They booked a hotel, and of course, Irisviel chose a luxury suite. It had a huge master bedroom and a smaller secondary room. No one officially said who would sleep where, but everyone already had a good idea.
After checking out the room, Shichen took Illya out for a walk. Irisviel and Frieren didn't come along—one stayed behind to tidy up the place, and the other was knocked out from motion sickness and just wanted to nap. Shichen was just looking around anyway, nothing serious.
"Daddy, where are we going?" Illya asked excitedly as she clung to his head, riding on his shoulders.
Shichen held onto her ankles, glanced around both sides of the hotel, and said, "How about we check out the city first?"
"Just walking around?"
"We can grab something good to eat too~"
"I'm in! I'll go anywhere with you, Daddy!"
"Good girl~ Let's head left first."
"Why the left? Isn't this your first time here too?"
"Because guys go left and girls go right~"
"Then why aren't we going right? I'm a girl!"
"Fair point. Okay, right it is." He turned and headed in that direction.
"Daddy's the best! Let's go!"
Fuyuki City was quiet during this time period. They walked for over ten minutes and barely saw anyone—probably because of the chilly weather.
It was pretty cold outside.
Whether the upcoming secret war had anything to do with the silence, Shichen couldn't say.
To him, Fuyuki was unfamiliar, yet weirdly familiar. His goal was just to get a feel for the place.
Around noon, Illya got hungry, so they stopped for food before continuing their walk.
He didn't call Irisviel or Frieren to join—they had hotel food, probably better than what he and Illya were eating anyway.
Food back in this era wasn't exactly amazing, and definitely couldn't compare to Shichen's own cooking.
With warm bellies, they kept strolling through the city.
Soon, familiar landmarks popped up—like the River Side and Fuyuki Bridge. That spot where the King of Conquerors had that legendary clash with King of Heroes. But with Shichen here now, that battle might not even happen.
Still, that wasn't what he came to see. After some time wandering, he finally found the Tohsaka estate.
It wasn't hard to locate. As one of the major mage families managing Fuyuki's leylines, their estate was huge—way bigger than a regular household. Just happened to be on the outskirts of town.
Back then, the Tohsaka family was still thriving. Even standing outside, Shichen could see the grandeur inside. In the garden, adults and kids were out enjoying themselves, with servants nearby.
He stayed just long enough to spot a girl with twin black ponytails—then moved on.
No one noticed him or Illya, even though their clothes weren't exactly ordinary.
He'd activated his stealth skill—unless he did something flashy, most people wouldn't notice him.
After leaving the Tohsaka estate, they wandered some more and arrived at the Kotomine Church.
It looked cold and eerie even from the outside. Illya didn't want to go near it.
Shichen wasn't here to meet anyone anyway. He just noted the location and left.
Next stop: Homurahara Academy. The place was huge. You could see the big field and school buildings right from the gate. But it was dead quiet—no students or teachers in sight.
Must've still been winter break.
Since it would be an important place later, Shichen didn't stay long.
"Daddy, what was that place just now?" Illya asked after they walked away.
"That was a school~" Shichen replied with a grin.
"A school?"
"Yeah, where kids go to learn."
"Learn… Can I go too?"
"Of course—but not here."
"Huh?" Illya tilted her head, confused, looking at his profile.
Shichen kept his eyes ahead and asked calmly, "Illya, do you want to stay with Daddy forever?"
"Of course! I always want to be with you!" she answered immediately.
"Then, would you follow me no matter where I go?"
"Yup!"
"What if Daddy had to leave this place? Really far away… and you'd never be able to come back on your own?"
"That's fine! As long as I'm with you, it doesn't matter where we go!" she replied with a bright smile.
"Is that so~?" Shichen leaned his cheek against hers, brushing her soft, cool skin.
"Hehe~" Illya giggled, hugging his neck tighter.
"Alright, let's keep exploring."
"Okay!"
Later, they found Ryuudou Temple, but didn't go up—it wasn't the priority today.
They walked around all afternoon, and after finally locating the Matou residence, they headed back to the hotel.
"You're back~"
"Mom, we're home!"
"Where's Frieren?" Shichen sat next to Irisviel, setting Illya down between them.
"She's still asleep," Irisviel said softly, gently patting Illya's head.
"She's been sleeping all afternoon... Weren't you bored?"
"It was okay. I spent a long time organizing stuff."
"You organized a hotel room?"
"Just in case."
"Well, thanks for the hard work."
As the new representative Master of the Einzbern family, Shichen's arrival in Fuyuki had already caught the attention of the other two families.
The Holy Grail War hadn't officially started yet, but that didn't mean they wouldn't start making moves.
Shichen didn't care much, but Irisviel didn't know the extent of his power.
Still, she was incredibly thorough.
"Mom! Daddy took me everywhere! I probably know this place better than you now~" Illya said proudly.
"Oh? Then tonight you'll have to tell me everything."
"Yup! I'll tell you all about it when we sleep together tonight!"
"Tonight…"
Irisviel glanced shyly at Shichen—and ended up locking eyes with him.
Her face instantly turned red and she quickly looked away.
"Mommy? What's wrong?"
"N-nothing…"
"Daddy, what's up with Mommy?"
"She's probably just excited about tonight." Shichen grinned.
"Ooh! Got it!"
"I am not!" Irisviel pouted and shot him a playful glare, looking especially graceful and charming.
Shichen blinked and stared at her.
"Stop staring…!" she turned away, flustered again.
"Daddy, Mommy, what are you two doing?" Illya blinked between them, totally lost.
"Don't worry about it. Mommy's just hungry. Let's go get food, alright?"
"Yay! I want burgers!"
"No problem, I'll take you." Shichen ruffled her hair.
"Burgers? Is that stuff even clean? Is it safe for Illya to eat?" Irisviel asked, concerned.
"Relax. Food in this time period is clean, safe, and fresh."
It wasn't exactly a high-tech world yet.
"This time period…?"
"Don't worry about it. Illya's out here to have fun—let her eat what she wants. I'm here. Nothing's going to happen."
"…Alright."
"Daddy's the best!" Illya cheered and jumped into his arms.
"My sweet girl~" Shichen hugged her with a big smile.
Irisviel looked at the two of them and couldn't help but smile too. Yeah… this was actually pretty nice.
That evening, Shichen woke up Frieren and took everyone out for burgers and fried chicken.
Watching Frieren chew on a burger with her eyes half-lidded, Shichen was so tempted to take a picture.
A white-haired elf eating fast food—it was a sight to behold.
Illya was just as happy, eating until she could barely move.
Back at the hotel, Frieren said nothing and immediately returned to the smaller bedroom to continue her nap—she'd eaten a lot too.
Shichen tucked Illya into the master bed to rest, then went to the living room, let Irisviel know he was stepping out, and quietly left the hotel.
Once outside, he masked his presence and used teleportation to get to the Matou residence. Compared to Kotomine Church, this place was far creepier.
Even he felt a little uncomfortable.
He scanned the mansion and followed a particular energy signal that led him to a dark, musty basement.
The smell was awful.
And in the center of a deep pit stood a small girl, maybe five or six years old, all alone.
Her eyes were completely hollow and lifeless.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 220+ Chapters Ahead of Others!