Shirou slept deeply for a whole night due to the drain from the dream summoning, and finally managed to drag himself out of bed, exhausted.
Although his magic had mostly recovered, his mind, to be honest, couldn't handle the high-intensity battle rhythm of the Servant form.
Fortunately, the opponents last night weren't strong enemies. If he had encountered an enemy like Ghislaine, a Sword King, he probably would have been completely drained.
Even though his body still hadn't fully recovered, Shirou couldn't force himself to rest at this time.
Because he knew very well that the Eris kidnapping incident hadn't really ended.
Although Shirou himself had rescued Eris and directly dealt with the leader of the kidnappers, and all his underlings were tied up, waiting for the Boreas family to discover them, the complexity of this matter was, in a sense, beyond imagination.
After all, the leader of the kidnappers had clearly said that there was a big rich and powerful noble backing him. Shirou had to closely monitor the Boreas family's movements, and even give them some hints if necessary, so that the Boreas family could discover the whole truth.
Shirou planned this in his heart and left his room immediately.
As soon as he walked out the door, he ran into the butler, Thomas.
This Boreas family butler was obviously the mastermind behind the kidnapping incident, but the Boreas family's investigation into him hadn't even started yet. Plus, he wasn't the direct instigator, but rather an accomplice, so he hadn't yet been discovered as a participant in the kidnapping incident.
However, Thomas himself was obviously very panicked right now.
The news of Eris's return had kept him awake all night. His pale face was full of regret, and he was plotting how to escape this place before everything was revealed.
Shirou naturally wouldn't allow him to have a chance to escape and immediately went up to him.
"Butler Thomas, is there something you need from me?"
"W-well, Master Phillip asked me to take you to the living room for a meeting."
"Okay."
Shirou was a little surprised that Phillip would take the initiative to look for him, but he still nodded slightly.
He and the butler went to the Boreas family's living room and found that most of the Boreas family was gathered there, including Eris, Sauros, Phillip and Phillip's wife, and Ghislaine as a guard.
Sauros was sitting in the main seat of the room, accompanied by a beast-eared maid, with Eris sitting next to him, her face full of dissatisfaction.
Phillip and his wife were also a little uneasy at this moment, obviously unable to bear Sauros' authority.
Ghislaine was the only one who remained calm, and she even showed a gentle attitude when she saw Shirou arrive, being as friendly to him as always.
Shirou felt a little complicated about this.
After all, he still clearly remembered the killing intent that Ghislaine had shown him last night.
Although it was because he had hidden his identity, Ghislaine's strength as a Sword King made it impossible to treat her as an ordinary woman.
"Everyone's here, huh."
Sauros saw Shirou arrive, nodded slightly, and had him sit below the others.
Shirou looked back at him in confusion, not understanding what this meant.
Because he could clearly see that this was a Boreas family meeting.
Was he, an outsider, even allowed to participate?
However, judging from Sauros's intentions, it was obvious that he was forcing him to participate, so Shirou could only sit down in the lowest seat.
At the same time, after completing his task, the butler Thomas quickly walked aside to reduce his presence.
"Okay, let's start. Phillip, what do you have to say to me!"
Sauros said decisively, speaking in an extremely loud voice and looking sharply at Phillip.
"I want to report to you, Father, that it was my dereliction of duty that Eris was captured."
"Dereliction of duty? Is a simple dereliction of duty enough?"
A light flashed in Sauros' eyes, looking like the eyes of a raptor, "Not only was Eris captured by bandits, but she was also rescued by an outsider. You didn't even find out who rescued Eris, so you couldn't give them enough respect and rewards. Do you think you did a good job?"
"Yes... I was wrong."
"Phillip!"
Sauros suddenly spoke loudly.
Phillip, as if he had received some kind of command, walked towards the other party at an extremely fast speed and knelt in front of Sauros.
Sauros didn't hesitate to swing his fist.
"Bang!"
The old man's iron fist struck Phillip's face without the slightest mercy.
After taking this punch, the latter's entire body even flew into the air and fell to the floor.
The head of a family actually using his iron fist to beat his son.
Shirou, who grew up in the Emiya and Greyrat families, had never seen such a tough family style.
He completely understood why Eris had become the way she was now...
After beating Phillip up, Sauros scolded mercilessly: "Hmph, you trash, find that benefactor who saved Eris for me immediately! And treat them with the greatest rewards and courtesy. Our Boreas family must not be ungrateful!"
"Yes, I understand."
Phillip nodded, finally gaining some recognition from Sauros.
Phillip, still lying on the ground, remained calm. He seemed to be used to being beaten by Sauros, and said frankly: "Regarding this kidnapping incident, I have already arrested all the kidnappers. Although the interrogation has just begun, I am almost certain that the mastermind behind the kidnapping incident should be a big figure in the royal capital."
"Tch, is it that guy?"
Sauros and Phillip seemed to know who the noble behind the kidnapping was.
But they were obviously afraid of the power the other party possessed, so even if they had enough evidence in their hands, they didn't dare to directly use the evidence to attack the other party.
At least with the Boreas family's current status and form, it was unlikely that they could bring down that kind of existence.
So Sauros curled his lips and silently skipped the topic, saying: "Alright, alright, just keep investigating. Collect all the information you find and give it to me. Sooner or later, we'll settle the score."
"Yes."
Sauros finally sat down on the empty sofa.
Phillip was also able to breathe a sigh of relief and returned to his original seat.
At the same time, Shirou saw that this family meeting seemed to be coming to an end. Naturally, he couldn't let a certain criminal get away with it.
So, taking advantage of the moment when the scene calmed down, he suddenly spoke: "Um, can I say something?"
"?"
Everyone in the Boreas family looked confused, not expecting Shirou to suddenly interrupt.
Especially Eris, her attitude towards him was even more complicated, mixed with dissatisfaction and a strange sense of expectation.
Shirou didn't know the reactions of the others and just looked at Sauros, who was obviously in charge.
"Of course, you can say whatever you want."
Sauros was quite frank with him, even to the point of being indulgent.
Because the other party's attitude was too friendly, Shirou often suspected that Paul was the other party's illegitimate son and that they were treating him like a grandson.
Shirou erased this strange idea from his mind, looked at Sauros seriously, and said: "I think there are some suspicious points about the fact that Miss Eris was captured."
"Oh?"
Hearing Shirou speak, Phillip looked at him with interest.
The butler Thomas suddenly trembled.
Shirou didn't stop and continued, "On the day Miss Eris was captured, I originally wanted to find her and have her learn swordsmanship with me. But not only did I not find her, I heard from the maid after asking that Butler Thomas seemed to have taken her away."
"Is that so? What do you think is the problem with that?"
Phillip seemed to have a little more admiration for Shirou, and his attitude towards him became interested.
"Miss Eris was originally staying in her room, but Thomas suddenly took her away, and then she was kidnapped for no reason. Isn't that a bit too coincidental?"
"Thomas, explain yourself!"
As soon as Shirou finished speaking, Sauros looked at the butler aside with an imposing attitude.
Seeing this, Thomas was so frightened that he ran out hurriedly and said in a panic: "No, I just took the young lady out at the time. I didn't expect bandits to suddenly appear, and I immediately notified the adults after the incident happened!"
Thomas put on an innocent attitude. He did act properly, at least he reported it the moment it happened.
This is also the reason why he hasn't been caught yet.
"Um."
Sauros felt that there was no problem after listening, so he turned to look at Shirou again.
Shirou said slowly, "Even if you notified us immediately, why did you take Eris away from the castle at that time?"
"This..."
Hearing Shirou's words, Thomas and Eris showed panicked expressions at the same time.
Needless to say about Thomas, he just made up a reason to take Eris away at the time. In fact, it would be easily exposed.
If Eris was captured and never came back, then he could get away with it, and he could make up an excuse later.
But now Eris has come back. She knows very well what he said at the time. A slight comparison and it would be completely exposed.
"Eris!"
While Thomas was in a state of confusion, Sauros turned his gaze to Eris. The red-haired girl was so frightened that she stood up from her seat on the spot.
"What did Thomas say to you at that time?"
"Thomas told me that Father had decided to kick out Shirou, so he wanted to take me to see Father. Because Grandfather would definitely not agree to this, it must not be known by anyone."
Eris had absolute fear of Sauros so she didn't dare to tell a single lie.
Even if she did a terrible job in this matter, not only did she have obvious rejection of Shirou, but she also fell into a trap because of her stupidity. She didn't dare to have any secrets from Sauros.
"Humph!"
Hearing Eris's words, Sauros snorted coldly, as if to say that he would settle accounts with this brat later.
Then he looked at Thomas coldly.
At this time, even if Sauros didn't say a word, the atmosphere at the scene was enough to completely destroy Thomas. There was no possibility of luck.
The Boreas family members still showed some respect towards Thomas, hoping that he could take the initiative to admit his mistake instead of directly revealing everything.
After all, Thomas's family had been the butler of the Boreas family for generations, and each generation was extremely loyal to the Boreas family.
However, Thomas himself, as the family's heir, was only honest and kind on the surface. In reality, he often did some outrageous things behind the scenes. He was selfish and self-centered to the point of being almost stupid.
Phillip had long seen through his methods, which he thought were clever but were actually extremely stupid, so he had never really valued him. He didn't even kick him out of the family because of his family's reputation.
This time, even if Shirou didn't speak, Phillip would probably have dragged Thomas out immediately.
It's just that if he had come, he wouldn't have dealt with his subordinates in such a big occasion. Instead, he would have let the other party vanish from this world without a sound afterward.
In short, Thomas was now completely trapped in a desperate situation.
He had no reason to defend himself, nor could he explain why he had taken Eris away from the family at that time.
In fact, Thomas himself didn't really hate the Boreas family. The Boreas family could be said to have been quite benevolent and righteous to him, even taking good care of him.
It's just that Thomas himself was too greedy. When he heard the unimaginably large numbers and rewards, he couldn't help but have evil thoughts.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."
Thomas lowered his head weakly. He obviously realized his situation completely and had no intention of making any excuses or struggling.
The Boreas family members looked at him regretfully, feeling helpless at the betrayal of such a butler who was almost a family member.
Just when everyone thought that Thomas was completely desperate and didn't want to pay any more attention to him, Thomas suddenly rushed to Eris's side with a shocking move the moment he raised his head.
Because it happened so suddenly and it was a family meeting, no one at the scene reacted to this.
Even Shirou and Ghislaine were unable to react quickly due to the distance, causing Eris to be suddenly held hostage by Thomas, with a sharp knife threatening her neck.
"Thomas!"
Sauros roared when he saw this.
Thomas, as if he was throwing caution to the wind, shouted loudly: "Let me leave, let me leave here! Otherwise, I'll kill this girl!"
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