Standing Up for Them Was Your Lie, Arguing Was Your Real Goal!

After Broly left, the headless corpse in the Bug Warehouse of the Matou Family began to gather insects around where its head had been. They formed a new old man's head.

"What a dangerous kid. No normal human could possess that kind of power, yet I couldn't sense any magical energy from him. That fellow must be a Heroic Spirit."

That was the only explanation. Knowing the gap between himself and a Heroic Spirit, Zouken Matou had immediately played dead after his head was blown apart. After all, his True Form was inside this Bug Warehouse. If they started fighting, it might get caught in the crossfire.

"The Matou Family's participation in this Holy Grail War isn't a secret, but who exactly is behind that attacker? Why take away Sakura from the Matou Family? Did they think they could use that child to threaten the Matou Family, or were they planning to use her to threaten the Tohsaka Family?"

Zouken Matou muttered to himself as he left the basement and paced along the corridor outside. He abruptly stopped by a window near the corner.

"Perhaps the attacker was sent by Tokiomi Tohsaka. Perhaps Tokiomi Tohsaka discovered that the Matou Family's magecraft had changed from the Water Attribute to an insect attribute. Unwilling to betray his covenant with the Matou Family, he used such a scheme to take his daughter back from them."

The glass window reflected the old man's ghoul-like appearance. Yet his sharp eyes slowly narrowed as he spoke.

"No. Given that brat Tokiomi Tohsaka's personality, he's obsessed with the rigid teachings of the Tohsaka Family and wouldn't betray a covenant behind the scenes. And with his absolutely calm, dutiful conduct as a Magician, so-called family affection probably wouldn't be enough to make him violate his principles. Still, one can't be certain. Humans are emotional creatures, and they're quite complicated. What if that brat Tokiomi Tohsaka..."

At that point, Zouken Matou stopped.

"I really am getting senile. I only need to test him to find out. Why am I standing here making wild guesses about something so easily confirmed?"

Zouken Matou shook his head and continued onward.

"Huh, Grandfather, you were home?!"

Just as he reached the corner, he ran into his nominal Grandson.

"Ah, no, this isn't the time for that! Grandfather, Sakura was taken away by someone dangerous! Hurry and save her!"

This foolish Grandson had no talent as a Magician, yet he possessed the innocence and kindness of a child. Once he gradually grew up and learned that he was a worthless failure without talent, what would that innocence twist into? The thought was rather exciting...

Hm?

As an elder of the Matou Family, I'm actually looking forward to the distortion and pain of my descendants. It seems my soul has begun to crumble as well. Holy Grail, Holy Grail, I need to obtain it quickly, before I completely forget what it means to be a Magician. But before that...

"Shinji, have you finished your holiday homework?"

"Uh, not yet. Grandfather, this isn't the time to talk about that!"

Young Shinji answered his Grandfather's question despite his anxiety.

"You haven't finished your homework, and you're standing here talking nonsense to me?"

The sinister smile vanished from Zouken Matou's face, and he directly scolded Young Shinji.

"Get back to your room and do your holiday homework."

"But Sakura..."

"She's only your adoptive Younger Sister. Mind your own business."

Young Shinji looked aggrieved, but he did not dare defy his Grandfather's will and could only return to his room.

In Fuyuki City, where the Fourth Holy Grail War had already begun, a conflict was taking place inside a restaurant specializing in rice bowls.

It went like this: Broly had been happily eating Pork Cutlet Rice Bowls when the restaurant suddenly refused to serve him any more food.

"Why aren't you serving any more food?"

"I'd like to keep serving you, but you two kids ordered so much. Can you really afford to pay?"

The Restaurant Owner spoke with his arms folded, his tone full of suspicion. The economy had not been doing well lately, and not long ago, someone had dined and dashed at his restaurant.

Today, two Little Brats who had not even grown all their hair yet and were barely as tall as his thighs had entered his restaurant and ordered dish after dish. When asked about the adults accompanying them, they said the adults would arrive shortly.

Yet after nearly half the food they ordered had been served, the adults the two Little Brats mentioned still had not appeared. The Restaurant Owner could not help suspecting that they were another pair of freeloaders. With more than half the dishes still unserved, he came out to ask what was going on.

"Money?"

Broly froze for a moment. Then an explanation of money appeared in his mind: it was the standard medium of exchange used to purchase Food.

Broly immediately understood. It was probably this world's Ba Ya Blood. But he had no such thing, so he could not help looking at Young Sakura.

"Excuse me, how much do the things we ordered cost?"

The Girl asked politely.

"Including the rice bowls that haven't been served yet, you need to pay a total of..."

The Restaurant Owner named a number. Young Sakura took out the Pocket Money Matou Shinji had given her and carefully counted it, only to realize that the coins in her hand were enough to cover only a fraction of the bill.

The Restaurant Owner could see the Girl's predicament, so he added, "If we count only what you've already eaten, you'll only need to give me another two thousand yen."

Young Sakura: "..."

This was the downside of not having started elementary school yet. She could not even do basic addition and subtraction. The Meal Money had clearly exceeded the budget.

Young Sakura looked at Broly, seemingly hoping this slightly older Boy could help, but Broly only looked back at her innocently.

If Young Sakura was still a child of civilized society, then Broly was a complete little savage from a desolate Planet in the Dragon Ball World.

His Father, Paragus, had only taught him combat. He had never taught him arithmetic, and the information that occasionally Appeared in his mind had not taught him either.

Thus, Broly was also a glutton who only knew how to order and eat, not calculate.

At that moment, without this world's Ba Ya Blood—money—he could not help the Girl before him.

Their eyes met. Broly's innocent, pure gaze made Young Sakura realize something: this tailed Older Brother who had saved her from the Bug Warehouse seemed to be a poor guy who could not even afford a normal meal. She could only turn to the Restaurant Owner. "I don't have any more money."

"Then get an adult to come pay the bill."

The Restaurant Owner said.

Young Sakura fell silent. When she left the Matou Family, she had thought she could finally return to her real home.

But after following Broly into this restaurant to eat, she suddenly remembered what her Father had told her when he sent her away.

"Sakura, from today onward, your surname will become Matou. You will no longer be a child of the Tohsaka Family. Neither your Mother nor I will have any relationship with you.

"In the future, if you meet Rin again, do not see her as your Older Sister. You will be Colleagues on the path of magecraft, as well as opponents.

"If one day you sisters must fight each other, do not be sad. Instead, you should be happy that your talent for magecraft has not been wasted..."

Now that her Father had spoken words severing their relationship, was there truly still a place for her in that home?

Young Sakura did not know. But she did know that if the Restaurant Owner found her biological Father, Tokiomi Tohsaka, because she could not pay for the meal, that Elegant Gentleman-like Father would surely feel embarrassed and disgraced.

"I don't have a home. My Father and Mother don't want me anymore."

Young Sakura said in utter dejection.

Restaurant Owner: "???"

"So you're trying to dine and dash?"

His expression darkened, and his tone turned unfriendly.

"I can work to pay off the debt."

Young Sakura hurriedly said. Her talent for magecraft had given her a more extensive education, including the covenants and transactions of Magicians.

That was why, when she had been sent to the Matou Family, she was confused but had not cried or caused a scene. Overall, she was a sensible child.

And because she was sensible, she wanted to make up the difference in the Meal Money through labor. But she overlooked the fact that she was far too young.

"Are you joking? What can a Little Brat like you do?"

The Restaurant Owner clearly did not accept the proposal. Judging from the two children's clothes, they did not look like children from poor families or homeless children wandering outside. He only assumed they were kids who had argued with their families, and insisted that the Girl call home and have a Parent come over.

"Reminder: Matou Sakura's Happiness Value is decreasing. Please pay attention to her condition."

In Consciousness, another reminder from the Crystal Palace Appeared. Only then did Broly notice the Girl's reluctance.

"Hey, stop making things difficult for her."

He said directly.

The Restaurant Owner looked over and asked, "Then do you have money to pay the bill?"

"I don't."

Broly shook his head decisively. If he had this world's Ba Ya Blood, he would have given it long ago.

"Then can you call home and ask your parents for money?"

The Restaurant Owner asked again.

"I don't know who my Mother is, and my Father is not in this world."

Broly shook his head again.

"You have no money and can't call home for money. Are you messing with me?"

It looked more and more like they were trying to dine and dash, making the Restaurant Owner even angrier.

"Do you believe I'll call the police and have you two bad children arrested for eating without paying?"

The Restaurant Owner threatened them, failing to notice that the Boy beside him was starting to look at him dangerously.

Broly indeed had no Ba Ya Blood from this world, but he had never possessed the concept of exchanging Ba Ya Blood for Food in the past.

When he was younger, the way he and his Father Paragus obtained Food on Vampa was by hunting Vampa Spiders in the most primitive manner.

In other words, killing the Restaurant Owner, the owner of the Food before him, was the simplest way Broly could see to solve the problem of not having enough Ba Ya Blood to exchange for Food.

Of course, obtaining Food without a transaction might damage the ecological balance. But before following the scent into this restaurant, Broly had seen many similar tailless creatures on the street.

Back when he had not used Ba Ya Blood for transactions and had simply obtained Food by directly hunting Vampa Spiders, Vampa's ecological balance had not been destroyed. By that logic, killing just one tailless creature should not be a problem.

Besides...

Broly looked toward the curtained kitchen. The scent of Food constantly wafted from there. As long as he dealt with the Food owner beside him, the Food inside would presumably belong to him as well.

The more Broly thought about it, the more tempted he became. Just as he clenched his little fist and prepared to hunt the Restaurant Owner—

Bang!

A table next to them was struck first.

"This is really unbearable! Owner, you're an adult, aren't you? How can you possibly have the nerve to make things difficult for two children?"

"Excuse me, who are you? What does this have to do with you?"

"I'm Fujimura Taiga. It has nothing to do with me, but I can't stand seeing an adult bully two children like this."

The one who stood up was an Orange-haired Girl with a Ponytail tied behind her head. One hand slapped the table while the other pointed at the Restaurant Owner as she spoke with a righteous expression.

"How is this bullying? Does asking for payment count as bullying? They're the ones who don't have enough money for their meal!"

The Restaurant Owner argued.

"Yes, these two children don't have enough money for their meal, but don't they have their reasons? Didn't you hear what they said just now?"

One did not know his Mother, and his Father had already died. The other had no home and had apparently been abandoned by her biological parents.

"How would I know whether that's true? Kids love lying. What if that was just a lie they made up to avoid paying?"

The Restaurant Owner's expression became slightly awkward.

"I wasn't lying."

Broly and Young Sakura immediately protested. They spoke almost in unison.

Fujimura Taiga nodded. She was willing to believe the two children.

"What if they weren't lying?"

She asked the Restaurant Owner.

"I run a restaurant, not a welfare institution. Am I supposed to lose money for nothing?"

The Restaurant Owner retorted. Orphans should go beg for Food at an orphanage. What kind of sense did it make to freeload at his restaurant?

"You shouldn't have to lose money, but the way you handled this is unpleasant. Couldn't you have spoken more gently? Facing children this young, you actually threatened to call the police and have them taken away."

"I was just trying to scare them."

The Restaurant Owner said somewhat aggrievedly. In this era, minors were protected to such an extent that it was practically impossible for two obviously young children to be imprisoned over something as minor as dining and dashing.

At most, the police would come, take the two children aside for a lecture, then call their parents to pick them up—if the two children truly still had parents.

"Scare them?"

Fujimura Taiga raised her voice. With loud stomps, she marched over in her Shoes and began lecturing the Restaurant Owner while pointing at his nose.

"Do you know how much psychological harm that kind of scaring can cause children? What if they become afraid of the police in the future and refuse to trust them anymore? Can you bear responsibility for that kind of social negligence? Children are like beautiful flowers, yet in this society, there are always bad adults who want to destroy them..."

As mealtime approached, people occasionally entered the restaurant. Upon seeing the argument inside, they realized it was probably not a suitable place to eat, though it was apparently a fine place to watch drama.

Any customers who were not pressed for time gathered at the restaurant entrance to watch the show unfolding inside.

"Enough, enough. I was wrong, all right? I'll apologize to them. Please stop talking."

The Restaurant Owner saw the customers crowded at the door, watching. If this extremely combative Young Girl continued tearing into him, word would spread that he bullied helpless children. On top of that, he would be branded a man with no social responsibility or adult dignity. He promptly surrendered.

"Hmph. It was your fault to begin with. At least you know when to back down."

Fujimura Taiga let out a long breath through her nose like a victorious general. The Restaurant Owner apologized to the two children for frightening them, then chose to swallow his pride and accept the outcome of receiving only the loose change in the Girl's hand for the meal that had not even been fully served.

Slap!

But Fujimura Taiga stepped over and placed two Thousand-Yen Banknotes in front of him.

"I'm not someone who throws my weight around. I'll cover the Meal Money these two children are short."

She said.

"Of course, miss. You truly have a kind heart."

The Restaurant Owner immediately changed his expression, going from looking as though he had suffered bad luck to warmly treating her as a customer.

"By the way, if you'd just told me directly that you were willing to cover their Meal Money, we wouldn't have needed to argue."

"Hah, no. After arguing with you, I feel much better."

Fujimura Taiga had recently been feeling depressed because she and her parents had been getting along poorly over her dyed hair.

Thanks to this argument, where she had spoken up righteously, she had found an excellent outlet for her feelings.

Restaurant Owner: "..."

So you stood up because you wanted to argue, right? That had to be it, right?

Still, since she had paid the bill and spared him the loss, he would not charge her for the extra Emotional Value she had provided.

"Please come again!"