Chapter 142

Germany, the Einzbern Castle hidden deep within the snowy mountains.

Having just summoned Saber, the man with cat-ear-like hair, Kiritsugu Emiya, felt somewhat disappointed upon seeing that the Servant he summoned was a girl barely over 1.6 meters tall, even counting the hair on her head.

Ignoring the girl's question, "Are you my Master?" Kiritsugu sent a gentle glance to Irisviel, signaling "I'll leave the rest to you," and then turned and walked down the corridor, slowly heading towards the chapel-like door.

But before Kiritsugu could reach the door, and just as Irisviel was about to greet Saber and explain her husband's personality...

Suddenly, there was a change!

"Ah!"

Seeing Irisviel's face suddenly contort in pain as she clutched her chest and nearly collapsed, Saber quickly stepped in to support her, asking with concern, "Are you alright?"

However, before Saber could finish her question, she was pushed aside by a frantic Kiritsugu who rushed over upon noticing the commotion. "Iri? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Seeing that her Master didn't even spare her a glance, Saber, despite her good temper, couldn't help but frown.

"I'm fine..." Irisviel smiled weakly and shook her head, regaining her composure before looking at Saber with a smile. "I'm sorry, Saber, could you wait here for a moment? I need to speak with Kiritsugu."

Before Irisviel could finish, Saber had already stepped towards the door.

Creak—

After Saber closed the door behind her, Irisviel turned to Kiritsugu, who was holding her with concern. "I'm fine, Kiritsugu, it's just... the Holy Grail War seems to have started early."

"Hmm?" Kiritsugu frowned, "You mean... has a Servant already been eliminated?"

"I don't know, but it has begun. The distance from Fuyuki is too great to sense clearly, but this feeling... it's likely..."

Seeing his wife hesitate, Kiritsugu feigned indifference and smiled, "Don't worry, it's fine. I won't lose."

"Don't lie to me, Kiritsugu. I can tell."

Kiritsugu fell silent. He was indeed lying. Their Servant had just been summoned, yet the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki had already commenced. The speed was alarming!

Who could act so decisively and swiftly?

Who was their target? Did they succeed?

At that moment, Kiritsugu realized he couldn't afford to dawdle any longer and needed to act quickly!

Even though he had sent Maiya ahead to Fuyuki as a scout, it wasn't enough! He had to be there himself to see things with his own eyes!

This Holy Grail War wasn't going to be simple!

…

Leaving the Matou residence of this world, Shinji didn't choose to risk visiting the Tohsaka house to witness Tokiomi's infamous scene of celebrating his SSR summon. Instead, he headed straight to Shinto.

As someone with a conscience, if he could catch Ryunosuke in the act, Shinji wouldn't hold back.

Even if it meant altering history or causing unknown magicians to summon a new Caster, it didn't matter.

With his ability to adapt to any situation, he wouldn't make the same mistake twice in the same world!

Of course, that was if he could find Ryunosuke.

However, Shinji's luck wasn't great that night. Since Ryunosuke hadn't activated his magical circuits yet, making it hard to detect his magical presence, Shinji searched until five in the morning but found no trace of him.

In the end, Shinji had to temporarily give up and find a small inn to spend the night, waiting to continue his search the next day.

It's worth noting that during his search for Ryunosuke, Shinji discovered Maiya staying at a hotel after setting up surveillance familiars.

He also saw a cute scene of Waver Velvet arguing with Rider, Iskandar, in an empty square.

After stealthily following Waver to find his exact residence, Shinji finally left.

…

At six in the morning.

At the Matou residence, as Sakura opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Kariya sleeping on the floor beside her bed, holding her hand.

"Uncle Kariya..."

Woken by Sakura's voice, Kariya sat up and rubbed his head. "Good morning, Sakura."

Sakura glanced at her body and spoke softly, "My body feels... strange..."

"No, this is how it should feel," Kariya said gently, trying to show his kind side. He lightly patted Sakura's head and made a promise for the first time in a year: "Sakura, you don't have to go to the basement anymore."

"Hmm?" Sakura tilted her head, confused, as if a normal program in a computer had suddenly malfunctioned.

Seeing Sakura's puzzled expression, Kariya felt a pang in his nose, tears welling up quickly. He hugged Sakura gently. "It's true. I promise. You won't have to go to that basement or see Grandpa anymore..."

Hearing Kariya's words, tears that had disappeared from Sakura's eyes a year ago began to flow, eventually streaming down her emotionless face.

As Kariya wiped his tears and saw Sakura's crying face, he felt a mix of heartache, guilt, and a bit of relief.

Relief that it wasn't too late, that the young girl's closed heart wasn't completely dead!

The flowing tears were proof!

Wiping the tears from Sakura's face, Kariya continued, "Alright, give me a smile. How about I take you to the park this afternoon?"

"Mm..."

"Of course, before we go out, let's make a deal, okay?"

"A deal?"

"Do you remember the big brother from yesterday?"

"Mm."

"Don't mention him to anyone. That's our deal, okay?"

"Sakura understands."

...

At eight in the evening.

Watching his seven-year-old nephew, Matou Shinji, who was seriously reading his family's books on magecraft in the study, Kariya couldn't help but compare him to his counterpart in the parallel world.

Hmm... indeed a bit different.

"Shinji..."

Seeing the white-haired man at the door, little Shinji huffed arrogantly and closed his magecraft book.

To little Shinji, he was the true heir of the family! This uncle who had previously left home couldn't compare to him!

Despite his nephew's arrogant attitude, Kariya couldn't help but feel a bit irritated but still spoke kindly, "Are you interested in magecraft? How about Uncle teaches you?"

At that moment, little Shinji's eyes lit up!

He jumped off the chair and rushed to Kariya!

"Really?!"

Kariya reached out and ruffled little Shinji's soft hair, smiling, "Yes, really. Grandpa said you could try learning before he left."

"I want to learn! I want to learn!"

Seeing little Shinji's excitement and eagerness, Kariya couldn't help but justify himself internally—

Sorry, Shinji!

This is your own doing!

It has nothing to do with Uncle!

…

"What are you afraid of? This is our family's magecraft..."

In the roughly cleaned basement, Kariya squatted down, kindly holding little Shinji's shoulders and pointing at the few worms he spent two hours cultivating in the insect warehouse.

"Uncle, this..."

"Shinji, you can't be afraid. If you're scared, you can't learn magecraft. Be a bit braver." Kariya continued to encourage little Shinji.

"Will they... bite me?" Little Shinji asked, trembling.

"Bite? No, no, no. Our magecraft requires learning to coexist with them. It took Uncle a year to learn, but Shinji will be much faster..."

"I..."

Little Shinji hesitated, torn by his desire to learn magecraft.

"Alright, quickly now. Aren't you interested in magecraft? Uncle will teach you well..."

At this point, little Shinji swallowed hard. Despite the fear making his scalp tingle, he took his first trembling step driven by his desire for magecraft...

…

At nine in the morning, holding his trembling son, who kept muttering "never learn magecraft" and "become a normal person," Byakuya Matou was puzzled.

Why the sudden change?

He had tried countless times to change his son's stubborn nature!

And could you stop shaking?

Your dad drank all night and now my head is buzzing, your shaking makes me feel like throwing up… Σ_(」∠)vomit…

Looking at his son now covered in vomit, Byakuya wiped his mouth and waved, "Sorry, Shinji, Dad drank too much yesterday. Get the servants... oh, we don't have servants now. Clean yourself up."

"Uh... hehe..."

Little Shinji raised his head, forcing a smile before fainting completely...

Standing outside Byakuya's room, Kariya, upon hearing the commotion inside, silently apologized to his real nephew.

This was really "your own doing"!

Don't blame Uncle! Uncle won't take the blame!

"Uncle Kariya?" Holding a bunny plushie left by someone last night, Sakura walked over, looking up at her uncle with a puzzled face.

"Oh, Sakura, Uncle will take you to eat..."

Just as he spoke, Kariya remembered that due to the Holy Grail War, the house's servants had been fed to the worms, so he quickly changed his words, "Uncle will make you some noodles!"