Waver looked at the damaged Magic Crest in his hand, tears streaming down his face. He deeply regretted everything, but he still had to follow his teacher's orders. He could not immediately return to the Clock Tower; he had to remain outside for some time before going back.
How long would that be? Waver did not know. But before then, he wanted to visit that idiot's homeland—the homeland of the King of Conquerors.
He could not see. He could not see anything. Mikaela could clearly sense that he could not see a thing. It was completely dark. He could see only darkness, nothing else.
"..."
Had he gone blind? No, that was not it. Rather, his five senses had become terribly dull, and his eyes were merely one part of it. Mikaela placed his hand on the ground and felt around. After roughly thirty seconds, he seemed to touch a lump of mud. Feeling it more carefully, it appeared to be mud mixed with gravel.
He could hear some sounds. Mikaela could hear "someone" calling out something, but he could not make out what they were saying at all.
The smell around him was also rather strange. How should he put it...? There seemed to be a burnt smell in the air. It was quite unpleasant, but if he did not deliberately breathe it in, he could not smell it.
"Has my sense of pain weakened too?" Mikaela pinched a piece of flesh at his waist, using considerable force, but he felt little pain. He could only sense that something was "pinching" him.
'The spiritual foundation you had as a Servant has already been reclaimed by the "world." As an ordinary person, there is nothing you can do.'
'Without a Servant's spiritual foundation, even if you have materialized, you possess only an ordinary human body. Though you are not a Heroic Spirit of legend, your soul is indeed incredibly powerful. If you leave this place...'
'You are no idiot. You naturally know what kind of conflict will arise between an ordinary body and a powerful soul, and what the outcome will be.'
The words from within the Holy Grail's internal space echoed in Mikaela's mind.
That was right. He was not some Heroic Spirit. He had never possessed something called a "spiritual foundation" in the first place. After the Holy Grail War ended—
The spiritual foundation the world had bestowed upon him had naturally been taken back. Without it... he was practically no different from an ordinary person. Although his soul was powerful, this body made from black mud was still far too weak.
"Crack."
With a crisp sound, Mikaela crushed the card in his hand. He transformed into Theresa, but unfortunately... he still could not see anything.
"...Even transforming does not work? It seems I have to find a way to adapt to this body." Mikaela released the transformation and sighed. "Is this the price of forcibly materializing without a spiritual foundation?"
Mikaela more or less understood his condition. He sighed. Judging from reality, he had indeed succeeded.
The Lesser Holy Grail had also settled down, residing in the area around his heart. She was slowly providing him with magical energy. Since the Holy Grail War had ended, the Lesser Holy Grail no longer seemed to be directly connected to the Greater Holy Grail.
Mikaela could no longer enjoy the magical energy accumulated by the Greater Holy Grail over sixty years.
Still, even if the Lesser Holy Grail provided little magical energy, it was enough for Mikaela to trade blows with a first-rate Heroic Spirit.
"Do I still need to accumulate magical energy? This really is... hard to put into words." In the darkness, Mikaela stood up and slowly walked forward. Before long, he found a tree. He placed his hand on it, intending to conduct an experiment.
Since everything before his eyes was dark, Mikaela planned to try using magical energy for the most basic form of "sensing."
However, because he had no knowledge in that area, Mikaela merely released his magical energy. The energy he sent out simply dissipated.
"Mm..." Mikaela hesitated. He had never learned this sort of thing, so naturally he did not know how to use sensing magecraft. Simply releasing magical energy had yielded no information at all.
"Yo, looks like you need a little help, naked... pretty boy?"
Mikaela suddenly heard a very familiar female voice. He raised his head and "looked" around.
"Hmm? Hmmmmm?? I see. Is your soul too powerful and your body too weak, leaving you in this state?"
The woman seemed to see through Mikaela's condition at a glance. Somewhat surprised, she said, "And there were originally traces of a spiritual foundation in this body, but for some reason, it suddenly vanished... That is why your body is so fragile."
"Who are you?" Mikaela asked in confusion. He did not understand who this woman beside him was, and why her voice sounded so familiar.
"Me? I am merely a traveler. I am nowhere, yet I am everywhere~"
"Simply put, I am nowhere at all—or rather, I am everywhere. Hahahahaha~ Just kidding. Anyway, I came to help you out. You resemble a deceased friend of mine, with the same hairstyle and hair color, so I came on a whim to lend a hand. Tsk, tsk, what a pity you are not wearing a maid outfit."
The woman seemed to be reminiscing about something. As she supported Mikaela, she also dressed him in a set of clothes.
My wife!.jpg
Shopkeeper's Daughter
With the mysterious woman's help, Mikaela was admitted to the hospital. She herself disappeared without explanation.
According to the nurse, the lady who had brought him to the hospital had been about to pay his medical bills when she learned that all treatment costs were waived. She then left with a relaxed expression.
At the hospital, Mikaela underwent examinations every day. The results were shocking: there was nothing abnormal about his body, yet for some reason, it was as though part of his five senses had gone missing.
His vision in particular was the most severely affected. It was as though he did not have eyes at all. Although the doctors prescribed some medicine for Mikaela to try, the other four senses recovered somewhat, while his vision remained unrecovered.
In the end, the doctors concluded that Mikaela might have suffered some strange injury in that great fire, which had caused him to "go blind."
The doctors did not investigate any further. They understood very well that some things lay beyond the scope of medicine. Having lived in Fuyuki City for so long, they were not fools. They knew that some matters simply could not be explained.
"..."
Lying on the hospital bed, Mikaela had made his originally weak body somewhat stronger through several days of rehabilitation training.
His hearing, smell, taste, and touch had largely recovered, but for some reason, his vision still could not return. At that moment, Mikaela quietly waited for someone who could answer his questions to arrive.
"Yo, it looks like you were waiting for me."
While undergoing rehabilitation training with a nurse accompanying him, Mikaela heard that familiar voice. He turned toward its source. This time, he could accurately tell which direction the voice came from.
"Looks like you have not recovered yet. Is it really more serious than I imagined?" The woman came to Mikaela's side and naturally supported him. With a light laugh, she said, "Miss Nurse, you may leave first. I will take care of this 'friend.'"
"Oh, all right." The nurse left, apparently truly believing that the woman was Mikaela's friend.
"You are my 'friend'?" Mikaela had always felt that the woman's voice was familiar, yet he could never remember who she was. If he could see her, perhaps he would remember.
But now, although he could hear her voice, all he could see was darkness.
Still, Mikaela was highly adaptable. He had endured even his most difficult days. Being deprived of his sight was hardly a major problem to him.
"That is a lie~ You resemble my friend very much, but you are not my friend~" The woman smiled playfully. She reached out, seemingly stroking Mikaela's hair, and praised, "I had only one friend. She was the first, and she was also the last."
"..." Mikaela fell silent, not knowing what to say.
"Oh! Right, I did not just come to see you this time. You do not have a job, do you?" The woman seemed to recall something and continued, "Your recovery is not especially fast, and you cannot stay in the hospital forever. I also found you a job while I was at it. It is basically doing odd jobs."
"Odd jobs?" Mikaela raised an eyebrow. His body had not recovered, but it was not so bad that he needed to do odd jobs!
Recently, through the power of the Lesser Holy Grail inside his body, he had successfully developed a skill for sensing his surroundings. The range was rather short—around five meters.
But after prolonged use and research, Mikaela had expanded its range. For instance, he could now sense the woman beside him's height and measurements.
Still... how should he put it? She seemed a little too "ordinary." Whether it was her height or her measurements, everything was far too unremarkable, just like an ordinary girl one could find anywhere.
"Yes! Odd jobs. Odd jobs are pretty good. You are no longer a Servant, merely an ordinary person." The woman spoke with utmost seriousness. "Since you are an ordinary person, you should live like one. Working to earn money and support yourself is perfectly normal. If I could stay here for long, I would even want to open a Maid Cafe and have you work as a maid."
"????" Mikaela was deeply confused. Ever since meeting her five days ago, she seemed to have a particular obsession with maids.
Could she be one of those legendary maid fanatics?
"Are you not from this world?" Though confused, Mikaela continued asking, "And last time, you said you were a traveler. You said you were nowhere, yet everywhere."
"You sure have a lot of questions. Besides, I should be the one asking you questions." The woman scratched her head in distress, but soon spoke as though it did not matter. "Have you watched Kamen Rider?"
"No, but I have heard of it." Mikaela had naturally never watched Kamen Rider, though in his life before his previous one, he had heard others mention it.
"You know Decade, right? Oh~ I forgot, this era does not have Decade yet." The woman stuck out her tongue, nearly forgetting that this world had not filmed that Kamen Rider series yet.
"???"
Mikaela was completely baffled. The amount of information in her words was enormous.
"Simply put, I am someone who travels everywhere. From time to time, I cross over into other worlds. You can understand this ability as a 'passive skill.' Even I do not know which world I will end up in."
The woman shrugged and sighed. "This ability satisfies my desire to travel. I can freely pass through different worlds and see different scenery at the same time."
"Once a week, you passively travel to another world?" Mikaela asked.
"Hm? How did you know??" The woman was full of question marks, unable to understand why he knew that she crossed worlds once every week.
"If we include our first meeting, six days have passed as of today. You just said that you could not remain here for long, so I guessed that you would leave this world soon." Mikaela explained his reasoning.
"Mm~~ Correct~ I am running away tomorrow morning, so over the past few days, I looked around at the nearby buildings and facilities, then found you a job while I was at it..."
At that point, the woman suddenly froze. Right! She was talking to this little guy about work. Why had she said so much nonsense??
"Odd jobs? I do not really like odd jobs." Mikaela also sensed the emotional shift from the woman beside him and calmly said, "If it is specifically washing dishes and taking out garbage, I will not do it."
"No, no, washing dishes and taking out garbage are merely incidental. Your job is to care for a pregnant woman and handle things like laundry and cooking. As for buying groceries... you can probably manage that..."
By the end, the woman spoke rather awkwardly. "Although I know you are 'looking' at me, I do not know how much you can actually 'see.'"
"Care for a pregnant woman?" Mikaela frowned slightly. "I can do that, but you want a 'pseudo-Servant' to care for a pregnant woman?"
"Why not? What is wrong with being a pseudo-Servant? You have a body now. You are not a spiritual body made of magical energy anymore. You still get hungry!" The woman argued confidently. "Isn't living all about eating?!"
"And in your current state, how could you possibly find work easily in modern Japan? With your abilities, you could easily take money from punks and hooligans, but that money would only last for a while. You would be better off finding a proper job to support yourself."
"With a proper job, you can earn money while gradually training your body and making it stronger. Then your five senses will more or less recover. Once your body recovers, you can leave whenever you want, and no one will be able to stop you."
Mikaela was speechless in the face of the woman's words. But in the end, he sighed inwardly and felt that she had a point. He could not stay in the hospital forever. He needed a job to support himself.
With that in mind, Mikaela agreed to the mysterious woman's proposal.
"Great! Then let us go meet Mr. Fujimaru and Mrs. Fujimaru. They are in this hospital too." The woman seemed very happy that Mikaela had agreed.
"Wait. What is your name?"
As the woman pulled him along, Mikaela finally could not help asking. He wanted to know her name.
"Me? You can call me Shopkeeper's Daughter~ Although my shop and my parents have long been gone~ But that was already several centuries ago. I have grown used to calling myself Shopkeeper's Daughter. As for my real name~ I have mostly forgotten it too."
Please Take Care of Them
Shopkeeper's Daughter.
Those four words held a very deep meaning for Mikaela. Back when he could not even afford food, it had been the shopkeeper of that Maid Cafe who took him in...
And her daughter, Shopkeeper's Daughter, was someone familiar whose name he could not remember.
"You..."
Mikaela seemed about to ask something, but she spoke first.
"Mm, these two are Mr. Fujimaru and Mrs. Fujimaru. Well~ it does not matter that you cannot see them." Shopkeeper's Daughter pulled Mikaela before a married couple and said cheerfully, "You can explain things yourselves from here. I will be leaving first. There is still plenty of scenery waiting for me to see~"
As soon as she finished speaking, Shopkeeper's Daughter ran off as if fleeing. Mikaela's desire to ask questions vanished as well.
She... seemed to be deliberately avoiding him. Though he did not know why, Mikaela could sense that she had already guessed what he wanted to ask. To avoid answering, she had decisively left.
"Hello."
After Shopkeeper's Daughter left, Mr. Fujimaru spoke in a gentle tone. "I believe you are the unusual person our benefactor mentioned."
"Benefactor? Unusual person?" Mikaela looked at Mr. Fujimaru in confusion, not understanding what Shopkeeper's Daughter had done. And... why was he calling Mikaela unusual?
"A few days ago, our benefactor saved us from a gas explosion caused by a forest fire. Although I do not know how our benefactor did it, our entire family is deeply grateful." Mr. Fujimaru spoke earnestly. "If not for our benefactor, our entire family would have perished in the flames, including my unborn child..."
At those words, Mrs. Fujimaru, standing nearby, gave off a trace of fear and terror. Clearly, she could not forget the terrifying scene from six days ago.
They had also been among the victims at the time. If not for that passing benefactor who had saved them, then in the midst of their sweet dreams... they would have been swallowed by fire.
"..." Mikaela suddenly fell silent. Though he had moved to a sparsely populated area, the situation at the time had been too urgent for him to observe his surroundings, so he had allowed the Lesser Holy Grail to manifest.
Later, because he had entered the Holy Grail's internal space, Mikaela had lost his sense of time. By the time he woke up, he did not know how long had passed.
However, judging from the hospital where he was staying, Tohno Shiro and the Holy Church had already begun compensating those injured because of the Holy Grail War.
"For my wife's safety, our benefactor recommended you to us." Mr. Fujimaru looked at Mikaela with great seriousness. "Our benefactor said she knew an unusual person. If he agreed to protect us, then we would not suffer much harm before this child was born. So... please!"
If they had not experienced that fire, Mr. Fujimaru would likely never have believed that there were people in this world with strange abilities. This was an age of science, after all. Everything should be explained scientifically!
But on the night six days ago, their benefactor told them to stand still and not move, saying that she would teleport them out shortly.
Then, with a whoosh, the couple had been transported to a safe area. That was absolutely not something science could explain!!!
For the sake of his child, Mr. Fujimaru sincerely begged Mikaela to protect them—or rather... to protect the child in his wife's womb.
"Mm, I can agree to your request, but I am not some bodyguard. I am merely a maid who cleans and cooks. If danger arises that threatens me personally, then I absolutely will not intervene." Seeing Mr. Fujimaru's respectful attitude, Mikaela felt somewhat helpless and could only state his position.
Mikaela had originally thought that Mr. Fujimaru would complain about having a blind person work as a maid. His current condition truly counted as a disability, and being rejected was only natural.
But Shopkeeper's Daughter seemed to have foreseen this. She had told Mr. Fujimaru that Mikaela was an unusual person.
That was why Mr. Fujimaru treated Mikaela so respectfully, practically begging him to come to his home and protect his wife.
Hearing Mikaela's words, Mr. Fujimaru readily replied, "No problem. If you yourself would be endangered, then naturally you do not need to concern yourself with us."
"..." Those words made Mikaela think more highly of Mr. Fujimaru. From the perspective of ordinary people, what Mikaela had said could practically be understood as the words of an ungrateful wretch.
He would eat their food and take their money, then walk away without a second thought when danger came.
Before you continue