A little later, Sakura and Kariya returned.
Sakura's eyes were red, as if she had just cried, which made Shinji, who was waiting for her at the entrance, feel very distressed.
"What's the matter, my little princess? Who made you angry? I'll help you beat him up."
"No, no one made me angry." Ying lowered her head, looking aggrieved, "I was angry at myself."
"Oh, oh." Shinji's expression became even gentler. He squatted down in front of Sakura, raised his head, and looked into his sister's eyes. "Why are you angry with yourself? Tell your brother about it, okay?"
"Well... because Sakura is useless." Sakura sniffed, tears welling up in her eyes, "Dad is sick and hasn't been well, and Sakura's healing magic can't help. If only, if Sakura could be as good as Master."
"Little fool." Shinji reached out and gently ruffled his sister's hair. "Master is not born so powerful. You are still young now. As long as you practice hard, one day, you will become as powerful as Master."
But this number of days may have to be calculated in tens of thousands, and the comparison object is the master who is a Servant - Shinji added silently in his heart.
"real?"
"Of course it's true. Brother wouldn't lie to Sakura."
Ying's dull eyes finally brightened up again: "Then I will work hard to practice and strive to become as powerful as my master as soon as possible."
Shinji clenched his fist and waved it in front of Sakura: "With this momentum, my brother will cheer for you, starting from today."
"Well, I'll go finish today's homework first. The master gave me a lot of homework before he left."
"Go ahead."
Shinji kept smiling as he watched his sister disappear into the entrance of the underground workshop.
It was only at this time that Kariya, who was standing aside like a statue, spoke up: "I knew you could coax Sakura."
Shinji turned his head and replied unhappily: "I also know that you failed to appease Aunt Aoi."
Kariya's body froze, and a look of helplessness appeared on his face, which had previously shown no emotion.
"How do you know that?"
"Because only in this way, you will not be in the mood to comfort Sakura, and let her come back with red eyes."
Shinji knew very well that in Kariya's heart, Zenjo Aoi came first, and Rin and Sakura came second. Only when there was a problem with Zenjo Aoi would he ignore Sakura.
"Has Tousaka Tokiomi's condition worsened again?"
"Yes." Kariya sighed, "He was in good condition a few days ago and was able to walk, but his condition suddenly worsened last night and he has been in a coma ever since."
At the end of the Holy Grail War, Tōsaka Tokiomi fell into madness. Shinji couldn't bear it anymore and knocked him out with a stick, then secretly sent him back to the Tōsaka family.
Since then, Tokiomi's health has been poor. He often has high fever and is too weak to even walk.
"Has the cause of the disease been found?"
"No, we have tried both modern medicine and magic, and the conclusion is that she is physically weak and needs to rest. Now we can only wait for the results of Yustisa's analysis."
Kariya's words made Shinji even more confused.
"That shouldn't be the case. That night, Tōsaka Tokiomi only fought with you, uncle, and the injuries he suffered were external. There's no reason why his body would become weaker after the external injuries healed."
"It has nothing to do with Kariya."
The spirit particles gathered, and Justisa's voice appeared in the living room.
"The result is out. The reason for Tōsaka Tokiomi's weakness is the curse, the curse of the Holy Grail."
"That's impossible." Shinji stood there in shock. "Although the curse of the Holy Grail does make people weaker day by day, when Tokiomi entered Ryuudou Temple, Saber had already destroyed the black mud, the small Holy Grail, and the hole."
"But this is the result. If I hadn't come into direct contact with the curse of the Holy Grail, and if I hadn't used Emiya Kiritsugu as a case study, I wouldn't have been able to find out the cause. I think there must have been a little bit of residue in a corner of the altar at the time, and Tōsaka Tokiomi happened to come across it."
"This is really..." Shinji and Kariya looked at each other and smiled bitterly at the same time.
He ignored the objections of his wife and daughter and pursued the Holy Grail. In the end, not only did he fail to obtain it, but he was cursed by the Holy Grail. What an ironic ending.
"Do you want to save him?" Shinji asked Kariya.
"This question is meaningless. It's not about whether to save him or not, but whether he can be saved?" The one who answered was not Kariya, but Yustisa.
"What's the meaning?"
"Tousaka Tokiomi's problem is more serious than Emiya Kiritsugu's. Emiya Kiritsugu was able to effectively contain the curse because he had 'Avalon' implanted in time. Tousaka Tokiomi is different. Although the amount of curse he suffered was small, it has completely penetrated into his soul and merged with him. At this stage, no one can save Tousaka Tokiomi unless there is a complete 'third magic' or a miracle like time reversal."
"The goddess's scepter won't work? Cursing and removing curses are what the ancient Egyptian pharaohs were best at." Shinji said as he materialized the protective treasure that he hadn't given to Sakura yet.
"No, it's like cancer. If the cancer cells spread throughout the body, there's no cure. Tōsaka Tokiomi is in a state where the cancer cells have spread throughout his body."
After hearing Justisa's explanation, Shinji and Kariya were relieved. Without a choice, they wouldn't have to endure the inner torture.
"How long can he live?" After a slight hesitation, Kariya still asked the question that concerned him the most.
"Not sure. It depends on his will to survive. It could be as short as a year or so, or as long as three to five years. If he has a treasure like the golden apple, he might be able to hold on for a while longer."
Shinji spread his hands at the two of them and said, "No, the last golden apple was eaten by my father yesterday."
Yanye nodded and left the entrance without saying a word. At this moment, he felt mixed emotions and just wanted to be quiet for a while.
Shinji and Justisa remained silent in tacit agreement, and only continued their conversation elsewhere after Kariya left.
"How is Emiya Kiritsugu doing?"
"He has almost recovered. It will take at most three days for him to completely remove the curse."
"Where's Miss Irisviel?"
"No progress. Although she was successfully transferred from Ryudo Temple to the Emiya family, she cannot leave the spiritual vein, nor can she switch between the spirit body and the physical body freely like I can. Kiritsugu and Maiya still need to replenish her magic power regularly. If my 'third magic' can be improved a little more, then they may be able to go to Einzbern Castle to pick up their daughter earlier."
"Don't blame yourself. You've done a good job." Shinji comforted her softly, "If it weren't for you, Miss Irisviel would have died and would never have had the chance to live with her husband and daughter. It was you who gave her a future."
"Then it's only natural that I, the one who gave her the future, would want to witness that future."
Justisa looked at Shinji with admiring eyes, and Shinji couldn't refuse this look.
He began to think, wondering if there was any useful information in his memories of his past life. Perhaps Shinji had always subconsciously had a fondness for the Emiya family and the kind-hearted woman Irisviel, and the figure of a certain king of the underworld soon appeared in his mind.
"Justisa, let's go to the Emiya residence. I have an idea."
PS: The previous chapter mentioned that there were some remarks that the treacherous young master could not understand. The golden apple was obtained by the master from Jin Shanshan in exchange for a Yamaha motorcycle, in order to improve the physique of the disciple. What does this have to do with abandoning the master for the golden apple