You Actually Want to Be My Son

All attributes!?

Li Mo's heart leapt with joy. Could it be that he really was a genius?

Hahaha, I'm the Saber King's Master now. Shirou, get the hell out of the way!

And now I'm Matthew's senior too. Ritsuka Fujimaru, from now on, go live with Shirou!

His cooking is EX-ranked, at least. He won't mistreat you!

"However," before Li Mo could revel in his joy for more than a few seconds, Brishisan's voice suddenly paused. "Although a Magus's achievements are greatly tied to talent, the Magic Crest passed down through a family line is what truly matters."

Magic Crest?

Li Mo suddenly felt like a dog—one that had been drenched with a basin of water in the dead of winter.

He knew about Magic Crests!

In Fate/stay night, that great work by Mushroom, the reason Tokiomi Tohsaka sent Sakura to Old Worm's Matou Family was because of Magic Crests!

Wasn't she such an adorable daughter? Didn't it hurt him to give her away?

But the Tohsaka Family had only one Magic Crest. Yet aside from Sakura, Tokiomi Tohsaka had another daughter—a daughter with even greater talent as a Magus than Sakura!

Rin Tohsaka!

So he could only endure it. When the Matou Family had no one qualified to inherit its Magic Crest, he sent Sakura into the Matou Family.

Even the Tohsaka Family, one of the Three Great Families, could do something like that for the sake of a Magic Crest. What about a commoner like me?

Li Mo's face turned somewhat pale, but as if he had thought of something, he abruptly raised his head and stared at Brishisan with hopeful eyes.

No longer caring about exposing anything, Li Mo asked word by word:

"Then what about the Mage Association? Are there any spare Magic Crests in the Clock Tower?"

He knew that the Mage Association possessed the technology to extract Magic Crests from flesh and preserve them!

"No." Yet Brishisan's indifferent words rang out softly, effortlessly shattering Li Mo's mental defenses.

"The Mage Association does indeed possess the technology to extract and preserve Magic Crests, but that is punishment reserved for Magus families that violate the Mage Association's regulations."

"In all other cases, even if a Magus family declines to the point where no one with aptitude for magecraft appears for generations, they will still choose to continue the inheritance and raise their descendants in hopes that someone capable of reviving the family will emerge."

"Father..."

Brishisan froze. What did I just hear? What did you call me?

"Dad!"

Li Mo's face flushed red, but his eyes remained fixed firmly on Brishisan.

No matter how formidable those Magus families were, how could they compare to the Magic Crest inherited by one of the Clock Tower's Twelve Departments, a lineage that had existed for nearly a thousand years, with the man before him as its Lord!

Li Mo had decided that he would shamelessly go all the way!

No one here knew him anyway, and since he had finally made it to this place, he could not bear to remain an obscure ordinary person like he had been before.

Not to mention that even if he resigned himself to being ordinary, he had no idea how long he could live. After the Fourth Holy Grail War in Fuyuki, wasn't Shirou the only one left alive in the entire city?

Even if he managed to avoid all that, what about the Incineration of Humanity in 2014?

Ignorance was bliss. Ordinary people could naturally live their lives in peace, but how could Li Mo, who knew the general plot, let go of everything and live an ordinary life of marrying and having children?

If he didn't take a gamble, his heart would never be at peace.

"Uh..." It was probably Brishisan's first time in his life being called Dad, and he was momentarily dumbfounded. With an expression caught between laughter and tears, he said, "I'm only sixty-two..."

Let it be said again: never judge a Magus's age by their appearance!

But was sixty-two really young?

Li Mo grumbled inwardly. In his original world, at that age, a man's grandson could probably already be old enough to run errands.

Should I lower my generation another level and try calling him Grandpa?

"Stop, don't say anything!" Seeing the eager look on Li Mo's face, Brishisan suddenly felt a terrible headache and directly pressed a hand against Li Mo's forehead.

I think I picked up a huge problem!

"Um, mmph..."

"Command Spell, Seal!"

"Listen to me." Brishisan looked at Li Mo helplessly, his gaze extremely complicated. He had to admit that Li Mo's "Dad" had indeed struck something within him.

Although marriage was not forbidden within the Clock Tower, and every family among the Twelve Departments relied on bloodlines for inheritance, he had dedicated himself to revitalizing the Department of Lore. Up to now, he had never decided to marry or have children, so naturally, he had no child.

Perhaps adopting this child as an heir wouldn't be bad?

No! Brishisan immediately cut off that thought. Li Mo looked like nothing but trouble...

"It is still too early to discuss Magic Crests.

"Although the results of your attribute test are already in, "whether you can become a Magus depends not only on your attributes, but also on how many Magic Circuits you possess."

"Mmph, mmph!" Li Mo's head writhed frantically, but his entire body was sealed within plaster.

"I know about Magic Circuits, but you have to tell me how to measure their number!"

Brishisan ignored him and began explaining on his own.

Makes sense. How would an ordinary person know about something like Magic Circuits?

"Magic Circuits are innate structures within the human body, much like organs.

"If the human body is viewed as a machine, then Magic Circuits are like the electrical wiring within it—a magical foundation used to generate mana and connect to the release of magecraft."

"But the number of Magic Circuits in each person's body differs.

"Some have many, while others have few.

"Some—or rather, some have none at all!"

"That is why I said it was too early to discuss Magic Crests, and also why those magus bloodlines declined.

"Because among their descendants, there simply were no people born with Magic Circuits."

"Whew, then tell me how to check the number of Magic Circuits already!"

After taking a deep breath, Li Mo felt like he was about to suffocate.

But Brishisan did not answer. Instead, he looked at Li Mo with a teasing expression. "Not calling me Dad anymore?"

"Uh..." Li Mo's face instantly turned as red as a monkey's butt.

Clenching his fists, he steeled himself.

"Dad! Please tell me how to check the number of Magic Circuits!"

WTF? You actually called me that!

The teasing look on Brishisan's face nearly fell apart. He held it in, turned his head aside, and looked out the window. "You'll have to investigate something like that on your own."

"Once you recover, I'll teach you how to sense elemental attributes.

"Then, all you need to do is try absorbing the elements you sense from the outside world into your body, then slowly circulate them to generate mana. You'll naturally find out how many Magic Circuits you have."

"Alright..." So he still had to wait. Who knew when this body covered in casts would recover?

"What's the rush? With injuries like yours, you'll be better in a few days. And then you can head back to the Clock Tower with me," Brishisan said with a smile when he saw Li Mo's dejected look.

The vigor of youth!