Shinji Matou At Your Service

Chapter 302: What Are You Doing?

After Lorelei entered the house, Sakura naturally went into the kitchen to brew some tea.

The Matou family had servants, so it was generally unnecessary for the young lady to personally make tea for guests. However, since they were going to discuss matters related to magecraft today, Byakuya had sent all the servants away in advance, and Sakura once again took on the role of the hostess.

By the way, it was now three o'clock in the afternoon. The true mistress of the house, Elsa, was still at the company handling business affairs, and Byakuya had returned specially after receiving a notification from Kariya to entertain the guest.

Through their conversation on the way, Sakura had developed a good impression of Lorelei and sincerely wanted to treat her well. Unexpectedly, just as she finished brewing the tea, she heard the news that her brother was missing and possibly already dead.

It was out of the blue.

All along, her brother, Shinji, had been her strongest mental support, holding up the sky for her. Now, the pillar had fallen, and the sky had collapsed along with it, even taking with it the windows of her soul—those beautiful purple eyes had turned dull and chaotic, a look she hadn't even shown when Tokiomi passed away.

The camphorwood tea tray fell to the ground, and the ceramic teapot and teacups shattered into pieces, amber tea spilling everywhere. Sakura, however, seemed oblivious, staring blankly at Lorelei, making the latter feel extremely uneasy.

"No, it's impossible. Brother, brother, how could Brother—impossible, impossible, impossible..."

Sakura kept repeating "impossible," as if trying to hypnotize herself into forgetting the cold reality. She lost and forlorn expression was heart-wrenching.

"Is... is this true?"

As an adult, Byakuya naturally had a stronger mental fortitude than Sakura. However, his pale face and clenched jaw indicated that his inner turmoil was far from calm.

"Yes. During this period, I have asked several magus proficient in divination, but none have been able to find any information about Shinji, not a single trace."

Lorelei forced herself to be resolute, nodding firmly. No matter how much it pained her, she had to continue. The longer such matters were dragged out, the greater the harm they would cause.

It was precisely this statement that shattered the last bit of clarity in Sakura's eyes. She leaned against the wall and hysterically screamed, completely losing her usual lady-like demeanor.

"Impossible! You're lying to me, you must be lying to me, Brother can't be in trouble, you must be lying to me!"

"Brother... sob... Brother... sob..."

"Sakura..."

Kariya's heart ached immensely. The news of Shinji's disappearance had already pained him deeply, and seeing Sakura, whom he cherished as a daughter like this was unbearable. He felt he needed to do something, even if it was futile, rather than letting Sakura continue to break down.

"Miss Lorelei, does the fact that divination magic found no information necessarily mean Shinji has met with misfortune? Isn't there any other possibility?"

Lorelei originally didn't want to answer, but couldn't resist the hopeful gazes around her. She sighed and said, "Theoretically, yes, but the chances are very low."

"It doesn't matter how low; as long as there's a chance."

This answer gave Kariya a glimmer of hope.

"What are the possible reasons?"

"Insufficient skill of the divination magus, unable to capture the target's fate; the connection between the medium and the target being too weak to support the divination; the target entering some ancient secret realm, severing ties with the present world; the target being proficient in divination magecraft and interfering with external divination; the target carrying some kind of concept-based artifact that hinders divination; and the target's existence being so special that divination magecraft cannot predict their fate."

Lorelei had asked these questions to magus proficient in divination magecraft long before and had memorized the answers.

"Well, that's quite a few possibilities." Kariya forced a couple of dry laughs, seemingly trying to lighten the terrible atmosphere.

Lorelei's expression turned bitter: "Only theoretically. The divination experts I consulted are all above the rank of Pride. The medium I used was Shinji's favorite game console, ensuring a strong connection. Shinji disappeared in Italy, which is within the Clock Tower's sphere of influence. If there were any secret realms, we would know. Shinji hasn't learned divination magecraft, and he hasn't mentioned possessing any conceptual artifacts that could interfere with divination. As for the last possibility, I've only read about it in legends, and it might not exist in reality, so—"

As she spoke, Lorelei couldn't continue. She began to hate herself, feeling that she had already given despair and now was giving false hope, only to cruelly extinguish it herself.

"I'm such a terrible, awful woman."

"As long as there's hope, it's fine," Byakuya's resilience exceeded Lorelei's expectations. "Thank you, Miss Lorelei, for bringing us this news. May I ask, what is your relationship with Shinji?"

"We are friends and allies in a cooperative relationship. His trip to Italy and the ensuing accident are responsibilities I cannot shirk—"

At this point, Lorelei stood up from the sofa and deeply bowed to Byakuya, Kariya, and Sakura.

"—I'm sorry. I know this apology means nothing, but I still want to say it. I'm really sorry."

Lorelei's apology gave Sakura an outlet to transform her grief into anger.

"Is it you? So it's you? You're the one who got my brother killed!!!"

At this moment, Sakura was like a curled-up hedgehog, rejecting everything around her with all her might.

"If it weren't for you, my brother wouldn't have had an accident! It's your fault, all your fault!"

"Sakura... Miss Lorelei, she..."

Kariya tried to persuade her, but Sakura seemed not to hear. She lunged forward, forcefully pushing Lorelei.

"Leave, our family doesn't welcome you! Go, go, I don't want to see you!"

"Sakura-chan, I—"

"Don't call me Sakura-chan, only my brother can call me that! I don't allow you to call me that! Leave now!"

Sakura pushed harder, and Lorelei, unable and unwilling to resist, was pushed back continuously until she reached the door.

Knowing she couldn't stay any longer, Lorelei handed Byakuya a card with a phone number and said, "This is my contact information. If you need anything, you can reach out. I still have some influence in the Clock Tower, and I'll do my best to help."

"We don't need anything from you!"

Sakura grabbed the card, tore it into pieces, and then forcefully opened the door, crying and pushing Lorelei.

"Leave, go now, don't let me see you again, sob sob sob—go..."

"Alright, I'm leaving, I'm leaving."

Lorelei didn't dare to provoke Sakura further and let herself be pushed out of the entrance and out the door.

It seems I'll have to ask Waver Velvet to come, she thought.

Just then, she heard a voice.

"Huh? Sakura-chan, Lorelei, what are you doing?"

PS: Is there a posibility of Yandere Sakura?