Chapter 300

However... Chaldeas was wary of Ritsuka Fujimaru, the last Master to arrive, because 100% aptitude was still quite rare. Therefore, he tested her slightly, and the result was—

Chaldeas, seeing that Ritsuka Fujimaru had stumbled and fallen unconscious on the ground due to the pressure, thought he was just overthinking things. Since Ritsuka Fujimaru no real threat, he didn't bother with her anymore and let her continue lying on the ground.

And so, the Orange-Haired Girl lay peacefully in the middle of the corridor leading from Chaldea's main gate to the central control room, bathed in sunlight streaming through the window. Later, because Ritsuka's 'Ritsuka Cross Pendant' carried Novia's scent, Fou came running because of the smell.

... How come this little brat smells like her master? Is it because this Pendant was a gift from her master (Novia)?

The white Demon Hound poked the peacefully lying Ritsuka Fujimaru with its ear, but there was still no reaction.

Wow, another girl. Master (Black Princess)... Never mind, this isn't something I should be thinking about. It's none of my business. I'll just go find Mash.

And so, led by Fou, Ritsuka was successfully discovered and woken up by Mash, and also met with Lev, learning a little about her responsibilities. Although still half-asleep, she was taken to Director Olga Marie's meeting, where she was slapped by the Director and kicked out because she had fallen asleep...

"In short, thankfully, the Director's slap has completely woken you up, senior. You've just been eliminated from your first battle."

So I'm taking you to your room now.

"Hey hey hey, did I get hit?!"

The Orange-Haired Girl, oblivious to the fact that she had been beaten, was completely unaware that she had been assaulted.

"... Anyway, we've arrived at our destination. This is your personal room, senior."

Mash nodded slightly to Ritsuka. "I'm sorry, senpai. Since I'm part of A-Team, which is in its first operation, I have to head back quickly. I'll take my leave now. If we're lucky, we should meet again."

"Oh, okay..."

Watching Mash, whom she had just met, turn and leave, Ritsuka Fujimaru felt a little disappointed.

After all, from Mash's words and explanations, it was clear that Group A was a group of people who were hard to meet. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said something so ambiguous like, "If we're lucky, we might meet again." Ritsuka wasn't disappointed; she was just a little unaccustomed to being in an unfamiliar environment again.

The girl was also puzzled as to why she felt dizzy as soon as she came in, which led to her being slapped, though she felt nothing at all.

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Ritsuka Fujimaru took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the room Mash had mentioned.

Hi~ I'm coming in--

"Who are you?! This is an empty room, our refuge when we skip work!! Who gave you permission to come in!?"

Romani, who was secretly slacking off here, was startled. In fact, Ritsuka herself also seemed startled and froze on the spot. This wasn't because of Romani's reaction, but because there was another person in the room besides Romani—

"Long time no see, Ritsuka. How have you been lately?"

The mere act of having one's name called is enough to make a girl's heart flutter.

From now on, I'll be with Xiao Xiang's father Novia, forever... Time to work?

Gudako.

Chapter 348 Divorce is Forbidden and Human Order Incineration.

"I see, so you already knew each other before entering Chaldea... Consultant Novia and Ritsuka Fujimaru..."

After seeing the two greet each other and then hearing their explanations, Romani wore an expression of surprise.

I didn't Consultant Novia to be married and have children at such a young age. You wouldn't guess it just by looking at her. I don't think her name is listed in her file... After all, she's a member of the Atlas Institute, so maintaining her appearance shouldn't be a big problem for her. But it's true that meeting her child's classmate with that kind of appearance would definitely be quite a shock.

Romani leaned against the fireplace and took a bite of Strawberry Cake. In a short time, he witnessed the change in the Orange-Haired Girl's attitude as she drank tea, from being excited at first to becoming somewhat quiet. This reminded him of something that had happened to him in the past.

That was after he became human. During a Holy Grail War, he protected a female Servant who was about to 'leave the stage,' and thus successfully gained her gratitude. Thinking about it now, it's quite a subtle feeling. After all, he became human from Servant, which can be described as going from the 'past' to the 'present'.

The Servant represents the 'past', in other words, he received gratitude from the 'past'.

However, Romani also understood that the main reason was that he was now a 'human'. If he were still in Solomon's time, he would not have reacted no matter how much gratitude he received, nor would he have taken the initiative to help with the impending crisis; instead, he would have just watched it happen.

Just as my father, the Great King, once said to me when I was not yet king, 'You, as a child offered to the Deity, this is quite cruel.'

Even in that state of mind, there are still people willing to treat me with genuine kindness, even though I can't possibly reciprocate in the slightest.

"What, Romani, did seeing Ritsuka and me like this remind you of someone you used to know?"

Suddenly, Novia, who had been talking to Ritsuka, smiled and spoke to Romani, who was deep in thought.

"... Why, why do you say that...?"

"Because your face showed an expression of longing for the past, yet a reluctance to be questioned."

Novia said while sipping her tea, "And you just unconsciously touched your Ring, didn't you? I know, even though you often wear gloves, I've seen you wash your hands before. So, Doctor, you must be married, right? Are you missing your family?"

It must be said that Novia's words were indeed accurate. However, upon seeing this, Romani once again dismissed his speculation that Novia might be related to the 'Pope Novia', because the Ring on his hand was not a wedding Ring, but a distant gift left to the Future by 'King Solomon' according to God's instructions when he passed away. It was also a Holy Relic that the old Director unearthed when he summoned Solomon during the Holy Grail War.

Therefore, someone of that scale would naturally be able to recognize his true form as Solomon at a glance, without even needing to look at the Ring; a single glance at himself would suffice.

However, the Consultant from Novia only recognized it as a wedding Ring, so the Answer is obvious: it was really just a coincidence.

So, Romani shook his head as he answered:

"Well, to put it simply, we're probably already divorced..."

Romani was referring to the Queen of Sheba whom he met during the reign of King Solomon. It wasn't until he truly became human that, in his rare moments of leisure, Romani realized the 'feelings' of the former queen for him. But he also thought, 'The queen loved Solomon as king. As a human, I shouldn't be worthy of her love,' using this thought to reassure himself somewhat.

"Yeah."

"Hey, divorce... divorce..."

The words that Romani uttered surprised Ritsuka Fujimaru, who had just graduated from High School. This made the girl think of the seemingly lazy Romani, "I still hope that Dr. Roman can get over his failed marriage quickly..." That was roughly the idea.

But when the topic of divorce came up, Ritsuka Fujimaru felt it was a bit strange. She remembered how deeply she had been devastated after seeing Novia's wife, and how it took her several days to revisit Xiao Xiang's Coffee Shop and subtly inquire about it.

"Mother? I don't know, Xiao Xiang. I only know that Mom is the same as Mother, except that Mom did very bad things to Father, so Xiao Xiang doesn't want to call her that, so she calls her a bad person."

Could it be that Xiao Xiang's mother and her mother are not the same person? That would be illegal...

Ritsuka was quite puzzled by this, and if the tall, blonde woman could be the mother, then surely the little Black-Haired Girl couldn't be the mother, could she?

This topic had been Ritsuka in Ritsuka's heart, but now that the topic of 'divorce' has been brought up again.

Perhaps feeling that there was no need to discuss this topic further, Ritsuka decided to change the subject for the two of them.

"To be honest, when I came to Chaldea, I don't know what was wrong with me, but I always felt like my head was in a mess, and I had a bit of an urge to doze off."

Ritsuka chuckled as she spoke, rubbing her head. "According to Mash, the Director even scolded me, but I was asleep, so I didn't feel a thing, hahaha..."

Ritsuka Fujimaru's words gave Romani a wake-up call. He turned to look at Novia and asked, puzzled:

"This is the first official start of the Spiritron Transfer experiment. Aren't you going to be watching the whole thing, Consultant Novia? I was at least kicked out by the Director for the reason that 'the atmosphere can't be serious as long as Romani is around!' Shouldn't Consultant Novia have no reason to be reprimanded?"

As the current maintainer of all Chaldea facilities, Novia should have gone to the control room with Director Olga Marie after the meeting to monitor the entire process of this Spiritron Transfer experiment, instead of slacking off here with Romani. Moreover, since Novia is an external staff member of the Atlas Institute, Olga Marie is unlikely to easily show any displeasure.

"Because the Director said he'd call me over later..."

Novia paused, glancing at the badge flashing at her waist. "Looks like it's about time. Ritsuka, you and Romani stay here. I'm leaving now."

And so, Novia left the room and headed to the assembly point for the first Spiritron Transfer experiment.

After Novia left, Ritsuka Fujimaru and Dr. Roman fell silent.

"Well, although you already know me from Novia's Consultant, Ritsuka Fujimaru, I'd still like to introduce myself properly again."

To break the ice, Romani spoke up.

"Yes, nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you in the future. I am the head of the medical department, Romani Archaman. I don't know why everyone calls me Dr. Roman. I don't know the reason, but it just sounds nice. Please don't be shy, just call me Dr. Roman like Consultant Novia does."

"... Hmm, so Dr. Roman is actually quite gentle..."

Ritsuka subconsciously began to categorize Romani.

"..."

This left Romani at a loss for words when answering Ritsuka seemed completely oblivious to the strangeness of her words, simply staring at Romani with her eyes fixed on him.

Isn't this child a little too outgoing? She clearly has amazing social skills, but why is she acting differently when she was Consultant with Novia? Could it be that the presence of an elder made her feel more at ease?

That should be the case, after all, they are the parents of a familiar junior, so they can be considered elders in some sense.

Just as Romani was pondering how to continue the conversation, an announcement suddenly came over the loudspeaker in the room:

"Romani, the Spiritron Transfer is about to begin. Just in case, could you come over for a moment? A-Team is in good condition, but some people in other groups, including Group B, who haven't adapted yet, are showing some abnormal phenomena. It's probably due to anxiety, since the basket is like a capsule."

"Oh dear, it's Lev. That's so pitiful. I'll go give them some anesthesia."

"Okay, please hurry. You're in the infirmary now, right? It should only take two minutes to get there from there."

After hearing the somewhat familiar voice on the radio fade away, Ritsuka looked at Romani, who was looking at her with an embarrassed expression, and said without hesitation:

"This isn't the infirmary, is it? Dr. Roman skipping work is really bad behavior."

"... Aww... Don't say it out loud--"

Excuse me, is Ritsuka Fujimaru there?

The door opened again, and a serious-looking girl walked in.

"I am Ritsuka Fujimaru, and you are?"

"Oh, it's Little Gran. What brings you here all of a sudden?"

The newcomer was none other than Little Da Vinci, a figure that Romani rarely encountered in Chaldea, much like Fou.

"I'm sorry, Mani, it's confidential, I can't say."

Little Da Vinci shook his head, then walked to Ritsuka's side and extended his hand. "Please lie down, Ritsuka Fujimaru. I should begin my facial manipulation."

"... Huh? Why?"

Although she had no idea what was going on, Ritsuka obediently lay down as Little Da Vinci had instructed, and closed her eyes as well.

Soon Ritsuka felt a pair of hands touching her face, which felt incredibly comfortable; in other words, she was being massaged.

"Alright, that's done. See you next time, both of you."

After withdrawing his hand from massaging Ritsuka's face, Little Da Vinci smiled with the joy of 'mission accomplished' and skipped out of the room.

"What on earth is going on...?"

Ritsuka watched the departing figure of Little Da Vinci and unconsciously rubbed her cheek. Even though it was only for a minute, it felt really good, like the pain of being hit by the Director had completely healed.

"The Chaldea Little Gran really command from Gran are Da Vinci, the Director, and Consultant Novia; after all, he's Gran's Teacher."

Romani said thoughtfully, "But why did he massage your face, Fujimaru? Could it be that the Director felt he went too far in scolding you? That can't be right, how could the Director possibly admit his mistakes?"

After hearing Romani's words, Ritsuka thoughtfully touched her face.

She thought it might have been Novia who called him, but she was also curious. She had only mentioned being scolded by the Director, omitting the part about being slapped. If it was Novia, how did he find out? Could it be some kind of Magecraft ability? Then why didn't he come himself, but instead called this Gran? Could it be that she didn't know how? No, if it were Teacher, he should be able to come too, so only a student would.

Oh, I see.

The Orange-Haired Girl quickly figured it out. It was probably because Novia thought he looked too young, so she wanted to avoid any unnecessary entanglements. And rightly so, since she already had a lover, she needed to be more mature with the opposite sex, especially since she already had two grown children...

"Well..."

Thus, in Romani's eyes, the vibrant Orange-Haired Girl sighed with what seemed to be an incredibly complex expression.

Although he didn't quite understand, and couldn't find out why Little Da Vinci had come, Romani decided to go to the control room as Lev had asked.

"Let's not talk about it for now. Once things calm down, Fujimaru, come visit the infirmary. I'll treat you to some delicious cake next time."

At that very moment, the entire Chaldea was plunged into utter darkness.

A little earlier, somewhere beyond time, a person sat on a decaying Throne, with a landscape of blue and white clouds behind him, and a halo that seemed to be forming, hazy and indistinct. Around the steps were half-built pillars covered in moss.

This place is the Temple of the Grand Temple of Time.

"Flauros has already placed the Holy Grail in every era."

"Lighting the lamp, one understands all, and therefore sighs at all!"

"We will dig back into the past and destroy the Future!"

Seated on his Throne, Goetia rested his chin on his hand, displaying an indifferent attitude as he listened to the cheers of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars.

Now that the time has come, the first step in rebuilding the 'great work of God' is about to begin, but Goetia remains silent, unlike the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars who uttered joyful sounds. The reason is simple: the maintenance Consultant from the Atlas Institute who recently came to Chaldea.

Flauros, as Lev, failed to recognize him, but Goetia found him incredibly familiar. Although he appeared to be just an ordinary person, he possessed an aura that even Raef's Clairvoyance could not penetrate, and he had the exact same appearance. This reminded Raef of the person he had encountered when he was still in his juvenile form and had not yet reached his complete form.

That incident was undoubtedly a disgrace for Goetia, and it intensified his denial of humanity.

Therefore, he couldn't help but be wary of the Pope Novia, who appeared at the last moment. He had even secretly observed the previous Snowfield Holy Grail, but to no avail. This inevitably made him suspicious of Novia, the maintenance personnel who suddenly arrived in Chaldea.

But Goetia was also puzzled by this. There was no way his plan could escape their notice, so why were they standing by and watching?

It's impossible that he, like Solomon, possessed the ability to resolve all disasters yet chose to stand by and watch them unfold; it must be, it must be—

Goetia understood why Draco's beastly aura had disappeared. The Second Pope, who had once been a disciple but had now fallen into this state, was a disaster and was thus dealt with by Novia. However, he was not, which meant that what he had done had been recognized by Novia.