"Principal, what's that kid's background?"
"He was sent by the Fujimura Group."
"Eh, aren't they yakuza? Can't we just turn him away?"
"When this school was first founded, the Fujimura Group helped us a lot. Even now, they donate money every year to support our educational work."
The principal did not say much, but the meaning was clear enough: they could not just push him out.
"Then how about moving him to another class?"
"Come on. We only have so many first-graders. No matter how you shuffle, it's all in the same pot."
"Then what about bumping him up a grade? His academic level might not be enough, but the older kids are more mature and less likely to be affected by him."
After some discussion, the first-grade teachers all turned to the principal, hoping he would make the call.
The principal, who did not really understand why they were so eager to dump the problem, decided he would see this transfer student's 'terrifying' side with his own eyes that afternoon.
By the end of the first period, he understood. He now knew exactly what difficulties the first-grade teachers were facing.
Teaching Broly really did feel strangely frightening. The entire classroom had a stifling atmosphere, with only that child constantly asking all kinds of questions, while the teacher on the podium scrambled to keep up with the endless, branching oddities coming from his mouth.
There was only one reason for this bizarre scene: Broly had subconsciously treated learning as a kind of sparring with his old man, Paragus, unconsciously releasing his combat aura in the process.
He bore no hostility, but ordinary people could not withstand that kind of pressure. In short bursts it was fine, but over a full forty-minute period, both students and teachers, under that constant aura, would feel an inexplicable weight on their hearts.
So, strictly speaking, it was not that the first-grade teachers had been "broken" by his strange questions.
It was that his presence had locked onto them as primary targets, and the unrelenting hail of tricky questions broke them under that pressure.
"All right, bump him up a grade and see how it goes."
Rubbing his temples, the principal agreed to the teachers' plan to pass the buck.
Thanks to this, on his very first day as a first-grader, Broly successfully jumped to second grade.
"Class, for our last period this afternoon, we'll have a new classmate joining us. He'll be studying with us for this lesson."
The homeroom teacher of Class 2-A had no idea how terrifying Broly was. She had only been instructed by the principal to bring a child into her class for a trial run.
"All right, come in and introduce yourself."
Letting himself be carried along by events, Broly found this "going to school" thing rather novel. Following the strange female teacher's instructions, he walked into the classroom, stood at the podium, and introduced himself.
"My name is Broly. I'm a Saiyan."
He spoke very honestly. Hearing this, the second-graders all fell into a brief daze.
"What's a Saiyan?"
A boy raised his hand and asked.
"The new kid is weird."
While Broly was seriously answering the question, a girl in the back row whispered to her seatmate.
"Weird?"
Rin Tohsaka did not think so. Boys were just like that. After all, during recess there were always some boys playing "aliens vs. monsters."
"All right, everyone's very enthusiastic, but we are in class. We still need to follow classroom rules."
The homeroom teacher cut in and prepared to seat Broly.
Before she could decide where, Broly's eyes fell on a girl in the back row.
"Capturable target found: Rin Tohsaka. Current Happiness Value: 0."
(Note: Happiness Value can only be acquired after the host has intervened in and influenced the target's life.)
"Teacher, I want to sit there."
He pointed straight at the seat beside Rin.
"Okay, then move that empty desk and chair over there."
The principal had asked her to be accommodating with this child, so she did not go against his wishes.
"Back row by the window—the king's homeland!"
As soon as Broly had moved the desk over and sat down, this line floated through his mind.
"He doesn't have books yet. Rin, share your textbook with him for now, okay?"
Seeing him seated, the teacher added.
Rin was a sort of class monitor, more mature and capable than most kids.
"Okay, teacher."
Young Rin was not yet the distant flower on a high ledge she would become. Right now, she was cheerful, enthusiastic, and eager to help those around her.
This was all thanks to her father's calm, graceful upbringing, which had her acting like a little adult at the age of seven.
"Hi, I'm Rin Tohsaka. You can call me Tohsaka."
Rin pushed her desk over and placed the textbook between the two desks, then lowered her voice to introduce herself.
"Hello, Tohsaka. I'm Broly."
Thanks to a certain man's lesson in gentlemanly manners the day before, Broly did not rudely address the girl as "wife" this time.
"You already said that up on the podium. And you said you're a 'vegetable man' from a warrior race, right? Well, if you can eat a whole plate of boiled green peppers without changing your expression, I'll believe you."
Rin made a little joke.
"Boiled green peppers… are they good?"
The mention of food immediately grabbed Broly's attention.
"No. They're bitter."
Rin answered seriously. Her mom had made them once, and then told her only mature adults could eat boiled green peppers, forcing her to choke some down.
Broly: "…"
He lost all interest in boiled green peppers at once. He did not like bitter tastes either.
"Today we'll review multiplication and see how everyone's doing…"
Up front, the teacher began the lesson. Hearing the word, Broly raised his hand.
"Teacher, what is multiplication?"
"You haven't learned multiplication?"
A boy turned around and asked. Broly shook his head.
"I only learned addition and subtraction this morning."
He said honestly.
"Haha, you're just a first-grader then."
The boy snickered.
"Shinjo, did I teach you to laugh at people?"
The teacher scolded at once.
"Broly just started school today. It's normal for him to be behind. Rin next to you is our class monitor and study rep. If you have questions, you can ask her."
"I can teach you!"
Rin loved being trusted by adults. Wearing a look that clearly said "leave getting the new kid caught up to me," she spoke to Broly with great enthusiasm.
"So what is multiplication?"
He asked without hesitation.
"Multiplication is the operation used to add several identical numbers together in one go. As long as you know addition, it's not hard to learn…"
Rin quietly explained second-grade math to him.
Unlike in first grade, where he had been asking questions in all directions while radiating fighting spirit, Broly now sat obediently in the back corner, listening to her. The period passed quickly.
….
"How was it, Ms. Kawaki? That kid's a handful, isn't he?"
After school, some first-grade teachers came by to ask the second-grade homeroom teacher about him.
"Not really. He was very well-behaved all class."
The teacher blinked, genuinely puzzled.
Broly's behavior had been quite good.
At the very least, he did not have the hyperactivity issues some troublemakers did.
"He didn't pepper you with questions?"
"He asked some. Why?"
"You could answer them?"
At that, she became even more confused.
Was there anything in elementary-level material a teacher could not answer?
"You couldn't?"
She ventured cautiously.
"That kid's too hard to handle. There were questions we couldn't answer."
Some first-grade teachers admitted honestly.
"Uh… I didn't have all the answers either. But I had my study rep—a very reliable kid—help explain them."
After thinking back, the second-grade teacher replied with considerable tact.
"Eh, that works too?"
The first-grade teachers all looked at each other.
"Maybe kids just understand each other better."
After some discussion, they arrived at a conclusion that, at least, sort of made sense.
….
"So, how was school today?"
That evening, the moment she got home, Taiga came straight to Broly to ask about his first day.
"It was good. I asked the teacher lots of questions, learned how to write five characters the right way, and learned addition, subtraction, and multiplication. It feels like my brain is growing."
Broly frankly listed what he had gained. Before today, he had not even known what arithmetic was.
"Very good. Big sister knew you were a smart kid."
Taiga lavished praise on him.
"Oh, and I met a new wife."
Broly remembered something and added it.
"Eh?"
Taiga was startled, then quickly remembered what "wife" meant in his vocabulary and calmed down.
"Did this new wife give you anything to eat?"
"No. She didn't give me food."
Broly shook his head.
"But she taught me multiplication."
He said.
"Ah… well…"
The three filler syllables showed just how mixed Taiga's feelings were.
"You picked a good one. You should get along with her, be friends with her, got it?"
She finally smiled and told him this.
There's a saying that you turn red from being close to cinnabar and black from being close to ink. If you make friends with good students, you're sure to pick up something yourself.
She thought of Broly as a little brother, but now she also felt a bit like a mother, sincerely hoping he would befriend bright kids and good students.
"Okay."
Broly answered and tucked her words away in his heart.
Even if she had not said it, he would have gotten along well with his new wife.
So he could farm the Happiness Value on her and turn it into points for food from this world once he got back to Planet Vampa.
….
Three days remained until Broly's return to Planet Vampa.
That night, the Einzbern castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki came under attack.
Leading the assault was the Caster pair who had been formally marked that morning with a bounty Command Seal and designated as "prey."
Because they had been openly kidnapping and murdering children and flagrantly exposing the supernatural, the neutral overseer of the Grail War—the priest at Fuyuki Church—had lost all patience, making them the first must-eliminate target of the ritual.
The Church intervened to mediate the war.
And beyond the short-sighted Caster, who could hardly see straight, the Clock Tower Lord whom Kiritsugu had tried to send plummeting to his death the night before also showed up to return the favor, following right behind with his Servant to strike the Einzbern stronghold.
That night, the castle rang with the clamor of battle. Kenneth El-Melloi, the Lord from the Clock Tower, was careless and overconfident, only to be struck by Kiritsugu's Origin Bullet, crippling most of the magic circuits in his body.
During the chaos, two chivalrous Servants appeared, fighting side by side and feeling a deep mutual respect—then each proceeded to sell out their own Master.
One failed to pin the other down, letting his own Master be killed by the enemy's. The other saved his gravely wounded Master, but did not take the chance to kill the opposing Master right beside him.
Compared to their Servants, the Masters were fragile. As a pragmatic, underhanded magus killer, Kiritsugu could neither understand his own Saber's actions nor those of the enemy Lancer.
Put more simply, this man called Kiritsugu Emiya could not comprehend the knightly code those Heroic Spirits from another age lived and died by.
….
In the Zenjou family's residence in Fukayori, the neighboring town to Fuyuki—
"Sakura, you know, we had a really weird kid transfer into our class today…"
Rin chattered away, sharing today's school story with her sister, who listened with great interest, legs swinging in the chair.
Returning to her parents' side had clearly begun to heal the wounds Sakura had suffered in the Matou house. As they say, you only know the value of something once you've lost it.
Little Sakura now cherished every second with her family. As a result, her Happiness Value had been steadily climbing.
Back in the Fujimura guest room, Broly watched this from inside his futon, filled with pure joy.
He looked like a veteran stock trader watching a new stock he had just bought shoot up, the numbers glowing red on the board.
Each point of Happiness Value would convert into 100 Happiness Points. In the Crystal Palace's exchange, the "happy water" Broly loved to drink only cost 2 Happiness Points.
Sakura's rapidly rising Happiness Value had him lost in the beautiful dream of having unlimited happy water when he returned to Planet Vampa.
And beyond happy water, Broly loved cake, pork cutlet rice, pudding, barbecue, ice cream…
All of those cost 30 Happiness Points or less—completely affordable.
"When I get back, I'll let Father try the food from this world too."
He muttered in his futon.
"Rin making new friends at school is really something to be happy about. Come on, Mama's finished cutting the apples. Come have some."
Aoi brought in peeled and sliced apples and called her daughters over.
"This piece is the biggest. Sakura, it's for you."
With her sister back, Rin cherished her even more, wanting her to have the best of everything.
"Thank you, Sis."
Sakura felt sweet inside. Her parents and sister had all been so much kinder to her since she returned. All her earlier worries that they would not let her come home now felt like baseless, overblown fears.
"By the way, Sakura, when you were at the Matou house, did you make any new friends? Did you ever have any happy times there?"
But then, her gentle mother asked, and Sakura's happiness froze on her face.
The Matou house was a nightmare. There had been two who cared about her in their own way, but compared to the horror of the worm pit, those memories were not ones she wanted to revisit.