On how PhDs become human evil

"Yeah, could that be your old flame?"

"Do you think I'm a lolicon like you?" Bai Jie looked at Yue next to Nan Yun Shi with disdain.

"Yue is not a loli!"

Nan Yun immediately retorted, and Yue followed suit, transforming her body into that of a mature and beautiful older woman, as if to say that she was a mature adult.

Ignoring their resistance, Bai Jie asked, "And then what happened to Athena?"

"Tch, changing the subject." With a smirk, Nagumo Hajime continued, "After that, I talked to her and learned about her situation. So Yue and I decided to help her find you. But finding you in so many worlds is really no human task. It took more than a month with no progress—until I met Lady Elsa."

"Madame Elsa? Who's that?"

"One of the seven god-slayers, known as the Queen of the Demon Cave, she has the power to travel to the Netherworld and the past. Yue and I were accidentally taken into the Netherworld by her. The Netherworld is a transit station connecting various worlds, and Yue and I embarked on a six-month world tour."

"During my travels around the world, I learned about your whereabouts from a man named Tsukasa Kadoya. With his help, I successfully found the coordinates of the world you were in, and then I brought Athena with me."

(Tsukasa Kadoya...you've even taken your card collecting to other worlds? Seriously, how many worlds have you actually visited?)

Bai Jie was at a loss for words to say to the crimson knight.

"Because this world is very hostile to outsiders, Athena and I had no choice but to enter as Heroic Spirits. It just so happens that the Holy Grail War is being held here. By the way, our class is Assassin, a Heroic Spirit that is one with another person."

Assassin? You, Nagumo Hajime?

"You also know assassination?"

"Isn't shooting someone in the head from thousands of meters away considered an assassination?"

"..."

Section 450: Tomorrow is the final exam, so I'm taking the day off.

As the title says, final exams start tomorrow. I need to use this last bit of time to review a little more, otherwise I might fail advanced mathematics, which would be really tough. So everyone, I'm sorry for today, but I'll make it up to you during winter break.

One hundred words, one hundred words, one hundred words, one hundred words, one hundred words, one hundred words, one hundred words, one hundred words.

Section 451, 8.V.: Can the wooden staff deflect knives? I'm astonished!

A week has passed since Bai Jie, Nan Yun Shi, and Yue reunited.

Knowing that Athena had also come to this world, Bai Jie put away some of his playful intentions and began to make some preparations during this week. After all, he was facing off against the goddess of wisdom, Athena, and who knew what kind of plan she might come up with to deal with him.

Of course, if it's about Bai Jie, then nothing you do will work. Only humans can defeat him. Athena, as a disobedient god, has absolutely no chance of defeating Bai Jie.

But if it's not targeting Bai Jie, but Kiana or Mostima, then things are a bit bad. Mostima is alright; although she was forced into this role, she is still a great demon.

Kiana is different.

She is a Herrscher, that's true, but—and it might not be nice to say this about my wife—she's not the brightest. Kiana is actually quite intelligent, but she prefers to charge in rather than think, and she usually succeeds in doing so, which makes her easily vulnerable to traps.

Therefore, Bai Jie had to prepare some emergency items for Kiana, such as a talisman that completely protects her from mental interference and a pocket watch that can stop time.

In terms of Noble Phantasm rank, none of the dozen or so pieces of equipment Bai Jie gave Kiana were below rank A; in other words, they were all treasures comparable to high-rank Noble Phantasms.

After doing all this, Bai Jie was still not satisfied, so he gave Kiana's Herrscher Core a comprehensive enhancement, tripling its energy intensity. As a result, Kiana can now blow up a building even if she just casually conjures a small fireball the size of a fist!

"That's why I said you're overprotective of me, bro!"

Walking through the streets of Fuyuki City at night, Kiana touched the necklace hanging around her neck and smiled wryly.

"Even if I encountered a god, I don't think I would lose, okay?"

"I don't deny that your destructive power is stronger than that of a disobedient god in some ways, but she is the goddess of wisdom, and her mind is dozens of times more intelligent than yours. What if you get completely fooled by her?"

"You're making it sound like I'm stupid."

"Isn't that right? In my class, when I called on you to answer a question, did you ever answer it correctly? And when did you ever pass a test on the first try? It was all thanks to me, Mei, and Fu Hua tutoring and making up for your exams."

When Bai Jie brought up her past embarrassing history, Kiana's face immediately froze, and her smile became awkward: "Brother, can we not talk about this? It's really hurting our relationship."

Looking at Kiana, who was pleading for mercy with her hands clasped together, Bai Jie sighed slightly: "I just wanted to tell you that all these preparations I made were to prevent anything from happening to you. If something happens to you, I might tear this world down. After calming down, I'll have to help rebuild the world, which will be exhausting."

The first half of the sentence touched Kiana, but the second half did not.

"...So you just want to slack off?"

"What do you mean by slacking off? I'm taking precautions! How can my work be called slacking off?"

Seeing Bai Jie speak so righteously, Kiana was speechless at the fact that her husband was such an energy-saving enthusiast.

"Speaking of Mostima, I haven't seen her this afternoon."

“I let her act on her own. Anyway, she has my magic to support her, and she also has a skill similar to ‘acting alone’. Rather than her following us around and eating dog food, it’s better to let her act on her own.”

"As for us... let's eliminate the weaker opponents first."

As he said this, Bai Jie stopped in front of a mansion.

The sign next to the main gate reads "Emiya".

Bai Jie recognized the surname. Ten years ago, during the Holy Grail War, a man with the same surname had clashed with him several times. If this family lived there...

"Hmm? This is... ho ho."

Bai Jie, who was torn between ringing the doorbell or breaking down the door, suddenly sensed an incredibly familiar magical aura, which was located in the left-hand direction inside the mansion.

"Brother, what is this magic...?"

"There's no mistake, it's a Servant, and—"

Feeling the chilling sword energy and battle aura, Bai Jie's lips curled up, and he smiled like a child.

"Hmph, it really is an old acquaintance. Kiana, let's go say hello."

Magic gathered in the soles of his feet, and Bai Jie kicked out with a side kick, smashing the wooden door apart.

"boom--!"

A strong gust of wind swept away sawdust, and the swift impact dug a pit in the ground behind the gate.

Inside the courtyard behind the door, there were indeed two people watching Bai Jie and Kiana suddenly burst in.

One of them is a red-haired boy in a ship and a school uniform. He looks a bit dazed, but judging from the Command Seals on the back of his hand, he is one of the seven Masters.

The other was a blonde knight princess dressed in silver armor and a blue skirt. Her beautiful face, exactly the same as it had been ten years ago, was reflected in Bai Jie's eyes. However, unlike when they first met ten years ago, the blonde knight princess looked at Bai Jie with surprise in her eyes, followed by resentment.

Breaking the silence, Bai Jie said with a smile, "It's been ten years, Saber. I never thought I'd see you again after ten years."

Upon hearing this, it wasn't Saber who answered, but the red-haired boy who was his Master: "Eh? Do you know him? Saber."

“Yes, Shirou.” Saber nodded reluctantly, as if unwilling to admit it. “I lost to him in the Holy Grail War ten years ago.”

“Oh my, that was quite a show ten years ago, King Arthur and the Knight of the Lake... Hahaha, even now when I think about it, I still find that combination really hilarious.” Bai Jie spread his arms exaggeratedly. “Your expression back then was quite good, Saber. Your expression, full of determination to kill Lancelot with one sword, was really delightful.”

"To obtain the Holy Grail, you had to kill your loyal knight, and the very next moment after you killed him, I stabbed you to death with my sword. Do you know how interesting your expression was at that moment?!"

"Shut up! Caster's Master!"

Artoria shouted without any grace whatsoever.

"In that battle ten years ago, you manipulated Lord Lancelot to his death, and then you used despicable means to ambush me. You have tarnished our honor as knights!"

A surge of magical power erupted from Artoria's body, even dispelling the Wind King's barrier, and the golden, gleaming sword blade pointed directly at Bai Jie!

"This time, I won't let you do whatever you want!"

P.S.: I'm shocked, really shocked. I thought V's wooden stick was just for finishing off enemies, but when I panicked and swung it when I was being attacked by a sword and shield user... it deflected my attack! It deflected my attack! Is this stick that sturdy? And V's frail body can deflect attacks? Your frailty is just an act, isn't it?

Section 452, Part 9: Practicing the Ghost Step

(Ahhh, she really is exactly the same as she was ten years ago, getting so easily provoked by me again.)

Looking at Artoria pointing her sword at him, Bai Jie sighed inwardly.

Despite being a renowned knight king, he fell for his own provocation so easily, even losing his composure and revealing his true strength.

(The Holy Grail War has already begun. Kiana and I are definitely not the only ones sensing magical activity here. There are probably quite a few magicians already watching this area with their familiars.)

(Under these circumstances, you brazenly disarmed the Wind King's barrier, exposing your holy sword. Did you think your true identity wasn't already being revealed quickly enough?)

If it were someone else, Artoria would never have lost her composure so easily. Although she is an idealist, she is ultimately a queen and would not lose her composure just because of a little provocation.

However, Bai Jie had a tremendous influence on her.

Ten years ago, during the Holy Grail War, at the King's Banquet, Bai Jie openly denied her ideals, belittled her, and even nearly seriously injured her.

In the final battle, Bai Jie deliberately arranged for her opponent to be Lancelot, calculated the time when Lancelot was weak, lured her to kill Lancelot, and then stabbed her in the back to death.

Artoria had just made up her mind to carry on her friend's legacy when she was stabbed to death by Bai Jie in the final battle. How could Artoria tolerate this? Not to mention that Bai Jie was still bringing this up now. In Artoria's eyes, he was insulting Lancelot's death and her honor as a knight!

"Summon your Servants, Caster's Master! This time I will defeat you and your Servants together!"

Artoria's challenge echoed in the courtyard. It must be said that even if she lost her composure, her conduct remained upright and honorable.

In her view, Bai Jie was just a Master who couldn't even kill a chicken. It was not the behavior of a Knight to bully the weak. Therefore, she chose to defeat Bai Jie's Servant first, and then kill Bai Jie in a fair and square manner.

Well...

"Hahaha... Naive, you're still so naive, Saber."

Bai Jie rubbed his forehead and sneered. He activated his instantaneous spatial teleportation without chanting, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone from Artoria's sight, just as he had been standing in front of her.

"Over here, Saber."

The sound from behind made Artoria turn around hastily. She instinctively wanted to swing her sword, but what she saw made her stop in her tracks.

"Click click click click click click click click..."

Several magic circles floated in mid-air, and several magic chains popped out from the magic circles, binding the red-haired boy who was her master into a spread-eagle position.

A wooden staff had appeared in his hand without him noticing. Bai Jie placed it on the boy's chin and examined him closely: "Hmm, I can definitely sense magic, but it's very weak. The magic circuits aren't even open... and there's no magic crest either. The First Generation?"

"Shirou! — Caster's Master! Let go of my Master!"