"How could this be..."
Even under the effects of Suggestion Magic, Kariya Matou still couldn't bring himself to believe it.
How was he supposed to believe that the immortal monster had been so easily defeated by a seven-year-old child?
"Ku ku ku... Still the same as ever, Kariya. You look just as much like a loathsome stray dog as ever."
Just as Kariya Matou's mind went blank, a wet, sinister laugh rang out in the room.
"!!!"
The young man sprang to his feet and looked around as if facing a great enemy.
"Stop pretending to be a ghost! Where are you? Come out, Zouken Matou!"
He would never forget that voice. It came from the monster's "father"—
"Don't make such a fuss. Even I feel ashamed for you."
The voice was coming from the toy Little Yellow Duck on the table.
Kariya Matou: "???"
Volume One 013 "Magic Terminal: Makiri"
Zouken Matou.
Even Kariya Matou didn't know his true age.
No one knew how many centuries this old man had existed.
An immortal magus who had extended his own life again and again through indescribably horrifying methods, the ancestor of Kariya Matou's bloodline, a living monster who had survived into the modern era.
That was Zouken, the man Kariya Matou hated most in his entire life.
And yet, he had now become a toy Little Yellow Duck for the bathtub.
Kariya Matou stared dumbfoundedly at the toy Little Yellow Duck on the table and heard it speak in a sinister voice filled with authority.
"Kariya, you should have sworn never to appear before me again, shouldn't you...?"
"No, even if you put it that way..."
Kariya Matou was left speechless in astonishment.
Despite his lifelong hatred, loathing, and contempt for that voice, all his anger vanished when he saw the duck's adorable appearance.
He looked at the red-haired boy beside him. Shirou's expression made it impossible for him to tell what the boy was thinking.
"You... are you really Zouken Matou?"
"Zouken Matou was indeed one of the names I once used, but my current name is 'Magic Terminal Makiri.'"
Magic Terminal...
Although he had never seriously studied magecraft, Kariya Matou vaguely understood what that meant.
The foundation of Zouken Matou's existence—his "body" and "soul"—had both vanished into dust.
What remained on the toy was his "mind," or personality.
"Urgh!"
Kariya Matou suddenly covered his face.
The object of his hatred had physically died, but his memories remained behind like a curse that refused to dissipate—
The mixture of relief and frustration left him at a loss.
After taking a long time to compose himself, the young man spoke with a cold laugh.
"The immortality you dreamed of is impossible now. How do you feel, 'Father'?"
"How I feel... I no longer possess any function that could be called emotion. If I must reach a conclusion, then I suppose I feel relieved."
Kariya Matou frowned. Dissatisfied with that answer, he was displeased. "Relieved? Don't tell me you think you can still be considered 'alive' like this. Don't make me laugh!"
"Looking back now, the immortality I once yearned for so desperately was ultimately motivated by one thing—the inability to endure the decay of my body."
The Little Yellow Duck spoke in a slow tone.
"For a long time, I was tormented by the question of how to preserve my increasingly decayed body and soul. In the end, it became a mental demon.
"So, at some point, all I could think about was how to cling to life.
"But now, after losing my body and soul, my greatest source of suffering has disappeared.
"Without them, I can actually think more calmly... How could that not be a kind of relief?"
The Little Yellow Duck let out a cackling laugh, despite the complete absence of any true living emotion in the sound.
"...Hmph!"
Unable to refute him, Kariya Matou changed the subject. "Why did you adopt the daughter of the Tohsaka Family?"
The Little Yellow Duck said, "To ensure the continuation of the Matou Family... If I were Zouken Matou, that's how I would answer you, before condemning you for your betrayal.
"But of course—the true purpose was the Holy Grail. The continuation of the Matou Family was completely irrelevant."
"Magic Terminal Makiri" switched to a tone even closer to that of the old magus.
"The sixty-year cycle is about to arrive, but the Matou Family has no pawn capable of participating in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
"Tsuruno's level of magical energy is nowhere near enough to control a Servant. We can only give up this time, but I will still have a chance to win sixty years from now.
"That daughter of the Tohsaka Family possesses limitless potential. Her womb will surely give birth to an outstanding magus. Of course, she must first undergo thorough training..."
"Smack!"
Kariya Matou finally reached his limit. In a fit of rage, he hurled the Little Yellow Duck at the wall.
The Little Yellow Duck struck the wall, then bounced back thanks to its elasticity and hit Kariya Matou in the face.
"Urgh...!"
"You're still as unable to control your temper as ever, Kariya. If you continue like this, you'll suffer for it in the future."
"Don't put on that fatherly act now. I don't want to hear it!" Kariya Matou shouted.
The yellow toy quietly fell onto the carpet. Its raised bill seemed to be mocking him. "Well, whatever happens to the daughter of the Tohsaka Family is already a settled matter."
"Indeed. The current you has already..."
"That isn't what I meant."
"Magic Terminal Makiri" spoke up. "Sakura Matou is no longer necessary, because we have now found a prodigy far beyond that little girl."
Kariya Matou instinctively turned around and looked at the red-haired boy on the sofa, who was happily enjoying the scene of familial affection.
"Me?"
Shirou pointed at himself and tilted his head adorably.
The Little Yellow Duck let out its usual sinister laugh. "Even I cannot completely see through or understand the talent hidden within this child.
"If it is him... then it would not be strange for him to kill the child who destroyed me and truly raise the Holy Grail in his hands."
Although Zouken Matou no longer desired immortality or yearned for the Holy Grail, a magus's instinct to explore the unknown had filled him with intense interest in Amamiya Shirou, the one who had destroyed him.
His power, his nature, and his manner of existence...
Witnessing him raise the Holy Grail and recording the result had now become the core logic of "Magic Terminal Makiri."
Shirou frowned in protest. "Hey, don't make decisions for other people, Makiri. Who said I was going to participate in the Holy Grail War?"
"Oh, you aren't participating this time? Amamiya Shirou, have you also placed all your bets on the next one, just as I once did?"
The Little Yellow Duck's wide eyes looked delighted. "The children born between you and Sakura Matou should be outstanding enough to shake the entire magecraft world... How exciting."
"I said, don't make decisions for other people."
Shirou stepped on the toy Little Yellow Duck, shutting down the Magic Terminal's functions.
"Ku ku ku... You aren't denying it..."
Zouken Matou's voice gradually faded away.
"..."
Kariya Matou returned to his dumbfounded expression.
"Uncle Kariya?"
"Ahh!"
When he saw the boy's face approaching his own, he fell back onto the floor in fright.
Shirou kindly held out a hand. "Are you all right, Uncle?"
Tsuruno Matou understood from the boy's respectful attitude toward him—this was a monster who stood above Zouken Matou.
"I—I'm not going to believe you!"
Kariya Matou pushed Shirou's hand away.
Although he looked like an adorable boy, how could anyone feel at ease handing Sakura over to someone who could converse harmoniously with that old monster?
Shirou nodded. "Yes, I thought so too."
"What?"
"From today onward, Uncle Kariya, you're staying at the Matou Family home to study alongside Sakura and Shinji."
Kariya Matou gritted his teeth. "Why?!"
"You're too weak. No matter how tough you act with your words, you're all bluster. I've met plenty of people like that—
"If you want to protect Sakura, try gaining strength with your own hands.
"Losing to me is fine, but don't tell me you can't even beat Shinji."
Shirou said only that before leaving the room and leaving Kariya Matou standing there in a daze.
The ranking push is on Monday, so tomorrow's two chapters will be held until around midnight tomorrow night. I'll post five chapters at once, so there's no need to wait during the day.
Volume One 014 A Chance Encounter
Time passed quickly. Before they knew it, three months had gone by.
Kariya Matou remained at the Matou residence, beginning his magecraft education from scratch alongside Sakura and Shinji.
You two had better study hard, Shinji and Kariya.
You're carrying the dignity of the men of the Matou Family on your shoulders...
I mean, don't fall too far behind Sakura.
Meanwhile, Shirou continued cramming knowledge about this world as usual while adapting to life in the city.
Every day was incredibly fulfilling, but recently, Shirou had increasingly felt that he could not calm his heart.
Every night, he would feel inexplicably lonely.
He couldn't exactly run to Shinji's room to play every night. After thinking about it for a long time, Shirou found the source of the problem—
It was this house.
This was the Matou Family home, not Shirou's home.
That wasn't to say Shirou had begun to grow tired of the people in the Matou Family.
Shinji and Sakura were his only two friends in this world. Taking care of children was a little tiring, though.
Tsuruno was unexpectedly capable at his work. Whenever Shirou asked him to look into something, he would have the results ready the next day.
Kariya possessed an unyielding spirit. He was also upright, hated evil, and was exactly the type of person Shirou liked.
They were all wonderful, but this still wasn't his own "place to belong."
"Brother Shirou is going to leave us!?"
Before you continue