To Become a King and a Magician 671-675

Title: Slowly Turning Into Chaotic Evil

On the ground.

Enduring intense pain, Naoki slowly rose and brushed the dust off his massive body.

“You’re really stronger than expected. Swallowing the Holy Sword’s light, plus the Imaginary Manifestation brought by the Holy Grail—Arthur, you should’ve told us Vortigern had this ability.”

[“I’m sorry, Naoki. That was my oversight. I should’ve informed you of this situation earlier. By the way, how are you? Falling from that height must’ve caused significant damage, right?”]

Moving his massive body to stand, Naoki stretched his arms and legs. “Yeah, I’m fine. Though it hurts like hell, it’s still within my recovery limits. We can’t hurt him, and he can’t hurt us either.”

“—Until now.”

Naoki’s words briefly stunned Artoria and Arthur, but they quickly understood.

“Have you figured out how to deal with him, Master?” Artoria asked.

“Why else would I take that hit? I had to gain something. Besides, that tail didn’t actually hit my body. I managed to block it well.”

The most troublesome thing about facing Vortigern wasn’t the Holy Grail. If it were just unlimited Mana and the diverse abilities of the Holy Grail, Naoki had plenty of ways to handle it.

The real problem was the layer of darkness on Vortigern’s body.

When he was struck by the tail earlier, at close range, Naoki clearly saw that layer of darkness and understood its essence.

“In simple terms, it’s a conceptual entity, [the end of Britain]—perhaps a manifestation of that concept. Once extracted and manifested, it becomes that layer of darkness.”

“That’s why it can swallow the Holy Sword’s light.”

Light and darkness, since ancient times, have been two sides of the same coin. The stronger the light, the deeper the darkness. The brighter the Holy Sword’s light, the denser the darkness on Vortigern’s body.

After all, the wielder of the Holy Sword was King Arthur, the hero born to save Britain, while Vortigern, born to destroy Britain, was the light and darkness of Britain.

“Originally, the darkness wasn’t that strong, as it was a conceptual protection limited by Arthur’s power. But after being enhanced by the Holy Grail, that layer of darkness has far surpassed the Holy Sword’s light.”

In other words, the Holy Sword couldn’t touch Vortigern. Given this, in their previous battle, the fact that Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table could injure Vortigern with the Holy Sword might have been due to sheer will, or perhaps the light gathered by the Knights temporarily held back the darkness, giving the Holy Sword a chance to severely wound Vortigern.

Regardless, what was certain now was that with their current abilities, defeating Vortigern with the Holy Sword was impossible. Even if they tried to release its seals, Vortigern would never give them the chance.

So…

“We don’t need to bother with the darkness.”

Naoki’s statement left Artoria and Arthur momentarily silent.

Ignore the darkness?

But it’s right there. If they ignored it…

“I see, we just don’t need to use the Holy Sword?” Arthur realized after a moment.

Vortigern’s darkness was one that devoured the Holy Sword, a darkness capable of countering Arthur’s power to save Britain. But that also meant it might not specifically target other powers.

[Only Naoki can defeat Vortigern.]

Merlin’s words back then weren’t because Naoki held the true Holy Sword, but because he was a fairy.

Vortigern was immensely powerful. After obtaining the Holy Grail, he was even stronger, wielding the Mana of the entire island of Britain. Since the Holy Sword couldn’t counter him, to defeat him and resolve the sixth Singularity, they could only rely on a power equal to the Holy Sword.

And Naoki had that power.

“Imaginary Manifestation…” Artoria stated the fact.

Imaginary Manifestation was the power to modify the world, capable even of pulling the moon from the sky. If there was a power strong enough to face Vortigern, it was indeed this one.

“Exactly. So, next—get down from that high perch!”

The giant dragon’s eyes suddenly lit up, and Vortigern, soaring high in the sky, instantly felt a terrifying pressure, as if a mountain was pressing down on him!

And it was true.

*BAM!*

A massive boulder suddenly appeared out of thin air and slammed into Vortigern’s body, forcing his dragon form to plummet to the ground!

[“This… a surprise attack. Is there an enemy above?”]

Vortigern looked up at the sky, but there was no creature above him.

So where did this attack come from?

*BAMMM!*

As Vortigern was confused, another massive meteor boulder fell from the sky, striking his dragon head directly! The tremendous impact sent Vortigern crashing dozens of meters uncontrollably!

And at that moment—

*CRACK!*

The ground beneath suddenly split open, and countless thick chains emerged from the earth, like silver anacondas hunting prey, scrambling to entangle Vortigern!

Though these chains couldn’t harm him, Vortigern had no intention of being bound like that, and he still hadn’t figured out the meteor attacks falling from the sky…

[“Retreat and observe first.”]

The spatial displacement ability granted by the Holy Grail activated again, and just as he was about to be ensnared by the chains, Vortigern’s body vanished into the air—

“No way you’re escaping!”

Using Displacement Magecraft to appear beside Vortigern in an instant, before his body fully teleported, Naoki grabbed his neck with all his might and slammed him to the ground!

*BANG!*

The spatial displacement was forcibly interrupted!

Vortigern, who had been soaring in the sky, was now, for the first time, dragged down in the most brutal way!

The next moment, Naoki flipped over and mounted Vortigern, grabbing the dragon wings on his back—

*PU-CHI!*

The giant dragon wings used by the demon dragon to fly were, at that moment, torn off by Naoki with both hands!

[“Uooohhhhhh!”]

“Now you can’t fly—kneel properly on the ground, you four-legged lizard!”

-

Title: When in Doubt, Just Use the Moon Fall Technique, and It’s Done

Incomprehensible.

Vortigern had absolute confidence in the darkness enveloping his body. Just as he possessed Mana equivalent to the entire island of Britain, the layer of darkness on his body was enough to swallow all of Britain—a perfect defense that King Arthur could never breach.

But why…

[“Why am I getting injured?”]

In the previous battle, he was pierced by Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, sustaining severe injuries—that should’ve been a one-time exception. But now, facing only three Holy Sword wielders, they shouldn’t have been able to harm him.

*ZZZZZZZ—!*

A sound like boiling lava erupted from where his dragon wings were torn. The horrific wound visibly healed under the effects of the Holy Grail and his immense Mana.

[“No, this isn’t worth worrying about.”]

It didn’t matter if he was injured; this body no longer cared about wounds. His powerful Mana could instantly regenerate. Even if his dragon wings were torn off, it would only take a few breaths to recover.

Even without regenerating his wings, it wasn’t an issue. With his current power, he could easily crush the insect on his body!

However—

*CRACK!*

Before the wing wound fully healed, a fierce cold suddenly flowed into it. The extreme low temperature even halted the flow of magic within Vortigern’s body!

Imaginary Manifestation · Absolute Zero Zone!

“I told you, I won’t let you fly again!”

Naoki, his entire body radiating absolute zero cold, tightly gripped Vortigern’s body. Freezing ice spread rapidly from his palms across Vortigern’s dragon form, visibly encasing every part of his body!

[“Ugh—! Arrogant insect!”]

[“Mere thin ice means nothing under this hellfire!”]

*SHUA!*

In response to Vortigern’s roar, the darkness covering his body suddenly erupted in blazing flames. The ice layer formed by Naoki’s cold began to crack bit by bit under the burning fire!

Not melting, but cracking.

(This fire… it has the same properties as the darkness! Though its effect isn’t as strong against the Holy Sword, it’s swallowing this ice too! I can’t freeze him!)

The thought flashed through Naoki’s mind like lightning. Without hesitation, he raised both hands high, and as he did, the crater where Vortigern had just fallen transformed instantly into a scorching volcanic crater!

Boiling lava submerged half of Vortigern’s body. His four limbs, plunged into the fiery red river, glowed red-hot simultaneously, continuously burning and cracking!

Soaring nearly a thousand meters into the sky, Naoki gazed down at Vortigern, slowly sinking into the lava.

“Take a nice bath in the lava.”

[“Truly remarkable…”]

Arthur’s Holy Sword in his hand flickered.

[“I thought your Imaginary Manifestation, capable of manifesting the moon, was already your full power. I didn’t expect you could manifest a volcanic crater like this… You really held back when fighting me, didn’t you?”]

“No, back then I was truly going all out. You didn’t give me time to think carefully. If you’d been just one second slower, I could’ve sliced you into pieces.”

In other words, to fight the current Naoki, not even a single second’s opening could be allowed?

That was an almost impossible condition to meet. The reason Arthur managed it earlier was partly because Naoki had no intention of killing him—he came to save him, not send him back to Avalon.

“But even if it’s Vortigern, he won’t be able to stand again if this keeps up, right?” Artoria looked at Vortigern, almost fully submerged.

Though he still had spatial displacement, it was useless with Naoki present—if he dared use it, Naoki would instantly drop a meteor on his head to physically stun him!

He was very good at that.

“No, it’s not enough.”

Naoki shook his head. “It’s not safe enough. If he uses spatial displacement after being fully submerged in lava, I won’t have time to interrupt him—sinking him into a volcanic crater is just to keep him from escaping. To truly obliterate him, this is what’s needed.”

*TRING—!*

The sky, which should’ve been clear, was suddenly bathed in crimson moonlight. Above the Singularity, a massive Blood Red Moon appeared without warning!

Imaginary Manifestation · Moon Fall!

“I’ll use this technique to crush Vortigern to death!”

“Fall! Blood Red Moon!”

*WHOOSHHHHH!*

Under gravitational pull, the blazing red moon plummeted to the ground with a thunderous roar!

The compressed atmosphere let out a pained groan.

The ground, on the verge of collapse, trembled violently.

At that moment, everyone in the entire Singularity clearly saw the Blood Red Moon slowly descending.

Vortigern was no exception.

This wasn’t an attack he could withstand. Under the crimson moonlight, everything would be shattered and crushed, leaving no trace behind!

Even he, the incarnation of Britain’s end, capable of swallowing all of Britain, had no power to resist this Blood Red Moon. Even spatial displacement… if this Blood Red Moon fell, the entire Singularity would be its impact zone. Even if he teleported to the Singularity’s edge, he couldn’t escape a single strike from the Blood Red Moon!

[“This isn’t the power of a Holy Sword wielder.”]

Neither Arthur, who had defeated him before, nor Artoria from this parallel world could possess such power. So, the only thing he could think of was—

[“Is this your power, the new Holy Sword wielder… I didn’t expect you to be a fairy.”]

[“How pitiful! How pitiful! No, it’s even ironic!”]

The Star’s Holy Sword was a weapon to save the world. Its wielder was a savior meant to save the world. At this moment, when the Human Order was being incinerated, it was the perfect time for him to save the world.

But—

[“A fairy can never save the world. A fairy can never defeat a Beast.”]

[“A Holy Sword wielder who can’t save the world, the future you seek is utterly unattainable by your hands!”]

At the final moment before the Blood Red Moon’s direct impact, Vortigern stared intently at the blazing red dragon-man.

Then…

*BOOOMMMMM!*

A world-shattering impact finally struck!

-

Title: Are You All Ready to Strangle the Next Generation?

His eyes could see nothing.

Under the immense impact and blinding light caused by the fall of the Blood Red Moon, Arthur only felt his vision filled with a dazzling white light.

This state lasted for an unknown amount of time. When he finally adjusted to the intense light and began to open his eyes little by little—

[“Can you sense my presence?”]

A deep, heavy voice quietly entered his ears.

As this voice emerged, the blinding white light suddenly vanished entirely, and the ruins of a dilapidated castle appeared before his eyes.

“Where is this…?”

Arthur looked around in confusion.

Based on his experience, this seemed to be the remnants of a battlefield, and the battle here had likely just ended.

In the sky, black rain clouds gathered, ceaselessly pouring down torrential rain as if trying to wash away the filth and blood of the battlefield. The rainwater mixed with blood, forming rivers of blood that flowed endlessly from every corner of the castle ruins.

Throughout the castle, he could see small mountains formed from piles of corpses, with shattered remains and broken bodies scattered together, emitting a pungent stench of blood in the rain.

This was the smell of a battlefield he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

The last time he felt this scent of fire, blood, and iron mixed together was when he was still alive. It was a smell he could never get used to.

“But why am I here?”

Arthur furrowed his brow in confusion.

He should’ve been in the sixth Singularity with Naoki and Artoria, fighting Vortigern. By now, Vortigern should’ve been completely defeated by Naoki’s Moon Fall.

Why had he suddenly come here?

[“Can you sense my presence, red dragon?”]

At that moment, the heavy voice sounded again, clearer than before. Arthur could now pinpoint its source.

Right in front of him.

Stepping over blood-soaked bricks and earth, Arthur quickly passed through the mountains of corpses and seas of blood around him, arriving at the deepest part of the castle.

The moment he stepped here, a familiar memory suddenly surfaced in his heart.

“This is… that place from back then…”

What his eyes saw was a throne, and a man seated upon it, his chest pierced by a pure white spear, pinning him to the throne.

Arthur remembered this scene—or rather, he could never forget it.

Because he had created this scene with his own hands, and the spear piercing the man was driven by his own hands.

“Vortigern.”

This was the place where he fought his final battle with Vortigern when he was alive.

In that final battle, Gawain’s light and his Holy Sword’s radiance were swallowed, and in the end, they used their full strength to pierce Vortigern’s hand with the Holy Sword, then he used the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad to pierce and kill Vortigern.

Raising his head to reveal the aged face of an old man, the man pinned to the throne—Vortigern—looked at Arthur standing before him.

“You’ve come, red dragon who defeated me, my nephew.”

“Vortigern… Did you bring me here?”

“Of course, it was me.” Vortigern curled the corner of his mouth, and after seeing the serious expression on Arthur’s face, he let out a cold laugh. “Hehehe… Don’t be so tense, red dragon. The current me can’t do anything anymore. This is merely a space of consciousness constructed by my final shred of awareness. It only allows the two of us to communicate.”

Communicate?

Arthur’s face was cold. “I have nothing to communicate with you about.”

“You may think so… but I don’t.” Vortigern laughed. “I never imagined I’d be defeated like this in the end. A fairy wielding the power of Imaginary Manifestation… I saw something quite remarkable the first time I appeared as a Servant.”

“Wait, what did you say?!”

A piece of information in Vortigern’s words made Arthur exclaim, “You said you’re… a Servant?!”

How could that be?

Servants were copies of Heroic Spirits. Heroic Spirits were beings transformed into objects of belief after their great deeds became legends upon their death.

Vortigern was the apocalyptic device of the island of Britain, a being entirely opposed to Heroic Spirits. Logically, there was no way he could become a Heroic Spirit.

“Is it so surprising to you that the one fighting you was a Servant, red dragon?”

Vortigern showed an ugly, cold smile on his face.

“However, though I’m called a Servant, it’s not entirely accurate. If I must explain, someone created a sufficiently large Spirit Origin, then used the Holy Grail to extract my soul at the moment of my death by your hand and placed it into that Spirit Origin.”

“Creating a Spirit Origin… who would do such a thing?”

No, he should know.

Arthur himself should know who would do such a thing.

(Merlin… no, it should be… Morgan…)

But why?

Why would she do something like that? What benefit did it bring her?

Seeing Arthur lost in thought, Vortigern smiled. “It seems you’ve figured it out… But no matter what you think, neither you nor I can do anything now.”

“This is my first time appearing as a Servant, and it’s also my last.”

“And the same goes for you. You’ve relinquished your Holy Sword, no longer the wielder of the Star’s Holy Sword, and even willingly fell into eternal slumber. This is your final appearance.”

“That’s right.”

Arthur let out a long sigh. “But at least I’ve completed everything I could and everything I had to do. Though this planet will surely face various crises again in the future, as long as he’s here, it’ll be fine.”

With that, Arthur turned and left the place, his back to Vortigern.

He and Vortigern had nothing to discuss.

Watching Arthur’s retreating figure, Vortigern lowered his head again.

“You chose to entrust everything to the next generation… just like her choice.”

“Then I can choose the same path, can’t I?”

Destroying Britain didn’t have to be done by him personally. As long as his actions could bring about Britain’s end, it was the same as achieving his goal.

(Entrusting everything to my other self…)

(I see, so she…)

At that moment, Vortigern finally understood the things he saw at the start of his appearance.

The sorceress’s goal was—

*CRACK!*

Amid the sound of shattering, Vortigern’s body slowly disintegrated.

He was originally a soul extracted at the moment of his near-death. Now, this part had truly met its end. What followed was only his final dissolution into ash and disappearance.

(May my other self fulfill my wish.)

(Let my other self truly destroy Britain.)

-

Title: A Joyful Happy Ending

When he opened his eyes again, Arthur saw a clear sky surrounded by vast ribbons of light.

“You awake?”

Naoki’s voice reached his ears. Arthur turned his head and saw Naoki sitting beside him, while he himself was lying on the ground nearby.

Propping himself up to sit, Arthur shook his head. “I… why…?”

“No idea. After I crushed Vortigern to death and canceled our fusion, you kept passing out like this, as if all your energy was drained.”

Having experienced it himself, Naoki knew exactly what it felt like to be completely drained. Merry, that malicious piece of trash, would even savor it for later.

“I see… Thank you for watching over me here. How long was I out?”

“Just a few minutes, no more. By the way, what did Vortigern say to you? You met him while you were unconscious, right?”

Naoki’s question startled Arthur. “How did you know?”

It was something that happened in his consciousness. Naoki hadn’t entered Arthur’s mind, so how could he know about it?

“Well… let’s just say I accidentally saw it.” Naoki explained. “Since Merry kept bothering me in my dreams, I’ve mastered a few ways to counter her. Earlier, when Vortigern pulled you into that consciousness space, my awareness was affected too. I could observe the whole process from a third-party perspective you couldn’t see.”

“But I didn’t hear any voices. I only knew you two met in that consciousness space.”

Originally, it was just a small trick he learned to deal with Merry, at best making her crash into a wall when she tried to invade his dreams. But in a moment like this, it had an unexpected effect.

Arthur smiled. “Nothing was said, just unimportant things.”

Vortigern was a Servant, summoned by Morgan—Arthur had no intention of telling Naoki this, as there was no need.

“Really?”

This guy wasn’t telling the truth.

Naoki could sense it, but it didn’t matter. If he didn’t want to say, so be it. Since Arthur said it was just unimportant matters, it probably was, and there was no need to dig deeper.

“Then it’s time to meet the others.”

Standing up from the ground, Naoki brushed off the dirt. “Lia went ahead to find Gawain and the others; they should’ve met by now. Let’s go join them.”

“Get up.”

Seeing Naoki’s outstretched hand, Arthur gave a small smile, grasped it, and stood with a strong pull from Naoki. “Yes, it’s time to meet Sir Gawain and the others, but…”

Turning to look at the meteor crater formed by the Blood Red Moon’s fall, even larger than the pit where Vortigern resided, Arthur couldn’t help but give a wry smile. “The impact from that one attack of yours is massive. Didn’t you think to hold back a little?”

“Uh… It was to make sure I crushed him dead.”

Naoki turned his head. “Besides, a small impact like this? I can fix it in minutes with Imaginary Manifestation. There won’t be any lasting effects in the future. I’m perfect at this technique.”

“Then why not fix it now?”

“I just said… I dropped a moon that big less than ten minutes ago, and now you want me to fix a meteor crater this huge? You think Imaginary Manifestation is a cost-free ability?”

Naoki glared at Arthur in frustration.

“At least let me rest first. I’ll be fully recovered by tonight, and I’ll come fix it then.”

(You just want to slack off a bit.)

Seeing through Naoki’s little intention at a glance, Arthur gave a wry smile. “Alright, then you’ll have to work hard. Let’s go meet the others.”

“You’re really eager…”

The reunion with Artoria, Gawain, Lancelot, and Tristan happened a few minutes later.

Given his connection with Artoria, Naoki quickly led Arthur to find the four of them.

“My lord!”

“Your Majesty!”

“King!”

Seeing Arthur’s return, the three Knights of the Round Table couldn’t contain the surge of emotion in their chests and rushed before him. But just as Naoki thought they’d give Arthur a warm embrace, the three knights immediately suppressed their near-bursting emotions and knelt on one knee before him.

“Your journey on the battlefield was arduous, Your Majesty.”

Tears welled in the corner of Gawain’s eyes. “Truly… it feels so good to have you back…”

The battle with Vortigern was undoubtedly extremely dangerous. All the Knights of the Round Table knew this. The tragic final battle was still vivid in their memories. For this battle, Gawain and the others had more or less prepared to part with their King once again.

Especially when they saw their initial attacks were completely ineffective against Vortigern.

Yet, the result was that the blazing red dragon-man suddenly erupted with overwhelming power, unilaterally defeating the demon dragon, and ultimately summoning the Blood Red Moon to utterly crush him.

The battle’s rapid reversal left the three unable to calm down even now.

“It seems I’ve made you worry again, Sir Gawain, Sir Lancelot, and Sir Tristan.” Arthur reached out to help them stand one by one. “But you don’t need to worry anymore. Vortigern has been defeated by us… No, more accurately, he was defeated by Naoki.”

“Yes, that’s right.” Artoria nodded. “To face that Vortigern, the Holy Sword in our hands was the least effective weapon. If we used other weapons, their power wouldn’t be enough to defeat him either.”

“So, the only one who could defeat Vortigern was Master—you worked hard, Master. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help.”

Facing Artoria’s apology, Naoki only smiled. “No such thing as hard work or not. If I’m the only one who can do it, then I’ll do it. It’s just my job—by the way, where are Jeanne Alter and Mordred? Aren’t they with you?”

Hearing Naoki’s question, Lancelot explained, “They accidentally got separated from us earlier while we were helping the civilians, but I think they should be—”

“Hey—!”

Before Lancelot could finish, a loud shout came from the distance.

The group turned to look and saw Mordred waving at them while running. Behind her, they could clearly see Gawain, Lancelot, and Tristan from Artoria’s side. Jeanne Alter was among them too.

Not only that…

“Department Head—!”

Fujimaru Ritsuka, and even Mash and Hinako, appeared there as well.

Truly a lively group.

Naoki and Artoria exchanged glances, then smiled lightly and waved back at them.

“We’re over here!”

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

The sixth Singularity.

The greatest enemy, the demon dragon Vortigern, had been defeated.

With that, this Singularity would soon collapse and vanish. Only two final steps remained before the incineration of humanity was completely halted.

Hope was near.

At this moment, everyone thought so.

-

Title: Thank You, Gudako

One hour after Vortigern’s defeat.

[“So, it’s confirmed that Vortigern has been completely annihilated?”]

Atop the outer wall of the fortress established by Artoria.

Leaning against the wall, Naoki was speaking with Roman through a communication device he’d just received from Ritsuka.

“Well, more or less. At least I can’t sense his presence anymore. You should be able to observe that too.”

[“You could say that, but because of your moon attack, the data there is still in chaos and can’t be analyzed. It’ll take a few hours to get actual results—though, the situation there is still a bit strange.”]

Naoki nodded. “Yeah, it’s indeed strange.”

Based on previous Singularity experiences, once the strongest enemy within a Singularity was defeated and the Holy Grail reclaimed, the Singularity would begin to collapse. It was a rapid process, almost immediate after everything was resolved.

For example, in the first Singularity, after the Demon God Pillar transformed by Lev was defeated, the Singularity immediately began to collapse.

But now, after Vortigern’s defeat, this Singularity showed no signs of collapsing. Not only that, the Servants—Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table—who should’ve returned to the Throne of Heroes after completing their mission, were still present in the Singularity with no indication of returning.

[“For safety reasons, we’ll conduct another analysis of the entire Singularity, though the results will come quite late. If anything else happens there, we’ll leave it to Natsukawa.”]

“With me here, you can rest easy… Anyway, forget that for now. You guys really had the guts to disobey orders.”

Naoki suddenly changed the topic.

Hearing him say that, all the staff in Chaldea tensed up, and Roman paled.

“I remember before I came here, I told you all to ignore me and head straight to the seventh Singularity. But you came here instead?”

[“T-this…”]

Roman immediately tried to explain.

But at that moment, a voice came from behind Naoki. “I was the one who asked the Doctor to send us here, Department Head.”

“It’s Fujimaru.”

Naoki turned to the fortress entrance and saw Ritsuka standing there, holding a serving of lunch.

After unilaterally cutting off the communication, Naoki laughed. “What are you doing here? All done down there?”

Since Vortigern had been defeated, the people who had long suffered from the dragon’s attacks finally found peace. Plus, they’d been protected by the Knights of the Round Table all this time, so now a feast was being held in the fortress to celebrate the arrival of peace.

In the words of the Knights of the Round Table, it was a victory feast after the war.

Placing the lunch on the ground, Ritsuka explained, “This is food made by the locals. It tastes good, so I brought some for the Department Head to try, since you disappeared when the feast started.”

“I had something to discuss with Roman.” Naoki said, handing the communication device on his wrist back to Ritsuka. “Well, sit down first. Let’s eat and talk. We both have plenty to discuss.”

“Yeah.”

Smoothing her skirt, Ritsuka sat on the ground with Naoki, then suddenly felt heat under her. “Eh? The floor’s warm?”

“I heated it for you. Sitting on a cold floor wouldn’t be comfortable.”

Naoki said as he picked up a piece of roasted meat.

“So the Department Head is actually really considerate?”

“I’m curious what I was like in your eyes before.”

“A rogue uncle with a young face who’s super flirty.” Ritsuka answered firmly. “Also, the strongest Department Head who shows up at the most dangerous moments and defeats all enemies.”

Lowering his half-raised hand, Naoki ruffled the girl’s hair hard. “If it weren’t for the second half of that sentence, I’d have smacked your head… But the second half isn’t entirely true. After all, in the four previous Singularities, when you faced danger, I was never there.”

“Tell me, what did you go through in those four Singularities?”

The four previous Singularities?

Ritsuka brushed aside her dangling hair and, after organizing her thoughts, recounted her experiences over the past five months.

Fighting alongside Emperor Nero and successive Roman emperors in Rome, racing across the seas with Captain Drake in Okeanos, exploring foggy London with writer Servants, and tending to the sick with Nightingale in America…

Limited by language, Ritsuka couldn’t fully convey all her experiences, but from her brief words, Naoki could sense how significant those past experiences were to her, as well as her respect and affection for the comrades who fought alongside her.

Fighting with renowned historical heroes was a priceless experience that couldn’t be gained any other way. If she left Chaldea later, these experiences of saving Human History would surely be memories Ritsuka would cherish for a lifetime and an irreplaceable treasure.

(After going through four Singularities, has she grown completely, both physically and mentally? She’s starting to look like the Fujimaru Ritsuka I know…)

“Department Head?”

Noticing the change in Naoki’s eyes, Ritsuka tilted her head. “What’s up? You’re suddenly looking at me like a dad…”

“It’s nothing, just happy to see you’ve grown like this. You can do well even when I’m not around. As your Department Head and senior, nothing’s more satisfying than that.”

“Likewise, I understand why you disobeyed my orders and came here with Mash and the others.”

Pushing aside the now-empty plate, Naoki smiled, raised his hand, and gently flicked Ritsuka’s forehead. “But worrying about me? You’re still too early for that.”

“That hurts, Department Head…” Ritsuka covered her head. “It was for your sake, you know.”

“Even Rei isn’t in a rush, so why are you? If something really happened to me, Rei would’ve come herself before you even decided to show up. The fact that she’s happily rolling around in my blankets back at Chaldea means she’s not worried about me at all. You should be like her and have more faith in me.”

Naoki said, ruffling Ritsuka’s hair.

“But… regardless of all that, I’m still grateful that you came here to help me.”

“Thank you, Fujimaru.”

“As a Master, your decision was excellent.”