Andersen Finds Inspiration

As long as the demands aren't excessive, they're not unacceptable.

"Sakura's older sister is too wicked, and she's nothing like Sakura."

"That's right, Sakura is still the best."

The children started discussing it. They were not sleepy at all and were just pretending to be asleep while hiding under the covers.

"So what do we do tomorrow? Should we continue?"

"Let's talk about tomorrow's problems tomorrow. Maybe we'll find a solution by tomorrow."

Asking these children to have a meticulous plan or long-term vision is asking too much of them.

They still maintain the attitude of doing whatever comes to mind and whatever is fun.

This is their most normal way of thinking.

Abby asked in a low voice, "Do you think the Master will kill us if he finds out?"

"It's impossible to kill him; at most, he'll be half-dead."

The Gretel rhyme was deliberately exaggerated, which startled Abby.

She said hesitantly, "Why don't we just let it go? It's not too late to stop now."

Little Jeanne scolded her impatiently, "Alice, don't scare Abby. You know she's a coward."

"Okay, okay, I was just saying." Gretel immediately changed her tune, "Master would never hit us, don't you know him?"

Illya then spoke up and joined in.

"I think... everyone else should be fine, but Alice is very likely to get hit by the Master."

"If she really dares to hit me, I will never speak to her again." Gretel's tone was very firm.

"Alice, you're just being stubborn. If your Master really ignores you, you'll probably cry secretly."

Little Jeanne didn't believe the Gretel rhymes at all; they all knew each other well.

Having been together for so long, our little secrets about each other are already an open secret.

Gretel Yao said she would ignore Yuxian, but she didn't really mean it. Everyone knew this, and no one could fool anyone else.

"Sigh... It's so hard being a kid!"

The Gretel's sigh, brimming with a sense of vicissitude, would likely elicit laughter from outsiders if they heard it.

Her deliberately adult-like tone only made her seem even more adorable.

Meanwhile, Rin Tohsaka returned home and lay down on her own bed.

She encountered those children tonight, and Ishtar even fought with them, leaving her with mixed feelings.

"I didn't realize you were so good at dealing with kids!" Ishtar's voice echoed in Rin Tohsaka's mind.

"Hmph! Of course, don't you know who I am?"

Rin Tohsaka sounded smug; she'd seen plenty of kids like them.

She herself went through that period slowly; Rin Tohsaka wasn't much better off than these kids when she was young.

After all, Rin Tohsaka dared to go to Fuyuki City during the Holy Grail War alone in the middle of the night to find her best friend. She was no less brave than those children when she was young.

Rin Tohsaka knew very well what such a daring child was most afraid of, based on her own experience.

"Are you really going to use those children?"

Ishtar continued to ask questions. She was quite talkative today. Compared to the beginning, she was slowly starting to treat Rin Tohsaka as someone she could communicate with, instead of being bossy like before.

"I would never do something so tasteless."

Rin Tohsaka categorically denied it, saying that coercing a child to do things for her was not something she, as the head of the family, should do.

This was an insult to her, she said angrily, "I was just trying to scare them, don't talk nonsense."

Ishtar chuckled softly, "I didn't realize you were so principled!"

"Of course."

Rin Tohsaka accepted Ishtar's praise without a second thought, and didn't feel anything was wrong with it.

Ishtar said, "I'm starting to admire you a little."

"I don't care about your appreciation. Don't think you're so great just because you're a goddess."

Rin Tohsaka scoffed at Ishtar's words; she wasn't the type to pray to God, she only trusted her own hands.

Rin Tohsaka is confident that she will strive to achieve whatever she desires through her own efforts.

"But you're too poor, even using a few gems is too stingy."

Ishtar, who has never lacked wealth, is most dissatisfied with this aspect of Rin Tohsaka, because back then, she could have whatever she wanted.

It would have been better if Ishtar hadn't brought it up, because Rin Tohsaka went berserk the moment the topic of the gems came up.

"You don't know the cost of living until you're in charge of the household!"

"Do you know how much effort I put into saving these gems!?"

"I haven't bought any new clothes in ages."

"You just squandered them all like that, it's infuriating!"

Ishtar, oblivious to her surroundings, said, "Money is meant to be spent, don't worry about it, don't worry about it."

"Of course you don't care, that's my money!!!"

Rin Tohsaka was extremely dissatisfied with Ishtar's attitude. How could she be so generous with other people's money and talk about it so easily? This goddess's skin was too thick.

She immediately lost interest in continuing her conversation with Ishtar.

She was afraid that if she continued talking, she would lose her temper.

Rin Tohsaka, in a huff, went to sleep, ignoring Ishtar.

Ishtar chuckled, as if she had found something amusing.

After this incident, the relationship between Rin Tohsaka and Ishtar improved to some extent.

The children stumbled upon this result by accident, which can be considered an unexpected gain.

However, these are all irrelevant to the children. What they care about now is how to have fun and keep things private in the days to come.

Nothing major happened on the first night of the Holy Grail War. The entire Fuyuki City was unusually calm, with no signs of Holy Grail War taking place.

Yuxian and Mash strolled around the streets for a while and only ran into Irisviel and Mordred, who were also out shopping.

They enjoyed shopping at the supermarket together.

Mordred seemed quite pleased with this place where she could buy whatever she wanted, and her smile never left her face.

It must be said that Irisviel was indeed quite adept at dealing with Mordred, something Yuxian hadn't anticipated.

After all, she had worked with Artoria, so she probably treated Mordred as her own child.

Everyone else was very quiet and didn't cause any trouble at night, which is something to celebrate.

Although Venus Goddess almost did something big, things that didn't happen can't be counted.

So, Fuyuki City spent another peaceful day.

Section 266, Chapter 45: Hans Christian Andersen's Inspiration

The next day, Yuxian was having breakfast as usual.

Fuyuki City was peaceful last night, but one thing made Yuxian wary.

For a brief moment last night, Venus shone exceptionally brightly, which was definitely not a natural phenomenon.

Yuxian knew perfectly well that it was definitely Ishtar's doing.

However, for some reason, they did not notice anything unusual, as if it was just a silly thing that the goddess did on a whim.

"Emiya, did Rin explain what happened?"

Yuxian knew that Emiya had already contacted Rin Tohsaka early in the morning, and he asked Emiya for specific information.

Emiya shook his head. "She said she was fine, but her tone seemed a little off."

"Something must have happened, but since she said so, let's believe her for now."

"She has a strong personality and probably doesn't want us to get involved. We hope she can handle it well."

Since Emiya said that, Yuxian didn't say anything more. With Rin Tohsaka's personality, if he rashly offered to help, it would only cause her to dislike him.

Since Rin Tohsaka said she's fine, I believe the situation isn't too serious.

As for whether she can resolve the issue, Yuxian can only tentatively trust Rin Tohsaka for now.

Of course, he still had some worries in his heart, after all, the Tohsaka Family had a tradition of failing at crucial moments.

"I'm off to school!"

After finishing her meal Sakura Matou greeted everyone and set off for school.

Today is a school day, and as a student, Sakura has no intention of skipping class.

Her relationship with Kama was far more harmonious than that between Rin Tohsaka and Ishtar, and going to school was not a problem for her.

Perhaps Kama himself would be interested in going to school.

"We're leaving too!"

Shortly after Sakura Matou left, the children also said goodbye to Yuxian and went out to play.

Yuxian stroked his chin and said to Mash beside him, "Have you noticed that these kids have been acting a little strange lately?"

"What's wrong?"

Mash looked at Yuxian with a puzzled expression. She didn't notice anything unusual about the children; they seemed to be acting the same as usual.

"Lately they've been going out a lot, without even saying what they're going to do. I think this is abnormal, very abnormal!"

Yuxian analyzed the situation very seriously, mimicking Holmes with an expression of complete confidence.

Mash rolled her eyes inwardly and said irritably, "Are you feeling uneasy because they haven't been clinging to you lately, Senpai?"

"This is it!"

Yuxian clenched his right fist and slammed it into his left palm. "Isn't it unusual enough that they didn't bother me?"

"That's enough, senior!" Mash shouted. "They didn't bother you because they were sensible and knew you had important things to do."

Yuxian immediately deflated, and he sighed, saying, "You're right."

"They've been by my side for so long, and their sudden behavior gives me the illusion that they're going to leave me."

"I guess I'm just overthinking it."

Mash's tone softened at this point, "They are not ignorant children, and they will not act without a sense of propriety. You should trust them in this regard, senior."

"I'm just worried something might happen to them!"

Mash said helplessly, "Senpai, you should worry more about yourself."

"I really can't imagine what could possibly happen when the six of them are together."

"It's you, senior, who might encounter danger at any moment."

Yuxian smiled ingratiatingly and said, "I'm perfectly safe with Mash by my side to protect me!"

Mash decided to ignore Yuxian; her senior was sometimes just that lazy.

The children hadn't figured out what to do next; they were reluctant to think about Rin Tohsaka's devilish smile.

However, it was daytime now, so they didn't need to think about that. Just like yesterday, they decided to go to Ryuudou Temple.