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Chapter 187 Shinji, the King of Small Fish

"what?!"

Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya both looked astonished.

The former hurriedly asked, "Which Matou?"

Bai Zemin glanced at her and said, "Are you asking about Rider's Master... or our enemy?"

Rin Tohsaka paused slightly, "Is there a difference?"

"Of course."

Bai Zemin slowly said, "Because the Master who summoned Rider was Matou Sakura, while the one who set up the Soul-Eating Barrier at the school and drove Rider to participate in the Holy Grail War was Matou Shinji!"

So, Sakura still participated in the Holy Grail War?

How could this be?
Rin Tohsaka stared blankly at Shirazaki, her expression somewhat wistful and lost in thought.

Emiya Shirou looked equally incredulous and couldn't help but exclaim, "What did you say?!"

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

"And Sakura, she actually... How is that possible? This morning, she was..."

One of them was stunned and lost in thought, while the other was incoherent.

It's clear how much of an impact this premature spoiler had on them.

Even so, Bai Zeming showed no sign of stopping and continued calmly, "Although Matou Sakura is Rider's true Master, she does not want to participate in the Holy Grail War."

"So she used Command Seals to create the 'Book of False Servants,' transferring Master's authority to Shinji..."

Rin Tohsaka snapped out of her daze, her sapphire-like eyes shining brightly once more:
"So, the target you're actually planning to deal with is Shinji Matou?"

"..."

Bai Zemin glanced at her and said, "It seems you really don't want to be enemies with your sister!"

"younger sister?"

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

"How could Sakura be Tohsaka-san's sister?"

"..."

Rin Tohsaka remained silent.

Bai Zemin calmly said, "Let me explain!"

“In a prestigious magic family like the Tohsaka family, the family’s magic circuits are usually passed down to only one person. Unfortunately, Tohsaka’s father, Tokiomi Tohsaka, has two daughters with exceptional talents.”

"Coincidentally, the Matou family, which is also a prestigious family, is experiencing a decline in talent in this generation. In order not to waste the talent of his other daughter, Tokiomi Tohsaka adopted Sakura into the Matou family, hoping that she would inherit the Matou family's magic."

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

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

"Wait!" Hearing this, Rin Tohsaka could no longer hold back and finally asked the question that had been on her mind all along, "You mean, Sakura isn't having a good time in the Matou family?"

"It's more than just bad!"

Bai Zeming answered without hesitation and then recounted part of Sakura's experiences at the Matou family.

Considering Sakura Matou's fragile self-esteem, he deleted a lot of the plot, omitted some details, and only told the two of them about the pain of inheriting the Matou family's magic. He also described Sakura as an adopted son who was hated by his stepbrother and whose elders turned a blind eye to his actions.

As for the even darker and more disgusting reality, now is not the time.

For Matou Sakura now, the familial love from her older sister Rin Tohsaka, and the budding romance with Shirou Emiya, are the purest and most beautiful sanctuary in her heart.

Bai Zeming wouldn't be foolish enough to actively invade this pure land.

He will not reveal the truth until Matou Sakura's heart becomes strong enough.

Otherwise, Sakura Matou, who is already insecure and sensitive, would definitely go down the path of corruption and darkness after learning that her shameful past has been exposed...

“…It’s actually like this!”

After hearing Bai Zeming's selective spoilers, Rin Tohsaka clenched her fists tightly.

Those large, sapphire-blue eyes held both burning anger and deep guilt towards her younger sister.

Bai Zemin glanced at her and said in a slightly gentler tone, "The past cannot be undone, but the future can be changed."

"How about it, would you like to come with me to visit a famous family of magicians?"

Emiya Shirou gritted his teeth in anger and said without hesitation, "I'll go!"

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

She wanted to see for herself what Sakura had gone through. If Sakura had truly suffered unfair treatment from the Matou family, as Haku had claimed, she would personally take her younger sister back.

No matter the cost!
……

……

The following morning, at the private Homurahara Gakuen.

The church-arranged cleanup team has arrived at the school and put up a fence outside the school gate.

Several loud excavators drove into the campus and began digging in front of the ruins of the teaching building.

Outside the railing, students in school uniforms were crowded together, eagerly looking at the notice board posted in front of the school gate.

Like students all over the world, most students seemed somewhat gloating after seeing their school collapse, their solemn expressions masking their undisguised joy.

Only a small number of students who left valuables at school looked annoyed and prayed that their belongings wouldn't be damaged.

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

Even those who are usually quiet and reserved will chime in with a few words at this time.

In this situation, the unusually enraged king of the minions stands out rather conspicuously...

At a street corner not far from the school gate, Bai Zemin and his two allies stood there, quietly watching Matou Shinji, who had blue curly hair, standing on the outskirts of the crowd.

At this moment, he stood on the outskirts of the crowd, gritting his teeth, his eyes blazing with fury.

The school building collapsed during the battle between the two heroic spirits, destroying the barrier he had painstakingly erected. Without the Soul-Eating Barrier, how could he, with his already low talent, replenish Rider's mana?

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

"Who is it? Who on earth is it?!"

"Who destroyed my barrier?!"

Looking at Matou Shinji, whose face practically screamed anger, Bai Zeming was not surprised at all.

Sure enough, the king of trash fish is the king of trash fish!
This reaction is quite obvious, isn't it?
Don’t you even try to act?
"It's really him!"

Emiya Shirou clenched his fists tightly, his gaze filled with anger as he stared at Matou Shinji not far away.

Fortunately, he retained his composure and did not rush forward in front of everyone to punch Shinji directly.

Just then, Archer's voice came from above and drifted into the ears of the three of them.

"We've already searched the area, and there's no trace of the Rider within a hundred meters."

Archer paused here, then said with some disbelief, "This guy came by himself..."

"..."

Bai Zemin's lips twitched. He admitted that he had underestimated the level of Matou Shinji's weaklings.

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

Are they tired of living?!
Without a doubt, if the three of them were to make a move at this moment, they could easily assassinate him without alerting anyone.

However, Shinji is ultimately just a minor ailment. They have already devised a plan to follow Shinji to the Matou family and lure the old insect from his magic workshop.

……

……

The Matou family mansion is located in Kitano, Kobe, a 15-minute walk from Sannomiya Station.

The mansion here is decorated very luxuriously, with a Western style that has a touch of Japanese influence. From the outside, the Matou family's mansion is even more dazzling than the Tohsaka family's.

But for some reason, this place is shrouded in a cold, damp, and dark atmosphere, so much so that ordinary people are unwilling to go near it.

On his way home, looking at the luxurious mansion hidden in the mountains ahead, Shinji Matou grew angrier and angrier.

He thought that after seizing Master privileges from Matou Sakura through the Book of False Ministers, his life would take a turn for the better.

But who would have thought that in just one day, all his plans, whether it was setting up a Soul-Eating Barrier to replenish magic power or finding the Master hidden in the school, would end in failure!

What's most hateful is that even the usually cowardly Matou Sakura dared to resist his tyranny!

Recalling the magical membrane on Matou Sakura's body that seemed to be composed of thousands of silver needles, Matou Shinji felt a burning jealousy.

"He clearly wanted to show off his magic talent, but he insisted on saying he couldn't control it. Pshaw!"

"Just wait, once I obtain the Holy Grail, I will definitely—"

"Shinji."

Before the words were finished, a sinister and aged voice came from ahead.

Shinji Matou jumped up and looked up. He saw an old man with a cane walk out of the Matou family mansion and stand in the shadows in front of the gate, staring straight at him.

The old man was dressed in a dark blue and dark gray kimono, holding a wooden cane. His hair had long since fallen out due to his age, his short body was slightly hunched, and his limbs were as thin as a mummy. There was also a foul smell of decay around him. Both his appearance and behavior were strange in an indescribable way.

Even so, Shinji Matou still dared not show the slightest disrespect.

"Grandfather...Grandfather, why are you out now?"

"What, can't I be in the sunlight?"

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

"No, no!"

Shinji Matou broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly tried to explain.

But Zouken Matou had no intention of listening to his explanation. Instead, he turned his gaze to Shinji's back and said calmly, "Shinji, since you insist on participating in the Holy Grail War, you'd better be prepared to act like a Master."

"Always making no progress like this will kill you..."

"You agree, right, those two little ones over there?"

Upon hearing Zouken Matou's strange tone, Shinji was startled and quickly hid behind his grandfather.

"what?!"

"Someone's following me?!"

Shinji's voice, filled with shock and anger, spread out.

The woods outside the Matou residence were silent for a moment, then two familiar figures emerged from them.

"Rin Tohsaka, and Shirou Emiya?"

Shinji stared at them in shock and anger, exclaiming, "What?! It's you?!"

Zouken Matou chuckled, "So it's the little girl from the Tohsaka family and the adopted son from the Emiya family. It seems this Holy Grail War is going to feature those familiar surnames again!"

"Cut the nonsense!"

Rin Tohsaka strode forward and said angrily, "Old bug, hand over Sakura!"

"cherry?"

Zouken Matou paused for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "So, the restriction on Sakura's body was your doing?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zouken Matou shook his head, denying his own guess.

"No, impossible! The Tohsaka family couldn't possibly possess magic of this level!"

"..."

Rin Tohsaka frowned and said, "What magic? What are you talking about?"

(End of this chapter)