The Thirsty Girl's Guide To Summoning (Fate/Isekai)

Chapter 37

Hyde glanced up even though Ren still had her hands twisted in his hair. He bared his teeth as he said, "Oh goodie. My knife has a date with his throat."

The ball of foxfire lingering nearby coughed and bobbed up and down. Ren glanced at it and then down at Hyde. Slowly, she smoothed down the hair she'd spiked up. "He can't talk if you cut his throat."

"Then I'll wait," suggested Hyde. "I can start with some other parts first. Mercy isn't part of the plan, anyhow."

"Why are you so pissed at Merlin, Eddie?" asked Astolfo curiously.

"Butt out or I'll cut your nose off," Hyde told Astolfo flatly as he stood up, which had exactly the wrong effect.

Astolfo bounced closer. "Oh, come on, now I really want to know. Or shall I guess?" His head swiveled between Hyde and Ren. He started muttering to himself. "Hmm. Well, it's not that... well, mostly not that. But maybe it starts there?"

"Astolfo, read the room and put a sock in it," advised the ball of foxfire.

"I hate this," muttered Hyde, crossing his arms. "This is what Jekyll's good for. Being sensitive. Nice. Bored. And fuck, I need Merlin to get that floppy little ingrate back again." His hand snaked out to catch Ren by the arm. "Tell you what, I'll give up on Jekyll if you decide you want Petals to die, yeah?"

Ren twisted her hand to catch Hyde's arm. "It's a deal." She glanced at Astolfo. "You're unhurt?"

"Aww, Eddie wasn't really trying to hurt me," said Astolfo. "Just some bumps that are already better. I'm coming along, so don't try to stop me."

"I don't want to let you out of my sight," said Ren firmly and extracted herself from Hyde. "But I want you to stay out of the way, both of you, even if Merlin and I get into it."

Hyde shrugged, looking away again, while Astolfo looked dubious. "You think you can handle him?"

Ren's stomach churned, but her voice was steady as she said, "Better then either of you."

***

The ball of foxfire escorted them to a lecture hall in an airy modern building. The sign beside the door said, "Tricking Your Way To The Top, A Lecture Series by Visiting Professor MERLIN from the AGE OF FAIRIES: Lecture 1: Lying With Flowers."

Jonathan's voice said, "His class should be ending now... best step out of the way of the door."

An instant later, the double doors slammed open and a stream of excited students flowed past. It seemed to go on a long time, and when the crowd finally thinned, Ren saw the truly enormous room beyond. A few students clustered around the table and podium at the center of the hall, and in the middle of them Ren caught a flash of Merlin's prismatic hair.

Quietly, she moved closer, angling herself so she could watch, his floral scent tickling her nose even from a distance. Merlin's usual garb had vanished, replaced by a pearl gray suit with a tie that matched his eyes. The jacket had been tossed on the table he leaned against. He laughed easily as he talked with his fans, who were almost all women.

As Ren watched him flirt, wrapping everybody present around his finger, the churning in her stomach faded away until she felt nothing at all: not anger, not jealousy, not nervousness, nor pleasure or hope or fear. He raised so many emotions in her normally, but looking at him like this, from the outside, she felt nothing at all. She was perfectly cool.

Ah, my lady...? said Cú, unsettled by something. She had no idea what it could be. The ball of foxfire had vanished again, but Astolfo and Hyde had placed themselves high in the seats, earnestly pretending to be the well-behaved Servants they normally weren't. Everything was fine.