At the hotel where Kayneth was staying, a case of arson occurred that night.
The arsonist had triggered the fire alarm in advance, giving the hotel's occupants enough time to evacuate.
"There's a fire downstairs."
Sola, after receiving a call from the hotel staff, informed Kayneth, who was sitting on a sofa chair watching the news about the recent gas leak explosion in Fuyuki City's harbor area.
"Arson, with an evacuation beforehand. It must be Saber's Master, trying to remove the curse from their Servant's injured hand.
No matter. I've set up 24 layers of magical defenses on this floor and summoned dozens of spirits to guard it. Let the attackers come. Let's see if they can break through the magical fortress I, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, have built.
Lancer, go downstairs and prepare to face the enemy. This time, I won't tolerate failure!"
The confident blond man with slicked-back hair spoke, and the tear-stained Servant beside him bowed. "I will not disappoint you, my lord."
"Mr. Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald."
In the square outside the hotel, the staff were counting the guests to ensure no one was left inside the burning building.
"That's me."
After the staff called out the name three times, a man finally responded. Seeing that the man looked like a local, the staff gave him a微妙 (subtly strange) look, as if thinking, *"You're telling me your name is that?"* and eyed him suspiciously.
"My wife, Sola, has already reached a safe place. There's no need to worry."
Kiritsugu Emiya said expressionlessly.
"Alright."
The staff member, thinking this might be a local man who had married a foreign heiress and changed his name, crossed out the names Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald and Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri from the list.
Kiritsugu took the opportunity to glance at the list and saw that most of the names had already been crossed off. He then walked away from the crowd, took out a flip phone from his pocket, and called his assistant, Maiya Hisau.
After confirming from her that Kayneth had not attempted to escape from the hotel's top floor, the magus killer pressed the detonator.
There was no such thing as a fair fight or secret techniques. The real safe tactic was to blow up the entire building and let gravity do the rest.
[No matter how powerful a Clock Tower Lord is, they can't survive a 150-meter fall.]
Having set this flag, Kiritsugu left the scene without looking back.
Meanwhile, the other would-be attacker, who was supposed to be there, was currently escorting his teacher's young daughter to her mother's side in the Zenjou family's villa in the neighboring town of Mifune, handing the girl over to Aoi Zenjou.
"Then, Madam, I won't disturb you any further. Please help Miss Sakura regain her spirits as soon as possible. When the time comes, I will return."
This was a trivial task assigned to him by his teacher, Tohsaka Tokiomi, which prevented him from properly monitoring the movements of other Masters and Servants, especially that man named Kiritsugu Emiya. Suppressing the strange sense of dissatisfaction in his heart, Kirei Kotomine left the Zenjou residence after delivering these words.
---
"Grandpa, Broly wants to learn."
While young Sakura was being sent to the Zenjou residence to receive encouragement from her mother, over at the Fujimura residence, Broly, freshly bathed, was brought before Fujimura Raiga by Fujimura Taiga. The girl made the request on behalf of the boy, asking for him to receive an education.
"Please, Grandpa Fujimura."
Broly, following what Fujimura Taiga had taught him in the bathroom, made a somewhat formal request to the old man for help.
"Learning, huh? Indeed, children need to be educated."
Fujimura Raiga nodded. In the past, being a thug and fighting might have been enough, but as times changed, the old man had come to realize that even those in the underworld needed a proper education to survive in the future.
"Then, Grandpa—"
Before Fujimura Taiga could finish, Fujimura Raiga interrupted her.
"But is this child really ready for education?
His age is clearly very young. If he were to enroll now, he'd probably be placed in kindergarten.
But what can you really learn in kindergarten? It's just a place to play and make friends.
Rather than sending him to kindergarten, it would be better to keep him in the Fujimura residence.
Let him grow up immersed in the atmosphere of the Fujimura family and become a proper, upstanding child."
The old man spoke thus.
"Grandpa, please don't lead this child astray. There's no future in the underworld."
Fujimura Taiga slammed her hands on the table and roared at her grandfather.
"What do you mean, no future? It's just that none of you descendants want to inherit the family business."
Fujimura Raiga also slammed the table and roared back, locking eyes with his granddaughter. Sparks seemed to fly between their gazes, like an old tiger facing off against its cub.
In the end, seeing that his granddaughter wouldn't back down on this matter, the elderly Fujimura Raiga took a step back but set some conditions.
"If he really wants to learn, let him skip straight to elementary school. And since you don't want this child to end up in the underworld but still want the family's financial support, then he needs to show his talent and value in learning. I need you to guarantee that his academic performance will be above average. Can you do that?"
"No problem." Fujimura Taiga patted her chest and agreed. Broly was a smart kid, and she chose to believe in his ability to learn.
"But what if there's a problem, and you try to back out? What then?"
Fujimura Raiga suddenly asked.
"That won't happen."
Fujimura Taiga firmly denied the possibility, but under her grandfather's skeptical gaze—which seemed to say, *"You've backed out before"*—her voice weakened. "Then what do you suggest, Grandpa?"
"It's not that difficult. If that happens, I'll just retire, and you'll have to inherit the family business and become the new head of the Fujimura group."
Fujimura Raiga smiled, but his words carried a hidden threat.
"Only if you agree to this condition will the Fujimura family support this child."
"Grandpa, you're so sneaky."
"It can't be helped. Your father doesn't want to inherit the family business, and you don't seem to want to either. So, what do you say? If you don't agree, we'll just keep the child here and raise him in the family."
Fujimura Taiga glanced back at the clarity in Broly's eyes and decided that she couldn't let this child be corrupted by the Fujimura family's underworld ways. She slammed the table again and responded, "Fine, Grandpa, I agree to your condition."
"Bring the phone. I'll call the principal of Mifune Elementary School and arrange for the child to enroll there."
Arranging for a child with no official records to attend school would be a hassle for ordinary people, but for the Fujimura group, a local powerhouse in Fuyuki City, it was just a matter of making a phone call.
However, given their underworld connections, local schools might not be too eager to accept the child. But by choosing a school in a nearby town and keeping a low profile, it wouldn't be a problem.
"Old Master, do you really think the young lady will keep her promise?"
After Fujimura Taiga left with Broly, the scar-faced man asked.
"This is the first time I've seen her care so much about someone else."
"The young lady has a kind heart. She probably just pities the child and wants to take care of him."
"Then as long as she continues to care for the child, she'll keep her promise and inherit the family business."
"But what if the child turns out to be a good learner?"
The scar-faced man pressed, hinting at whether they should interfere with the child's education.
"If he is, then it will be a good opportunity to start cleaning up the Fujimura group's image."
"Huh?"
"The young lady was right earlier. There's no future in the underworld."
"So even you don't see a future in the underworld?"
"It's not about whether I see a future or not. It's just the way the times are changing."
Fujimura Raiga sighed. He had lived through the golden age of the underworld and could now feel its decline.
"And if the child isn't a good learner?"
The scar-faced man asked again.
"Even if the world is leaving us behind, where there is light, there will always be shadows. The Fujimura group will continue to exist in that space, even if it won't be as grand as before. I believe in my granddaughter's abilities.
As for the child, whether he becomes a good kid or a bad one, as long as he has talent, he can become Taiga's right hand, just like you."
"Old Master, you are wise. I will help nurture the child's loyalty to the Fujimura family and the young lady."
Broly had no idea about Fujimura Raiga's thoughts and plans for him. All he knew was that as another day passed in this world, he had gained a new identity as a transfer student at Mifune Elementary School.
---
"Broly, you need to study hard at school. If you don't understand something, ask the teacher."
The next morning, as they parted ways, Fujimura Taiga gave Broly these instructions.
The girl herself was dressed in her middle school uniform.
It was Monday, a school day.
Broly was driven to Mifune Elementary School by the scar-faced man. Along the way, the man kept drilling into Broly how kind Fujimura Taiga had been to him and how he should be grateful and work hard to repay her.
At first, Broly nodded in agreement, thinking that he should repay the kindness of being fed. But gradually, he began to yawn, as the scar-faced man kept repeating the same things over and over, like a lullaby, making him drowsy.
---
"Is this the child who's coming to school? Teacher Kimura, take him for an assessment to see which grade he should be placed in."
The principal of Mifune Elementary School, upon seeing the child brought by the scar-faced man, instructed the teacher who had been called over to take Broly for an academic assessment.
The results were unsurprising: Broly was essentially illiterate and was placed in the first grade.
However, within half a day, the teachers couldn't take it anymore.
"Principal, this child asks too many questions. I said 1+1=2, and he asked me why 1+1 equals 2. How am I supposed to answer that?"
"Principal, it's the same in my class. The child is quite smart, even smarter than the other kids, but he just asks too many questions. The entire class was just him asking questions and me answering them. If the questions were meaningful, it would be fine, but some of them are just childish nitpicking."
In just one morning, four teachers came to complain. It wasn't that they lacked patience for teaching children, but Broly, the classroom question machine, was too overwhelming and was seriously disrupting their ability to teach the other children.
"I understand that children are curious, but didn't you tell him not to ask meaningless questions?"
"We tried, but it didn't work. The child said his sister told him to ask questions whenever he didn't understand something.
And he takes that to heart. If he doesn't understand, he asks, even if we punish him by making him stand. He just keeps asking, completely oblivious to the atmosphere."
"Even worse, I tried to make him stop by hitting his palms with a ruler, but the child just obediently held out his hands and continued asking questions with a straight face. In all my years of teaching, I've never seen a child like this."
The teacher didn't mention that when the child looked at her, she felt a sense of fear.
It wasn't that the child showed any resentment, but rather that he was too calm, so calm that it was unsettling. This calmness made her feel uneasy about what lay beneath.
It sounded abstract, but that was the feeling. After just one class, the first-grade teachers found Broly, the transfer student, to be a handful.