Chapter 133
When Sakura asked her question, Rider felt an urge to retort.
No one won! Everyone was focused on the battle for the Grail, but then your brother, not playing fair, smashed it when no one was looking!
By the way, he called me a maid earlier?
You just wait, Shinji Matou! Wait until after you've taken your bath!
"Ah, yes, I did," Shinji said, stopping in his tracks and smiling lightly. "Of course, I won."
Seeing the admiration and sparkles gradually appear in Sakura's eyes, Shinji didn't elaborate further. He patted her on the head and headed straight to the bathroom.
Watching the stunned Sakura, Rider hesitated to greet her or catch up with her, but she couldn't find the words.
"Rider, please take care of me," Sakura said, turning around, bowing, and smiling warmly.
Rider was taken aback but quickly composed herself, nodding and responding as she usually did, "...Yes, please take care of me, Sakura."
At that moment, Rider hadn't realized that Sakura's personality had changed significantly in just a few days.
Her current smile was, in a way, becoming increasingly like that of her deeply disliked Master...
...
In the bathroom, Shinji noticed his sister's underwear, probably "accidentally" left behind, and felt a wave of helplessness.
Little underwear, trying to disturb my mind? Trying to lure me into something immoral?
Too naive, too naive!
Far too naive!
About a minute later, Shinji skillfully tossed Sakura's "accidentally" left behind underwear from the bathroom door into the laundry basket.
...
Around four o'clock in the morning.
Seeing Bazett skillfully and effortlessly break into Shinji's home, Lancer frowned.
Her actions were too smooth, too precise!
You can't achieve that level with just one or two tries!
"Hurry up and follow, Lancer!"
Seeing Bazett urging him, Lancer didn't have time to complain before she rushed off in a certain direction!
"Wait, Bazett, Rider is still…"
Bazett didn't stop even when Rider appeared and blocked her way, even inviting Rider to join her.
"Rider, join us."
After a brief moment of thought, Rider followed Bazett.
...
Outside the bathroom, Lancer watched expressionlessly as Shinji was thoroughly examined by two women, his entire body checked from head to toe.
It was only now that Lancer understood why Bazett had rushed here right after giving a brief report to the Association.
"There too, it was pierced by Lancer's spear…"
Noticing Bazett's gaze, Shinji quickly stepped back and raised his hand.
"No need! I can assure you there's nothing wrong there! Tohsaka only pierced my clothes! There's absolutely no problem!"
Bazett, determined, advanced, "No, I need to see for myself…"
Standing outside the door, Lancer realized that in just a few days, his little brother had likely already made a move on Bazett.
Lancer's intuition was spot on; Shinji had indeed made a move, but only just barely.
"Brother! Are you okay?"
Hearing the girl's voice behind him, Lancer turned around and was pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful young girl.
"Shinji, you have a sister!" He greeted her enthusiastically, "Hello, I'm Lancer, Bazett's Servant. Nice to meet you, Shinji's sister."
"Hi... Hi." Sakura quickly adjusted her demeanor, bowing politely, "Hello, I'm Sakura Matou."
"Sakura, that's a nice name!"
Lancer, straightforward as always, thought his descendants were indeed impressive.
Even if Shinji was a bit of a rascal, he was undeniably capable.
Like Shinji, who at a young age could grasp the Third Magic and might even have a deep understanding of the Second Magic, according to Archer's Master.
Though this rascal had played everyone in the Holy Grail War, Lancer felt it was fine, thinking of him as his descendant.
Whatever his descendant did, rounding it off, it was almost as if he had done it himself.
He was the most impressive one in this Holy Grail War!
Absolutely!
"Lancer, one more look and you'll be charged extra."
Hearing Shinji's voice, Lancer begrudgingly sighed.
"If Lancer owes money, I'll pay it back for him."
Lancer, annoyed, waved his hand, "Wait, Bazett. Keep your money; I'll pay back what I owe."
"Lancer…"
"That's enough, Bazett."
Seeing Lancer's determination, Bazett didn't argue further, knowing she couldn't convince him.
...
In the upstairs parlor, from the conversation, Shinji learned that Bazett had already given a brief report to the Mage's Association.
Without needing reminders, Bazett had concealed the fact that the Holy Grail was a pathway to the Root and had also hidden Shinji's involvement with the Third Magic.
Of course, such things couldn't stay hidden for long. The suspicious occurrence at Ryuudou Temple this morning wouldn't escape the Holy Church's and the Mage's Association's notice.
Shinji was just curious about how the Mage's Association would react when they learned an ordinary person had performed miracles.
A supposedly retired mage who wielded one of the world's greatest mysteries would surely draw their attention.
...
By dawn, after making arrangements with some connections to handle the "surface" cleanup, Shinji finally caught a break, dragging his exhausted body back to his small room of less than twenty square meters.
Both mentally and physically spent, he fell asleep without even removing his clothes.
Appearing by his bed, Rider initially wanted to give him a good scolding but, realizing how truly exhausted he was, decided to let it slide for now.
"Rider, your task today... is to protect Sakura."
Just as she was about to leave, hearing Shinji's command, Rider nodded and disappeared from the room.
...
February 8th, Friday.
At three in the afternoon, Shinji, having just woken up, soaked in the bathtub, playing with two black and gold-edged cards.
He considered them his spoils of this battle, among other things—
A new system.
Or rather, the original "Old Man's" reaping system. After binding the new system and understanding its mechanisms, Shinji realized many things.
In simple terms, the new system was the original one, geared towards reaping benefits. His original system was distributed by the primary system, making him the harvested crop.
Completing tasks earned him rewards, which "Old Man" also received... or rather, a portion of his rewards went to the "Old Man." The reward ratio was adjustable.
Shinji realized he had only received ten percent of the rewards!
The primary system's task for the "Old Man" was to reclaim the power Shinji had grown into, reaping both the principal and interest.
If the reclaiming failed, the "Old Man" would face penalties, his gains forcibly taken back, and the current world considered a failed mission.
However, there was a way to avoid penalties: find something of equivalent value in the current world to offer to the primary system, subject to the system's judgment.
In essence, it was a high-interest loan system best suited for clever opportunists.
"System, change the language to Siri, I'm used to it."
Ever since the new system came online, the old system had gone silent.
According to the new system, the old one had been cut off from control after Shinji defeated its host.
The new system tried to reclaim the old one last night, triggering its emergency defense, temporarily disabling all functions.
It would take time for the old system's emergency defenses to deactivate before another attempt could be made. Currently, the mission in this world was considered failed.
Shinji had also roughly understood the "Old Man's" past through the new system.
In summary, after enjoying the benefits of his previous world, he failed spectacularly when collecting debts.
He was reduced to a wisp of a soul... no, not even a remnant.
That's why the "Old Man" didn't possess him immediately; he couldn't.
He spent ten years slowly molding Shinji into the body and soul he needed.
Finally, he planned to seize both and claim them as his own.
As for the debt collection, he had set his sights on Red Archer and Shirou Emiya, planning to use them to settle his debt with the system.
"Is that all there is? He took ninety percent of the rewards."
"The previous host's soul was heavily damaged, so most of the rewards went into maintaining his existence and repairing his soul."