"Kariya. Are you afraid?"
On the balcony of the seaside villa, Manlio looked at his Master with some concern.
Ever since learning that morning that Tohsaka Tokiomi had been killed by his own Servant, Matou Kariya had been feeling uneasy.
"No, I'm not afraid, Manlio."
With a soft sigh, Matou Kariya bit his upper lip and watched the waves rolling across the sea.
"I'm worried about Sakura."
"During the Holy Grail War, my brother and I can keep the news from her. But after the Holy Grail War ends..."
"She's still so young, yet her father..."
"Is a father who abandoned his child really worth that child's grief and mourning?"
Manlio did not really understand.
His father and mother had never appeared in his life. His only relative had been that demon-like older brother. The care of family was something he had received from his teacher Lawrence and Lawrence's aunt, Anna.
So he had no favorable opinion of people who abandoned their family.
Though Lawrence had done something similar, it had been for a greater goal. And before leaving Adelson, he had found someone reliable to entrust him to.
"He is Sakura's biological father, after all. And before this, Sakura really did grow up under the care of her parents. On the other hand, after she came to me, I immediately had to prepare for the Holy Grail War. I had no time to look after Sakura and had to trouble my brother instead."
Kariya looked somewhat guilty.
Right now, he should have been by Sakura's side.
"I see... If he was there for her, then..."
Manlio could not truly relate, but seeing Kariya sad made him feel sad as well.
"We can't just sit around and wait, Manlio. From the instant Berserker died, the Holy Grail War entered an