Tatsuya Suzuki narrowed his eyes. The sunlight shining through the glass above the chapel made his eyes turn white.
He gradually came back to his senses from his doze. He had actually fallen asleep in such a place without realizing it.
Heavy and slow footsteps echoed through the wooden floor of the church. An elderly priest slowly walked forward and appeared on the left side of Tatsuya's field of vision.
He was the priest in charge of this church, his name was Kotomine Risei, and he was nearly eighty years old. He looked old and dim-sighted, but his narrowed eyes still conveyed that he had not dimmed due to age.
"Are you tired of waiting?" Father Risei asked Tatsuya, who was much younger than him, in a very calm manner.
Tatsuya then withdrew his arms from the wooden bench, changing from leaning back to sitting, and his right hand slowly dropped to rest on the silver-haired girl who was taking a nap on his legs.
"No, I came here today just for that matter anyway, so it doesn't matter if I wait a little longer," Tatsuya replied nonchalantly. "But Father Risei, your son still hasn't come."
"As you know, it's only been a year since he experienced the pain of widowhood, and he is currently studying magic with Tokiomi-kun to prepare for the Holy Grail War in two years. I'm afraid he doesn't have the time to be distracted and come see his daughter," Father Risei explained solemnly, his eyes fixed on the little girl in Tatsuya's arms.
Caren Hortensia
The son of priest Kotomine Risei, Kotomine Kirei, had this child from his marriage to an Italian woman.
However, Kirei's wife passed away only two years after they were married. Kirei knew he could not take care of his two-year-old daughter Caren himself, so he entrusted her to Tatsuya Suzuki, who happened to be in Italy.
The two had carried out missions together that required the joint efforts of the agents of the Holy Church and the magicians of the Magic Association. Based on this relationship, Caren was entrusted to Tatsuya.
However, Tatsuya had not yet decided whether to let Caren change her last name and be officially adopted by him.
"That's really a pity..." Tatsuya said, scratching his hair.
Whether it was because he couldn't spare the time to come, or he just didn't want to come at all, and he didn't have any feelings for the daughter he entrusted to Tatsuya, he was reserved about this.
There was something wrong with Kotomine Kirei.
This was the deepest impression left on Tatsuya Suzuki after working together on many missions with the priest.
"But seeing the child's current condition, entrusting her to you may be the best choice Kirei could have made," Father Risei said. "Neither Kirei nor I can take good care of Caren."
"No, no, I just happened to want to settle down and don't think it's a big deal," Tatsuya smiled and waved his hands, indicating that it was not a big deal.
But in fact, he had no way of telling Father Risei or Kotomine Kirei that it was some strange "will" that had instructed him to do this.
[Mission: Adopt Caren Hortensia, successfully completed.]
If it weren't for this kind of mission, Tatsuya would not have been able to appear in Italy at the right time when Kotomine Kirei's wife died.
Tatsuya really wanted to complain: why was it necessary to do such a thing?
But that will—or perhaps it should be called a "system"—is sometimes effective and sometimes not.
The first contact was when he survived in the Shadow Kingdom.
The second time was when he left the Shadow Kingdom and returned to the outside world, and was given the so-called [Shadow Kingdom Training Mission Reward].
And the reward... was just being registered as a magician in the Magic Association without any loopholes.
In the four or five years that followed, Tatsuya never received any missions.
He had thoroughly felt...
Tatsuya had complained about this terrible system more than once.
There were only tasks, only penalties for failing to complete them, and no clear rewards.
Sometimes it did reward, but more often it didn't. Slavery is more humane than this...
As for today, Tatsuya Suzuki brought Caren to Japan and came to the Kotomine Church in Fuyuki City for this reason.
[New mission: Adopt the second daughter, Sakura Tohsaka, from the Tohsaka family.]
[She is the egg of a genius magician with the rare imaginary attribute. Please don't miss the opportunity when the Tohsaka family is worried about their children's outstanding talents, okay?]
[If the mission fails, the only thing waiting for the small magician is GAME OVER? Hehe~]
Hey, you demon!
Just thinking of that tone, which sounded like that of a female devil asking for a beating, Tatsuya wanted to curse.
It is now 1992 in Japan, and this concept is probably still far from being born.
Although sometimes, Tatsuya was also surprised why he had such knowledge that transcended time.
"Tokiomi-kun has arrived at the church gate and will be coming in shortly."
Kotomine Risei had no idea what Tatsuya Suzuki was thinking. He just admired the lazy aura of this young man who always made things seem easy.
After all, Tatsuya was one of the few outstanding magicians in the Magic Association and had just been awarded the Pride class not long ago.
Compared to Kirei, the son that Father Risei was so proud of, he was not inferior at all.
"Yeah."
Just as Tatsuya Suzuki agreed, the door of the chapel was pushed open.
A man in a dark red suit walked in. Judging from his appearance and age, he was no older than Tatsuya, who claimed to be just 20 years old, but his steady demeanor and majestic temperament made him look extraordinary.
Tohsaka Tokiomi.
This was the person Tatsuya Suzuki came to the church to meet today.
Tokiomi was accompanied by a little girl with black hair and blue eyes, who must be Tohsaka Sakura.
Gently picking up the still-dozing Caren, Tatsuya stood up from the bench and turned to face the Tohsaka father and daughter who were walking down the aisle.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr. Suzuki. This is my daughter, Sakura Tohsaka," Tokiomi introduced his timid daughter to Tatsuya.
It was a day off at church, and except for his father, there were only adults Sakura didn't know, and it was a solemn environment.
This is an occasion that children of this age would be afraid of.
"You have finally decided to accept my request and entrust your daughter to me for teaching," Tatsuya said, showing a perfect smile.
Tokiomi replied in an elegant tone, "Being able to inherit magic from the disciple of the Grand Magician Aozaki Touko is a rare opportunity for Sakura."
No one knew where Tatsuya Suzuki came from, and no one knew his magician school, but no one cared to ask.
However, he was using magic that included the original rune, so under the prompting of that unreliable system, Tatsuya pretended to be Aozaki Touko's disciple.
Although apart from Tatsuya, Tokiomi also had the Matou family in Fuyuki, and his aunt's family, Edelfeldt, with whom he had not had any contact for more than 60 years, to choose from.
But when Tatsuya Suzuki's request came through Kotomine Risei, Tohsaka Tokiomi was still moved.
The original runes and puppet techniques were all secrets that even Tohsaka Tokiomi could not achieve, and were passed down from the Grand Puppeteer.
If Sakura could become the successor of this line of magicians, Tokiomi would no longer have to worry about her future.
"Yeah." Tatsuya nodded with satisfaction, the task successfully completed.
He squatted down and held out his hand to Sakura. At this time, Tokiomi also prompted Sakura to walk over.
"From today on, I will be your father," Tatsuya said, feeling a bit weird saying it.
After all, having two daughters before even getting married might make it difficult to find a partner in the future.
"…"
Sakura flinched and stopped in front of him, not touching Tatsuya's hand, but looking back at Tokiomi with reluctance and confusion.
"Go, Sakura." Tokiomi's resolute voice also contained the same reluctance.
At this time, Caren woke up, and Tatsuya put her down and let her stand on the ground.
Tokiomi already knew about Caren's situation from Father Risei, so he didn't ask any questions.
"Formally introducing, this child's name is Caren, and she is one year younger than you," Tatsuya smiled at Sakura. "From today on, you are Caren's sister, Sakura."
"...Sister..." Sakura repeated the word.
She subconsciously touched the ribbon on her temples.
It was as if something had brightened her mood. Her eyes, which had been a little dim, became bright again, and a blush of shyness and joy appeared on her face.
Sakura walked up to Caren and shook her hand in greeting.
Seeing the scene go so smoothly, Tokiomi couldn't help but smile with relief.
Afterwards, Tatsuya walked out of the chapel with Tokiomi and Father Risei and chatted in the church courtyard.
"The next Holy Grail War will be in two years, right?" Tatsuya asked, showing his interest in the topic.
Tokiomi nodded, "Yes. However, as a magician who steps foot on the land of Fuyuki, you will be more or less inspired by the Holy Grail and obtain the Command Seals."
"Unfortunately, up to now, there is no trace of any Command Seal on my body." Tatsuya raised his hand and showed the flawless back of his hand to the two of them as if to prove his innocence.
He indeed had not yet obtained the Command Seals. He did not know if it had anything to do with his own mentality, or if the Holy Grail was waiting for something.
Tokiomi then made a joke, "Then I can at least assume that Mr. Suzuki will not become my opponent in this Holy Grail War. That would be very troublesome."
"It's too early to say that now." Father Risei had a different opinion. "Suzuki-kun will settle down in Fuyuki until the Holy Grail War begins, and the possibility of obtaining the Command Seals cannot be ruled out."
Tatsuya seemed surprised. "What if I really got the Command Seals and became Mr. Tohsaka's opponent in the Holy Grail War..."
"Then let's gamble our respective honors as magicians and fight it out." Tokiomi's expression changed from that of a father to that of a magician.
"But..." Tatsuya looked at Sakura and Caren playing on the grass. "How about this, let's make a gentleman's agreement. If Mr. Tohsaka and I have to be enemies in the Holy Grail War, we will only fight until the winner is decided and will not take each other's life."
Tokiomi understood what Tatsuya meant, and after a brief thought, he and Tatsuya made this gentleman's agreement in the presence of Kotomine Risei.
Afterwards, since Tokiomi and Father Risei had other things to discuss, Tatsuya drove Caren and Sakura away from the church first.
As soon as he sat in the driver's seat and put his hands on the steering wheel, he felt a burning sensation.
Tatsuya saw three magical patterns, each independent but forming a whole, appearing on the back of his left hand.
Command Seals.
[Don't think that the mission is over after adopting Sakura Tohsaka.]
[How is that possible? Mission objective changed: Participate in the Fourth Holy Grail War.]
[Struggle as ugly as you can until the last moment, the new magician who has walked out of the Land of Shadows?]