The Sorrow of the Sakuragi Clan

No, how could I forget my little darling?

Li Mo turned his head, smiled at Illya who was puffing out her cheeks at him, then looked at Irisviel and her husband holding hands and said, "This child has a very good compatibility with me. Do you want to consider sending her to the Clock Tower to study for a few years?

Or are you still planning to have her continue down the old Einzbern path, existing solely for the sake of the Holy Grail?"

Irisviel remained silent, while Kiritsugu Emiya looked utterly bewildered, glancing at Li Mo in confusion.

Arad, after falling out with Li Mo, looked even more displeased.

Seeing Kiritsugu's confused expression, the smile on Li Mo's lips turned mocking. This son-in-law of the Einzbern family, it seemed, still didn't know his daughter's fated mission.

With a light chuckle, ignoring Illya's resistance, Li Mo stepped forward and ruffled her hair vigorously. Then, winking at Kiritsugu, he said softly, "If you change your mind and decide to bring little dar— Illya to the Clock Tower, remember to look for me."

"Otherwise, third-rate Magus families like Einzbern can't even get into the Clock Tower's library."

Li Mo burst into laughter, his wide overcoat billowing as if in a strong wind. Without giving Kiritsugu a chance to ask, he turned and strode out of the hall, which no longer had a ceiling, with the bearing of a dragon.

Kirie Sakuragi gave a wry smile, his mood complicated as he followed Li Mo out of the castle, which had a history spanning over a thousand years.

Third-rate Magus family? He was one too.

And just as Li Mo had said, during his days studying at the Clock Tower, he had never even set foot in the library. He had only received the rank of "Count" upon graduation due to his family.

To put it bluntly, Maguss are very pragmatic beings. For Maguss from commoner or third-rate Magus families, unless they are geniuses, who would care about you?

If your inherited Magic Crest is too crude, or if you don't even have one, do you expect the Magus Association to nurture you? You'd have better luck waiting for a pie to fall from the sky and be taken in as a disciple by a Magus!

Without strength, without talent, you can't even get into the Clock Tower's library!

That's why meeting Brishisan after transmigrating to this world was truly an opportunity that others would envy. There are very few Maguss like that in the entire world, let alone a Monarch of the Clock Tower!

Even though Li Mo often bickered and joked with Brishisan, it had been almost half a year since he entered the Clock Tower. Did he really not understand these things in his heart?

He just kept them in mind. Why bother showing some things, and how could he possibly show them?

As the saying goes, it's easier to go up a mountain than to come down.

But at this moment, Li Mo not only felt it wasn't difficult, but also incredibly joyous. It took him several hours to climb up, but now he was whistling his way down the mountain.

He had obtained the Second Magic, and he didn't even have to return Avalon to the Einzberns. How could he not be happy!

From now on, in fights, he'd just cast Mana Burst and hide in Avalon. Who could hit him then!

Wasn't the absolute defense Noble Phantasm a joke?

Even if Mana Burst missed, he could directly Project the sun, clearing the area with a map-wide attack!

Today, I, Li Mo, will use my three-stage attack. If I say I'll beat you to death, I'll beat you to death. Even Jesus coming won't help, I said it!

Following behind, Kirie Sakuragi wanted to speak but stopped, then wanted to speak again, and finally looked at Li Mo, who was lost in his own thoughts, with a helpless expression.

"I say... since everything is settled now, shouldn't you give me the reward for the commission?" Kirie Sakuragi, who had been a bit hesitant to speak due to Li Mo's earlier imposing demeanor, couldn't help but speak up when he saw Li Mo's ecstatic expression.

Li Mo looked utterly confused, WTF are you talking about?

Shouldn't the reward be given by Teacher Brishisan? How could he, a disciple, be asked for it...

And daring to ask me, Li Mo, for a reward! I even wanted to give you a heads-up before, and wanted to prevent you from experiencing the pain of losing your children again!

But then again, perhaps the teacher had other intentions?

Scratching his head, Li Mo asked, "Did my teacher discuss the reward with you before?"

Did Teacher Brishisan perhaps install so many things in the space of the Rusted Spearhead that were actually meant to be the reward?

But Li Mo had indeed misunderstood. Brishisan was a man of his word and would never deceive his dear disciple.

Kirie Sakuragi looked up, his eyes filled with fervent hope as he stared at Li Mo, saying with longing, "The curse! It's the curse! Your teacher promised me that if I completed this commission, you would help me find a way to break the curse!"

Curse? Li Mo had a rough idea.

Yes, why did Kirie Sakuragi die in the Holy Grail War of another timeline in Romania? Wasn't it because he could make a wish to the Holy Grail to lift the curse!

This was just a commission from the Clock Tower director, why would a freelance Magus go to such lengths?

He was simply resigned to his fate.

Li Mo sighed. Kirie Sakuragi, or the Kirie Sakuragi family, a third-rate Magus family, might be envied by ordinary people, but ultimately, they were just a third-rate family with their own sorrows.

The sorrow of the Kirie Sakuragi family was the curse.

In fact, the original Kirie Sakuragi family was not called by this name. They were originally a Magus family from Europe, but later, due to some reason, they drifted to Japan and changed their name.

As for why they changed their name, this was a problem faced by all third-rate Magus families: family decline. The original Kirie Sakuragi family was not just declining; even their Magic Crest was on the verge of disappearing. And the problem became even more severe after they moved to Japan, to the point where they could no longer even call themselves Maguss.

Could a family without a Magic Crest still be a Magus family? Reform was necessary!

The head of the Kirie Sakuragi family at the time made a reform: they signed a contract with something unknown to outsiders, and in return, they gained power from it. The price was to forget all their previous Maguscraft knowledge, and from then on, they could only master Necromancy, which might also come with a more terrifying curse.

After several generations of prosperity, as expected, in Kirie Sakuragi's generation, the curse arrived: childlessness!

Without exception, all of Kirie Sakuragi's children died shortly after birth. And because of this, his wife later left him. Even later, a adopted daughter with a distant blood relation, whom his family had arranged for him, also died during the transplantation of the Magic Crest.

Some people might think, isn't this all the fault of the Kirie Sakuragi family for signing that contract with the unknown entity? Since they knew this would happen, why did they sign it?

Couldn't they just accept their decline and live as ordinary people?

Perhaps that's right, but if you ask someone who once stood on the summit of Mount Everest to climb a small hill in the suburbs with you, do you think anyone would be willing?

Family decline is not a sin; weakness is!

Li Mo looked up and met Kirie Sakuragi's hopeful gaze, asking, "Is your adopted daughter still around?"