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"B-Bro...?"

Seeing Shinji stop and look toward a display window, Sakura stopped as well and tentatively called out to him.

Shinji stared indifferently at the jewelry store display and said coldly, "Go inside and pick one you like."

Hugging a little white rabbit plushie to her chest, Sakura still kept her head lowered as she silently followed behind Shinji.

"Thank you..."

Before Sakura could finish, Shinji spoke up. His indifferent words cut her off. "It's only because I'm the eldest son of the Matou Family. I don't want people finding out that the Matou Family's eldest son can't even remember his sister's birthday. That would disgrace the Matou Family."

"Oh... s-sorr—"

Sakura softly acknowledged him and timidly began to apologize, but before she could say the final word, Shinji's teeth-grinding click and the clenched fist she saw stopped the words in her throat. She fell silent once more.

For Sakura, who had endured inhuman torment beyond anything ordinary people could imagine at only nine years old, even the brother who had once been the only faint source of warmth in this household beginning to hate her was simply adding insult to injury. It undoubtedly deepened her despair.

Even so, Sakura could not bring herself to hate this brother of hers in name. Even though he was utterly cold toward her and always tossed his most hated after-meal desserts to her like garbage.

But those were still among the few normal, non-poisonous foods she could eat.

And he had never missed a birthday gift, not even once. Sakura often comforted herself by thinking that this brother still cared about her. Yet the eyes that gradually revealed resentment beneath their coldness shattered the girl's heart again and again.

And the completely different way he treated others compared to how he treated her also pierced Sakura's heart time and time again.

Though he always skipped class, her brother ranked first in both academics and sports at school. He was humble, polite, and talkative with everyone around him, yet he showed only extreme coldness toward her.

Even when he saw her at school, he usually pretended not to know her and never spoke more than necessary.

Maybe... I really am someone nobody likes.

Shinji could more or less understand Sakura's feelings, but there was nothing he could do about it. After all, he needed an excuse for his training.

What Shinji had not expected was that, while his actions worsened Sakura's despair, they also laid the foundation for certain twisted feelings she would develop toward him in the future.

Even the plot itself had begun to deviate drastically from Fate/stay night's original course, all without Shinji, the instigator, realizing it.

Shinji's thinking was simple. For now, he would lie low in the most reasonable way possible and grow stronger. Everything else could wait until he had developed enough strength.

Under the bleak moonlight and the old, dim yellow streetlamps that flickered amid crackling static from poor connections, the Matou Family Annex, already steeped in a gloomy atmosphere, became even more chilling.

The moment Shinji returned home and saw the middle-aged man waiting in the living room—his bargain-bin father in this life, Byakuya Matou—as well as the bald Old Man seated on the sofa with a cane, dressed in an indigo and dark gray kimono, his limbs withered like a mummy's, sharp light gleaming from his sunken eye sockets, his hunched body slightly bent—his bargain-bin grandfather, Zouken Matou—his eyes immediately revealed a trace of hope.

"Grandpa! Dad, I—"

Before Shinji could finish, Byakuya Matou interrupted him.

"Sakura, come here. Shinji, go back to your room."

At the same time, Zouken rose from the sofa. Yet from beginning to end, he did not spare Shinji a single glance. His eyes remained fixed on Sakura behind Shinji.

Shinji clenched his small fists tightly, gritted his teeth, and lowered his head, hiding his expression in the shadows.

It really... looked the part.

Even after the two men left with Sakura, Shinji still did not loosen his fists.

In his room, Shinji lay on his large bed, praising his own acting from earlier. Back in his previous life, that performance would have definitely earned him an Oscar.

System, Shinji called inwardly.

Grandpa is here.

Damn it! It's taking advantage of me again!

Shinji cursed inwardly, then began to examine the System panel.

The entire System panel was mainly divided into the quest section and the Point Shop. Since Shinji's cultivation was still far too weak and his permissions were insufficient, the Point Shop was not yet available.

At present, only the quest panel was unlocked.

The quest panel was mainly divided into daily quests, main quests, Normal Quests, and strategy quests. Completing quests allowed him to claim various rewards.

Daily quests were the simplest, like today's training quest. Their rewards were generally just a small amount of Spiritual Energy.

No Normal Quests had appeared for the time being.

There were two main quests.

Main Quest One: Complete the redemption of Zouken Matou (Zolgen Makiri) within ten years. Difficulty: SSS

Hint: The best redemption for him is to make him remember everything he has forgotten and send him on his way without regrets. Quest Reward: ???

Quest Progress: 0.01%, Time Remaining: Seven years (Grandson, work hard! Saving someone with dementia cannot wait!)

The moment Shinji saw this quest, he got a little angry. Damn it, at the beginning it had not told him to redeem Bug Grandpa. It had directly named him and bluntly told Shinji to kill him within ten years!

His conversation with the System back then had probably gone like this—

Dog System: Kill someone for me within ten years.

Shinji: Marrow Cleansing Pill + Cultivation Method + Meridian Chart + 200 drops of high-concentration Spiritual Energy liquid needed for cultivation.

Dog System: Take this. This is the deposit. (Marrow Cleansing Pill + Cultivation Method + Meridian Chart)

Shinji (picks them up, checks them, and puts them away): System, who do you want to kill?

Dog System: The head of one of the Three Great Families—the Matou Family's Zouken Matou!

Shinji (shocked): Who?! System, don't you know he's my grandfather?

Dog System: You actually care about that sort of thing?

Shinji: System, you misunderstand. This man is my blood relative, my closest elder!

Dog System: ...

Shinji: Need to pay more.

And so, after all that haggling, the main quest changed from killing Zouken Matou within ten years to redeeming Zouken Matou within ten years. Not a single extra point was added! Aside from changing the wording, the quest had not changed at all!

This Dog System really knew how to play!

Next was the second main quest.

Main Quest Two: Completely destroy and eliminate the Holy Grail System. Difficulty: SSSS

Hint: The Fifth Holy Grail War, the Holy Grail System, the Einzbern Factory. Quest Reward: ????

Quest Progress: 0.003%, Time Remaining: Seven years

These quests were seriously getting more insane by the one.

Shinji sighed. He had spent a full three years doing daily training quests in exchange for tiny bits of Spiritual Energy before he had barely stepped onto the path of cultivation. Trying to accomplish these things during the next Holy Grail War—the Fifth Holy Grail War seven years from now—was basically a fool's dream.

But...

Grandson, these are all tests I have prepared for you. I believe you can complete them, so the rewards I set for you are all the highest-risk ones! As long as you complete the quests, the rewards will absolutely exceed your imagination!

However, there is also a tiny bit of corresponding risk. If you fail, there is a ninety percent chance you will become a vegetable. But I believe that, as my bloodline, there is absolutely no possibility whatsoever that you will fail any quest. Keep it up, Oli Gei.

Shinji: ...I ******!