Bai Ming glanced at Mash, then said to Akuta Hinako, "Of course. As long as you don't mind getting tired."
"Of course I don't."
Namu Three, Poor Roman Was Driven into a Corner by the Queen of Sheba
With Akuta Hinako joining in, Mash felt her senior's attacks growing increasingly ruthless, several times faster than even that virtual Cú Chulainn's earlier attacks.
Mash and Akuta Hinako immediately began suffering bitterly. Mash, who had already been drilled for a long time, was knocked to the ground by Bai Ming after holding out for only a short while, leaving Akuta Hinako alone to desperately resist Bai Ming's attacks.
Without Mash sharing the burden, Akuta Hinako's pressure gauge exploded in an instant.
After only a few exchanges, the twin swords in her hands were knocked flying by Bai Ming. His blade then came to rest against Akuta Hinako's fair, elegant neck. A subtle smile appeared on her face, and she directly leaned into it.
Bai Ming was so startled that he kicked Akuta Hinako away at once—not because he feared she would kill herself. He had just changed into clean clothes today. Sweat would be easy enough to wash out, but blood would be a pain.
Akuta Hinako clutched her stomach and lay quietly on the ground, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Do your own post-battle review. I won't say much more here."
"Senior..." Mash said weakly. "There's something I want to tell you."
Bai Ming reached out toward Akuta Hinako, who was lying on the floor playing dead. Akuta Hinako clicked her tongue and reluctantly offered him her hand, only for Bai Ming to pull her to her feet.
"Go ahead."
Mash spoke earnestly. "I want to become someone like you, Senior. Please help me."
"Rejected."
It was not only Bai Ming who objected. Akuta Hinako also spoke up. "Becoming someone like Bai Ming means completely giving up all hope for this world."
Bai Ming did not refute Akuta Hinako, while Mash fell into thought before saying, "But compared to all the Magi I've met, Senior is already the most normal one."
Akuta Hinako retorted, "Isn't Fujimaru Ritsuka, that ordinary person, the most normal one?"
"Is Fujimaru Ritsuka really ordinary?" Bai Ming said. "She's the sort of person who goes with the flow and adapts wherever she ends up. A normal person, after seeing humanity's destruction, Demon God Pillars, time travel, and all that, would feel nothing but fear after the initial novelty wore off, right? But have you ever seen Fujimaru Ritsuka display anything resembling 'fear'?"
"Apparently not?" Only then did Akuta Hinako realize what felt wrong. "It's like she simply doesn't care about anything..."
Fujimaru Ritsuka really did have an unusually big heart.
"Mash, can you tell me why you want to become someone like me?"
"Ah..." Mash hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Senior taught me how to provoke opponents with words during battle and make them lose their heads. You also taught me that whether an enemy has their own hardships or not, we must never stop attacking before they completely lose the ability to resist. You taught me to make my own decisions, and you cured my body too... So I want to become someone like you, someone who can handle matters alone."
At this point, Mash smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I learned something when Miss Akuta Hinako and Senior were insulting each other too."
Akuta Hinako wore a strange expression. "That is something you really don't need to learn."
What had happened to the perfectly good Mash? Luckily Roman was not here, or his heart would have shattered into pieces... Wait...
"Bai Ming, I have a question. Do you know a dark-skinned beast-eared woman dressed rather revealingly? Preferably the Servant kind."
"...?"
For a moment, Bai Ming did not know whether Akuta Hinako or he himself was the more absurd one.
"I do. What happened?"
Akuta Hinako then told Bai Ming what she had seen in the training room while searching for him. Bai Ming fell silent, then prepared a recording magecraft spell and went to find Roman.
"Come on, let's watch Roman getting domestically abused."
"Ah—come to think of it, I did see the Doctor wearing a gold ring on his ring finger. And after Senior exposed that the Doctor used to be King Solomon, his most famous wife could only be that person, right?"
The clever Mash had already guessed who the dark-skinned beast-eared woman Akuta Hinako mentioned was.
"Yes. The queen from the legend who gave him three riddles."
At the Entrance to Da Vinci's Magic Workshop
Roman stared despairingly at the tightly sealed door, locked shut by the Magecraft Barrier Da Vinci had set up. At the other end of the corridor stood the entirely unhurried Queen of Sheba. Watching the dark-skinned beast-eared woman approach step by step, Roman shut his eyes and cried out:
"What is going on?! Da Vinci, get out here and explain this properly! Why does that Holy Grail dress Ritsuka is holding have wish-granting functions?!"
Da Vinci gave no response, because she was not in her Magic Workshop at all. She was in Chaldea's cafeteria, diligently studying Bai Ming's favorite dishes in order to obtain Magic Materials from him that normal people could never possibly get.
Despair spread through Roman's heart.
Even though most of King Solomon's life had been puppet-like, and he had not possessed much in the way of emotions, it had not always been that way. For example, there was the night King Solomon never wanted to remember after Doctor Roman's father, King David, made a deal with the Queen of Sheba.
"My dear King~ You make me suffer so by hiding from me~ Or is it that you gained emotions you never had after becoming an ordinary person?"
The dark-skinned beast-eared woman drew ever closer to Roman, while Roman had nowhere left to retreat. As Queen of Sheba erected a soundproof Magecraft Barrier, she said, "Can you still answer my questions now?"
Queen of Sheba knew that this was King Solomon wearing human skin, stripped of his omniscience and omnipotence. Thus, she would not ask those three questions. At this moment, she simply found it amusing to see King Solomon, now capable of emotion, looking so terrified at the sight of her, and deliberately teased him.
She could not understand why King Solomon had changed from a dark-skinned man into a pale-skinned one.
Roman's whole body began to tremble as he let out a tragic cry. "Bai Ming! Save me! Hurry and save me! I'll approve all your leave requests from now on!"
Bai Ming, who had originally planned to record Roman but had been intercepted by Da Vinci halfway through, seemed to hear Roman's plea for help. But seeing that Mash and Olga Marie beside him, as well as Da Vinci, Akuta Hinako, and Fujimaru Ritsuka sitting opposite him, had no reaction, he concluded that he had imagined it.
In Bai Ming's view, Queen of Sheba did love King Solomon after all, so she would not do anything excessive to Roman. Even if he did not go over, Roman would be fine.
Bai Ming sighed. "Honestly, I guess I need to slow down my training. I'm under so much pressure that I'm hearing things."
"If you're stressed... would you like some black tea? Whenever I'm so stressed that I get a headache, I drink some black tea to calm myself down."
As a Briton, Olga Marie had a strange obsession with black tea. Bai Ming looked at her serious expression and nodded.
Roman's Unheard Cry for Help
There were two legends concerning the marriage between Queen of Sheba and King Solomon.
In the first, King Solomon was captivated by Queen of Sheba's beauty, but she had no such feelings for him, so King Solomon resorted to deception to marry her. In the second, Queen of Sheba used a secret passage provided by King David to launch a nighttime assault and force herself upon the poor King Solomon.
And in the Type-Moon world, King Solomon's personality was not too different from Roman's own, so the odds were greater that Roman had been forcibly loved by Queen of Sheba.
Bai Ming really wanted to ask why the omniscient and omnipotent King Solomon had not known that a dark-skinned beast-eared woman would force herself on him in the middle of the night. But considering Roman would definitely not answer, Bai Ming ultimately did not ask.
Perhaps God had specifically made a secret passage for King Solomon, covered Solomon's eyes that saw past and future alike, muddled King Solomon's omniscience and omnipotence, then told King David about it, who in turn told Queen of Sheba she could use that passage to force herself on Solomon.
The thought made the corners of Bai Ming's lips rise uncontrollably.
Olga Marie brought over a freshly brewed pot of black tea and said apologetically, "The conditions are rather limited right now, so I can only make do with teabags."
"Teabags..." Bai Ming wanted to say something, but considering this was Olga Marie's thoughtfulness, he ultimately said nothing but, "Thanks for the trouble."
Bai Ming actually looked down on teabags, and on what ordinary people called fine tea. After all, no matter how good tea leaves were, they could not compare to the tea in Yuqing Kunlun.
"Come to think of it, if Bai Ming is stressed enough to hear things... how about I gather everyone and hold a little appreciation party? We can raise everyone's morale while we're at it."
Da Vinci's suggestion immediately won the approval of Olga Marie and Fujimaru Ritsuka.
Olga Marie worried that Bai Ming's stress would make him sick, while Fujimaru Ritsuka worried that Bai Ming would drag her off for merciless training that afternoon.
Bai Ming nodded. "Since the Director agrees, let's start preparing now."
With a Holy Grail, it was very easy for the people of Chaldea to hold an appreciation party. Most of the work could be accomplished through the Holy Grail's wish-granting function, leaving only a few scattered matters for Da Vinci to handle personally.
While everyone prepared for the banquet, Roman finally gave up struggling. As a human, Roman was utterly incapable of resisting Queen of Sheba.
The dark-skinned beast-eared woman beat Roman until he dropped to his knees, then dragged him away through Chaldea's corridors.
Chaldea itself was an extremely special place. Within Chaldea were areas that even Clairvoyance [EX] and countless detection spells could not investigate.
Thus, Chaldea always had strange rooms capable of blocking all forms of detection.
In a room that no instrument could detect, the blank-eyed Doctor was dragged inside by Queen of Sheba.
Then the door locked.
Roman's heart died. He could not help recalling certain sayings circulated in China, such as how a person's name could influence their future path to some extent.
Right now, King Solomon had been locked behind a door, and Roman was completely unable to resist.
Queen of Sheba smiled. "Although this situation may not seem appropriate, it appears that your wish for someone to take you away from me cannot possibly come true, no?"
"Don't come any closer! Bai Ming! Save me!"
Roman's cries ultimately could not reach Bai Ming, because Bai Ming's attention had already been mostly captured by the banquet.
While Roman once again experienced the indescribable ordeal that had made him tremble to his core during his days as King Solomon, Bai Ming attended the Chaldea survivors' appreciation gathering organized by Da Vinci to boost morale.
During the banquet, Muniel looked around but could not find that gentle orange-haired man. He asked, "Come to think of it, where did Doctor Roman go?"
"The Doctor..." Bai Ming paused. "Since he's King Solomon, Ritsuka accidentally summoned his most famous wife while training earlier by mistaking the Doctor for a Holy Relic Widow. He's probably sharing heartfelt words with her right now. It's only natural that he wouldn't come to the party."
Naturally, Bai Ming, Da Vinci, Akuta Hinako, Fujimaru Ritsuka, and even Mash all gave that explanation to everyone else.
In truth, they all agreed that Roman's act of stealing the food Mash had specifically set aside to reward the Masters upon their return while the three Masters were undergoing Spiritron Transfer was far too excessive. So, they intended to give Roman a small lesson.
Since Fujimaru Ritsuka had happened to summon Queen of Sheba, they simply went with the flow and gave Roman a profound lesson.
"Uwah—doesn't that mean the twenty-something of us will have to watch Doctor Roman flaunt his relationship every day?"
Hearing Muniel mention dog food, Setanta, who was eating dog food nearby, looked up at Muniel as if asking, What does this lump of meat want with my dog food? Muniel could not understand Setanta's dog eyes and merely continued talking to himself.
"He acts like some young middle-aged guy obsessed with looking after people, but he's actually King Solomon, and he even summoned Queen of Sheba... Ugh, no matter how I think about it, it's hard to accept—"
Bai Ming said, "Actually, only you people will be eating dog food."
"R-Right. After all, Bai Ming, you're King Joslin, and you're already married..." Muniel became dejected. "I want to get married too! I want someone to love me too!"
Seeing that Muniel had misunderstood, Bai Ming did not correct him. It was better not to announce the matter between Olga Marie and himself yet, or this little fatty really would turn to stone on the spot.
"Mr. M, you'll find your true love."
Bai Ming comforted Muniel. Although this Frenchman would ultimately love nothing but motorcycles, games, and cooking, and would never find a partner, that did not stop Bai Ming from giving him hope whose truth he could not see for the time being.
"Thank you very much! With your blessing, my love life is sure to be perfect!"
"Mm-hm."
Naturally, Bai Ming would not tell him just how much his own romantic history had been glorified.
With Morgan, he had initially merely been on guard against her. As for Artoria and Guinevere, Morgan had advised Artoria on how to win him over. His romances in the Heian era had been even more absurd—Shuten-dōji, Tamamo-no-Mae, and Minamoto no Yorimitsu had all been defeated and then subjected to his rights as the victor. Even the process of properly marrying Sei Shōnagon had been incredibly absurd.
After all, he and Sei Shōnagon had simply been two absurd people who caught each other's eye, proposed upon their first meeting, and then successfully ended up in bed.
He had never once had a normal relationship—therefore, if Muniel could develop normally in love with Bai Ming's blessing, that would already be Muniel's greatest fortune.
I Challenge You
Akuta Hinako did not like lively gatherings, so after showing herself at the banquet, she returned to her room carrying a plate piled high with fruit and food. Because of Olga Marie's status, only Bai Ming, Da Vinci, Mash, and Fujimaru Ritsuka, who could not read the room, paid attention to her.
Mash and Fujimaru Ritsuka enjoyed their hard-won rest, while Bai Ming observed each employee to a certain extent from the side.
No one remembered poor Roman, and no one cared about poor Roman.
Soon, the banquet ended.
Roman trembled as he arrived at the cafeteria, where the aftermath was being cleaned up.
"Romani, I'm so jealous of you!" Muniel said as he looked at Roman, then walked out through the cafeteria doors. Roman did not react much. He merely gave a quiet acknowledgment before walking heavily toward the counter and saying weakly, "Da Vinci, you really made me search hard for you..."
"Oh my, Ritsuka said she accidentally summoned your spouse, so naturally we couldn't disturb you two while you were catching up, could we?"
Da Vinci smiled with narrowed eyes, and Roman was left speechless.
Spellcasters everywhere were equally awful. No one yielded to anyone else when it came to squinting and speaking in a roundabout, sarcastic manner.
Roman then asked, "Where is Bai Ming?"
Rumor had it that magical China possessed cultivation techniques that nourished vitality, strengthened the kidneys, and reinforced one's foundations. Someone like Bai Ming, who practically possessed the highest authority over Thought Key Patterns, surely had such methods. He needed to preserve his health! He needed to strengthen his back and replenish his kidneys! He had finally gained a life of his own—he could not let that miser Sheba work him to death beneath a beast-eared woman's hips.
"I don't know. Bai Ming said not to look for him. He has something very important to do, and it's much more important than whether you live or die, Roman." Da Vinci changed the subject. "Aren't you going to let the legendary Queen of Sheba come out and meet us? Your feelings have really faded."
"That sounds exactly like something he would say." Roman's expression was complicated. "Do I look like I want to see Sheba?"
Da Vinci did not answer. Roman had Da Vinci prepare several portions of oysters for him, then staggered out of the cafeteria after eating them.
Meanwhile, Bai Ming was ruthlessly training Mash and Fujimaru Ritsuka's physical fitness.
The physical capabilities of a Demi-Servant and an ordinary human could not be judged by the same standards, so Mash carried far more weight than Fujimaru Ritsuka.
For the two girls, today had been a day of mixed joy and sorrow.
They had thought they could use the banquet to escape training, but they had never expected Bai Ming to make them complete the day's regular training after the banquet.
Sweat blurred the girls' vision, and sweat-soaked clothing clung tightly to their bodies, while Bai Ming continuously applied pressure to them with his own magical energy.
Before you continue