I'm Shenji, what are you doing?

It was afternoon, and the darkness of night was almost covering the dusk hour all around.

Tokiomi Tosaka came to his wife's natal home, the Zencheng family. But he only stood outside the door and had no intention of stepping inside.

Tokiomi's current position is that of one of the Masters competing for the Holy Grail, in the midst of the Shura battlefield. In order to protect the safety of his wife and daughter, he sent them to his home in Chancheng. He did not allow himself to go in with the smell of blood.

Tokiomi originally thought that he would not see his family until the end of the war, but the unexpected death of Father Kotomine Rimasa last night shook his determination.

The old priest was not only a good friend of Tokiomi's father, but also Tokiomi's guardian. For Tokiomi, making a secret agreement with the priest and receiving his support was an important factor in Tokiomi's belief that he would win.

Of course, Tokiomi would not shrink back because of the loss of support, but he did begin to feel that his originally confident and almost arrogant path to victory was cast by an ominous shadow of "what if?"

Just like the old and strong priest suddenly collapsed, would it be possible for me to die before my ambitions were fulfilled?

Until yesterday, for Tokiomi, victory in the Holy Grail War was almost equal to something in the bag.

But now that his reliable companion is dead, Tokiomi once again realizes that he is engaged in a battle between life and death as a competitor.

Maybe - this will be the last time he sees his family.

Taking a deep breath to drive away distracting thoughts, and regaining his usual calmness and elegance, Tokiomi stretched his hand towards the doorbell next to the door.

At this moment, Tokiomi saw a scene that surprised him.

In the yard, his two daughters - yes, two daughters, the eldest daughter Tosaka Rin and the second daughter who has been adopted by the Matou family and renamed Matou Sakura are competing in magic.

It is impossible for a seven-year-old and a six-year-old girl to master real combat magic. The competition between them is not a true magic confrontation, but is similar to the "origami competition" between ordinary children, to see who can fold the most. It looks good, who can fold it faster? Here "origami" is replaced by "magic props".

Rin used the gem magic passed down from the Tohsaka family, and the one he made was the gem that he had been training on recently to store magic power.

Sakura used not the water-based magic inherited from the Matou family, but some ancient rune magic. Although Tokiomi didn't know much about rune magic and didn't know what kind of runes Sakura used, he could see that Sakura's basic skills were solid, and the magic base also had a unique beauty, which was enough to prove what she had learned. The inheritance of rune magic is complete and the system is sound.

"It seems that Matou Zangyan is quite attentive." Tokiomi nodded secretly. He did not know that the Matou Zoun inkstone, for which he had high hopes, had died a year ago. Because the Matou family did not announce the funeral, they maintained the illusion that the Matou Zoun inkstone was alive. The foundation of the Matou family's magic also quietly changed with the death of Zang Yan.

The two little girls made very basic magic products, which did not take much magic power and time. After about ten minutes, the two sisters completed their works respectively.

What Lin held in the palm of his hand was a pure and flawless crystal piece. It was a standard regular octagon. Both its luster and shape reached the level of a jewelry pendant. The purity of the magic power contained in the crystal piece was also very good. The only drawback was that Insufficient fill rate for magic. This is not because Rin's magic power is insufficient, on the contrary, Rin's magic power is too sufficient, and he often destroys gems due to excessive magic power during practice. In order to win the game, Rin chose a relatively conservative approach, preferring to leave some leeway rather than overdo it. This calmness pleased Tokiomi.

In comparison, Sakura's work seems very plain. The gray pebbles seemed to be found everywhere, with an ancient rune of only a few strokes engraved on them. However, the quality of magic products cannot be measured by their appearance. With Tokiomi's eyesight, it was natural to see that Sakura's works were no worse than her sister's.

This is a standard rune stone with the same function as the gems made by Rin, which are used to store magic power. The magic power injected into the rune stone is equivalent to that of the gemstone, and the purity is basically the same. Comparing the works alone, there is no winner between the two. However, Sakura only started to formally come into contact with magic after entering the Matou family. It was only a year ago, while Rin has been carefully trained by Tokiomi for a year and seven months. From this aspect, Sakura is undoubtedly better.

Of course, Tokiomi is not worried about the gap between the sisters. Rin has been precocious and strong since she was a child, and has always said that "the older sister must protect the younger sister." Now he suddenly finds that his younger sister is on par with him and no longer needs her protection. Rin will definitely work harder to maintain his dignity as an older sister.

In fact, Tokiomi knew very well that Aoi and Rin were unwilling to adopt Sakura to the Matou family. They kept it in their hearts and did not speak out because of the trust (admiration) of their husbands (fathers). But not saying it doesn't mean that he doesn't miss his daughter (sister). Tokiomi still remembers the happy eyes of his wife and daughter when Sakura passed by the door of Tohsaka's house in the morning.

Therefore, although Tokiomi emphasized several times that Sakura no longer belongs to the Matou family and should not show too closeness, he actually did not care much about Aoi and Rin's private intimate behavior, including this time when Sakura appeared at the Zencheng family. I don't intend to ask any questions. From the perspective of the Tosaka family, a magician family, Tokiomi must draw a clear line between him and Sakura, but after all, he is Sakura's biological father. How can a father not love his daughter? It's just that the way he expressed it was too deep and restrained for the children to understand. Only his wife Aoi understood.

When the game ended in a tie and the two works were given to Aoi as gifts, Tokiomi rang the doorbell.

Seeing her father whom she hadn't seen for several days, Rin first smiled and then hurriedly hid Sakura behind her mother Aoi.

Tokiomi was amused by this scene, and found that his father was not angry. Sakura stuck her head out and gave Tokiomi a timid smile, and Tokiomi responded with a long-lost warm smile. Then, Tokiomi waved to Rin. The most important purpose of his coming to Chancheng's house today was to explain some important things to Rin.

Looking at his daughter's gem-like eyes, Tokiomi felt once again that this girl was the treasure that the Tohsaka family had spent five generations to finally obtain, like a miraculous and precious shining gem.

Tohsaka Rin.

Although her face is still young and immature, it can already be predicted that she will be an outstanding beauty in the future. Rather than saying that she looks like her mother, it is better to say that she has the shadow of Tokiomi's mother when she was young.

At this moment, she was looking at her silent father nervously, waiting for him to speak.

Tokiomi knew the respect and admiration his daughter had for her father.

What he said to Rin here and now will definitely affect her future.

No, there is no need to be confused about the future. The future has already been decided. Rin had no other choice but to become the sixth generation head of the family and inherit the Tohsaka family.

If you think about it carefully, perhaps this is the most fundamental reason why Tokiomi feels a little guilty about his daughter.

Tokiomi knelt down on one knee, bent down, and put his hand on Rin's head.

Rin looked surprised and opened her eyes wide.

Seeing his daughter's reaction, Tokiomi remembered that he had never touched his daughter's head like this in the past.

No wonder Rin was so surprised. Even Tokiomi himself realized after touching his daughter's head that he didn't know how hard he should use to express his tender feelings.

"...Rin, before you grow up, let the association owe you a favor. The next judgment will be left to you. If it's you, you can handle it well even if you are alone."

I was still hesitating about what to say, but once I opened my mouth, the words came out one after another.

If you consider "just in case", there are too many things that should be said.

How to deal with heirloom gemstones, matters inherited from the great master, and the management of the underground workshop—Tokiomi summarized the key points of these matters and explained them one by one to Rin, who listened attentively.

Although he has not given up the magic mark on his body to Rin, in essence, these admonitions are equivalent to designating Rin as the next master of the Tohsaka family.

Tokiomi Tosaka is definitely not a genius.

Among the Tosaka family magicians in the past, he can even be said to have mediocre qualifications.

The reason why Tokiomi today is able to become an experienced and respected magician is because he has always faithfully followed the Tosaka family's teachings.

Always be calm and elegant at all times.

If you require a ten-point result, you must accumulate twenty points of exercise before proceeding. In order to be able to pass various tests on himself gracefully and calmly, Tokiomi has always required this of himself. If we were to find out what made Tokiomi superior to others, we could only say that Tokiomi's strongest point was his thorough self-discipline and self-denying firm will.

As the master and Tokiomi's father, the former head of the Tohsaka family had foreseen that if his son aimed at the path of magic, it would be a very dangerous path. So the night before the previous head of the family handed over the magic seal to Tokiomi, he solemnly asked his son again - "Do you want to inherit the family head?"

It was just a matter of formality, similar to a ritual. As the legitimate son of the family, the education Tokiomi received was to teach him to become the future head of the family, and the dignity cultivated in Tokiomi's heart since childhood did not allow him to dream of a different life.

Even so, since there is "a question" in the form, it means that Tokiomi still has a little "room for choice."

Looking back now, for Tokiomi, that could be said to be the greatest gift given to him by his father, the former head of the family.

Tokiomi Tosaka followed his own will and embarked on the path of magic, and was definitely not influenced by fate.

It was this consciousness that gave Tokiomi his steely willpower.

"This is the way of life I chose" - it was this lofty self-esteem that supported him from the bottom of his heart to survive the years of rigorous training.

Tokiomi deeply hopes that he can also hand over the treasures his father gave him in the past to his two daughters.

However, this wish cannot be realized.

Rin and Sakura had no choice from the beginning.

A person is a composite of all elements and five attributes. The other person is an imaginary element and an imaginary number attribute. Both sisters were born with rare qualities that bordered on miracles. This is beyond the scope of talent and can almost be called a curse.

Demonic nature will summon demonic nature. People whose abilities are too far beyond common sense will inevitably "attract" things outside of daily life, which have nothing to do with their own wishes. There is only one way to fight against this fate - that is, to step outside the common sense yourself.

Tokiomi's daughters can only cope with the demonic nature in their bloodline by actively experiencing and learning the magic way. However, the Tohsaka family can only provide shelter to one of the sisters. This conflict will torture Tokiomi for unknown lengths of time. All kinds of strange things that appear due to the temptation of blood will definitely bring ruthless disaster to the party that does not become the successor.

If the Magic Association discovers the existence of such an "ordinary person", they will definitely make her a specimen in the name of "protection" and do something like soaking her in formalin potion. For thousands of years, the Magic Association has detained and captured magicians with rare talents or violated taboos countless times in the name of "protection" and imprisoned them for life. The Magic Association gave this "selfless" act a name "Seal Designation" ".

Therefore, the Matou family's wish to receive their adopted daughter is truly a gift from God. Both beloved daughters can inherit first-rate magic, and each has the means to develop their own lives without having to succumb to the cause and effect of their bloodline. At that time, Tokiomi was almost relieved of the heavy responsibility of being a father.

But is this really the case? ——The more Tokiomi asked himself this question, the more depressed he felt.

Rin's talent will definitely allow her to learn the secrets of magic more easily than Tokiomi.

But compared to choosing this path by oneself, it is so painful to have to choose this established path because of an inescapable fate.

Rin will have to face many trials in the future. If Tokiomi doesn't give her any guidance and just leaves her like this... can Tokiomi Tokiomi still be considered a perfect father?

Tokiomi once again conveyed his thoughts to the palm that was caressing Rin, as if to clarify the questions in his heart.

Although Rin let the hand rub on her head, her clear eyes still looked at her father motionless. There was no trace of uneasiness or confusion in her eyes.

"——Ah, that's it."

This unconditional respect and trust finally found the answer in Tokiomi's heart.

This child doesn't need any words of apology, nor does anyone need to worry about her future. As the former head of the family who was about to leave, he had only one sentence left to say to the noble heiress of the Tohsaka family.

"Rin, the Holy Grail will appear one day. Obtaining the Holy Grail is the Tohsaka family's obligation. More importantly, if you are a magician, it is an inevitable path."

The girl nodded without hesitation, and the look in her eyes filled Tokiomi's heart with pride.

Even when I inherited the title of head of the family, I had never felt such a fulfilling sense of honor.

"Then I'm leaving. You know what to do next."

"I know—please be careful on the road, father."

Rin's tone was firm and clear.

Tokiomi nodded and straightened up.

His eyes were sent to the mansion inside the door, and met with Aoi who was looking at this in the courtyard.

His wife has been by his side for a long time, and the two of them understand each other without any words.

The look Aoi sent over was full of trust and encouragement.

The look in his eyes that looked back was filled with gratitude and assurance.

Next to his wife was Sakura, who no longer had the characteristics of the Tosaka family. She mustered up the courage to wave goodbye to Tokiomi.

Driven by complex emotions such as the sense of crisis before entering the battlefield, the guilt stemming from family ties, etc., Tokiomi raised his hand and waved lightly to Sakura, just like he had done many times before.

After doing all this, he left Chancheng's house without looking back.

Confusion is the shadow born from a heart that lacks calmness and has no grace at all.

Tokiomi has always kept the family motto deeply ingrained in his heart, and Rin's eyes made him realize this sentence again.

If there is anything that I must apologize to my children for...it is my own failure, my failure to fulfill my wish for the Holy Grail in the end.

If he wants to be a father worthy of her in front of Rin, Tokiomi Tosaka must be a perfect magician.

Then——I will definitely complete the Tosaka family’s demonic ways with my own hands.

Become a truly perfect father who is qualified to guide his beloved daughter.

With new determination in his heart, Tokiomi set out on his way home at dusk.

He will return to Fuyuki City again, heading towards the dark night that will fall soon.

PS: Comrades, please go ahead and order, I still have a lot of manuscripts saved.

PS2: Please give me a monthly ticket.