-What?! A Savior-class Servant!?
Yes. Savior. In Korean, that would be "the savior." Literally, it was a class reserved only for those acknowledged by the world. Typical examples would be the Buddha in Buddhism and Jesus in Christianity. That was the level you could call a savior. Heroic Spirits at that level would be the ones people could truly call saviors.
"If we're talking about saviors, Tonelico isn't exactly weak either..."
Perhaps she had read my mind, because she looked a little sulky and turned her head away as she said,
"Are you dissatisfied that I'm a Savior? Sorry about that. I'm just some unknown Heroic Spirit, and yet I'm a Savior!"
"Could you stop reading my thoughts...?"
While the two of us bickered, Romani and Director Olga were having a heated discussion about her.
"A Savior-class Servant? That's impossible!"
-Even so, if she says she is one...
Maybe having her words denied had hit a nerve, because she complained to the quietly standing Romani in a slightly irritated voice.
"Do you think what I'm saying is a joke, Doctor Romani?"
-No... that's not it...
Ritsuka, who had been quietly listening to the two of them from the side, cut in to stop the argument.
"Um... Director Olga, please calm down for now..."
At Ritsuka's restraint, she managed to rein in her temper for a moment, then apologized to Romani for snapping at him.
"I, um... ahem, I seem to have gotten a little worked up. I'm sorry, Doctor Romani."
When Romani heard her apology, he stared at her through the screen, then spat the coffee he had been holding in his mouth straight out in front of him.
-Pffft!! D-Director. What did you just say!?
"I. Said. I'm. Sorry..."
Maybe because apologizing was rare for her, or maybe because she was embarrassed to do it, she blushed and repeated her apology to the stunned Romani. Romani fell into thought for a moment, then opened his mouth again in a heavy tone.
-Um... could it be that during the [Ray Shift], you hit your head...
"W-What are you talking about!?"
-S-Sorry!!
"Sigh... what are they even doing...?"
Anyway, I decided to ignore their sitcom for now and return to the matter at hand.
Even Mash, who had never heard of her identity no matter how she looked at it, asked me in confusion.
"Um... I've never heard the name Tonelico in any history of the world... What could this mean...?"
She must have heard Mash, because she looked troubled for a moment, then gave a bitter smile and muttered to herself so softly that no one could hear.
"I see... then this must be a time before we met... That's a little sad..."
"Huh? What was that...?"
It felt like she had said something quietly, so I asked, but all I got back was that it was nothing.
Her true name was Tonelico. Of course, that true name was false. As far as I knew, in the second part of Fate/Grand Order, Cosmos in the Lostbelt, she appears in the story not as Tonelico, but as Queen Morgan.
And there, she fought against Noman Chaldea and was eventually killed by her own people. She was a villain, but not someone you could simply call evil.
But right now, she was not in the form she had in the story as Queen Morgan. She was from even earlier than that, from when she had been active as a Savior. And she also looked a lot like Artoria.
Anyway, since this was our first meeting, I apologized to her for what had happened earlier.
"So... sorry for getting mad at you the first time we met."
After apologizing first, I started introducing myself.
First, let me introduce myself.
"I'm Juhwan, your Master. Nice to meet you."
When I offered her my hand, she looked at me with a "What is this...?" expression.
"Ah, this is a greeting here. It's called a handshake."
Perhaps she had read my thoughts, because though she seemed uncertain, she slowly extended her hand toward me. She took my hand as I greeted her, and once she realized it wasn't anything dangerous, she let out a relieved expression and greeted me back.
"I see... Nice to meet you, Master."
As we shook hands, Ritsuka and Mash, who had given up on mediating the argument, came over and greeted her as well.
"I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka! Nice to meet you~!"
"I'm Mash Kyrielight. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tonelico."
"Yes, nice to meet you too, Ritsuka, Mash."
Tonelico took their hands and followed the same greeting as she had with me, finishing her introductions with them.
After the greetings were done, Director Olga and Romani, who had been putting on a sitcom just moments ago, came over to us and introduced themselves to her.
"Ahem... I am the director of the Human Order Continuity Guarantee Organization, Phoenix Chaldea. Olga Marie Animusphere. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you too, Director."
Romani cheerfully introduced himself from the screen.
-I'm Romani Archaman. Just call me Doctor Roman!
"Oh... what an amazing piece of Magecraft...!"
After thoroughly ignoring his greeting, she seemed more interested in the transmission device itself and kept staring at the hologram. Romani, apparently feeling awkward under her gaze, blushed and said to her,
-Ahaha... it gets embarrassing if you stare so hard...
Maybe irritated by his misunderstanding, she replied a little coldly.
"I'm not looking at you, so don't worry."
Romani wore a bitter expression as he sipped his coffee, looking like, "Well, of course..."
"Poor Romani..."
-Ahaha... I might be a little hurt...
After finishing our greetings with the newly met Tonelico, we were just about to set off again when, all of a sudden—
Whip!Thud!
"A dagger...?"
A dagger. A tool used to throw at distant enemies and kill them. The fact that something like that had suddenly appeared meant... As I was thinking that, Director Olga was startled and let out a girlish scream before collapsing onto the ground.
"Kyaaah!"
Romani, flustered by the sudden attack, checked the radar and confirmed that there was another Servant besides us in the area, then relayed the information to us.
-Everyone! An enemy reaction has been detected in that area!! It's a Servant, be careful!!
At his urgent cry, Ritsuka, Mash, and I snapped back to our senses. Mash moved to stand in front of Director Olga, Ushiwakamaru stood in front of Ritsuka, and Tonelico stepped in front of me as they all went on guard.
"Master, please stand behind me!"
"Director Olga, please stay behind me."
"My lord! Are you all right?"
I turned toward the direction the dagger had come from. There stood a monk in disgrace with numerous weapons strapped to his back, and beside him, an Assassin wrapped in cloth and wearing a white skull mask, glaring at us. The skull mask clicked his tongue at the monk in disgrace, sounding regretful, and spoke first.
"Tch... What a shame."
Then, to comfort him, the monk in disgrace encouraged him.
"No matter. Assassin. We can simply hit the mark again, can we not?"
"That one... is Juwoon and fake Benkei, isn't it!?"
Hitachibou Kaison, using the name of Musashibou Benkei, and beside him, Hassan of Juwoon. Yes, those two were also Servants from Fate/Grand Order. Both were 2-stars as well; Benkei was a Lancer, and Juwoon was an Assassin. Anyway, what I want to say is this.
I never use them.
No, seriously, I never use them. Not in farming, not in Challenge Quests, not anywhere. I mean, maybe if you were a monk, sure, but who would use guys like that!? Unless they were your favorites... As I was grumbling about them, a voice I knew very well rang out from somewhere.
"ANSZ! Ansz!"
After the short shout, a bright red blossom of fire burst open in front of the Lancer and Assassin. They leaped back to avoid the attack, then turned toward the direction the flames had come from. We did the same. There, a blue-haired druid in a hood was resting a staff on his shoulder and looking down at us.
"Tch... This is... a Caster!?"
"Are you all right!? Assassin!?"
Startled by the sudden attack, the two of them hurriedly worried about each other, and ignoring them, the blue druid descended toward us and asked after our well-being.
"You all right? You lot?"
At his voice, Tonelico seemed to feel a rush of familiarity and approached him with a delighted expression.
"Teacher Grim!? What are you doing here!?"
"Te-Teacher Grim...? I don't recall ever having a student like you..."
He looked at her as if he truly had no idea what she was talking about. Tonelico then realized this was not the Grim she knew, looked disappointed, and apologized for mistaking him for someone else.
"S-Sorry... I think I mistook you for someone else..."
Cu Chulainn, accepting her apology, laughed and said as if he found it amusing,
"Well now~ A teacher isn't bad either, is it? Though I don't have any good memories of teachers..."
'Well, that's true.'
Grim... no, Cu Chulainn, was laughing as though he found the situation entertaining, and the two 2-stars, irritated by that, hurled daggers at him and shouted,
"Ghh...! You bastard... Caster...! Are you betraying us!?"
The Irish hero denied their accusation outright and burned the flying daggers to ash with rune magecraft before answering them with a serious expression.
"Since when did I ever team up with you...?"
Then he placed a hand lightly on her shoulder and began mocking them as if to show off.
"You see, I don't like smelly old men, that's not my type~ So I'm siding with this lot. Hey~ cute Master over there! Hurry up and make a temporary contract with me!"
At his answer, the two old men, now deeply enraged, apparently lost the last of their reason and charged at Cu Chulainn.
"You bastard...!!"
He immediately pushed Tonelico aside with the hand he had placed on her shoulder, then said to her in a playful tone,
"I like strong students, you know~? Come on, show me what you can do~!"
"Y-Yes!?"
She seemed briefly flustered, then put away her staff, drew a spear, leaped over the charging Benkei in an instant, and like a fairy, pierced his Spirit Core.
"I-I may not be very good at dancing, but...!"
Shhk!
"Cough...!"
The moment she drove her spear through his Spirit Core, Ushiwakamaru sprang into the air and severed his neck in one swift motion, saying,
"You have strayed from the path. I shall take that neck of yours."
"Yo, Shitsu, ne..."
Whoosh...
After bringing down Benkei, she immediately used teleportation magecraft to move into the Assassin's blind spot. Then, as he flinched at her sudden disappearance, she drove a greatsword straight through his chest and slashed diagonally as she said,
"You were only looking... straight ahead..."
"I-Impossible, such a mistake..."
Whoosh...
Likewise, she had no intention of letting the Assassin escape. She sheathed her blade again and, as a finishing blow, stabbed his Spirit Core with her spear. Her movements were clean and efficient, like martial arts used in real combat.
Watching the fight, Ritsuka and Mash seemed completely captivated by Tonelico's combat prowess and were evaluating the battle with half-lost expressions.
"Wow..."
"What an incredible Servant... Maybe she really is a Savior..."
Apparently satisfied with the way she fought, Cu Chulainn clapped and welcomed her.
"Ohhh~ You fight well. Looks like there wasn't any place for me after all."
Maybe irritated by his teasing tone, Tonelico drew her spear again and rushed at him, shouting,
"Seriously, isn't that a little too much!?"
"Sorry, sorry~!"
For about five minutes after that, a deadly game of tag continued.
-------------------------------
At the same time, in the great cavern where the Holy Grail was. There was someone watching Cu Chulainn and Tonelico as they played their deadly game of tag. Leaning against a bike, she was biting into a hamburger with the ferocity of a beast and said,
"Oh? So those are Chaldea's Master and Servant... gulp"
And the top-tier butler beside her... no, the Archer, handed her a cola and said,
"That is correct, Saber. Those are Chaldea's Masters. The ones beside them are their Servants."
After the woman finished her hamburger and took a sip of the cold cola the butler... no, the Archer had given her, she said,
"Ahh... refreshing... Anyway, that one over there..."
Seeing her puzzled reaction, the butler asked if something was wrong.
"What is it, Saber?"
At his question, Saber answered as if it were nothing.
"Nothing. We wait here until they arrive."
After hearing her answer, the butler handed her some black tea after the meal. By the aroma, it was probably black tea.
"Understood. And here is your tea, Saber."
She accepted it, and after receiving such excellent service from the butler, she gave him a faint smile and said,
"Hmph. A capable butler."
Her words annoyed him a little, but seeing her smiling face, the butler held back his irritation and said as politely as he could,
"I'm an Archer, not a butler, Saber."
For a brief moment, the butler recalled something from his school days, something like a week-long burst of excitement. Recalling a past that would never return...
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