The following day, Shui received another message. Since Kate and Reinhart would be leaving the manor soon, Shui considered paying them a visit, but Cassandra had a maid send him a message. Along with the message from Kate came the Red Tiger Paws. He was suspicious because it was going through Cassandra, but once he looked at the note, he believed that it was from Kate.
'Let's meet after I return.'
It was just that one sentence written in her handwriting. If he wanted to be extra sure, he could check for the strings of fate involved with the note, but that didn't seem necessary.
Cassandra's maid was still at his front door after giving him the letter, so the inner section disciples lurking around his house had a clear view. It would be polite to invite her inside even if he didn't think she would agree, but as she glared at him with killing intent, he couldn't find a reason to pretend to be nice.
"I've received the message and the package. Is there anything else?"
"My Mistress, has graced you with a warning. This won't end with just those two, she says."
It was as Shui expected, so he was more curious about why Cassandra was willing to give him this information.
"I see. Please relay my thanks."
"Yes."
Once the maid finally left, Shui closed the door. Shui had purposely shown himself drawing arrays around his residence so no one would dare attack while he was inside. Now that he had the Red Tiger Paws, he could begin re-forging it, but he still couldn't start forging Reinhart's artifact. Although he got along well with Reinhart, he wasn't familiar enough with him to complete his custom artifact without his presence. While he would still be able to craft a sword that surpassed his current one, Shui had no intention of forging it with half-assed effort. Therefore, he decided to focus on Kate's artifact.
Based on Cassandra's warning and his own guesses, he would likely also be sent on a mission, so he intended to finish re-forging the Red Tiger Paws and leave the finished product with Core Elder Ren. Reinhart told him that the elder was interested in seeing him, but if he couldn't get an audience, he would trust Luke instead.
Until the materials were delivered, Shui planned to cultivate and train Serina and Fatty while planning out the process of re-forging the Red Tiger Paws, but two days after Kate and Reinhart left the manor, that plan was disrupted. Orders were given for Fatty, Serina, and Shui to go out and complete missions. Fortunately, he had predicted something like this, so he had Fatty and Serina take a mission in advance, and according to the rules, they could only be made to rush on that mission. Shui asked them how they felt about being rushed because of their connection to him, but they firmly declared that he had their support.
"Don't worry, Boss. We won't let them get the best of us."
"That's right. There's no way I could betray you after you saved my brother."
As for Shui, he was being sent to Malirin Forest to subjugate evolved beasts in a team of five. He didn't doubt that his team would be filled with enemies, but if they wanted to get him into any accidents, then he would make sure that they stumbled to their deaths.
They were given a week to prepare, so Shui would still be able to re-forge the Red Tiger Paws as long as the delivery was on time. As the three of them discussed their plans until then, Fatty brought up someone they hadn't seen since Shui returned.
"Boss, have you met Lisa since you've come back to the manor?"
"Now that you mention it, I haven't. Did something happen to her?"
"I'm not sure. She asked about you when we came back, but I haven't seen her since."
"Is that so? Serina, do you know something?"
As she appeared to have an idea, Shui asked for Serina's opinion.
"Well, I actually asked Sasha about it before, and she said that Miss Lisa probably doesn't want to see you."
"Huh? Did you do something, Boss?"
"That's what I'm wondering. Did she say why, Serina?"
"It's, um, because you were with Senior Sister Kate."
"Hmm?"
"Oh!!!"
While Shui remained clueless, Fatty got the hint and exclaimed. With a questioning look, Shui turned to him.
"What is it?"
"Oh, come on, Boss. Do you really not get it?" Fatty asked with a playful expression.
Feeling slightly irritated by his tone, Shui slowly raised his right fist.
"Okay, okay, I'll talk! She's probably feeling heartbroken."
Once Serina nodded in confirmation, Shui lowered his fist and thought about it himself. Although he didn't believe she was truly serious, he knew that Lisa had some romantic affection for him. While he and Kate weren't in that sort of relationship, it wouldn't be strange if she saw them like that. In fact, most who saw the two walking hand in hand had the same idea. Still, Shui thought it was a shame.
"Do you think she would talk to me if I went to see her?"
Upon hearing Shui's question, Serina and Fatty looked at each other and gave him strange looks.
"Are you serious, Boss?"
"Do you plan on being lovers with Miss Lisa?"
"No, but I like being around her, so I was hoping we could still be friends."
There were few he could comfortably interact with in the same age group, so Shui cherished those connections. Once again, Serina and Fatty looked at each other and then sighed.
"I'm disappointed in you, Shui."
"That's right, Boss. To think you would be so naïve despite your good looks."
He didn't need them to explain for him to understand that his idea wasn't realistic, but he didn't want to leave it at that. After finishing his discussion with the two of them, Shui considered finding Lisa, but he eventually decided not to. Though he wanted to confirm her thoughts for himself, considering the amount of bad attention he was attracting, it might put her in danger.
Instead, he sent her a letter with 'Pinpoint', 'Direct', 'Float', and 'Move'. A few more days passed, and it was time to receive the materials from Rufus, but he didn't hear back from her. While there was a small chance that she didn't get the letter, Shui didn't want to be a nuisance. He thought about having Fatty or Serina talk to her for him, but that didn't seem right either. He could contact Lily for advice, but even he felt embarrassed about reporting this matter to her.
'Maybe I can ask Cin about this. I'll meet him since I'm going to Malirin Forest anyways.'
Though the matter was unresolved, Shui planned to focus on re-forging the Red Tiger Paws so he wouldn't think about it any more. He met Rufus at the same place as last time and was given everything he asked for, including the adamantine, in a high-quality space expansion bag.
"Everything seems to be here. Thank you, Rufus."
"No, this was only our way of showing our gratitude. Speaking of which, I know there's no reason to be worried with your level of strength, but I hope you'll remember that you have access to all of the information we can gather. I will leave a way to contact me here."
"Don't worry, I don't have any intention of forgetting our agreement. I'll certainly be fine, but I'll contact you in case being direct isn't the best option."
They had already agreed to offer information to Shui for free in exchange for his protection, and Shui didn't plan on letting that be empty words.
"Very well, Sir."