“....”
“.....”
“Hrk... sob... hrk...”
The only sound echoing through the infirmary was the girl’s small, stifled sobs.
“What...?”
“...First, as Chaldea’s foremost authority in the medical field, I’d like to apologize.”
Something had gone horribly wrong.
Doctor lifted my blanket with a gloomier expression than I had ever seen on him.
“...Ha...”
Seven of my fingers were cut off, and my left ankle was gone too.
Everything below my neck had turned a purplish black from necrosis...
“Doctor, what happened while I was unconscious?”
“After you passed out, Siegfried shot down Fafnir, and the other Servants drove off the Dragon Witch and the Caster before returning safely. But...”
As he disinfected my severed hand, Doctor continued.
“The excessive mana supply destroyed the nerves throughout your body, and the fingers and left ankle were so badly necrotized that they had to be amputated in the end.”
“...What’s the prognosis?”
Doctor bit his lip hard before slowly speaking.
“...Fortunately, your Magic Circuits were all restored, but the nerve damage is too severe. For at least a week, your whole body’s senses will be ruined, and you won’t even be able to feel pain properly. And...”
“What, should I just have the skin below my neck torn off?”
I had enough experience working in the medical field to know. In this state, recovery wasn’t the issue. They’d have to tear it off and regrow it from scratch.
“If we rush it, with modern medical technology it’ll take about five years...”
“That’s impossible in our current situation. If we go investigate a Singularity like this...”
“...”
Silence in a situation like this was definitely not a good sign. Full recovery was probably impossible. Even if it was possible, it would take years...
“...Ha ha ha, you really can’t get much worse than this, can you...”
“...Sorry, old man. I pushed myself because of you...”
“Huh? Ah, no, it’s not that. You did your best too, in that situation. I’m just bitching because everything sucks. This whole thing is bullshit, haha... Anyway, why the hell am I the one who has to take responsibility for everything...”
“...”
Ritsuka said nothing and her shoulders trembled. If I kept going at someone who genuinely felt guilty, I’d just end up looking like the asshole...
“...Sorry. I’m not as kind as you or Mash, so I snapped at the wrong person... Sorry, Ritsuka.”
“No... I’m the one who’s sorry, old man...”
There was no more conversation after that. We simply kept our silence.
“...Anyway, what about the others and the Servants?”
“The Servants have all been dismissed and are recovering. I don’t think they’ll be able to come out again until the next Singularity. Mash is recovering too...”
“What about the Director?”
“....”
“Can I see her?”
“I’ll do my best...”
“She’s always got her hands full because of me...”
“Do you resent her?”
Doctor’s question was, in a way, only natural. I’d been deployed into the Singularity on her orders, then got caught in an unforeseen accident and ended up like this after forcing the Servants out. But...
“If it were me, I’d be furious at some idiot barking orders from behind a desk...”
I had seen her working herself to the bone at Chaldea, never once able to relax.
“Ever since Fuyuki, I’ve felt it. That person never once stopped trying for our sake...”
I was angry, sure, but I couldn’t bring myself to take it out on someone who was struggling every single moment.
“Trying doesn’t erase mistakes, though...”
I wasn’t so far gone that I’d start raging over the dirty coat she’d left behind, like she hadn’t even had time to wash it for days.
“So when do I recover enough to be deployed into a Singularity?”
“Old man!!”
Ritsuka grabbed my wrist and shook her head as if to say no.
“If it’s just you and Mash, you’ll definitely die.”
“But in my current condition...”
“I don’t want to go either, but...”
Her hand was the hand of a girl just about to enter high school, yet it was covered in small scars like a soldier returning from the battlefield.
“If I just send you two in like this, I feel like I’ll have nightmares for the rest of my life...”
“...”
I handed her a tissue before the tears in her already swollen eyes could spill again.
“If we die either way, then we have no choice but to do it. So, Ritsuka...”
My hand was shaking. No matter how you looked at it, if I went in like this, even if I survived, I wouldn’t last long...
“Old man...”
“You focus on surviving. I’ll do everything I can.”
That was when Romani, who had been watching us, finally spoke.
“Actually...”
“““““
He had gotten hurt. Badly, too. Even after my unreasonable request, he had agreed to everything without knowing a thing, and in the end...
I didn’t think of myself as a good person. That was why I didn’t want to disappoint him, at least not in terms of ability.
If I was going to repay the man who had risked his life to save me, I had to prove myself through my abilities.
I had long believed that was my only worth, and I had nothing else beyond that...
And even that worth, I had lost.
‘It’s over now. If Albus doesn’t go to the Singularity, Fujimaru has to go alone. There’s no way she can do it alone, and even if she could, she still wouldn’t have enough time for Mash’s lifespan...’
In truth, if I wanted to send Albus, I could. But if I pushed him any harder in his current condition, he’d die before he ever returned to normal life...
As the one responsible for Chaldea, and before that as the Director whose job was to protect her staff, I couldn’t ask him to risk his life again after he had already nearly died because of me several times...
‘He already nearly died once because of me. There’s no way he’d do it if I asked again...’
Just then, the bell rang in the Director’s office.
“Director, it’s Romani. May I come in?”
“Come in.”
I assumed he had brought the paperwork I’d asked for and opened the door without caution.
And at the doorway stood Romani with the documents in hand, and...
“...Um, Director? First, I need to talk to you...”
Albus, pushing a wheelchair.
Bang!!!!
“...It’s closed, Romani?”
“Ha...”
“““““
We had tried to meet and talk things through first, but they’d shut us out before we even got started.
‘At least I thought he’d be the type to understand in a situation like this...’
Had all of his previous behavior been an act?
‘No. If it had all been fake, he wouldn’t be doing something like this now.’
If the act was only half-baked, I could see through it. If it was thorough, he wouldn’t be doing this in the first place.
So I didn’t know exactly why he was acting like this now, but I had to say what needed to be said.
“Director~ I’m just saying let’s talk first. What do you think I’m going to do to you that I’d act like this...”
“Get out!!!”
Ugh, this was infuriating.
“...No, I mean let’s talk about what I should do from here on out...”
“...”
“Honestly, if you tell me to go into the Singularity like this, my only option is to die.”
“...You’re saying you’ll go in?”
Then the Director’s office door froze over.
“You!! Even after hearing from Romani what condition your body is in, you still say that?!?!”
“Then Ritsuka can’t go alone.”
“But...!!”
I had already heard from Romani and the Director exactly what kind of mage Ritsuka was.
A summoner who had to fight on the front lines because if she wasn’t close enough, she couldn’t even maintain the summon... There was no need to say how dangerous that was.
“I absolutely do not want to die either. But if Ritsuka goes out there, all that’s left is dying...”
“...Then what about you? If you go like this, you’ll die too. Don’t talk big about things you don’t understand and just stay put and get treated...!”
“There’s a way, isn’t there?”
“..! Romani, don’t tell me you mean—!”
Romani couldn’t even meet the Director’s eyes.
“Please calm down. It’s only a method.”
“Are you insane?! You want to become a Pseudo-Servant?!”
Pseudo-Servant.
It was a spirit possession summoning method that let a Servant possess a living human. But Chaldea didn’t even have proper catalysts right now.
No one knew what would come out, and if it went wrong, they could lose control of the body itself.
“Even if some weird one possesses me, we’ve got all the self-destruct systems set up. It’s worth trying, isn’t it?”
Smack!!!
He got slapped. Full force, too.
“...Ow, damn, that hurts like hell.”
I’d prepared myself to be scolded, but this was way beyond what I expected...
“Director Olga Marie... huh?”
Tears were streaming from her eyes. Just like when she had been screaming in Fuyuki. The difference was...
“W-wait!! Put your fist down!!”
She was swinging that fist at me to beat me up.
“What... what do you mean, self-destruct?!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Director!! Albus is a patient!!”
Romani grabbed her shoulders and tried to stop her, but she was so strong it didn’t seem to be working.
“Let go!! I’m going to make him unable to speak at all!!!”
My body was already wrecked from internal injuries. If I got hit on top of that...
“Guh...”
I coughed up blood again.
“Ha... ha... See? You’re so weak, and you still want to be a Pseudo-Servant...”
“Albus!! Open your eyes!! If you close them now, you’ll die!!!”
“...Huh?”
Shit, my consciousness...
Through my closing eyes, I saw the Director sobbing as she tried to carry me on her back...
“““““
“His vitals have stabilized. If he sleeps for a bit and wakes up, he’ll be fine.”
“...Hey, Romani...”
Romani immediately stood up and bowed his head in apology.
“I’m sorry, Director. But like he said, if things stay like this...”
“I know... I know...”
Olga Marie sat beside him as he slept.
“Albus was the first staff member I ever truly built a relationship of trust with. But...”
She knew it had been an accident she couldn’t do anything about. She knew it wasn’t anyone’s fault. But...
“I forced too many Servants out there, and this is what happened to him...”
As a novice Master, she had sent out that many Servants for safety’s sake, and as a result, he had ended up with scars and aftereffects that would remain for the rest of his life.
“Even so, the Director’s judgment was textbook-correct...”
“No matter how you dress it up, it doesn’t change the fact that I did this to him...”
“How am I supposed to... ask him for more after this...”
“Um, Director...”
“?!?!”
Without even noticing the infirmary door opening, Fujimaru came in.
“You..! Why are you here..”
“Oh, right. The weekly electrical inspection was today...”
Olga Marie brushed aside Romani, who was scratching his head and talking, and walked over to Fujimaru.
“Fujimaru, from now on Albus...”
“Can’t he come with us?”
“...Right. I’m sorry. Because of me...”
“...Director, do you know something?”
“?”
“Albus-ojji really thought about you a lot...”
“...I see.”
Even after all that, he still...
“He said you weren’t a bad person, and that we should listen to you properly...”
But she had turned him into that state. She no longer even had the courage to face him...
“I...”
!?!?
“Could I get some food? I’m hungry...”
““““”
He had just woken up and still didn’t understand the situation, so he ignored the two women crying in front of him and spoke to Romani, who was nearby.
For some reason, though, a chill ran down my spine.
“If you three have something to talk about, I’ll just head out for a bit~!”
What kind of medical professional leaves a patient alone in the infirmary...
“““.....”””
It was painfully awkward. Still, seeing the two of them sobbing together, it seemed like they’d gotten somewhat closer.
“...Hey, Albus.”
Thankfully, the Director spoke first.
“Yes...”
“I’m sorry... and thank you...”
“I’m sorry too, for throwing a tantrum.”
“You know it well.”
“But I can’t send Ritsuka into a Singularity alone. I can’t help it.”
“Old man...”
“I’m not a good person. I’m not even good at communication. Still...”
My hands were trembling, and my shoulders hunched in.
“I’m too foolish to throw a girl with a bright future ahead of her into a place where she might die, then sleep and eat and live peacefully like nothing’s wrong...”
“Old man...”
“...Albus, Fujimaru, may I talk about myself for a moment too?”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
Her story was the kind you might find anywhere: the story of an unloved, neglected daughter.
The story of a girl always compared to a man called her father’s disciple.
The story of a lonely child left behind, never praised, never acknowledged by anyone.
“But after meeting you two, for the first time, I felt like I was being respected and recognized as Olga Marie.”
“So even if it meant pushing myself too hard, I sent out as many Servants as I could to make sure you wouldn’t get hurt...”
By her account, sending out that many Servants was already a heavy burden on Chaldea, and yet she had pushed herself without sleep for our sake.
“So you didn’t sleep at all after coming back from Fuyuki?”
Even with Ritsuka’s shocked question, Olga Marie answered as if it were obvious.
“I barely slept even when I was staying at Chaldea.”
She answered bitterly, exhaustion plain on her face.
“You’ve worked hard all by yourself, Director.”
“From now on, let’s do everything together!”
To our answers, Olga Marie replied, “As if you two know anything at all,” but a smile bloomed at the corners of her mouth.
“Then about that thing you mentioned earlier...”
““Don’t do it.””
“...So what do we do now?”
“...I don’t know either.”
“For now, the Servants have all returned from the Singularity and are recovering, so why don’t we start with gacha?”
“For now, Fujimaru, don’t roll. Let Albus do it...”
“No, this time I can do it right!!!”
““““”
Ritsuka did a 30-roll and failed to summon a single Servant.
“Um... senpai?”
As punishment, she was pinned to the wall and sentenced to a gacha ban.
“Then Albus, you’re next. If you fail too...”
“Are you cutting my pay again?”
“I’ll cut off all your internet.”
“Mash, do you happen to have a cross or prayer beads?”
“Albus, it’s okay. Senpai took all the bad luck, so this one has to succeed.”
“So Ritsuka is a bad-luck charm...”
“Enough talking, start already!!”
At Olga Marie’s shout, I threw thirty Saint Quartz at the banner.
What came out was five Servants...
“Albus! That’s more than before!”
“Yeah, thank goodness. I can even see some familiar faces...”
Just then, Doctor’s briefing began.
“The summons are Ruler, Berserker, Avenger, Saber, and Assassin.”
“How is it that there are so few regular classes...”
The first to introduce herself was the Ruler we had fought alongside in France.
“Hello, Master. I never expected to meet you again like this... But why is Fujimaru frozen like that?”
“...I committed a grave offense.”
“I see. More importantly...”
She looked at me in my patient gown, sitting in a wheelchair.
“That was indeed a severe injury...”
“There’ll probably be more to come...”
Next was the Berserker.
“...Um...”
“■■■●■●■●■”
It was the Greek great hero Hercules. Being a Berserker, communication was impossible...
We quickly moved on to the Avenger.
“What is this... So the reason the Servants were firing Noble Phantasms indiscriminately back then was because of you? But now you can’t even stand properly. Can you really handle me?”
“It’ll be hard on my own, but I’ll have to do it together with that one...”
I pointed at the hanging Ritsuka.
“Chaldea really is not a normal organization...”
“Doesn’t that suit my last company perfectly?”
Once I got my severance pay, I was definitely going to live as a rich unemployed man.
Next was Saber, and this one was someone we had met before...
“...”
“Are you my Master?”
“The one hanging over there and I are your dual Masters.”
“Why is she hanging?”
“She wasted precious resources.”
“A fitting punishment.”
As befitting the King of Knights, his presence was just as overwhelming as before. The problem was that something behind him made even that presence feel overshadowed.
The next Assassin was...
“Fear not, contractor. By the will of the Old Man of the Mountain, I have manifested as your Servant.”
“Uh... thank you for coming...”
A very obvious max-level character type of Assassin had arrived...
“...I shall watch the judgment you make as one who lives a cursed fate.”
“Huh?”
Somehow, this Assassin didn’t seem normal either...
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register