IBHJ Chapter 835

Waver nodded, "I just didn't want you to be on edge waiting to hear from me, so I came back for a bit. After this, I'm planning to head to the Oklo uranium mine area in Gabon and places like Sanxingdui in China to do some fieldwork."

Shirou nodded in agreement. Since he had given up on trying to stop Surtr at the connection point, he had gotten some leads on the Council. To protect their own history and the present, both Shirou and Waver naturally went all-in on investigating and researching, so doing fieldwork was the obvious next step.

"Speaking of which, are you planning to tackle some connection points soon?" Waver suddenly asked.

"Yes." Shirou nodded, then glanced at Gray. "Freeloading off others all the time is pretty embarrassing. I haven't stooped to the level of Gilgamesh and Iskandar."

Since his body was hidden by Mordred, Shirou had now joined Chaldea as a Servant. And his Master was none other than Artoria's Master—Gray.

"I see," Waver nodded, then frowned, "I can't speak for Gilgamesh, but Iskandar hasn't sunk that low. As a retainer of the King of Conquerors, I won't stand for you badmouthing him."

"I wasn't badmouthing him, I'm just calling it like I see it. That guy is probably holed up playing some video game with Gilgamesh again. He's well on his way to becoming a NEET like Morrigan."

Hearing this, Waver's expression turned helpless. It was clear he was aware of Iskandar's current state.

"Looks like I should check in on him before I head out. It'd be a real shame if he turned into a NEET like Morrigan," Waver muttered to himself. He had no issue with playing video games, but becoming a NEET like Morrigan was just too much of a humiliation!

...

"Achoo! ... Why do I feel like someone's talking smack about me? Mmm... whatever, I gotta beat this dungeon today!" With that, Morrigan dropped her controller and bundled herself up tightly in the blanket, curled up inside.

Eternally Undefeated Legend: "What's up? Sweet Little Girl, why aren't you moving?"

Super Cute Fox Fairy: "You think she got disconnected?"

Eternally Undefeated Legend: "Huh? Disconnected? No way, right? How are we supposed to clear this dungeon then? That big leech 'My Daughter is Super Cute' bailed on us last time after leeching. Th-this means no DPS! @The One King, you guys won't disconnect, right?"

The One King: "Not sure if she disconnected, but my network is exclusive."

King of Conquerors: "Having an exclusive network must be nice. I'm envious."

The One King: "Hahahaha... Did nobody tell you that besides me, everyone else in the heavens and on earth is just a bunch of mongrels?"

Super Cute Fox Fairy: "How about we call it a day then? I actually need to log off early today."

Eternally Undefeated Legend: "Huh? Logging off so early today?"

Super Cute Fox Fairy: "Can't be helped. I need to show a newbie the ropes and get them up to speed with work stuff. If I slack off, I might get banned from the internet later on. But that newbie has been getting pretty interesting lately. Hehehe... I'm a fan of interesting people. Anyway, I'm logging off first."

Eternally Undefeated Legend: "Guess we don't have a choice then. Let's wrap it up for today."

The One King: "Alright, let's call it here for now."

King of Conquerors: "Sounds good to me. My retainer just got back recently. If he catches me gaming again, he'll probably give me an earful. I need to stash the game console first. Sigh... I miss how he was when he was a kid. He was pretty great back then. Why did he have to turn out like this after growing up?"

With that, the group started logging off one by one.

By the time Morrigan finished bundling herself up in the blanket and glanced back at the screen, she was greeted by a long row of blacked-out avatars.

She was stunned, "Huh? What? I just sneezed and you all logged off? No way! This limited item only drops today! @Eternally Undefeated Legend @Super Cute Fox Fairy @The One King @King of Conquerors, don't log off!"

However, no one paid any attention to this hardcore NEET shut-in. They all logged off, leaving her all alone in the pitch-black dungeon cave.

"Roar roar roar roar roar--!!"

Terrifying roars echoed from the depths of the cave, and then the dungeon boss came charging out.

Then...

There was no then. Morrigan's screen just faded to black and white, just like that.

"NOOO--!!"

...

"Do we need to prepare anything for this connection point, Artie?"

"No need to prepare anything special, my king."

"Hmm, I think it's about time you dropped 'my king' and just called me Shirou."

"Huh, but my king-"

Shirou shot her a look, and she trailed off, wilting under his gaze.

She hesitantly said, "Then... Shirou?"

"Much better." He plopped down on the fancy sofa, stretched out, then put his hands behind his head, looking at Artoria in front of him with a hint of laziness. "Speaking of which, when are you planning to meet up with Mordred?"

"I... well..." She hung her head.

He asked, "Deep down, you want to be close to Mordred, right? You can't keep avoiding her forever."

"This..." Her head dipped even lower.

Seeing Artoria like this, he sighed. "Forget it, let's not talk about her for now. I'm going to get some rest; you should too."

"Mmm." She nodded, her eyes locked on him. After a moment's hesitation, she said softly, "S-Shirou, if you have that nightmare again, you can always call for me."

"Call you for what?" He looked at her. "Don't tell me you want to sleep with me?"

Hearing this, she averted her gaze, a faint blush creeping onto her fair and delicate face. "If you don't mind," she said in a small voice.

Shirou: "..."

"S-Sorry. I overstepped my bounds..."

She was flustered. He had forgiven her previous disrespectful behavior, and the one he loved and adored was Skadi. It was too much for someone as impure as her to overstep like this.

"I'll just go. Good night, my king." She hurriedly withdrew.

Shirou sighed. Seeing no one in the room, he slightly turned his head, his gaze glancing at the bundled up quilt on his bed. He said, "Come out, she's gone."

The room fell silent for a moment, as if there was no one else.

"Come out, or I'll lay on the bed. I don't think you want to be hugged like a body pillow while I sleep, do you?"

"No way. Being hugged by you to sleep... that would be too disgusting."

A high-pitched, slightly nasal female voice sounded. Then, a small head poked out from his quilt. Those aqua-colored eyes scanned the surroundings alertly before completely crawling out and standing on the floor, rubbing her wrists.

The girl's appearance was almost a carbon copy of Artoria. It was none other than Mordred.

"How did you discover me with my perfect disguise?" Mordred asked, looking at him.

"Perfect disguise?" The corner of his mouth twitched. He sighed, somewhat annoyed, "This is my room. How could I not notice if anything was touched?"

"Seems like you're quite cautious. Don't tell me you've been assassinated so often that you developed this skill?" She asked teasingly.

"No. I just really care about my things." Shirou shook his head, his eyes looking at Mordred. "So, what brings you to my place in the middle of the night? Don't tell me you're here to return my body?"

She pouted. "Forget about the body. As the one who destroyed Eternal Kingdom, I've already become a Heroic Spirit. No matter how you look at it, Eternal King should also become a Heroic Spirit, right? So, I 'snapped' your body. Be grateful, you've obtained immortality and won't age or die now."

Mordred straightened her body and proudly patted her flat chest as she spoke.

"If you did that, I think you would have already turned half-mud." Shirou smiled faintly. He was quite confident in his [All the World's Evil] and [Vampiric Evil] abilities to protect his body well. There was no way Mordred would be able to 'snap' his body as she put it without causing a big commotion....