I carried the unconscious Director to the medical room where I’d been lying earlier and took care of her there.
“You’re pretty good at nursing, aren’t you? You said you’d done something like this before...”
“It wasn’t the work itself. It was the people being such assholes that I quit.”
“That’s just how this industry is~”
I talked with Doctor about a lot of things while tending to the collapsed Director, including my current physical condition.
“First off, your body has recovered. The problem is that you devoured the Old Man of the Mountain and absorbed his Heroic Spirit in its entirety.”
“...”
Guilt made my head spin. We hadn’t spent that much time talking, but knowing someone had died because of me still made me feel awful...
“You don’t need to look so down. I don’t know what he was thinking, but if he had wanted to resist, he could have. The fact that he didn’t may mean he accepted it.”
“...Why would he do something like that?”
“No idea... But he’s a Servant. He isn’t a living human being. No, in the first place, that man...”
Doctor seemed about to say something, then caught himself and cleared his throat before starting again.
“Ahem! Things like this are going to happen a lot from now on. I’m not telling you to become numb to it, but you can’t keep going like this forever, so brace yourself.”
“It won’t be easy...”
My face probably looked terrible right now. Even after just two journeys, things like this had already happened.
When I thought about how dangerous the trips ahead would be, maybe that was only natural.
Then the Director came to and sat up.
“Ugh... how many hours was I out?”
“Three hours.”
“I was out way too long... So did Romani finish the paperwork on the laptop—wait.”
She turned her head and looked at me. She said nothing, just stared for ten full seconds, then her face reddened and...
“The next development, if I had to guess...”
“Doctor, cover your ears.”
“Okay.”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!”
The soundproofing was good enough that there was no risk of the scream leaking outside. After the shriek ended, I gave the Director, who was covering her face, time to calm down and waited.
“Feeling better?”
“Y-yeah...”
Olga Marie covered her face and hurried out of the medical room.
“Anyway, are we just going straight to the Singularity like this, Doctor?”
“No. We succeeded in the spirit possession summoning, so you need to get some training and reach a level where you can fight properly in actual combat.”
“Um... I’m a Master, though...”
“You’re also a Servant now, so we need to prepare for any possible situation. More than anything, we need an accurate analysis of what your ability actually is.”
“Fuck...”
“...”
The Servant who came to help with training was...
“Unlike back then, this time you’ll be fighting me yourself.”
“Th-this is just training, right?”
“Unfortunately, I’m not very good at teaching...”
‘Damn it, I should’ve forced myself to lie down until EMIYA or Cú Chulainn woke up tomorrow...’
“If you even graze me once, I’ll become your exclusive maid in Chaldea.”
“Still, I’m a total beginner, so please go easy on me...”
“Of course.”
But the murderous smile on her face said she had absolutely no intention of doing that...
“But I don’t even have a weapon.”
Mash had received a shield when she became a Demi-Servant, and Servants generally had magic or techniques corresponding to their basic weapons or Noble Phantasms.
“The spirit possession summoning that happened to you is an extremely unusual case, so there isn’t anything prepared for it. For now, try fighting with the sword the Old Man of the Mountain had.”
‘How the hell is a modern person supposed to use a sword...’
I picked it up, but it was way too heavy. How does Mash even lift that giant shield?
“If you won’t come at me, I’ll go first.”
“Ah, wai—!”
First, she struck the back of my head with the flat of the blade.
Clang!!!
“Ghk!!!!”
My head spun. I couldn’t think. Ah, am I going to die like this...
“Continuing.”
But King Arthur followed up with a strike to my ribs.
“Uwaaagh!!!”
I coughed up blood again from the blow.
“Damn it...! Sorry! I lost control of my strength—huh?”
She tried to pull back, apparently not realizing her punch had landed with that much force, but for some reason she couldn’t move.
“What the hell is that...?”
Da Vinci’s trembling voice came from the command room. She was handling the Director’s rest and miscellaneous duties, while Romani was taking care of the paperwork the Director couldn’t finish.
Something was wrong. I definitely hadn’t been able to think straight a moment ago, so why was I...
I shifted my gaze to the ribs where King Arthur had struck me. The nausea from a fist punching through flesh didn’t even register anymore, because...
“Why is there a mouth...?”
A mouth had formed in my ribs and was devouring King Arthur’s wrist.
“I’m sorry, Master! Even if it hurts, I’ll put some distance between us!”
With that, she reversed the sword and shoved me away with the hilt.
“Uwaaagh!!!”
I got hit again and coughed up blood again—no, not blood, just a reflexive gag.
“...Amazing. I never expected an ability like that. I couldn’t react at all...”
I was dizzy. I was in pain. It burned. I was scared. I was exhausted. I didn’t even know what I was getting beaten for anymore.
“It hurts, damn it...”
Then I felt something approaching, and I forced my leaden body to move and back away.
“Relax. This battle is over. It was only meant to confirm what your ability is... though the problem is that a precise conclusion is still difficult...”
After stopping the bleeding on her severed wrist, she carried me out of the training room while I still hadn’t fully regained my senses.
“I’ll keep my promise...”
“...”
“I’m sick of looking at the ceiling...”
“But this time you didn’t pass out, did you~”
Doctor was by my side, administering medication through the IV, and Mash was there too, helping care for me.
“Still, I’m relieved, Albus. When Altria said she’d help with your first training session, I was worried, but you didn’t break anything...”
“I don’t even know what the hell my body is doing anymore... But Mash, you knew King Arthur was sparring with me, so why didn’t you stop her?”
“Well...”
Black Jeanne was hard to hold back because of her nature, Jeanne was busy helping Mash, and Hercules was a Berserker...
“...At the time, Altria was the only one available...”
I should’ve just waited a day and gotten training from EMIYA...
“Still, she went through the trouble of sparring with me, so I should make her a hamburger or something later...”
“That’s a nice promise, Master.”
The door opened, and the king entered. But...
“...That outfit...”
Her clothes were a maid uniform... no, that was basically the kind of costume you’d see in an AV.
“I said it before, didn’t I? If you graze my body, I’ll become your maid. As a king, breaking a promise is absolutely unthinkable.”
“Th-that maid outfit is definitely not what I know...”
“Since I was wearing it anyway, I combined it with a swimsuit.”
“I respect the commitment... but that wrist...”
“A place called Chaldea is truly strange. To think it can heal a wound like this.”
Just then, the door opened again and Olga Marie appeared.
“Did you figure out the ability!?”
“Director, please rest for now—”
“Is that what matters right now!? Albus, what ability is it!?”
She hurried over, panting as if she’d run here, and tried to approach me.
“You can’t come any closer than that, Director.”
Honestly, I had no idea whether I could control this power I’d suddenly gained.
The Director regained her composure, kept a proper distance, and asked me several questions.
“Can you use the ability right now?”
“I’ll try.”
I focused on the energy bar lying beside me... and nothing happened.
“...Looks like the ability is still too immature to use properly...”
The Director checked off items in the notebook she’d brought with her.
“Then what about its power?”
That was answered by the maid King Arthur beside me.
“Even my body, with durability A, was easily chewed through.”
“I have a lot of questions about that outfit, but for now the power is at least A...”
And now for the final question.
“Then is there any drawback to the ability?”
“This is only a guess, but... I think I can use it when my life is threatened.”
“That’s pretty restrictive...”
Olga Marie said that, then thought for a moment before suggesting one method.
“For now, Albus’s ability seems to activate unconsciously. But when he senses a threat to his life, it forcibly triggers.”
“And for some reason, his recovery speed also becomes incredibly fast...”
“There are so many beings throughout history with abilities like this that it’s hard to infer anything. Let’s start by learning how to use it freely.”
“Still, it’s too late today, and the Servants who were recovering will all be back tomorrow, so rest until then!”
“Oh, wow~ Wow~ I can’t believe the lineup got this impressive while we were gone...”
Starting with the Taigong Wang I’d missed so much...
“Oh! Our king of kings! King Arthur! ...But why are you in a maid outfit...?”
Richard, who had gone from lion-headed to human and looked a little flustered...
“Good grief, even that guy’s here...”
And Cú Chulainn, whom I’d also missed, came too. After telling them everything that had happened so far, I got to know the new members as well.
“It must have been a difficult decision... Master, you’ve been through some hard days. I’m sorry. I should have focused on you first back then...”
“There was no way to get through that situation without Siegfried, so it couldn’t be helped.”
“By the way, I hear you’re training to use your ability, brother?”
For some reason, Cú Chulainn’s voice had turned devilishly chilling.
“You’ve only just come back to Chaldea, and yet the Master’s diet seems... intense.”
‘I lost about fifteen kilos from coughing up blood and getting put through hell in every possible way...’
Even EMIYA, who had come back after finishing the cleaning, said he’d help with the training.
“Hmm~ But this is strange...”
Taigong Wang narrowed his eyes and gave a curious remark while looking at the footage of me using my ability and the scene where I devoured the Old Man of the Mountain.
“I’ve seen many things in my life, and as an immortal I’ve witnessed all sorts of things, but this is definitely...”
Taigong Wang asked me quietly, in a low voice.
“Master... I don’t know what the one who gave you that power and left was, but...”
“You absolutely should not rely on that power...”
“What, some kind of great demon?”
“Something similar, but... no, not something so simple. I’d like to tell you, but it’s hard to explain...”
“If it’s for controlling that power, I’ll cooperate fully too. We can’t have it going berserk in some unexpected state...”
With that...
“It looks like we’ll have to be extremely Spartan about this, so please be prepared...”
And so the hellish training of the many great heroes in Chaldea began....
“”””
The results of the training were outstanding.
First, I learned how to use the ability and gained several new powers.
To start with, I gained super regeneration that quickly healed most attacks, along with tremendous resistance to debuffs.
“An arm gets cut off and regenerates in a minute!? Incredible, Master!!!”
“...I get it, so please pull the sword out of my stomach...”
And then there was the ability to use Devour freely. Yes, Devour was probably the right word for it.
“At first, I could only use it on things that were touching my body, but now I can use it at a range of about five meters.”
“I get it, so please untie me already, Taigong Wang...”
“I never would’ve guessed it was a death attack that bypasses Guts, Invincibility, Evasion, and even Anti-[...],”
“Hey, are you listening?”
For some reason, ever since I gained super regeneration, I could hardly feel pain anymore.
‘Honestly, it’s more like I’ve built up resistance from getting smashed to pieces every day...’
“You were crying that you wanted to stop because your ankle got grabbed on the first day, and now look at you~”
Ritsuka kept needling me from the side...
‘This girl also grew a lot after going in and out of all those big and small Singularities and events...’
“I still remember how you went into a Singularity on the second day because you didn’t want to train, Master.”
Black Saber, munching on a hamburger beside us, chimed in too.
“And you got your ankle eaten by that guy who awakened the very next day, so what are you talking about, lol.”
Black Jeanne immediately shot back from the side.
“Looks like you want to die, huh...”
“Come on, try it!”
“You two seem close, so cut it out...”
Ritsuka stepped in, sensing things were about to go to hell, but...
““Who’s close to who!?””
‘Yeah, no, they’re definitely friends... what the hell...’
Just as I was preparing to head into the next Singularity, unexpected news arrived.
“Albus, don’t be surprised and listen...”
“Is MagiMari getting shut down?”
“Who said anything about that unforgivable—!? Ahem! No, that’s not it. This may be pretty shocking, so are you okay?”
“What is it?”
“You only have one year left to live.”
“...Huh?”
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