Starting from Ainz Ooal Gown, simultaneously traveling through time

Chapter 222 Tokiomi Tohsaka's Speculation

Meanwhile, inside the church in Fuyuki City, candlelight flickered in the stillness.

Tokiomi Tohsaka sat on a bench, his wine-red suit impeccably tailored, exuding the elegance and composure unique to a family of magicians.

Opposite him was his close friend and old confidant, Kotomine Risei.

The elderly priest, with his gray hair, wore heavy vestments. Despite his advanced age, he was in good spirits, and his muscles made the priest's robes look more robust than many young people.

"Brother Risei," Tokiomi Tohsaka began, a hint of worry barely perceptible in his eyes, "it seems something terrible happened at the Matou family last night. I sent my familiar to check, and it's a sea of ​​fire. I'm worried about Matou-no-Miko—and Sakura's condition. Would you be so kind as to go and check on them?"

Kotomine Ryougi put down her teacup and glanced at him: "Brother Tokiomi, Sakura is your daughter. Why don't you go see her yourself after something like this happened? Why do you make me go instead?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka sighed softly and explained, "I am indeed very worried about Sakura, but that is, after all, Matou Oki's territory, his magic workshop. After what happened last night, if I went there directly to check on her, it would inevitably be suspected of prying into his secrets and provoking Matou Oki, which is not something a magician should do."

Kotomine Rissho shook his head, his tone somewhat dismissive: "You magicians are so troublesome. It's just giving your daughter away for adoption, it's not like you're never going to see each other again. Why do you need their permission to see her? Anyone who didn't know better would think you were visiting someone in prison."

"You don't understand." Tokiomi Tohsaka's tone remained calm, but with a hint of seriousness. "The inheritance of magic is a treasure that magicians cherish as their life. Since Sakura is preparing to inherit the Matou family's magic crest, I cannot casually pry into her affairs. Doing so might interrupt her path of inheritance."

Kotomine Risei smiled and patted his chest: "The relationship between you and your daughter is really twisted. Look at me and Kirei, this is a normal father-son relationship."

Tokiomi Tohsaka did not refute, but simply shook his head slightly: "Our Tohsaka family carries the long-cherished wish left by our ancestors. That is the goal I have fought for all my life, and it is our family's destiny. I cannot be as carefree as you, Brother Risei."

"Is the so-called 'Vortex of Origin' really that attractive to you magicians?" Kirei Kotomine remarked, then waved his hand. "Never mind, let's not talk about this anymore. I already had Kirei handle the matter you asked me to do. After all, such a big thing has happened, and it's related to the Matou family. Our Church must also take care of it to prevent panic among the general public."

As soon as he finished speaking, the church doors, which had been tightly closed, were pushed open from the outside. Kotomine Risei did not turn around, but judged who it was just by the sound of footsteps.

"Kirei, you've come back just in time," he said loudly. "My brother Tokiomi is very worried about the Matou family, especially his adopted daughter. You should talk to him about it."

The sound of footsteps grew louder as they approached.

The newcomer was dressed in a black priest's robe, tall and upright, with a serious face and a deep contemplation etched between his brows. Kirei Kotomine walked up to the two of them and bowed slightly.

"Father, teacher," his voice was low and steady, "I have a general understanding of the Matou family's situation and am about to..."

You report.

Tokiomi Tohsaka immediately asked, "Kirei, have you seen Sakura? How is she?"

Kirei Kotomine lowered his gaze slightly: "Teacher, I couldn't find your daughter, Sakura Tohsaka, nor could I find Matou Oki. I only found Matou Tsuruno, the head of the Matou family, who was seriously injured and unconscious, and his son, Shinji Matou, in the hospital."

Tokiomi Tohsaka's brow furrowed sharply: "Sakura—she's gone missing?"

"I'm afraid so." Kirei Kotomine paused, then added, "Also, when I was reporting a missing person to the police station, I saw Kariya Matou, the second son of the Matou family. He was also reporting a missing person."

Tokiomi Tohsaka frowned even deeper, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest. "Kariya—could this be related to him? Was Sakura taken away by him?"

"Tokiomi," Kotomine Riku reminded him from the side, "it's not a good habit to be suspicious of others without reason."

Tokiomi Tohsaka shook his head: "Brother Risei is right, but he doesn't know that Kariya said some strange things to my wife before, saying that he would definitely save Sakura and that he would beat me up. He just returned from his business trip and this happened to the Matou family. It's hard for me not to think about this cause and effect."

Kotomine Risei nodded thoughtfully: "Then we'll find out once we invite Matou Kariya over to ask him."

Kirei Kotomine didn't stop there and continued, "Sensei, although I announced the fire at the Matou residence as a natural gas explosion, I could tell at a glance that it was clearly a phenomenon that could only be produced by magic."

Tokiomi Tohsaka leaned forward slightly: "How so?"

Although he had previously sent familiars to observe the Matou family's situation, they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, so they couldn't grasp many details or accurately determine the specific cause of the fire.

But he also had a vague feeling that the damage was not caused by ordinary flames. Ordinary fire could not blow the entire Matou mansion into the sky.

Of course, if you were to ask that infamous "magician killer" in the magic world to do it, he might be able to pull off some amazing tricks that he's never even heard of before.

Kirei Kotomine replied calmly, "The flames at the scene cannot be extinguished by conventional fire extinguishers such as water, sand, carbon dioxide fire extinguishers, foam fire extinguishers, or dry powder fire extinguishers. Moreover, these flames do not harm outsiders; they only burn items within the Matou family's premises. Furthermore, the embers of these flames cannot be preserved; they will extinguish immediately once the area is moved outside the Matou residence."

After listening, Tokiomi Tohsaka fell into deep thought. After a moment, he slowly spoke, "I see—"

Kotomine Ryougi, who was standing nearby, asked, "Tokiomi, what's on your mind?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka raised his eyes, his gaze calm: "Brother Risho should know that I am skilled in fire magic. Based on my observations last night and Kirei's description just now, I tried to determine the level of mystery of that flame. But flames are such a common phenomenon, appearing in various magic systems, that I cannot determine its specific source. However," he paused, "this flame has a strong directional and regional nature, so it should be that someone released it targeting the Matou family."

Kotomine Risei laughed, "Tokiomi, isn't that obvious? If you weren't targeting the Matou family, why did you set fire to their residence?"

"What I mean is," Tokiomi Tohsaka ignored his teasing, "that fire has probably been planned for a long time. The Matou family is a magic family with a history of five hundred years, and its internal mechanisms are full of traps. If you don't know the Matou family very well and have spent a considerable amount of time studying them, you will never be able to break into that magic workshop."

Kotomine Risei narrowed his eyes slightly, then suddenly changed the subject: "Does Tokiomi mean that all of this was done by Matou Kariya?"

'

Tokiomi Tohsaka was taken aback: "Why did you think of him?"

Kotomine Risa was analyzing on her fingers: "Look, Matou Kariya is the second son of the Matou family, so he must know his own family very well. Besides, he said he wanted to rescue your daughter, which might have led to a conflict with Matou Old Man, and then he directly set fire to the Matou mansion. Isn't this reasoning quite reasonable?"