Waking Up (Extra)

"Hey, Caster's Master!"

However, at this moment, an untimely voice suddenly interrupted Wang Xiaoming.

It was Gordes. After returning to the castle, he took Siegfried into his Magecraft workshop to grow mushrooms. He had gone to the hall to watch the summoning ceremony out of curiosity, and then he saw the Berserker go berserk.

Although he wasn't directly affected, his resentment had been building up inside him, and now, upon seeing the person in question, it finally erupted completely.

"Why did you summon a 'problem Servant's and then drag us into solving it for you?"

"If you don't want to, you can leave, Saber's Master."

A stiff voice suddenly rang out; it was Chiron. He had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed, resting since he entered the room. After hearing Gordes's rebuttal of Wang Xiaoming's words, he opened his eyes and stared coldly at Gordes.

"I... I was just saying..."

Gordes, caught in Archer's hawk-like gaze, instinctively shuddered, then leaped behind his Servant, muttering under his breath, "Even if they really want to deal with Berserker, isn't this a bit too much of a fuss?"

Gordes was right. Not only Gordes himself, but even Caules, who had lost his Servant, and the homunculus who had just obtained the Master qualification, were brought over.

This room is now filled with almost all the Master and Servant from the castle, except for one...

"Miss Reika, how is the situation with Berserker?"

Wang Xiaoming ignored Gordes's rambling and turned his gaze directly to Reika Rikudou, who was sitting alone on the sofa in the corner of the room.

Upon hearing Wang Xiaoming's question, Reika Rikudou smiled. However, the Jack the Ripper who should have been clinging to her was nowhere to be seen.

"Berserker seems to be doing well, and Ultraman Jack seems to like her quite a bit."

"That's good. If any problems arise, call Ultraman Jack back immediately. Don't be stingy with your Command Spell."

Reika Rikudou nodded slightly at Wang Xiaoming's instructions.

"So, let's get back to the main topic—"

Looking around at everyone in the room, Wang Xiaoming said, "First of all, I apologize for the trouble I caused you all because of my presumptuous behavior."

Everyone present was stunned when they saw Wang Xiaoming bending over.

"My original plan was to summon Penthesilea through my connection with Troy to fight against that guy Rider. Although I've achieved my goal, I didn't expect..."

Wang Xiaoming could only manage a wry smile to express his next words, but everyone understood what he meant.

--Unexpectedly, this summoned Berserker is so sensitive to [that name]. If it weren't for our timely reaction, the presence of Servant capable of resisting the Berserker, and Archer's Reality Marble... our side would probably have been completely wiped out before the final battle even began.

Finally, it was Caules, who had been observing from the sidelines for a while, who broke the somewhat awkward atmosphere in the room and pointed out the key to the whole matter—

"So, the most urgent task now is to stabilize Berserker's emotions and prevent her from going Mad Enhancement. And judging from her previous behavior, Berserker should have enough rationality to maintain normal communication."

Perhaps because he had summoned Berserker before, Caules seemed to handle this kind of problem with ease. "So as long as we don't deliberately 'provoke' the [point] that will make Berserker go berserk, then daily communication with Berserker shouldn't be a problem." As for what that [point] was, everyone present knew perfectly well.

"Caules is really amazing."

Watching her younger brother speak eloquently in front of everyone, Fiore clasped her hands together, looking pleased.

Meanwhile, Caules coughed loudly to cover his embarrassment, then pushed up his glasses and turned to Wang Xiaoming for his opinion.

"Then let's do as Caules says: until this war is over, no one should mention Ak... cough! Rider's name in front of Berserker."

No one objected to this. From the dead of night when they were summoned until now, a sliver of light has appeared on the horizon. The intense battle that had Servant all night would inevitably leave the Master who hadn't slept a wink.

Now that a conclusion had been reached and seeing that some of the attendees were starting to doze off, Wang Xiaoming didn't press them further and simply announced the end of the meeting.

Seeing the crowd filing out of the room, Wang Xiaoming was about to turn around to look for Lily when someone unexpectedly appeared before him:

"Miss Reika?"

"Just call me Reika."

Looking at the beautiful woman before him, Wang Xiaoming readily agreed, "So, Reika, is there a problem?"

In response to Wang Xiaoming's question, Reika Rikudou smiled and glanced at the pale purple figure beside Wang Xiaoming: "I'd like to discuss some issues concerning girls with Miss Lily."

"Huh?"

Lily blinked, seemingly surprised that Reika Rikudou would find her, seeing Wang Xiaoming's questioning gaze and Reika Rikudou's sincere expression.

"Okay, sure."

Seeing Lily nod, Reika Rikudou turned her gaze back to Wang Xiaoming:

"Mr. Ming, is it alright if I leave Ultraman Jack in your care for a while?"

"Of course, after all, I'm considered that child's 'father' too."

After stretching, Wang Xiaoming agreed to Reika Rikudou's request and followed the others away. Once his figure disappeared around the corner, only Lily and Reika Rikudou remained in the room.

"Miss Lily, don't be nervous..."

Seeing Lily staring at her warily, Reika Rikudou remained unfazed.

"I just wanted to ask a question--"

"What?"

Do you like Mr. Ming?

I'll try my best to make up for what I can during this time.

(Above)

Chapter 267. Waking Up (Supplement)

A few hours after falling asleep--

Wang Xiaoming only opened his eyes again when the sun was about to sink into the west.

Perhaps due to the excessive exertion from stopping Penthesilea's rampage, Wang Xiaoming slept very comfortably. So much so that after a while, Wang Xiaoming didn't notice something wriggling in his bed. The next second—

"Hmm, Mas... ter..."

"..."

The whispers in his ear made Wang Xiaoming feel as if his blood was freezing...

Whether it was a long time or a short time, Wang Xiaoming only knew that his consciousness was pulled back by Lily's voice in his ear.

"Morning... wait, it's already evening?"

Lily, rubbing her sleepy eyes, also noticed the night view by the window, and Wang Xiaoming, who was trying to appear calm as he reached for the bedside table.

Good evening, Master~

"Ah, good evening."

After putting his glasses back on his nose, Wang Xiaoming opened his eyes and turned to look at the girl leaning against him.

And then--

"Master, what's wrong?"

Seeing Wang Xiaoming's severely shocked expression, Lily brushed the strands of hair that had stuck to her cheeks from sleep back and couldn't help but ask curiously.

"The first question..."

After a long silence, Wang Xiaoming finally uttered his first words. "Lily, what are you doing here?"

"Well..."

Lily blinked, her thoughts suddenly drifting back to her conversation with Reika Rikudou a few hours earlier—

"Hey, Miss Lily, do you like Mr. Ming?"

"Of course I like it!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Lily blurted out her answer, but in the next second, her determined expression suddenly began to show signs of hesitation.

"What's wrong?"

Reika Rikudou couldn't help but ask with some curiosity.

"N-nothing..."

Lily's hesitant expression quickly faded; she couldn't very well say that she was troubled by the fact that Master cared about "another person," even though that person was also "herself"...

Etc!

As if struck by a sudden thought, Lily looked up at the smiling Reika Rikudou. She suddenly remembered... this woman, whom Jack the Ripper called "Mom," seemed to be an enemy as well...

"Hey, Miss Reika, do you like Master too?"

Seeing Lily's wary expression, Reika Rikudou uttered an answer that sent a shiver down Lily's spine—

I like it!

"..."

"And then, I really like you, Miss Lily ~"

"Huh?"

Perhaps still emotionally disoriented, when Reika Rikudou's words reached Lily's ears again, she was met with an extremely confused expression, while Reika Rikudou's smile deepened once more.

"Since Mr. Ming and Miss Lily are both my and Jack the Ripper's saviors, I would be very happy if you two got together!"

"Huh?!"

"Therefore--"

(If you want to win over your crush, girls should occasionally take the initiative!)

Recalling the "little trick" that Reika Rikudou had taught her, Lily blinked:

"A sudden whim?"

"..."

Knowing full well that this answer was utter nonsense, Wang Xiaoming reluctantly accepted it. What else could he do but accept it? They had already slept together, so what else could he do?

"So, the second question—what's the story behind your outfit?"

At this moment, Lily was only wearing a thin, form-fitting nightgown. Although it perfectly covered all her vital parts, it was the first time that Wang Xiaoming, who had always regarded Lily as a child, realized the beauty of a young girl...

"It's a secret weapon!"

Looking at Lily, whose eyes held a hint of shyness, Wang Xiaoming pressed his throbbing temples, and could only sigh helplessly. In the current situation, it seemed that even if he knew the truth, it wouldn't make any difference.

The truth is, if it weren't for Ms. Reika's friendly reminder, Lily would never have thought of using this method to "seduce" her Master, no matter how hard she tried.

"Hey, Master..."

Seeing Wang Xiaoming seemingly lost in thought, Lily took a deep breath, then leaned forward, as if preparing for one last desperate charge.

However--

"Eh?"

When Lily came to her senses, she found herself seemingly "floating" in mid-air. As for Wang Xiaoming, who had lifted Lily up, he expressionlessly "threw" her into his arms, his back to him.

Then, he used his hands to restrict Lily's remaining movement, and after making sure the girl in his arms couldn't move, he rested his chin on her little head.

Smelling the delicate fragrance emanating from his hair, Wang Xiaoming finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Out of sight, out of mind!

However, whether unintentionally or intentionally, the way the two of them are interacting now seems... more ambiguous than before?

"Hey, Lily..."

After a long while, Lily, whose mind was still in a daze, suddenly heard Wang Xiaoming's voice in her ear.

"Feel sorry."

"Master?"

"I clearly told you to stay away from fighting, but I still dragged you into it..."

"No, because I changed after meeting Master. The me who was afraid of the outside world... no longer exists. The me now... will no longer avoid battle..."