After bidding farewell to Kayneth, Naoki immediately took Gray by taxi back to apartment.
Although the official notice to Kayneth hadn't been issued yet, in his apartment, aside from himself, there were only Waver and Merlin, both of whom could be considered his people. So, after explaining the situation, they should be able to accept Gray's arrival.
Gray didn't have much luggage—in fact, it could be said she had almost nothing, just a set of clothes and a cage containing Add.
Carrying the birdcage, standing in front of the apartment door, and looking at what could be considered a "luxurious" residence, Gray couldn't help but rub her eyes: "This... this is where I'll be living from now on?"
"Yes, if nothing unexpected happens, you'll be staying here for a long time. Consider this your home." Naoki smiled. "This is also where I live. Aside from me, there are only two other people here. They... well, not all of them are good."
At the very least, Merlin definitely wasn't. The brutal training from a few days ago had already proven her troublemaking and mischievous nature.
"Anyway, let's go inside first. It's been two days, you must be tired, right?"
They had left the village before nightfall, and from the Blackmore cemetery to the capital of Wales, even by car, it would take five hours. But since there were no cars at night, Naoki and Gray had almost walked all the way to Cardiff, only managing to hitch a ride halfway.
Naoki having used reinforcement Magecraft, wasn't too tired, but Gray, being so young, had to endure the long journey at night. Even though Naoki had carried her part of the way, the mental exhaustion was real.
'Let Merlin find her a room so she can rest, then explain the situation in detail later.'
Thinking this, Naoki stepped forward, took out his keys, and opened the apartment door—and as he did—
*WHOOSH!*
A clothesline pole suddenly stabbed straight at his face!
Almost reflexively, Naoki instinctively performed an iron bridge, bending backward, then executed a nimble backflip and landed safely. Only then did he realize: "Damn! That scared me! What the... damn! Again?"
Seeing the illusionary knight doll standing at the door like a guard, holding the clothesline pole as a spear, Naoki remembered that he was still in the middle of Merlin's martial arts training.
"Ah, that was a nice dodge. I thought after a few days without training, you'd slow down, but I was wrong."
Walking out from behind the illusionary doll, Merlin crossed her arms and smiled at Naoki, greeting him: "Good afternoon, Naoki, welcome back. Lunch is ready. You must be hungry after coming home, right?"
"The lunch you're talking about isn't stabbing my stomach with a clothesline pole, is it? If I hadn't dodged just now, my eye would've been gouged out!"
"It's fine, it's fine. As long as you're not dead, I can save you. A little injury isn't a big deal."
Seeing Merlin laugh so carefreely, Naoki suddenly felt the urge to hit her, but after a moment's thought, he suppressed his anger—because he couldn't beat Merlin, or more accurately, hitting her would be pointless. In front of Merlin, who could use illusions, no matter how Naoki tried to hit her, he'd only end up hurting himself.
Better not hit her at all.
After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Naoki pushed Gray forward: "Enough joking, I have something important to tell you, Merlin."
"Oh, this child..."
Seeing Gray's familiar face, Merlin's eyes lit up. She waved her hand to dismiss the illusionary dolls around her, then approached Gray, squatting down as if inspecting a finely crafted doll, examining her from head to toe several times.
Then—
"Naoki, I'm very disappointed."
Although not shedding a single tear, Merlin still pretended to be sad, pulling out a handkerchief from who-knows-where and dabbing at the corner of her eye.
"I never thought you'd grow up to be someone who does such immoral things. This is my fault as the King's educator, hic hic."
"Hey, you—"
"Yes, I should have known. You're a teenager, Naoki, a physically healthy boy. Of course, you'd have such desires. Guiding the King to understand this should also be my duty."
"You're going too far—"
"But I never expected that, even after living with me, a beautiful girl like a flower, you'd still have the heart to do this to a poor child!"
Seeing Merlin's increasingly outrageous jokes, Naoki, without thinking, activated his reinforcement Magecraft and struck her head with a Hell's Burial slash—taking the opportunity to get revenge for the sneak attack earlier, slamming her head into the ground.
"Enough joking, okay? Let's talk seriously."
"Ehehe, just kidding, Naoki. You're so boring."
"Read the room. Can't you behave properly in front of a child?" Naoki held his forehead. "I'm starting to regret letting Gray stay here. Now I think any place you're in is a den of demons."
"Uhum!"
"That's not a compliment, stand up straight, until your chest touches the wall!"
"Then you press it." Merlin grew bolder, puffing out her chest. "I've said it many times, but you're the one who always runs away out of embarrassment. In this regard, you're exactly like Arthur."
"Go away..."
Seeing Naoki's red face and bowed head, and Merlin's satisfied expression, Gray, who didn't understand what was happening, tilted her head in confusion, then nervously asked: "Big Brother Naoki, who is this big sister? Are you two like my mom and dad?"
"Not at all!"
Naoki immediately answered!
He squatted in front of Gray: "Gray, even if I were to become a complete weirdo and marry you, I would never marry this trash of a human. Only a fool controlled by their base desires would fall for her!"
"Flag raised, King."
Merlin, unwilling to let it go, patted Naoki's head, then squatted in front of Gray: "Sweetie, this big sister isn't what you think. If I had to say, I'm more like his teacher."
"Like a teacher? So... teacher and student?"
"Yes, yes, very smart." Merlin patted Gray's head, then stood up and smiled. "Alright, enough joking. It's not good to keep standing here. Let's go inside."
Naoki immediately glared at her: "You're the one causing trouble."
"Tehee~☆!"