"The Holy Grail War is about to begin soon, right?......... According to the rules, we should already be in the selection phase."
In the Matou residence, Matou Shinji stood in the room, looking at his father—Matou Kariya—who was seated in the study chair, speaking in a somewhat displeased tone.
Though in an accident ten years ago, their "grandfather," Matou Zouken, had died, causing the worms in the Matou household to go berserk and completely overrun the place. However, precisely because they had lost Matou Zouken's control, these worms were left with only their instincts, making them no different from ordinary insects when it came to extermination.
Thus, with the help of the police and firefighters, the worms in the Matou residence were almost entirely wiped out, and the Matou household was returned to the family's hands. However, Matou Sakura had already been taken away by Zuke, so the only ones left living in the Matou residence were Matou Kariya and Matou Shinji.
From a young age, Matou Shinji had taken pride in being born into a mage family, but on the other hand, he possessed almost no magical aptitude, which filled him with deep inferiority. This was especially true regarding Tohsaka Rin, whom he admired at school—she was from the Tohsaka family, one of the Three Great Families of the Holy Grail War alongside the Matou, and she clearly had exceptional magical talent.
This made Matou Shinji feel even more unable to hold his head up in front of Tohsaka Rin. His intense sense of inferiority drove him to want to participate in the Holy Grail War to prove himself.
But......... with almost no magical aptitude, there was no chance he would be chosen by the Holy Grail—and the same went for his father, Matou Kariya.
"It should be......... but that has nothing to do with us anymore, Shinji."
Matou Kariya's voice sounded exhausted—while he couldn't be said to have absolutely no magical aptitude, he was only slightly better than Matou Shinji. He wasn't even as capable as his deceased younger brother, Matou Byakuya.
Because of this, he had practically given up on continuing the Matou family's legacy as a mage household and had instead turned to business—at the very least, he needed to keep the Matou family afloat. But his son, Matou Shinji, clearly didn't share this mindset.
Upon hearing Matou Kariya's near-resigned tone, Matou Shinji's expression twisted into something almost frenzied.
It seemed he had already anticipated his father's response, so without hesitation, he pulled something out from behind his back:
"No, Father! We still have a chance! The Matou family's magecraft hasn't ended yet!"
Matou Kariya froze, then looked up at the object in Matou Shinji's hands—and his expression changed.
In Matou Shinji's hands was a large glass jar, about the size of a pickling crock.
But more importantly, inside this glass jar was a mass of wriggling Crest Worms—their squirming forms looked utterly revolting.
"Shinji! Where the hell did you get that!?"
Matou Kariya's voice nearly turned into a shriek as he stared in disbelief at what his son had produced.
He had never heard that his son had been secretly cultivating Crest Worms—weren't these things supposed to have been completely wiped out by the police and firefighters ten years ago?
Rumor had it that the Holy Church had stepped in to clean up the mess afterward to prevent the incident from causing too much of a stir.
After all, Matou Zouken's death was clearly linked to a Servant, and since it was related to the Holy Grail War, the Holy Church would naturally cover it up.
But Matou Kariya never expected that some of the worms had apparently survived—and that those remnants had been cultivated by Matou Shinji.
Though Matou Shinji had little magical talent, he seemed oddly skilled in breeding these things?
"A few years ago, I found some leftover worms in the basement... I've read the Matou family's magecraft books—these are called Crest Worms."
Matou Shinji's expression was one of madness, as if he had been driven past the point of reason.
The pride of being from a mage family and the inferiority of lacking magical talent had been warring in Matou Shinji's mind for years, making him increasingly obsessive. In the original story, Matou Sakura had served as a "more talented counterpart" to divert his attention, but now, without her, Matou Shinji had clearly taken a far more extreme path:
"These Crest Worms can be implanted into the body to replace Magic Circuits......... With these, I can qualify for the Holy Grail War!"
"Have you lost your mind, Shinji!? Using Crest Worms to replace Magic Circuits is possible, but it means letting the worms eat away at your body in exchange for magical energy!"
Matou Kariya slammed his hands on the desk, standing up in fury as he glared at Matou Shinji, outright rejecting the idea.
Though Matou Kariya had little magical aptitude, he had still read the family's magecraft books and knew the purpose of Crest Worms.
Ten years ago, Matou Byakuya had been implanted with Crest Worms, his Magic Circuits replaced by them, leaving him looking like a corpse in just a few days. He certainly didn't want his son to end up the same way.
"It doesn't matter, as long as I obtain the Holy Grail......... That's a wish-granting device. If I get it, everything can be fixed."
At this point, Matou Shinji was beyond listening to reason. His eyes were bloodshot, his hopes entirely pinned on the Holy Grail. If he could win the Holy Grail War, even that arrogant Tohsaka Rin wouldn't dare look down on him anymore...
If Zuke were here, he would solemnly tell Matou Shinji that simps never come to a good end.
In the previous Holy Grail War, the Matou family's simp, Matou Byakuya, had met a miserable fate in both the original story and this mission world. Whether it was Tohsaka Aoi, Tohsaka Rin, or Matou Sakura, none of them would even remember Matou Byakuya's existence unless someone deliberately brought him up.
"So, you didn't find anything on your trip this time?"
Zuke looked at Reines, dressed in a maid outfit, as she was pressed down by another maid—a mercury-based homunculus—and couldn't help but laugh.
So Reines had come back empty-handed after her outing.
But Zuke could understand—Fuyuki City wasn't exactly small, divided into Miyama Town and Shinto districts. It wasn't realistic for Reines to find other participants so quickly.
"Can't be helped. I even used special methods to track down magi......... but there are fewer magi in Fuyuki than I expected."
Reines sighed helplessly, then glanced at Zuke.
Perhaps because she had grown more familiar with Zuke—and thanks to him dressing her in a maid outfit earlier—she had become more comfortable around him. Her tone was much more casual now, not as reserved as before—which only made her even cuter:
"And it's not like you've finished investigating the Three Great Families either, Mr. Zuke. You've learned about the Tohsaka and Einzbern families, but what about the Matou family?"
While it was true that the Matou family had fallen into decline, they were still worth looking into.
For example, in a corner unknown to Zuke and Reines, Matou Shinji was currently engaging in some extreme self-modification.
Though he didn't realize his "efforts" might not change the outcome, the method was certainly extreme.
To be continued…
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