The "5-3," can be translated as either the "Five-Year College Entrance Exam, Three-Year Simulation" or the "Five-Year High School Entrance Exam, Three-Year Simulation."

However, regardless of the translation, it was a divine book that brought beaming smiles to the faces of countless teachers in Shenzhou and tears to the eyes of innumerable students.

"Father, do you have the heart to make me do those problems?" Miss Karen's expression was one of sheer horror. Her age was suitable for neither the college nor high school entrance exam versions. She spoke with a pitiful tone.

Faced with this mysterious power from the great land of Shenzhou, she chose to feign pitifulness and beg for mercy.

My adoptive father is a perverted lolicon. If I act cute, I should be able to get away with this. So thought Miss Karen, who was still confident in her appearance.

And then—

A merciless voice reached her ears, shattering Miss Karen's fantasy.

"I have faith in your intelligence. You can definitely crack those problems, which aren't even that hard."

The young man, who clearly held a grudge, smiled, his grin amiable and kind.

He did indeed have lolicon tendencies, but the current Karen was, at best, a little girl.

"Don't worry, I won't buy you the full set. I'll only buy the math workbooks, and I'll only tear out some of the answers. I'll leave a portion for you to copy."

The portion of the answers you're leaving behind is the "Answer: [Omitted]" kind, isn't it?!

Miss Karen, who had a pretty good idea of which part of the answer key a certain someone would leave for her, looked slightly desperate.

When a person is pushed to a state of extreme anger, they can do anything. They might even be able to slide-tackle a tiger and choke it to death. But math was a special case! If you didn't know it, you just didn't know it!

This guy is definitely getting revenge on me for exposing his past.

Karen's heart seethed with resentment, having a certain understanding of the personality of her adoptive father, who wasn't actually much older than her.

Watching this scene, Miss Seele hesitated.

Although she didn't know what "5-3" was, judging from Karen's absolutely horrified little face and the previous mentions of "math" and "answers," she got a general impression.

That... must be a very difficult test paper, right?

Seele, whose grades at Cocolia's Orphanage were definitely not good, looked at Karen with a trace of sympathy. Perhaps she should try to speak up for her.

"Big Brother, Karen should only be in elementary school right now, right? Won't overly difficult problems cause her too much stress?"

Hearing Seele's defense, Karen gave her a big thumbs-up in her mind.

Nice! If my vote could influence this bastard adoptive father's choice of a partner, I'd definitely vote for you!

Hearing Seele's words, Li Zihan was first taken aback, then his face took on an expression of sincerity and gravity that sent shivers down Karen's spine.

"Seele, I think you might have some misunderstanding about my reasons for making Karen do math problems."

Isn't it just because I exposed your embarrassing past? Miss Karen fumed internally.

Miss Seele noted the gravity in Li Zihan's tone, her delicate brows furrowing slightly as her expression also shifted.

It's not just because he's angry that Karen was badmouthing him?

"Could it be that there's some hidden reason concerning Karen?"

What hidden reason could there be?!

The still-young Miss Karen widened her beautiful golden eyes, wanting to open her mouth and denounce her adoptive father's shameless behavior, but found that she couldn't open her mouth at all.

Without a doubt, this was a magical attack.

"It's to correct a problem Karen has."

The young man, whose skill in using Honkai energy was clumsy but whose level of magecraft was superb, spoke up and explained.

"Karen's biological father has... mental issues. He finds joy in the suffering of others. Karen inherited this trait, but its manifestation is different."

These words entered Seele's ears, and her heart tightened. It seemed there really was a hidden story behind Karen. She put on a serious expression, waiting for him to continue.

Karen's father, Kotomine Kirei, was a man with a twisted soul. Born with a personality defect, he was unable to find beauty in things people called beautiful, while finding things many called ugly unforgettable, even becoming infatuated with them. After being guided by the King of Lampposts, he would come to affirm his own twisted nature, becoming an out-and-out villain and committing countless evil deeds.

As Kotomine Kirei's daughter, Karen naturally inherited many of his traits.

Fortunately, however, Karen inherited more of her father's masochism than his more twisted hobbies. Therefore, even though the future Karen would have bad habits like enjoying seeing others disappointed, slapping people's faces with cash, and enjoying playing pranks, her twisted desires would only manifest in small things and would not lead to great evil.

As a member of the clergy, she would listen to confessions, offer sharp-tongued commentary, and meticulously carry out her duties, exorcising demons for the cursed and offering her own body to save complete strangers. Just like Emiya Shirou, she would risk her own life to save even one person she didn't know.

She was the inheritor of Kotomine Kirei's profession, and also his other possibility—a saint.

However, these were not words suitable for the person in question to hear.

Li Zihan opened his mouth and said something else entirely.

"Simply put, she inherited some of her father's problems. She's a sadomasochist, leaning more towards the M-side. As her adoptive father, I find this very concerning and have decided to create a rehabilitation plan for her."

Both Karen and Mapo Tofu enjoy stimulating themselves with pain to fill the emptiness in their hearts. The pain of doing math problems... they should be able to feel that too, right?

"As everyone knows, masochists are able to feel pleasure from pain. So, I think she should also be able to feel joy when studying difficult subjects."

"Since that's the case, why not take this opportunity to have Karen bond with mathematics? She can feel joy and learn knowledge at the same time. It's the best of both worlds."

To Seele's dumbfounded expression, Li Zihan spouted words that sounded reasonable at first listen, but upon careful thought, were complete and utter nonsense.

I want to grow up and pin Father to the ground and beat him up.

Theoretically, Karen, whose masochistic tendencies were supposed to be greater than her sadistic ones, was now spawning brutal thoughts.

"Big Brother, you're..."

Miss Seele, feeling that Li Zihan was just making up a bunch of excuses to buy the 5-3, was at a loss for what to say next.

"Lord Head of the Family, a guest has come to visit you."

Before Miss Seele could organize her thoughts, and before Miss Karen could break free from the magical restraint, a middle-aged man's voice came from the distance.

Li Zihan looked over. The person approaching was Matou Tsuruya. He was holding a calling card, running towards them, panting.

"Looks like my old friend is here."

Li Zihan, who knew almost every participant in this Holy Grail War, shrugged and took the calling card from Matou Tsuruya's hand.

It was a card full of childlike charm, with no name written on it.

It simply had a drawing of a little girl, a white rabbit holding a pocket watch, and a hatter wearing a tall top hat.

The visitor was Kuonji Alice.