Chapter 221: Lorelei and Shinji (Part 2)
Lorelei is truly worthy of her title as the "The Queen." She speaks and acts decisively, and her execution speed isextremely fast.
In the early morning after her confrontation with Shinji, she immediately went to the headquarters of the Department of Policiesand urgently metwith the current head ofBarthomeloi,after instructing the personnel of the Department of Policiesto tightly seal the information.
During the subsequent Lord''s meeting, Barthomeloi changed his previous attitude ofproviding support toEl-Melloi and instead openly dered his full support for Keh. His clear stance caught Trambelio and Valualeta, the other twomajornoble families, off guard.
With Barthomeloi''s support, Keh gained momentum and achieved great sess.Not only did he stabilize El-Melloi''s position,buthe also madecertainhostile forces returna portionof the assets they had seized.Additionally, he unveiled several new research, further enhancing his reputation.
After the Lord''s meeting, Lorelei, who had been waiting for a while, approached Keh. Keh had already received a report from Shinji in advance and anticipated Lorelei''s visit. Thus, thesetwoprominent figures, who both carried the title of "genius" and were the focus of attention in the Clock Tower, began bargaining over an ancient and mysterious legacy.
Shinji set three bottom lines for Keh:
First, I belong to El-Melloi, and I am your trump card. I will only ept employment and cannotbe sold.
Second, I will not negotiate with Lorelei. If I want something, I wille to you. Whatever profits you can earn from Lorelei, I don''t care.Even if you make ten or a hundred times the profit, it''s all yours.
Third, do not leak any information rted to the Holy Grail War.
Regarding othermatterssuch aswhether or not to reveal Shinji''s true identity and the form of their cooperation, Keh can decide for himself.In short, the key phrase is: take as much advantage as you can. Opportunities to exploit the Barthomeloi family, the first family of the Clock Tower, are rare.
After several days of intermittent negotiations, Keh "rented out" Shinji for agoodprice, and Lorelei sessfully obtained Shinji''s information.
Through limited verification using Barthomeloi''s intelligencework,it was confirmedthat the Clock Tower''s influence in the Far East, where Japanis located, is weak. Even Barthomeloi would find it difficult to extend their reach there. Therefore, the verification was limited. Although Lorelei was slightly surprised by Shinji''s actual age, she still decidedto personally visit him as a gesture of goodwill. Additionally, she could take the opportunity to see the young professor who caused a new trend, killing two birds with one stone.
However, she never expectedthata series of surprises andeven shocks awaitedher.
Not to mention the rudimentary rented residence, in her opinion, the daily lives of these two individuals whom she highly praised should be like this:
Either reading books, immersed in the ocean of knowledge, conducting experiments, pursuing the essence of magecraft, or diligently practicing to enhance their strength. Even during leisure breaks, they should be discussing strange and extraordinary matters over a cup of tea.
But what was the result?Even beforeentering the door, she could hear the two individuals shouting and yelling in an iprehensible Japanesenguage. Although Lorelei was knowledgeable and talented, proficient in various mainstreamnguages of the world, her understanding of the specializednguage of the 2D world was somewhatdifficult.
"This is just too unconventional," Lorelei muttered softly. If it weren''t for the presence of Reines from the Archisorte family by her side and seeing the mercury maid at the entrance, she almost thought she hade to the wrong ce.
Upon entering the room, she saw two men wearing cheap T-shirts and shorts, sitting in front of a game consolepletelyengrossed in ying games. Before she could recover from the contrast, her target mission suddenly cheered and jumped up, strikinga very sillypose.
Fortunately, as the heir of Barthomeloi, Lorelei had seen all sorts of magus. It was not a big deal if they enjoyed ying games. At least it was much better than those weird and entric individuals with nauseating hobbies.
With that thought, Lorelei felt much better in her heart. Then Shinji''s words dered his presence.
The subsequent development was satisfactory to Lorelei.
Waver Velvet left a good impression on her, and his evaluation of the students was urate. It would be even better if he dressed more appropriately.
Although Shinji only said a few words, it dispelled Lorelei''s doubts. This boy was indeed the person she was looking for.
Just as Lorelei rxed and prepared to introduce herself as usual and move on to the main topic, the biggest shock urred.
When she extended her hand for the universally epted handshake to apany her self-introduction, to her surprise, this idiot performed a standard hand-kissing gesture.
Setting: Indoors.
The corresponding level of etiquette: Nobility and high-ranking individuals.
Area kissed: Midsection of the fingers, without the lips touching.
From the perspective of etiquette itself, it was impable. However, Shinji made a crucial mistake. The hand-kissing gesture applies to married women, but it is inappropriate for unmarried women, especially young girls.
Ifit were used—
Regardless ofwhether he mistook her for a married woman or was simply ignorant, it was a tremendous breach of etiquette, even moreseriousthan mocking Barthomeloi''s family in front of Lorelei a few days ago.
Therefore, Lorelei erupted on the spot. Fortunately, she still had someposure and only used low-level magecraft like "StormShooter," so as not to cause any structural damage to the building.
Of course, Waver''s house inevitably suffered coteral damage.Half of the sofawas destroyed, several newspapers and magazineswere ruined, half of the curtainswere torn, andthere weremessy marks on the walls and sofa, presentinga rather miserable sight.
Inparison, Shinji, whowas directly hitby the magic, was in a rtively better state. The misceneous sports clothes he casually bought in Enndwere slicedinto beggar-like pieces, but his body remained unharmed.
Theso-called"Storm Shooter" is a magecraft that condenses rotating air currents into magical bullets and performs rapid-fire shots. It boasts high precision, minimal environmental damage, and easy control. The power of magecraftis determinedby the attributes and proficiency of the practitioner. It is one of Lorelei''s mostmonly used spells.
At Lorelei''s current level, "Storm Shooter" in her hands is akin to a mini-typhoon. While it wouldn''t be fatal, it wasnormalfor a few bones tobe fracturedfrom a direct hit.
Shinji''s ability to keep his body intact was thanks to his extraordinary resistance to magic. He possessed the ability to resist one to two small-scale spells after he had eaten a golden apple. His physical fitness surpassedthat of Byakuyaby a significant margin, and Shinji, who exercised regrly, was evenstronger.
At this stage, Shinji''s magical resistance, based on the Servant''s panel rating, should be ssified as C-level.Thismeans he can nullify spells withan incantationof two or below, but he cannot defend againstrge-scale magic like grand spells or ceremonial rituals. However, this C-level isnot as absolute asa Servant''s ss skills. It varies depending onpatibility. Water attribute magic with goodpatibility can rise to C+, while those with poorpatibility can drop to C-.
Lorelei''s "Storm Shooter" falls into the category of moderatelypatible spells withan incantationof two. It conveniently falls within Shinji''s nullification range, so he endures it while allowing Lorelei to vent her dissatisfaction.
In Lorelei''s eyes, this actionbecame a demonstration ofresponsibility and ountability. Her anger came and went quickly.
After delivering the final blow, sending Shinji flying, Lorelei approached the damaged sofa and began using magecraft to restore the damaged items. That detestable idiot was so responsible, and as the esteemed Lorelei, she naturally had the same sense of responsibility.
The young girl focused on the post-repair work and did not see the eye contact between Shinji and Waver hanging on the wall. Otherwise, she would have destroyed the entire room.
The trantion of their eye contact of the two would be:
"Well done. You managed to preserve the console and game cartridges."
"Yes, these are precious treasures I painstakingly brought back from Japan. It would be such a shame ifthey were destroyed."
Shinji smiled.
Waver gave a thumbs-up.
The unbreakable bond of otaku friendship, where everythingis understoodwithout words.
PS: Rin once used magecraft to repair the ss in Shirou''s house. Lorelei''s proficiency is only higher, not lower.
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