Chapter 216
Kiriya pressed his palms together.
"I’m heading to Trifas. Could you give me a ride, sir? Please—I’ll pay you."
The middle-aged driver raised an eyebrow and pointed behind him toward the tall woman still watching from the roadside.
"Isn’t she your friend?"
"No, we just met."
Kiriya gave him a slightly troubled smile.
"She keeps insisting I go back to her place, but I have something important to do, so..."
"Ohhh."
The driver slowly nodded in understanding.
He glanced at the tall woman behind Kiriya and, for a moment, genuinely could not decide which of them he was supposed to envy.
"Hop in the back. There’s already a young lady riding with me, so behave yourselves."
In the driver’s opinion, the boy was much too young to be dealing with that kind of overwhelming hospitality, so he decided to rescue him.
"Thanks! You’re a lifesaver, sir. May good fortune follow you for the rest of your days."
Kiriya offered him a heartfelt blessing before walking around to the rear of the pickup and easily climbing into the bed.
A blond girl was already sitting there.
"Hey."
The girl was strikingly beautiful, with delicate features and long golden hair braided all the way down to her waist.
She paused briefly when she saw Kiriya’s face, then gave him a gentle, friendly smile.
"Hello."
The truck started moving.
Kiriya waved goodbye to the tall woman, who remained behind stamping her foot in frustration, before turning back to the girl and extending a hand.
"Since we’re sharing a ride lets introduce ourself, I’m Kiriya."
"Laeticia."
The blond girl accepted his hand.
Kiriya gave it only a light, courteous shake before releasing her and turning to admire the countryside rolling past them.
He made no attempt to force a conversation.
Doing so would have been too obvious.
Instead, he waited.
He had already mentioned that he was going to Trifas, and with an unfamiliar face like his, there was no chance she would not become curious eventually.
Sure enough, several minutes later, the girl spoke.
"Kiriya-san, what business do you have in Trifas?"
"Treasure hunting."
Kiriya’s eyes lit up with anticipation.
"I heard there’s an amazing treasure over there that can grant any wish."
He pretended to think.
"What was it called again... the Holy Grail?"
"..."
Laeticia—or rather, Jeanne d’Arc—felt her pupils contract.
She examined Kiriya again much more carefully.
There was no trace of magical energy coming from him.
By every indication, he appeared to be an ordinary person.
So how did he know about the Holy Grail?
"Where did you hear something like that?"
Jeanne kept her expression unchanged, pretending to be merely curious.
"A guy named Nasu told me."
Kiriya spoke with complete confidence.
"He knows his stuff, so I doubt he was wrong."
"You trust him that much?"
Jeanne tried another approach.
"What if someone was deliberately luring you into a trap? A treasure that can grant any wish sounds rather unbelievable."
"No chance."
Kiriya gave her a look that suggested questioning Nasu’s authority was practically sacrilege.
"If Nasu said there’s a Holy Grail, then there’s a Holy Grail."
"All right, all right."
Jeanne resisted the urge to sigh.
"Let’s assume it really exists. Something that valuable would surely be heavily guarded. If you trespass and anger whoever owns it, you could end up in serious trouble."
"Hahaha! You don’t need to worry about me."
Kiriya flexed one arm proudly.
"I may not look it, but I’m actually pretty strong."
Jeanne stared at his biceps and nearly covered her face.
He clearly exercised regularly, and she could tell his physical condition was excellent.
But the beings involved in this conflict were not remotely human in the conventional sense.
A clash between Servants could reduce an ordinary person to ashes with nothing more than its aftermath.
"You should still reconsider."
Jeanne refused to give up.
"I’ve heard there’s violent fighting around that area. Trifas is extremely dangerous right now."
"Just a few armed troublemakers."
Kiriya waved dismissively.
"I know my way around a fight. Martial arts, self-defense, dealing with groups—I’m basically an expert."
He spoke with such overwhelming confidence that one might have thought he had conquered half the world with his bare hands.
"They have guns."
Jeanne could feel a headache coming on.
Was this boy simply incapable of understanding danger?
Another magus or Servant might have ignored him and allowed him to suffer the consequences of his own choices.
Jeanne could not.
Kindness and justice were fundamental to who she was.
Her faith would never allow her to knowingly abandon an innocent person walking directly into mortal danger.
And so, for the rest of the journey, Jeanne tried everything she could think of to convince Kiriya to stay away from Trifas.
She approached the problem from every possible angle.
Danger.
Crime.
Common sense.
The absurdity of the Holy Grail rumor.
Potential traps.
By the end, her throat was dry from talking.
Kiriya remained completely unmoved.
Even Jeanne’s famously steady composure began to crack.
’Should I just knock him unconscious and leave him somewhere?’
The thought appeared in her mind.
She immediately rejected it.
If she merely knocked him out without changing his mind, he would continue toward Trifas as soon as he woke.
They were already close to the city.
Besides, the sun had set.
Leaving an unconscious person alone beside a rural road in the middle of the night could create an entirely different disaster.
’Fine. Once we arrive, I’ll hypnotize him and have the driver take him back.’
Just as Jeanne settled on that plan, she suddenly sensed something.
Her expression sharpened.
She leaned toward the cab.
"Sir, you can stop here. Please turn around and leave."
"At this point, you can let us off. You should head back."
The two voices spoke at almost exactly the same time.
Silence.
Jeanne and Kiriya slowly turned toward each other.
Kiriya’s expression clearly said—
’Why did you steal my line?’
Jeanne’s thoughts went much deeper.
’He noticed the danger?’
’But I still can’t sense any magical energy from him. So he isn’t a magus.’
’How did he detect it?’
The driver blinked at them, but his confusion lasted only a moment.
He glanced around at the dark countryside and shook his head.
"No way. It’s the middle of the night, and we’re out in the middle of nowhere. Leaving two youngsters here by yourselves would be dangerous."
"Please."
A violet glow appeared in Jeanne’s eyes as she activated magecraft.
Her suggestion targeted both the driver—and Kiriya.
"Huh?"
Kiriya leaned closer with genuine excitement.
"Your eyes changed color. That’s really pretty."
Jeanne fell silent.
’It didn’t work?’
That settled it.
Whatever Kiriya was, he was absolutely not an ordinary person.
The driver, meanwhile, immediately swung the pickup around and sped back down the road.
Only Jeanne and Kiriya remained behind, staring at one another.
"Um..."
Kiriya scratched his cheek, a faint blush appearing on his face.
"Could you not stare at me quite that intensely? Even I’ll get embarrassed."
"Why didn’t you leave?"
Jeanne went straight to the point.
"Isn’t it obvious?"
Kiriya’s entire demeanor changed instantly.
His joking expression vanished so quickly it was almost comical.
He looked toward the night sky off to one side.
A grin spread across his face.
"Because there’s someone here worth fighting."
Jeanne’s heart tightened.
She followed his gaze.
A figure hovered silently beneath the night sky.
Golden armor covered his body, and a golden spear rested in his hand.
Though his frame was slender, the sheer presence surrounding him belonged to a warrior capable of challenging the world itself.
Jeanne stared upward.
"Lancer of Red...?"
----
Its not like he doesnt have magic but what he lacked is magic circuit magus possessed in fate world.