A Father Fighting for His Daughter

"Miss, the plan has succeeded."

He immediately reported the current situation, "The extras I arranged have extorted all her belongings and stolen her phone and suitcase. Now she can't contact the Department of Law no matter what, so please don't worry."

"Oh, it went so smoothly? That's quite unexpected. I had prepared more plans to play with her slowly, but it ended so quickly."

On the other end of the phone, Reines smiled upon hearing the good news, but to Sakura and Gray beside her, this kind smile seemed somewhat terrifying—it was the laughter of a little devil.

"Although he is powerful, he is adorably foolish in his use of the rules, making him a rather useful pawn."

"You did a good job, I already know about what happened over there. But..."

Completely unconcerned about her lapse in composure, Reines then issued new instructions.

"Now that we've confirmed she's no longer a threat, let's not alert her. Withdraw all those monitoring her, and we'll use her once I arrive."

"Clear."

Chapter 366 A Father for His Daughter

Whoosh whoosh...

It's very windy in Fuyuki City today; the early spring wind carries a chill.

But the Far East, having just barely emerged from the Great Depression, still carries a certain fervor—the yearning of humanity for a better life. Similarly, it shouldn't be long before this city is bustling again, and physically so.

Walking on the street, lost in thought.

At a corner, suddenly...

"Oh no, my balloon!"

A girl's voice rang in his ears. Rovey, who was walking down the street, was attracted by the voice. He looked up and saw a red balloon flying slowly overhead.

He instinctively jumped up, then reached out and grabbed, and in the blink of an eye, a red balloon string was in his palm. The next moment, he saw a girl with snow-white hair, a petite figure, and an elfin appearance running towards him. It seemed that she was the one who had just been calling out for her balloon.

Although she seemed to be in a hurry, she quickly stopped when she saw someone help her catch the balloon.

Upon landing, Rovey saw that beautiful, lively face and paused for a moment, then a slight smile appeared on his lips. He returned the red balloon to the girl and said:

Here you go, but next time hold on tight and don't let the balloon fly away again.

"Um!"

The girl, as beautiful as a snow child, nodded, then revealed her elfin smile. "Thank you, big brother. May I ask your name? Oh, no, Kiritsugu said that in the Far East, if you want to ask someone's name, you have to give them your own name beforehand, um..."

"My name is Illya von Einzbern, you can call me Illya, big brother."

"Illya ... Hmm, I understand."

Hearing this, Rovey smiled at her and then politely introduced himself, "Hello, Illya. My name is Rovey Crowley. You can call me Rovey or just Rovey. Actually, I'm not that much older than you."

After all, there's a ten-year time difference.

My body and mind are still stuck in my early twenties.

As for Illya and Rin Tohsaka, they are only in their teens, so they haven't aged much.

Although I am still of a very high generation, I am really like an older brother in terms of age.

"Huh?"

Although she was already a teenager, Illya's petite figure still made her look like a little girl. Hearing Rovey's words, she was somewhat surprised. Her beautiful eyes blinked slightly, and she tilted her head curiously to carefully examine Rovey before smiling and saying:

"Big brother is lying."

Seeing this, Rovey simply shook his head, neither explaining nor denying. Although he was not old, he had experienced too much, so much so that his mental age was far beyond that of ordinary people. It was perfectly normal for him to appear somewhat mature.

"Okay, I really am only in my early twenties, but if you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do."

Rovey continued speaking with a smile.

"It's not that I don't believe it, it's just that I sense a similar scent about my older brother to Kiritsugu."

"Smell?"

"Yes, it's a very special flavor, so Illya is familiar with it and likes it very much."

"And Illya is only ten years old."

Are you only ten years old?

Upon hearing Illya's words, Rovey's expression turned somewhat surprised.

Logically speaking, Illya should be around the same age as Rin Tohsaka, so why would she say she's twelve?

But upon hearing Illya's words, Rovey suddenly realized that Illya's personality from the moment she spoke until now was indeed that of a little girl. Combined with her youthful appearance, no one would doubt that she was ten years old.

However, due to preconceived notions, Rovey subconsciously assumed that Illya was too well protected by Emiya Kiritsugu because she had left the Einzbern Family. Now it seems that things are not as simple as he thought.

"What's wrong, big brother?"

"It's nothing, just a bit of a surprise."

Rovey shook his head and continued to ask, "Did you just arrive in Fuyuki City recently?"

"Yes, I just arrived in Fuyuki City today, with Kiritsugu."

Illya nodded, then, as if remembering something, smiled at Rovey and said, "By the way, Kiritsugu said that if you exchange names with strangers, it means you've become friends. Are we friends now, big brother?"

Rovey nodded.

Yes, we are friends now.

"Okay! Hehe, then big brother is Illya's first friend. Kiritsugu and Mom told Illya before that it was hard to make friends, they were just lying to Illya." Illya said with a smile.

"Your... mother?"

Upon hearing Illya mention her mother, Rovey couldn't help but feel a little curious.

Irisviel?

No, that's impossible.

Everyone can be resurrected, but she must have truly died.

The core of the Third Magic, the central hub of the Holy Grail, is the key that reverses everything; even the soul is obliterated. Unless the Holy Spirit personally creates a new one, it is absolutely impossible to resurrect her. But even if a new one is created, it will never be the Irisviel as before.

So... who is Illya's mother?

"It's Maiya's mother."

"Really..."

Upon hearing Illya mention the name, Rovey suddenly realized, "So it really is Emiya Kiritsugu's capable female assistant."

Although he had known for a long time that the other party had always been in love with Emiya Kiritsugu, he still didn't expect that she would actually remarry Emiya Kiritsugu and become Illya's stepmother. This was truly an unexpected thing.

When Maiya Hisau was mentioned, Illya originally wanted to share the fun with her first friend, but the next moment, as if she had thought of something, her expression fell and she showed anxiety.

"Oh no! I got so engrossed in our conversation that I forgot about Kiritsugu who bought cigarettes at the convenience store. He must be frantically looking for me right now. Sorry, big brother... Goodbye!"

Thinking of her urgent matter, Illya couldn't continue chatting with Rovey. She quickly waved her hand and then darted away like a nimble rabbit, not forgetting to say goodbye to Rovey as she left.

"Okay, goodbye."

Seeing Illya leave in such a hurry, Rovey raised his hand to say goodbye, then turned around and prepared to go elsewhere, intending to find another opportunity to visit Emiya Kiritsugu.

But--

Suddenly, his eyes lit up slightly, as if he had seen something.

Then, he suddenly turned around, raised his finger and aimed at Illya and the red balloon floating in mid-air, and then slightly opened his mouth.

"Bang!"

As an onomatopoeic word was uttered, a "pop!" suddenly came from beside the floating balloon's ear. Illya was startled by the sudden explosion of the balloon beside her ear, and her steps abruptly stopped.

"The balloon popped..."

She stared blankly at the shattered balloon, just as Illya was about to move forward.

Suddenly--

Swish!!

A black sedan that had been speeding past suddenly stopped a few meters away from Illya's location, seemingly unaware that a girl had almost walked out of the corner of the intersection.

Illya was terrified, her body trembling, and blue light began to spread from her arms.

That was the light of Magic Circuits.

However, just before this magical power, which was beyond the girl's control, erupted, Rovey's figure traversed a distance of tens of meters and instantly arrived beside Illya.

Rovey grasped its arm and asked, "Are you alright?"

Illya slowly turned her head, her eyes brimming with tears, and said...

"No, no..."

There were no physical injuries, but the person was clearly quite frightened.

And...

Upon touching Illya, Rovey used detection Magecraft to check Illya's physical condition.

It's not that there's a problem, but rather that it's very strange.

Not to mention that the body is still the Lesser Grail.

Furthermore, her bone age is around sixteen, not just ten. So what's going on with her cognition?

And why didn't Emiya Kiritsugu follow his suggestion to go find Aoko to solve the problem? Surely someone as capable as him shouldn't be unable to afford medical expenses, right?

In that brief moment of contact, many questions flooded Rovey's mind. But his attention was currently focused more on Illya's body.

The magic that bursts forth unconsciously, and this body covered in Magic Circuits.

If Illya were allowed to continue her rampage, her physical condition would undoubtedly deteriorate. Therefore, at the moment her magic began to circulate, Rovey used his own power to suppress the rampaging magic within Illya, successfully preventing a disastrous situation from occurring.

Seeing that she was clearly frightened, Rovey didn't say anything to spoil the mood.

He simply patted her head, subtly using a calming Magecraft to help her relax. Although Illya didn't know what was happening, she inexplicably felt a warmth from Rovey's palm, and her previously panicked heart calmed down at that moment.

That feeling was just like Kiritsugu's hand...

In reality, Rovey was helping her adjust the Magic Circuits.

Just then, the car door that had just sped past was suddenly pushed open, and a familiar blonde girl stepped out. Realizing she had been driving too hastily and might have startled a girl, she called out anxiously to Illya:

"Hey, are you alright?"

Because of the distance, Illya couldn't hear the other person's voice clearly.

At this moment, Luvia thought she had hurt the other person, so she hurriedly stepped forward, about to ask why the other person wasn't responding.

As a result, she saw a familiar figure standing next to Illya.

"Mr. Luo, Mr. Rovey ..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Her tone softened immediately, and her voice weakened uncontrollably.

"Your driving skills need improvement... Luvia."

Rovey pointed to the black sedan behind him and then mentioned the situation that almost happened earlier.

"I'm sorry, but since the family's maid has always been the driver, my driving skills have been a bit lax. Also, this time I wanted to impress Rin Tohsaka with my own abilities, so I didn't bring the maid with me, which is why..."

"It's a good thing that you apologized, but you shouldn't have said 'I'm sorry' to me; you should have said it to the person involved."

Rovey shook his head, then patted Illya's little head.

"I see."

Luvia nodded.

"Big brother, are you talking about me?" Illya looked up at Luvia curiously.

"Yes."

I'm sorry...

Luvia whispered an apology, then asked Illya, "Are you hurt?"

"No," Illya said.

"That's good..."