At this time, the reason Rin was deliberately trying to restore Tohsaka Tokiomi's image wasn't to convince Sakura to stay at the Matou residence, but to reduce Sakura's resistance and make her willing to return to the Tohsaka family.
She keenly noticed that after Tohsaka Tokiomi made such a heartless declaration, Sakura seemed to have completely despaired of her parents.
Don't let it be that when the original plan was completely fine, Sakura herself was unwilling to go back - that would be troublesome.
"No matter what, they're still one of the Three Founding Families, so there shouldn't be any problems! Not to mention, their foundation is much thicker than ours!"
When praising, Rin also didn't exaggerate.
Actually, Tohsaka Tokiomi's choice was indeed well-considered. The Matou family was not only a centuries-old magical family, but had also accumulated considerable assets in the present world. One could say they had no worries about food and clothing. Being a heir here didn't require worrying about livelihood issues at all.
Plus, the Matou family was also in Fuyuki City, so they could look out for each other.
If Sakura really had to be adopted out, this family was undoubtedly the most suitable choice.
It seemed her speculation was correct - father had still put thought into it.
Thinking this, Rin's mood improved considerably.
If the Matou family was really reliable, she wouldn't be too resistant to becoming the heir here.
The only puzzling thing was, wasn't the Matou family's traditional inheritance water magic? Why did she see so many insects when passing through the bounded field just now?
Just then, from the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed that after entering the Matou house, Matou Zouken directly took the scarecrow to the back courtyard.
The expression on his face seemed somewhat off. Rin simply decided to quietly follow.
With Ryuga accompanying her, she wouldn't be discovered.
The three followed Matou Zouken and soon came to the basement through a passage in the back building.
The moment they saw the scene inside the basement, Tohsaka Rin almost vomited on the spot, and Sakura's face went pale, obviously frightened by this situation she had never seen before.
[Madoka: "Wh-what is this?!"]
[Erica: "I'm closing the livestream!"]
[Kanae: "I'm closing it too!"]
Never mind Madoka - even the well-traveled Erica and Kanae, who had also seen many disgusting creatures, couldn't handle it after seeing that scene.
The three directly fled in panic.
Tohsaka Rin could completely understand their reaction.
What met their eyes was an entire basement crawling with insects - at least hundreds of thousands of insects had formed an ocean here.
Massive numbers of insects kept wriggling, climbing, leaving slimy traces on each other's bodies. Their twisted, slippery postures caused physiological revulsion just from looking at them.
This was a bizarre scene that excessively challenged human aesthetics and excessively tested brain nerves.
Among everyone present, besides Matou Zouken, probably only Ryuga-sama in front of them could maintain calmness.
But even Ryuga, looking at the massive squirming insects in front of him, showed considerable disgust in his eyes.
"This is a worm vault. This old bastard built a worm vault here?"
Tohsaka Rin showed a suspicious and uncertain expression.
Water magic and insect magic might have some relationship, and as a magical family, hiding five or six secret techniques wouldn't be strange.
But from Matou Zouken's perspective, wasn't today supposed to be "Sakura's" first time coming to the Matou house?
Even if he didn't plan to prepare some surprise in advance, he should at least give her a vacation to get familiar with the environment first, right?
Why on the first day was he so eager to bring "Sakura" to the worm vault?
This didn't seem like wanting to conduct magical instruction early, right?
For a moment, Rin had an extremely ominous premonition in her heart.
At the same time, Matou Zouken grinned.
"Virtual number attributes are precious, but they're not suitable for the Matou family's magic. So, go down and let the Crest Worms modify you!"
After these words fell, he lightly tapped his cane and directly threw the scarecrow following behind him into the worm vault.
Almost instantly, the scarecrow's figure was covered by the writhing insect tide.
Seeing the nearly completely disappeared scarecrow, both Rin and Sakura were stunned.
Both girls were very smart, so they quickly understood what kind of treatment Sakura would receive if she was really adopted by the Matou family.
If not for Ryuga and Rin's interference, this scarecrow might have been Sakura's possible fate.
"How is this possible... How could father allow Sakura to be adopted by this kind of family!"
Rin's first reaction was disbelief.
Throwing a little girl of only five or six years old directly into this overwhelming insect tide - that would be worse than killing her!
And soon, she realized.
"Father... probably doesn't know what the inside of the Matou house is like either."
Whether from the perspective of magical achievement, proximity, inheritance level, or trustworthiness, the Matou family was the best choice.
But Tohsaka Tokiomi, who had done all the investigation, had dropped the ball at the most crucial point.
He had no idea how dark the inside story of the Matou family was.
It was completely different from what it appeared to be.
"Damn it!"
Soon, Tohsaka Rin locked onto the culprit and glared at Matou Zouken with fury-filled eyes.
Even if what the other party had just pushed down was a scarecrow, it proved he indeed harbored ill intentions toward her sister.
Just this point alone was enough for Tohsaka Rin to sentence him to death.
"Go to hell!"
Without time for any thinking, she instinctively threw the two gems she had treasured since childhood at Matou Zouken and directly detonated them.
"Boom!"
The magical power stored for several years was completely consumed in this bombardment.
Several seconds later, the smoke cleared.
Half of Matou Zouken's body was gone, but soon, massive numbers of Crest Worms from the worm vault poured into his body, filling his structure.
After being hit head-on by this level of attack, Matou Zouken was finally able to break free from the cognitive interference and truly recognize the several presences behind him.
"The eldest daughter of the Tohsaka family, and... Sakura?"
When he saw the unharmed Sakura behind Rin, Matou Zouken was stunned on the spot.
If this was Sakura, then what was it that had been following him all the way and that he had just thrown down?
A chill suddenly crept up his spine.
He thought of an even more serious problem - even though Tohsaka Rin had been following behind him the entire time, why hadn't he been wary at all?
Obviously, neither the young Rin nor Sakura could accomplish this, so the one who had truly deceived his perception was only one existence left.
"Young man, do you intend to be my enemy?"
Matou Zouken stepped back, forcing himself to look at the man in front of the two girls. Almost instinctively, he didn't dare to raise his head to look up at the other party, but his tone remained harsh.
"You shouldn't be foolish enough to fight a magus in his own workshop, should you?"
To be continued…
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