children would acknowledge it for him.
Just as Shirou had affirmed her earlier.
"...Thank you. Hearing that is enough for me."
After listening to Rope' words, Shirou stayed silent for quite a while before finally speaking.
The expression on his face had visibly softened.
At this point, if he still failed to understand what she meant, then he really would have been hopelessly dense.
This was Rope trying to care for him in her own way, trying to encourage him.
There were no grand speeches, nor any overflowing emotions.
She had simply spoken her honest thoughts.
But for Shirou, that alone was enough.
Even though he had never expected anything in return while doing all these things, receiving responses like this was already enough for him.
What he wanted to see had always been the smiles on people's faces.
Nothing more.
"No problem. If something happens later, you can always come talk to me again, okay? I am very good at keeping secrets. I definitely will not tell anyone."
Only after seeing the faint smile on Shirou's face did Rope finally withdraw her hand in satisfaction.
"If I need to, I will."
Looking at Rope' smug expression, Shirou replied.
There truly was nothing to worry about.
All he needed to do was continue doing what he believed was right.
As long as he had no regrets, that was enough.
After all, this land was vast, and he was merely one among the countless people standing upon it.
Nothing more.
Clack—