The church suddenly fell silent.
After two seconds, the joints of Genji Ikki's fingers, gripping the pew's armrest, suddenly tightened, the rosewood giving off a faint cracking sound.
"Jú Misha… doesn't exist?"
He was stunned by Uesugi Yue's sudden revelation. The words were like a sharp blade stabbing into his heart, tearing open a bloody crack in the "truth" he had firmly believed.
Jú Masamune—the man he called "old man"—had just last night spoken vividly about his origins, including his mother, Jú Misha. But now, Uesugi Yue lightly dismissed it as false.
Uesugi Yue's voice was as soft as a whisper, yet each word struck Genji Ikki's ears like a heavy hammer. "I remember very clearly—any family member, especially from the inner three families, would be recorded in detail in the genealogy."
"The inner three families' members were already few. The name Jú Misha never appeared on any page."
Genji Ikki's pupils contracted sharply, but he still tried to find an explanation. "Could it be… that she was from some distant, unrecorded branch of the Jú family?"
"Impossible!" Uesugi Yue cut him off. "You don't understand—whether married out or not, the genealogy always keeps a record! Unless—"
His voice dropped, "Unless this Jú Misha fell to become an 'Oni'… Only in such an extreme case would she be omitted."
"This…! The old man claimed her blood was diluted… the chance of her falling seems low…" Genji Ikki's voice trailed off.
"If you still can't believe it, I'll tell you about the situation before I became Shadow Emperor. By then, the inner three families were nearly extinct—the Jú family had no one, the last of the Genji family died before the Meiji Restoration, and my father, Uesugi Hideo, was the only male heir and hope."
"But until his death, he couldn't get any of the women arranged by the family pregnant. So they traveled to France to bring me back from my mother. You can imagine the desperation for 'bloodline continuation.'"
"According to your so-called Jú Masamune's life story, his age wouldn't be far from mine. His mother, even if she existed then, wouldn't have been sent off to Germany. Even if she bore a child, that child would have been brought back immediately to carry on the Jú line, not left to grow up elsewhere."
"And another thing…"
The more Uesugi Yue spoke, the more Genji Ikki realized his biological father's story was riddled with contradictions, until he had no choice but to admit—the old man had lied, truly deceived him.
"But… why lie? He raised me all these years…"
"He's afraid," Uesugi Yue said coldly.
"Afraid?"
"Afraid of losing his position as head of the family. And since he's not one of the Snake Eight Families, he'd be even more afraid of being unseated. He needed an inner three family origin to justify his rule."
"But isn't that an obvious lie?"
"Son, don't you see? Why did Jú Masamune say these things to you alone? Not only because his German heritage can't be made public, but because he sees you as a pawn to control!"
Anger seeped into Uesugi Yue's tone.
"The easiest way to deceive someone is not with pure truth or pure lies, but nine parts truth and one part lie! By mixing truth into his story, you'd forgive him and he could keep ruling from above, manipulating all of you!"
"Think back on his earlier life—a ruthless, murderous researcher! Now he covets the Shadow Emperor's seat… and tells you he regrets the past, that he's had a change of heart? Can you believe that!?"
Genji Ikki swayed, as if an unseen weight was pressing him down.
After a long struggle, he finally made up his mind.
———
That afternoon, sunlight poured through the hospital's glass façade, casting dappled patterns on the waiting room floor. The smell of disinfectant hung in the air. Shirou sat alone on a bench, tapping his knee absentmindedly, glancing now and then toward the far end of the hallway.
After parting ways with the others, he had come here.
Charlotte claimed she needed to prepare something back at her temporary workshop.
Eriyi, though she had slipped out of the church's back door, didn't follow Shirou into the hospital. Upon hearing this was a place Uesugi Yue often visited for checkups—and likely had family guards—she sensibly avoided it. Shirou didn't comment, simply nodding and telling her to wait under a cherry blossom tree nearby.
Before long, a man in a black suit and sunglasses approached quickly, holding a file. His steps were brisk, leather shoes clicking sharply against the floor.
"Mr. Shirou, the results are in." The man bowed respectfully, handing over the document.
"That fast for a paternity test?" Shirou took the report. The reason he'd come was to test for a biological link to Uesugi Yue. With Yue's blood already on file, the sooner the results came, the better—less chance for trouble if the old man decided to cause a scene later.
"It was on the young master's direct orders," the man adjusted his sunglasses.
"So the family made your case top priority—no queue, no waiting. Normally it would take over 24 hours, and even longer if more work was needed… But today it's same-day results."
His rapid-fire delivery ended with another bow. "Are you satisfied, sir?"
It was said so seriously, Shirou almost believed that if he said "Not satisfied," the man would storm back into the lab and replace the whole staff.
"Yeah, I'm satisfied. Stop bowing already."
Shirou waved him off, noticing curious stares from nearby, and left the hospital.
Outside, he opened the envelope and let his gaze rest briefly on the line: "No biological relationship." A small smile tugged at his lips.
He snapped photos of both sides of the page, then typed a cheeky caption—"Breaking News! Big Breaking News!"—and sent it with the pictures to Uesugi Yue.
Originally, this old master from the last century didn't even own a mobile phone, but during the church meeting, Genji Ikki had noticed and arranged for his "dear father" to receive a brand-new Razr V3.
After sending the message, Shirou went to meet Eriyi, and the two returned home. She skipped happily to the bathroom, while he sank into the sofa, frowning in thought.
He planned to investigate the Mirror Realm next, but one question nagged at him: why had Charlotte been dragged into the Mirror Realm last night? Could summoning a Servant have drawn the black shadow's attention?
Yet Genji Ikki had summoned Watanabe no Tsuna inside Genji Heavy Industries without triggering anything like that.
Shirou guessed it might be tied to the leyline environment.
Even though the Holy Grail War allowed a Master to summon a Servant anywhere in the host city—ritual circle or not—the exact location and proximity to underground dragon veins could be the key to finding an entrance to the Mirror Realm.
He decided to call Kazama Ruri and Su Enxi to ask if they'd noticed anything unusual when summoning. Kazama simply replied, "No."
Next, he dialed Su Enxi. But before he could speak, the sound of rushing water and startled cries came through the line.
"Shirou's calling! Ah—damn, my hand slipped! Almost dropped it in the water—" Su Enxi's voice was breathless and frantic.
"You okay?" Shirou frowned at the noise—like basins and other things splashing into water.
"All good, all good. Almost lost my phone in the hot water," she said with relief.
"What are you doing over there?"
"Obviously soaking in a hot spring! The Black Stone Estate here on the Izu Peninsula has the best hot springs! Want to join me, Shirou? It's ladies-only now, but when you come, we can make it mixed bathing~" Her tone was teasing and inviting.
"…Please. I don't have time for that now. When the Holy Grail War's over, maybe."
A war was still going on—who opened champagne halfway through to go on a spa trip?
"Fine, but no backing out later!"
Rubbing his temples, Shirou agreed absently, then explained what happened with Charlotte last night and asked if anything odd happened when she summoned Zero. Su Enxi's response was exasperating—
"Of course nothing happened! Zero's the boss's little darling—if anyone had an accident, it'd be me, not her— Wait, who's Charlotte!? Shirou, are you cheating on me? Have you forgotten our love as deep as the ocean?!"
"What are you talking about!? We're allies, not lovers—there's no such thing as a 'third party' between allies!"
(End of Chapter)
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