The first night of the Holy Grail War.
It was already 11 PM. Normally, people in 1994 would have already fallen asleep by this time, but the Tohsaka Residence was still brightly lit.
In the Tohsaka Residence, inside Tohsaka Tokiomi's room.
Rin and Sakura hung their heads, fidgeting with their fingers. They would occasionally look up at their parents and then quickly look back down.
Tohsaka Tokiomi sat on the bed, looking somewhat weak. Tohsaka Aoi sat on the edge of the bed, frowning and looking at him with some nervousness. Aoi understood that her daughters had gone too far this time. No matter how much she doted on them, their actions had undoubtedly touched Tokiomi's bottom line.
On one hand, Aoi was angry at her daughters' actions, but on the other, she was worried that Tokiomi would punish them or even kick them out of the house. Born into a family that once had Magi as ancestors, Aoi knew that in typical Magus families, there was little room for familial affection. Although Tohsaka Tokiomi was different from those Magi, he was still a Magus after all.
Tokiomi seemed to see through Aoi's thoughts. He reached out and patted her shoulder to reassure her, then turned to ask his two nervous daughters.
"Rin, Sakura, I want to know why."
Seeing Sakura lower her head even further, Rin took a deep breath, stepped forward, and looked up calmly at Tohsaka Tokiomi.
"Father, I did this for our family. I don't want you to die in this Holy Grail War, so I made a plan. Sakura was just tricked into cooperating with me. Please don't blame her; these were all my decisions."
"No, Father, Sister didn't trick me. I joined voluntarily."
Tokiomi's brow furrowed as he watched the two girls argue. He seemingly hadn't expected Rin to say such a thing. Shouldn't it have been a little girl doing something foolish just to prove herself to her father?
Then Aoi asked,
"Rin, why do you think your father will die in this Holy Grail War? And you said you made a plan—did you know about the Holy Grail War long ago? How did you find out about it?"
"Father, Mother, I made this plan about a year ago. I learned about the Holy Grail War from our ancestors' diaries in the cabinet in Father's basement. As for why I think Father will die in this war, it's because..."
Suddenly, a flash of golden light appeared, and Gilgamesh's figure manifested in the room. He quickly scanned everyone's expressions and then interrupted Rin.
"That is because, Tokiomi, you are a very dull man. Normally, even a dull subject has his value. But when a subject oversteps his bounds, he loses all value. Tokiomi, you should thank your daughter. Hahahaha."
Seeing Gilgamesh interrupt her, Rin frowned and said,
"Gilgamesh, this is a family matter. Isn't it a bit rude for you to suddenly barge in?"
"Oh? Rin, have you finally stopped using that fake attitude to talk to me? No matter. As long as you can continue to bring me pleasure, I do not care for such trifles as etiquette."
Tohsaka Tokiomi stared at Gilgamesh, his former Servant, and after a long silence, he finally realized something.
"Rin, do you really think I would die at the hands of my own Servant?"
"Fool, how could this King allow himself to be stained by the filthy blood of such a stupid person? This is a great disrespect, mongrel."
"Gilgamesh!" Hearing Gilgamesh call her father a mongrel, Rin shouted at him in annoyance.
Gilgamesh was taken aback and looked at Rin with surprise once more, seemingly not expecting this little girl to be so bold.
"These are the rules you just set, Gilgamesh, king of heroes!"
Gilgamesh, remembering how he had just said he didn't care about etiquette, felt as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly.
Rin smiled slightly as she watched Gilgamesh suffer a setback. However, she knew very well that she could only needle the king of heroes in small ways like this. Calming her desire to continue annoying him, she spoke to Tohsaka Tokiomi.
"Father, I've done the calculations before. Your compatibility with Gilgamesh is zero. If the Servant you summon is Gilgamesh, the probability of you dying in this Holy Grail War is one hundred percent. As the king of heroes, Gilgamesh will not follow the plans you've made. If you try to force him using command spells, then as he just said, you will become worthless to him, and the outcome is obvious."
Tokiomi's brow remained furrowed, seemingly unable to accept Rin's statement.
"Rin, then why didn't you advise me earlier instead of choosing this method?"
"That's because... it's because..." Rin's voice grew smaller and smaller. That's right, why didn't I just tell Father not to summon Gilgamesh from the start? With my position in his heart, I should have been able to convince him. Why was that?
Gilgamesh grinned. Having ruled over countless subjects, he easily saw through Tohsaka Rin's thoughts. He hadn't intended to speak, but remembering the future he had seen on a whim using All the Worlds Treasures while wandering outside earlier, he couldn't help but give Rin a hand.
"That's because your daughter doesn't trust you, Tokiomi. Your daughter no longer believes you can protect this home. She has decided to use her own strength to protect your family. Tokiomi, you really are a mongrel, but now I find you somewhat interesting."
Hearing Gilgamesh's words, it dawned on Rin. Ignoring Gilgamesh calling her father a mongrel again, she carefully thought about when she had stopped trusting her nearly perfect father. Was it because she knew the plot and knew that besides being a good father and husband, Tohsaka Tokiomi was a scapegoat? Or was it because she became arrogant after gaining knowledge from the system? No, I understand now. It must have started the moment he said he planned to send Sakura away.
"I'm sorry, Father. From the moment you said you were going to send Sakura away, I perhaps stopped trusting you. I stopped believing you could protect this home. So... so..."
As she spoke, Rin could no longer make a sound, standing there alone and sobbing.
Tohsaka Tokiomi looked at Rin crying alone and thought, 'Yes, from the moment I decided to send Sakura away, I had already compromised. I was afraid I couldn't give Sakura a better future, afraid that once her talent was discovered, she would be designated for sealing. But as a father, shouldn't I face all of this and use my own strength to carve out a future for my daughter?'
Tohsaka Tokiomi threw back the covers and, supported by Tohsaka Aoi, came to Rin and Sakura's side, gently hugging both of his daughters.
"Indeed, from the moment I decided to give up on Sakura, I was no longer worthy of protecting this home. Rin, don't cry anymore. You weren't wrong. I forgive you. From now on, I hope you can protect this family in my stead."
Saying this, he rolled up his sleeve, intending to forcibly remove his Magic Crest and hand it over to Rin on the spot.
Rin stopped sobbing in a panic and quickly stopped Tohsaka Tokiomi. She understood that so many things had happened suddenly tonight that Tohsaka Tokiomi's mind was momentarily confused, leading him to make such a decision. Once he cleared his head, as a traditional Magus, he would surely regret it and harbor resentment in his heart. By then, the rift would be irreparable. The only way to make Tohsaka Tokiomi truly forgive her and Sakura now was to present the Holy Grail to him—no, the Holy Grail was already corrupted. She should let him see the corrupted Holy Grail, making him give up on his long-cherished wish and focus on coming back to be a good father.
Rin quickly wriggled out of Tohsaka Tokiomi's embrace and said with a slight pout.
"Father, how can you give me the Magic Crest so casually? I'm still waiting to present the Holy Grail to you so you can fulfill our Tohsaka Family's wish. Have you forgotten our Tohsaka Family's wish?"
Tokiomi was taken aback, but a familiar smile returned to his face as he reached out his right hand to pat Rin's head.
"Alright, then I'll wait for you to bring the Holy Grail to me."
As Tokiomi smiled familiarly once more, smiles also bloomed on the tense faces of Sakura and Tohsaka Aoi, signifying the end of the "filial daughter" incident.
To the side, Gilgamesh watched the melodrama with boredom, curled his lip, and vanished from the room in a burst of golden light.
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