Chapter 7

While Sakura and Sena had a stroll in the city, in the Matou Mansion at the same time, Kariya was worried sick when he found that Sakura wasn't in the Mansion.

He went to check upon her earlier, worried that she fell asleep when they would have dinner soon.

"Sakura, you up?" After he knocked on the door, Kariya called to her.

But who answered his call was not the little girl, but a man's voice instead.

"She's not here." The voice said, alarmed him.

Immediately, he opened the door forcefully and barged into the room. Once inside, he saw Sena sitting on the floor while resting his head on the bed, but couldn't see Sakura anywhere.

"Caster!" Kariya said loudly when his sight landed on Sena, and "Yo!" Sena said simply as he raised his hand.

"Where's Sakura!?" And asked, demanding an immediate answer as he found that Sakura wasn't there.

'Is he finally showing his true color!' Kariya panicked, and looked at Sena intensely.

"Tone down a bit… She's alright. Just go for a walk in the city with me…"

"With you?" Kariya incredulously looked at the man. 'But you are here!!!' Kariya screamed in his mind but did not let it out as he remembered who this guy was.

And as he had guessed, when Sena saw the incredulous look Kariya gave him, he explained to him.

"I'm not the original, but a bunshin. You know… similar to the ninja thingy… left behind in case you come in before we get back." Sena lightly explained, made Kariya relax a bit, but still worried.

"So she's outside with the original you? Why not tell me beforehand then!?" Kariya complained.

In response, Sena only shrugged his shoulders.

"Sakura said that you're checking some documents, so I just didn't want to disturb you. Don't worry though, we're going back. Just need to buy some ice cream and a few groceries for dinner."

"You know?" Kariya was a bit surprised hearing what Sena said.

"We are connected, telepathically." Sena brushed it off with that, not explaining any further.

To stop Kariya and distract him from the issue, Sena brought a new topic and threw a question to him.

"So I assume that you entertain the idea of becoming the head of the family?"

Caught off guard by the sudden shift of the topic, Kariya was stumped and couldn't say anything immediately. But after a while, he nodded determinedly.

"If I'm not, the three of us would be in a difficult situation. I have my pride, but it would be difficult to support Sakura and Shinji with my current job." Kariya was being realistic and threw away his pride for the responsibilities he had.

"Hmmm…" Sena hummed and thought about something.

"About Sakura…" Sena began. 'How about returning her back to the Tousaka?' Was what he wanted to ask Kariya, but stopped.

Sena doubted that Tokiomi would treat Sakura well. But that opinion was so biased because of his dislike for the man, and his lack of understanding of the man called Tousaka Tokiomi.

So, Sena thought that maybe returning her back was the best option? After all, at the very least, she would be reunited with her sister and mother that way.

But then again, what if Tokiomi pulled something similar again in the future? After all, even with his lack of understanding of the man, at least he knew that the man was a mage first, a traditionalist at that, and a father second, or maybe third or fourth.

Maybe next, he would send Sakura somewhere more far away from here, far from her sister and far from her mother.

And on top of that… the scene of Tokiomi being stabbed by Kirei suddenly resurfaced in his mind.

"What about Sakura?" Kariya suddenly asked, disturbing Sena's train of thought.

Sena looked at the man, and could see clearly that he was frowning and looking at him with suspicion.

Sena snorted a chuckle then shook his head.

"No. Just thinking that maybe returning Sakura to the Tousaka will be the best for her. But on second thought, without Zouken, maybe staying here is not a bad of an idea either. At the very least, I know you would be a better father for her than that asshole." Sena said as he looked at Kariya sincerely.

Being told something like that so suddenly surprised Kariya, made him unable to utter any word as response.

"Well, you will be the next family head? If that's the case…" Sena rose to his feet and approached Kariya.

"Before I killed Zouken, I extracted his magecraft knowledge." Sena said as he stood before Kariya.

"Now that you have the intention to become the head of the Matou family, I'll give it to you." Sena raised his hand and a stream of water came out of it.

But Kariya stepped back and shook his head.

"I don't need that, Caster." Kariya said.

"From now on, Matou will be just any other normal family that has nothing to do with magecraft. We are in decline anyway as more and more Matou family members are born without a talent for magecraft. So it will be for the best that we become a normal family from now on."

"Besides that, I don't want our family to continue that horrible practice!" Kariya said lastly with a frown.

But Sena did not give a damn, acted as if he heard nothing, and went forward with the process despite how strongly Kariya refused the idea of inheriting Matou's magecraft knowledge.

"Yeah yeah, whatever…" Sena said boredly as he controlled the water element inside Kariya, and made him lose control over his own body.

Sena did this not because it was Kariya's right to inherit Zouken's knowledge or something around that notion, but Sena was just simply using him as a guinea pig for the new ability he just thought of and received, the Bestowment Water.

It was pretty much similar to how he integrated Berserker's skills and Zouken's knowledge with himself. The difference would be that this ability was to integrate them with another person beside himself.

He thought about the ability because of Sakura.

He was thinking about copying Tokiomi's template using Water Soldier ability to integrate all of the magecraft knowledge that the Tousaka family had with her. But before doing that to her, he wanted to know what it would be like first and use Kariya as a guinea pig.

Not only Tousaka though, he would also copy the other mages' magecraft knowledge as well, and coincidentally in this city right now, prominent mages were gathered.

Controlling the water inside his body, Sena made Kariya stand still and opened his mouth.

Opening his palm, Sena created a water blob. He copied the magecraft knowledge from the AWE's into it, made it become an essence of some kind that contained the magecraft knowledge, and would integrate the knowledge contained in it with anyone who digested it.

He made it that way instead of integrating the knowledge directly because Sakura was still a child at the moment, and wanted her to integrate with the knowledge when she was older.

But at that time, Sena would probably not around, so he wanted to make the knowledge into an essence and the knowledge contained inside would be integrated upon digestion.

At least Sena wanted her to learn about the magecraft manually until she was twelve or thirteen, to build some foundation about the craft, and digest the essence after that.

For that she would need a tutor, so he noted in his mind to visit the Einzbern later.

Not to mention that Sakura also needs a mother figure of some kind as well, so… yeah, he would definitely visit the Einzbern later.

Sena himself actually had an interest in their homunculi for… a certain reason, so…

*cough*

Back to the topic.

He did this because he wanted Sakura to be strong, so strong that the fact alone would make Tokiomi regret his decision!

'Magic Crest inheritance? No need!!! My Bestowment Water is way much better than that! One digestion and she will have all the knowledge overnight!'

But of course, that also would depend on Sakura herself. If she didn't want to become a mage and chose the mundane life, he would not force her, and let her have the life she wanted.

What Sena wanted the most from her was for her to have a happy life.

… and maybe a little love for him, not the current Sakura, but her adult version.

Extracting himself from the thought, he looked at Kariya again who was looking at him warily, alarmed by what he was trying to do.

"Easy there, don't look at me like that."

"I understand your reason, but it was dumb, don't you think? Like… you choose to be ignorant about something that you know clearly how dangerous they could be." Sena raised one of his eyebrows with an incredulous smile.

"I know you hate the practice, but it won't hurt you to be knowledgeable about them. At the very least, you will be able to understand when something happened and could take the right action accordingly."

"Not to mention, you misunderstood something here…"

"Sure, Zouken was a creep and like his worms too much for his own good, but it was just an application of magecraft, not the entirety of it. There are many kinds of magecraft in the world. So if you dislike the one practiced by Zouken so much then don't do that. You could just simply look for something you deem acceptable and start from that."

"Should I mention how a sword could be used to kill, but could also be used to protect? I think you are old enough to understand that much."

"Also, you will be a father figure for Sakura from now on. And I don't want you to be ignorant about things that could potentially endanger her in the future."

"I am not forcing you to become a mage. If you are interested, sure, go ahead. But if you don't, no problem, don't force yourself then. I am just simply giving you one more option you could choose from. Take it or not, decide for yourself."

Sena ended his 'lecture' at that and sent the essence into Kariya's mouth, making him digest it forcefully.

The integration process started immediately as the knowledge of magecraft flooded Kariya's mind, then ended shortly later as all of them imprinted into his mind.

As the process ended, Sena then released his control over Kariya's body, made him fall on all fours and had a coughing fit on the floor.

He was breathing heavily after that, holding his head, he stared at the floor, wide-eyed, as he was overwhelmed by what he just experienced and what he possessed.

Centuries worth of magecraft knowledge!

He had a complete understanding of all of that in under a minute!

The practice that Zouken did, he despised them, but at the same time, he was fascinated by the many theories behind it as he got a complete understanding about all of it.

He had to admit that all of this knowledge was incredible.

Still breathing heavily, Kariya raised his head and looked at Sena, as Sena also looked back at him with a light smile on his face.

He wanted to complain. He wanted to state his dissatisfaction. But couldn't, as what Sena said earlier was true.

He hated magecraft because of what Zouken did, to him, to Sakura. But choosing to be ignorant about them despite knowing full well its danger was indeed dumb.

So he could not utter any word to refute what Sena said and could only annoyedly look away.

"I admit you are right. But should you do it this way!" Grumbled Kariya as he took a breather.

"Your prejudice is in the way." Sena shrugged.

"Beside that, the knowledge is far from useless anyway, so why bother wasting my time convincing you knowing that you will be grateful after receiving them." Sena said as he offered his hand to help Kariya stand up.

"What I know about imparting magecraft is something painful and full of suffering. Not something this magical that would end painlessly in an instant." Kariya complained after taking the offered hand and standing up.

In his defense, what Kariya knew about magecraft was mostly a disgusting practice filled with pain and suffering. He didn't expect that this knowledge impartation would be this magical.

Also, the magecraft knowledge aside, Kariya couldn't help but note something from what Sena said earlier.

Sakura.

Again, Sena did something for her sake again.

'He is really fond of her.' Kariya thought and felt relieved because of that.

With this, it seemed Sena really had no intention to harm her.

He was silent for a while, then,

"Thank you." Kariya said to Sena.

"Thank you for everything you have done for Sakura and me." Kariya said again and bowed deeply to show his sincerity.

"It's for Sakura actually. You are just collateral and for convenience sake, so you don't need to thank me." Sena corrected, brushed it off with a shrug as it was nothing for him.

"It might be so, but still, the fact that you saved me didn't change."

"Well… Yeah, sure. Now raise your head. I'm not used to this kind of gesture."

And Kariya did as told and raised his head.

"Then… Sakura and the real me will return soon, so you don't need to worry and just wait." Sena turned around, but then stopped.

"Oh, right. Don't cook. I will cook for dinner."

"You… cook?" Kariya was caught off guard by that and stunned a bit.

But Sena didn't elaborate on that as his body was frozen in an instant, shattered into particles and disappeared.

Kariya exhaled a sigh when he was alone and went to a nearby chair. He sat there and started browsing through the new knowledge he now had as he waited for Sakura and Sena to return from their walk.

Time passed slowly and after some time, Sakura, who was hugging a teddy bear with both of eyes closed, and Sena, who was holding a grocery bag, appeared in the room, taking Kariya's attention.

"You could open your eyes now, princess." Sena said and Sakura opened her eyes.

They were back.

A moment ago they were standing on a deserted street, but the next moment later they were in her room.

It was the second time she experienced teleportation, as they went to the city through teleportation as well. But even so, the experience still fascinated her as she looked around, as if trying to make sure that this is really her room.

Her sight then landed on someone, a man, sitting on her chair looking at them, surprised, then sighed in relief after that.

"Kariya Oji-san…" Sakura said the man's name as he stood up and approached her.

When Sakura and Sena appeared suddenly in the room, Kariya was startled, as he was in the middle of browsing through the new knowledge he got earlier.

But when he registered who the two of them were, the surprised look he had replaced with relief.

He stood up and went to approach Sakura, but as he came closer, he could see that Sakura was… brighter. He looked at her eyes and could see that it shows more light now, surprising him yet again.

'Thank god.' He was glad.

He kneeled in front of her and smiled at her while patting her head.

"Welcome back." He said to her. (Okaeri.)

"I am home." (Tadaima.) She said back to him.

Kariya could hear that she was more cheerful as well from her voice. Glad him even more as his smile grew even wider.

"Was that fun?" Kariya couldn't help but ask, and Sakura nodded, "Un!" And said lightly with a smile.

"That's good then." Kariya chuckled happily.

He then looked at Sena who was standing on the side.

"Thank you." He said to him really sincerely.

"Not a big deal." Sena shrugged.

With a grocery bag in hand, he smiled at Sakura and went to the door.

"I'll go to the kitchen." He said without turning around as he walked.

"You know where it is? No, rather… Caster, are you sure you want to cook?" Kariya couldn't help but ask as he looked at his back.

Sena stopped hearing that and turned around.

"Is there a problem with that?" Sena asked back with a raised eyebrow.

"No," Kariya shook his head, "It sounds rude, but… you… have no look of… someone who could cook…" He said that with difficulty as he didn't want to sound rude to him.

"I'm offended…" Sena said with one eye closed and lifted his chin slightly.

He turned around again with a 'hmph!' and continued to walk outside.

"I'll show you the most delicious meal you never had in your life!" Sena declared and closed the door.

Looking at that, Kariya smiled wryly and let out a chuckle.

"Oji-san?" Sakura asked him, confused.

"It's nothing." Kariya said with a chuckle and asked her about the walk she had with Sena.

Sakura told him happily about it. About the places they visited, the shops, the claw machine, the cats and dogs in the pet shop… she told Kariya about all of them enthusiastically, despite her timidity and quiet nature.

Looking at her like that, Kariya felt relieved as he believed that the day that she would overcome her traumatic experience would surely come.

He believed in that and would make sure that the day would come with everything he had!

Meanwhile, Sena was walking through the corridor, and once he arrived, he opened the kitchen's door.

He knew where is what in this Mansion as through the water vapor around, he knew the layout of the entire Mansion with the Water Sense.

Entering the kitchen, he put the grocery bag on a table and looked around, as two exact copies of him, his avatars, teleported in, holding a few more grocery bags and put them on the table as well.

"Good enough." Sena nodded after that and started with the preparation, together with his two avatars.

He was controlling three bodies simultaneously as they were not the clone version, but the avatar version.

It should have been difficult, but thanks to the absolute mastery property that the AWE had, it was very easy for him to do so.

He peeled the onion and controlled the other avatars to chop the carrots and another one prepared the chicken.

He had many things to do but as the three bodies were under the control of one person, they had perfect coordination.

With three pairs of hand working simultaneously, also with his increased speed thanks to the Power Enhancement, not long after he started, the dish was ready.

He brought them to the dining room and called for Sakura and Kariya after that.

The both of them arrived and immediately sat on the chair, then looked at the dish on the table.

Sakura had no particular expression, but Kariya looked at the dish a bit… unsurely.

He looked at Sena, then at the dish again.

He did that alternatingly a few times before finally stopped and pointed at the dish.

"This is Omurice." Kariya said a bit absentmindedly.

"I know. I was the one who cooked them after all." Sena said flatly, as Kariya stated something obvious.

"No… I mean…" He wanted to say more, but stopped himself and took the spoon.

Sakura did the same and both of them started to eat.

As they the spoon pressed on it, however, an aroma explosion happened, and it filled the entire dining room.

It tickled their nose warmly, making both of them salivating by the aroma alone.

Sena smiled proudly looking at them like that, turned around, and left the dining room as he needed to prepare the summoning ritual.

'Raikou is waiting for me.' Sena thought, and used the Water Movement to teleport.