Upon hearing Rin's question, Gilgash puckered his lips and teased her.
"She's lying right behind you. The clown was right when he said your eyesight wasn't great."
Rin turned her head, and the calm she had just regained shattered once again.
Gilgash wasn't lying. Luvia was indeed lying not far behind her, looking peaceful and breathing steadily—that wasn't the issue. The problem was with Luvia's Servant, Karna.
This renowned hero, whose strength, appearance, and character were all top-tier, was quietly sitting beside Luvia, guarding her like a perfect statue.
In contrast, Rin's own Servant had just watched her being toyed with and had found it amusing. The difference was like night and day—why was there such a huge gap between Servants?
While Rin's mindset was unraveling again, Luvia let out a soft groan and slowly woke up.
"Where is this...?"
"Master, I'm so relieved you're safe," Karna said, his voice filled with genuine joy.
"Karna? What happened to ...?"
Luvia tried to push herself up with her hands—unsurprisingly, as Rin's counterpart, the two sisters who shared the sa bloodline even reacted in the sa way. The result was the sa as well: her head barely lifted off the ground for a second before she fell back due to weakness.
But this ti, her head didn't have a hard collision with the ground. Just before it could hit, Karna swiftly placed his hand under her head, gently supporting her as he helped her sit up.
Seeing this thoughtful act, Rin almost cried—why couldn't she have t such a considerate Servant? Why did this hateful woman get him instead?
"Thank you, Karna," Luvia nodded in gratitude.
Karna, however, shook his head.
"There's no need to thank . It was my negligence that caused you to fall unconscious, and I should be the one apologizing."
"No, you're wrong," Luvia corrected him.
"The only task I assigned you was to defeat the Tohsaka family's Servant. You're not responsible for anything else. The fact that I ended up like this is due to my lack of training, not your fault. If anyone should be apologizing and thanking you, it's . I made bold promises but failed to fulfill my role as Master, burdening you and forcing you to co to my rescue."
"It wasn't . I couldn't afford to be distracted while facing the King of Heroes. It was he who saved you," Karna shook his head again and gestured toward soone in front of them.
"You are..."
Luvia looked confused for a mont, then leaned slightly forward and gracefully thanked Shinji.
"I owe you my gratitude."
"It's nothing. Just a small favor. Though you might not know it, we share a bit of history, so I couldn't just leave you there."
Shinji waved it off with a smile. His polite deanor was completely different from how he acted toward Rin, which made the latter mutter under her breath.
"Keep pretending, just keep it up."
"I know. This is the second ti you've saved ," Luvia said without surprise, using Karna's shoulder to help herself stand.
"Second ti?"
Shinji tilted his head in confusion.
"The first ti was back at the Separation Castle."
"Ah—"
Luvia's ntion of that na jogged Shinji's mory, and he sheepishly scratched his nose.
"—So you figured it out?"
"Well, I do have so experience in wrestling. I can't mistake wrestling techniques and etiquette."
The wrestling Luvia referred to was, of course, pankration, an ancient Greek form of mixed martial arts. Shinji had used wrestling techniques twice in front of Luvia. The first ti was when he threw Luvia herself, and the second ti was when he threw Faker. After each throw, Shinji instinctively shook his arms in a way that Chiron had taught him as part of wrestling etiquette.
The first ti, Shinji had tried to brush it off by claiming it was Mongolian Bokh, but that could only fool laypeople who didn't know wrestling. Luvia, being an expert, had already suspected sothing during the incident with Faker. After returning to the Clock Tower, she conducted so private investigations and was almost certain it was the sa person.
"Should I call you Mr. Smith, or Mr. Matou?"
"Smith was just an alias I used while traveling in East Asia. My real na is Matou Shinji, though you can just call Shinji if you like."
"What a pity. I thought Mr. Smith sounded much nicer."
Luvia spoke with a hint of regret. What had been a brief, forgettable trip for the boy had left a deep impression on the girl.
"Still, Shinji has a nice ring to it as well. So, what brings you here?"
"Just passing by. The Matou family has been in Fuyuki City for so many years—there's no way we wouldn't have made so preparations. You two caused such a commotion that it would've been impossible not to notice. By the way, what were you two thinking? Starting a fight in broad daylight? Did you forget the first rule of the magi? If the nosy magus found out, they could unite and kick you both out before you knew what hit you."
The first principle of magi is to preserve the secrecy of magecraft. Those who break this rule are subject to harsh punishnt.
Shinji's warning didn't seem to faze Luvia.
"My intention was simply to have Karna deliver a challenge. I chose that ti of day to ensure the head of the Tohsaka family would receive it. I had no intention of starting a fight right away. I didn't expect Miss Tohsaka to be so impulsive. To think soone like her could beco the overseer of this region—well, I suppose a country girl doesn't know any better."
"What did you just say, you nouveau riche!"
Rin imdiately flared up.
"Oh my, you're here, Miss Tohsaka," Luvia exclaid, feigning surprise as she covered her mouth—as if she had only just seen Rin. In truth, she had noticed her long ago but had pretended otherwise.
"I thought you'd be too ashad to show your face after what happened."
"How dare you! You're the one who provoked first, you uncultured upstart!"
"Sending a letter of challenge before a battle is one of the oldest traditions. I was rely following proper etiquette. What's more, I didn't specify a ti in the letter. You were just too impatient and didn't think things through."
"If you wanted to deliver a challenge, why didn't you just do it properly? Why did you have to shoot an arrow through my window? That's already an act of aggression!"
"What's the big deal? It's just a window. Typical country girl, making a fuss over nothing."
"This has nothing to do with being petty. I'm simply exercising my rights over my property. Only soone like you, obsessed with wealth, would care so much about the value of things."
"Hehehehehehe~~~~~~~~"
"Hohohohohohoho~~~~~~~~"
Before anyone realized it, the atmosphere had beco hostile.
The two girls were now red-faced with anger, standing closer and closer to each other, their muscles twitching and veins bulging.
Witnessing this, Shinji couldn't help but sigh. As expected of true rivals—it only took a few words for them to ignite each other's fury to the max. And to think, despite all the effort he put into teasing Rin, including dropping famous quotes, he hadn't managed to provoke her nearly as much as Luvia had just now.
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