At this very moment, facing the senior she admired, the girl found that her heart seemed more relaxed than ever before.
Ahh, so a "friend" is this kind of incredibly relaxing relationship...
However.
Seeing Su Shu's downcast eyes and hesitant expression, the girl immediately, once again, realized her "offense."
"I-I'm sorry! To have arbitrarily considered you a friend, Senior, I was really..."
"No, I'm happy to be your first friend, Altoris."
Su Shu said with a smile, looking out at the vast golden wheat field.
A friend, huh...
This is a good opportunity to get closer and then corrupt her.
"Not only that, you will have more and more friends in the future. Don't be too hard on yourself."
"Th... Thank you! Senior Alvin!"
To be so excited as to have a flushed face just from having a friend... no, that seems to be blood from her forehead...
Looking at the girl's excited face, Su Shu felt a strange stirring in his heart, a kind of pity and sorrow that he didn't want to think about.
"This... my next request might be a bit too presumptuous, but, if you have time, could you spar with me more in the future?"
The girl looked at the broken wooden swords on the ground. She decided she would have to make a new batch.
"But," she seemed to think of something with a troubled expression, "After eating your food and... and making such an unreasonable request, I don't seem to have anything to offer you in return..."
Guu—The more she thought about it, the more ashamed she felt. The girl practically wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in it.
"I've been meaning to ask, this wheat field belongs to old Sir Ector, right? Is that your... Altoris?"
"He's my... uh, father."
She wasn't actually allowed by Ector to call him that.
But right now, since he couldn't hear, it didn't matter, right?
Although she was forbidden to say it, the girl had long since acknowledged this fact in her heart.
"That's perfect. I'd like to borrow your fields. Seeing how well this wheat is growing... if you could lease or sell it to me, that would be a huge help."
In truth, Su Shu didn't necessarily need the fields here.
If he asked, his old man Vortigern would naturally set aside a large, fertile plot for him in Londinium, and could even assign a few batches of Anglo-Saxons to pick cotton or something.
But, then he would have no reason to approach Artoria frequently.
"The feeling of being needed" is a high-level emotional need.
Even for something as trivial as asking for help peeling an apple, showing an attitude of "needing the other person" is an unfailing way to get closer.
It was a small philosophy of life Su Shu had picked up in his previous life.
"Ah! If my father hears it's your request, he will surely agree. But Senior Alvin... you're going to farm?"
The girl looked at Su Shu in disbelief. Someone with such high martial skill personally working in the fields sounded as contradictory as King Arthur being a woman.
"I have a research project I want to work on."
Are you kidding? Farming is an absolute instinct engraved in the DNA of every Chinese person.
As he said this, Su Shu couldn't help but recall the sneering faces of those people at the Clock Tower when he was researching wheat production.
They said a country bumpkin was only fit for farming. As a result, Su Shu, with great foresight, applied for a patent in advance.
So, although the price was ridiculously high, the noble families were now scrambling to buy his Aether-rich "premium brand" flour, which was said to be better than ordinary food at replenishing magical energy.
Magi also needed to eat, sleep, and live. All he could say was that the British lords didn't understand the concept of food being the first necessity of the people. He loved bleeding them dry and watching their pained expressions.
"As for sword practice... sparring with you is also a form of training for myself. I would be honored.
"But Altoris, your sword technique... this kind of pointless persistence will only make your path more and more thorny."
Su Shu bluntly pointed out her immaturity. In these chaotic times, upholding peaceful principles was incredibly difficult. However, he didn't expect...
"Then it must be because I'm not strong enough yet."
The girl simply replied with a smile.
"If I become strong enough, so strong that I don't need to draw my blade—then even the Demonic Dragon Vortigern could be made to surrender, leaving an opportunity for us to communicate properly, right?"
Her voice fell.
The echo seemed to reverberate in the wind.
Her soft golden hair swayed with the breeze. Su Shu stared blankly at the girl in men's clothing, unable to say a word.
It was a bit... too blindingly bright.
How could there be such a stubborn person in the world?
The sky was a clear blue, without a cloud in sight.
The vast, ripe wheat field was like a golden sea.
Under the bright sunlight, the golden-haired girl's smile seemed to be coated with a brilliant, glorious color.
Through this radiant sunlight, Su Shu seemed to be able to glimpse the girl's clear and pure dragon's heart.
Ahh... Artoria—
She had cast aside the baseness of being human, replacing it with a pure and untainted divinity.
The more he realized this, the more indignant he felt about her tragic end.
Not seen as a person, but as an incredibly useful tool—what did people take her for?!
Faced with the girl's brilliant smile, he couldn't bear to look, yet he wanted to pluck it.
Yes...
It's this Artoria that is worthy of being corrupted!
The blood of the White Dragon was surging. Desire and pity seemed to coexist at this moment.
This dazzling divinity...
Su Shu wanted to taint it all.
"S... Senior Alvin?"
...Close.
So close.
Looking at the boy's face, which was far too close, the girl's palm couldn't help but clench the wheat stalks on the ground.
A blush quietly crept onto her delicate cheeks.
A slight dizziness also filled her mind.
Should I step back?
Or... lean into it—
Her body didn't know how to respond.
But what was certain—those iron-gray eyes, slowly churning like a vortex, seemed to radiate a soul-snatching magic, making it almost impossible to look away.
They stared at each other in a somewhat frozen moment.
Until a call from not far away suddenly woke the girl from her trance.
"Lily! I brought you—"
A sharp gaze spotted the two people in the wheat field, who were far too close.
The young man's shouting voice froze abruptly.
"Motherfucker, what the hell are you doing to my sis— to my little brother!"
Dropping the lunch box in his hand, the golden-haired young man charged over from the edge of the field like an angry lion, reaching out to grab the silver-haired boy's collar...
...and was promptly thrown over Su Shu's shoulder, landing face-first in the dirt with a loud "THUD."
"Holy shit... you bastard..."
The handsome golden-haired young man pushed himself up, wincing in pain as he slowly got to his feet.
When he looked up and saw Su Shu's face, he couldn't help but freeze.
"What the hell, this is impossible...!
"—How can there be a man more handsome than me... are you a goddamn incubus reborn!"
This smart-mouthed way of speaking, why is it so familiar...
Looking at the golden-haired young man before him, although he had never seen this guy before, Su Shu felt a sense of déjà vu.
He couldn't recall the answer for a moment.
But faced with such rude words, he wasn't going to reply nicely either.
"Who the hell are you?"
"I'm your dad, you brat!"
Well now, you want to be my dad? Are you as infamous as Vortigern? Not even he is that arrogant.
The golden-haired young man's opening line was a triple-threat of insults; one could tell he was a veteran of the Zaun servers.
A tense atmosphere instantly spread across the field. The golden-haired young man dusted himself off, cracked his neck, and drew the iron sword from his waist, its cold light flashing.
"I don't care who you are, stay the hell away from my little brother, or my sword won't know mercy."
Oh, Saber's big brother, I see.
Su Shu understood, and his response was...
"None of your damn business."
"Alright, you've got guts! I'm going to teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents today. Don't say I'm bullying you just because I'm a few years older."
The golden-haired young man charged—
The golden-haired young man drew his sword—!
The golden-haired young man was on the ground...?
Looking at the young man who had been instantly taken down, Su Shu was speechless.
He hadn't even started to exert his strength yet, how did this guy fall down?
The gap in stats between an Ultimate Life Form and a normal person was apparently too great to overcome.
"Is that all you've got? My assessment is that you're not as good as your little brother."
"You bastard, damn it, that monstrous strength is just like..."
"Stop, you two, stop fighting!"
——————————
So familiar, where have I seen this guy?
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