“Holy shit! Okita!!”
“Y-yes!”
When I opened my eyes, Okita was right beside me.
Damascus couldn’t make sense of the situation.
By the time I blacked out, Okita had been on the verge of death.
“Oh, you’re awake, kid?”
Cu Chulainn glanced over while chewing on a chocolate bar and said that as soon as he heard me stir.
“Master, you were really on death’s door three days ago, you know?
Still, it’s good to see you alive like this. Welcome back.
The plan was killer, too. Switching to [Order Change] so fast and taking down Archer was a brilliant call.”
“Heh-heh-heh. That Archer bastard really lost his mind right to the end. Watching him get wrecked was the best. Too bad I didn’t get to see his face, but next time I’m the one who’ll catch him.”
Cu Chulainn kept going, clearly savoring the memory of Archer’s mental collapse.
The Guardian’s sense for drawing aggro and running circles around people was definitely insane.
He might not be a first-rate Heroic Spirit like Cu Chulainn, but he was unquestionably stronger than most Heroes. In terms of provocation, he could outdo both Cu Chulainn and Damascus.
“What about the Director?”
“The Director’s talking with Doctor right now. She said there’s a situation in Chaldea that needs to be sorted out, and that she has work to do. The moment you pulled through that close call, she went right back to work without even resting.”
Damascus sat there blankly for a moment, then said, “I’m craving something sweet. Any chocolate bars left?”
“That was the last one.”
------------------------------------------------
The Guardian was eating a chocolate bar he hadn’t even been holding a moment ago, making sure to get saliva all over it.
He was clearly doing it on purpose just to mess with me.
“You bastard!”
The moment I shot upright, Okita jumped in surprise.
She was eating a chocolate bar too.
I sat back down. The look on Okita’s face made me lose my temper completely.
Wait, hold on. How did they even save Okita?
“Right, how did you save Okita?”
“Cu Chulainn’s Rune Magecraft, the Director’s Mana, and the Mystic Code I used. That was enough to patch her up, more or less.”
“Really? Okita, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m perfectly fine—cough!”
She immediately coughed up blood right in front of me.
Where did the serious, composed Okita from The Capital Holy Grail War Chronicle go? All that was left was this pitiful sight... sigh.
“According to Chaldea, she’s supposedly fully recovered now. But she keeps coughing up blood every now and then. Isn’t there something wrong with her?”
I know that already, you idiot. Don’t say it right in front of her.
“Even so, I believe she’ll do things beyond your imagination. I trust her. Right, Okita?”
“Yes! I will carry out any order without fail!”
Ah... look at her swaying. That’s anemia, isn’t it? Now I’m suddenly not so sure I can trust her either.
“Kid, can we really trust her?”
“Yeah, I’m keeping her around because she’s trustworthy. So stop saying that.”
Even I was starting to think she was hard to use with that condition. Don’t say it out loud. But seriously, wasn’t she going to lose to Black Saber by coughing up blood in the middle of a fight?
Okita straightened into seiza. She must’ve noticed my gaze and was gritting her teeth to keep herself from swaying.
“For now, let’s make our next plan once the Director gets here.
Who should we target next? Saber right away?
Actually, I think we should fight Heracles first. There’s a mansion full of homunculi there, which means there should be plenty of valuable Magecraft materials. Let’s secure those first. There are fewer than twenty people in Chaldea right now, but they’re all highly knowledgeable in Magecraft, so if we stock up on tools like that, they’ll definitely help us later.”
“What, Master? You’re not going straight home? I thought once we escaped here, we were going straight home.”
“I can’t. I made a promise to Cu Chulainn. Not just that—I promised the Director too. Once I get out, I’m the Director’s errand boy.
If she says fetch, I fetch. If she says die, I have to at least pretend to die... damn it...”
Suddenly I felt depressed.
“That’s basically a dog’s life...”
You really shouldn’t be the one saying that.
“Hey, kid, your face just got a little cocky there.”
“Huh?”
Cu Chulainn looked mildly irritated.
What was I supposed to do? When I think of Cu Chulainn, there are only two things that come to mind: self-harm and Lancer, and a dog. That’s it.
Besides, his epithet is the Hound of Culann. He’s basically a dog bastard.
“I mean, if a guy whose epithet is the Hound of Culann calls something dog-like, everyone’s going to think of you that way too.
You really shouldn’t be the one saying that!!”
“Ghk... ngh...”
“Hahahahahaha!”
Okita couldn’t hold back her laughter, and the Guardian burst out laughing and rolled on the floor. No, I’m telling you, I’m not the only one who thinks that. Since I was going to get hit anyway, I might as well keep pushing and get hit harder. If I’m fine now, a few hits won’t be dangerous.
“See? I’m right. Those two are reacting like that because they think the same thing.”
“All right, kid. You need a beating today.”
Time to go one step further.
“Sign a contract with Chaldea now and receive a free biological punching bag.”
“Are you messing with me right now?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll take that provocation.”
As Cu Chulainn moved to beat me up, Okita and the Guardian grabbed him and held him back.
“Wait a second, he’s our Master. If he dies, the game’s over, you know? Hey, don’t hit him. Absolutely not.”
“That’s right. What kind of Servant tries to attack their Master? That’s just wrong!”
The Guardian looked like he’d found something entertaining, and Okita couldn’t hide the laughter from earlier.
Teasing Cu Chulainn was weirdly fun.
“Fine, whatever. Cu Chulainn, do whatever you want. Beat me up if you want, I don’t care. Go ahead. Don’t stop him, guys.
At this point, even if I lose, I’ll have to fight you one-on-one.”
“No... you’d lose.”
The Guardian looked at me like I was insane. Fair enough. Even just having E-rank Strength means a Servant is about thirty times stronger than a normal human, so challenging one to a straight fight really was madness.
“Damascus woke up?!”
The Director opened the door and came in. Okita was holding me back, and the Guardian was holding Cu Chulainn back, so nobody could fight.
“What is going on here?”
Doctor and Director Olga Marie asked at once.
I explained the whole situation.
“No, Cu Chulainn said I was dog-like, Director.
If anyone else said that, I’d have nothing to say, but if it’s Cu Chulainn, that’s a different story. How am I supposed to let it slide when Cu Chulainn, the Hound of Culann, says something like that?”
“Hound of Culann? Ah! You mean Hound of Culann!”
Doctor paused for a second, apparently not understanding me at first.
“So today I’m fighting him one-on-one. Good timing, too—I didn’t like him teasing me every now and then! I’m feeling great right now, so let’s throw down hard. The loser eats dog food!”
After sleeping, my body felt surprisingly good. Cu Chulainn bit on my cheap provocation.
“All right, kid. Today I’ll show you exactly how I play with someone.
I’ll teach you the difference between a normal human and a Servant.
And I’ll show you why Masters keep Command Spells on hand.”
I could see the veins standing out in Cu Chulainn’s face. Old man, you’re going to die like that.
“This is an order from the Director! Both of you stop fighting right now! And Damascus, you need to explain how this whole dog-like thing even came up.”
“I said that once we get out of here, I have to do whatever the Director says. If she says fetch, I fetch. If she says lie down, I lie down. If she says die, I have to pretend to die. So Cu Chulainn said I was dog-like.”
“Now that you mention it, that does sound dog-like...”
Doctor muttered that under his breath.
“Ah... I’m hungry... You guys ate all the chocolate bars without me.
The Servants ate everything... The one person who actually needs it didn’t get any... what is this... this is ridiculous...”
With no sugar left in my body, my strength started draining away. I needed to replenish it soon.
Haa... I shouted once and collapsed backward.
“I’m hungry!”
Thud.
I flopped onto the floor.
“I don’t care about home or anything else anymore. Even on a construction site, they didn’t work me without feeding me like this!”
“You’re fifteen.”
The Guardian said that with a dumbfounded look.
“Fine, I’ll get you food first. Romani, send over something to eat right now. Hurry.”
“The Director is the only one taking care of me... ugh...”
It took thirty minutes before I could finally eat.
--------------------------------------------------------------
“Oh, this is delicious.”
While eating, I started planning our next move.
“Director, I’ve got two options for our next operation. One is to crush Saber and take the Holy Grail. The other is to fight Berserker one-on-one before we go after Saber. The important thing is that Berserker can’t just be lured away or stalled—we have to kill him. If we don’t bring that bastard down, he’ll chase us to the ends of hell.”
“Kid, that guy isn’t easy either. He’s on the same level as Saber. He’s not even comparable to Archer. If that’s the case, isn’t the only real option to fight Saber directly?”
I took a sip of coffee and said, “Right. But the reason I want to fight Berserker now is that, no matter how strong he is, he’s still not at Saber’s level yet. In a way, we need to measure our combat power. Right now we’ve got two Masters and three Servants, but the problem is that we’ve never properly fought as a team.
Think about it carefully. If we can’t defeat Berserker or shake him off, then we should give up on beating Saber. It’d just be a pointless death. For that reason, we need at least one battle to get our coordination down. And another thing—Cu Chulainn, this doesn’t apply to you, but the Director, Okita, the Guardian, and I may have to fight again in another Singularity after this.
For that, we absolutely need Magecraft tools. And if we use those tools against Saber, we might even gain an advantage.”
After hearing me out, the Guardian asked, “You don’t think we’ll die?”
“No.”
I looked him straight in the eye and said, “I told you already. We’re all going back together. That’s not just my wish. It’s what’s going to happen, no matter what. It’s all or nothing. Either we all die, or we all survive and go home together.”
For a moment, silence fell.
I peeled open the wrapper and ate another chocolate bar.
“Choose. We either fight Saber now, or we fight Heracles first and then Saber. Both have their advantages.
I’m fine either way. Since I’m not the one doing the actual fighting, I’m asking you three. Decide what you want to do. This time I’m not asking the Director for her opinion—I’m asking you three Servants. I already made a deal with the Director. She’s leaving this battle entirely to me, but that doesn’t apply to you. The Guardian and I have been partners since the summon. Cu Chulainn is on a provisional contract, and Okita seems to have entered into a master-servant relationship the moment she arrived, but that still doesn’t mean I can ignore your opinions. You’re the allies who’ll keep fighting alongside us. So let me ask again.
What do you want to do?”
Cu Chulainn scratched his head after hearing me.
“After saying all that, how am I supposed to only think about my own gain? Kid, you really do know how to work people. Are you sure you’re fifteen?”
Ah... damn, he’s sharp.
“Yeah. I’m fifteen.”
It was true. I was fifteen in this body. Heh-heh.
Wait, but if this dream is real, doesn’t that mean I have to go back into the army again? No, I’m British. How am I supposed to go into that trash-fire Korean military? My country doesn’t use conscription—it uses an all-volunteer force, you bastards.
“Heh-heh. My country uses an all-volunteer force. Heh-heh.”
“Master, you’re still okay, right? Doctor?”
The Guardian asked Doctor, sounding worried.
“Umm... I think he’s just under too much stress.”
No, you bastards. Kihih... I need to savor this feeling a little longer. You won’t know what it feels like to have twenty-one months vanish without your consent. Hahahahaha.
Cu Chulainn had started watching me carefully too.
Okita as well... and the Director. I need to stay sharp.
“Haa... so what’s your decision?”
“I’m going to take Heracles. I already took Archer’s head; I don’t think adding one more will be that hard.”
“Same here, kid. If anything, I’d like to face a great hero while I’m at it.”
“If I can be of even the slightest help to the Master, Okita Souji will succeed no matter what.”
All three of them agreed unanimously. Good. Now I finally had a reason to go smash some homunculus bodies.
The Director probably wouldn’t be able to leave here right away.
She only managed to Rayshift because she was already dead. Otherwise, she never would have made it here.
To pull the Director out of this Singularity, we needed a vessel, and we needed something that could hold onto her soul.
The problem was, I didn’t know jack shit about Magecraft, so I had no idea how to hold onto it.
I sent a telepathic message to Cu Chulainn.
‘Cu Chulainn, listen carefully from here on out. The truth is, I’m going in there to find something that can replace the Director’s body.
The Director wasn’t originally someone suited to Rayshifting. The fact that she Rayshifted here means I figured she must have died, and that’s why I came looking. In other words, I lied to you. I’m sorry. But I couldn’t say it in front of the Director. Sorry. Still, I need your help.
Find something that can hold the Director’s soul, and find something that can become her body.’
‘...Got it, kid...’
“Thanks.”
“Damascus, are you really okay?”
Shit. I meant to say that through telepathy, but it came out of my mouth instead...
Damn it...
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