While Shirou was quite content with his skillset, and had been even before Lancer had gouged his heart out that night so long ago, for those less fortunate, it was possible to alter, or even outright change a person's origin, though from Kiritsugu's explanation, the process bore considerable risk.
'It would explain Freed's bizarre behaviour…' he muttered, recalling the light of insanity that had burned in the Exorcist's eyes even as he'd struggled to block Shirou's blows 'Having his origin changed to the point he could wield a Holy Sword must've snapped his mind.'
"In the end, the church had their Holy Swords and the means to wield them, so they were content to sweep the whole incident under the rug." Azazel continued, his tone dismissive "Though from what I understand, there's still a considerable bounty out on Valper's head, and he's considered Persona Non Grata by just about all of Christendom." He glanced down at the shards of Rapidly "I suppose it makes sense he'd flee to Japan, I can't think of any other reason for Freed being able to wield an Excalibur…" he scoffed wryly "I can only imagine his face when he finds out Freed broke it."
"Ah…you think the church will be mad?" Shirou muttered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as he debated whether or not to admit to breaking the blade. On the one hand, letting Freed take the flack could push the Church into dealing with the maniac before he killed again.
On the other hand, Shirou somehow knew instinctively that, the moment he revealed his Magecraft to Azazel, everything would change. It wasn't that he didn't trust Azazel, well, not entirely; the man had his own secrets after all. It was simply that part of being a Magus was keeping the existence of Magecraft on a need-to-know basis.
To date, Azazel hadn't asked him any pertinent questions, despite clearly possessing knowledge of the Moonlit World and having all the reason to do so. As such, Shirou had resolved that, should the man ever ask, he'd tell him everything, but not a second sooner.
"Mad?" Azazel scoffed "Try Apoplectic. Bad enough an Excalibur was stolen in the first place, destroying one would probably send the Pope into fits." He chuckled at Shirou's alarmed expression "I'm just kidding, Shirou. While the fact the sword was destroyed might upset them, they'd actually prefer that to the alternative of it remaining in the possession of the likes of Freed and Valper."
'Rapidly certainly felt so…' Shirou concurred, recalling the feeling of rejection the Holy Sword had been emanating towards Freed, only to trail off with a grimace as his arm spasmed 'Shit not now-!'
"Oi, Shirou, you okay?" Azazel wondered, eyeing the redhead in concern as he gripped his shoulder, Shirou's vision swimming as he turned to regard his benefactor, the world tilting sharply before he fell into the burning darkness.
"Oi, Shirou!" Azazel barked, lunging to his feet, one hand coming up to steady the teen as he fell over, still clutching his left arm, the Governor-General of the Grigori's eyes narrowing at the limb concealed beneath a Holy Shroud.
He'd known from the moment they met that there was something odd about Emiya Shirou. Holy Shroud aside, the kid had a yard-long stare he'd seen countless times before, on war veterans and the survivors of great tragedies, or simply glaring back at him whenever he looked in a mirror.
Eyes like that had no place in the head of someone that young in this day and age. Fallen he may be, but unlike many of his subordinates, Azazel never blamed Humanity for his fall, and indeed retained his initial fascination with them. It was for this reason he'd been the first to propose a cease-fire, and it was for this reason the current chain of events was beginning to incite his old anger.
'First Raynare and her cell and now Freed and Valper.' he muttered, glaring at the remains of the Holy Sword of Heavenly Flare with distaste 'Damn it all Kokabiel, just what the hell are you planning?'
"Good Morning, Sona." Tsubaki greeted, the tall vice-president falling in step with her King as they made their way to school, inclining her head briefly in greeting whenever one of their fellow students called out a greeting.
"Morning, Tsubaki." Sona returned, the Sitri heiress glancing up from her book to acknowledge her Queen, before promptly returning to her page "Has there been any word on the matter we discussed?"
"Sadly, no." Tsubaki admitted, inclining her head in apology "Other than his medical records, birth certificate and transfer details, I haven't been able to uncover anything about Emiya Shirou's background that may waylay our suspicions."
"I see." Sona mused, her expression calm, though Tsubaki could tell from experience that her King was troubled by the revelation.
Ever since Rias had confirmed that Emiya-kun was the source of the magical energy that had been detected around campus, both parties had done their best to determine his origins. Regardless of his allegiances or personality, having a Magician running around campus was a security risk. The fact that said magician had gone out of his way to indenture himself with the Staff and Student body made it all the more necessary to determine whether or not he meant them ill.
However, despite their best efforts, neither the Gremory nor Sitri information networks had been able to drum up anything on the teen other than basic information that could be easily doctored with the right connections. To make things even harder, he seemed to instinctively know whenever one of them was nearby, which meant Rias' preferred method of cornering her targets with her charm and beauty had been effectively neutralized due to Emiya's strange aversion for her and her peerage.