The Last Calm
Fuyuki City, downtown shopping district.
The slender boy wandered the streets without any particular destination. He had brought no sword, no gun, nor Berserker, who possessed the finest combat skills in this Holy Grail War. Instead, he carried a black umbrella that looked incredibly stylish but offered no bonuses whatsoever.
If other Masters spotted him, they would surely assume he was gathering intelligence for the coming battles. The fighting had already begun, and both Masters and Servants had to give everything for the final outcome.
But Li Zihan was an oddity. He had only come here to buy things. Unlike the other Masters, he was free until the afternoon—free enough to take a little girl shopping.
The petite, immature girl stood timidly behind him, tugging at the hem of his clothes as she uneasily watched the outside world. She looked so fragile that it was heartbreaking. Most little girls her age were cute, but there definitely were not many as adorable as her.
"Big brother, what did we come out here for?" The girl seemed uncomfortable with the huge crowds on the street. She shrank farther behind him, like a shy puppy.
Abandoned by her father and nearly thrown into a worm pit to be remodeled—such experiences were unimaginably terrifying for a girl her age.
Even now, she could not forget her father's expression when she got into the Matou Family car. That man, who considered elegance his motto, had lost his former calmness and composure before his daughter for the first time.
Not out of sorrow or grief, but because his joy had reached an indescribable extreme. That frenzied demeanor filled Sakura Matou with fear from the bottom of her heart.
Why had he been so happy when she left? Had Sakura done something wrong? Remembering the training grounds at home, Sakura's hand tightened around the boy's clothes.
"Just taking a little walk around Fuyuki City." The boy felt a little awkward as he looked at the hand clutching his sleeve.
How should he put it? If an adorable girl who looked like she was about to cry grabbed onto his clothes, feeling awkward was only natural, right?
Still, what had he done wrong? Why was she making that face? Li Zihan was a little baffled. He had specifically set aside the whole morning to take little Sakura out for a walk.
Could Old Worm have done something to her behind his back?
The thought was dismissed as soon as it arose. Because of Li Zihan's pact with Old Worm, Old Worm had no right to modify Sakura Matou, who had been given to him as a gift. Even an Archmage of the Clock Tower could not easily deal with the troublesome nature of contracts between magi. Someone as protective of his own life as Old Worm would never touch the terms of that agreement.
Could the Matou Family's familiars simply have been too ugly, making little Sakura subconsciously think the world was terrifying?
Emmm, it was not impossible. The Matou Family's familiars were entirely polarized—either explosively handsome or explosively ugly. Unfortunately, there were currently no gorgeous and noble butterflies among them, only grotesque mutants ugly enough to make one question life itself.
Butterfly Magic was magecraft that nurtured new life from old materials, and it was closely related to the state of its user's soul. Old Worm's soul had deteriorated so badly that he could no longer recognize himself. Naturally, he could not show off Butterfly Magic as flashy as he had in his youth.
Perhaps he should not have left little Sakura with the Matou Family back then. Li Zihan rubbed his chin repeatedly with one finger. It would have been better to hand her directly to Pot King and have her adopted into the Edelfelt Family.
There was nothing Li Zihan could have done about it, though. During those two days, he had siphoned quite a bit of magical energy from a leyline, been discovered by the local leyline manager, and chased for hundreds of miles. He simply had not had time to deal with those matters.
Thinking of that particular pair, even a transmigrator who had seen his share of storms could not help but darken his face. He had only drawn a little magical energy from a leyline. Was that really necessary?
As for entrusting her to someone from the Clock Tower? Believing those lunatics would not lay hands on a high-quality specimen was less realistic than expecting pigs to climb trees. Besides, as a rebel of the Clock Tower, Li Zihan did not have many powerful friends there. Though he was on good terms with Melvin Weinz, that guy was a tax-dodging criminal with a chaotic private life and twisted values. Expecting him to raise a child? He might as well leave her with the Matou Family. Sakura Matou could maintain the relationship between the Matou Family and Li Zihan, making her useful to Old Worm. Old Worm had always been tolerant and protective toward anything useful.
At the very least, while Li Zihan was still alive, Old Worm would diligently raise Sakura Matou as a qualified elder and shield her from every danger.
Looking at Sakura, who was on the verge of tears, Li Zihan made his choice. He lowered his head slightly and gazed into little Sakura's blue-violet eyes. In a coaxing tone, he said, "Sakura, do you want to see your mother and sister?"
If possible, Li Zihan did not want to speak to a child in that tone. It made him feel guilty, and it was all too easy to be mistaken for a child trafficker.
But comforting children was simply not Li Zihan's forte. It would be better to leave family matters to someone more suited for them.
"C-Can I?" Sakura Matou's expression wavered when she heard the older boy's temptation.
She missed her mother and sister. She missed the days when she played with her sister in the park, the mornings when she sat in a chair and watched her mother prepare breakfast for the family, and the warm, joyful life when the whole family was together.
"Then we'll go see them tonight." Li Zihan winked at Sakura. "I'll take you there."
Before you continue