met free Chapter 4: Getting ahead is your lie; arguing is your real goal!
Chapter 4: Getting ahead is your lie; arguing is your real goal!
Chapter 4: Getting ahead is your lie; arguing is your real goal!
After Broly left, the headless corpse in the insect warehouse had some insects gather again at the head position, forming a new old man's head.
"What a dangerous brat. This kind of power couldn't possibly be possessed by a normal human, but I can't sense any magical energy on him either. That guy must be a Heroic Spirit."
This is the only explanation. Matou Ryogen understood the gap between himself and a Heroic Spirit, which is why he pretended to be dead after his head was blown off. After all, his true body was inside this insect pod, and he was really afraid that a fight would affect his true body.
"It's no secret that the Matou family is involved in this Holy Grail War, but who exactly is behind the attackers? Why did they take Sakura from the Matou family? Do they think they can use that child to threaten the Matou family, or are they planning to use her to threaten the Tohsaka family?"
Matou Ryouken muttered to himself as he walked out of the basement and strolled along the outer corridor, abruptly stopping at a window near a corner.
"Perhaps, this could also be an attacker sent by Tokiomi Tohsaka. The reason is that Tokiomi Tohsaka discovered that the Matou family's magic has changed from water-attribute to insect-attribute. Because he didn't want to break his alliance with the Matou family, he used this trick to take his daughter back from the Matou family."
The old man's ghoul-like appearance was reflected in the glass window, but his sharp eyes narrowed as he muttered to himself.
"No, given Tokiomi Tohsaka's personality and his adherence to the rigid family rules of the Tohsaka family, he's not the type to secretly betray the alliance. And considering his absolutely calm and competent demeanor as a magician, so-called familial affection probably wouldn't be enough to make him do something that violates principles. But you never know, humans are complex emotional beings. What if that brat Tokiomi Tohsaka..."
At this point, Matou Reiken stopped.
"I'm getting a bit senile. These kinds of things always need to be tested. And if testing will clarify things, why speculate wildly here?"
Matou Ryouken shook his head and continued walking forward.
"Hey, Grandpa, you were home all along?!"
Just as I reached the corner, I bumped into my nominal grandson.
"Ah, no, this isn't the time to talk about that. Grandpa, Sakura has been kidnapped by a dangerous guy. You need to go and save her!"
This foolish grandson has no talent as a magician, but possesses the innocence and kindness of a child. I wonder what kind of twisted innocence will become as he grows up and realizes he's a useless good-for-nothing. Just thinking about it makes me a little curious…
Ok?
As an elder of the Matou family, I'm actually looking forward to the twisted suffering of my descendants. It seems my soul is starting to crumble. The Holy Grail, oh the Holy Grail, I must obtain it quickly, before I completely forget my existence as a magus. But before that...
"Shinji, have you finished your holiday homework?"
"Uh, it's not finished yet, Grandpa. Now's not the time to talk about this!"
The young second uncle was a little anxious, but still answered his grandfather's question.
"You haven't finished your homework yet? Then what are you talking nonsense about?"
The creepy smile on Matou Ryogen's face disappeared, and he directly reprimanded the young second master.
Go back to your room and do your holiday homework.
"But Sakura..."
"That's just your adopted sister, mind your own business."
The young Second Master was aggrieved, but dared not disobey his grandfather's will, so he could only go back to his room.
. . . .
In Fuyuki City, where the Fourth Holy Grail War has begun, a conflict is taking place inside a restaurant specializing in rice bowls.
Here's what happened: Broly was enjoying his pork cutlet rice bowl when the restaurant suddenly stopped serving him more rice.
Why aren't you serving more food?
"I'd like to keep serving you food, but you two kids ordered so much food, do you really have the money to pay the bill?"
The restaurant owner crossed his arms and spoke with skepticism, saying that the economy was not doing well these days, and that someone had recently dined and dashed at his restaurant.
Today, the two little kids, who haven't even grown all their hair yet and are barely taller than his thighs, acted a bit strangely after entering the restaurant. When asked about the adults, they said that the adults would be there soon.
As a result, after about half of the food had been served, the two little brats still hadn't seen the adults they were talking about. The restaurant owner couldn't help but suspect that these were people who were trying to freeload at his restaurant again. With most of the food still not on the table, he came out to inquire about the situation.
"money?"
Broly paused for a moment, then the interpretation of money flashed through his mind—the usual commodity for buying food.
Broly immediately understood; that must be the Baya bloodline of this world. But he didn't have such a thing, so he looked at the young Sakura.
"Excuse me, how much does our food cost?"
The girl asked politely.
"Including the rice bowls that haven't been served yet, you'll have to pay a total of..."
The restaurant owner gave a number, and young Sakura took out the pocket money given to her by Shinji Matou and counted it carefully, only to find that she only had enough coins to pay a small amount.
The restaurant owner noticed the girl's embarrassment and added, "If we're only considering what you've already eaten, you only need to give me an extra two thousand yen."
Young Sakura: "..."
This is the downside of not starting elementary school yet; they don't even know the simplest addition and subtraction, and their meal expenses are clearly over budget.
Young Sakura looked at Broly, seemingly seeking help from the slightly older boy, but Broly looked at her innocently.
If young Sakura could be considered a child of civilized society, then Broly was a wild savage from a desolate planet in the pure Dragon Ball world.
His father, Paragus, only taught him about combat, but not arithmetic, nor did he teach him the information that occasionally surfaced in his mind.
Therefore, Broly is also a good-for-nothing who only cares about ordering food and eating it, but doesn't care about calculations.
At this moment, without any of the world's Baya blood (money), he couldn't help the girl in front of him in any way.
As their eyes met, Broly's innocent and pure gaze made young Sakura realize one thing: the tailed boy who had rescued her from the insect pod seemed to be a penniless wretch who couldn't even afford a normal meal. She could only look at the restaurant owner and say, "I don't have any more money."
"If you're short of money, you can ask an adult to come and pay the bill."
The restaurant owner said.
Young Sakura was somewhat silent. When she left the Matou family, she thought that she could finally go back to her real home.
It wasn't until he followed Broly into this restaurant for a meal that he suddenly remembered what his father had said to him when he sent him away.
"Sakura, from today onwards, your surname will be changed to Matou. You will no longer be a child of the Tohsaka family. Neither I nor your mother will have any relation to you."
In the future, if you face Rin again, do not treat her as your older sister. You will be both fellow travelers and rivals on the path of magic.
If one day you sisters have to fight each other, please don't be sad. On the contrary, you should be happy that your magical talent has not been wasted...
Having already severed ties with his father, does his current home still offer him a place to belong?
Young Sakura didn't understand, but she knew that if the restaurant owner went to her biological father, Tokiomi Tohsaka, because she couldn't pay the bill, it would definitely embarrass and humiliate her elegant and gentlemanly father.
"I have no home. My parents don't want me anymore."
Young Sakura said with utter disappointment.
Restaurant owner: "???"
"So, you're trying to dine and dash?"
His expression was somewhat displeased, and his tone became unfriendly.
"I can help with things to pay off the debt."
Young Sakura quickly explained that her magical talent led her to receive more education, including the covenants and deals of magicians.
This is why she was bewildered but didn't make a fuss when she was sent to the Matou family. Overall, she was a sensible child.
Her maturity made her want to work to cover the shortfall in meal expenses, but she overlooked the fact that she was too young.
"Are you kidding me? What can a little kid like you do?"
The restaurant owner clearly did not accept this suggestion. He did not think the two children were poor or homeless, and assumed they were children who had quarreled with their families. He insisted that the girl call home to ask her parents to come over.
"Warning: Matou Sakura's happiness level is decreasing. Please pay attention to her condition."
The Crystal Palace reminder resurfaced in his mind, and Broly realized the girl's reluctance.
"Hey, don't make things difficult for her."
He said it directly.
Upon hearing this, the restaurant owner looked over and asked, "So, do you have the money to pay the debt?"
"I don't."
Broly shook his head decisively. If he had the Baya blood of this world, he would have given it to them long ago.
"So, can you call home and ask your parents for money?"
The restaurant owner asked again.
"I don't know who my mother is, but my father doesn't exist in this world."
Broly shook his head in reply.
"You have no money and can't call home to ask for it, so are you playing me?"
The situation was increasingly resembling a dine-and-dash incident, which made the restaurant owner even angrier.
"Do you believe I'll call the police and have you two naughty kids who don't pay for your meals arrested?"
The restaurant owner said in a frightening tone, unaware that the way the child next to him was looking at him was gradually becoming dangerous.
Broly certainly doesn't have Baya blood in this world, but in the past he also didn't have the concept of using Baya blood to exchange for food.
When he was younger, he and his father Paragas obtained food on the planet Vampa by hunting Vampa spiders in the most primitive way.
In other words, hunting down the restaurant owner who owns the food in front of him is the simplest way Broly sees to solve the problem of not having enough Baya blood to trade for food.
However, obtaining food without trade could disrupt the ecological balance. Before entering the restaurant by following the aroma, Broly had already seen many tailless creatures on the way.
Based on the fact that in the past, when no Baya blood was used for trade and food was obtained by directly hunting Wanpa Spiders, the ecological balance of Wanpa Star was not disrupted. Therefore, it should not be a problem to kill just one tailless creature.
Moreover...
Broly looked toward the kitchen behind the curtain, from which the aroma of food wafted. He figured that once he dealt with the food owner next door, the food inside would also be his.
Broly became more and more tempted, and just as he clenched his little fist, preparing to hunt down the restaurant owner.
"Bang!"
But the sound of a table being slammed came from the next table a moment earlier.
"This is unbearable to listen to, boss. You're an adult, how can you make things difficult for two children?"
"No, and who are you, sir? What's it to you?"
"I am Fujimura Taiga. This has nothing to do with me, but I can't stand you, an adult, bullying two children like this."
The one who stood up and spoke was an orange-haired girl with a single ponytail tied behind her head. She slammed one hand on the table and pointed at the restaurant owner with the other, speaking with an air of righteous indignation.
"How can this be considered bullying? Does asking for money count as bullying? They didn't have enough money to pay for their meal!"
The restaurant owner began to argue.
"Yes, these two children don't have enough money to pay for their meals, but they have their reasons, don't you realize that?"
One didn't know that his mother and father had passed away, and the other had no home, so he must have been abandoned by his biological parents.
"Who knows? Kids love to lie. What if this is a lie they told to try and renege on their promise?"
The restaurant owner looked somewhat uneasy.
"I'm not lying."
Broly and young Sakura immediately retorted, saying it almost in unison.
Fujimura Taiga nodded; she was willing to believe the two children.
"What if they weren't lying?"
She asked the restaurant owner.
"I run a restaurant, not some welfare institution. Am I supposed to lose money?"
The restaurant owner retorted, "Orphans should go to welfare homes to beg for food. What's the point of them coming to my restaurant to eat for free?"
"You shouldn't have lost money, but what you did was disgusting. Couldn't you have spoken to them gently? Instead, you told children their age to call the police to arrest them."
"Wasn't I just trying to scare them?"
The restaurant owner said somewhat aggrievedly, "In this day and age, it's almost impossible for two obviously young children to be imprisoned for something as trivial as dining and dashing."
At most, the police will come, take the two children away for a lecture, and then call their parents to come and pick them up, if the two children really still have parents.
"frighten?"
Fujimura Taiga raised his voice, stomped his shoes loudly as he walked over, and began lecturing the restaurant owner, pointing his finger at his nose.
"Do you know how much psychological damage such scare tactics can cause to children? What if they develop a fear of the police and no longer want to trust them? Can you bear the social responsibility for such an incident? Children are like beautiful flowers, but in this society, there are always some bad adults who want to destroy them..."
As lunchtime approached, people kept coming into the restaurant. After seeing the argument inside, they realized it wasn't really a place to eat, but it seemed like a good place to gossip.
Customers who weren't in a rush were all watching the spectacle unfolding inside the restaurant, looking out from the entrance.
"Alright, alright, I was wrong, okay? I'll apologize to them, please stop talking."
The restaurant owner saw the customers crowding at the door to watch the show. If he continued to be dragged along by this extremely strong girl, his bad reputation for bullying a poor, helpless child would probably spread, and he would also be labeled as someone who lacked social responsibility and had no manners. So he immediately backed down.
"Hmph, this was your fault to begin with. You're lucky you know what's good for you."
Fujimura Taiga exhaled a long breath, looking like a victorious general. The restaurant owner apologized to the two children next to him for scaring them, choosing to swallow his pride and accept the unfinished meal fee, leaving the girl with only the change in her hand.
"Snap!"
However, Fujimura Taiga walked over and slapped two 1000 yen bills in front of him.
"I'm not the kind of person who bullies others by virtue of my power. I'll make up for the meals these two children missed."
She said this.
"Yes, sir, you are very kind."
The restaurant owner's face changed from a grumpy, unlucky expression to one of enthusiasm towards his customers.
"On the other hand, if you had just told me directly that you were willing to pay for the two children's meals, I wouldn't have argued with you."
"Ha, no, arguing with you makes me feel much better now."
Fujimura Taiga has been feeling down lately because of a disagreement with his parents over dyeing his hair.
Through this righteous argument, I was able to express my feelings very well.
Restaurant owner: "..."
So, you stood up to start an argument, right? That must be it.
However, since the other party paid the bill and I didn't suffer any loss, this extra emotional value will be provided free of charge.
"Welcome to visit us again!"
(End of this chapter)