Night soon fell. Although Merlin had prepared a lavish feast to welcome Naoki, unfortunately, Kayneth had already invited Naoki to dinner before his arrival.
Thus, Naoki could only gaze into Merlin's clearly mischievous eyes and get into the car with Waver.
"I feel like something's going to happen if I return tonight." Naoki said with a fearful expression as he sat in the passenger seat.
"The way Miss Mary looked at me earlier was as if she wanted to kill me."
"I felt the same way, but I really couldn't refuse Professor Kayneth's invitation. What a pity." Waver sighed helplessly, then stepped on the gas pedal. "Fasten your seatbelt, let's go."
"Alright. So, where's the dinner?"
"Of course, there won't be many people from the Island family. It'll just be the two of us, the professor, and his wife. There might also be one or two people from the Mineralogy Department or the Spiritual Evolution Department. You don't need to worry too much."
'Not many people I don't know… That's good.'
The apartment was quite far from the Archibald residence, and it took about ten minutes to get there even by car.
After parking the car in front of a large house and following the servants waiting at the entrance inside, Naoki was immediately struck by the interior decor.
The reason for his surprise wasn't its beauty. For a Magus, beautiful decor is something only sought after by nouveau riche half-baked individuals. True Magus seek ancient items with an antique feel, genuine relics.
Every decoration now displayed in the Archibald house was likely a treasure from an auction or a heirloom passed down from hundreds of years ago.
"Are you here, Waver, Naoki?"
Soon after, Kayneth appeared on the stairs facing the gate.
"You're a bit later than scheduled. Punctuality is also a skill for a Magus. I'll pay attention to it next time."
"Sorry, Professor, the traffic was a bit heavy." Waver apologized.
Kayneth nodded and stopped nagging. Instead, he said, "Come on in. Dinner is ready, and we've been waiting for you two. This time, we're here just to welcome Naoki to the Clock Tower, so please be a bit more relaxed. You don't need to be too nervous."
"Phew~ That's good. I was still worried if my attire wouldn't match the aristocratic style of the professor."
"Hmph, I'll teach you how to be a noble bit by bit later."
As long as Naoki could become a dean in the future, no, even a low-level priest position would be fine, Kayneth would decide to recruit him into the Archibald family as a son-in-law, and there would be no need to rush to teach him the noble way of doing things after that.
Following Kayneth to the dining room, Naoki didn't see many people. As Waver had said, he probably didn't want to scare Naoki who had just arrived. Kayneth's dinner was almost entirely private, and only two people were visible in the restaurant.
One of them was Sola, whom Naoki had met, and was Kayneth's fiancée.
"Long time no see, Naoki." Sola greeted with a smile.
"Indeed, long time no see, Madam Sola."
It was just a simple title, but Kayneth slightly puffed out his chest, smiled, and sat down in the chair next to Sola, signaling for Naoki and Waver to sit as well.
After sitting down, Naoki began to look at the other person—specifically, a child.
She had the same hair color as Kayneth and her eyebrows were somewhat similar. She must be a member of the Archibald family. She didn't look very old, probably about six years old.
"Professor, this child... could she be your and Madam Sola's child?"
"Cough cough cough!"
Kayneth couldn't help but cough due to the explosive nature of the question, and Sola's cheeks also turned slightly red.
Although he wanted to praise Naoki for this behavior and even wanted him to say more, Kayneth still told the truth: "No, she is my adopted sister, Reines El-Melloi Archibald, she is five years old."
'Really!'
'That's you! Sima Yi!'
However, compared to Naoki's impression, the age difference was too large. But now it's only 1994, and Reines must still be a teenager when Sima Yi possessed her.
"In terms of seniority, she is my niece, but this child has a very good Magecraft talent and is expected to reach my level to some extent, so I made an exception and accepted her as my adopted sister. Reines, this is my student I told you about before, Naoki."
Still young and not yet a cunning girl, Reines timidly bowed to Naoki: "Hello, Brother Naoki, I am Reines El-Melloi Archibald."
"Hello, Reines. It's a pity I didn't know you were coming before I arrived, otherwise I would have brought a small gift." Naoki said while looking at Kayneth, "Ah, come to think of it, I also forgot to prepare a gift for the professor and madam. That... internship gift."
"For the apprenticeship ceremony, it's not necessary. After all, the apprenticeship process between us is also a mess."
Using Command Spells to summon a Servant and threatening him to become his teacher, only Naoki in the world would do something like that. Thinking about it now, Kayneth still thinks that Naoki's decision at that time was completely crazy and just a gamble. Of course, it was more of a reflection on the fact that he didn't take the Holy Grail War seriously enough.
Even a lion needs to use all its strength to fight a rabbit.
Naoki gave Kayneth a good lesson.
"Naoki, actually, I have some other ideas for you to meet Reines this time."
Kayneth suddenly said during the meal.
"To be honest, Sola and I are not very good at taking care of children. Besides, I have to follow research and courses, and Sola only comes occasionally. We can't spend much time with Reines. Although we hired a maid, Reines clearly doesn't enjoy it."
"So, if possible, please communicate more with Reines in the future."
Hearing this, Naoki put down the knife and fork he was using to cut the meat and asked very seriously: "Is this your request as a teacher? Or is this your request as a Lord? Or is this your request as an adopted brother?"
"Lord and brother."
Kayneth's pride prevented him from lying about such things. Besides, he didn't think that Naoki couldn't guess his intentions. His student had always been a very intelligent person, otherwise, he wouldn't have survived the Holy Grail War until the end.
After thinking silently for a long time, Naoki nodded: "If it's just communication, it's fine, but I live quite far from here, so I might not be able to come here often."
"Waver, you understand."
Waver, who was eating in a panic, heard Kayneth's words and immediately understood what he meant—he had another job.
'Ah, my stomach hurts.'