"That crack about me dropping the ball again was unnecessary!"
Rin Tohsaka, who had just relaxed at the discovery of unexpected reinforcements, scowled at Roland's teasing.
But she could not argue back as she usually did. In her haste to check on Saber's battle, she had prioritized sending out a Familiar instead of setting up a Barrier to warn her of danger. That had indeed been her mistake. Otherwise, even if she could not beat Bazett, she could at least have stalled long enough for Saber to come directly to her aid, rather than being caught off guard and ending up in such a one-sided fight.
Ever since he had begun to notice this trait passed down through the Tohsaka Family's bloodline, Roland had offered plenty of thoughtful consolation to Rin Tohsaka, who had found it unbelievable at the time. He had even declared that dropping the ball was a Tohsaka Family tradition, and that as its heir, she simply had to experience it-words infuriating enough to set her teeth on edge.
The caution Rin Tohsaka exercised now was inseparable from her desire to prove herself to Roland.
"Really..." Roland shrugged. Looking at Rin Tohsaka's disheveled appearance, his lips curled into a teasing smile. "You don't look very convincing right now."
"You're not wrong, ahhh... no, this isn't the time to argue about that. Hurry up and help me!"
The girl shook her twin tails in frustration, clutching her arm. "If I die here, you'll never collect the money I owe you!"
"That's a much more convincing reason than the last one, but it's still not enough. Rin, you know I'm not particularly enthusiastic about wealth. Even if I never collected it, I wouldn't care. What matters to me is how important the price you paid was to you at