A few days later, in Tokiomi's study.
Zouken Matou sat in a chair, leaning calmly on his cane. He spoke to Tokiomi, who was by the window.
"Tokiomi, you should know that having Sakura adopted into our Matou Family is the best choice."
Through the window, Tokiomi watched his children playing happily in the courtyard. He replied without hesitation.
"Yes, Elder Matou, you are correct. However, I must also consider the opinion of the future head of the Tohsaka Family. Therefore, I hope you can accept that I will make the final decision on whether to adopt Sakura into the Matou Family one year from now."
Zouken Matou slowly stood up.
"Fine. One year it is then. I look forward to you making the right choice, Tokiomi. I shall take my leave now."
Tokiomi turned around elegantly.
"Thank you, Elder Matou, for understanding my predicament. Allow me to see you out."
The two then left the study.
In the courtyard.
Rin was pretending to play house with Sakura. Although her little sister was very cute, Rin, who was an adult in her past life, couldn't find any interest in a little girl's game of house. At this moment, she wanted nothing more than to hurry up and study magecraft.
Suddenly, Sakura, who was holding a doll, looked pale. Rin immediately turned to look behind her.
Tokiomi was accompanying Zouken Matou out of the house and into the courtyard. Rin immediately understood and took Sakura's hands to comfort her.
"Don't worry, Sakura. Papa promised us. He won't send you to the Matou Family for a year. Your sister is a genius; with just a little effort, I can fulfill the agreement with Papa. You'll never be sent away. Believe in your sister!"
"Mm. Thank you, Onee-sama."
After comforting Sakura, Rin turned around, shielded Sakura, and glared at that old worm, Zouken Matou.
"Hehehe, so this is the future head of the Tohsaka Family? Quite energetic, indeed."
"Rin, don't be so rude. Come and greet Elder Matou."
Rin reluctantly turned her head away and said perfunctorily.
"Greetings, Head of the Matou Family."
Watching the sulking Rin, Tokiomi turned to Zouken with an amused smile.
"My apologies, Elder Matou. My lack of discipline has made a fool of us."
Zouken waved his hand.
"It's no matter. Well then, Tokiomi, you can stop here. I look forward to your good news in a year."
With that, Zouken Matou leaned on his cane and left the Tohsaka estate.
Watching Zouken Matou leave, Rin shouted at his back.
"Don't count on it! You're absolutely not taking Sakura away!"
Tokiomi shook his head and patted Rin's head.
"Then you'd better work hard to fulfill our agreement within the year."
Rin confidently patted her chest and said to Tokiomi.
"Of course! I will definitely fulfill the agreement."
In the days that followed, Rin began to work hard. Aside from attending school, she spent all day in the basement researching magecraft, striving to fulfill her agreement with Tokiomi as soon as possible.
In the Tohsaka basement, Rin looked at a shattered crystal and scratched her head in frustration. She walked over to a bookshelf, took out a heavy tome, and laboriously moved it to the table, trying to find the reason for her failure.
Entering the basement, Tokiomi saw Rin focused on the book. He nodded in satisfaction. Without disturbing her, he walked up behind her and smiled at the shattered crystal on the table.
"It seems even our little genius has her moments of failure."
Startled by the sudden sound, Rin let out a yelp. After realizing it was Tokiomi, she spoke in an annoyed tone.
"Papa! Sneaking up behind someone and speaking like that will scare them to death."
"Right, right, it's my fault. Rin, have you run into any difficulties with your magic research? Do you need Papa to clear things up for you?"
Rin's expression turned serious. She stepped aside and said to Tokiomi.
"Papa, I tried to compress and transfer some Runic Script into a crystal, but the crystal shattered after the transfer."
"Show me the runes you were trying to transfer."
Upon hearing this, Rin quickly picked up a crumpled piece of paper from the floor, smoothed it out, and showed it to Tokiomi.
Tokiomi looked at the paper covered in dense Runic Script. His eyes twitched as he realized he couldn't understand it at all.
Rin watched Tokiomi as he shook his head one moment and smiled the next. She stared at him strangely; this was the first time she had seen him like this.
"Sorry, Rin, Daddy can't understand your magecraft research. It seems you've completely surpassed me in certain fields. Rin, since you've run into an unsolvable problem, why don't you go upstairs and rest? Clear your head before you start researching again."
Rin nodded helplessly. After cleaning up the crystal fragments on the table, she left the basement.
Rin followed the stairs up. Seeing Sakura waiting for her at the basement entrance, her mood immediately brightened, and she happily pulled Sakura into a conversation.
Tohsaka Aoi, who was doing housework, smiled happily as she watched her two daughters getting along harmoniously.
Basement.
Tohsaka Tokiomi carefully put away the paper on which Rin had written the Runic Script, then shook his head.
"Rin is good at everything, but her personality is just too impulsive. Sigh! To crumple such an important thing into a ball and throw it on the floor like that."
He then came to the table and took a small box from his pocket. When he opened it, an ancient snake skin appeared; it was the catalyst that Kotomine Risei had found for him at the church today.
Tokiomi looked at the snake skin for a long time before slowly closing the box and tucking it back into his pocket. He then took the crystal dust from the side and skillfully drew a magic circle on the table.
"Risei, thank you very much. According to the previous plan, I hope Kirei can visit tomorrow in the capacity of a disciple."
Then, Kotomine Risei's voice came from the magic circle.
"Yes, Tokiomi. I will arrange for Kirei to visit the Tohsaka Residence tomorrow."
"That's wonderful. With the help of you and Kirei in this Holy Grail War, we will surely be victorious..."
"
At night, Rin was sleeping in bed when a system notification suddenly sounded in her ear. She threw on a coat and stood by the window, looking at the silent courtyard as she slowly opened the system panel.
As Rin's research into Stiyl's magecraft deepened, another column was unlocked on the system: 'Exchange.' Rin clicked on Exchange, and a dazzling array of magecraft from A Certain Magical Index World was displayed before her eyes.
Rin kept scrolling through the Exchange column. Looking at the grayed-out, unavailable spells, she scrolled faster and faster, soon reaching the bottom.
"System, why can't these spells be exchanged? And what's the difference between this exchange and the rewards?"
"The power of the Magic Way is the power of miracles. Only when the host achieves a miracle impossible for humans can they gain exchange eligibility. Rewards are given to the host after achieving deeds significant enough to be widely circulated among humans."
Rin thought about the Holy Grail War that would begin in over a year. After a moment of thought, she made a decision: she would fight her father tomorrow to demonstrate the power that fulfilled their agreement and to test if she could obtain a reward. A five-year-old girl defeating an adult Magus should satisfy the condition.
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