Rin seemed to perceive the gaze revealed in her younger sister's eyes, as well as the emotions held within that gaze. Even if her sister did not remember the original appearance of their home, this current small two-story building standing right in the center of a European-style estate appeared so out of place.
Furthermore, a month before the Holy Grail War began, she had sent her mother to another city. After all, no one could guarantee how long in advance other participants would arrive to familiarize themselves with the city, nor could they predict the threats posed by potential participants. Sending her loved ones to a safe place early on was the fundamental basis for ensuring she would not need to worry too much during the Holy Grail War.
However, this resulted in the entire garden going without proper care for a month. The garden, which originally looked quite orderly, now indeed appeared to have wild vegetation, giving off the feeling of an overgrown experimental field.
Rin couldn't help but cup her chin in her hand. Come to think of it, her Servant, Napoleon, could even snatch cheap eggs, so asking him to tend to the courtyard should not be a problem, right? After all, he was the Servant of Possibility, so tending to the courtyard was also possible, was it not?
Even if it is impossible, it must become possible!! Was this not what Napoleon himself said? He surely wouldn't slap his own face, would he? A man must keep his word. Even if doing so might somewhat degrade the Emperor's dignity, as a Master, she also needed to maintain her own image. What a pity, if only I could have an all-purpose butler.
I wonder if Napoleon can become an all-purpose butler in just half a day? Although for many, this would be sheer fantasy, a near-impossible feat, who was Napoleon? He was the man who turned the impossible into the possible. If it was him, he could definitely do it!
Napoleon had absolutely no idea what his boast about being the "man who turns the impossible into the possible" would morph into within the mind of a Master with such eccentric thinking. Most likely, after this Holy Grail War, the Napoleon who returned as a spiritual fragment would be curious as to why he had suddenly mastered a heap of new skills.
Then, in this lifetime, he would place Tohsaka Rin on his blacklist.
Rin brewed a cup of black tea and placed it in front of her sister. In truth, her sister's reaction made her feel quite distressed internally. At a young age, she had been forced to shoulder the heavy burden of rebuilding the family. After burying her father, she still needed to manage the ley lines of this region, wrangle with those old geezers at the Clock Tower, and take care of her mother, who had fallen ill from the shock.
Because her sister's remains were never found, strictly speaking, her status was "missing." She had constantly sought information regarding her sister. However, because Sakura had spent the first half of that time in Antarctica and only occasionally traveled, all the news Rin received was fake, or the people found were not her sister.
Because of the high reward offered in the missing person notices, someone had even disguised themselves as her sister and come directly to the door. If not for the fact that the other party possessed not a shred of magical energy, Rin would have almost believed it.
Although she knew her sister no longer held any special affection for the family, and this was not her sister's fault, Rin still felt somewhat aggrieved in her heart. I will slowly close the distance between us in the future.At least the good news is that my sister is still alive and living quite well.
Sakura did not say much about how she had once hoped to be saved by her sister, mother, and father. Because all of that was in the past tense. She had seen new sunlight in the midst of utter despair, and after that, she had been bestowed a new surname. Whether it was her sister or her brother, they did not know what the old her had experienced.
Her brother was better; when collecting family data later, he had more or less guessed something. Since then, he had been constantly making it up to her. But this sister before her truly knew nothing. No blame, no intimacy; this was fine as it was...
Listening to her sister's recount, Sakura merely nodded calmly. Afterward, she left a letter for her mother and chose to bid farewell. Although Rin wanted to ask her to stay, she understood that at this moment, she had to follow her sister's wishes. Otherwise, they would likely never be able to repair the rift that existed between them in this lifetime.
Seeing her sister out the gate, Rin sighed softly.
Napoleon appeared beside her, a cigar dangling from his mouth. "Master, your sister doesn't seem to want to get close to you. That child clearly no longer regards you as a place to return to. It will be difficult to repair the relationship between you two."
Rin nodded silently. "Although I know that's the case, I didn't need you to say it. I have my pride too... So... Man of Possibility, starting tomorrow, you are the gardener of this estate. Remember to tend to all the flowers and plants properly. I am going to sleep now."
After all, the Holy Grail War took place at night; the day was naturally the time to recharge one's energy.
On the other side, Sakura, who had just left the Tohsaka household, wore an expression of hesitation. True, she no longer needed to return to that former home to feel warmth. The current her had a new home. But the concern given to her by this existence known as her "older sister" was also genuine.
In the end, she was just a teenage girl. She did not know how to handle such a situation properly.
Precisely because her heart was filled with confusion, she decided to take this opportunity to calm down in the night breeze.
Sakura looked at the old city district, then at the new city district, and prepared to head towards the neon lights of the new district to relax. Although she had been living in Antarctica, Sakura was still very familiar with the entertainment facilities of a modern city. Beneath her calm exterior, there had actually always been a constantly restless heart. In fact, despite appearing quiet, she actually preferred those rather intense games.
So, let's go to the 24-hour arcade in the new district to soothe my somewhat fluctuating emotions.
Just after Sakura left this area, before she had walked very far, she stopped in her tracks. At the same time, she took the cherry blossom pendant directly from her neck and placed it into her belt, ready to input magical energy into the belt at any moment.
The surroundings seemed to have no problems at all, but it was precisely this lack of problems that was the most eerie. It was too quiet here. As an old city district, every household had a courtyard and garden landscapes. In summer, it should naturally be accompanied by the sounds of insects and the night wind. Yet here, there was not even the chirp of a single insect.