Chapter 386

Chapter 386: Chapter 386

BOOOOM—!

Behind them, at the entrance to the estate, Archer and Saber had already clashed with Kiriya’s Servants.

The ground shook beneath the force of their battle, while violent gusts and flashes of sword light tore through the surrounding area.

The piercing clang of colliding weapons rang out continuously, so loud that it seemed capable of rupturing eardrums.

Fortunately, this particular Matou estate stood in a secluded part of the countryside.

Had such a battle broken out in the middle of Fuyuki during broad daylight, it would almost certainly have attracted the attention of the entire city.

The Holy Church would probably have torn its collective hair out trying to explain the destruction.

And against that chaotic backdrop, two sisters stood facing one another in the estate’s courtyard, neither willing to back down.

"Huh? Sakura, do you even understand what you’re saying?"

Rin’s voice rose sharply as she stared at her younger sister in disbelief.

"That guy is obviously no good!"

First impressions were important, and unfortunately for Kiriya, Rin’s first impression of him had been spectacularly terrible.

The moment she arrived, she had seen a handsome young man surrounded by beautiful women, carrying himself with the easy confidence of someone who enjoyed far too much attention from the opposite sex.

In her mind, she had immediately labeled him a womanizer, a flirt, and an irresponsible playboy.

How could she possibly feel comfortable leaving her innocent, kindhearted little sister in the care of someone like that?

"No, that’s not what he’s like."

Sakura reached out and caught Rin’s wrist, her expression more determined than Rin had ever seen before.

"He saved me. He gave me a life I never would have dared dream of having before!"

Her voice carried unwavering conviction.

"Kiriya-san is a good person!"

At almost that exact moment, Kiriya suddenly sneezed.

Esdeath immediately turned toward him with an amused expression.

"Oh my. I never thought I’d live to see the day someone gave you the ’nice guy’ treatment."

She laughed.

"If those dead bastards from the Empire heard someone calling you a good person, they’d probably crawl straight out of hell just to argue."

After spending so much time around Kiriya, Esdeath had picked up a considerable collection of his jokes and expressions.

"What’s wrong with that? I’ve always been a good person."

Kiriya raised his chin proudly.

"My heart and actions are utterly unclouded. Everything I do is in the name of justice!"

The sheer shamelessness of the declaration was almost breathtaking.

Rider, who was currently fighting Archer and Saber, nearly lost her footing.

Caster came dangerously close to biting her tongue in the middle of an incantation.

Ryuu and Jeanne said nothing, although privately, both women felt there was some truth to his words.

Kiriya certainly had his flaws, particularly his weakness for beautiful women, but his actions had consistently demonstrated a willingness to stand against genuine evil.

In the world of Fate/Apocrypha, he had stopped Amakusa Shirou Tokisada’s deranged ambition, preventing the entire world from being reduced to a stagnant existence devoid of the qualities that made human life meaningful.

In the world of Akame ga Kill!, he had destroyed the corrupt foundations of the Empire, benefiting millions upon millions of ordinary people who had suffered under its rule.

Those achievements alone would have been enough to justify calling him a champion of justice.

Of course, Caster, Rider, and Illya had rather different opinions.

As far as those three were concerned, Kiriya’s declaration might have been the greatest joke of the century.

They could only struggle to control their facial muscles, leaving their expressions somewhat distorted.

...

Meanwhile, Rin was still trying to persuade Sakura to leave.

"A good person? What kind of good person becomes a Magus in the first place?"

The retort escaped her mouth before she could stop herself.

Unfortunately, both Sakura and Shirou immediately gave her peculiar looks.

"Um... Tohsaka?"

Shirou scratched his head.

"Aren’t you a Magus yourself?"

"Emiya, shut up! Nobody asked you!"

Rin whipped around and glared at him so fiercely that Shirou could only offer an awkward smile and wisely fall silent.

Having dealt with that interruption, Rin returned her attention to Sakura.

"Sakura, please. Just come with me for now. Once we’re somewhere safe, we can talk about everything properly. All right?"

"No, Tohsaka-senpai."

Sakura shook her head firmly.

"Kiriya saved my life without asking for anything in return. I could spend the rest of my life trying to repay that kindness and still feel that I hadn’t done enough."

Her eyes remained clear and resolute.

"That’s why I’m not leaving."

’It’s over. I’m finished. This is a complete disaster!’

Rin crouched down, clutching her head and raking her fingers through her hair in frustration.

Her precious little sister had apparently fallen hopelessly under the spell of some handsome stranger who had appeared out of nowhere.

Judging from Sakura’s attitude, she might already have reached the point where she would happily devote her entire life to him.

And the worst part was how quickly it had happened.

Before Rin even realized there was a threat, the pretty-boy interloper had already slipped past all her defenses and stolen her sister’s heart.

"Sakura, you can’t let his appearance fool you!"

Rin desperately searched for a convincing argument and finally seized upon one.

"That guy demanded my Archer and Emiya’s Saber the moment we met! He’s arrogant, domineering, and completely unreasonable. That’s exactly the kind of thing a villain would do!"

Sakura’s gentle smile did not waver.

"But Tohsaka-senpai, isn’t that what the Holy Grail War is?"

She looked toward the fighting Servants.

"Masters and Servants are supposed to fight one another, using whatever means they can to win. Kiriya only wants to recruit the Servants. He won’t do anything to either of you."

To support her argument, Sakura pointed toward Berserker and Rider, who were still engaged in the battle against Archer and Saber. Then she gestured toward the silver-haired Illya, who was enthusiastically cheering from nearby, before pointing to herself.

"Look. The Masters of those Servants are both still alive and perfectly fine, aren’t they?"

"What?"

Shirou suddenly noticed something important.

"Sakura, wait a minute. Are you a Master too?"

The question sent a jolt through Rin.

Her expression changed immediately, and she turned toward her sister with trembling lips.

"Is that true, Sakura?"

Rin had always carried a deep sense of guilt toward the younger sister who had been adopted into another family and deprived of the love and care of their parents.

More than anything, she had wanted Sakura to live a peaceful, happy life.

But if Sakura had also been chosen to participate in the Holy Grail War, the two of them could have ended up fighting one another as enemies.

Sisters forced to turn their weapons against each other.

The mere thought was unbearable.

"I used to be."

Sakura touched the back of her hand, where her Command Spells had once been.

Her expression became even more peaceful.

"Grand—Zouken Matou wanted me to participate. But the night before last, Kiriya came to the Matou residence and killed him."

She smiled softly.

"That’s why I’m finally free."

’But he was your grandfather!’

The words almost escaped Shirou’s mouth.

Yet when he saw the unmistakable relief and happiness on Sakura’s face, he found himself unable to say them.

The girl was speaking about the death of someone who should have been a close family member, and instead of sorrow, her expression reflected the joy of someone who had escaped a terrible fate.

There had to be a reason for that.

"The head of the Matou family... is dead?"

Rin was equally shaken.

But as she watched Sakura’s expression, a far more troubling question began taking shape in her mind.

"Sakura... how have you been living all these years?"

Her younger sister possessed exceptional talent for Magecraft, perhaps no less than Rin herself.

However, a family’s Magic Crest could ordinarily be inherited by only one child.

Their father, Tokiomi Tohsaka, had therefore decided to have Sakura adopted into the Matou family.

He believed that doing so would prevent her extraordinary aptitude from going to waste, and he had arranged the adoption through a private agreement with Zouken Matou.

At the time, Rin had never seriously considered what it would mean for an outsider to inherit another family’s Magic Crest.

She had simply accepted her father’s decision.

After Sakura’s adoption, opportunities for the sisters to speak openly with one another had become increasingly rare.

And following their father’s death, Rin had devoted herself almost entirely to studying the Tohsaka family’s Magecraft and managing its affairs.

With so many responsibilities weighing on her, she had spent even less time with Sakura.

As a result, there were countless things about her sister’s life that Rin simply did not know.

But now, after seeing Sakura’s reaction to Zouken’s death, she was beginning to understand.

The process of transforming a child from another bloodline into a suitable heir for the Matou family could never have been simple.

It must have involved pain.

Terrible pain.

And perhaps even despair.

By the time Rin finally asked the question, her voice was trembling so badly that she could barely keep it steady.

"Sakura... what did they do to you?"

A thin mist immediately gathered in Sakura’s eyes.

For a moment, it looked as though she might burst into tears.

Then she gently wiped the corners of her eyes and gave her sister a smile filled with relief.

"It’s over now, Sister."

Those simple words made Rin’s heart ache.

’Rin Tohsaka, what have you been doing all these years?’

She silently condemned herself.

’How could you know so little about what Sakura was going through? How could you leave her there without ever helping her?’

The guilt was almost suffocating.

Shirou, meanwhile, was hardly an idiot.

He had already begun piecing together the implications of their conversation, and several deeply unpleasant possibilities occurred to him.

His expression turned pale.

"Was Shinji involved in this too?"

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