Chapter 255: Stop Right There, You Fellow!
For magi whose heritage and bases are primarily located in Europe, a Far Eastern region like Japan can be considered a resource-poor backwater.
Even so, a "spiritual land" like Fuyuki City, which any observant person could easily identify, is by no means something an ordinary magus can simply occupy by secluding themselves. Such an act would inevitably draw condemnation or even a hunt from the Mage's Association.
Condemnation occurs if you possess sufficient martial might or influence; a hunt, of course, occurs because the Association deems you nothing more than a stray dog by the roadside.
The fundamental reason the Tohsaka family, who were by no means a prestigious lineage in the world of magecraft, was able to occupy the spiritual land of Fuyuki was that two hundred years ago, the Tohsaka ancestor, Tohsaka Nagato, became a disciple of the [Second Magician] and successfully demonstrated significant talent in magecraft.
As disciples of a Magician, the Tohsaka family obtained preferential treatment from the Mage's Association, allowing them to manage this spiritual land in the Far East and maintain relations with both the Mage's Association and the Holy Church.
Around 1790, Einzbern and Makiri arrived in Japan. After being persuaded by them, the head of the Tohsaka family—Tohsaka Nagato—intended to reach the [Root] through the "State of Nothingness," or rather, he dreamed of using the Greater Grail to travel to the Root.
As Tohsaka Nagato's mentor, the [Second Magician] Zelretch served as a witness during the creation of the Greater Grail.
Around 1800, the initial [Holy Grail War]—the First Holy Grail War—began. Due to reasons such as "no formal rules being set beforehand," the "Masters' weak awareness as participants," and "Servants not obeying orders," the ritual failed before it could even be established. The landing site for the Holy Grail in that war happened to be Ryuudou Temple on Mount Enzou.
By the Second [Holy Grail War] in 1860, the landing site was moved to the Tohsaka residence. Like Mount Enzou, the Tohsaka estate was a location where an excellent spiritual pulse flowed. However, that war also failed due to various reasons.
Then came the third, the fourth, and all the way to the Fifth [Holy Grail War], which should be occurring at this current point in time; the ritual has yet to succeed even once.
It is worth mentioning that as the Three Founding Families who jointly held the [Holy Grail War]—Tohsaka, Matou, and Einzbern—members from these three lineages participated personally in every war. The previous head of the Tohsaka family, Tohsaka Tokiomi, was killed by his own disciple, Kotomine Kirei, during the Fourth [Holy Grail War].
As a magus who was supposed to be cold-blooded, Tohsaka Tokiomi possessed a father's affection. Unfortunately, his wife gave birth to two daughters: Tohsaka Rin and Tohsaka
Sakura. Both possessed extraordinary magical talent, but the method of magical inheritance dictated that a lineage could only have one formal successor.
The elder daughter Rin possessed the "Five Elements" attribute (Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Ether), while the younger daughter Sakura possessed the "Imaginary Numbers" attribute, one of the hollow elements. The talent of both completely transcended the scope of ordinary "giftedness" and could be called products of a "miracle."
However, "magical nature attracts magical nature," and those who stand out beyond common logic are bound to draw equally abnormal experiences; this is not something that can be controlled by one's own will.
Even though the Tohsaka family held the heritage of the "Marshal of Magic" Zelretch, that Magician had more than a few disciples, and the actual ancestor who was his student had long since passed away.
The protection of the Tohsaka family could only be given to the one who became the successor—Rin or Sakura. The one who did not become the successor would fall into various bizarre incidents due to the magical nature inherent in their blood, drawing trouble upon themselves. If the Mage's Association discovered such an "ordinary person," they would happily preserve her in formalin as a precious specimen in the name of protection.
Right at that time, the Matou family proposed to take in Tohsaka Sakura as an adopted daughter and successor, simply because almost no one among the Matou descendants possessed excellent magical talent, and entering the world of magecraft would only invite grudges.
According to Tokiomi's thinking, if the elder daughter Rin inherited the Tohsaka family and the younger daughter Sakura inherited the Matou family, both his daughters could inherit first-class magecraft and carve out their own lives free from the shackles of bloodline karma.
His hopes for his daughters and his trust in the partner family led Tokiomi to ultimately agree to this adoption. Sadly, he never imagined that the old head of the Matou family, Matou Zouken, was a utterly filthy creature at this point who never cared about family inheritance.
"Matou Sakura," after being adopted into the Matou family, suffered through all kinds of cruel magical modifications. However, those were things described in the memories of many "Emiya Shirous." At the very least, the Matou Sakura in Emiya's own world had not suffered any humiliation, because Matou Zouken died earlier than expected.
Unfortunately, in the end, he still failed to save that innocent girl who held onto hope for him...
He didn't know if the Matou Sakura here had endured that sub-human treatment. If possible, Emiya wouldn't mind helping her at all; he had no resolve regarding the "best not to interfere with the operation of parallel worlds."
He was no longer that fellow who could discard many things and emotions for a nebulous "Justice." Must the normal operation of this world necessitate the sacrifice of a young girl's happiness?
If that were truly the case, then it wouldn't matter if such a world were destroyed.
That said, after arriving in a world so similar yet not quite the same as his own, Emiya couldn't help but feel a bit lost and cramped—otherwise, why would he think of so many things on the way to the Tohsaka residence?
As an estate managed for centuries, the Tohsaka family still had some influence even in society, so Emiya spent almost no effort finding out where the residence was located.
Even after learning from the monks that Ryuudou Issei had the habit of walking to school and had departed from the mountain gate at six o'clock, Emiya didn't stay long at Ryuudou Temple. Instead, he cruelly dragged the bleary-eyed Itadori Yuji out of his futon early.
Afterward, to prevent Itadori from exposing anything in front of magi, Emiya temporarily settled him in a park to watch elderly ladies do morning exercises, then headed alone toward the Tohsaka residence.
However, when the imagined plan began its formal implementation, Emiya realized that a seemingly thorough plan was just a beautiful fantasy—
"It looks like... no one is living here at all?"
The residence nestled at the foot of the mountain not only had all its doors and windows tightly shut, but even the nameplate was covered in a thick layer of dust. Clearly, it hadn't been tended to for a long time.
Magi place great importance on "face"; bloodline heritage and long historical foundations are one kind, and the upkeep of a residence is naturally another basic requirement.
Unless the current successor, Tohsaka Rin, was a shut-in who liked to stay home for dozens of days at a time, it meant she hadn't returned to this home for at least a year.
Even if she had to leave the residence due to the [Holy Grail War], the period of being uninhabited shouldn't be this long.
"Which means, the Tohsaka Rin of this world has already gone to the Clock Tower for further studies? Does she have no intention of participating in the [Holy Grail War]?"
Some fellows from the Mage's Association, possessing a mysterious arrogance and zero understanding of the [Holy Grail War], might mistake it for a game of "house" played by third-rate magi. But Tohsaka Rin, as the successor of the Tohsaka family, would never think so.
If she truly intended to participate, even if she had left, she should have returned to the Tohsaka family's "Workshop" early to make sufficient preparations. If she hadn't, it meant she simply had no such intention.
Assuming the Tohsaka Rin of this world truly was studying at the Clock Tower of the Mage's Association, the good news was that she likely had established a master-disciple-like relationship with the [Second Magician] Zelretch, which would make his goals easier to achieve.
As for the bad news... naturally, it was that he had absolutely no means of contacting her.
Mainly, the danger and unknown nature of traveling all the way to the Clock Tower were too great. But if he didn't try to establish a connection with that Magician, was he supposed to try and research "Parallel World Theory" on his own?
In the entire world of magecraft, only Zelretch had mastered such a "Miracle." Countless magus families had followed one after another trying to explore such knowledge for thousands of years without progress; Emiya didn't think he, someone who wasn't even good at magical research, could accomplish such a thing.
He had to admit, a fellow like Kenjaku, who could develop new ideas just by seeing a [Reality Marble], truly had some ability and talent. At the very least, Emiya didn't believe his current self could make such a research breakthrough.
So... what should be done now?
Having arrived once again in a world he completely didn't understand, Emiya was truly at a bit of a loss.
Precisely because he had unresolved troubles from the Jujutsu world weighing on his heart, he couldn't adopt the "take things as they come" attitude he had when he first arrived in the Jujutsu world.
How are the students in Shibuya? Can Gojo Satoru alone really solve the trouble that is Kenjaku? Complicated matters piled up layer after layer, leaving the willing but powerless Emiya not knowing what to do.
It would be fine if he knew the troubles in the Jujutsu world could be resolved, but precisely because Emiya wasn't certain if his students could solve them, his heart remained anxious.
"Forget it. I'll go pick up Itadori first, and then start thinking about the next task... At least I'm not a headless fly; I still have clear goals to solve the problem."
After calming his mind slightly, Emiya turned around, preparing to return the way he came.
But just then, he happened to hear a female shout that felt quite familiar to him—
"Hey, you over there! Stop right there!!!"
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