Unworthy of Being Called a Father

Watching Shirou's entire arm grow back intact, Touko Aozaki gave him a strange look. "Honestly, I almost want to capture you and dissect you to see what exactly you're made of. You can even regrow a severed arm."

"You can try. Forget me—just dealing with the old man alone would be hard enough for you," Shirou said fearlessly. With his abilities, he could match beings at the pinnacle of Servants. There were mages who could confront Servants head-on, but Touko Aozaki was not one of them.

"Well, it was just a joke! You're my clients, after all. If we fell out, I'd starve to death!"

Shirou rolled his eyes at Touko Aozaki. A joke? Not necessarily. He could tell that she had genuinely wanted to study him just now.

Still, Shirou had no intention of making an issue of it. He still needed her to solve Illya's lifespan problem, and Touko Aozaki was one of the few romantics among mages. If possible, Shirou did not want to fall out with her.

Shirou walked over to where the little girl had been standing. She had already fled, leaving behind only a wooden plaque bearing the two characters: "Asagami."

Seeing those words, Shirou confirmed the girl's identity—the Asakami Fujino who was one of the four most tragic women in the Type-Moon world.

"Ms. Aozaki."

Shirou tossed the wooden plaque to Aozaki Touko. He knew of the Asagami Family, one of the Four Demon Hunter Families! And then... that was it. That was all he knew.

"Asagami? I remember that family was already finished," Touko Aozaki said as she caught the plaque.

"What do you mean, finished?" Kiritsugu asked. He had been born in Fuyuki and came from a mage family himself. He had heard of the Four Demon Hunter Families as a child. He was simply curious—how could such a large family just suddenly be finished?

"The Asagami Family has rotted through from the inside out. Bad debts, toxic accounts, nonperforming assets, and outrageous liabilities. The Asagami Family is already on the verge of bankruptcy."

"Is that so? I'm more interested in that girl's power. She twisted my arm right off. I was confident I could withstand a grenade launcher!"

As he spoke, Shirou picked up the arm that had been twisted into a corkscrew. It was completely reduced to a lump of ruined flesh. Even his accelerated regeneration could not repair it. In retrospect, cutting it off had absolutely been the right choice.

"So, what do you intend to do?" Touko Aozaki asked. She did not know whether Shirou could withstand a grenade launcher, nor did she want to know. But as Shirou had said, that power was very interesting.

"Let's return to the hotel first. I don't want to stay like this." With his arm twisted off, Shirou had been splattered with blood.

Kanbiko City Hotel—

"So this is your plan? You're going to take your severed hand directly to the Asagami Family and demand the girl?" Kiritsugu asked incredulously. His adopted son was usually quite clever, so why had he come up with a plan that looked doomed to fail?

"Yep. If they refuse to hand her over, then they can compensate me for my hand." Shirou wore a pure, sunny smile as he spoke like a villain. "Ms. Aozaki, how much would it cost to make an arm here?"

"Five million at minimum, with no upper limit. The price depends on the arm's performance," Touko Aozaki answered directly.

This was also part of her main line of work. Being a mage was a high-risk profession; many mages lost arms or legs during magical research. That was why she had been able to repay her enormous debts within two years.

"Mm, understood." Shirou nodded at Touko Aozaki, then continued, "Then tell them that if they're willing to hand her over, we're willing to maintain friendly relations with them. Old man, taking out another five million won't be a problem, right?"

"Would they really agree? This is no different from forcing them to sell their daughter!" Kiritsugu still objected. He was a father himself. To him, children mattered far more than money, even if not more than the entire world.

"They probably will. As far as I know, the Asagami Family's branch family, the Asakami Family, is willing to take on the Asagami Family's debts on the condition that they obtain all land under the Asagami Family's name and that the Asagami family head's wife remarry." Leaning against the table, Touko Aozaki closed her eyes and said leisurely:

"And the Asagami Family agreed. Next week is the day that woman remarries. Just as I said before, the Asagami Family has rotted through from the inside out, on every level."

Shirou shrugged at Kiritsugu. "See, old man? It's just a woman. They've already sold one, so the second won't be far behind."

Shirou's plan was practically foolproof. First, he knew that Asakami Fujino had suffered rejection because of the power of the Mystic Eyes of Distortion.

Second, in The Garden of Sinners, it was Asagami—Asakami—Fujino's father who commissioned Touko Aozaki, saying, "Kill this monster."

That was her biological father! The only father who could restrain her! Just because she was a little different, her father ignored her, her mother showed her no affection, and no one loved her. Who else could possibly claim the title of one of Type-Moon's four most tragic women?

Just as Touko Aozaki had said, the Asagami Family had rotted through, on every level.

Next, they would take a severed arm and demand repayment. At that point, the Asagami Family would probably refuse to hand her over, since it was a matter of dignity. But money changed things. Even if Shirou directly told her father, "Give me your daughter. I'll give you five million," her father would happily dress her up and send her over. In the current Asagami Family, anyone with money was king.

Add Fujino's unusual nature to the equation, and it was like having a pile of shit in your hands. Just as you were worrying about how to get rid of it, someone suddenly told you, "Give me that pile of shit, and I'll give you five million." Could you really refuse?

Anyone who refused should get their brain checked, then report straight to a psychiatric hospital.

Shirou knew all this, but Kiritsugu did not. To him, trading one's wife and child for money was utterly heartless. Could anyone truly do something like that?

So Kiritsugu fell silent.

"..."

"How about we make a bet?" Seeing that Kiritsugu still did not quite believe him, Shirou tempted him.

"What do you want to bet on?"

"Whether the Asagami Family will hand over that girl with the unusual power."

"Fine! What are the stakes?"

"If I win, I want a Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle that America started producing a few years ago. If I lose, I'll handle breakfast, lunch, dinner, even morning tea, afternoon tea, and late-night snacks for the next year!"

"Fine, it's a bet!"

It was only a sniper rifle. The Mage Killer had countless ways to get his hands on one. Besides, he did not believe anyone would truly sell their daughter for money. A father like that was unworthy of being called a father.

Just as a certain sister-obsessed person had said, people called their own knowledge and understanding reality. Reality was a very ambiguous thing; everyone lived in the life they imagined.