Chapter 187: The Little Fish King, Kirei Shinji

“What?!”

Both Tohsaka Rin and Emiya Shirou stared in shock.

The former hurriedly asked: “Which Kirei?”

Bai Zeming glanced at her: “Are you asking about Rider’s Master… or our enemy?”

Tohsaka Rin paused slightly: “Is there a difference?”

“Of course there is.”

Bai Zeming spoke slowly: “Because the Master who summoned Rider is Kirei Sakura, but the one who set up the Soul-Eating Array in the school and forced Rider into the Holy Grail War is Kirei Shinji!”

So Sakura did participate in the Holy Grail War?

How could this happen?

Tohsaka Rin stared blankly at Bai Zeming, her expression hollow and dazed.

Emiya Shirou also looked utterly incredulous, unable to help exclaiming: “What did you say?!”

“Shinji is the mastermind behind the school’s array?!”

“And Sakura… she’s involved too… How is this possible? This morning, she was still…”

One stood frozen in shock, the other spoke incoherently.

Clearly, this premature spoiler had shaken them to their core.

Yet even so, Bai Zeming showed no intention of stopping, continuing calmly: “Although Kirei Sakura is Rider’s true Master, she never wished to join the Holy Grail War.”

“So she used her Command Seal to create a ‘False Servant’s Book,’ transferring Master authority to Shinji…”

Tohsaka Rin snapped back to awareness, her sapphire eyes flashing with renewed light:

“So… the target you intend to confront is actually Kirei Shinji?”

“… ”

Bai Zeming glanced at her: “It seems you truly don’t want to fight your sister.”

“Sister?”

Emiya Shirou froze again, turning to look at Tohsaka Rin.

“How could Sakura be Tohsaka’s sister?”

“… ”

Tohsaka Rin remained silent.

Bai Zeming spoke calmly: “Let me explain.”

“In noble mage families like the Tohsakas, only one person may inherit the family’s magical circuit—but unfortunately, Tohsaka’s father, Tohsaka Tokiomi, had two daughters with exceptional talent.”

“Coincidentally, the Kirei family, also a noble house, had no viable heirs this generation. To avoid wasting one daughter’s potential, Tokiomi gave Sakura to the Kireis, intending for her to inherit their magic.”

“From this perspective, Tokiomi’s choice was rational.”

“But he clearly didn’t understand what Kirei magic entailed—or how vile that old worm truly was…”

“Wait!” Tohsaka Rin could no longer hold back, finally voicing the question she’d dared not ask: “You mean… Sakura’s life in the Kirei household is terrible?”

“Worse than terrible!”

Bai Zeming answered bluntly, then recounted parts of Sakura’s suffering in the Kirei household.

Considering Sakura’s fragile self-respect, he omitted many details and softened the narrative, revealing only the agony of inheriting Kirei magic and portraying her as an adopted child tormented by her elder brother, with elders turning a blind eye.

The darker, more grotesque truths were not yet ready to be spoken.

For the current Sakura, her sister Tohsaka Rin’s affection and Emiya Shirou’s vague affection were her innermost sacred sanctuary.

Bai Zeming would never be foolish enough to violate that purity.

Not until Sakura’s spirit grew strong enough could he reveal the truth.

Otherwise, the already insecure and sensitive Sakura, upon learning her shameful past had been exposed, would surely spiral into darkness and corruption…

“… So that’s how it is!”

After hearing Bai Zeming’s selective spoiler, Tohsaka Rin clenched her fists tightly.

In her sapphire eyes burned not only furious rage, but also deep guilt toward her sister.

Bai Zeming glanced at her and softened his tone: “The past cannot be undone, but the future can be changed.”

“How about it? Want to visit the famed mage family with me?”

Emiya Shirou gritted his teeth in fury and answered without hesitation: “I’m coming!”

Tohsaka Rin lifted her head, her gaze cold: “I’m coming too.”

She would see for herself what Sakura endured—if Sakura truly suffered unjust treatment at the Kirei household, she would take her sister back herself—

No matter the cost!

…

…

The next morning, Hoshinoumi Private Academy.

The church’s cleanup crew had arrived, setting up barriers outside the school gates.

Several roaring excavators had entered the campus, continuously digging before the ruins of the classroom building.

Outside the barriers, students in uniforms packed tightly together, crowding around the notice board posted at the school entrance.

Like students everywhere, most, upon seeing their school collapse, wore a facade of solemnity while hiding unspoken delight.

Only a few students who’d left valuables inside showed signs of distress, praying their belongings hadn’t been crushed.

All students were loudly discussing the sudden collapse of the classroom building.

Even the quietest students now chimed in.

Under these circumstances, one unusually furious little fish stood out conspicuously…

At a street corner near the school gate, Bai Zeming and his two allies stood silently, watching Kirei Shinji, the boy with blue curls, at the edge of the crowd.

He stood there, teeth clenched, eyes blazing with fury.

The classroom building had collapsed during the battle between two Servants, destroying the Soul-Eating Array he’d painstakingly set up.

Without the array, how could he, with his already low talent, replenish Rider’s mana?

“Damn! Damn! Damn!”

“Who? Who the hell did this?!”

“Who destroyed my array?!”

Watching Shinji’s face, practically screaming “anger,” Bai Zeming was unsurprised.

Of course—the little fish king is still just a little fish king!

This reaction was obvious, wasn’t it?

He doesn’t even bother pretending?

“It really is him!”

Emiya Shirou clenched his fists, glaring angrily at Kirei Shinji across the distance.

Fortunately, he still retained enough sense not to charge forward and punch Shinji in front of everyone.

At that moment, Archer’s voice drifted down from above, reaching the three.

“I’ve scouted within a hundred meters—there’s no trace of Rider.”

Archer paused, then added with disbelief: “He came here alone…”

“… ”

Bai Zeming’s lip twitched—he admitted he’d underestimated Shinji’s little-fish level.

As a Master, he dared return to the crime scene completely unguarded.

Has he grown tired of living?!

Undoubtedly, if the three acted now, they could easily assassinate him without alerting anyone.

But Shinji is merely a minor irritation—they’d already planned to follow him to the Kirei household and lure out the old worm from his magical workshop.

…

…

The Kirei estate stood in Kita-no, Kobe, a fifteen-minute walk from Sannomiya Station.

The mansion’s decor was lavish, blending Western style with subtle Japanese touches; from the outside, it outshone even the Tohsaka residence.

Yet for some reason, it was shrouded in a chilling, damp, dark aura that kept ordinary people away.

On the way home, watching the luxurious estate hidden among the hills ahead, Kirei Shinji grew angrier with every step.

He’d believed that seizing Master authority from Sakura via the False Servant’s Book would turn his life around.

But within a single day, every plan—setting up the Soul-Eating Array, finding the hidden Master in the school—had failed utterly!

Most infuriatingly, even the timid Kirei Sakura had dared defy his cruelty!

Recalling the magical barrier around Sakura, like a thousand silver needles, Shinji’s envy burned his teeth.

“Trying to show off her magical talent, yet pretending she can’t control it? Pfft!”

“Just wait—I’ll get the Holy Grail, and then I’ll—”

“Shinji.”

Before he finished, a cold, ancient voice came from ahead.

Shinji shuddered, looking up to see an old man leaning on a cane, emerging from the Kirei mansion’s doorway, standing in the shadow, staring straight at him.

The elder wore a kimono of navy blue and charcoal gray, held a wooden cane, had lost all his hair to age, stood hunched and frail, limbs as withered as a mummy’s, surrounded by a foul stench of decay—his appearance and demeanor were profoundly unnatural.

Yet even so, Kirei Shinji dared not show the slightest disrespect.

“G-Grandfather, why are you coming out now?”

“What, am I not allowed to appear under the sun?”

The withered old man—or rather, the current head of the Tohsaka household, Tohsaka Zangyue, glanced at him coolly.

“Ah, no, not at all!”

Tohsaka Shinji broke into a cold sweat and hurried to explain.

But Tohsaka Zangyue had no intention of listening; instead, he turned his gaze toward Shinji’s back and said coolly, “Shinji, if you insist on participating in the Holy Grail War, you’d better have the resolve of a Master.”

“Always remaining this useless will get you killed...”

“Don’t you agree, you two little brats over there?”

Hearing Tohsaka Zangyue’s strange tone, Shinji froze in alarm and quickly hid behind his grandfather.

“What?!”

“Someone’s been following me?!”

Shinji’s voice of shock and rage spread out.

The forest outside the Tohsaka mansion fell silent for a moment, then two familiar figures stepped forward.

“Tohsaka Rin... and Emiya Shirou?”

Shinji stared at them in shock and anger. “How is it you two?!”

Tohsaka Zangyue chuckled strangely. “So it’s the Tohsaka girl and the Emiya boy—looks like this year’s Holy Grail War still revolves around those familiar surnames!”

“Enough talk!”

Tohsaka Rin stepped forward boldly, her voice sharp with anger. “You old worm, give me Sakura back!”

“Sakura?”

Tohsaka Zangyue paused slightly, then mused, “Then the seal on Sakura’s body... was your doing?”

But immediately after speaking, he shook his head, dismissing the thought.

“No, impossible—the Tohsaka family could never possess magic of this level!”

“...”

Tohsaka Rin frowned. “What magic? What are you talking about?”

(End of Chapter)