"Welcome back, Master Roland...Sister?"
"Sakura!"
Sakura Matou, who was taken home by the black shadow ninja first, jumped off the sofa in surprise after hearing the sound of the barrier opening, and ran to open the door. However, the figure who rushed in was not Roland, whom she had been thinking about, but her sister whom she had not seen for a long time.
"This kid insisted on seeing you, so I agreed. You two can have a good chat."
Roland slowly appeared from behind Toosaka Rin and gave an explanation to the confused Matou Sakura.
"Yes, Lord Roland."
After getting the affirmation, Matou Sakura felt relieved and looked at her sister whom she hadn't seen for a long time. Although she once resented her, that was in the past. As long as it didn't interfere with Lord Roland, she was happy to play with her sister.
"That's great, that's great, Ying... I'm so glad you're okay..."
But Toosaka Rin was obviously not as calm as Matou Sakura. Her slender eyebrows were wrinkled, and her face, which had always appeared strong in front of Roland, was now full of tears.
Regret, unwillingness, fear, all the emotions turned into tears of apology and flowed out of Toosaka Rin's eyes.
"After going to the Matou family and seeing that scene, I really couldn't imagine what I would do if something happened to you. I'm sorry, Sakura... I should have been braver and resisted my father..."
"It's okay, sis. It's not your fault."
Although she is younger than Toosaka Rin, Sakura Matou's behavior is undoubtedly much more mature. She touched Toosaka Rin's head with one hand and put the other hand on her back and gently stroked her.
"I feel very lucky for my current situation, because if it weren't for this, I wouldn't have met Lord Roland."
"That guy rescued you from the Matou family...it seems like he didn't do nothing."
Because she knew the reason why Sakura Matou was sent away, Toosaka Rin did not suggest any nonsense like bringing Sakura back to the Toosaka family. After confirming Sakura's safety, rationality took over again.
Someone had to take over Sakura. Although Roland looked dangerous, he did not attack her when he restrained her. He even talked to her in a friendly manner. It can be seen that even if the other party is not as good as his father, he should not be a bad person.
Besides, he is very rich.
If Sakura follows Roland, the two sisters won't have to worry about Matou and Toosaka's past friendship anymore, and they won't have to keep a distance from each other to avoid misunderstandings about prying into each other's inheritance. It's a good idea when you think about it this way.
"Lord Roland is the greatest man in the world, and rightfully so."
Sakura Matou had a sacred expression on her face, as if she was about to preach. Then, before Rin Toosaka could start to refute, she gently pressed her head into her arms and sniffed the tip of Rin's hair.
——It smells like Lord Roland.
Sakura Matou's eyes suddenly became extremely gloomy, but the smile on her face became brighter and brighter.
"Sister, next, tell me how you met Lord Roland?"
"Well... well, I've already skipped class today..."
Seeing this loving scene, Roland also smiled and said, "After all, they are still sisters. They get along really well."
"Sometimes, I really don't know whether you understand people's hearts too well, or you don't understand people's hearts at all."
Caster shook his head helplessly, "I plan to continue strengthening the workshop's barrier. Master, do you want to come and learn too?"
"Okay, there's nothing to talk about with these two girls anyway..." Roland stretched and was about to agree, but his eyes suddenly moved.
"What happened?"
Noticing Roland's change, Caster asked.
"Nothing, but there are so many uninvited guests today," Roland clapped his hands. "Just continue with your work, Caster. I'll go see what the old bug who lost his chips is going to do."
——
"It's gone... It was here just now."
The hunched old man huddled in the shadows, his brows deeply furrowed as he looked at the marks in front of him.
"The traces of magic left here are still very strong. Did a battle just take place?"
After his workshop was blasted away along with her clone by Ishtar, Zouken Matou let the Life Bug that had been hiding underground escape desperately. After hiding in fear for a whole night, he dared to reassemble his body and realized the current situation.
With almost all the seven Masters and Servants having appeared, the little girl who was out of condition was basically summoned in violation of regulations, but with this bargaining chip in hand, Zouken Matou didn't know how to use it for a moment.
The eldest daughter of the Toosaka family is still a member of the Toosaka family after all. The other party still seems to know nothing about the nature of the Holy Grail War. Toosaka Tokiomi is not aware of this situation either. He does not want to be exposed in advance and add another helper to the Toosaka family.
But he had his reasons for having to find Toosaka Rin, as the talisman he got from the last war was taken away by that girl.
No matter what, it must be retrieved, but considering the power of the servants, Zouken Matou certainly wouldn't dare to confront them head-on.
So, starting from the morning, he followed the traces left by the other party like a wild dog, hoping to get an opportunity.
At first, when he confirmed that Toosaka Rin was covered by the barrier, he was very surprised. Except for the caster, a barrier of this strength could not be completed so easily. He didn't dare to deal with servants, but dealing with allies was another matter.
But he didn't expect that after the barrier was broken, apart from the remaining traces, he couldn't even find the direction in which the people inside left, as if they had used a miracle such as space transfer.
"Roland... where are you?"
Just as Matou Zouken was muttering to himself in an old voice like the chirping of insects, a teasing voice suddenly appeared beside him.
"Hey, Mr. Matou, I haven't seen you for a few days. How come your house was bombed?"
"…"
Matou Zouken turned around and, as expected, the elusive young man was looking at him with a vicious smile.
"Hmph," Matou Zouken was in no mood to argue with the other party, and he got straight to the point, "Since you can still talk to me so leisurely, it seems that you have taken care of the little girl from the Tousaka family."
"You could say that."
Roland did not deny it. Anyway, this suspicious guy would make up everything in his own mind.
"Well, I want to ask you something. Did you get anything from that little girl?"
"You mean, this?"
Roland spread out his palm, showing the dragon spell on it.
"My spell!"
Seeing that something that even surpassed the Holy Grail and was almost as important as his own life was placed defenselessly before his eyes, the fire burning in his heart made Zouken Matou tear off his pretending to be deep. He let out a low growl full of animality and subconsciously stretched out his hand.
Then, the action stopped.
Because the hand he stretched out, along with his entire upper body, disappeared in the flames emitted by the talisman.
"What?"
The remaining body of Matou Zouken instinctively scattered and formed smaller clones, and let out a scream.
"First of all, I hate it when people touch my things without permission. Secondly," Roland smiled coldly and mocked.
"—This is my spell."