"Seven times... purification?"
"From Britain to Mesopotamia?"
"One of them was Italy?"
"Um, do you mean...?"
Adelson sorted through the chaotic flood of information in his mind before—almost incredulously—looking up.
"Yes, exactly what you think."
"Your father, like me, was a Thread of the Root washed through a period of human history."
Xiang An nodded and said it as though it were nothing remarkable.
"Th-then, were the other six wishes the same?"
"Mm. One of them was a wish I left behind. As for the other five... wait until you've sorted out the information in your head a little, then I'll tell you."
Xiang An smiled and rose to his feet.
"Well, that's about everything I know. Take some time to process this here. I'm going to help my Master."
Xiang An had nearly called her "sister-in-law" in front of the Matou family, but thankfully caught himself in time.
Xiang An walked away, leaving the three Matous standing there in utter shock.
"No wonder Mr. Xiang An said that our understanding of history, the Root, and magecraft would undergo a catastrophic shift."
"If everything he said is really true...!"
Matou Shinji clutched his head and muttered something under his breath, his pupils trembling slightly.
"A unified Root undergoing purification... Are we... dreaming right now?"
Sakura tugged on her brother's cheek.
"Ow—"
Matou Shinji let out a scream. It looked like Sakura had used quite a bit of force.
He turned his head and looked at his sister with an aggrieved expression.
"S-sorry, Brother."
Sakura gave an embarrassed smile.
"It's fine."
Shinji was nearly in tears.
But what else could he do?
Adelson, meanwhile, wore a somewhat enlightened expression as he looked up at the ceiling.
So that was it. So that was it.
With that, many things finally made sense.