The candles on the candlestick emitted a faint light, illuminating the room that was, as expected, filled with angels. Angels were depicted in the paintings on the walls, the carvings on the wardrobe, the ceramic dolls on the shelves, and even on the glass lampshades. The late Geryon Ashborn had thoroughly indulged his interest in angels, with angelic elents perating the entire castle, including the guest rooms.
This was Gray's room, and she was sitting on the bed in the center. Shinji sat on a sofa at the side of the room, leaning over the coffee table, writing and sketching.
After Hishiri Adashino announced the will, the two started wandering around the castle. They spent several hours exploring every corner before returning to their assigned guest room.
Two people, one room—the guest rooms corresponded to the invitations, with one room per invitation. Of course, there were servant rooms next to the guest rooms, specifically prepared for servants accompanying the mages.
However, Shinji didn't use it. It wasn't that he wanted to take advantage of Gray; he hadn't even laid hands on the girls at ho who climbed into his bed, so why would he do anything to a girl outside? Moreover, she was a descendant of Artoria. With that relationship, Shinji would never do anything inappropriate.
The reason Shinji shared a room with Gray was entirely for safety reasons.
Gray was strong—in terms of combat ability, no one in the castle except Shinji was stronger than her. But Gray had a severely serious flaw: she lacked combat experience and relied only on brute force, making it easy for others to figure out her capabilities.
In a real fight, she could potentially lose to anyone—except the eight-year-old little girl Rosalind. Shinji had promised Waver he would ensure Gray's safety, and unless he lost his mind, he would never let Gray stay alone in an unfamiliar castle.
As for why he brought Gray along knowing there was danger, it was of course for training—a tradition of Scathach's practice.
"Good, it's done," Shinji casually tossed aside the pencil, first twisting his body to stretch on the sofa, then rolled up the paper spread on the coffee table and threw it to Gray on the bed.
"Here, help check if there's anything wrong."
Gray caught the roll of paper and ticulously opened it. It contained a pencil-sketched draft—an internal structure map of the Castle Adra.
"Hey, you've been busy all this ti just drawing a map?"
Add, placed on the bedside table, spoke up.
"Yeah, what about it?"
Shinji lazily leaned back on the sofa, one hand reaching into his backpack beside him, searching for sothing.
"I thought you had already solved the puzzle."
"I'm not Waver. Solving puzzles isn't my forte. I prefer action over thinking."
"I didn't realize you were so self-aware."
"Nonsense. I'm not like you—if you're so capable, why don't you solve it?"
"This isn't my strong suit either," Add replied candidly. "But it feels a bit unsatisfying to just give up like this."
"Who said anything about giving up?"
Shinji smiled mysteriously.
"You think I spent all this ti wandering around the castle just to survey the layout?"
"Then you were—"
Shinji didn't answer directly, instead smiling as he said, "Gray, rember this—Everyone has their area of expertise. Waver teaches I fight people—naturally, everything goes smoothly. On the flip side—do you think Waver could block Miss Luvia's jewel bullets?"
Gray shook her head.
"So professional matters should be left to professionals. We just need to wait for the professionals to solve the puzzle."
"But what does it matter to us if others solve it?"
Gray didn't understand.
"Young lady, let tell you sothing very important—Waver, myself, and the entire El-lloi classroom are anomalies in the world of magecraft. The mainstream magical world is one of survival of the fittest, dark and cruel. Fighting and killing over the slightest disagreent is common, just like what you experienced today. Do you believe that I'm not the only one waiting in the shadows? Once soone truly solves the puzzle, it won't be long before a chaotic battle breaks out involving everyone. Rather than being passively drawn in, it's better to take the initiative. It's never wrong to have a few tricks up your sleeve."
Perhaps because Shinji had said a bit too much, Gray couldn't digest it all at once. Or perhaps it was because what she had seen and heard was so different from her Saber face ancestors. Gray sat motionless on the bed.
Shinji snapped his fingers, startling Gray out of her confused thoughts, and continued.
"Don't worry if you can't understand it all at once. Take it slow—just rember one thing: being prepared is never a bad thing. If you can't accept it and feel we should follow Geryon Ashborn's will, we can help the person who solves the puzzle and collect a fee in return."
"...Eeeeeeeeh?"
Gray was stunned once again.
Add laughed beside her.
"Didn't expect that, did you, stupid Gray?"
"Regardless of which choice we make, we first need sufficient strength. Otherwise, even protecting ourselves becos a problem—power itself has no right or wrong, it's how people use it that matters. I'm stronger than Heine and Luvia, so I can teach them a lesson without causing them harm. If I lacked strength, do you think I could sit here talking to you unscathed?"
Gray shook her head, then nodded.
"I understand."
"What do you understand?"
"I will practice diligently what the instructor has taught ."
"Indeed, you're not stupid at all—here, a reward for you."
Shinji finally pulled his hand out of the backpack, tossing out a white cloth bag.
"What's this?"
Gray quickly caught the bag. It looked small but felt quite heavy.
"These are life runes. Before sleeping, place one by your pillow and activate it with mana. It helps relieve fatigue—you've had a lot of physical activity today. Without this, you'd inevitably have sore muscles. If there's nothing else, get so rest early. We need to wake up early for training tomorrow."
"Thank you, instructor."
"Alright then, I'm going to wash up. You carefully recall my two battles today. I want to hear your thoughts tomorrow morning."
"Yes, instructor."
With Gray's spiritless response, Shinji picked up his backpack and walked into the bathroom. He closed the door, stood in front of the mirror, and raised his left arm, which had the relic embedded in it, creating a barrier around his body.
"She's truly a good student, so I can't let her see what's coming next. It would ruin my image."
He opened the backpack, which, unsurprisingly, contained the miniature coffin surrounded by a row of dical blood bags.
The mont he placed his hand on the coffin, an ominous blood-red light spread. Shinji's expression suddenly turned ferocious, his eyes clouded, and his throat emitted low growls like a beast.
He eagerly grabbed a blood bag, biting it open forcefully, letting the blood moisten his mouth and throat, only to quickly spit it all out with a "Bleh!"
He repeated this several tis before his expression returned to normal. While wiping his mouth, he patted the coffin.
"Even O-type blood tastes this bad. When will this chronic torture end... When you get better, I'll settle this score with you properly. So you must get well soon, okay, my princess?"
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