"Good morning, Senpai. Did you rest well?"
Mash had changed into the outfit she wore before becoming a Servant: a short white work uniform, black silk pantyhose, and glasses. The sight immediately made Su Mo's eyes light up.
"Chirp—Fou! Chirp chirp!"
A strange voice kept chattering away. Su Mo looked closely and discovered a peculiar ball-of-yarn creature perched on Mash's shoulder?
"Holy shit, Fou's here too?"
After recognizing the creature on Mash's shoulder, Su Mo found it rather unbelievable, but he still coughed lightly. "Good morning, Mash, Fou. Oh, right—where's the Director?"
"Did someone call me?"
Suddenly, a projection screen appeared above them, followed by the image of Director Olga Marie.
"Director, it's wonderful to see that you're alright. Looks like my assumption was correct." Seeing that the Director was safe, Su Mo could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Of course—how could he not be happy that those long legs in black silk had been saved?
"Wait... did you say assumption? Did you gamble with my life?"
The Director inside the projection screen trembled with rage, her face turning red as a tomato.
"I didn't have any other choice then. I could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive, and didn't you end up surviving?" Su Mo waved his hand and grinned.
"Phew... yes. Being able to survive and return to Chaldea feels like a dream. In any case, thank you, Su Mo." Olga Marie let out a long breath, then studied Su Mo curiously.
"How did you know that placing me on Mash's shield would allow me to return safely?"
"Director, do you remember Chaldea's Heroic Spirit Prototype No. 2? The concept of possessing test subject Mash, with the catalyst being a place where Heroic Spirits gathered? That concept was stored within Mash's shield."
"I understand now." The Director nodded in realization. In other words, that concept had gathered the remnants of her consciousness, allowing her to survive.
"Since Senpai knows that my shield contains the concept of 'Heroic Spirit Gathering,' do you know the True Name of the Heroic Spirit fused with me?" Mash looked at Su Mo hopefully, expecting his answer.
"Mash, honestly, how could I possibly know something like that?" Su Mo waved his hand and answered without hesitation.
What a joke. In the story, those Knights of the Round Table who encountered Mash had immediately seen through the name of the Heroic Spirit fused with her, yet every one of them had kept silent and never told Mash. Who knew what trouble telling her now might bring?
That was also why, when the Director had named Mash's Noble Phantasm, he had not told Mash the name of the Noble Phantasm, The Already Faraway Ideal City, either.
"Is that so? Right, of course Senpai couldn't possibly know." A trace of disappointment flashed through Mash's eyes, but she quickly patted her cheeks and pulled herself together.
"Senpai, you haven't had breakfast yet, have you? Let's go together... Oh, right, Director, would you like to come too?"
"How am I supposed to eat when I'm dead?" The Director wore a helpless expression, then sighed deeply. "After you finish eating, remember to come to the control room. I'll wait for you there."
With those words, the projection screen hovering in the air vanished before Su Mo and Mash.
Seeing the Director leave, Mash turned to Su Mo and smiled softly. "Senpai, let's go."
With that, Mash took the lead and headed for the kitchen.
Just as Su Mo was about to follow, he suddenly felt a small, icy hand press down on his shoulder. Then, a faint voice that sent chills into his very heart entered his ears, making it feel as though a cold shiver had run down his spine.
"Master... you lied!"
With her hand resting on Su Mo's shoulder, Kiyohime's lips curled slightly upward. A terrifying light bloomed in her eyes as she showed him a sickly smile!
"Ghk..."
Before you continue