Chapter 392

For Ritsuka Fujimaru, there has always been a simple wish in her heart: to open a cake shop. There is no special reason; she just wants to.

"Very impressive."

Novia, without much thought, quickly replied, "Throughout our journey so far, Ritsuka, you've always been gentle and strong, and this is proof of your efforts."

"What... does that mean, Consultant?"

"In other words, the reason you're able to do all this is because you're someone who observes others carefully. It's precisely because you've been observing others that you've achieved this."

Novia patted Fou on the shoulder. "As long as you remain the same, you will definitely be able to achieve the Grand Order. That's it."

"I still don't quite understand..."

After saying that, Ritsuka raised her arm and grabbed Novia's hand tightly.

"But Consultant you have so much time, could you help me make a cake?"

Finally, the next day, the birthday boy ate the cake while crying.

"Thank you so much, both of you!"

At the same time, she cried out in her heart;

Now that things have come to this, I can't even bring myself to admit that I was secretly writing unhealthy fanfiction about Ritsuka Fujimaru and Novia as a Consultant!

The Fifth Singularity.

The Americas, engulfed in war, are now awash in blood.

A soldier was pulled from the corpse by people dressed like natives. He then washed his bronze face with the cold, blood-smelling water closest to him, but even so, blood continued to drip from his mouth. Unable to speak, he turned west, quickly made the Cross on his chest, and began to pray.

The corpses lying face up usually have their arms outstretched, as if defending against danger or praying for salvation. Everyone, whether United States or local native, wears a small brass box around their neck, either with a picture of a saint or the name of the local god.

Continuing to look around, several Phantasmal Species of unknown species were rampaging across the battlefield, uprooting trees as if to crush the earth. The surrounding area was littered with corpses in various poses, most with their limbs curled up and their faces contorted in pain, with shells of various calibers lying at their feet.

On the battlefield a little further away, a coalition of locals and Outsider was resisting an enemy that had been mysteriously summoned. The details of the shouts from both sides were easy to distinguish, and one could even tell from the sound alone that they were roaring.

The ubiquitous Gale, like a soaring eagle, pressed down on the battlefield, threatening to blow anyone who didn't stand firm into the air, making them a casualty of the aftermath of the great battle.

If the landscape on earth can be considered somewhat realistic, then the sky is a scene beyond human imagination.

"Hahahaha! Come on, come on, come on! Burn! Wrath! Protection of the foreign land!"

Clad in armor and radiating flames, the hero of the Mahabharata, the embodiment of Wrath Ashwatthama and roars with fury, raising his arms.

Before him stood a gigantic wolf, the Protection Coti of the Indian whom Novia had once encountered.

"Aww!"

Not long after, Torrential Rain downpour began.

However, the heavy rain and deafening Deafening Crash could not obscure the raging flames rising across the Americas.

Chapter 421 One day, you will understand.

Fifth Singularity, Spiritron Transfer --

1783 was the year in which the United States fought its founding war, the American Revolutionary War, to America.

At the moment the transfer was successful, this is what appeared before Novia and Mash:

The sounds of artillery fire reaching Gaochao, the deep rumble of the starting gun, the screams of shells tumbling through the air, and the deafening explosions when the shells landed—these sounds, seemingly reaching the heavens, could not drown out the bugle calls and drumbeats.

The entire world was completely submerged in a huge black fog, with thick smoke floating above the battlefield, darkening the sky and making it impossible for conventional artillery to aim at targets.

"It's a battlefield."

Novia murmured, gazing at the surrounding scenery.

Native the Americas, numerous animals, and Outsider, along with mechanized devices, all fought against soldiers constructed by Od, dressed in the same ancient attire—both of whom he was intimately familiar with.

"By the way, Consultant, where is the Master now?"

"According to news from Chaldea, they accidentally drifted 1km off course. Let's hurry and meet up."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Fou, holding Ritsuka, was looking around blankly.

The ground beneath her feet trembled incessantly, and the sky was filled with thick fog that obscured the Sun, making it feel like nighttime, with smoke everywhere.

"Varied--"

The girl didn't have time to exclaim, because everything she saw left her speechless. For people of this era, the battlefield was not a strange topic, after all, they had all heard of it or seen related texts in history books. But this was a real battlefield.

Braving the crossfire, the light Rider Od forward at full speed, cannons raining down, blasting the ground apart, and musket bullets raining down like hail, hitting soldiers and felling Rider everywhere.

The girl was in the center of the battlefield when she saw a light Rider next to her suddenly fall off his horse like a stone, lying face up on the ground in front of her. His right temple had been smashed to pieces by Od attack, and his brains were spilled all over the ground.

Or perhaps it was the local native soldier who followed closely behind, whose head had been blown off by a cannonball, yet whose headless body remained seated on the saddle, continuing forward for another dozen meters, his spear still tightly tucked under his right arm.

Even so, soldiers emerged like ants from behind them, one after another, carrying guns or spears. They trampled on the corpses of the pioneers, all shouting. Some even picked up stones from the ground and threw them, smashed them with their gun butts, kicked them, and bit them after they ran out of bullets.

The sounds of striking objects—the clashing of bayonets and swords, the whistling of bullets, the screeching of shells, the thick fog surrounding them, and the smell of gunpowder and blood—made the scene far surpass anything that words or movies could describe.

Soon, Ritsuka, caught between confusion and tension, had no time to think any further, as a cannonball was fired at her location.

At this critical moment, among the thousands of running soldiers, one of them seemed to notice the girl about to face certain death. He gritted his teeth, shoved her aside, and the result was—

He fell in front of Ritsuka Fujimaru. In order to save the girl, half of his body was completely blown away, and his facial features were now just a blur of flesh and blood.

The locals protected me!

"No! Activate the emergency response with your special costume!"

The thoughts and words were uttered at the same time, causing Ritsuka to hurriedly use her Mystic Code on the soldiers, not having time to react to the flesh and blood blasted into her face.

But the bleeding still wouldn't stop, so the girl immediately used the scroll to successfully stop the bleeding.

"The wound has been sealed..."

"Ah..."

Before the girl could even catch her breath, the man lying on the ground let out a groan.

"Aaaaaaah! It hurts! It hurts so much! It hurts so much--it hurts so much, it hurts ahaaaah!"

The man's wound reopened, unstoppable. Ritsuka kept using her special healing abilities on him, feeling that it was all her fault.

"That guy over there."

Upon hearing this, Ritsuka raised her head and looked at the White-Haired Goddess old man who had spoken.

"Are you a medical professional? A nurse? But please calm down, because your treatment is effective. If you give up on this patient, there's no hope left."

"Who are you--"

Nikolai Pirogov.

Nikolai Pirogov, the founder of field Surgery and a physician in the Russia Empire, was the first person to perform anesthesia and Surgery on the battlefield. In order to let his colleagues see firsthand the effects of anesthetic drugs, he used the anesthetic on himself on the battlefield in front of many doctors.

During the Crimean War, which made Nightingale world-famous, he participated as a doctor on the side of the Russia Empire. Like Nightingale, he valued the spiritual role provided by nurses and encouraged Russian noblewomen to organize nursing teams to come to Crimea. He was also the first person to introduce the term "female nurse" into the history of battlefield medicine.

He instructed the nurses to first classify and prioritize the wounded, who were divided into three categories: those seriously injured but treatable were in one category; those with minor injuries were treated by the nurses and waited until the doctors were available to treat them; and those who could not be treated were sent directly to the House of Rest, where they would be cared for by nurses and pastors and given end-of-life care.

Although it sounds cruel, it greatly increases the survival rate.

In the most common lower limb Surgery during the Crimean War, Pirogov achieved a 25% survival rate, compared to only around 10% for England. His upper limb amputation survival rate was 65%, higher than both England and France.

He also recognized the inherent link between poverty, hunger, Ignorance, and disease, saying, "In many cases, I prescribe milk, meat, and bread to my patients. Without these things, medicine alone is unlikely to be effective."

"Small--"

After regaining her senses, Ritsuka saw an enemy with a weapon leaping towards the old man. Just as she was about to call out to warn him, the White-Haired Goddess old man easily raised his Surgery and swiftly slashed the man's neck, then stabbed the other enemy in the chest.

"Is this power... Servant...?"

"Huh? You actually know that title?"

Pirogov raised an eyebrow slightly. "Could you be one of those Chaldea that the people under the Sun King, the president of the Americas, call yourselves? If so, you'd better hide for now and live well in this world where the glory of the Lord still endures."

In fact, if it were Nightingale who arrived, Ritsuka might have known her identity immediately because she was so famous. But it was different in Pirogov. She had never heard of her before and could only instinctively assume that she was a good person based on her previous impression.

"Waaaaaahh..."

The man's groans beneath her brought Ritsuka back to her senses. She had indeed wanted to retreat to safety as Pirogov had suggested, but she couldn't ignore it, especially since it was someone who had fallen into such a predicament to save her.

Therefore, amidst the chaos of war, the girl desperately used her ceremonial attire and emergency treatment on the soldier, not knowing if she would succeed, but simply wanting to do it.

Even though everyone in Chaldea knew that using the Magecraft released by the Mystic Code would consume the energy of the living body, and everyone tried to avoid using it continuously, she still used it repeatedly without hesitation.

Soon, the smoke and flames on the ground seemed to freeze, and the war in this area came to an end, leaving behind countless corpses and people lying on the ground, breathing and resting frantically.

"It's all over."

Pirogov turned around. "Hey you over there, let me see the patient—"

What came into the old man's view was the unconscious girl on the ground. As a senior doctor, he could naturally tell that it was caused by overwork, all for the sake of the patient.

"What an outstanding person."

Just as the old man was sighing, he met the gazes of Novia and Mash who had arrived.

For Pirogov, the Pink-Haired Girl was clearly Servant like himself, and the silver-haired youth beside her also seemed to be Servant...

Why use "seems"? Because as Eastern Orthodoxy Christian, he subconsciously felt that it must seem very bad.

Born into a military family, he naturally embraced the Eastern Orthodoxy, the official religion of the Russia Empire, from a young age. Later, he dedicated himself to alleviating the suffering of rural people at the bottom of society. In Kyiv, he established weekend schools specifically for poor children, promoted hygiene among villagers, closely monitored syphilis, treated diphtheria, and would also say a few words about vaccination.

After all, people who reach such a position have more or less heard of or seen the mysterious. For example, Tolstoy and Pirogov both saw them during the Crimean War. Some of the characters in "War and Peace" were created by Tolstoy based on the people he met on Prototype Crimea battlefield.

Are you Priest?

Looking at Novia, who was being carried by a man whose body had been blown up, Pirogor asked with considerable curiosity.

As for Ritsuka, Novia had Mash pick her up.

I guess so.

Novia nodded in agreement.

"Is that so? In that case, follow me."

Without much conversation, the old man simply led the group to a nearby makeshift Field Hospital built for patients.

Night gradually fell, and the noisy fighting of the day was replaced by the tranquility of the night. The Field Hospital was surrounded by the banging of smoothbore guns. A group of sentries walked by, on their way to change shifts. Some leaned against big trees, swaying, smoking, and cursing at each other.

After cursing, they began to pray devoutly. The mental stress of witnessing so many deaths, as well as the sheer number of wounded and the horror of their injuries, had eroded the Warrior's fighting spirit.

Imagine a person whose head and face have been turned into a mass of flesh and blood, with their eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, and tongue blurred by blasts. Yet, they still stand there, walk, and wave their arms, giving the impression that their mind is still clear. In some cases, where the face should have been, only some bloody, hanging skin remains.

These are scenes that are witnessed every day on this battlefield.

Suddenly, Ritsuka, who was lying on the bed, opened her eyes and sat up abruptly.

"Master! Are you awake?"

"Mash, what's wrong—"

"Ritsuka, you overused your Magecraft and passed out."

"Yes, just as the Consultant said, I'm so sorry I couldn't be by your side, Master..."

"I'm the one who should apologize."

Novia scratched her head. "The reason this happened might be because my modification of the control room wasn't done properly."

The girl shook her head. "It's perfectly fine. By the way, where is this?"

"Field Hospital."

"Yes, by the way, Consultant, how is that soldier?"

"He survived."

"Oh, I see. By the way, Consultant, do you know Nikolai Pirogov?"

As Ritsuka inquired, Mash also looked at Novia with curiosity.

"His achievements on the Crimea front were almost on par with Nightingale's. Under his leadership, the survival rate of wounded soldiers in the Russia Empire far exceeded that of the British and French armies. That's enough; further introduction is unnecessary. He was an exceptionally outstanding person."

During the pandemic, Russia established the Pirogov Gold Medal to recognize medical professionals and rescue workers who made significant contributions.

After Ritsuka's question was answered, Mash followed with her own inquiry.

"By the way, Consultant Novia, what do you know about this Singularity?"