Why Don't You Find Another Savior?

Thinking about this, Shiomi placed the crispy-skinned grilled mackerel onto a plate, then carried it and the rest of the food to the dining table.

Another ordinary morning began in the Shiomi household.

Sakura and Karen were both very well-behaved, getting up when it was time to do so. Especially after receiving magical reinforcement last night, they had slept exceptionally soundly.

The two of them woke up full of energy.

"Are we... not going to school today either?"

After hearing Shiomi explain, Sakura asked in surprise.

"It isn't very convenient right now. I'd feel more at ease keeping you two close by." Shiomi tried his best to apologize to the two girls. "To make it up to you, I'll take you to the amusement park today. Sound good?"

Sakura's eyes immediately sparkled with anticipation. "Really? That's great!"

"After staying up all night, aren't you going to drive the whole family into Miyuen River and feed us to the fish?" Karen calmly pointed out a rather serious issue.

Shiomi froze. "How did you know?"

"Your complexion." Karen blinked.

That made Shiomi hurry to the washroom, where he repeatedly checked his complexion in the mirror.

Of course, he knew staying awake all night was no good, but these were unusual times. After returning home, he had also cast magic on himself to make up for the lack of sleep.

That was only a temporary measure too. If he used it too often, he might really end up looking ethereal, and perhaps one day naturally return to the Shadow Realm.

If that happened, his master would definitely laugh at him. Shiomi splashed some water on his face.

His complexion looked perfectly normal—if anything, rosy and full of vigor.

"That's not true. Don't scare people like that," Shiomi complained to Karen.

Karen blinked. "I was only guessing. So it really was true..."

"You really don't have to force yourself, Dad." Sakura grew worried as well and wanted to turn down today's outing.

Shiomi cleared his throat. "It's fine. If I say it's fine, then it's fine."

"Yes, don't worry. If an accident really happens, I won't mind stepping in to save you." Morgan spoke up at that moment.

Karen nodded. "Then there's nothing to worry about."

"If Mother is coming too..." Sakura nodded firmly.

Shiomi's mouth twitched, and he gave a few dry laughs.

He really wanted to ask Morgan what secret technique she had used to get Sakura and Karen on her side in just two days.

Yet neither girl showed any traces of magical interference, so Shiomi could only swallow that baseless "accusation" and complain instead:

"Come on, can't you at least hope for something good?"

Where the Heart Lies (1)

As the more modern part of Fuyuki City, the New City supported the city's economic lifeline. Though it was separated from Miyama Town by only the Miyuen River, it had developed at a remarkably rapid pace.

Many new establishments opened in this area. Since the bus ride from Miyama Town to the New City did not take long, many residents chose to live in Miyama Town, work in the New City, and spend their days off there as well.

The New City's amusement park had therefore become one of Fuyuki residents' top weekend destinations.

"You really can't tell at all. Everywhere looks peaceful." Morgan leaned against the railing, watching the carousel.

Sakura and Karen rode two of the horses, laughing there like any other children.

"The Holy Grail War is ultimately something that happens in the shadows. Whether it's the Mage's Association or the Holy Church, both operate under the principle of concealing the supernatural from ordinary people," Shiomi replied casually. "If they couldn't keep it covered up, both sides would probably intervene in the Holy Grail War itself and abolish it completely."

"It sounds like you're describing an illegal civilian activity." Morgan smiled faintly.

"Who knows whether it's legal? It's not like I can go ask Tokiomi Tohsaka about it specifically." Shiomi gave a bitter laugh. "He'd only think I was insane."

After making that quip, Shiomi turned to Morgan. "Sorry."

"I don't recall anything you need to apologize for." Morgan smiled. "Or have you been secretly cheating behind your wife's back? If so, one little 'sorry' won't settle it."

Shiomi pinched the bridge of his nose. "Honestly..."

"Don't worry about it. It's rare to get a chance to catch your breath. There's nothing wrong with spending some quality time with the children." Morgan abruptly changed the subject.

Apparently, before Shiomi could even put his unspoken meaning into words, Morgan had already guessed it.

"Just what I'd expect from a witch," Shiomi joked.

"Since that's what you call me, I wouldn't mind showing you what a witch is truly capable of," Morgan said.

Shiomi fell silent. Just as he was considering how to retort, the carousel gradually came to a stop.

The two pretty, adorable little girls climbed down from their horses and called "Dad" as they walked out. Shiomi quickly went to greet them. Only then did he notice that their group was drawing more attention than usual.

It had never been this noticeable before.

If there was a reason, Morgan's presence had a great deal to do with it.

So Shiomi and Morgan took Sakura and Karen to a café inside the amusement park, where they sat down and ate something to restore their energy.

Time passed unexpectedly quickly at the amusement park. They had left in the morning, and after letting the two girls try a few rides, noon had already passed.

"You usually seem so quiet, and you never ask me for much," Shiomi said to Karen as he held his coffee. "But it turns out you can enjoy an amusement park too."

Karen nodded. "It really was fun, especially the roller coaster."

"You're lying... I was the one who got scared enough to scream." Sakura looked utterly incredulous.

"That's what made it interesting." Karen ate a cake piled high with extra cream. "Just hearing everyone else scream was fun."

Sakura was speechless. "Ahaha..."

"So that's what it is." Shiomi looked at Karen with some concern, only offering a gentle observation.

"That's not very good, is it?" Karen asked.

Shiomi paused, then frowned and shook his head with a wry smile. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Karen looked at Shiomi strangely. "You're Dad, and you're an adult, but you don't know."

"What do you think?" Shiomi smiled.

"Normally... it isn't a good thing, like Sakura's reaction." Though she was only five years old, Karen already possessed a considerable degree of self-awareness.

"But people aren't obligated to feel sad over others' suffering, nor are they obligated to feel happy over others' joy." Shiomi shook his head. "In the end, what people need isn't 'good things,' but 'a good tomorrow.' Those are two different concepts."

Morgan unusually chose this moment to speak, looking rather intrigued. "Go on?"

"I'm only stating a basic fact." Shiomi looked into Karen's golden eyes and answered her as earnestly as he could. "Everyone is alike, yet everyone is different. Something that is 'good' for you might be 'bad' for someone else. That's all."

After saying that, he felt that his words still lacked something, so he could only smile apologetically.

In the end, he could not really be considered a qualified adult.

It was not difficult to give the "correct answer" in accordance with conventional morality. The difficult part was truly believing it from the heart before saying it aloud.

If even he could not believe it without reservation, would Karen truly believe it if he told her?

"If I had to put it another way, Karen's feelings are simply unacceptable to most people." Shiomi picked up a napkin and wiped the cream from the corner of Karen's mouth. "At least, before you cross a certain line, I won't blame you."

Karen nodded lightly without answering.

"Truly an unqualified adult," Morgan remarked flatly.

"I was never qualified. For certain reasons, I just have to do my best to do what I can." Shiomi meant being their father.

Even though he understood nothing about that at all.

All he knew was how to give them relatively better things.

Whether it was magic or daily life, it was all the same.

"Then can you tell us those reasons? Perhaps your daughters would be interested." Morgan continued along that line.

Shiomi merely smiled knowingly. "What would knowing change? Honestly... at least my conscience is clear. I don't think I'm completely incapable of being a father."

Clearly, different people had asked him similar questions before.

Perhaps they had been neighbors, schoolteachers, or shop clerks.

So that was the answer Shiomi had arrived at. Morgan understood inwardly.

"What do you think? Am I a good dad?" Shiomi asked with a smile, though his presence was remarkably weak, as if a single sentence could defeat him.

Then he received identical nods and bright eyes.

Shiomi had been quite nervous when he first tried asking such an embarrassing question.

Now, he felt much more at ease and lifted his coffee again for a sip.

"If you ask me, you shouldn't spoil him too much. He'll get carried away," Morgan teased lightly.

"You seem to have quite a problem with me, Lady Morgan," Shiomi muttered.

Morgan wore a perfect smile. "Not at all. I've been very satisfied with my husband from the very beginning."

They bickered like that, ate a little more, then continued strolling through the amusement park.

That afternoon, Shiomi took the two girls to a shopping center in the New City and helped them choose some new clothes and daily necessities. Though there were only four of them, it was as though they had raided the stores, and by the end, the car's trunk was packed full.

Where the Heart Lies (2)

"They're still just children." Through the rearview mirror, Shiomi glanced at Karen and Sakura, who had fallen asleep leaning against each other.

Morgan smiled faintly. "That's good for children. When they're happy, they go out and play. When they're tired from playing, they sleep. While other children their age still have to stay in school, their parents secretly take them out after skipping class to have fun. If people heard about it, they'd be so jealous they'd think the world was unfair."

"Isn't that a good thing too?" Shiomi said sincerely. "At least today, both Sakura and Karen got to truly enjoy themselves."

"You seem to worry about Karen in ways entirely different from how you worry about Sakura," Morgan pointed out.

Shiomi nodded slightly. "In all sorts of ways, I suppose. Especially her personality. I just can't help feeling that something about it puts me on edge."

"Perhaps because of an inborn flaw," Morgan said again.

"An inborn... flaw..." Shiomi's grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"You needn't worry. Human beings are inherently both young and incomplete. Most people are born with flaws. What they grow into ultimately depends, more often than not, on the kind of people around them." There was a faint note of consolation in Morgan's voice.

It was as if she were saying, Since they're your children, they'll surely be fine.

Shiomi did not know where her confidence came from. Perhaps their different experiences allowed her to see things farther away.

"I'll take that blessing." He thanked her sincerely.

"However, I wasn't speaking only of her personality. Karen's constitution is different. Aside from having magic circuits, she also possesses a constitution that reacts to spirits." Morgan abruptly shifted the topic.

"I know."

"You know?" Morgan was slightly surprised.

"It seems to be something she was born with. After Kirei entrusted her to my care, I noticed something strange. I looked into it and confirmed that it appears to be a 'martyred spirit medium constitution.' As long as she gets near things like evil spirits, stigmata appear." Shiomi spoke seriously. "But there's no need to worry. When Karen was still an infant, I placed protective runes on her. Unless the protection is deliberately removed, even a manifestation of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse couldn't affect her."

"Looks like I carelessly forgot that you were always such a thorough man." Morgan sounded as though she knew him inside and out.

Shiomi found that strange, but restrained himself from asking further. Instead, he changed the subject with some regret. "Come to think of it, after all this today, we probably won't be able to have another magic lesson tonight."

"There will always be time," Morgan said easily.

"True." Shiomi nodded. "A teacher as outstanding as you is hard to find. I really don't want to waste any time."

"If that's the case, then you shouldn't have taken them out to play from the beginning. Then no time would have been wasted at all," Morgan said.

"That won't do... If you can't properly play when it's time to play, that's when time is truly wasted." Shiomi expressed his objection rather firmly.

Morgan agreed completely and simply nodded without a word.

The car turned at an intersection and stopped at a red light near Fuyuki Station.

After two more turns, they would reach Miyuen River Bridge.

After spending the whole day outside, Shiomi was beginning to feel tired as well. Once they got home and settled Sakura and Karen down to rest, he planned to take a bath and relax too.

If his nerves remained stretched too tight, he feared he would be unable to deal with the Holy Grail War, which was bound to grow increasingly intense.

"Huh..." The corner of his eye caught the station exit, and he let out an instinctive sound of surprise.

Following Shiomi's gaze, Morgan saw a little girl with twin tails walking out of the station alone.

She looked about the same age as Sakura.