This is an extremely desolate place.
In the cold winter night air, dust fills the surroundings. There are only cold mechanical devices, with no human figures in sight.
This is a factory located on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, near the national highway.
The factory went bankrupt and closed down a year ago due to poor management. Being remote and without any children or rebellious teenagers considering it as their secret base, it gradually became a forgotten place in Fuyuki City.
This is where Kenneth has been hiding.
Compared to the collapsed Kay Hotel, this abandoned factory has no advantages except for being hidden. Kenneth has always felt humiliated and angry about hiding in this factory. But now, he has no thoughts left. Someone who has lost consciousness and fallen into a deep coma cannot think, let alone experience emotional fluctuations.
The factory where Kenneth lies in a deep sleep is empty. There is no one to accompany him. Lancer is not there, and his fiancée, Sola, is also absent.
The only things with him are the cold hospital bed beneath him, an IV drip, a stand for hanging the IV drip, and a bedside table for miscellaneous items. Compared to the crowds surrounding him at the Clock Tower, the former being heaven and the latter being hell.
A short figure appears in front of the hospital bed. The cold winter wind blows into the factory through a broken window, lifting the cloak on the figure and revealing a strand of deep blue curls and a youthful face.
Within the cold wind, pure white and jet-black spiritual particles alternate, outlining two graceful and exquisite figures beside the boy.
The boy named Matou Shinji glances at Kenneth on the hospital bed. The once clear and refreshed expression on his face is now contorted with pain. His slender and athletic body involuntarily trembles every few minutes.
"Lady Justeaze, how is his condition?"
"His entire magical circuit has necrotized, almost all of his internal organs are ruptured, and his muscles and nerves have suffered varying degrees of damage. However, compared to last night, he is in much better condition. It seems he received timely treatment and didn't waste the emergency measures I took."
Justeaze only takes a glance and understands Kenneth's current situation.
"Though his life has been saved, his magical circuit has suffered irreversible damage. Over seventy percent of the magic circuits closely connected to the magical crests have been destroyed. In the future, he may be unable to use magecraft. The damage to his nervous system caused by the magical circuit will also make movement difficult for him. If his recovery goes well, he may be able to walk again, but if not, he will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair."
"Tsk tsk, it's miserable. It's hard to believe that he was the esteemed magus of the Clock Tower, the genius El-Melloi, but the power of Kiritsugu Emiya's 'Origin Bullet' is too great for magi," Shinji sighed with a mocking tone and turned his head to the side.
"Even in this state, can you still treat him, Lady Justeaze?"
Justeaze didn't answer. She walked to the bedside, placed her hand on Kenneth's forehead, and released golden magical energy from her palm in a way different from regular magecraft. It flowed into Kenneth's battered body.
This is the purpose of the three of them coming to the abandoned factory.
During breakfast, Shinji and Scáthach told Kariya about the battle in the Einzbern Forest the previous night.
When they mentioned Kiritsugu Emiya's trump card, the "Origin Bullet," Shinji explained in detail how this Mystic Code operates and advised Kariya to be cautious. If they were to become enemies with Kiritsugu Emiya, they should not use their magical energy and instead use the rune stones made by Scáthach. By not using their magical energy, they can avoid harming their magical circuits. Although the rune stones crafted by Scáthach are precious, they pale in comparison to their own lives.
Unexpectedly, after Shinji finished speaking, Justeaze directly said that the damage to magical circuits is not entirely incurable. The Einzbern family possesses a secret technique for creating artificial magical circuits. Although this technique cannot be applied to humans, when combined with the miracle of Justeaze's transcendent magic, the Third Magic "Materialization of the Soul," it theoretically has the potential to reshape damaged magical circuits.
Justeaze's words piqued Scáthach's interest. If there is anything in this world that can still capture the attention of this immortal queen who has graduated from the world, it would be powerful warriors and mysteries she has yet to comprehend, and magic belongs to the latter.
The fact that Justeaze can accomplish something that even the highest-ranking magus born in the Age of Gods cannot do with her magic genuinely surprised Scáthach.
Seeing his Sensei's rare enthusiasm, Shinji didn't want to dampen her spirits. He went along with her suggestion and proposed a request to "visit" Kenneth.
While providing emergency treatment to Kenneth, Scáthach quietly left a magic rune on his body. Following the fluctuations emitted by this rune, the three of them successfully found Kenneth's hiding place.
When they reached the entrance of the factory, Sola happened to be taking Lancer outside to prepare medicine for Kenneth, which greatly facilitated the infiltration of the three.
Justeaze's examination quickly yielded results.
"Although the magical circuits are severely damaged, the basic components are still intact, and the magical inscriptions connected to them still retain the flow of magical energy. Given enough time, I have confidence in restoring both his magical circuits and magical inscriptions to their original state."
"Oh?" Scáthach and Shinji simultaneously raised an eyebrow, their voices trailing off with a hint of curiosity. A dream they had shared greatly enhanced their telepathic connection, and everyone in the Matou family could perceive the change between the two.
In that dream last night, not only did Shinji see Scáthach's memories, but Scáthach also saw Shinji's memories, including his ordinary yet happy past life.
Compared to Scáthach's grand and dramatic life, Shinji's past and present were insignificant. However, it was precisely this insignificance that Scáthach had never experienced.
Scáthach had experienced prosperity and downfall, strength and weakness, admiration and fear from others, but she had never experienced ordinariness.
Observing the world with a detached eye for over two thousand years, she had witnessed countless people and events, but observing was not the same as experiencing.
Although Shinji's life seemed trivial compared to those great heroes, the genuine emotions and joys and sorrows contained within that ordinariness made Scáthach feel a different world.
It turns out that the ordinary can also be extraordinary.
Her eternal life gained a touch of brilliance from this insignificant ordinariness. Perhaps this brilliance would fade away with time, but the emotions in her heart would become a part of her memories.
She had never been as grateful to Zelretch as she was now because it was thanks to him that she could come to the present world and meet her little Master, who was also her disciple.
It truly was wonderful.
So she removed her veil and the invisible barrier she had set for herself.
The aloofness on her person diminished, replaced by a more human touch.
The raised eyebrows and trailing voices were the best proof of this change.
PS: Shinji leveled up Scathach bond level to 4 LoL