Chapter 91

"Trust me."

Gently holding the petite figure in his arms, he tenderly wiped away the tears on Iris' face. Levi hadn't expected that even after accepting Yuna's treatment, the torn sleeve would still affect the sensitive girl. He suspected that even if the sleeve were intact, she would have noticed. The proud vampire was worried about him, someone who always hovered on the brink of life and death, to the point where he had forgotten what fear was. This feeling was truly warm.

"Berserker is a low-class Servant, and even he couldn't be dealt with..."

While verbally belittling the Holy Grail War, the vampire girl took advantage of everyone being away at school to read through all the information Rin had collected. Among the Servants, the strongest were the Sabers, who had no obvious weaknesses in their overall abilities. Next were the Archers and Lancers, the three classes known as the Three Knights, which most Masters hoped to obtain. Both Assassin Eve and Caster Kaguya, who were with Levi, had some unavoidable weaknesses due to their classes. Having fought both Eve and Berserker, Iris was deeply concerned about the gap in their strength. If a Berserker, who only had physical strength to boast about and was otherwise average, was so difficult to handle, what would they do when they encountered the Three Knights? Iris even resented Aru, who was recuperating deep in the Mahora Library, for if not for him, how could Levi have summoned a Servant?

"I'm really a failure of a man, making my wife so worried. Don't worry, we have Kaguya, who is quite powerful, and Eve too..."

"All women! How can a man like you say such things without any shame! And... who is your wife?!"

Seeing Iris, who had forgotten the earlier incident, baring her little fangs and acting like a little tiger, her adorable appearance made Levi unable to resist holding her tighter.

"Trust me."

The vampire girl pouted, wrinkled her nose, and huffed, then buried her small head in the man's chest.

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Standing at the door of the Student Council office, Levi, who had rushed here upon hearing the announcement, didn't knock like a typical student. He simply turned the handle and pushed the door open. Even other teachers in the school wouldn't enter this small room, which represented the highest student authority, without permission. This was a small privilege of Levi's. Although the elegant and refined Miss Farbauti of the Tohsaka family wouldn't use throwing weapons like the violent class president of 3-A, every teacher who offended her would inevitably be humiliated by her eloquent rhetoric. Over time, it became an unwritten rule among the teachers to let the Student Council President suppress her oratory skills to avoid both auditory and mental trauma. Thus, they would be cautious in front of this campus idol to avoid such a double blow.

"Too slow!"

Rin, who had been standing with her back to the desk, her twin tails swinging from side to side, greeted Levi. She opened her mouth with a full belly of resentment, having long grown tired of his frequent tardiness.

"I came as soon as I heard the announcement. There were still some things to handle in class."

Levi waved the class meeting record in his hand, putting on a workaholic act. If it were an ordinary student who didn't know him, they would definitely be deceived by his excellent acting. Even though she had known him for years, Rin hesitated for a moment about whether to believe his words. But thinking of his past misconduct, the thought was quickly suppressed by reason.

Now wasn't the time to quibble over trivial matters. Rin, recalling the reason she had called him using the announcement, reluctantly set aside the tempting idea of finding a way to punish him.

"There might be other Masters in the school!"

Rin stood up and said seriously.

"Besides Shinji Matou? Didn't you use magic to detect before?"

The Holy Grail War was a small-scale conflict that occurred in a specific location, and it was impossible for Masters and Servants to be far away in another city or even abroad. From the beginning, Rin had considered the school as the nearest possibility. Later, she indeed found Shinji Matou and successfully eliminated him. The cautious Levi had never relaxed his vigilance on the school, especially after the appearance of the long-range reconnaissance Servant. He had thought that the person had discovered his identity and followed him, but he hadn't considered that there might be a Master hiding in the school. For a mere middle school to gather four participants, including him and Rin, the probability was extremely low.

Fortunately, Rin, born into a famous magical family, was far more familiar with the Holy Grail War than the novice Levi. She, who had been determined to win the Holy Grail War since childhood, would never relax her vigilance over any clue or theoretical possibility. This time, it seemed she had finally caught some leads, which was why she had urgently called Levi.

"The island isn't that big. The people in the city can't possibly be Masters, and the mages of Mahora have no reason to interfere with our affairs. So the remaining range is very small. Since most of the central area is students and teachers, it's much more convenient to investigate while they are all gathered at school rather than going door-to-door at night."

"Have you found something now?"

When it came to serious matters, Levi put aside his playful expression. If there was anything he had to protect besides Iris and his close friends, it was definitely the teachers and students of the middle school.

"Not yet, but just now, Kaguya sensed someone nearby monitoring us, probably the other Master's Servant."

"Right, I also encountered a hidden observer, though I didn't confirm if it was a Servant..."

Levi thought about the brief encounter that didn't even qualify as a fight. Although he had sensed the special波动 of the Command Spell, he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. He was far from skilled in magic and couldn't make a definitive conclusion.

"...Wait, you let Kaguya go alone?"

Of the Servants they had encountered so far, except for Eve, who was slightly weaker due to the malfunction of her nanomachines, both Heracles as a Berserker and Claude Strife as a Rider were formidable. Although Kaguya gave off a mysterious aura and was unlikely to encounter any accidents, Levi couldn't help but worry about her facing an unknown enemy alone.

"Who do you think is to blame! We were supposed to meet after school, but who was nowhere to be seen for half a day, forcing me to use the announcement to get you here? And Kaguya, as a Servant, should follow orders! But did she? Not at all! She said she found something and ran off before I could react! What are you all doing! Treating the Holy Grail War, such a serious matter, like a game?!"

Levi's frequent tardiness had long been a source of frustration for Rin. Although she understood that it was difficult for someone not from a magical family to quickly grasp the cruelty of the Holy Grail War, with Kaguya's added fuel to the fire, the long-suffering young lady finally erupted. Her fair hands clenched tightly, pounding the wooden desk. Her bangs fell over her eyes, making Levi even more afraid. He immediately stood straight like a good student, not daring to further provoke the enraged Student Council President.