Nighttime at the Emiya residence was filled with joyous laughter that had been absent for a long time.
In the spacious bath, the sounds of girls chasing each other and laughing echoed throughout. In the kitchen, Hiroshi and Shirou Emiya were busy cooking.
"hiroshi, look! Look!"
Hiroshi, who was flipping vegetables in the pan, heard Klee's excited voice. He turned around to see a little panda-costumed Klee bouncing at the kitchen doorway.
Turning down the heat, Hiroshi wiped his hands and walked over, squatting down to face Klee with a smile. "Klee really likes this outfit, doesn't she?"
"Yeah!"
Klee nodded enthusiastically, pointing to the fuzzy ears on her head. "These panda ears are so cute! They're fluffy like Dodoco, and they kind of look like Keqing's too."
"Hehehe, hiroshi, can I have a panda of my own? Pretty please?"
Hiroshi looked at the eager Klee, her eyes twinkling as if she was imagining cuddling a real panda. He hesitated for a moment before replying, "Well... let me see what I can do. Wait a little, okay?"
"Mm, Klee will wait!"
Watching Klee happily run off to join Illya and the others, Hiroshi turned to Shirou Emiya.
"So, what do we do now?!"
Meeting each other's gaze, Shirou quietly returned to preparing the dishes.
"Sigh..."
Hiroshi frowned, deep in thought about where to find a pair of pandas, several wild ideas flashing through his mind.
Why two pandas, you ask? Well, obviously, if you're migrating to another world, you need to arrange for a mate as well.
Shirou glanced back at Hiroshi, whose expression was changing rapidly as he sat on the stool, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Shirou quietly decided that he knew nothing about this.
Bang!
The door opened, and Kazuma Satou, freshly steamed from the bath, barged in, sniffing the aroma of the food in the air and immediately perking up.
With Aqua right behind him, they both squeezed into the kitchen, their eyes fixed on the dishes on the table, gulping with anticipation.
"Is it time to eat yet?!" Aqua cheered, grabbing two plates and running off. "I'll take these out first, I'm good at this!"
Seeing Kazuma reaching to steal some food, Hiroshi grabbed his arm with a friendly smile. "Kazuma, my friend, I have a small favor to ask. Could you come with me for a bit?"
Kazuma swallowed nervously. "Uh, what for?"
"Oh, nothing big," Hiroshi said casually, pulling Kazuma closer. "Klee really likes pandas. She wants to keep a couple as pets. And, you know, you have pretty high Steal skills and incredible luck."
Hiroshi patted Kazuma's shoulder and continued with a straight face, "Everyone has their area of expertise. Leave this task to the expert. It's obviously something only you can do."
"Oh, that's it?" Kazuma relaxed and waved dismissively. "Just pandas, right? No problem, I got this!"
"I actually like them too. I'll catch a few more and make a contract with them while I'm at it."
"Shirou, lend me your phone. I'll check where pandas are most common. Tonight, I'll get us some!"
Quietly taking out his phone, Shirou moved closer, pretending he didn't know the two people next to him.
Huddled together, Hiroshi and Kazuma started planning a pet panda heist.
Kazuma pulled Shirou in closer, who then thought of his sister's hopeful eyes when she saw pandas on TV. He decided to put aside his grand ambitions for a moment to get his sister a magical pet.
Later, under Aqua's bewildered gaze, the three conspirators reached an agreement, their arms around each other.
At dinner, everyone sat around the table, and as the host, Shirou expressed his gratitude before they started eating.
Klee, Miyu, Illya, Xiaohei, and Erika gathered happily, planning to explore the Emiya residence after dinner, with Miyu acting as the tour guide.
As for why Erika was there, it was simple. After Keqing had thoroughly defeated Darius, the group mission had been completed:
[Group Mission: Save Shirou Emiya and Miyu - Completed]
[Mission Requirements: Ensure Shirou Emiya and Miyu survive - Completed. Eliminate enemies - Completed.]
[Mission Duration: 14 hours/24 hours]
[Mission Points Awarded: Hiroshi 2, Xiaohei 1.5, Vanir 1, Keqing 3]
[Mission Experience Awarded: Hiroshi 1, Xiaohei 1, Megumin 1, Aqua 0.5, Lumine 0.5]
P.S.: Keqing successfully won the final fight.
For Julian and Erika, Shirou requested Banir to use magic to seal Julian's abilities, turning him into an ordinary person, and chose to let them both go.
It was rather ironic—Julian was essentially another version of Shirou, one that had chosen to become the hero of justice.
His wish was to save humanity using the Holy Grail. To root out danger and eradicate his own emotions, he chose to kill his own sister.
Now, the task of saving the world had been passed on to Shirou, the protagonist had taken the stage, and the third-rate villain could leave to become a spectator. He no longer had to carry a burden he could not bear.
Whether Shirou Emiya could save the world was now something Julian, an ordinary person, no longer needed to consider. Now, he was simply a brother who needed to atone.
After dinner, the five youngsters set off on their adventure, dragging Xiaohei along with them.
Keqing and Gokou Ruri took on dish duty, Aqua lazed on the couch watching TV, while Infinite and Banir went to help watch over the children.
Hiroshi, Kazuma, and Shirou huddled together, exchanging glances before breaking into a knowing smile.
"Hey!"
Suddenly, Megumin's loud voice rang out behind them. Suspiciously, she eyed the three of them sneaking around and asked Kazuma, "Kazuma, where are you three off to? Don't tell me you've already forgotten today's lesson!"
"Shh, shh, shh!"
Kazuma stepped forward, hugging Megumin and covering her mouth. "We're on a mission to save lives! And we might even relocate them to a new home."
After finally getting Kazuma's hand off her, Megumin eyed the two men nodding quickly in agreement, before giving Kazuma a dubious look. "Alright, but I'm coming with you!"
"Uh... what do we do?" Kazuma whispered, holding onto Megumin.
Hiroshi and Shirou exchanged glances and nodded.
"Let's go. We'll be quick. There's not much time left on the mission either."
White clouds spread from Hiroshi's feet, tiny dragon horns appearing on his forehead. Without a sound, they disappeared from the yard, leaving only a cloud in the sky.
Infinite glanced at the four departing figures, then looked back at the six kids playing in the room, feeling a deep sense of contentment.
That night, a certain "eagle" country's zoo faced an unprecedented event. Every single panda in the zoo vanished in an instant. On the very same night, a similar situation occurred far away in "bear" country. In the days that followed, the actions of these two countries toward the pandas were exposed by surveillance footage, causing worldwide condemnation. The "rabbit" country decided to stop lending pandas to these nations and actively began looking for the pandas that had found new homes in two other worlds.
Oh, and perhaps, one day, they might stumble across one of those enchanted pandas in a certain brother-obsessed young man's house. But whoever could break through the magic disguising that tabby cat to see its true form would likely take quite a while to be born. After all, magic cast by the archdevil who ruled over Hell isn't easily dispelled.