----------------------
"Umm~!"
It had already been a day since we cleared Fuyuki, the Fuyuki Singularity F. If you were wondering what had happened in the meantime, I’ll answer you. It was ridiculously hard.
"Master, could you bring me a whole bottle of soy sauce here?"
"Okay..."
Since there was no one who could cook, Emiya, who was already good at it, and I, who had cooking as a hobby in my previous life, ended up handling the entire kitchen.
"Juhwan-kun~! Could you bring me some coffee here~!"
"Yes, yes~..."
And every other day, Da Vinci kept sending me off to do odd jobs.
"Juhwan-kun. Could you please take down something from up high for me?"
"Yes, of course, Director Olga Marie Animusphere~..."
Or I’d help take things down from high shelves for the Director, since she had gotten shorter.
"Master, could you taste this medicine for me for a moment...?"
Glug glug...
"Uh, okay... This is safe, right...?"
Or I’d end up taking Tonelico’s experimental medicines in her place.
It was a nonstop chain of garbage like that. Chaldea was much more stable now, so I was resting in my room for a bit, enjoying the cool air. I stretched on the bed, then got up and muttered to myself.
"Uuuuugh~~!! It really can’t get any better than this~~."
Just as I was about to say that, someone knocked on my door, so I opened it to see who it was.
"Who is it~?"
Standing there were Romani and Fou. He said he had something to talk to me about and asked if he could come into my room for a moment.
"Um, I have something I’d like to consult you about..."
"Fou, fou~!"
"Ah, sure. It might be messy since I haven’t cleaned, so be careful coming in."
That was just something I said. In truth, I cleaned every day, so there was no way it could be dirty. Anyway, Romani carefully came into my room and sat in a chair, and I sat on the bed, ready to listen. Fou climbed onto my lap and settled there. After that, he glanced at me for a moment before opening his mouth heavily.
"Lately, it’s been tough, hasn’t it...?"
"Well... a little, yeah. But I’m not the only one having it rough, so I’m managing..."
"I-I see...?"
He looked at me again, then seemed to make up his mind and walked over, taking my hand as he spoke.
"By any chance... are you good at sorting work and things like that...?"
"Huh...?"
And just like that... I somehow became the Doctor’s... assistant... Damn it...
-----------------
Another day passed like that. Today, all the urgent fires had been put out, so I was loafing around with nothing to do.
Beep, beep. Attention, attention. Master Fujimaru and Master Juhwan, please report to the control room immediately. I repeat...
A single announcement shattered that peaceful day. I changed into my Chaldea uniform at once and headed for the control room. After passing through the long corridor, I was almost there when I ran into Tonelico, Mash, and Ritsuka, and we went inside together.
Ziiing...
"Oh, you’re here?"
Seeing the door to the control room open, Romani welcomed us warmly, and we stepped inside. Romani, Director Olga Marie Animusphere (Lily), and Da Vinci were there, while the other staff were each busy with their own work. Once the Director confirmed that everyone had arrived, she turned to me, Ritsuka, and Mash and began explaining what we needed to do next.
"You’ve done well, but after Juhwan-kun lost consciousness, we used the restored Sheba to scan the Earth of the past..."
"Ah, seven Singularities were discovered?"
As if I had said something I absolutely should not have, everyone there except Tonelico turned to stare at me all at once. Da Vinci was the first to speak.
"How did you know that...?"
I looked at everyone’s reaction with the most disbelief of all and shot back.
"No, I mean, if you keep dragging people in every day to do all sorts of random chores, how could I not know? Even Fou, who wanders around Chaldea all day, would know that much."
"Fou, fou~!!"
As I complained at them in frustration, Da Vinci looked momentarily flustered, then apologized to me in her usual playful tone.
"Sorry~, sorry~. We’ve just been so busy lately... Anyway, where were we~...?"
I sighed at Da Vinci and played along with her pace.
"Haa... you said seven Singularities were discovered..."
After I said that, Romani once again spoke to us in a serious tone.
"Ahem... Since you already know, you and Ritsuka will be facing tremendous trials from here on out. Can you endure them? No, you have to endure them."
Ritsuka answered with a short, serious "...Yes!" and I...
"Well, I’ll give it a shot."
"Pffft!!"
As soon as I shouted that, he spat coffee all over me and started protesting.
I thought, Ugh... disgusting as hell... I should take a shower later...
"N-no... ‘give it a shot’...? This is a battle for the sake of Human Order..."
Was what I said really that shocking...? While I was thinking that, Director Olga, after hearing our resolve, handed each of us a pouch containing 30 Saint Quartz and began explaining.
"Ahem... So this time, it seems we’ll need to summon some new combatants."
At the word "summon," Ritsuka’s eyes lit up, and she immediately started frothing at the mouth as she said,
"Gacha... You just said gacha, right...?"
"Senpai...?"
"I didn’t say gacha..."
After looking at that berserker-like reaction of hers, the Director sighed and handed us the pouches.
"Here. Each of you gets a ten-pull. Use 30 Quartz apiece!"
The moment she got the pouch, Ritsuka took off running like a madwoman, and Mash chased after her.
"Yes!! Thank you, yay~!!!"
"Senpai~!?"
Watching the two of them disappear, I wiped the coffee Romani had sprayed on me with a towel and said enviously,
"Youthful, huh..."
"You don’t seem that old yourself, though..."
So that’s how the Director hit me with facts, I thought.
-------------------
The five of us then set off after the two who had run ahead, and just as we were almost at the summoning room—
"I got it~~!!!"
Ah, that scream... that was the scream of someone who had struck gold... Thinking that, we hurried the rest of the way to the summoning room. Inside there was...
Ziiing...
Ritsuka, who had successfully completed her summon, and Mash, who was standing beside her with a deep sigh.
"Jesus, Buddha, Tonelico. Thank you..."
"Senpai... Tonelico isn’t a religious figure..."
Leaving behind the ecstatic Ritsuka and Mash, who looked displeased beside her, I looked at the Servants summoned in the circle. There were...
"Mm. Servant Archer, responding to the summon. Then, first things first, let’s fill our stomachs before anything else."
"I am one of the Tamamo Nine, the wild fox Tamamo Cat! Nice to meet you, Master."
"Welcome to Enma-tei. Welcome, guest... no, that ain’t right. Servant Saber, the tongueless sparrow Benienma, has come here to serve. I look forward to working with you."
Ritsuka, I believed in you...!! In the summoning circle stood Tamamo Cat, Tawara Touta, and Benienma. Looks like I wouldn’t have to work in the kitchen anymore... I thought. While I was thinking that, Emiya, who had been working in the kitchen, came to the summoning room looking for me and started shouting.
"Master, the kitchen needs a hand here..."
He stopped shouting at me and immediately went to the newly summoned Servants, guiding them.
"You three are the newly summoned Servants, then. This way."
"Understood, woof!"
"Please show us to the kitchen!"
"Leave it to me!"
The three of them followed Emiya’s guidance and left the summoning room to check out the kitchen first.
Sigh...There’s no way this could get any better...
As I was thinking that, Ritsuka seemed to have come back to her senses and headed over to where Romani and the others were, and I moved toward the summoning circle for my turn. I placed the 30 Quartz I had prepared in my hand and said,
"All right... I’ll give it a try too..."
The moment I put the 30 Quartz into the summoning circle, the circle immediately activated in rainbow colors.
"Huh...? Rainbow?"
Damn it... two rainbows in a row!? Am I going to die in the next Singularity? I was thinking that when a Servant was summoned there. The Servant who appeared was...
"Ah..."
A silver-haired Servant wearing blue armor and a blue aegis immediately slung the aegis across her chest and walked toward me, examining my body here and there before introducing herself.
"Servant, Lancer. Fairy Knight Lancelot, responding to your summon... It seems we don’t have much of a bond yet. Well. We can get to know each other from here."
Damn... why couldn’t it come out like this when I was playing the game, seriously damn it... I thought, then quickly collected myself and introduced myself to her.
"Right, nice to meet you. Lancer."
When I addressed her so stiffly, she looked a little down for a moment, then took my hand and said,
"What do you mean, Lancer... Just call me Yoslott~."
"R-right..."
After hearing my answer, she smiled happily, linked her arm through mine, and said, and Tonelico, watching from the side, seemed so angry her staff was trembling as she glared at the two of us.
...
...? Why is she so angry...? We only just met... While I was thinking that, Romani and Mash, who were watching the scene from the side, found their understanding of human history being negatively rewritten by Yoslott.
"A fairy knight...? What’s that supposed to be...? I can’t keep up anymore..."
"I know, right... Doctor..."
Anyway, after Yoslott was summoned, another gold orb spun, and this time...
"Uh..."
"Servant, Kriemhild. I have answered the summon.... Or rather, I’ve answered it... What are you expecting from a flower that bloomed wrong like me? Whether I become an enemy or an ally, all I’ll bring is ruin... If you want to die miserably, do as you please..."
Kriemhild, the tragic heroine from The Song of the Nibelungs. Her husband was...
...Kriemhild...? Wait... Siegfried shows up in the next Singularity, right...? I licked my lips, thinking that things were getting more and more interesting.
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