Chapter 309

"Under normal circumstances, Jeanne d'Arc, as Saintess, would surely be filled with regret and despair. After all, she couldn't even determine who she was, and dragging this incomplete body was even more miserable. So, it wasn't just incomplete; it might even be broken."

"... Huh?"

Along with Jeanne d'Arc's voice, another voice rang out from the side, unnoticed by the purple-haired woman. At the same time, this voice caused the purple-haired woman, who was under Mad Enhancement, to frown slightly, because it was all too familiar.

Moreover, the moment I heard that voice, the Mad Enhancement that had been placed on me vanished. So that's it, that voice definitely belonged to that child—no, using such a term is far too impolite; it should be—

"If she were Saintess destined to save the nation, this is probably how she would think about the current situation—"

Novia's voice mingled with the chirping of insects at night, echoing quietly in the cool night air.

"'If they can use their hatred for me to cheer themselves up, that would be good too.' That thought must be much more important to her than who I am, right, Jeanne d'Arc?"

Indeed, as Novia said, Jeanne d'Arc truly thought the same way. It didn't matter if she hated herself; if it could lift her spirits, that would be the best outcome.

Because Novia's words were exactly the same as Jeanne d'Arc's thoughts, the blonde girl naturally revealed a faint smile.

"Yes!"

"I quite like this answer, after all—"

The next instant, when the purple-haired woman, Martha, saw Novia and the still-riding Jeanne d'Arc Alter Lily, tilted her head slightly. Although she had already guessed Novia's arrival, she wondered... how come the Dragon Witch Jeanne d'Arc is here too? And shrunk in size?

But none of that matters. Originally, Martha's next line was, "It's been a long time. Should I call you Pope or something else?"

After all, she had called Novia that in the last few years of her life, even though Novia said she could just call him as before, the Saintess insisted on calling him that.

Taking advantage of Martha's momentary daze, Novia reached out her hand:

"Sister Martha, it's been a long time. I'm a Priest."

"... Just a Priest?"

Hearing Novia say this, Martha's face lit up with a loving smile.

"It could be something else, but in any case, it's like this now—"

"Oh, I see. So it really has been a long time, Veya."

F3. jpg.

Chapter 355 The Great Hand of the Savior

"Saint" Saintess... Martha?"

"Yes, the Master of Chaldea is named Ritsuka Fujimaru, right? I'll call you Ritsuka from now on."

The next morning, Ritsuka and Mash, who had just woken up, stepped out of their tent and saw the extra Martha. With explanations from Novia and Jeanne d'Arc, they learned the name of this purple-haired woman: Martha, the Saintess of the first century.

Martha then placed her hands on her knees and said with a smile.

"Originally, I was Mad Enhancement, and summoned by the Dragon Witch's side, so I should have been an enemy of Tarasque and you all."

Located behind Martha, the Dragon Kind Tarasque, slightly smaller than Fafnir, let out two appropriate cries upon hearing Martha's words. This caused Fafnir, who was pretending to be asleep, to slightly open her eyes. After glancing at Tarasque once more and finding no threat to Novia, the incarnation of her ancestor Typhon, she resumed her feigned sleep.

"In short, various reasons led me to abandon darkness and embrace the light, and thus I came to assist you."

Martha clapped her hands as she spoke, looking very pleased.

"Welcome..."

Although Ritsuka was a little confused, she felt that it was a good thing that her side's fighting strength had increased.

Then she glanced at Novia and noticed that Jeanne d'Arc Lily was still riding on his shoulders. Although it might just be a child's dependence, why was Miss Jeanne d'Arc behind the tree pretending to hide herself with two saplings, yet staring at him with shining eyes...?

That was you when you were younger, not you now... but it doesn't really make a difference, since they're just different stages of the same person's life.

In reality, Ritsuka always felt that Jeanne d'Arc had become much more reserved and cautious after meeting Novia, as if she was afraid of doing something wrong that would anger Novia. It seemed that this was the reason why the younger Ritsuka had worked so hard to win Novia's favor...

"Hehe, Ritsuka, do you care a lot about Veya?"

Martha naturally noticed Ritsuka's gaze was directed, narrowed his eyes and stared at the Zohar Stone around Ritsuka's neck, casually asking a question.

"Because he is our Chaldea maintenance Consultant..."

Martha could naturally sense a certain emotion in the girl's brief reply.

If nothing unexpected happens, it's probably a secret crush.

Then Ritsuka saw Martha chuckle, and before she could ask what was wrong, Martha rested her chin on her hand and gently uttered these words—

"Who knows, Ritsuka, all your wishes might come true smoothly."

After all, the Zohar Stone can increase the probability of a "Future event" by manipulating the timeline by controlling the desires of the active subject, namely humanity, or obtain near-infinite energy. This was originally a gift that Noah, the great Noah of humanity, gave to Novia in his last moments, and was later passed on to Ritsuka Fujimaru.

"What's the meaning..."

"Hehe, don't overthink it. Just consider it my blessing for you, Saintess who has turned away from darkness and embraced the light."

Martha looked at Novia just like Ritsuka had done before, but unlike Ritsuka who was only peeking, Martha looked at her openly. Novia, sensing her gaze, also looked over, and the two locked eyes.

"After all, you're here to save the world, Ritsuka..."

With a smile, Martha continued, "Did the Dragon Witch summon Servant? This land itself has also summoned corresponding Servant. Let me take you to them."

Just as my own senses were about to be distorted, I saw the items I had given away in the past.

Before she had even seen Novia, Martha, her face contorted with madness from the Mad Enhancement she had been subjected to, sadly cupped the blood from the ground.

The essence of Servant is that they are soul-devouring beings. If they have no Od, they can only devour things that produce Od. Therefore, they must lick blood, gnaw on hearts, and crush souls. Martha, whose body was corrupted by the madness brought about by Mad Enhancement, could not even commit suicide.

"Waaah..."

Upon seeing Martha, who was like a sister to him, in such a state, Tarasque, who had appeared in the world with her, let out a mournful cry.

"I'm alright, Tarasque. I absolutely cannot let this madness invade you..."

The purple-haired Saintess trembled as she clutched the blood in her hand, wavering between an overwhelming impulse and a sliver of reason.

She knew she was making a desperate struggle, and even if she did, it wouldn't change much, but certain things, certain people...

I wonder if 'that child' will feel sad about my behavior.

It's truly astonishing that someone as earnest, honest, and gentle as you, a role model, would do such a thing. How could Saintess commit such a cruel act?

The image of Novia speaking of herself in that voice echoed in Martha's ears, causing her to give a wry smile.

Then, just as she was about to drink the human blood, the Saintess saw something in front of her that filled her with Od—

Gilgamesh in the flames, Gilgamesh in the Sun's rays, not brilliantly radiant, but merely Gilgamesh, with a slightly worn feel, it was the Walking Stick given to me by the 'Savior' in my youth, the Walking Stick I later gave to 'that child'. It should rightfully be Holy Relic buried on the Golgotha outside Jerusalem, beside the Cross where the 'Savior' suffered.

In an instant, Martha understood that it would be more accurate to say she was sent here rather than appearing here.

It certainly has 'that child's' style. Okay, it's about time to pick it up. I need to catch up with 'that child' who's watching from somewhere and return it to him.

This is also why Martha came to La Charité, where Jeanne d'Arc and the others were stationed, last night.

With Martha leading the way, Ritsuka and the others were able to meet the Servant summoned from this land without any trouble.

Marie Antoinette, the Cake Queen of France, Mozart, and Kiyohime and Elizabeth.

Martha had originally intended to tell them that the Dragon Witch's side possessed a very high-ranking Dragon Kind, Fafnir, but...

Now that the Dragon Witch have shrunk and are always sticking to Novia's side, and Fafnir is as obedient as a puppy, Martha feels there's no need to go looking for 'Siegfried, the strongest Dragon Slayer' anymore.

However, Novia was quite enthusiastic about it, so the group set off for Lyon to find Siegfried.

Upon arriving in Lyon, considering Ritsuka's health, Novia suggested that they camp for the night to rest, and everyone naturally agreed.

"Camping... is this really a good idea in an emergency like this...?"

Inside the tent, Ritsuka asked Novia, somewhat puzzled, that she was now quite used to Jeanne d'Arc Lily still clinging to Novia.

"It's alright. As Consultant, I also need to Ritsuka. Consider it my duty to take over for Da Vinci."

"Um?!"

"The kind of examination that can be done through clothing using Magecraft."

Just before the Orange-Haired Girl could panic, Novia quietly uttered these words, which quickly calmed the girl down, while also leaving her with a slight sense of disappointment.

"Hmm, it looks Ritsuka, you're not hurt."

After examining Ritsuka, Novia looked at the back of Ritsuka hand and said, "However, your body can only take on one Servant right now; any more and it will be overloaded."

At this moment, Ritsuka has already signed contracts with Jeanne d'Arc and Martha, two Servant, at Novia's suggestion. After all, this is only the first Singularity, and once she gets used to it, signing contracts with a large number of Heroic Spirit shouldn't be a problem.

"Speaking of which, Ritsuka, do you think France could become Singularity?"

"To be honest, I haven't thought about this question yet..."

"Three hundred years after 1431, the Declaration of the Rights of Man was adopted on France soil, beginning with the words 'All men are born equal and remain free and equal,' and this ideal is the pride of France."

The silver-haired youth blinked and smiled.

"If these rights were delayed, civilization would stagnate, because ideas are products of their time, and times are formed by people and nations together; they cannot be conceived on a whim. Therefore, once France was destroyed, some of its foundations crumbled. Although the revolution left behind many achievements, it also took away many lives. Come to think of it, these are things we learned in history class."

"Haha, yeah, that's true..."

You can't exactly tell Novia's Consultant that you always fall asleep in history class and only get excited when you see pictures of weapons, can you? How could you possibly say that?

"I don't think Ritsuka is the type to pay attention in class. Could she be dozing off during class?"

Suddenly, after a long silence, Jeanne d'Arc Alter Lily) spoke up.

"Sigh, what an adult! They're so disappointing..."

The silver-haired girl's words made Ritsuka hesitate. After all, from a certain perspective, what Jeanne d'Arc Alter Lily said was true, but that was because she hadn't listened carefully. If she had been serious, these things would have been no problem at all.

"So, 'Jeanne d'Arc,' you'll actually pay attention in class now? Ritsuka is quite talented."

Novia smiled and countered with a question.

Upon hearing this, Jeanne d'Arc Alter Lily narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms with a displeased expression, and began to mutter to herself.

Sure enough, whenever Dragon Husband gets involved with Ritsuka Fujimaru, he immediately stands up for her. Damn it, I'm your Master Servant! I'll definitely give him a good scolding with Command Spell someday. Damn it...

"It's alright, it's alright, Consultant. Jeanne d'Arc is just a child, I don't care at all..."

Although she was very happy that Novia spoke up for her and that Jeanne d'Arc Lily) had such an expression, Ritsuka felt conflicted, both happy and conflicted.

I'm stating the facts.

In fact, what Novia said was the truth. After all, at the end of the Human Order Incineration, Ritsuka, with the support of Chaldea, created a brand new summoning method that was equivalent to the 'anti-summoning', namely the new summoning method of dedicating all existence to the protection of Human Order, thus ignoring Goetia's anti-summoning.

Even though Goetia is the Root of all summoning magic in the world, and in theory nothing built around summoning magic should be able to interfere with it, this alone shows Ritsuka's talent in Magecraft.

However, to Jeanne d'Arc Alter Lily, Novia's words were simply a show of support for this guy, while Ritsuka just felt that Novia was encouraging her. She hadn't even been exposed to Magecraft for half a month, and no matter how she thought about it, she was at most at a level where she could barely hold her own.

Of course, the girl was very happy about this.

Earlier, outside the tent, Ritsuka, Novia, and a group of people including Jeanne d'Arc Alter Lily were chatting.

"I've always strived to improve my housework skills."

Kiyohime was cooking for everyone, looked at Mash, who was carrying firewood, and said, "After all, we don't know when we'll be able to meet our ideal 'Future'."

"An ideal 'Future'?"

"So, I heard the Buddha's words at the moment of my death, which should be the Master's will. And this time I was summoned by the Holy Grail. Although there is a Dragon Witch Master, that doesn't count. I want to burn her."

"Ah, so this is your reason for fighting, Kiyohime- sama..."

A somewhat bewildered Mash turned to look at Elizabeth, who was grilling meat, "Miss Elizabeth must be—"

"Of course, it's to kill my Future self!"

"Ah--"

Upon noticing Elizabeth grilling the meat, Kiyohime shouted, "What the hell are you doing! You frilled lizard! You've burned such precious meat to charcoal!"

"What! I'm trying to help you!"

Mash was at a loss for what to do about the two who were at odds, but seeing them like this, Marie Antoinette smiled slightly.

Let's talk about our love stories.

These words had Od power, instantly calming the two who had been at odds.

"Great idea, Marie Antoinette, that sounds interesting!"

"I'm an expert on relationship-related issues!"