Chapter 261: The Return
It was 4:50 PM.
At a train station platform near an amusement park in Chiba City, Japan.
As the train rapidly sped out of the station, only a handful of scattered pedestrians remained on the platform.
In a hidden corner of the platform, a flash of white light suddenly appeared, and a group of people materialized out of thin air in the corner.
"I'm finally back!"
Looking at the modern train station reflecting the orange-red glow of the setting sun, Hikigaya Hachiman felt tears welling up in his eyes.
A whole year, an entire year!
He had finally returned to his own world!
"Is this Big Brother's world?"
Seeing Hikigaya Hachiman's excitement, Sakura curiously looked around at the station, which was filled with a sense of modern engineering.
"The other world?"
Irisviel also looked around at the scenery.
However, because her daughter Illyasviel was by her side, she had to maintain a refined and gentle demeanor.
"Mommy, are we going to live here from now on?"
Illya, with long silver hair and wearing a top hat, nervously held Irisviel's hand because of the unfamiliar environment.
But soon, her attention was caught by the cell phones held by passersby in the distance.
"Well, anyway, let's get out of the station first..."
He left by himself, but he returned with three members of the opposite sex—one adult and two children.
Hikigaya Hachiman led the three girls toward the outside of the station, all while agonizing over how to settle them and resolve their identity issues.
Irisviel, needless to say, with her tall figure, delicate features, and the temperament cultivated since childhood in the Einzbern family, was definitely the focal point wherever she went.
Although Sakura and Illya were young and hadn't fully matured, their simply adorable appearance was enough to attract everyone's attention!
And next to the three of them was a male with rotten, dead fish eyes and a 'sly' appearance...
As he led the three toward the exit, Hikigaya Hachiman keenly sensed that something was wrong.
The police officers, who were originally scattered in various corners of the station, were clearly moving closer to his direction.
Calmly analyzing the current situation, and sadly realizing that the problem lay with himself, Hikigaya Hachiman unhesitatingly applied a talismans to each of the four of them to lower their presence.
After using the talismans, Hikigaya Hachiman instantly felt all the eyes previously fixed on him disappear.
Using a magecraft hypnosis technique, he successfully got the staff at the exit to let them pass. Hikigaya Hachiman and the three undocumented individuals stood on the street and began contemplating their next move.
Originally, Hikigaya Hachiman only intended to bring Sakura back.
However, after finishing Alaya's request, and in order to fulfill his promise, Hikigaya Hachiman took Karna, Artoria, and Irisviel to Germany. He politely explained his request to the current head of the Einzbern family.
Naturally, the understanding current head of the Einzbern family immediately granted freedom to Irisviel and her daughter Illya, and additionally provided a large amount of jewelry to cover the future living expenses of the mother and daughter.
After leaving the Einzbern residence, Karna was the first to bid farewell to the group.
After all, he answered Hikigaya Hachiman's summon purely for the sake of combat. Now that the Holy Grail War was over, he had no reason to linger in the world.
Then, on the way back to Fuyuki City, Alaya sought out Hikigaya Hachiman one more time.
But this time, she wasn't here to cause trouble for Hikigaya Hachiman; she was here to fulfill their previous agreement and give him the reward for purifying the Holy Grail.
Alaya also brought the good news that the Holy Grail could be used again and tossed the newly repaired Holy Grail to Hikigaya Hachiman for him to deal with as he wished.
As per his agreement with Artoria, Hikigaya Hachiman gave the Holy Grail to Artoria.
Having received the long-sought Holy Grail, Artoria was incredibly excited. To show her gratitude, she presented the scabbard, the Noble Phantasm Avalon (The Everdistant Utopia), to Hikigaya Hachiman as a thank-you gift.
Hikigaya Hachiman initially refused such a gift, but after hearing Artoria say that she would enter the Throne of Heroes after using the Holy Grail and would never need the scabbard again in the future, he accepted it.
Afterward, Artoria, along with the Holy Grail, also vanished. Ultimately, only four people returned to Fuyuki City.
As for why Irisviel and Illya followed him back to Fuyuki City?
It was certainly not because of Hikigaya Hachiman's personal charm. It was simply because, after leaving the Einzbern family, Irisviel only knew Hikigaya Hachiman and hadn't yet decided where she wanted to live.
The reason Hikigaya Hachiman returned to Fuyuki City was so that Sakura could see her family one last time.
Tohsaka Tokiomi died during the Holy Grail War.
Hikigaya Hachiman was unsure of the specific cause of death, but he clearly noticed the decline of the Tohsaka family, a prominent family in Fuyuki City.
After letting Sakura catch a distant glimpse of her mother and sister during the mourning period, and delivering all the wealth he had earned over the past year to Tohsaka Aoi via a familiar as compensation for taking Sakura away, Hikigaya Hachiman suddenly received a request from Irisviel to bring her and Illya back to his world.
Irisviel had clearly given serious thought to coming to Hikigaya Hachiman's world.
Although the Einzbern family had explicitly stated they were letting them go, she was, after all, a homunculus created to be the Holy Grail vessel.
Especially since Illya was the descendant of her and a normal human, Emiya Kiritsugu.
Both mother and daughter held high research value for magi.
Things were fine while Hikigaya Hachiman was around, but once he left, magi would likely be unable to resist making a move on them soon.
Since she didn't know anyone in her original world anyway, it was better to simply escape to Hikigaya Hachiman's world and start a new life.
And given Hikigaya Hachiman's personality, he certainly wouldn't abandon her and Illya after bringing them to another world...
Although using Hikigaya Hachiman's weakness in character was somewhat shameless, Irisviel did it without hesitation for the sake of giving Illya a good life.
Hikigaya Hachiman looked at Irisviel and the silver-haired, tsundere little girl, Illya, beside him.
He was actually quite aware of what the other party was planning.
However, bringing two extra people back to his world presented the same kind of trouble as bringing back just Sakura, so he didn't plan to hold it against them.
Furthermore, Artoria had also asked him before she left to look after Irisviel as much as possible. Therefore, he could just consider looking after the mother and daughter as an additional condition for receiving Avalon.
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