Dating Caster

"The headache you just experienced was likely caused by excessive blood loss. During your recovery, eat more foods that help replenish your blood, and try to avoid too much mental exertion."

The Doctor, dressed in a white coat, closed Wang Xiaoming's medical chart and offered him some parting advice.

"Understood, thank you for your trouble." After hearing the Doctor's instructions, Wang Xiaoming nodded and expressed his gratitude.

"I only did what I was supposed to do," the Doctor said with a wave of his hand and a smile. "Besides, you are a hero here in Fuyuki City."

"A hero?"

Hearing this title, Wang Xiaoming was momentarily stunned, unable to react.

"That's right. You caught that perverted serial killer and risked your life to save this child. You are certainly a hero to us in Fuyuki City." The Doctor reached out and patted the head of the boy standing beside him. "When this child arrived at the hospital with you, he was covered in blood. It really gave our nurses a scare back then."

The Doctor's words left Wang Xiaoming completely bewildered.

I saved someone?

And I caught that perverted serial killer?

Doctor, are you sure you're talking about me?

Seeing Wang Xiaoming lost in thought, the Doctor decided not to disturb him further. He walked out of the room alone and quietly pulled the door shut, leaving only the boy and Wang Xiaoming in the ward.

"Mister..."

The boy walked up to the hospital bed, looked at the frowning Wang Xiaoming, and called out weakly.

"I'm so glad you're alright." Seeing the boy unharmed, Wang Xiaoming managed a smile. He then asked, "Can you tell me what happened after I passed out?"

As a reporter, Wang Xiaoming naturally possessed a journalist's spirit of seeking the truth. He didn't believe that after losing consciousness, he could have suddenly "powered up" and counter-killed the crazed Ryunosuke Uryu.

That was the kind of scenario that only happened to protagonists in novels, and Wang Xiaoming had no confidence that he was a protagonist. Therefore, the reality must be that some unknown accident occurred after he fell unconscious.

"..." The little boy hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.

Seeing that the boy seemed to have some unspeakable secret, Wang Xiaoming didn't intend to press him further. Since they had both survived the same desperate situation, there had to be a certain level of trust between them.

"It's okay, you can tell me when you're ready," Wang Xiaoming said, reaching out to pat the boy's head.

"Mister, it's not that I don't want to tell you..." The boy scratched his head, seemingly trying to organize his thoughts. "It's just that what happened is a bit unbelievable."

Unbelievable?

Wang Xiaoming muttered to himself, I'm a man who has even experienced trans-dimensional travel. What else could possibly shock me?

Suddenly, a flash of red crossed Wang Xiaoming's field of vision. He froze, then reached out and grabbed the boy's right hand.

It was a red emblem outlined with just a few strokes; at first glance, one might think it was a tattoo etched onto his skin.

But Wang Xiaoming knew that before he lost consciousness, there had been no such "tattoo" on the back of this child's hand!

"This is... a [Command Spell]?"

Hiss--

His head began to ache faintly again. Scenes flashed through Wang Xiaoming's mind once more, battering his consciousness. However, the pain was much lighter than before, and he gritted his teeth to endure it.

"Huh? Mister, you know about Command Spells?"

The boy didn't notice Wang Xiaoming's abnormality and asked with some surprise.

"Oh my, little Master, it seems this 'Mister' of yours isn't as simple as he looks."

Even though there were only two people in the room, a third voice appeared. What was even more surprising was that neither of the two in the room showed any signs of shock.

As the voice faded, a purple figure appeared in the ward.

T_T

Double update.

Chapter 9. So you're the protagonist~

"Manager, it's me."

In the hospital lobby, Wang Xiaoming, wearing his hospital gown, was using the public computer to call his superior.

"Yes, I'd like to take a few days off. Regarding this report..."

My life was almost forfeit, and you want me to write a report? To hell with that.

"Yes, alright."

After hanging up, Wang Xiaoming felt a bit puzzled. Why was the balding manager so easy to talk to this time? He had expected to waste a lot of breath convincing him.

Little did he know, during the time Wang Xiaoming was unconscious, the Fuyuki City police had already thoroughly investigated him. A commendation call made to the newspaper office had the balding manager beaming with joy.

One had to realize that the influence of this serial murder case had spread across the entire country; all of Japan was discussing it, everyone terrified of becoming the killer's next target.

Of course, one couldn't rule out the reason that the country's land area was too small—it wasn't even as large as a neighboring province. In such a tiny place, news traveled incredibly fast.

Upon learning that it was Wang Xiaoming, whom he had dispatched, who caught the killer, the balding manager stayed up all night writing a report himself, then had the newspaper office print extra copies overnight to be sent nationwide.

In the report, besides covering the fact that Wang Xiaoming had caught Ryunosuke Uryu, the balding manager also heavily emphasized his own "brilliant and heroic" decision to send Wang Xiaoming on this assignment.

It was utterly shameless.

But no matter how shameless it was, Wang Xiaoming had no energy to deal with it now. After hanging up the phone, he returned to the ward; there were still a pile of things he needed to figure out.

I pulled open the door to the hospital room and found the boy with his head bowed, looking like a child who had done something wrong. The hooded woman from moments ago had already vanished. Wang Xiaoming didn't bother with her; he walked to the bedside, patted the boy's hair, and said, "Come to think of it, we've been through life and death together, yet I still don't know your name. My name is Wang Xiaoming, but you can keep calling me Uncle."

The boy nodded, but the name that slipped from his lips made the expression on Wang Xiaoming's face stiffen.

"Shirou..."

[Shirou]

[Emiya Shirou]

[Emiya Shirou]

"Damn it!"

A memory fragment flashed through his mind. Wang Xiaoming clutched his head and cursed with a classic phrase.

"Uncle, are you okay?! Caster..." Seeing Wang Xiaoming turn deathly pale, Little Shirou was startled. He was about to call for help, but Wang Xiaoming reached out to stop him.

"I'm fine, just a sudden headache." Wang Xiaoming forced a smile, then looked up to examine Little Shirou's face.

Come to think of it, the orange hair, and those features that bore a resemblance to the young man in his memories...

Well, it looked like he had saved a [Protagonist].

"Uncle, you should rest more." Seeing that Wang Xiaoming didn't seem to be in any real trouble, Little Shirou felt relieved, though he still stubbornly insisted that Wang Xiaoming lie back down.

"It's alright..."

Wang Xiaoming smiled bitterly, but in the end, he couldn't win against the stubborn Little Shirou. He returned to the bed, and Little Shirou sat on the stool beside it.

Lying in bed, Wang Xiaoming began to vaguely piece together the state of his own memory.

He was like one of those amnesiac protagonists in novels; his sealed memories required a [Key Point] to [Unlock], but the side effect was that the process of unlocking them caused severe headaches.

Just like the headache from a moment ago, the memory fragments regarding Little Shirou's experiences ten years in the future had been shoved into his brain as if by a forceful hand.

"Tell me what happened back there," Wang Xiaoming said, sitting up in bed. "And how you used up your Command Spell."

Indeed, Little Shirou should have had three Command Spells on the back of his hand, but now there were only two. There was also a faint red mark, as if something had been erased by a rubber.

Although Little Shirou was young, his narrative was very logical. The timeline returned to the moment Wang Xiaoming had lost consciousness and Caster was summoned.

"Caster has arrived in response to the summons. Oh my, it seems you've run into a bit of trouble, Master~"

After stepping out of the magic circle and seeing the scene, Caster didn't rush to save Little Shirou from Ryunosuke's grasp; instead, she scanned the surroundings.

"Are you the Demon?"

Looking at Caster, Ryunosuke asked blankly.

A magic bolt manifested behind Caster and, in the next second, slammed fiercely into Ryunosuke's body.

"Pfft..."

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Ryunosuke collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Caster, her face mostly obscured by her hood, pressed her lips into a cold line. She looked at Ryunosuke as if he were already a dead man.

"Cough, cough..."

A faint coughing sound reached Caster's ears. When Ryunosuke was blown away, Little Shirou, who had been held by him, also fell to the ground.

"Are you the Master who summoned me?"

Shifting her attention to Little Shirou, Caster walked to his side and asked coldly.

"Cough, cough, please, save Uncle."

Little Shirou couldn't care about anything else. Having narrowly escaped death, he had no strength left and could only pin his hopes on this mysterious person who had appeared out of nowhere and struck down the murderer.

"With this, the contract is established."

After Caster said this calmly, the Command Spells on the back of Little Shirou's hand turned from dark red to bright red in an instant. She then turned her gaze toward Wang Xiaoming, who was lying on the ground, barely clinging to life. She shook her head and said:

"Master, I'm sorry, I cannot save him."

The current Wang Xiaoming was in a state of merely gasping for his last breath.

"Then call an ambulance!" Little Shirou couldn't control his emotions and roared at Caster.

"Master, it's not that he can't be saved, but..." Caster, taken aback by the boy's shout, hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"What do I need to do?" Little Shirou, as if grabbing onto a final straw, looked at Caster with hopeful eyes.

A lack of magical energy—a very realistic problem.

How could a child from an ordinary family have access to magical energy? As a Caster, she naturally saw through Little Shirou's background at a glance. If she were to use healing magic, this little Master would likely be drained dry.

Since there wasn't enough magical energy, they would have to make up for it with a Command Spell.

"Master, use a Command Spell."

"Command Spell? What is that?"

Seeing the confusion on Little Shirou's face, Caster's surprise grew even greater: to think he was just an ordinary person.

"I see..." Under Caster's brief explanation, Little Shirou barely grasped the general meaning of a Command Spell. He raised his right hand, which bore the mark:

"By the name of the Command Spell..."

"What about Ryunosuke Uryu?"

After listening to Little Shirou's account, Wang Xiaoming brought up another person.

"Before leaving, Caster said she would handle it."

Wang Xiaoming breathed a sigh of relief. Although Little Shirou had witnessed his parents being murdered, it was naturally better to minimize his exposure to such bloodshed. While he didn't know how Caster had dealt with it, judging by the Doctor's reaction just now, she must have handled it quite well.

"Miss Caster, if you are there, could you come out for a moment? I have a few words I would like to say to you."

A purple figure appeared in the hospital room once again.

"How convenient, I am also a bit curious... despite being just an ordinary person, you seem to know quite a lot about the Holy Grail War."

Two chapters updated...

By the way, the book title has been changed, and the cover is under review.

Chapter 10. The Deal

"How convenient, I am also a bit curious... despite being just an ordinary person, you seem to know quite a lot about the Holy Grail War."

As Caster manifested her form in the hospital room once more, Wang Xiaoming was finally able to see her clearly.

She was wearing an indigo and purple hooded cloak and a long purple robe. Her true face was obscured by the hood, making her look like a mysterious sorceress from legend. Her lips, not hidden by the hood, were painted with purple lipstick, and she possessed a graceful figure that even the voluminous robes could not conceal.