["Who are you?"]

  [Gray looked at the approag figure warily.]

  ["Heh..."]

  [Sisigou grihen swiftly fired his gun, eliminating several approag wraiths.]

  ["These undead are the tomb's guardians. It seems they mistook you dies frave robbers."]

  [Sisigou expined with a smirk: "But this is not good. They're getting more and mitated."]

  ["Fortunately, I know a shortcut out of here. However, I'm ly a gentle escort. Ladies, will you follow me?"]

  ["Alright," Gray nodded decisively.]

  [With Sisigou leading the way, the group departed the crypt auro the mansion amidst the heavy rain.]

  [On the way back, Reines, overwhelmed by the effects of her Mystic Eye, fainted and was carried back by the mercury maid.]

  [Hearing the otion, El-Melloi II and Wills quickly arrived.]

  ["She's fine," Sisigou reassured them. "She just passed out."]

  ["Who are you?" El-Melloi II demanded, narrowing his eyes.]

  ["This gentleman just saved us," Gray interjected politely.]

  ["Sisigou Kairi, correct?"]

  [At that moment, Hishiri Adashiered the room and directly revealed his identity.]

  ["So, what brings you here?" El-Melloi II pressed further.]

  ["Ah, five me," Wills interjected, looking slightly apologetic. "Mr. Sisigou is a friend of my father's."]

  ["Yes," Sisigou replied calmly. "I came to pay my respects."]

  ["A, as a mourner, you didn't e to the mansion first, but instead headed to the grave?" Hishiri Adashino said sharply, her expression unreadable.]

  ["Well, the tomb leads directly to the foot of the mountain," Sisigou chuckled lightly. "To avoid the thuorm on my way here, it was simply safer to take that route."]

  [After a brief exge, the group dispersed to rest for the night.]

  [Reines and El-Melloi II were assigo the same room, tasked with taking care of each other.]

  ["Really? Why do we have to share a room?" El-Melloi II pined, clearly unfortable.]

  [I think now is the perfect time for us to bond and have a baby," Reines, who had just woken up, teased with a sly grin.]

  ["...Why is this happening to me?!" El-Melloi II groaned, exasperated.]

  Waver: "…"

  El-Melloi II: "…"

  Looking at this se, o a headache, and the other felt a stomachache.

  Kayh: "I see you and Reines had a closer retionship in the inal timeline."

  Waver: "...What makes you say that?"

  Chihiro: "Stop pretending. You're already in the same room. Sharing a bed seems like the logiext step."

  Tohsaka Rily. It feels like you're both flirting."

  Iskandar: "Hahaha Boy, this girl seems like quite the catch. You're lucky."

  Astolfo: "That's right! If you like her, just say so directly. There's o be shy."

  Waver: "What nonsense are you all spouting?! In the video, isn't she clearly still a minor?"

  ["This nd is ected to the Fairy Eye," El-Melloi II murmured, recalling the events of the day. "The nd, the lightning, the Fairy Eye—they're all iwined… I see now."]

  [Suddenly alert, El-Melloi II stood up. "I o firm something. Reines, follow Gray's instrus a some rest."]

  [With that, he hurried to Trevor's study and began his iigation.]

  ["As I thought," El-Melloi II muttered under his breath. Though his suspis were firmed, some uainties remained. Deg to iigate further tomorrow, he returo the room he shared with Reines.]

  ["Master! Master!"]

  [Gray's urgent void rapid knog shattered the stillness of the night.]

  ["What's wrong?" El-Melloi II groggily asked as he rubbed his eyes.]

  [Gray, her face pale with distress, said, "It's terrible, Master! Miss Walletta was struck by lightning!"]

  ["Another death at this hour?!" Waver excimed, his tone grim.]

  [Clearly, this development was beyond his expectations.]

  Iskandar: "Yhtcap is rather cute. I'll buy one for you ime I visit."

  Waver: "Is this really what you're fog ht now?!"

  Kayh: "Another death, and this time it's someone from the Cton Main family. This spells trouble for the boy named Wills."

  Tohsaka Tokiomi: "Ihe timing is too veo be natural."

  Emiya Kiritsugu: "But hoalletta struck by lightning while indoors?"

  Tohsaka Tokiomi: "That's a signifit mystery. It must be resolved."

  Tohsaka Rin: "And what did Waver discover earlier?"

  Kayh: "Speg won't help. Let's watch further."

  [Walletta's suddeh armed everyone in the mansion.]

  [Wills attempted to perform a séan Walletta's body, but his efforts proved fruitless.]

  ["Something is interfering with the spirit's dest," Sisigou remarked grimly.]

  ["In other words, this is deliberate," Hishiri Adashino cluded.]

  ["That's correct," Sisigou firmed.]

  ["Then, by criminal iigation principles, the person who bes most from her death…" Hishiri Adashino trailed off.]

  [All eyes turo Wills, suspi falling squarely on him once more.]

  ["Hold on," Sisigou interrupted. "If the young master were the murderer, there would be o summon the monarch."]

  ["Or it could be a ploy to create an alibi by involving the monarch," Hishiri tered.]

  ["No, the true culprit is someone else," El-Melloi II interjected, his voice calm but firm. "In the world of magi, the focus isn't on who the murderer is or how the crime was itted."]

  ["Then you mean to focus on why it was done?" Hishiri asked, her toral. "So, the motive… is the key, isn't it?"]

  ["Ms. Adashino," El-Melloi II replied, "the motives you mentioned are merely jectures."]

  [He proposed tinuing the iigation until the storm abated, and Hishiri agreed, though she pced Wills under house arrest to demonstrate her responsibility in light of the death.]

  Kayh: "The ritual interference is quite advanced." "This is no amateur's work."

  Sisigou: "Indeed, setting up something like this is no simple task."

  [No one was in the mood to sleep after su event. El-Melloi II enlisted Sisigou's assistance, and in exge for a cigar, Sisigou agreed.]

  [Sisigou and Gray headed to the study to gather the information Waver needed.]

  [As they worked, the two began versing. Gray spoke briefly about her past.]

  ["I've never left my vilge before," Gray admitted quietly. "When I first arrived in London, everything seemed so o me."]

  ["I see," Sisigou replied. "Being his disciple must be tough."]

  ["No," Gray said, shaking her head. "Master is very kind to me."]

  [After colleg the necessary materials, the two began heading back.]

  ["Bang!!!"]

  [Out of nowhere, a shadowy creature burst through the corridor's window, lunging toward Sisigou. His quick reflexes allowed him to dodge just in time.]

  [The creature revealed itself—a bck, dog-like figure. Its inky body shimmered as though it wasn't truly flesh but rather a maion of pure elemental energy.]

  ["A Bck Dog," Sisigou muttered, narrowing his eyes. "A fae or malevolent spirit born at crossroads."]

  Kayh: "Ah, I see. It's a Bck Dog."

  Tohsaka Rin: "What's that?"

  Tohsaka Tokiomi: "As Sisigou expined, it's a type of fae—a physical embodiment of lightning."

  Tohsaka Rin: "A maion of lightning?"

  Tohsaka Tokiomi: "Precisely. This expins how Walletta was struck by lightning indoors. She must have been attacked by this entity."

  Waver: "But why is something like this here?"

  Kayh: "Clearly, this is the work of the mastermind behind all of this."

  ["Step back," Sisigou warned Gray. "This isn't something a young girl should handle."]

  [Before he could finish, Gray rushed forward, determination in her eyes.]

  ["Add, Phase Oris Released!"]

  [The cube-like Artifact she carried transformed into a gleaming scythe in her hands.]

  [With a single decisive ssh, the Bck Dog was bisected and dissipated into nothingness.]

  ["Impressive," Sisigou said, clearly taken aback. "Your Mystic Code is extraordinary."]

  Artoria:"That's it!"

  Seeing Gray's transformed sickle, her sense of familiarity grew stronger.

  It seems I've almost figured it out.

  ["After dispatg the Bck Dog, Gray and Sisigou hurriedly reported back to El-Melloi II.]

  ["A Bck Dog in the mansion?" Sisigou said seriously. "With the wards pced here, there's no way this could've occurred naturally."]

  [El-Melloi II's expression turned grim. "Then the lightning that killed Walletta and the others—it was the Bck Dog."]

  ["This workshop is far more dangerous thaicipated," Hishiri Adashino said as she joihem, her expression heavy.]

  AnnouChey new books:

  ☆DC: Rise Of The Kryptonian Tyrant

  ☆GOT/ASOIAF: Ruler Beyond the Ice

  ☆Drift Of The Multiverse

  Check my profile, under Series.

  Junkdog