The man who woke up introduced himself as Waver Velvet.
“Thank you for saving me.”
Rin approached the hospital bed and asked.
“How did you end up hanging from a tree?”
“Well… I’m not really sure myself. Haha.”
A blatant lie. Rin didn’t seem to notice.
Shall I just watch for now?
“You seem to be a foreigner. What brings you to Fuyuki City?”
“Uh… sightseeing! I came for sightseeing.”
“It’s not exactly a town with many attractions… but I see.”
Rin’s question was a background check.
The kind of check to see if he was a total sucker.
Waver Velvet was a deeply pathetic young man.
How should I put it? He was so flimsy he looked like he’d be blown away by the wind.
You could tell just by the way he was being pushed around by a little kid like Rin.
A university student from England, scared of a kid who goes to kindergarten.
Pathetic. Truly pathetic.
He even started talking about how he had submitted a paper to his professor only to be rebuked for it, so I cut him off.
“Alright. Let’s end the young lady’s harassment of the patient here. Mr. Waver Velvet, do you have any family, relatives, or anyone we can contact in Fuyuki City?”
“Wh-what?! Why are you asking that?!”
“Why, you ask? Because we need to handle the medical bills and discharge procedures. And seeing as you’re 19, you’re still a minor.”
Mr. Waver blinked.
Then, in a dying voice, he said.
“I… don’t have… anyone….”
“What was that?”
“I said I don’t have anyone!”
If he doesn’t have anyone, he doesn’t have anyone. Why is he crying?
He certainly has a knack for making the person who asked feel awkward.
“Wait. Mister, you shouldn’t bully the patient. The Owner is watching, you know?”
“I have committed a grave sin. My sincerest apologies.”
“Don’t mess… with me!”
The Tohsaka Kick. I swiftly dodged what could be called the ‘Saka Kick’.
It wouldn’t have hurt, but I’m not exactly the type who enjoys getting hit.
Rin’s leg, which had cut cleanly through the air,
just so happened to smash right into the shin of Mr. Waver as he was getting off the bed.
“Gyaaaaaaah!!!”
“Oops.”
“Oh my.”
Waver rolled on the floor, crying out in pain.
“It hurts! It hurts! Why are you doing this to me! You’re actually spies sent by Professor El-Melloi, aren’t you?! That’s why you’re tormenting me, right?!”
“I can only say that I’m sorry.”
“All of you, get out! Get the hell out!”
In the end, we were kicked out of the hospital room.
Seeing him in so much pain, his shin must be quite swollen. I wonder if it’s okay to just leave him be.
As I was pondering this, Rin tugged on my gown.
“What is it?”
“This is perfect. There’s something I need to talk to you about regarding that Waver person.”
Saying it wasn’t something to be discussed in the hallway, Rin entered another hospital room.
I pulled out a low cot meant for guardians and had Rin sit down. I leaned casually against the wall.
“Earlier, that person mentioned Professor El-Melloi. He was probably talking about a Lord of the Clock Tower.”
“What’s a Lord?”
“How can you not know something even I know! A Lord is part of the ruling class of the Clock Tower. In Church terms, it’s like a Cardinal!”
The more I saw of Rin, the more I realized she was an amazing kid.
Isn’t she only six or seven? She knows a lot of difficult words.
“Anyway! The name El-Melloi is really famous in the world of magi. Seeing as he knows that name, that Waver person must be a student at the Clock Tower.”
“So he’s a magus. But I didn’t sense any magical energy from him.”
“That’s because he wasn’t using magecraft. Magical energy isn’t something you can sense that easily. It’s an energy you have to conserve.”
I see.
In other words, to emit enough magical energy to be sensed meant one was so overflowing with it that conservation was a non-issue.
“I thought magical energy was something you were supposed to leak for intimidation.”
“That’s either a fool or someone incredibly powerful. …Even I’ve never seen that. Do people like that really exist?”
I was about to tell the curious Rin the truth, but I held back.
The truth is, I lived and died with the great Japanese youkai Tamamo-no-Mae, and I’m an acquaintance of the witch of Britain, Morgan.
Would she even believe me if I told her that? I’d be lucky if she didn’t just call me crazy.
“A few people I’ve run into while working as an Executor were like that.”
“Heeh… So the Church uses magecraft too.”
I had managed to come up with a suitable excuse.
Rin pointed through the wall, towards the room where Mr. Waver was, and said.
“For a magus to come to another magus’s territory without notice is tantamount to a declaration of war. They’re required to notify the Owner, no matter what.”
“Couldn’t Mr. Waver have just made a mistake? He seems rather clueless.”
“No! I think… he came to harm Father.”
She’s finally saying something befitting her age.
I felt a sense of relief.
“What’s with that smile?”
“No, no. I must have smiled without realizing, touched by your devotion to your father.”
“H-Hmph. Is that so? Well, if that’s the case, it can’t be helped.”
Puffed up with pride, Rin rode the momentum and started spouting all sorts of nonsense.
That he was after the Tohsaka family’s jewels, or that it was a ploy to seize Fuyuki’s leylines….
She declared that he was undoubtedly trying to steal the Holy Grail, the family’s dearest wish.
My conscience hurts.
Except for the jewels, those were all things I was doing.
As soon as Morgan was summoned, she modified the leylines, and I am participating in the Holy Grail War.
The only silver lining, I suppose, is that Rin doesn’t know anything yet.
“Should I kill Mr. Waver?”
“W-What?”
“I’ve received a lot from Mr. Tokiomi, so I feel I should repay his kindness. I can kill him right now, if you’d like. What do you think?”
Giving a child the right to decide if someone should be killed.
“I’ll leave the choice to you. You are the future Owner of Fuyuki, are you not?”
In cruder terms, it was a scumbag thing to do.
Rin’s pupils trembled.
The little magus, who knew nothing of murder, was well aware that I was a skilled Executor.
She had also realized that my words were not an empty threat.
Rin shouted so loudly that her voice cracked.
“A-Are you an idiot?! Of course not! Absolutely! It’s forbidden!”
“Alright, alright. I didn’t really intend to kill him either.”
I see. I think I have a good grasp of Rin’s disposition now.
She’s more human than her father, at least.
But she was a little too human.
Fat teardrops began to fall from Rin’s eyes.
“Oh, dear. I’m sorry. Were you scared? That wasn’t my intention.”
“Wh-Who said I was scared? I’m not afraid of something like death!”
I had intended to test Rin a little, but I went too far.
It seems that after dealing only with inhuman beings, I’ve forgotten how to handle a normal girl.
This is the worst.
“Hic… You’re the worst. I didn’t think you were that kind of person.”
“I’m sorry. Here, a handkerchief. Blow your nose.”
“Sniffle…!”
After I patted her on the back, Rin quickly calmed down.
Was she embarrassed about showing her tears?
Rin got angry, even pointing her finger at me.
“I’m not letting this go! I’m going to tell Father and….”
“And…?”
“…have him scold you!”
I burst out laughing.
The threat from a tiny kid who didn’t even reach my waist was… utterly terrifying!
Oh no! My hands and feet are trembling!
“I’m sorry, but a threat from a little crybaby… pfft, isn’t scary at all, you know? Puahahaha!”
Rin’s face turned red as she pinched my thigh.
For her, it must have been the most violent act she could muster, but I didn’t feel a thing.
When violence failed, Rin shrieked.
“Stop laughing! I’m not kidding!”
“Yes, yes. I’m sorry. I shall prostrate myself in apology.”
“And stop patting my head!”
This is fun.
The Tohsaka family has produced a real gem.
“Hey, you’re being noisy! I’m trying to sleep, but I can’t because of you two!”
“Huh?”
Just as I was having fun with Rin, an intruder appeared.
My expression hardened for a moment, but it softened as soon as I realized it was Mr. Waver.
However, because we made eye contact in that fleeting moment, Mr. Waver became servile.
“Uh… that… it’s nothing.”
“Please, speak. I’m listening. Was the bed perhaps uncomfortable?”
“No! It’s not… It’s nothing….”
Patients should be treated with care, but…
he is so very pathetic.
It feels wrong to say this, but….
“He’s like a little rat.”
“Yes! That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
Before I knew it, I was agreeing with Rin.
Mr. Waver, realizing those words were directed at him,
“I… I hate you! Go eat some jellied eels and die!”
cried as he ran out of the hospital.
He threw the glass door open violently and bolted like a newborn impala.
“It’s a hill; he’s going to get hurt running like that…”
My worries became reality.
Mr. Waver, who had been clattering down the hill, tripped and fell forward.
Watching Mr. Waver tumble head over heels, we winced.
That’s gotta hurt.
Sometimes, shame overcomes pain.
“Die!”
Waver Velvet flipped us the bird from the bottom of the hill and promptly vanished into the city streets.
“…I don’t think your father is in any danger of losing to a magus like that.”
“Yeah. I think so too.”
The Holy Grail War. This is looking really easy.
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