Lorelei is truly worthy of her title as the "The Queen." She speaks and acts decisively, and her execution speed is extremely fast.
In the early morning after her confrontation with Shinji, she immediately went to the headquarters of the Department of Policies and urgently met with the current head of Barthomeloi, after instructing the personnel of the Department of Policies to tightly seal the information.
During the subsequent Lord's meeting, Barthomeloi changed his previous attitude of providing support to El-Melloi and instead openly declared his full support for Kenneth. His clear stance caught Trambelio and Valualeta, the other two major noble families, off guard.
With Barthomeloi's support, Kenneth gained momentum and achieved great success. Not only did he stabilize El-Melloi's position, but he also made certain hostile forces return a portion of 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 Kenneth. Kenneth had already received a report from Shinji in advance and anticipated Lorelei's visit. Thus, these two prominent 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 Kenneth:
First, I belong to El-Melloi, and I am your trump card. I will only accept employment and cannot be sold.
Second, I will not negotiate with Lorelei. If I want something, I will come 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 related to the Holy Grail War.
Regarding other matters such as whether or not to reveal Shinji's true identity and the form of their cooperation, Kenneth 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, Kenneth "rented out" Shinji for a good price, and Lorelei successfully obtained Shinji's information.
Through limited verification using Barthomeloi's intelligence network, it was confirmed that the Clock Tower's influence in the Far East, where Japan is 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 decided to 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 expected that a series of surprises and even shocks awaited her.
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 before entering the door, she could hear the two individuals shouting and yelling in an incomprehensible Japanese language. Although Lorelei was knowledgeable and talented, proficient in various mainstream languages of the world, her understanding of the specialized language of the 2D world was somewhat difficult.
"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 had come to the wrong place.
Upon entering the room, she saw two men wearing cheap T-shirts and shorts, sitting in front of a game console, completely engrossed in playing games. Before she could recover from the contrast, her target mission suddenly cheered and jumped up, striking a very silly pose.
Fortunately, as the heir of Barthomeloi, Lorelei had seen all sorts of magus. It was not a big deal if they enjoyed playing games. At least it was much better than those weird and eccentric individuals with nauseating hobbies.
With that thought, Lorelei felt much better in her heart. Then Shinji's words declared his presence.
The subsequent development was satisfactory to Lorelei.
Waver Velvet left a good impression on her, and his evaluation of the students was accurate. 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 relaxed and prepared to introduce herself as usual and move on to the main topic, the biggest shock occurred.
When she extended her hand for the universally accepted handshake to accompany 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 impeccable. However, Shinji made a crucial mistake. The hand-kissing gesture applies to married women, but it is inappropriate for unmarried women, especially young girls.
If it were used—
Regardless of whether he mistook her for a married woman or was simply ignorant, it was a tremendous breach of etiquette, even more serious than mocking Barthomeloi's family in front of Lorelei a few days ago.
Therefore, Lorelei erupted on the spot. Fortunately, she still had some composure and only used low-level magecraft like "Storm Shooter," so as not to cause any structural damage to the building.
Of course, Waver's house inevitably suffered collateral damage. Half of the sofa was destroyed, several newspapers and magazines were ruined, half of the curtains were torn, and there were messy marks on the walls and sofa, presenting a rather miserable sight.
In comparison, Shinji, who was directly hit by the magic, was in a relatively better state. The miscellaneous sports clothes he casually bought in England were sliced into beggar-like pieces, but his body remained unharmed.
The so-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 magecraft is determined by the attributes and proficiency of the practitioner. It is one of Lorelei's most commonly 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 was normal for a few bones to be fractured from 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 surpassed that of Byakuya by a significant margin, and Shinji, who exercised regularly, was even stronger.
At this stage, Shinji's magical resistance, based on the Servant's panel rating, should be classified as C-level. This means he can nullify spells with an incantation of two or below, but he cannot defend against large-scale magic like grand spells or ceremonial rituals. However, this C-level is not as absolute as a Servant's class skills. It varies depending on compatibility. Water attribute magic with good compatibility can rise to C+, while those with poor compatibility can drop to C-.
Lorelei's "Storm Shooter" falls into the category of moderately compatible spells with an incantation of 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 action became a demonstration of responsibility and accountability. 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 translation 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 if they were destroyed."
Shinji smiled.
Waver gave a thumbs-up.
The unbreakable bond of otaku friendship, where everything is understood without words.
PS: Rin once used magecraft to repair the glass in Shirou's house. Lorelei's proficiency is only higher, not lower.
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