Chapter 138: The Curse
“Your Majesty!” Sensing that no one else remained nearby, Lanser continued to kneel on the ground without rising.
“...” Unexpected to the others, Toria did not help him stand but instead stared blankly at Lanser, who remained silently kneeling on one knee.
“Finally, we meet again!” After a long wait, Toria uttered these puzzling words. Rin and the awake Riko looked equally confused, yet Lanser lifted his head and showed a faint smile.
“Yes, as promised, I have come.”
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“What on earth is going on?” Rin let out a frustrated roar, sprawled across her own sofa. Watching Shiko lying on Riko’s lap, enjoying a lap pillow, she could only sigh helplessly once more.
“Rin, what exactly is happening?” At this moment, having returned to an awkward silence for some time, the naturally energetic Riko, despite the embarrassment, still asked.
“I have no idea what’s going on right now.” Realizing her mind wasn’t keeping up, Rin flopped back onto the sofa.
Let us now return our focus to Lanser.
“Your Majesty, the medium-rare steak is ready.”
“Good. Your skills have not declined. Keep it up.”
“Understood.” Lanser bowed slightly.
“By the way, also—”
“I know.” Before the other could finish, Lanser had already gone into Rin’s kitchen to resume cooking.
Though not as delicious as food from outside, as a reclusive creature who could survive on instant noodles alone, he took pride in his cooking, especially since Toria hadn’t complained.
“What is going on?” Under the barrage of strange events, Riko felt she was barely keeping pace with this world’s whirlwind. After all, among the three people beside her, two were classmates and close friends, and the other was the shameless OTR she’d seen that afternoon—all “magicians.”
Yet seeing Riko, scared to disturb Shiko’s sleep but trying hard not to shout, Lanser and the others couldn’t help but laugh.
“Pfft!” “Pfft!”
“What are you two bastards laughing at!”
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“Ugh, an unfamiliar ceiling...” When Lanser woke again, he found himself lying on the sofa. Strangely, although he had gone to sleep wrapped in a cloak the night before, now he was covered by a blanket.
“Looks like the Hyena is awake.” This thought brought some inner conflict. Last night, after various events, he had escaped the endless night to send the Emperor a letter explaining the situation and arranged a drinking date for tonight. That was normal enough. But the Hyena turning into a Hyena Girl...
“My head really hurts...” Lanser helplessly scratched his head again.
“Lanser-kun, you’re already awake?” Just then, a soothing voice suddenly reached Lanser’s ears.
“Ahh!” Startled, he fell right off the sofa.
“What happened?!” The startled screams and the sound of Lanser hitting the floor woke Riko and the King, who poked their heads out of the room.
But all they saw was the overturned sofa and Shiko bent slightly forward.
“Shiko, don’t disturb my sleep so early in the morning.” Still a bit groggy, Riko opened the door casually, still in her disheveled pajamas. Since they were Rin’s pajamas, this looked somewhat...
“Shiko, don’t scare me like that!” Lanser sat up in resignation, clutching his head, only to meet Riko’s gaze as she covered her mouth to stifle a yawn.
“...” For a moment, Riko was speechless, unsure how to react.
But fully awake, Toria quickly caught on.
“Grit your teeth!”
“Yes!”
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“Hey, hey, what’s all this noise about?” Sitting at her own table, Rin propped her head with her hand, sighing helplessly.
“Hungry, hehe.” Shiko gave an incomprehensible chuckle. Lanser calmly drank milk behind a half-face mask, while Toria, looking displeased, ate her breakfast heartily.
“Tianyi~” To express his displeasure, Lanser ignored everyone else and summoned Tianyi, who had been asleep almost all day. At first, Tianyi looked dazed, but upon seeing the feast, she joined in the scramble for breakfast.
“Lanser, what do you mean by this!” Toria was determined to assert the king’s dignity and make him submit. Although Lanser had returned to his usual demeanor and ceased “performing” as a knight, which pleased her greatly, food was a matter of principle—no one else was allowed to challenge her.
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“Your Majesty, this is my master’s home. As her familiar, is it a problem for me to come out and eat?” Though capable of speech, Lanser had never heard her say a word besides singing, so he dared speak so boldly. His intuition told him she was clearly the true master.
“Um, Shiko, what exactly is going on?” Last night, it was clear their relationship was unusual, but now it seemed they were having a quarrel.
“Sa~sa~,” Shiko said with a grin, recounting the morning’s events, leaving Rin utterly speechless. Such a cold war over something so trivial.
“Should we just ignore them?” Riko, having long recovered from the morning’s awkwardness, looked at the two with disbelief.
“Whatever.” Rin shrugged, then suddenly asked, “Lanser, what was that crossbow thing you used yesterday?”
“Did you notice?” Lanser turned his head suddenly, wearing a sly smile.
“Is it really a Noble Phantasm? I’m genuinely curious about your identity. Many heroes in history used bows, but crossbows are rare. Bows require skill to master; crossbows can be used by ordinary people, which is why the nobility look down on them. Who exactly are you? I’m really curious now.”
Because Lanser had been evasive from the start, and Rin was not participating with confidence due to changes caused by Yanye, she was very curious. Although Saber clearly recognized the opponent, no one would casually reveal identity-exposing details.
“Since it’s rare, we should investigate thoroughly.”
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“Do you bastards look down on me? I took him down in a second!”
“Smack!”
“Crash!”
Sounds of shouting and smashing echoed continuously inside a rented room.