It was afternoon, and the darkness of the night almost covered the twilight hours around us. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Tosaka Toshitomi came to his wife's maiden home, the Zen City family. But he was only standing outside the door, and he didn't intend to set foot inside.

Now the position of the Shichen is to compete for one of the royal masters of the Holy Grail, and he is in the middle of the battlefield of Shura. In order to protect the safety of his wife and daughter, he sent them to his house in Chancheng, and he did not allow himself to enter with the smell of blood.

Shi Chen thought that he would not see his family until the end of the war, but the unexpected death of Father Yan Feng Lizheng last night shook his determination.

The old priest was not only a friend of Shichen's father, but also Shichen's guardian. For Shichen, the conclusion of a secret pact with the priest and his support were important factors in Shichen's belief that he would be victorious.

Of course, Shi Chen would not back down from the loss of support, but he did begin to feel that his path to victory, which had been confident to the point of near-arrogance, was clouded with an ominous "what if".

Just like the old and strong priest who suddenly fell, would he also be able to die before his ambition was rewarded?

Until yesterday, victory in the Holy Grail War was almost the same as a bag for the ministers.

But now that his trusty companion is dead, Shi Chen realizes that he is a competitor in a battle that hovers between life and death.

Maybe it will be the last time he'll see his family.

Taking a deep breath, banishing distractions and regaining his usual calmness and elegance, Shi Chen stretched out his hand to the doorbell by the door.

At this moment, Shi Chen saw a scene that surprised him.

In the courtyard, his two daughters—yes, two daughters, the eldest daughter Rin Tosaka and the second daughter, who has been passed on to the Kiriri family and renamed Sakura Makiri, are testing their magic tricks.

It is impossible for a seven-year-old or six-year-old girl to master real battle magic, and the competition between them is not a magic confrontation in the real sense, but similar to the "origami competition" between ordinary children. "Origami" here is replaced by "magic props".

Rin uses the gem magic that has been passed down from the Tosaka family, and the gem that has been training recently is also a gem that stores magic power.

Sakura didn't use the water attribute magic handed down by the Maki family, but some kind of ancient rune magic. Although Shi Chen didn't know much about rune magic and didn't know what kind of rune Sakura used, he could see that Sakura's basic skills were solid, and the magic foundation also revealed a unique beauty, which was enough to prove that the rune magic she had learned had a complete inheritance and a sound system.

"It seems that the dirty inkstone is still very attentive. Shi Chen nodded secretly. He didn't know that the Dirty Inkstone he had given high hopes to had died a year ago, because the Dirty Inkstone had not mourned the outside world, which kept the illusion that the Dirty Inkstone had survived. And the magic foundation of the Jian Tong family also quietly changed with the death of the dirty inkstone.

The two little girls made very basic magic products, which took little magic and time, and after about ten minutes, the two sisters finished their own works.

Held in the palm of Rin's hand is a pure and flawless crystal piece, the standard regular octagonal shape, both the luster and the shape have reached the level of a jewelry pendant, and the purity of the magic contained in the crystal piece is also very good, the only drawback is that the filling rate of the magic is insufficient. It's not because Rin's magic is insufficient, on the contrary, Rin's magic is too much, and he often destroys gems because of his excessive magic when practicing. In order to win the game, Rin chose a relatively conservative approach, preferring to leave a little leeway rather than overdo it, and this calmness made Shichen feel gratified.

In contrast, Sakura's work appears very plain. Gray, as if it were a small pebble that could be seen everywhere, with an ancient rune carved on it with only a few strokes. However, the quality of magic products cannot be measured by appearance, and with Shi Chen's eyesight, he can naturally see that Sakura's work is no worse than his sister's.

This is a standard runestone, which functions the same as the gem made by Rin, and is used to store mana. The magic power infused with runestone is equivalent to that of gemstones, and the purity is basically the same. But Sakura only began to officially contact magic after entering the Makiri family, and it was only a year ago, and Rin had been carefully cultivated by Shichen for a year and seven months, and from this point of view, Sakura was undoubtedly superior.

Of course, Shi Chen was not worried about the sorority opening up the gap. Rin has been precocious and strong since she was a child, and always says "sister wants to protect sister", and now when she suddenly finds that her sister is on par with her and no longer needs her protection, Rin will definitely work harder to maintain her dignity as an older sister.

His Shichen knew very well that Aoi and Rin were reluctant to pass Sakura to the Makiri family, and it was only out of the trust (worship) of their husbands (fathers) that they kept it in their hearts and didn't say it. But don't say it, it doesn't mean that you don't miss your daughter (sister), Shi Chen still remembers the happy eyes of his wife and daughter when Sakura ran by the door of Tosaka's house.

Therefore, although Shi Chen emphasized several times that Sakura no longer belonged to the Jian Tong family and should not be too close, in fact, he didn't care much about Aoi and Rin's private intimate actions, including Sakura's appearance at Chan Cheng's house this time, and Shi Chen didn't plan to ask. Standing in the position of the Tosaka family, the magician's family, Shi Chen must draw a line with Sakura, but after all, he is Sakura's biological father, how can a father not love his daughter? It's just that the way he expresses it is too deep and restrained, the children can't see it, only his wife Aoi understands.

When the match ended in a tie and the two pieces were given to Aoi as gifts, Shichen rang the doorbell.

When Rin saw her father, whom she hadn't seen for several days, Rin smiled at first, and then hurriedly hid Sakura behind her mother Aoi.

Shi Chen was amused by this scene, and found that his father had no intention of being angry, Sakura poked her head out and showed a timid smile at Shi Chen, and Shi Chen also responded with a warm smile that he had not seen for a long time. Then, Shi Chen beckoned to Rin, the most important purpose of his coming to Chancheng's house today was to explain some important things to Rin.

Looking at his daughter's jewel-like eyes, Shi Chen once again felt that this girl was the treasure that the Tosaka family had spent five generations finally obtaining, a shining gem as precious as a miracle.

Rin Tosaka.

Although her face is still young, it is already foreseeable that she will be quite an outstanding beauty in the future. It's not so much that she looks like her mother, but that she sometimes looks like her mother when she was young.

At this moment, she was looking at her silent father with a nervous expression, waiting for him to speak.

Shi Chen knew his daughter's respect and longing for him as a father.

What he said to Rin here and now must have affected her future.

No, there is no need to be confused about the future, the future has already been decided. Rin has no choice but to become the sixth generation head of the family to inherit the Tosaka family.

Thinking about it carefully, perhaps this is the most fundamental reason why Shi Chen has a trace of regret for his daughter.

Shichen knelt on one knee, bent down, and put his hand on Rin's head.

Rin's eyes widened with a surprised expression.

Seeing his daughter's reaction, Shi Chen remembered that he had never touched his daughter's head like this in the past.

It's no wonder Rin was so surprised, even Shi Chen himself, after touching his daughter's head, he realized that he didn't know how much strength to use to express his tender feelings.

“…… Rin, make the association owe you a favor before you grow up. The rest of the judgment is left to you, and if it's you, you can handle it well even if it's your own. ”

I was still hesitating what to say, but as soon as I opened my mouth, the words poured out one after another.

If you take into account the "what if", there are so many things that should be said.

How to deal with the heirloom gems, the things from the master's inheritance, and the management of the underground workshop—Shi Chen extracted the main points of these things and explained them one by one to Rin who listened attentively.

Although he has not yet given up the magic mark on his body to Rin, in essence, these admonitions have been equated with designating Rin as the next master of the Tosaka family.

Tosaka is definitely not a genius.

Among the magicians of the Tosaka family in the past generations, he can even be said to have mediocre qualifications.

The reason why today's Shichen is able to become a seasoned and respected magician is because he has always faithfully practiced the family motto of the Tosaka family.

Always take it easy, always be elegant.

If you ask for a 10 point result, you need to accumulate 20 points of exercise before doing it. In order to be able to pass various tests of himself gracefully and calmly, Shi Chen has always demanded this from himself. If you want to find out what Shi Chen is better than others, it can only be said that Shi Chen's strongest point is his thorough self-discipline and firm will to deny himself.

As a master and a father to Shichen, the former head of the Tosaka family had already foreseen that if his son targeted the Demon Path, it would be a rather treacherous path. So the night before the previous head of the family gave the magic mark to Shi Chen, he solemnly asked his son again - "Do you want to inherit the head of the family?"

It's just a matter of a ritual that has no form. As the son-in-law of the family, Shi Chen's education was to teach him to become the future head of the family, and the dignity cultivated in Shi Chen's heart since he was a child did not allow him to dream of a different life.

Even so, since there is a formal "question", it means that Shi Chen still has a trace of "room for choice".

Looking back now, for Shi Chen, it can be said that it was the greatest gift given to him by his father, who was the head of the previous family.

Tosaka Toshitomi followed his own will and embarked on the path of the devil, and was definitely not affected by fate.

It is this consciousness that gives Shi Chen the iron willpower.

"This is the way I have chosen my own way of life" – it is this lofty pride that supports him from the bottom of his heart to survive the days full of rigorous cultivation in the future.

Shi Chen deeply hoped that he could also give the treasures given by his father in the past to his two daughters.

However, this wish could not be realized.

Rin and Sakura had no choice from the start.

One person is an all-elemental, five-fold composite attribute. The other is the overhead element, the imaginary number attribute. Both sisters were born with rare qualities that bordered on miracles. This is beyond the scope of talent, and can almost be called a curse.

Demonic nature will summon demonic nature. People who are too capable of being beyond common sense will inevitably "attract" things outside of their daily lives, and have nothing to do with their own wishes. There is only one way to fight this fate – and that is to step out of common sense.

Shi Chen's daughters can only deal with the demonic nature in their bloodline by actively experiencing and learning the demon way. But the Tosaka family can only give shelter to one of the sisters, and I don't know how long this conflict torments Shichen. All kinds of strange things that appear as a result of the temptation of the bloodline are bound to bring merciless calamity to the side that has not become the heir.

If the Magic Society were to discover the existence of such an "ordinary person", they would be happy to make a specimen of her in the name of "protection" and do something like soaking in a potion of formalin. For thousands of years, the Magic Society has imprisoned countless magicians for life in the name of "protection", capturing magicians with rare talents or breaking taboos, and the Magic Society has given this "selfless" act a name "Seal Designation".

Therefore, the willingness of the Maki family to hope to receive an adopted daughter is really like a gift from heaven. Both beloved daughters can inherit the first-class demon path, and each will be given the means to open up their own lives without succumbing to the cause and effect of the bloodline. At that time, Shi Chen almost relieved himself of the heavy responsibility of being a father.

But is this really the case?—— the more Shi Chen asks himself this, the more he feels depressed in his heart.

Rin's talent will definitely make her learn the secrets of the Demon Dao more easily than Shi Chen.

But what a painful thing it is to have to choose this established path because of an inescapable fate, rather than choosing your own destiny and embarking on this path.

Rin will have to face many trials in the future, if Shi Chen doesn't give her any guidance, and just leaves in front of her...... Is Tosaka still a perfect father?

Shi Chen once again conveyed the thoughts in his heart to the palm of Rin's hand, as if he wanted to sort out the doubts in his heart.

Rin let the palm of his hand rub against his head, but his clear eyes still looked at his father motionlessly. There was no trace of uneasiness or confusion in her eyes.

"-Ahh ”

This kind of unconditional respect and trust finally found the answer in Shi Chen's heart.

The child didn't need any words of apology, and no one else had to worry about her future. As the former head of the family who was about to leave, he only had one sentence left to say to the noble son-in-law of the Tosaka family.

"Rin, the Holy Grail will appear one day. Obtaining the Holy Grail is the duty of the Tosaka family. More importantly, if you are a magician, it is an inevitable path. ”

The girl nodded without hesitation, her eyes filled Shi Chen's heart with pride.

Even when he inherited the position of head of the family in the past, he never felt such a full sense of honor.

"Then I'm leaving. You know what to do next. ”

"Yes—please be careful on the road, father. ”

Rin's tone was firm and clear.

Shi Chen nodded and straightened up.

His eyes went to the mansion inside the door, and he met with Aoi who was watching from inside the courtyard.

His wife had been by his side for a long time, and the two of them didn't need any words to get to know each other.

Aoi's eyes were full of trust and encouragement.

The look in his eyes was full of gratitude and reassurance.

Next to his wife, Sakura, who no longer has the characteristics of the Tosaka family, plucked up the courage to wave goodbye to Shichen.

Driven by complex emotions such as the sense of crisis before stepping into the battlefield, the guilt that stems from family affection, Shi Chen raised his hand and waved it lightly at Sakura, just like he had done many times before.

After doing all this, he left the Chancheng house without looking back.

Confusion is a shadow born from a heart that lacks calmness, and there is no elegance to speak of.

Shi Chen's heart has always been deeply rooted in the family motto, and Rin's eyes let him re-experience this sentence.

If there's something you have to say sorry to your child...... That is his own defeat, and in the end, he ended without being able to complete the Holy Grail Prayer.

If she wants to be a father worthy of her in front of Rin, Tosaka must be a perfect magician.

Then—I'll definitely complete the Tosaka family's magic path with my own hands.

To be a truly perfect father who is qualified to guide his beloved daughter.

With a new determination in his heart, Shi Chen embarked on the journey home at dusk.

He's going to return to Fuyuki once again, to the dim darkness that will soon fall.

PS: Come on, comrades, I still have a lot of manuscripts in storage.

PS2: Asking for a commuter pass.