[The scene shifted. Rin Tohsaka arrived in the basement and began leafing through her father's books.]
["I can definitely help too, as long as my magecraft is strong enough."]
[After opening what looked like an illustrated guide to living creatures, Rin Tohsaka was completely baffled.]
[She could not read the words at all.]
[With no other choice, Rin Tohsaka tried one book after another. But when she opened one of them, its pages suddenly turned black, and a pair of black hands emerged and grabbed her by the neck.]
"What is that thing?!"
Rin Tohsaka was startled too. She had no idea her father owned anything so dangerous.
"That girl..."
Tokiomi Tohsaka felt somewhat helpless as he watched the events in the video unfold.
It seemed he would have to put away all the dangerous mystic items when he got back.
Chapter 52: Rin Tohsaka's Fourth Holy Grail War adventure
["Rin!"]
[Hearing the commotion, Tokiomi Tohsaka arrived just in time and tossed out a gemstone to dispel the magecraft on the book.]
["It's still too early for you to use this."]
[Closing the book and returning it to the table, Tokiomi Tohsaka handed Rin Tohsaka a compass.]
["This is a magical energy needle. It normally stays still, but if there's any magical activity nearby..."]
[As he spoke, Tokiomi Tohsaka brought the compass near the book, and the needle immediately pointed toward it.]
["Be careful. There are many objects imbued with magical energy like this in the world. You can't handle them yet."]
[Tokiomi Tohsaka hung the compass around Rin Tohsaka's neck and said, "You can have this. Consider it an early birthday present."]
["Okay. Thank you, Father."]
[A smile immediately returned to Rin Tohsaka's face.]
[The scene shifted. Rin Tohsaka sat on an empty train.]
["Please be safe, Kotone."]
[The train arrived at the station, and Rin Tohsaka stepped off alone. It was Fuyuki Station.]
[Rin Tohsaka had returned to Fuyuki City on her own.]
"Sigh..."
Tokiomi Tohsaka felt a headache coming on.
The girl had actually disobeyed him and run back on her own. How had he never noticed how headstrong she was?
"Did something happen to Kotone?!"
Hearing her own murmurs in the video, Rin Tohsaka's heart tightened.
Kotone was her desk mate in elementary school and also a good friend.
It seemed something had happened to her in the video, which was why Rin had run back to Fuyuki City alone.
[The scene changed, showing three scenes in succession.]
[First came a television news report about children continuing to go missing in Fuyuki City. Then Rin Tohsaka attended a classmate's funeral and overheard the adults saying that the child had died a horrific death. Finally, Rin Tohsaka called her friend Kotone but could not reach her.]
"A string of missing children cases?"
Tokiomi Tohsaka frowned and asked Kirei Kotomine beside him, "Has anything like that happened recently?"
He did not habitually watch television, so he knew nothing about the recent news in Fuyuki.
Kirei Kotomine said, "No. I haven't heard anything like that."
Rin Tohsaka was somewhat confused too. After all, she had only spoken to Kotone yesterday.
Since Rin had taken leave from school, Kotone had specifically contacted her to ask how she was doing.
["So this is Fuyuki City at night. It gives me a really bad feeling."]
[Rin Tohsaka walked along the silent streets, feeling a little afraid.]
[The surrounding streets were deserted, their silence rather frightening.]
[The only sound she could hear was the faint wail of patrol car sirens in the distance.]
[As Rin Tohsaka wandered aimlessly, the magical energy needle against her chest suddenly lit up.]
[Rin Tohsaka hurriedly took it out and discovered that its needle had begun spinning erratically.]
["What's going on? I've never seen it react like this before."]
[Rin Tohsaka warily surveyed her surroundings, thinking, Are there magical energy reactions everywhere here?]
[With that thought, Rin Tohsaka turned into an alley, hoping to take a shortcut out of the area first.]
["Damn it, I have to find Kotone quickly."]
[Holding the magical energy needle, Rin Tohsaka made turn after turn, only to stop suddenly as she rounded a corner into an alley.]
[She had seen a man walking past the other end of the alley, leading a child by the hand.]
"It's that man!"
Most of the group members recognized the man in the video.
It was Ryunosuke Uryu, whom Feng Xi had killed.
"I see. Now it all makes sense."
The moment Ryunosuke Uryu appeared, Tokiomi Tohsaka understood.
Everyone already knew all too well what Ryunosuke Uryu and Bluebeard were like.
The missing children cases in the video were clearly the work of that pair of twisted freaks.
"Kotone..."
Rin Tohsaka could not help worrying about her friend in the world shown in the video.
After all, everyone had witnessed the fate of the children abducted by those two freaks in the earlier Q&A.
"Ah! Ryunosuke! I'll avenge you!"
At the sight of Ryunosuke Uryu, Bluebeard, who had been quiet for a while, immediately went mad again.
Roaring, he moved to attack Feng Xi once more.
"Hmph! Scum, beasts in human clothing! Letting you in has truly sullied my imperial palace!"
Qin Shi Huang had now learned of Ryunosuke Uryu and Bluebeard's deeds from Waver and immediately flew into a rage.
Then Bluebeard vanished from the great hall.
"Where did he go?"
Artoria asked instinctively.
Qin Shi Huang said evenly, "I threw him into the dungeon. That's the only place fit for him."
No one present found anything wrong with Qin Shi Huang's decision.
[Watching Ryunosuke Uryu leave, Rin Tohsaka grew suspicious and immediately followed him.]
[She lost him once along the way, but fortunately managed to catch up again.]
[However, there was now another child beside him.]
["No, I won't accomplish anything like this."]
[Knowing that what she was doing was useless, Rin Tohsaka noticed that the magical energy needle had returned to normal and was pointing in a particular direction.]
[Rin Tohsaka stopped following Ryunosuke Uryu and instead followed the direction indicated by the magical energy needle, soon arriving outside a basement.]
"It's that place."
Sakura Tohsaka instinctively took Feng Xi's hand.
She recognized the basement in the video as the place where Feng Xi had rescued her.
[Looking into the pitch-black basement, Rin Tohsaka summoned her courage and cautiously made her way down.]
[She warily pushed open the door and immediately spotted Kotone, the friend she had been searching for.]
["Kotone, Kotone!"]
[Rin Tohsaka hurried forward and helped Kotone up, but her friend's eyes were vacant, and she gave no response.]
["Is she under magecraft? What should I do..."]
[Just then, Rin Tohsaka saw a dark shadow fall over her and instinctively turned around.]
[Ryunosuke Uryu had returned with the two children.]
["Oh my, what's wrong? Are you lost?"]
[Ryunosuke Uryu promptly gave what he thought was a kindly smile.]
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