"It was now 4:10 p.m., December 31, 2018."
Mash looked somewhat nervously at the clock inside the detention room.
"There are eight hours left until January 1, 2019."
"Leonardo da Vinci and Miss Lawrence still haven't returned. We know they probably went to work on thawing out Team A, but..."
Fujimaru Ritsuka could not sit still.
Four days had been far too hard to endure.
It was not merely that there had been no entertainment in the detention room. More importantly, they were worried about their companions.
First Fujimaru Ritsuka, then Mash, then Munier, and finally Leonardo da Vinci, who still had not returned after being summoned to the Control Room to participate in Team A's thawing—every one of them had been left uneasy by the tedious interrogations.
Knock knock knock—
Just as Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash were talking, someone knocked loudly on the detention room door—loud enough to startle the three people inside, along with Fou, the little white beast.
"Pardon the interruption."
The voice sounded somewhat familiar.
When they opened the door, the person standing outside was the solemn-faced Holy Church executor dressed as a priest—Kirei Kotomine.
"Greetings, Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mr. Munier, and the young Demi-Servant."
"It seems you have rested well."
Kirei Kotomine made no special movement. He merely stood there, yet all three people in the room simultaneously felt their hairs stand on end.
"What do you want?"
"Father Kotomine."
Shielding Mash behind him, Fujimaru Ritsuka watched Kirei Kotomine warily.
"Father will do. There is no need for a prefix; my name has no special meaning."
Kirei Kotomine shook his head.
"As for what I want... I wished to have one final talk with you before this is over, so I stopped by."
"...You said it was over?"
Munier frowned and desperately tried to shoo Fou