Chapter 187

"What?!"

Tohsaka Rin and Emiya Shirou were both shocked.

The former hurriedly asked: "Which Matou?"

Bai Zeming glanced at her: "Are you asking about Rider's Master... or our enemy?"

Tohsaka Rin was slightly stunned: "Is there any difference?"

"Of course there is."

Bai Zeming said slowly: "Because the Master who summoned Rider is Matou Sakura, and the one who set up the soul-eating barrier at school and drove Rider to participate in the Holy Grail War is Matou Shinji!"

So, Sakura still participated in the Holy Grail War?

How could this be?

Tohsaka Rin stared blankly at Bai Zeming, her expression somewhat desolate and lost.

Emiya Shirou was also in disbelief, couldn't help but say: "What did you say?!"

"Shinji is actually the mastermind behind the school barrier?!"

"And Sakura, she actually also... how is this possible, clearly this morning, she still..."

The two were one stunned and lost, the other incoherent.

It could be seen how much impact this act of advance spoilers had brought them.

But even so, Bai Zeming still didn't intend to stop, continuing to say with a calm expression: "Although Matou Sakura is Rider's true Master, she doesn't want to participate in the Holy Grail War."

"So she used Command Spells to make a 'Fake Book of Servants', transferring the Master's authority to Shinji..."

Tohsaka Rin came back to her senses, her sapphire-like big eyes blooming with brilliance again:

"So, the target you intend to deal with is actually Matou Shinji?"

"..."

Bai Zeming glanced at her: "It seems you really don't want to be enemies with your sister!"

"Sister?"

Emiya Shirou was stunned again, couldn't help but turn to look at Tohsaka Rin.

"How could Sakura be Student Tohsaka's sister?"

"..."

Tohsaka Rin remained silent.

Bai Zeming said calmly: "Let me say it!"

"For a famous magic family like the Tohsaka family, usually only one person can inherit the family's magic circuits, but unfortunately, Student Tohsaka's father, Tohsaka Tokiomi, had two daughters with excellent talents."

"Coincidentally, the Matou family of the same famous family is lacking in talent this generation. In order not to waste the talent of the other daughter, Tohsaka Tokiomi passed Sakura to the Matou family, wanting her to inherit the Matou family's magic."

"From this perspective, Tohsaka Tokiomi's choice was quite rational."

"However, he clearly didn't understand what the Matou family's magic meant, and underestimated the disgusting degree of that old worm..."

"Wait!" Hearing this, Tohsaka Rin couldn't help it anymore and finally asked the question she had been afraid to ask in her heart, "You mean, Sakura is not having a good time in the Matou family?"

"More than just not good!"

Bai Zeming answered unceremoniously, then told the two about part of Sakura's experience in the Matou family.

Considering Matou Sakura's fragile self-esteem, he deleted many plots, omitted some details, only told the two about the pain of inheriting the Matou family's magic, and described Sakura as an adopted child who was often jealous of her stepbrother and whose elders turned a blind eye to it.

As for the darker and more disgusting reality, it was not the time yet.

For the current Matou Sakura, the sisterly love of her sister Tohsaka Rin and the hazy love on Emiya Shirou's side were the purest and most beautiful holy lands deep in her heart.

Bai Zeming couldn't be stupid enough to take the initiative to invade this piece of pure land.

At least until Matou Sakura's heart was strong enough to a certain extent, he couldn't reveal the truth.

Otherwise, the already inferior and sensitive Matou Sakura would definitely embark on a path of collapse and blackening after learning that her glorious past was exposed...

"... So that's how it is!"

Hearing Bai Zeming's selective spoilers, Tohsaka Rin couldn't help but clench her fists tightly.

In those sapphire-like big eyes, there was both burning anger and deep guilt for her sister.

Bai Zeming glanced at her, his tone slightly relaxed: "The past cannot be recovered, but the future can be changed."

"How about it, want to join me in visiting the famous magic family?"

Emiya Shirou gritted his teeth in anger and said without hesitation: "I'm going!"

Tohsaka Rin raised her head, her gaze slightly cold: "I'm going too!"

She wanted to see Sakura's experience with her own eyes. If Sakura was really treated unfairly by the Matou family as Bai said, she would snatch her sister back with her own hands—

No matter what the price was!

The next morning, private Homurahara Academy.

The cleanup personnel arranged by the church had already arrived at the school and set up guardrails outside the school gate.

Several roaring excavators drove into the campus, constantly digging in front of the ruins of the teaching building.

Outside the guardrails, students wearing school uniforms were squeezed densely, vying to look at the bulletin board posted in front of the school gate.

Like students all over the world, after seeing their own school collapse, the vast majority of students appeared somewhat gloating, hiding an inseparable joy under their solemn expressions.

Only a small portion of students who had valuables in the school showed annoyance, praying that their things would not be smashed.

All the students were discussing the sudden collapse of the teaching building.

Even those who were usually quiet would join in for a few words.

Under such circumstances, a certain unusually angry small fry king appeared somewhat too conspicuous...

At the street corner not far from the school gate, the already allied Bai Zeming and the three stood there, quietly watching Matou Shinji, who had blue curly hair, on the periphery of the crowd.

At this moment, he was standing on the periphery of the crowd, gritting his teeth, a burning anger surging in his pair of eyes.

The teaching building collapsed in the battle between the two Heroic Spirits, and the barrier he had worked so hard to set up was also destroyed because of it.

Without the soul-eating barrier, how could he, who was already lacking in talent, replenish mana for Rider?

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

"Who is it, who exactly is it?!"

"Who destroyed my barrier?!"

Looking at Matou Shinji, who almost wanted to write the word anger on his face, Bai Zeming was not surprised at all.

Sure enough, a small fry king is a small fry king!

Is this reaction too obvious?

Are you not even going to pretend?

"It's really him!"

Emiya Shirou clenched his fists tightly, looking at Matou Shinji not far away with a slightly angry gaze.

Fortunately, he still retained his reason and didn't rush up in front of everyone to give Shinji a punch directly.

Just at this moment, Archer's voice came from above, drifting into the ears of the three.

"Already investigated, there is no trace of Rider within a hundred meters."

Speaking of this, Archer paused, then said somewhat incredibly: "This guy came by himself..."

"..."

Bai Zeming twitched the corner of his mouth, he admitted that he still underestimated Matou Shinji's small fry degree.

As a Master, he actually dared to return to the crime scene without any precautions.

Is he already tired of living?!

There was no doubt that if the three made a move at this time, they could easily assassinate him without alarming anyone.

However, Shinji was ultimately just a minor ailment, and they had already set a plan to follow Shinji to the Matou house and lure the old worm of the Matou family out of his magic workshop.

The Matou mansion was located in Kitano, Kobe, and could be reached in fifteen minutes on foot from Kobe's Sannomiya Station.

The mansion here was decorated very gorgeously, the style was Western with a trace of Japanese traces. From the outside, the Matou mansion was an existence even more dazzling than the Tohsaka mansion.

But for some reason, it was shrouded in a cold, damp, and dark aura, so much so that ordinary people didn't want to get close at all.

On the way home, looking at the luxurious mansion hidden in the mountains and forests ahead, Matou Shinji became angrier the more he thought about it.

He originally thought that after taking the Master's authority from Matou Sakura through the Fake Book of Servants, his life could be reversed.

But who would have thought that in just one day, all his plans, whether it was setting up a soul-eating barrier to replenish mana or finding the Master hidden in the school, had ended in failure!

What was most hateful was that even Matou Sakura, who had always been cowardly, dared to resist his atrocities!

Recalling the layer of magic film on Matou Sakura's body that seemed to be composed of thousands of silver needles, Matou Shinji felt his teeth itch with jealousy.

"Clearly wanting to show off her magic talent, she said something about not being able to control it, I bah!"

"Just wait, when I get the Holy Grail, I must—"

"Shinji."

Before the voice fell, a gloomy and old voice came from ahead.

Matou Shinji shivered, hurriedly raised his head to look, only to see an old man leaning on a cane walk out of the Matou mansion, standing in the shadow in front of the door, his eyes staring straight at him.

The old man was wearing a kimono with a combination of ultramarine and dark gray, holding a wooden cane in his hand, his hair had long since fallen out due to old age, his short body was slightly hunched, his limbs were as dry as a mummy, and his body was accompanied by an unpleasant rotting smell. Regardless of appearance or behavior, there was an unspeakable weirdness.

But even so, Matou Shinji still didn't dare to have the slightest disrespect.

"Grand... Grandfather, why did you come out now."

"Why, can't I appear under the sun?"

The withered old man, or the current head of the family, Matou Zouken, glanced at him and said lightly.

"Ah no, it's not!"

Matou Shinji broke out in a cold sweat, hurriedly wanting to explain.

But Matou Zouken didn't intend to listen to his explanation, instead casting his gaze behind Shinji, saying lightly: "Shinji, since you insist on participating in the Holy Grail War, you had better have the awareness of being a Master."

"Always being so unprogressive, you will die..."

"Are you two little guys over there, right?"

Hearing Matou Zouken's strangely toned voice, Shinji was startled and hurriedly hid behind his grandfather.

"What?!"

"Someone is following me?!"

Shinji's shocked and angry voice spread out.

The woods outside the Matou mansion were silent for a moment, and two familiar figures walked out from them.

"Tohsaka Rin, and Emiya Shirou?"

Shinji looked at them in shock and anger: "Why is it you two?!"

Matou Zouken laughed strangely: "So it's the little girl of the Tohsaka family and the adopted son of the Emiya family. It seems that this session of the Holy Grail War is still those familiar surnames!"

"Less nonsense!"

Tohsaka Rin stepped forward, her tone angry: "Old worm, hand over Sakura!"

"Sakura?"

Matou Zouken was slightly stunned, then thought thoughtfully: "In that case, the restriction on Sakura is your handiwork?"

Just after speaking, Matou Zouken shook his head, denying this guess himself.

"No, impossible, the Tohsaka family cannot possess this level of magic!"

"..."

Tohsaka Rin furrowed her brows: "What magic, what are you talking about?"

(End of chapter)