Dating Caster

"The matter with the Old Worm can be considered completely resolved, so let's call it a day."

Wang Xiaoming stretched his back; quite a lot had happened tonight. Furthermore, the memories regarding Zouken Matou that had flooded back into his mind left Wang Xiaoming feeling mentally drained, and he felt he might need some time to properly recover.

Wang Xiaoming asked Matou Kariya, who was still holding Sakura:

"Matou-san, could you arrange some rooms for us?"

"Oh? Oh... of course!"

Matou Kariya seemed to be lost in thought, only looking up and responding in a distracted manner when he heard Wang Xiaoming call him.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Kariya's demeanor, as if he had something on his mind, Wang Xiaoming asked out of curiosity.

"Um, Wang-san..."

Eww—

The way Matou Kariya addressed him made Wang Xiaoming shudder instinctively, which left Kariya, who witnessed this, feeling somewhat confused.

Did he say something wrong?

"It's nothing, nothing. I just instinctively recalled some unpleasant things."

Wang Xiaoming waved his hand with a wry smile; he wondered how Ryunosuke was doing right now.

"Then, Ming-kun—"

Kariya switched to a more formal address.

(Hmm... 'Ming-kun' or whatever, it really sounds a bit cheesy.)

"Please, go ahead and say what's on your mind."

Seeing Kariya like this, Wang Xiaoming found it difficult to remain nonchalant and immediately straightened his attitude.

"I would like to..."

Kariya appeared to be in a difficult position, but he gritted his teeth and made up his mind:

"I want to entrust Sakura to you..."

"???"

Wang Xiaoming felt as if something was wrong with his ears. Matou Kariya, are you entrusting your child to me on your deathbed?!

We've only just met; our relationship isn't that close, okay?

"No, no, what I mean is—"

Seeing Wang Xiaoming's bewildered expression, Kariya waved his hands, intending to explain, but not knowing what to say, he could only let his hands drop powerlessly: "After all, you have seen the state Sakura is in now."

At this moment, due to his practice of magecraft, the Crest Worms acting as his magic circuits had integrated into his nerves. This had resulted in him—

The nerves on the left side of his body were almost completely destroyed, his left eye was blind, half his face was disfigured, and his hair had turned completely white.

Yet, even so, Matou Kariya had not abandoned his original goal—to take Sakura out of the Matou House, this den of demons.

For Matou Kariya, Sakura was the entirety of his motivation to live.

Now, the nightmare that had plagued the Matou House for years, Zouken Matou, had dissipated, but the Sakura of the past could never return.

Kariya cast his gaze toward Shirou, who was standing beside Medea:

"That is why I hope to let this child interact with Sakura more. After all, they are children of the same age. If they spend more time together, perhaps it might help Sakura become a bit more cheerful."

"...Shirou, come here for a moment."

After a moment of silence, Wang Xiaoming called Shirou to his side.

"Greet Mr. Kariya."

Rarely, Wang Xiaoming's tone when speaking to Shirou carried a hint of solemnity.

"Hello, Mr. Kariya."

Although he hadn't quite grasped the situation, Shirou still walked up to Kariya and greeted him properly.

"Just call me Uncle, the same way Sakura does."

Looking at the sensible Shirou, Kariya smiled and spoke to him in a gentle tone.

Wang Xiaoming held a great deal of respect for this man who would sacrifice everything for the one he loved. Now, because of the children, the relationship between the two sides had drawn closer.

Wang Xiaoming was quite happy to see such a thing happen.

"Then, please take care of this child in the future, Kariya."

"Do you have some ulterior motive for letting Shirou interact with that little girl?"

After returning to the room, Medea, who had been following behind Wang Xiaoming, suddenly spoke up.

Medea valued her disciple, Shirou, quite highly. He had good talent, was obedient, and was willing to endure hardship.

Not to mention, he was her very first disciple...

Seeing that Wang Xiaoming seemed to be deliberately arranging Shirou's social interactions, Medea was somewhat displeased.

"What is your motive?"

Hearing Medea's question, Wang Xiaoming was taken aback for a moment, but upon seeing her dissatisfied expression, he suddenly realized what she meant.

"What kind of motive could I possibly have? Regardless of anything else, Shirou is my foster son; how could I ever try to sabotage him?"

Vaguely guessing what was on Medea's mind, Wang Xiaoming couldn't help but chuckle.

"..."

"I just feel sorry for Sakura, that child. It just so happens that Shirou needs a playmate; I can't let his entire childhood be spent solely on magecraft training. Since Kariya brought it up, I simply went along with the flow and agreed."

It would be best if they grew up together and eventually got married!

"Fine, have it your way."

Medea rolled her eyes at Wang Xiaoming, clearly annoyed.

The moonlight at night spilled in from the windowsill, landing on Medea. Watching her figure, which looked like an elf under the moonlight, Wang Xiaoming scratched his head.

"Speaking of which—"

"?"

Medea shot Wang Xiaoming a questioning look.

"I want to transfer Shirou's Command Spell to myself. Is that alright?"

Wang Xiaoming told Medea his thoughts truthfully.

Wang Xiaoming had considered the matter of the Command Spell carefully. As the Holy Grail War progressed, the battles between Servants were intensifying. Although he had already managed to win over Lancer and Berserker, no one could guarantee that accidents wouldn't happen.

Furthermore, there was still an Assassin lurking in the shadows, and even a man who would stop at nothing for victory—Emiya Kiritsugu.

Besides, Wang Xiaoming didn't want Shirou to witness scenes like the one from tonight.

It was simply too horrifying—

"It is possible, but you must first seek Shirou's opinion."

To Wang Xiaoming's surprise, Medea agreed without much thought; he had originally expected to spend quite a bit of effort trying to persuade her.

"Alright, then I'll discuss it with him during the day."

Wang Xiaoming nodded.

"Well then... good night."

"Good night."

At the same time—

Fuyuki City Prison

"Little brother Ryunosuke~~"

After finishing his forced labor, the scarred man returned to his cell. Looking at Ryunosuke Uryu, who still wore a vacant expression, the scarred man couldn't help but feel a sense of pity.

He had just heard from the prison guard that Ryunosuke Uryu was about to be executed by firing squad.

What a pity.

Such a good-looking little brother...

Why not have one last bit of fun!

As a man who acted on his impulses, the scarred man stood up and reached for his pants.

"What are you doing?"

A hazy voice echoed in the room, sounding like someone who had just woken up.

The scarred man froze. There were only two people in this cell, and besides himself—

That meant it could only be...

The scarred man looked up and discovered that the young man who should have been sitting on the bed in a daze was now staring at him with incredibly clear eyes.

Those eyes were so pure that they sent a chill down his spine...

Swish—

The scarred man didn't even notice his pants slipping from his hands.

As for the extra updates, wait for me to recover my state.

It's the end of the year, and work is exploding with busyness. Orz

Interlude 1.0

I wrote a little skit while at work.

It can be considered a response to the comments about the protagonist's name in the reviews.

I am truly very grateful for everyone's support.

If there is anything that needs a response in the future, I will likely use this format.

"Lord Kayneth."

Wang Xiaoming called out to Kayneth, who happened to be passing by.

"What is it?"

Stopping in his tracks, Kayneth turned to look at Wang Xiaoming.

"I just wanted to ask, what is your opinion of Zouken Matou? You seem to hold quite a bit of loathing for him."

Honestly, in the eyes of an ordinary person, the methods of Zouken Matou might be considered horrifying.

But if one were to place them within the context of the Magecraft world—

The actions of the Old Worm were not actually considered all that excessive.

The reason Wang Xiaoming had confronted the Old Worm so aggressively, aside from needing a clean base of operations, was mostly out of righteous indignation; though, of course, the possibility of farming favor with Shirou could not be ruled out.

"If one cannot realize their ideals while alive, it simply proves they lack the capability to do so. They should just take their ideals to the grave; why cling to life in this world?"

To Kayneth, who had been called a genius since childhood, such individuals who refuse to explore their own potential and instead rely on external forces to achieve their ideals are the ultimate manifestation of incompetence.

Kayneth's bluntness took Wang Xiaoming by surprise, and he watched as the man continued:

"To discard one's dignity and bottom line just to survive, while using the excuse of an unfulfilled, tragic wish—it is simply laughable!"

Having grown up amidst endless praise, the type of person Kayneth had always looked down upon was the kind who lacked ability yet clamored about some grand ideal.

The rotting Zouken Matou was one such person.

And so was his own student—