Heartwarming / Wandering of a Sword Hero

• Shirou nearly kills himself by outright violating the Legendary Weapon's "no other weapon" rule by using Hrunting to one-shot a Mutated Griffin to save Firo. Logically, he could have abandoned her, but he didn't, because he's Shirou.
  • The subsequent heart-to-heart talk between Jian and Shirou also improves their relationship.
• In Chapter 21, Shirou offers Raphtalia the possibility of breaking her slave contract with Naofumi. Raphtalia not only rejects the offer (as Shirou expected) but she also vehemently defends Naofumi when Shirou mentions the rape accusation - helping Naofumi recover from the Heroic BSoD he has suffered since he was accused.
• Jian warns Shirou before using a Storm of Blades skill that by all means he normally shouldn't have OR use at that level unless he risks his life. He manages to solve it by using Od in conjunction with SP, but he almost ran out of SP due to it. Jian was not happy at Shirou's complete disregard for his life.
• As Shirou is talking philosophy with Motoyasu, he asks the gamer what a Hero is — and Motoyasu answers it means watching over weaker people and giving them a good example to follow. Shirou is a mite annoyed by such a childish definition, but acknowledges its purity.
• In Chapter 30, a panicking Firo interrupts a conversation between Motoyasu and Shirou to tell the latter that Azu was bleeding, which as it turns out is her first period. It's been established that Dragons and Filorials generally don't get along with each other so the fact that these two bonded in spite of that definitely qualifies.
• In the same chapter we get to see a Luvia and Rin from a different timeline than the one Shirou came from. While Luvia dismissed the issue when she found out that it's not the Shirou from her timeline, Rin voices her concern about the other Shirou, which shows that even if it isn't her Shirou, she'd still try to help him.
  • Fridge Brilliance also kicks in if we're considering that this is the UBW timeline ^note Shirou is in London and Luvia knows him, both happened in the epilogue then Rin's worry takes a whole new meaning, considering she already discovered Archer's real identity. and she's still keeping her promise.
• In Chapter 31, after not speaking on-screen for a while, the chapter begins with Shirou and Jian discussing a way to get around defense. It's not the content of the discussion that's heartwarming, it's Jian being less robotic and showing more personality in her manner of speech. We also see how much closer the the two are since the summoning almost a month ago.
• Jian's mini-chapter. It has 4 parts, showing Jian's perspective at important events. It's pretty heartwarming to see Jian's Character Development from her perspective.
  • One heartwarming part is that due to Shirou's blades, him giving her a name and talking to her, it helped develop her into more than just the Legendary Sword, notably with how Jian changes her pronouns from "It" to "She".
  • It also shows how deep her feelings ran: She would discard her mission to protect the world if it means Shirou can find a way to go home, with her going with him.
• Chapter 35 has a few.
  • Shirou convincing Jian to register herself as a companion instead of an equipment. It was mostly done for the benefits of the Job system, but the fact that it even crossed his mind shows that Shirou treats Jian as her own person and a reliable partner.
  • After treating Naofumi harshly with his Sword Hero persona in the last chapter, Shirou gives Naofumi a Pet the Dog moment when he tells him to hold on a bit longer as things will change.
  • Shirou giving advice to Motoyasu. His internal dialogue shows just how much he needed that talk.
• In the Melromarc Wave in Chapter 37:
  • Naofumi decides to protect the nearby village the moment he sees it's under the threat of an attack. Shirou, who was observing his actions from a hill, is pleasantly surprised that Naofumi cares about the village and decides to return the gesture by sending blades their way kill off monsters that were outside Naofumi's range, making sure to avoid the ones that were in his range. Naofumi smirks a bit while musing on the fact that the Sword Hero's actions were contrary to what he said in the church.
  • After the Wave has been dealt with, "Issei" punishes an officer due to his actions during the Wave as described in Tearjerker. Part of it has to do with Shirou's act, but it's very likely that he did that to cover for Naofumi's actions, as while justified, can be used against him.
  • Malty, who was watching this unfold in front of her, compares the Hero of the Sword to her mother. As much of a bitch she is, we can see that she does hold her mother in high regard.
• Motoyasu steeled himself to put his life on the line to tank Avenger's Finishing Move to protect Raphtalia, Midori and Naofumi. He might hate Naofumi, but he's not going to let his party die if he can help it. He didn't have to do it in the end, but the thought counts.
• Chapter 43 has things finally looking up to Naofumi.
  • King Aultcray clears Naofumi's name, apologizes while bowing when Naofumi demanded, promising to forfeit his life if needs be. Unlike canon, however, he didn't need to get forced by a slave seal to bow and it's genuine.
  • Motoyasu was also informed the night before and wasn't able to sleep due to his Jerkass Realization and that he had a hand at causing Naofumi to turn into a vengeful asshole and immediately tries to rectify his mistake by sharing what he knows about the Legendary Weapons' functions after checking Shirou's notes.
    Motoyasu: Thanks for the list, but there are a few things you are missing.
    Naofumi: Wait, you are actually going to share information? Willingly?
    Motoyasu: Hey, better late than never, right?
• In Chapter 44, Motoyasu calls out on Naofumi to share some info he didn't like the King to know. Naofumi, while still irritated at the guy, does stop and recognize that Motoyasu is actually being helpful, whether it be out of guilt or pity.
• Tyr's mini-chapter reveals a fee things about Tyr and his past.
  • He was a companion of a previous Shield Hero who was a Cute Clumsy Girl. He managed to retain his sense of self due to his bond with said Shield Hero and wasn't targeted by Fitoria due to her making a deal with the Filorial God to leave him alone if he promises not to go looking for the other fragments of the Dragon Emperor's core (which he had no interest of doing). In a bittersweet note, she died due to old age.
  • He eventually married Rhea and fathered Azu who managed to teach him what it means to love after his previous experiences.
  • It shows how much he cares for his daughter Azu. He was completely willing to merge his fragment of the Dragon Emperor's core to her to save her life (at the cost of his own) and will not sacrifice his daughter to revive as the Dragon Emperor.
• During the post-Wave party in Melromarc, Shirou and Jian were discussing what upgrades to get for her. Shirou suggests getting [Telepathy] so she can talk to others. Jian refuses the suggestion while stating that she already had something in mind and wants it to be a surprise. Come Chapter 45 and we see that the only skill she has aside from [Telekinetic Sword] is [Create Arrow], meaning that she chose that skill with Shirou in mind.
  • At Self-Evolution Level 7, Jian should have 140 points. She upgraded [Telekinetic Sword] to level 10 (2 points per level), while [Create Arrow] cost 20 points.
• A small one in chapter 46
  It explained Jian's reaction earlier. The Legendary Whip was one of the two Vassal Weapons with a connection to the Legendary Sword. She must have felt kinship with it, and seeing it being forced to obey someone perceived as being unworthy was sending her into a rage.
  Though Shirou could feel more than anger coming from her. As strange as it was, Jian was frightened.
  [Hero. Stop him. Kill him. Don't let him take me.]
  With the ability to suppress the Legendary Weapon System rules, and being able to force minor contracts between himself and the weapons, the man was basically capable of stealing a Legendary Weapon and forcing it to work for him.
  For Jian, it must have been as frightening as slavery.
  Shirou allowed his hand to be lowered to Jian's hilt which he patted slowly. 'I won't let him have you, and if he wants to try, he will have to beat me first.'
  Shirou assure the sword, causing her to slowly calm down.
  [A Legendary Sword places its faith in its Hero.]

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