Chapter 21: The Re-Signed Adoption Contract  

Last night, due to Gilles de Rais killing some police officers, the authorities believed that the serial killer had accomplices. The alert level was not only maintained but raised, causing many elementary and even middle schools to suspend classes.

For students, not having to go to school would usually be a cause for celebration, but when Rin Tohsaka heard the news, her face fell.

Broly had saved her yesterday, but because she later encountered Uncle Kariya, there were many things she couldn't say to the boy. She had planned to ask him properly at school today, but now the school had suspended classes.

Rin was somewhat disheartened, but fortunately, her mother suggested taking her and her sister to the amusement park, which quickly lifted her spirits.

They spent the morning riding the carousel, taking the Ferris wheel, and playing bumper cars. At noon, they ate ice cream, hamburgers, and fries.

By the time they returned home, the good mood from the amusement park still lingered.

"Mom, can we bring Dad with us next time we go to the amusement park?"

Faced with her daughter's hopeful question, Aoi Tohsaka forced a smile.

After vaguely agreeing, she retreated to her room to call her husband.

Tokiomi Tohsaka had just lain down to rest when the phone rang, waking him up. Answering it, he found it was his wife and asked if she had prepared one of their daughters to be sent to the Matou family.

"No, Tokiomi, I haven't prepared the girls yet. But last night, I ran into Kariya Matou in Fuyuki City..."

"Wait, you were in Fuyuki last night?"

"Rin ran off to Fuyuki on her own, trying to find a friend..."

"Why didn't you keep an eye on her?"

"I..."

"Alright, I'm not blaming you. As long as you and the girls are safe, that's what matters."

Fatigue had lowered Tokiomi's emotional control, and realizing he had misspoken, he quickly regained his composure, speaking softly into the phone.

"Just tell me what's going on."

Tokiomi just wanted to end the call and get some rest.

"I met Kariya Matou, and his condition has deteriorated badly."

Aoi continued.

"What does he have to do with us?"

Tokiomi frowned. Hearing his wife mention another man, even someone as elegant as him felt uncomfortable.

"He protected Rin last night."

"Then I should thank him. If I encounter him later, I'll try to spare his life."

"That's not what I meant. He mentioned the Matou family's magecraft, saying it erodes life and flesh."

Aoi didn't hold back, recounting everything she had seen of Kariya's condition the previous night.

"Keep working on the girls. I'll go ask Zouken Matou about this. If the Matou family's magecraft is as bad as you say, I won't push my daughter into that pit."

After hanging up, Tokiomi returned to his study, wrote a letter to Zouken Matou, and summoned a crow familiar to deliver it to the Matou residence.

Upon receiving Tokiomi's letter, Zouken was furious. He grabbed his cane and hurried to the underground worm pit.

Inside the pit, Kariya Matou was being gnawed on by worms, a method for a half-baked magus to maintain his magical energy.

"Kariya, do you think telling the Tohsaka family about your condition will stop them from sending their daughter back to the Matou family?"

Zouken spoke directly to the man in the worm pit.

"What do you mean?"

Kariya, enduring the pain of the worms, felt utterly confused.

"Hmph, playing dumb? Fine, I'll tell you—it's useless. The head of the Tohsaka family is a rational magus. He's already decided to send the child back to the Matou family!"

Zouken waved the letter in his hand, not giving Kariya a chance to read it, before turning and leaving the worm pit.

"Wait, Zouken, you bastard, explain yourself... Ah!"

The worms intensified their life-draining assault, and Kariya collapsed, losing consciousness from the pain.

"Kariya!"

The old man left the worm pit and found his nominal eldest son.

"Father, what do you need?"

Kariya Matou, looking fearful, stepped forward to receive his orders.

"Take Shinji and leave the Matou residence."

"Huh?"

"Go hide outside. A dangerous guest is coming tonight."

In Tokiomi's letter, he had arranged to visit the Matou residence that evening with his Servant. While Zouken doubted Tokiomi would attack, it was better to be safe than sorry.

On the surface, he was sending the ordinary Kariya and his grandson away for safety, but in reality, his true body would also secretly leave, temporarily distancing himself from the Matou residence.

"Pardon the intrusion, Matou patriarch."

That evening, a fully recovered Tokiomi arrived as promised.

"Not at all, Tohsaka patriarch. Your visit is most welcome."

The old man stood at the entrance, offering a polite but insincere smile.

"Regarding the questions in my letter, I trust you have answers?"

Tokiomi also smiled, but the way he gripped his gem-encrusted wand made it clear that if the answers didn't satisfy him, he would act.

"Of course, please follow me."

Zouken, seemingly oblivious, led Tokiomi and the now-visible Gilgamesh into the house.

"Such unpleasant magical energy."

Upon entering, Gilgamesh frowned and commented, then walked over to the Matou family's wine cabinet, pulled out a bottle of wine, and began drinking.

"At least the wine here is better than yours, Tokiomi. Even better than your disciple's."

Zouken watched as Gilgamesh opened a bottle of wine that could have been considered a family treasure, his worm-made eyelids twitching slightly.

"What, do you have a problem with me drinking your wine?"

"Not at all. It's an honor for our wine to receive the praise of the King of Heroes."

"Insects, but at least you know how to speak."

Zouken's body stiffened slightly, surprised that his fake body had been so easily seen through.

"Given the quality of this wine, I'll tolerate the filth here for now. You and my vassor can discuss your matters, but if you dare let that mad dog in the basement attack my vassor, don't blame me for being merciless."

Gilgamesh stayed in the living room to drink, while Zouken led Tokiomi into the worm pit.

There, Tokiomi saw Kariya Matou. Zouken had the worms lift the man up and explained the reason why the Crest Worms were eroding Kariya's life.

"In the end, it's because my useless son suddenly returned to the family, wanting to participate in the Holy Grail War. As a last resort, we had to use such extreme modification magecraft to give him the ability to compete with proper magi."

"A brilliant technique. Though his body and life are severely eroded, the magical circuits activated at the cost of his life are producing a considerable amount of magical energy."

Tokiomi ignored the dense mass of worms in the pit and, after observing how the Crest Worms activated Kariya's magical circuits, offered his unreserved praise.

"Matou patriarch, your experience as a magus is truly impressive. On the path of a magus, I am far from your level."

"You flatter me. It's just a minor, unremarkable technique."

"Then how can I be sure you won't use such methods on my daughter?"

"What I need is an heir to the magical path, not a tool like him. Naturally, I wouldn't use such harsh modification techniques on your daughter. If you don't believe me, we can sign a magical contract as a guarantee."

Perhaps the term **[Tohsaka patriarch]** triggered something, because Kariya, who had been knocked unconscious by the Crest Worms, opened his eyes at that moment.

"Tokiomi, why are you here?"

"You're awake, Kariya. The Tohsaka patriarch is here to investigate the Matou family's magecraft and discuss sending his daughter back to the Matou family."

"Damn... it..."

Kariya, still under the control of the Crest Worms, wasn't fully conscious, but he managed to stammer out his question.

"After seeing me like this, you still want to send your daughter here?"

"You brought this on yourself, trying to participate in this Holy Grail War as a half-baked magus.

But the Matou patriarch has already assured me that he won't use such harsh methods to modify my daughter's magical circuits."

Tokiomi paused, thanking Kariya for protecting his wife and daughter the previous night, before turning to Zouken. "Matou patriarch, can we sign the new adoption contract now?"

"Of course."

Zouken's smile was unsettling as he mentioned that he had prepared a contract from the Mage's Association.

"Ah, Tokiomi, you don't deserve to be a father. Ber..."

Kariya tried to call for his Servant to attack, but Zouken quickly had the Crest Worms subdue him.

"You'll regret this..."

Before losing consciousness again, Kariya spat out his final words of resentment.

"I am Rin and Sakura's father. How I arrange my daughters' lives is a matter for the Tohsaka family. Outsiders have no right to interfere."

Tokiomi's tone was dismissive, but there was a hint of pity in his eyes as he looked at Kariya. As his wife's childhood friend and his own childhood companion, Kariya's concern for his daughters was genuine.

If this person could survive, the daughter sent to the Matou family would have someone who truly cared for and looked after her.

Sighing inwardly but maintaining an elegant demeanor, he left the worm pit with Zouken Matou. With Kariya Matou providing a high-level magical contract from the Mage's Association, they discussed the details of adopting another daughter. After ensuring that the life of the daughter sent as an heir would not be harmed and that she would inherit the path of the magus, Tohsaka Tokiomi signed the contract with his magical energy.

"Any idea when Sakura can be sent over?"

After signing the magical contract, Zouken Matou asked.

"My wife seems quite reluctant to part with our younger daughter."

"What does the head of the Tohsaka family mean by that?"

"I might send our eldest daughter as the heir instead. Would the Matou family mind?"

"Haha, not at all. Whether it's the eldest daughter or the original younger daughter, the Matou family only needs an excellent heir to the magical path."

Zouken Matou, of course, didn't mind. What he wanted was a vessel with excellent potential. If Tokiomi sent the eldest daughter, it would actually make him happier, as he could modify her mature womb earlier, turning her into a vessel to bear the Matou family's descendants.

After leaving the Matou residence and confirming the Matou family's insect magecraft, Tokiomi returned home and called his wife, vouching for the Matou family's magecraft and urging her to prepare their daughter for the transition.

"If possible, I think it's better to send Sakura. Rin is older, and if something were to happen to me, her greater age would make her more capable of stabilizing the Tohsaka family."

"But wouldn't that be too cruel to Sakura?"

"Alright, Aoi, I won't interfere in your decision on who to send. As their mother, you can decide. As long as one of them is persuaded to go to the Matou family and continue as the heir to their magical path."

Tokiomi conceded on this point, leaving the choice to his wife before hanging up.

...

At the Fujimura residence, Broly felt a sense of relief. Before being sent back to his own world, he discovered something crucial.

To convert the happiness values of his wives into happiness points, he needed to invite them to join the Crystal Palace.

Broly hadn't noticed this at first. It wasn't until noon, when Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel entrusted him with their daughter, that the Crystal Palace gained its first official member. After questioning the Crystal Palace, he finally understood the mechanism for obtaining happiness points.

If not for the unseen wife joining the Crystal Palace, he might have returned empty-handed, having failed to grasp how the happiness points system worked.

But now, after formally inviting Fujimura Taiga during their evening bath and receiving her agreement, his happiness points skyrocketed to over 12,000.

Besides Taiga, who had already been converted into happiness points, he had two other wives in this world with high happiness values. The thought of inviting them to join the Crystal Palace tomorrow and seeing his happiness points surge again filled him with excitement.

If testing the Crystal Palace's exchange function hadn't taken so much time and if it weren't so late, he might have gone to invite the other two.

"I wish tomorrow would come sooner."

"What, are you that eager to leave my side?"

"Uh..."

"Just kidding. But don't forget about me when you go back."

"Of course not. Taiga, you're the kindest person to me."

Taiga hugged the boy. After using the Crystal Palace's subsystem module to exchange for a specialty food from Planet Vegeta—Vampa spider legs—and nearly vomiting from the taste of the sticky, yellowish-brown meat, she listened to Broly recount his simple (yet bizarre) hunting life on Vampa. This made her even more sympathetic toward the boy.

On the night before their parting, Taiga wanted to give the boy motherly care. Her body was soft, and her scent was sweet. Broly soon fell asleep in her arms, lulled by her gentle patting.