"Hello—Is Kiritsugu here?"
Emiya Kiritsugu had gone to Germany alone. A light-brown-haired girl knocked on the door of the Emiya residence.
"Emiya Kiritsugu isn't here. Wait, isn't this Taiga?"
Hinako Akuta opened the door a crack, intending to send the visitor away, but after recognizing the girl before her, she opened it fully.
The girl was Taiga Fujimura, granddaughter of the original owner of this residence. Her grandfather, Raiga Fujimura, was the boss of the Fujimura Group, Fuyuki City's local yakuza organization, and was extremely wealthy. All the residences in this area belonged to the Fujimura Family. Kiritsugu's house and the one Hinako lived in had both been bought from Raiga Fujimura.
"Huh? Hinako, why are you here?"
Brimming with the air of a sunny young girl, Taiga Fujimura tilted her head in confusion.
Her family lived in a mansion just next door, so naturally, she knew Hinako Akuta, the shut-in woman who rarely left her house.
"That Emiya Kiritsugu dumped his adopted son on me to look after, then went to Germany."
"Do you want to come in?"
After thinking it over, Hinako opened the door.
"Kiritsugu adopted a son? I remember his wife..." Taiga Fujimura scratched her head.
"His wife just died."
Hinako said it expressionlessly.
"Or rather, it seemed he bought this house because he wanted to care for his seriously ill wife, but it seems she ultimately couldn't pull through."
After closing the door, the two walked through the courtyard. Hinako spoke while reading.
With thousands of years of leisure, even though Hinako had only read during her time spent observing humanity, she had still read a great many books. Yet she never grew tired of the process of discovering something new within them.
"I see..."
Speaking of someone else's death, even the sunny-looking Taiga fell