Starting from Adopting Sakura in the Type-Moon World Chapter 15

Kenneth was completely unaware of this, of course. In his own mind, he was the one-in-a-million genius of the magical world. Even Aozaki Touko—surpassing her was merely a matter of time.

His talent was in no way inferior to the Grand Puppet Master's. In fact, he might have already surpassed the woman his teacher kept muttering about!

Still, he knew that empty boasting meant nothing except making himself look foolish. To truly surpass her, he needed concrete achievements.

But even someone like Kenneth had recently run into some troubles.

"Honestly... these idiots."

"Do modern students have absolutely no sense of the situation?"

Inside his office, Kenneth slapped the thesis in his hand, his expression sour.

This guy named Waver Velvet had a death wish, daring to publish something like this in his class. Some of the arguments were novel enough to pique even Kenneth's interest, but between the lines, there was nothing but arrogance and ignorance.

What did he think this place was? The mundane world outside? This was the Clock Tower—a place diametrically opposed to the secular world, crawling with factions and families.

Writing a thesis like this here was the same as shouting for the emperor's overthrow back in ancient times—suicide.

Not to mention that Kenneth himself was one of the representatives of aristocracy.

As a Lord, Kenneth was proud, but he wasn't stupid. On the contrary, his high position let him see more...

The world wasn't that beautiful. Some things could never be mentioned or done. That was why he had stopped this foolish behavior immediately.

"Forget it... I'll seal his apartment later, confiscate all the drafts, drag him here to write a few self-criticisms, and let it blow over. It hasn't spread far anyway. Even if someone comes to question it later, with his ability, I can suppress the matter."

"In the end, it's just the delusions of a commoner student..."

Kenneth rubbed his forehead and let out a long breath.

To be honest, he never considered himself a good person, nor was he gentle by nature. On the contrary, he knew he was too proud, which sometimes pushed his personality to extremes—narrow-minded, sharp-tongued, and acerbic.

But even so, there were things he adhered to.

He was a teacher. As a teacher, he had the duty and responsibility to protect his students. As long as his bottom line wasn't crossed, he was actually quite conscientious.

Even if the student in question was an idiot.

"Strangely, I'm starting to miss that Rovey guy."

After stewing in anger over Waver, Kenneth, now calmer, found himself thinking about his star student.

Not long ago, Rovey had said he was going out for something and still hadn't returned. Kenneth couldn't help but worry a little.

Given the kid's strength, he wasn't concerned for his safety. But he was anxious that he might miss an important event—this year was his Pride promotion ceremony. If he missed it, Kenneth would give him a thorough scolding.

A twenty-one-year-old Pride Magus... that brat was really something. But of course, it was all thanks to having a legendary teacher like himself.

Anyway, they'd be family soon enough. Once he absorbed Rovey's family and bloodline into the El-Melloi Faction, everything would be settled.

"Sigh..."

After thinking for a moment, Kenneth shook his head and let it go. What he cared about more now was a rather peculiar magical ritual—the Holy Grail War.

"Hmph, probably just some rural Magus's academic research. I'll treat it as another line on my resume."

Kenneth thought smugly.

As for the so-called Three Families, he didn't take them seriously at all.

Tohsaka, Matou, Einzbern—only the last one was worth noting.

He had met the current head of the Tohsaka family, Tokiomi Tohsaka, at a conference. The man had some skill, but he was far beneath Kenneth. Even as a disciple and descendant of the Jewel Magician, without generations of accumulation, he was nothing special.

As for the Matou family, they originated from the magical genius Marich Zorgen. But news of their bloodline's decline had spread everywhere, so there was no need to pay them any mind. That left only Einzbern, the Western European mage family, as worth considering.

What he didn't expect...

Was that the Matou family he dismissed—its founder, Marich Zorgen—was still alive and prepared. And while Tokiomi Tohsaka's talent as a Magus was unremarkable, he understood the Holy Grail War's true nature: victory was never decided by the Master, but by the Servant summoned.

"Heroic Spirit Summoning... Servants? Hah, what a fanciful concept. I'd like to see if I can summon one..."

"Hmph, just in case. This is their home turf. If I lose, I'll lose all dignity as a Lord. So I'd better prepare in advance..."

Despite his disdain, Kenneth wasn't completely reckless.

He had only recently become a Lord and lacked achievements, which was why he was participating in this rural magical ritual.

Right now, he represented the Clock Tower's prestige. He absolutely could not lose to the country bumpkins he looked down on!

"As for Sacred Relics, I recall there's a decent Noble Phantasm fragment at home. And the London Museum has agreed to lend out the Fragment of the Conqueror's Cloak... That should be enough."

Chapter 20: Him? No, Her!!

After that night passed, Tokiomi Tohsaka and the Fuyuki City church detected the magical traces from Rovey and Matou Zouken's clash, so they sent people to inquire. To conceal their conspiracy, Matou Zouken naturally wouldn't expose Rovey's existence.

His explanation was that a familiar had gone out of control during magical research, and everything had been dealt with.

Though this explanation was hard for Tokiomi Tohsaka and Risei Kotomine to swallow, considering the explosion occurred on Matou family grounds, they had no reason to barge in and forcibly search a mage family. And the disturbance hadn't upset the balance between the magical and mundane worlds, so they chose to ignore it, closing the case by blaming it on an aging gas pipe explosion at the Matou residence.

After the news was released, many Fuyuki City residents were shaken and began checking their own gas pipes.

"Is your Magic Crest almost ready?"

Sitting alone on a chair in an underground warehouse, Rovey suddenly heard a familiar voice by his ear.

He turned to look, and a red-haired woman in a trench coat came into view.

...Aozaki Touko.

Seeing her again after so long, Rovey couldn't help but break into a smile.

"Senior Aozaki, it's been a while."

He said calmly, "Is my commission complete?"

"Of course—who do you think I am? A family founded by homunculi is nowhere near enough to stop me."

Seeing Rovey again, Aozaki Touko was in high spirits after completing the commission and, on the way, snatching several Einzbern homunculi for use as experimental materials.

Arriving at the meeting point they'd agreed on, she unceremoniously plopped down beside Rovey, pulled a can of beer she'd just bought from her coat, and took a hearty swig.

"Ah, that hits the spot! Nothing beats chugging an ice-cold beer when you're in a good mood!"

"...Shouldn't you drink when you're in a bad mood?"

"Hah, who fed you that twisted nonsense, junior Crowley?"

At Rovey's question, Touko propped her feet up and said dismissively, "Drinking when you're down numbs you, lets you forget your troubles for a bit. When you're happy, it helps you soak in the joy even more. So alcohol... it's a real treasure."

She raised her beer and murmured to herself.

"You just like the taste of alcohol..."

Rovey shook his head lightly. "Though the Bible does say that wine is God's blood, so there's that."

"Anyway, let's get to the point. Even though it looks like you've already got the answer, I'll ask anyway—was the trip smooth, Senior Touko? Did the intel I gave come in handy?"

"Right on the money—your intel was spot on."

Hearing Rovey's question, Touko, still sitting on the chair, laughed outright.

"Those Einzbern magi were nothing special, but that guy named Emiya Kiritsugu was a real handful. And with tricks like that up his sleeve, no wonder they call him the Magus Killer."

"An origin of 'binding and severance,' special bullets made from his own bone powder—visually, 7.62mm caliber sniper rifle rounds. His Mystic Code is a modified single-shot hunting and competition pistol. If it hits a magus..."

Thinking about it, even Touko couldn't help but shiver. Any magus who heard about that would be hard-pressed not to fear it.

One shot, and if the target instinctively used magecraft to escape or heal themselves, the result would be unspeakably gruesome.

No wonder he'd earned such a reputation in the world of mystery—he really had something going for him.

Touko raised an eyebrow. When she'd first heard about Kiritsugu's origin and his bullets, she'd been startled too, and she was deeply grateful to her junior for not only not screwing her over but generously sharing that information.

In the world of mystery, plenty of people hated Emiya Kiritsugu's guts. Many magi were itching to catch and kill him for revenge.

So the value of that intel alone... might far exceed the five million Rovey had lent her in a pinch.

With that thought, Touko's expression toward Rovey grew noticeably warmer.

In the world of magi, honest partners were rare.

Even if her situation was different from other magi's—even if she got hit, she wouldn't die—wasting another body was still unavoidable...

And that cost a lot of money.

"Speaking of which, you seem to know a lot about that desperado Emiya Kiritsugu..."

After finishing her beer and letting out an unladylike burp, Touko lit a cigarette. "I've heard of him—a madman who'd sell his life for money. How'd you get tangled up with him?"

"That's... a secret."

Rovey shook his head.

"But I can tell you this—Emiya Kiritsugu is nowhere near as simple as he seems. He's actually a partner of justice yearning for salvation."

With that, Rovey took the file Touko handed him, pulled out the documents inside, and examined them closely.

"Mmm... I see, I see... The Einzbern family sure loves stirring up trouble, as always."

"Huh? Are you joking?" Touko said, sounding incredulous.

"What do you think his goal is in joining the Holy Grail War?"

Rovey continued, "One person alone is too small to save the world, so he pinned his hopes on the legendary Holy Grail—a wish-granting machine, a miracle in the making. A truly admirable man."

Rovey knew Emiya Kiritsugu well.

If you got into the details, his wish itself wasn't wrong. The tragedy stemmed from the corrupted Holy Grail.

From Rovey's perspective, he could only call Kiritsugu stubborn, not foolish.

When faced with a trolley problem—three hundred people on one track, two hundred on the other—and no power to stop it, either choice leads to a bad outcome.

Unless you just run away or throw yourself under the train, there's no right answer.

So that thing was clearly designed to torment people. If you got into a deep debate with him about it, you'd already lost.

"Well, I think I've got a handle on the situation. Time to make some preparations."

Rovey closed the documents in his hand and stood up.

"Senior Aozaki, Fuyuki City is about to get chaotic soon. If you don't want to stir up too much trouble, it'd be best to leave."

Just as he was about to get up and make preparations, Aozaki Touko called out to him from behind.

"Hey, is that Holy Grail really as miraculous as the rumors say? Is it a universal wish-granting machine? Can it fulfill any wish?"

Aozaki Touko stubbed out her cigarette and asked seriously.

"Well... if it's just a wish on the level of reaching the Root, then yes, it can be achieved with enough magical energy and sacrifices."

Rovey smiled, as if he had guessed Aozaki Touko's intentions. "Reaching the Root doesn't mean you can come back out, and magic isn't so easy to pioneer and comprehend. Besides, there are some things it's better to just let go. Also, don't go opposing me over something as mundane as worldly desires..."

"If you're really short on cash, I can support you. Even if you do spend money like water, I can still manage to take care of you alone."

"Oh... you bastard, you really do know everything, don't you?" At that, Aozaki Touko raised an eyebrow and let out a resigned sigh.

Yes, she had just become interested in the Holy Grail War as Rovey described it.

After all, everyone has regrets and wishes they want fulfilled. When you hear that a universal wish-granting machine is right before your eyes, it's hard for anyone not to be tempted—Aozaki Touko was no exception.

But Rovey had timely reminded her that this miracle wasn't all-powerful.

Using it to deal with her sister wouldn't be that simple.

Moreover, as Touko's friend, Rovey didn't want to be her enemy. He genuinely hoped she could let go of some past matters, continue walking her own path, live more freely, and remain that woman as free as the wind.

But whether she could ultimately come to terms with it wasn't something Rovey could decide.

He still had to deal with what was right in front of him—the information he'd just gotten from Aozaki Touko about the Servant summoned by the Einzbern Family in the Third Holy Grail War—

Avenger.

Upon learning that the Servant summoned in the Third Holy Grail War was Avenger Mainyu, not Ruler Shirou Tokisada, he could confirm that this was indeed the Fourth War timeline he remembered, not the later chaotic free-for-all between red and black, nor the timeline where Fionn mac Cumhaill stole the Grail early.

And that answer made him feel even more justified in choosing to summon Caster.

Since Avenger Mainyu had been summoned, the Holy Grail was inevitably the one tainted by All the World's Evil—the black Grail that twisted wishes, and the very culprit behind the great fire in Fuyuki City.