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When I heard my own curse, Romani, flustered, answered with an awkward laugh instead. Seeing his clear smile, I barely managed to pull my mind back from wherever it had fled, then looked at Romani’s face and finally opened my mouth to check whether I was thinking straight.
"Where am I...?"
As if he had only just woken up, I spoke in a drowsy voice. Romani placed his right hand on my forehead, then touched his own with his left. After that, he let out a relieved murmur.
"Doesn’t seem like a fever... Maybe it’s a [Ray Shift] aftereffect..."
Romani immediately brought over a chair and sat down in front of me. Then he cleared his throat and formally introduced himself.
"Ahem...! I’m Romani Archaman. I’m the head of the medical department here at the Human Order Continuity Guarantee Organization, Phoenix Chaldea. I look forward to working with you."
"Ah, yes—same here..."
After hearing my answer, Romani gave a gentle smile, stood up to hand me the diagnosis report on the table, then sat back down and continued.
"You probably lost part of your memory due to the [Ray Shift] aftereffect... You must have been very confused. Can you tell me how much you remember?"
"Ah... yes."
I slowly began retracing my memory. Going to the store to buy a cake, then being reduced to a corpse on the way home while carrying it. After that, I couldn’t remember anything at all. But I knew this place. Because this was the name of an organization from Fate/Grand Order, the game I used to enjoy in my past life. That meant I had probably died and been reincarnated here by the owner of some mysterious voice. My name, affiliation, and age were all the same as in my previous life. Even the way Romani treated me was like he’d known me for at least a week.
"Sorry... I don’t remember anything about this place at all..."
"I see... so it is amnesia..."
Romani pressed his temples for a moment with his eyes closed. Then, with the look of someone who had sorted out his thoughts, he handed me a tablet and said,
"This has the history of this place, Phoenix Chaldea, its founding purpose, and your information. Read through it, and if there’s anything you don’t understand, ask me. I’ll answer as much as I can!"
"Thank you for looking after me, Doctor Romani."
"Call me Doctor Roman~."
I got out of bed first to assess the situation, greeted Romani, and left the recovery room. As always, Romani saw me off with a warm smile. I then headed straight back to my room and began analyzing the current situation with the pad he’d given me.
'Phoenix Chaldea, after the year 1950...'
The pad contained the date of Chaldea’s founding, its purpose, its work, and even details on various staff members, the former director, the current director, and so on. It recorded nearly every aspect of Chaldea’s daily operations. The room was filled with silence, broken only by the sound of my breathing and the stylus tapping the pad. Hours passed as I kept the pad on and read, though it didn’t feel like that long ago. And apparently, I was the 47th Master candidate... Which meant the next one after me was probably...
'Phew... finally done reading.'
I turned the pad off, set it on the table, and got out of bed to loosen up my body, which had been stiff for hours. After stretching myself out, I checked the time. The clock was already pointing to nine. I left my room to fill my empty stomach with something simple, and as I passed through the deserted hallway, I saw someone walking toward me from the distance. Even from far away, he stood out: a man with blond hair even longer than a woman’s, and blue eyes that seemed to hold the Atlantic Ocean. He looked extremely aristocratic. His name was Kirschtaaria Wodime. Yes, the leader of Team A, a man of exceptional ability, and the genius of this Chaldea whom people kept talking about as the next Lord from the Department of Genii.
'That person is...'
Wodime passed by me as if I meant nothing to him. The very next moment after he passed me,
"You there."
He called out to me in a heavy, formal voice. It was the kind of voice that sounded fit for a king. But I knew him. He was the sort of ultra-outgoing social butterfly the protagonist, Fujimaru, was in this work. I turned around, met his blue eyes, and answered lightly.
"Ah, yes. Did you need something?"
At my reply, he immediately walked over to me. When he was about a step away, he stopped, looked straight into my eyes, and spoke.
"Hmm... You’ve got some eye gunk on your eyelid."
Wodime used an expensive-looking handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the gunk from my eye. His touch was firm, but very gentle and delicate.
"?"
While I stood there blankly, too dumbfounded to react, Wodime seemed satisfied, offered his farewell, and turned to continue on his original path. Watching him walk away, one thought came to mind.
"...I really can’t figure out his personality at all..."
After that, I went to the cafeteria, tore open a simple energy bar and ate it, then returned to my room and washed up so I could sleep. I dried myself with a towel, changed into sleepwear, threw myself onto the bed with the soft blanket, turned off the lights, and closed my eyes to sleep.
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0 days until the invasion
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Tick tick tick... beep...
-Ding ding ding, good morning ding ding ding, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba (good morning) ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba (good morning) ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba (beautiful day) ba-ba-ba-ba it’s a beautiful day
"Ugh... what the hell is this awful alarm sound...!"
Woken up so abruptly, I dragged my half-asleep body out of bed to find the source of the noise. Before long, I found it. The owner of that racket was my phone.
"Ugh... when the hell did I save this stupid ringtone...?"
After turning off the phone that had been so loud it could wake its owner, I dragged my still-drowsy body to the shower room, washed up, dried my hair, put on the Master uniform Chaldea provided, and left my room. Checking the time, I realized I’d arrive a little too close for comfort if I walked, so I hurried down the long hallway at a run. As I sprinted through the corridor, familiar silhouettes began to appear in the distance. Among them, the oldest-looking man greeted me with a smile.
"Hmm... You must be Juhwan, yes? Did you sleep well?"
The man in the green gentleman’s hat, green suit, and fur-like trim around his neck was Lev Lainur. He was the mage who created Chaldea’s vital future observation device, the SHEBA. Beyond what I had read on the pad yesterday, I knew more about this man.
'Lev Lainur Flauros.'
This man’s true identity was Lev Lainur Flauros, one of the seventy-two Demon Gods under the Mage King Solomon. Anyway, I’d explain his true identity later, and for now I returned his greeting with a smile.
"Good morning, Professor Lev. And Mash."
"Good morning to you too, Master Juhwan."
The girl who answered my greeting beside Professor Lev was Mash Kyrielight, who looked about seventeen. She was the heroine of this work. With her pink bobbed hair and violet eyes, she was absolutely beautiful. As I was greeting Mash, Professor Lev turned to her, then politely gestured toward her with his palm and introduced her to me.
"Ah! Right. This is Fujimaru Ritsuka. The 48th Master candidate who just arrived this time."
"Hello! I’m Fujimaru Ritsuka! Nice to meet you!"
The orange-haired, orange-eyed Japanese girl was Fujimaru Ritsuka. She was the Master candidate who had arrived here right after me. Her atmosphere was completely different from Mash’s. If Mash was a fragile beauty, then Ritsuka gave off the feeling of an energetic social butterfly. In any case, she was that kind of girl. I held out my hand to Ritsuka, who was looking at me with bright, golden retriever-like eyes, and we exchanged greetings.
"Hello, Ritsuka. I’m Juhwan. Likewise, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you again, Juhwan!"
While we were exchanging introductions, Mash checked her wristwatch, then approached Professor Lev, who had been watching us, and told him we were late.
"Professor Lev. Shouldn’t we hurry...? I think the director might get angry..."
"Ah... yes, quite. We should hurry. Juhwan, you should come along as well."
After that, we ran nonstop for at least eight minutes. Really, not once did we stop.
'No way... even after running this long, there’s still no sign of the place...'
We hurriedly opened the door to the control room and went inside, where we were greeted by the Master candidates, the members of Team A, who would later be called Crypters, and...
"You’re very late! Master candidates 47 and 48. Juhwan and Ritsuka."
The woman with her arms crossed, glaring at us with cold golden eyes, was Olga Marie Animusphere. Yes, she was the director here. She swept her soft silver hair back and seemed ready to hear our excuse.
"My apologies, Olga. I was a little late because I was explaining Chaldea to Ritsuka here. Please forgive us."
When Professor Lev defended us, Olga Marie looked at us with a displeased expression, then let out a sigh and continued.
"Haa... Fine, then. Juhwan and Ritsuka. Please take your seats quickly."
"Yes... sorry."
"Sorry..."
We lowered our heads and, as if we were criminals, sat down in the very back under the gaze of all the Master candidates and Team A. Professor Lev and Mash stood waiting behind us. Once her gaze left us and she had checked everyone present, she began the briefing for this [Ray Shift].
"Welcome to the Special Investigation Agency Chaldea. I am Director Olga Marie Animusphere. You have been selected from countries around the world..."
Just as her speech was about to begin, Ritsuka, sleepy, nodded off for a moment, then let her face drop and fell asleep sitting up. Seeing this while she was in the middle of her speech, Olga Marie walked over to her and spoke.
"Excuse me... 48th Master candidate. Fujimaru Ritsuka?"
Ritsuka didn’t hear Olga Marie at all and had already become a resident of dreamland. At her absurd attitude, Olga Marie finally got angry and, with a face that clearly said, So you’re dead today, began to lecture Ritsuka as she called her out.
"Really... Candidate Ritsuka!!!"
"...!! Huh!?..."
Ritsuka, jolted awake by Olga Marie’s scolding, snapped to attention and stood straight as a board, staring at her. Just as the lecture was about to begin, Professor Lev gently placed a hand on her shoulder and started calming her down.
"Calm yourself... It seems Candidate Ritsuka is suffering from [Ray Shift] aftereffects..."
"I-I’m sorry..."
Ritsuka tried her best to stay awake, but her eyes kept closing. Perhaps she didn’t even notice Professor Lev’s intervention, because Olga Marie, still not having cooled off, turned to Mash and Professor Lev and said,
"Mash. Lev. Take Candidate Ritsuka out immediately!!"
'This is my chance!!'
Realizing this was my opportunity, I shot my hand up and stood, saying I’d help support Ritsuka.
"I’ll go with her and help too, Director!"
"Very well... Permission granted. Please escort Candidate Ritsuka."
Ritsuka and I left the briefing room, leaving the angry Olga Marie behind. The moment we were outside, she fell asleep again, and I started walking her to her room. After a few minutes, she seemed to have slept enough, rubbed her eyes, and looked around before speaking.
"Mmngh... Where is this...?"
"Are you okay?"
With a face that still looked half-asleep, Ritsuka glanced around in confusion and continued.
"I was definitely in the middle of a briefing..."
"You nodded off and got kicked out, Ritsuka."
"Ah..."
'Phew... I survived for now...!!'
Feeling relieved that I’d at least bought myself some time, I headed with Ritsuka to her My Room. Once we arrived, Ritsuka took a card key from her pocket and was about to open the door when I could see a familiar silhouette on the bed: Romani, drinking coffee while eating strawberry cake.
"Munch munch... ngh! Juhwan!? Who’s the girl next to you!?"
I ignored the startled Romani for the moment and began introducing him to her politely.
"Ritsuka, let me introduce you. This is Romani Archaman, the head of Chaldea’s medical department."
Hearing me, Romani added,
"Feel free to call me Doctor Roman."
After listening to our explanation, Ritsuka bowed ninety degrees and greeted Romani.
"Hello! I’m Fujimaru Ritsuka, newly arrived this time! Nice to meet you!"
"R-right..."
After we had all exchanged greetings, Romani gave Ritsuka a basic explanation of Chaldea and introduced the staff. Since I already knew all of it, I was sitting nearby and happily eating the rest of the cake.
'This is good...'
"...So, anyway..."
Before Romani could finish explaining, a sound began coming from the pager on his wrist. He looked momentarily flustered, but quickly collected himself and answered the call.
"Ahem... Hello?"
-It’s me, Romani Archaman.
"Professor Lev??"
Romani looked shocked at Lev’s voice, and for a moment he seemed flustered, but then he calmed down and listened.
-Could you come to the control room right away? You’re in the infirmary now, yes? If you come from there, it should only take two minutes.
"Ah... Understood!! I’ll head there right away."
After hanging up, Romani looked at us with a truly troubled expression. At that, I let out a sigh in disbelief and set down the cake plate before telling him,
"This isn’t the infirmary, Romani."
Realizing his mistake, Romani looked at the two of us with a panicked expression and continued,
"Ugh... I’m screwed... Juhwan, Ritsuka. Just a moment..."
Boom!!!!!!!!!!
Just as Romani was about to continue speaking, a tremendous explosion and shockwave crashed over us. Yes. This explosion was the signal that the Mage King’s incineration of the Human Order had begun."
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glossary_corrections: []
glossary_additions: [{"kor":"피닉스 칼데아","eng":"Phoenix Chaldea","tag":"org","priority":1},{"kor":"레이시프트","eng":"Ray Shift","tag":"other","priority":1},{"kor":"키르슈타리아 보다임","eng":"Kirschtaaria Wodime","tag":"male","priority":1},{"kor":"레프 라이놀","eng":"Lev Lainur","tag":"male","priority":2},{"kor":"마슈 키리에라이트","eng":"Mash Kyrielight","tag":"female","priority":1},{"kor":"후지마루 리츠카","eng":"Fujimaru Ritsuka","tag":"female","priority":1},{"kor":"올가마리 아니무스피어","eng":"Olga Marie Animusphere","tag":"female","priority":1},{"kor":"시바","eng":"SHEBA","tag":"item","priority":2},{"kor":"솔로몬","eng":"Solomon","tag":"male","priority":2},{"kor":"인리소각","eng":"incineration of the Human Order","tag":"other","priority":1}]
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