"Well then, your humble servant will take his leave."
Tokiomi Tohsaka maintained a humble posture as he exited the room, as if the other person were the true master of this ancient Tohsaka mansion, and he merely a servant.
It wasn't until he reached the basement that he saw Risei Kotomine and Kirei Kotomine standing guard, along with a shadowy figure lurking in the darkness. It was Kirei Kotomine's Servant, Assassin.
"Teacher, what is our next move?" Kirei asked.
"Next?" Tokiomi thought about the current situation, his brow furrowing slightly. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. The biggest surprise had been that the legendary King of Heroes he had summoned, who was currently enjoying fine wine upstairs, turned out to be a woman. Of course, male or female, it didn't matter. Her immense power was undeniable.
"Should we proceed according to the plan—"
"The plan... no." Tokiomi shook his head, his gaze falling into the shadows of the basement. The image of Lin Jiuan appeared in his mind, and he frowned in disgust.
The Holy Grail War had already begun. He and Kirei had both summoned their Servants. Lin Jiuan had been living in their house for some time now and had moved with his wife Aoi, Rin, and Sakura to a safe house far from the battlefield.
Yes, Sakura had not been sent to the Matou family. The reason for this, even for someone as composed as Tokiomi, was a source of considerable anger. His wife, who had been obedient her whole life and had already agreed to give Sakura to the Matous, had, for some reason, after being out of his sight for just an hour or two, suddenly decided to have a massive argument with him, refusing to let Sakura go. And the usually sensible Rin had sided with her mother.
This had forced Tokiomi to yield. He could dismiss his wife's feelings—to an orthodox magus, a 'wife' was just a tool for procreation. But he couldn't ignore the wishes of Rin, his proud heir. After patiently explaining the reasons for sending Sakura to the Matous to Rin to no avail, and with no time to waste on such trivial matters, Tokiomi could only temporarily acquiesce to their wishes and let Sakura stay. He planned to deal with her adoption after the Holy Grail War.
And the cause of all this... Although Tokiomi was furious at Aoi's sudden change in character and her audacity to defy him, even considering divorcing her, he had identified the true culprit.
Lin Jiuan!
Ever since that boy had come to his house, his wife had become more and more abnormal. And during this time, his two daughters, Rin and Sakura, had become increasingly attached to that little brat. It was all Lin Jiuan's fault!
"I have an additional task I need you to perform."
"An additional task?" Kirei looked at his teacher.
"Kill someone."
"Who?"
Tokiomi took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart. Given the importance his wife and two daughters, especially Rin, now placed on Lin Jiuan, his original plan to simply send him away after the war was likely useless. He could ignore the wishes of his wife and Sakura, but with Rin added to the equation, he had to take it seriously. It concerned the legacy of the Tohsaka family; they would never agree to send him away.
The only way to restore his family relations to normal after the war, to get back his obedient wife and sensible daughter, and to proceed with sending Sakura to the Matous was...
"Lin Jiuan."
The Tohsaka Safe House.
Lin Jiuan stood by the window, gazing at the bright moon in the sky, lost in thought. A 'Beast' doesn't need to sleep. Sleep is merely a way for it to replenish and conserve magical energy. While he usually maintained the habit to preserve his humanity, he didn't dare to sleep during the Fourth Holy Grail War. Who knew when some Heroic Spirit might suddenly go crazy, sense the aura of this wicked little boy, abandon the Grail and the war, and run over here to stab him?
"I have some basic self-defense capabilities now."
During this time, Aoi Tohsaka's 'Fallen' level had risen to 'Advanced', further upgrading the 'Magecraft Knowledge' reward. This had transformed Lin Jiuan from a clueless fool into a competent magus. Combined with his 'Beast' abilities, although he still lacked magical energy without the Greater Grail as a source and couldn't contend for the Grail itself—survival was still the priority—he could at least protect himself against a second or third-rate Servant. Beating or corrupting them was another story, but survival was not a problem.
"I just don't know if Tokiomi knows about me and Aoi."
Thinking about his affair with Aoi, Lin Jiuan felt it was all a bit absurd. How did their relationship even get to this point? Although he was displeased with Tokiomi's various blunders that led to the ruin of the Tohsaka family and Sakura's suffering at the Matous, and consequently disliked the man, Lin Jiuan knew what he himself had done wasn't exactly noble. Most importantly, if Tokiomi found out, wouldn't he send Assassin to assassinate...
Pfft!
Lin Jiuan looked down. The bloody tip of a sharp dagger protruded from his chest. He mechanically turned his head and saw a girl with long purple hair wearing a white mask standing behind him.
Tokiomi, you motherfucker! You really sent a Servant to kill me?!
Seeing Lin Jiuan still able to turn his head, a flicker of confusion crossed the eyes of the Hassan of the Hundred Personas. By all rights, her attack should have killed him instantly. How could this ordinary human boy still turn to look at her?
Fortunately, in the next second, the boy's head lolled to the side, his limbs going limp. The Hassan pulled out her dagger. Seeing him fall to the ground without a breath, she, unsettled by the earlier anomaly, bent down to confirm there were no mana fluctuations on his body. His breathing, heartbeat, and pulse had all stopped. There was no possibility of feigned death.
Only then did the Hassan pick up Lin Jiuan's body. After cleaning up the bloodstains and staging the scene to look like he had left on his own, she carried the body out of the safe house. At the riverbank, she tied a heavy weight to it and tossed it into the water. After standing silently by the river for a long time, she finally turned and left.
Meanwhile, in the Tohsaka family's basement.
Having received the report from Assassin, Kirei Kotomine looked at Tokiomi Tohsaka, who was resting with his eyes closed. He didn't quite understand. Why would this magus, a man his father described as 'desiring only the Root' and chosen by the Church, use a Servant to kill an ordinary boy living under his own roof? But...
"Teacher, Assassin has dealt with the boy named Lin Jiuan. He has been sunk in the river."
Tokiomi opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his usually stern face. Though he didn't know the source of his initial dislike for the boy, his death had finally laid one of his obsessions to rest. Now, as long as he proceeded steadily, relying on the power of the King of Heroes and Kirei's covert assistance, obtaining the Grail and reaching the Root was a certainty. Afterwards, he would send Sakura to the Matous. In a few more decades, not just in the Far East, but in the entire world of magecraft, the Tohsaka family would hold a position no less than that of a Lord family of the Clock Tower!
Immersed in his joy, Tokiomi never noticed that the way Kirei Kotomine looked at him had changed.
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