Back to Familiar Ground (Continued)

"Let's have some cake, consider it a break."

"I really wish this cake were one of those that grants wishes or divine powers if you ate it."

Rovey retorted, "After all, this is the first gift you've ever given me."

"What a shame, it's just a regular cake, and I bought it from a convenience store on the other side."

"Damn it, have they become this stingy?"

Rovey took the cake from the other man, and the man's smile widened.

He asked, "Would you like some?"

"Of course I'll eat it. After all, this is the first thing you've personally given me since we met."

Rovey answered casually.

"I see, then please make yourself at home."

Even so, when Rovey saw that the cake, which had been handed to him but was only half-eaten despite the other party not making any move, he couldn't help but feel speechless.

"You've really lost all sense of decency. Is this your way of letting loose or capitalism? You said it was a reward for me, but I only got half."

"Haven't you read my teachings? Doesn't it say that sharing is a pleasure?"

The man brandished his fork and retorted, "Looks like there are still some things you haven't fully grasped."

"... You're absolutely unbeatable."

Rovey stopped arguing with this guy because he realized that the other party was on a much higher level than him, both in terms of strength and other aspects. He realized that the guy had only come out to humiliate him.

No, it's definitely not just about fooling myself.

His appearance, whether this time or in every instance throughout history, is never simply for the purpose of mocking someone.

"So you didn't just call me here to tease me or treat me to cake, right? Is there something else?"

"Huh? Can't I contact you if there's nothing wrong?"

"Sure, but you must be really boring."

Realizing that the guy in front of him wasn't willing to tell him the truth, Rovey shook his head, then picked up a piece of cake with his fork and put it in his mouth, suddenly asking:

"Dad, what do you think of my work? Aren't there still many things that I didn't do perfectly...?"

"Why do you say that?" The man glanced at him sideways. "I think you've done very well; at least in my opinion, you're perfectly qualified."

"Nothing in this world can guarantee a result that will never disappoint. Although what you did wasn't the best, it satisfied everyone, including yourself. Isn't that good?"

That's true, but...

"There are no 'buts' or 'howevers.' At least this time you didn't insist on finding your own way but came to me, which is already an improvement. Although that guy said you're still too obsessed to become a Buddha, in my opinion, you're fine the way you are now. Compared to becoming like us, you're much more to my liking now. That's why I've always loved you."

The man shook his head, interrupting what Rovey was about to say.

"Remember, you are not us. Since your experiences are different, what you understand will naturally be different as well. But compared to us, you are very young and have a lot of time to think, so there's no need to rush."

Looking into the man's calm eyes, Rovey remained silent for a long while before sighing.

"I see, so you really are here to give me some psychological counseling. But you're being a bit too tense. I won't let something like this cause me any trouble."

"I can see that. And rather than giving you psychological counseling or guidance, I actually want to see you in person, as your father and as a human being."

"Is there any difference between this and before? Or does this method create a stronger sense of family bonding?"

"Who knows? Maybe they just want a sense of ritual."

"Okay, I understand. Now that we've met and eaten, can you send me back? I'm eager to return to my original world..."

Before Rovey could finish speaking, a warm touch suddenly landed on his shoulder.

"Ah!"

"What are you doing here?!"

Before Rovey's eyes, a young girl stood still, her short skirt billowing in the wind.

"Um?"

Rovey's thoughts were interrupted. He turned his head and looked at the girl from the source of the sound. He carefully examined her for a few moments, and finally his gaze settled on her chest.

"Ah~ It's Ishtar, no, I should say Rin Tohsaka ~"

Realizing this, Rovey's expression immediately became complicated, and he also quickly understood many things.

Rin Tohsaka?

Fuyuki City.

Is this the world I originally came from?

This thought immediately arose in his mind.

What Rin Tohsaka said next further confirmed this.

"Ha, so you do remember me! But how did you recognize me just now?"

When Rin Tohsaka heard Rovey call out her name immediately, but his gaze lingered on her chest, she grabbed his collar and shook his neck, her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Of course, it'll be your signature feature that hasn't changed at all."

Rovey scratched his head and said, "Seeing you still the same as when you were a child really brings back a sense of nostalgia. How about I suggest you drink more milk when you get back?"

"Not good at all...?"

His response was a book slapped in the face.

Snap!

--

--

"People grow and say goodbye to the past. I used to believe that, but now... I suddenly feel that's not so true."

Rovey patted Rin Tohsaka's head like he was comforting a child, then handed her the remaining cake.

"Do you want some? It's a gift from the gods, and it might have some special abilities that can help you evolve."

He glanced again at Rin Tohsaka's flat chest.

"No way! You've gone too far!"

Rin Tohsaka, blushing, exclaimed, "So, what exactly were you looking at from the beginning?"

"Don't worry about it, I'm just reminiscing about what you looked like when you were little. Actually, it's quite heartwarming to suddenly return to a familiar world and find that you've grown up."

Rovey patted her shoulder and gave Rin Tohsaka a look of affection, as if he were looking at a child. Rin Tohsaka was so angry that she immediately wanted to use a set of Baji Fist to send Rovey away. After all, it was too strange to be looked at like that by someone who looked about the same age as her. However, when she thought that this guy was actually more than 20 years older than her and was her sister's adoptive father, she still suppressed her desire to send Rovey to heaven.

"Although not all aspects of a person grow, it's actually quite good that you're like this. At least I can still see some of your childhood self, which gives me a strange sense of familiarity."

"Damn it! I shouldn't have had any illusions about you!"

Upon hearing this, Rin Tohsaka grabbed Rovey's collar and shook him violently, shouting, "Do you think I want this? Isn't it because some things are predetermined from birth? It's a genetic issue, what can I do!"

"No, aren't you and your sister from the same gene?"

Rovey retorted seriously, "But she developed much faster than you. And I've seen the whole process of someone developing from a flat-chested swordsman to a peak-level expert, while she didn't start developing until she was in her late twenties."

"In my fifties or sixties? Well, does that mean I can still...?"

Rin Tohsaka's eyes widened, as if a glimmer of hope had been rekindled within her.

"Yes, yes, although I see no hope in you, it's always good to have dreams."

Rovey stroked his chin, then nodded slightly to Rin Tohsaka and said, "Perhaps one day it really might happen that I'll have a second growth spurt, although the possibility is indeed slim."

"Go to hell!"

Bang!

Rovey easily blocked Rin Tohsaka's Personality Correction Fist by raising a single finger.

"Your strength is impressive, your attacks are fierce, and you even seem to have the air of someone I know. Did Kirei Kotomine you?"

Rovey stroked his chin and analyzed as he spoke.

"You really can see through everything, huh?"

Seeing her fist blocked, Rin Tohsaka withdrew her hand, her expression becoming somewhat flustered.

"Don't talk nonsense! Father will be angry if he finds out!"

She then leaned down in front of Rovey, raised her finger to shush him, and gestured for him not to talk about it.

You should know that her father and the priest at the Forest Church, Kirei Kotomine, have a very bad relationship. She went to learn martial arts without her father's knowledge. If her father found out, he would definitely cut off her allowance.

"Oh, so they haven't made up yet."

Upon hearing this, Rovey nodded and stopped his playful fight with Rin Tohsaka.

However, upon seeing how large Rin Tohsaka, he immediately understood what was happening and turned to the unremarkable middle-aged figure beside the bench, asking, "Hey, did you send me to the future?"

"No, this isn't some future world. Isn't this the world you came from? You even plucked this world off the Kabbalah Tree of Life. I haven't interfered with anything in this world."

The man sitting on the bench shook his head and said calmly.

"But what exactly is going on?"

"That's a question for you to answer. Putting aside the multiple Singularity crossings, the Imaginary Space, and the dimensional crossings, you could say you've done everything that shouldn't be done. Rather than saying that you've crossed so many dimensional worlds and only ten years have passed, you're already quite lucky."

"... Ten, ten years?"

Upon hearing the man's words, Rovey suddenly realized that an extremely serious problem lay before him. His voice trembled slightly, "You mean, the year or so I counted in other latitudes has already passed ten years in the world I originated from, right?"

"Yes, it's been ten years."

The man smiled and nodded.

"???"

After a brief silence, Rovey directly asked the being before him, "Do you have any way to turn back time?!"

"No~ After all, I wouldn't easily affect the world outside the tree, and as a god, I would never condone someone's heinous act of affecting world time just because they're afraid of being ganged up on."

The other party shrugged, indicating that they were also powerless to help.

"But wasn't this all your doing? I could have come back after the Sixth Singularity ended, but you sent me to the Seventh Singularity, the Temple of Time, and a whole bunch of other messy things. Shouldn't you take responsibility for this?"

Rovey immediately retorted loudly.

"You mean about those things? It's true, I was the one guiding them." The man casually tossed the last piece of bread to a pigeon and said, "But thinking about it carefully, wasn't that also your own unauthorized action? People have to take responsibility for their choices."

Upon hearing this, Rovey was completely petrified on the spot.

"Alright, the time can't be changed. Putting aside whether I'm willing or not, even if I agreed to help you, you definitely wouldn't agree, right?"

Seeing Rovey's expression, the man smiled. "After all, arbitrarily turning back time by ten years is tantamount to denying the efforts and progress of humanity in this world over the past decade. So, since some things have already happened, why not just enjoy and accept them?"

"Alright, my child, I'm quite happy to see you this time. Now you should know where you are, right? Go and explore for yourself. This is just a small suggestion from your father. You should also take a rest."

After saying that, the man stood up again, lightly dusted himself off, waved to Rovey, and left.

Rovey was left standing there in silence, lost in thought.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

Just then, Rin Tohsaka, standing to the side, nudged the stunned Rovey with a puzzled look and asked curiously, "What's wrong with you? Are you possessed? You've been ignoring me since the beginning, talking to thin air. Is something wrong?"

"You couldn't see it before?"

Upon hearing Rin Tohsaka's words, Rovey realized that only he could see the other person.

This also explains why the people around him were looking at him so strangely; it turns out he had been talking to himself the whole time, as if he were in their sight.

Rin Tohsaka reached out and touched Rovey's forehead, saying with some doubt, "You don't have a fever... Also, is your Beauty-Nourishing Technique really that amazing? How come you haven't changed at all in ten years? When I passed by here and saw you just now, I thought I had mistaken you for someone else."

"The Beauty-Nourishing Technique... that's because only a little over a year of the past decade has passed." Rovey covered his face and looked up at Rin Tohsaka.

Although the other person was showing concern for him, and even though he had become very strong, he didn't dislike the feeling of being cared for. However, when Rin Tohsaka showed him concern, he always felt a strange sense of unease and frustration, as if Aqua was showing concern for his intelligence.

"What? More than a year? Didn't you serve as the chairman of the board in London for ten years? You haven't shown your face in a long time." Rin Tohsaka's expression was a little strange upon hearing this. "Sakura and Aoko- sensei both said that they haven't seen you for almost ten years, and they all thought you had disappeared. They didn't expect to actually see you here again. So... are you here to see your father? Or are you on vacation?"

"A ten-year term as chairman? Me...?"

When asked this question, Rovey's expression became even stranger. He felt that during his absence, the world seemed to have developed in ways that were somewhat unexpected.

Moreover, although his irresponsible father didn't take him back, he remembered the coordinates of that world very clearly and could go back to bring him back at any time. But before that, he needed to investigate what this world had become.