Shinji Matou At Your Service

Chapter 418: Have You Finished Your Homework?

And so, their special training continued well into the evening.

According to Scáthach's Spartan teaching methods, today's training would have ended by the afternoon at the latest. But Chiron was different. He wouldn't push someone to their limits all at once; instead, he believed in a balance of work and rest. He focused not only on physical training but also on stimulating the student's mind. He also made sure to leave time for deepening the bond with the Master, while also considering healing and rest.

The interaction between Chiron and Caules was one of teaching and learning. Chiron taught Caules various kinds of knowledge, and Caules taught Chiron how to use a computer—because a teacher who doesn't keep up with the times isn't a good teacher. It's essential to try new things actively.

As for Shinji and Fiore, firstly, Shinji would push the wheelchair, and then they would chat—about anything and everything. They talked about topics spanning the world, from the heavens to the earth, from ancient times to the present, from the mundane world to the magical society, from historical events to trivial gossip.

As the ambitious next leader of the Yggdmillennia clan, Fiore knew a lot of the intelligence gathered by Darnic, some of which would still be useful in another world. Meanwhile, as a devoted fan of the Type-Moon, a researcher, and a setter, Shinji knew many ancient secrets not even recorded by the Mage's Association and the Church, greatly satisfying Fiore's curiosity.

But that was all in the past two days. Since this morning, Fiore had stopped initiating conversations with Shinji, and she even avoided eye contact, keeping her head down most of the time. Shinji tried several times to start a conversation but couldn't make any progress. Aside from pushing the wheelchair and doing small tasks like pouring tea, the two hardly interacted throughout the day.

This left Shinji feeling frustrated—really, just because I flirted with you a bit, and it was you who gave me the opportunity, is it necessary to be so upset?

Chiron, too, was puzzled. He noticed the tension between them and wanted to mediate, but Caules stopped him—what a joke, why should an outsider interfere in such matters? This is a textbook classic scenario.

Textbook? Chiron didn't understand.

So, Caules took out his treasured collection and started educating Chiron, becoming his teacher once again.

On the other side, after enduring a whole day of awkward silence, Shinji couldn't take it anymore. After dinner, he found an excuse to slip out of the castle to clear his mind, completely unaware of Fiore's disappointment behind him and Caules's "disappointed but unsurprised" look.

Well, you could say that Shinji didn't understand a girl's heart.

And this so-called clearing of the mind naturally involved seeking out another woman—don't get the wrong idea, this time it was purely in response to Artoria's request, with no ulterior motives involved.

Honestly, Shinji still didn't understand how these two women, who looked identical, ended up together and had such deep conversations.

Some might ask, with so much time since Artoria's message, haven't you thought to ask?

Actually, no.

First of all, Shinji had been mostly getting beaten up during that time, with no spare moments.

Secondly, such matters couldn't be clarified in a few words, and their current communication was limited to brief exchanges. To avoid being discovered by the Yggdmillennia clan, Shinji had chosen a hideout for Artoria's group outside of Trifas.

Here, Trifas didn't just refer to the city but the entire Trifas region. The long-distance made communication difficult.

Shinji suddenly started to miss the convenience of a mobile phone, but unfortunately, as a Servant, he wasn't equipped with one.

Therefore, he could only use the limited information he had to speculate and analyze. However, due to the lack of information, he couldn't deduce anything useful. At most, he guessed that Jeanne had been present at the battle last night, as no one broke the rules, so she chose to observe in secret. Whether by coincidence or for some other reason, the two met. Artoria, tasked by the Counter Force, sought the referee's assistance, leading to their conversation.

Shinji couldn't figure out what happened next. Why did Artoria bring Jeanne to her hideout? Why did she only send a message in the morning? What did the two talk about?

The only certainty was that the two, who were similar in every way, seemed to have had a good conversation. Otherwise, Artoria wouldn't have agreed to pass on a message to Jeanne. This was why Shinji could focus on his special training without rushing to meet them.

Of course, deep down, there was still a bit of concern—how much had Artoria revealed about him? Would these revelations affect his subsequent plans? These were uncertain factors, but since they were uncertain, he decided to wait until they were confirmed before worrying about them. There was no need to overthink things prematurely.

Now, Shinji was determined to figure everything out and decide how to deal with Jeanne.

With Justeaze's assistance, Shinji traveled along the ley lines in his spirit form to the border of Trifas. After walking for about ten more minutes, he arrived at a small mountain village.

The village consisted of only a dozen or so scattered households. Although it wasn't as affluent as Sighișoara, it was leisurely and peaceful, giving off a sense of inner tranquility.

Under the effect of his "Presence Concealment" skill, Shinji silently entered the village. Neither the vigilant guard dogs nor the other farm animals noticed his presence.

Following the sense of his Master-Servant contract, Shinji walked unhurriedly along the country paths and climbed over a not-so-sturdy fence. He arrived at a modest countryside cottage.

Before he could knock, the door opened, and a girl in a white floral dress rushed out, calling, "Papa."

Shinji quickly caught her, spun her around, and lifted her high. "Jack, how did you know Papa was coming?"

"Because We smelled Papa's scent," Jack replied sweetly, without a trace of the initial tension between them. After all, Jack drew her magical energy from Shinji. Papa's scent was essentially the scent of his magical energy.

"Oh my, oh my, such a close father-daughter relationship," said Reika, standing behind Jack with her arms crossed, smiling as she watched.

"Of course, she's my daughter, how could our relationship not be good?" Shinji set Jack down and winked at Reika.

Rika winked back, conveying everything without words.

Inside, at the dining table, Artoria swallowed a mouthful of steak, put down her knife and fork, wiped her mouth, and stood up to greet him. "Master, have you eaten? Want to join us? Reika's cooking is delicious."

"I've already eaten, you go ahead. I brought some snacks in case you need more."

As he spoke, Shinji glanced nonchalantly at the dozen or so neatly arranged plates on the table, then turned his gaze to the last person in the room—who was staring back at him in astonishment.

"Nice to see you again, Miss Jeanne. Have you finished your homework?"