After listening to Shinji's story, Kariya fell silent.
He did not verify the truth of what Shinji said. In fact, as soon as Shinji started talking, Kariya knew that he was telling the truth.
He was simply shocked by the history that began before the Christian era and lasted for two thousand years.
A magician who performs miracles.
The mysterious third magic.
The ambition to save humanity.
Plan for 1800.
The three major families joined forces.
A war that happens every 60 years.
When Kariya thought about how he was involved, he felt an inexplicable emotion spreading from the back of his head to his tailbone.
There is excitement, bitterness, fear and worry.
Of course, the passion of men is also indispensable.
After telling the origin of the Holy Grail War, Shinji didn't say anything else. He just drank water silently, waiting for his uncle to digest everything he heard.
Kariya has a kind of decisiveness that ordinary people do not have. When he encounters a problem, he rarely gets entangled, let alone escapes. Instead, he will sort out the problem in the shortest time possible, decide what he should do, and never regret it.
When he was young, he wanted to leave the Matou family, so he ran away from home immediately and was never heard from again.
A year ago, when he heard that Sakura was going to enter the Matou family, he rushed back immediately and even planned to sacrifice himself to save Sakura from the insect nest.
When he learned that Tōsaka Tokiomi would participate in the Holy Grail War a year later, he decided to fight as the Master of the Matou family and defeat his archenemy - who he thought he was.
When he knew that Sakura was inevitably going to enter the path of magic, he grew up in the shortest possible time and supported the Matou family, which had lost its only magician and was on the verge of decline.
Therefore, Shinji firmly believed that when Kariya knew the truth, he would also figure it out quickly, because—
"It sounds like it has nothing to do with me?"
This was the first sentence Kariya said after his silence, and it was also the truth after the fog was cleared.
"I knew uncle would say that." Shinji was not surprised at his uncle's answer.
No matter how profound the hidden things behind the Holy Grail War were, they had little to do with Kariya. He was just a magician who had just taken off his rookie hat, and he did not yet have the pride and persistence of a traditional magician.
The origin and magic are too far away. He just wants to live every day well, silently watching over Aoi and Rin from a distance, and pouring all his efforts into Sakura. This way he will be happy.
"I'm only telling you this because you should know all this, as the heir of the Matou family's line of magicians. The head of the Einzbern family, Ahad, and the head of the Tousaka family, Toshiomi, know all this, so of course you should know it too."
Although his father Matou Tsuruya is the head of the family, Matou Kariya, who inherited the magic seal of the Matou family, is the one who is qualified to know the truth. After all, the world of magic does not belong to an ordinary person like Tsuruya. Sakura is still too young, and it will not be too late to tell her ten years later.
I didn't say it before because Shinji didn't know Kariya yet, and Kariya himself wasn't mature enough. But now, Kariya has inherited the Magic Seal, become a magician, and participated in the Holy Grail War. Now that he has seen Irisviel, who looks exactly like Justisia, and Scathach entering as a Servant, it's time to talk it out.
More importantly—
"It was my idea to conceal the identities of Justisa and the Master. I hope that after knowing the truth, Uncle will not have any grudges against the Master and Justisa. I treat them as family members."
Hearing what Shinji said, Kariya also expressed his attitude:
"Our family is what it is today thanks to our master and Justisa. No matter who they are or what their purpose is, I will always be grateful. I believe my brother and Sakura have the same idea. Our family is different from other cold-blooded magician families."
"That's good." Shinji breathed a sigh of relief. The word "thank you" was the best reassurance.
At this moment, Kariya suddenly gave Shinji a malicious smile: "By the way, are we considered competitors?"
Shinji also smiled, a playful smile that was dark and dangerous: "From the fact that only one Master can survive the Holy Grail War, yes - what, uncle, you want to compete with me first? To be honest, I really don't think you will win. Although the Master is the Assassin with the lowest attributes, it is not easy to defeat the Berserker with the highest attributes, but the Berserker cannot get rid of the Master's entanglement. This period of time is enough for Yustisa and I to pin you to the ground and remove the Command Seals."
Yanye's expression froze on his face, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "Hey, hey, can't you give me some face? After all, I am your uncle."
"I'm just stating the facts." Shinji deliberately put on a serious look, looking like he really deserved a beating.
Kariya also wanted to beat up Shinji, but considering the difference in fighting ability between the two, especially in close combat, Kariya finally gave up the idea and continued bickering instead: "What if I convince Sakura to help me?"
"Hehe, that's impossible." Shinji shook his head quickly, "Sakura will definitely stand on my side."
Kariya was unhappy in his heart, and even more dissatisfied in his words: "I don't believe it!"
"Believe it or not. Also, uncle, you won't involve Sakura because you treat her as your daughter. I won't involve Sakura either because she is my sister." At the end, Shinji looked towards the entrance of the training ground.
Little Sakura pushed the door open quietly and leaned out her tiny body. She found Shinji and Kariya were looking at her. She shrank back behind the door embarrassedly and closed it again. Her cute appearance made the uncle and nephew smile knowingly.
"Okay, you win." Kariya admitted defeat, and he admitted it willingly.
"It's not that I won, it's that there is no such thing as winning or losing."
Shinji sighed, put away his joking attitude, and spoke in a serious tone.
"Our wishes never need to be fulfilled through the Holy Grail. I hope to purify the Holy Grail. Uncle, you just want to defeat Tōsaka Tokiomi and vent the anger that has accumulated over the years, right?"
Kariya nodded calmly. Except for Sakura, everyone in the family knew why he worked so hard.
"So, the function of the Holy Grail is not that important to you and me. Even if I really got the Holy Grail restored to its original state, I don't know what wish I would make."
Shinji did not lie. Even if the Holy Grail was restored and could truly connect to the root and become an omnipotent wish-granting machine, Shinji would not be too interested.
The root is a fatal temptation for magicians, but not for Shinji, because he knows very well that a magician who reaches the root cannot return to the real world.
The world is so wonderful, he hasn't had enough of it.
If we really want to find out the root cause, we should wait until the day when he has no attachment to the present world anymore.