Gotham Singularity (10): Grail reaction detected...
This passage isn't long; Fujimaru Ritsuka could even hallucinate the professor's rhythmic intonation. After removing the familiar pleasantries, only two points are worth noting.
"The Servant and Master have excellent compatibility;"
The Holy Grail was used to make up for regrets.
She was eager to share the information her old nemesis had sent with Holmes and discuss countermeasures. So she didn't stay in the bar for long and soon prepared to leave.
Meanwhile, Batman, who was hiding under Matchstick Marlon's skin, was worried that she might be in danger alone in such a chaotic place, and wanted to leave with her.
But he was stopped by the chuckling bartender, who handed him a drink with a strange smile on his lips. "What a sincere kid, don't you think?"
Those fox-like eyes reflected the incandescent light, flickering on and off, "Batman."
Batman paused, refusing the drink offered by the young man, but also choosing not to leave with Ritsuka, his blue eyes fixed on him.
"...That's what the gentleman you mentioned told you."
His voice was icy, and he forced what was originally a question into a statement. But his heart was far from as calm as his voice suggested.
Where was his identity discovered? Why did he remain silent until now, and then suddenly tell me? But everything comes down to that mysterious gentleman.
They had never crossed swords, but Batman knew that the man was a formidable and extremely dangerous individual, perhaps even more dangerous than most of the criminals at Arkham.
But his daughter... is so dazzling.
The bartender raised an eyebrow. "Sir, you know everything. But I'm well aware of Gotham's rules, and I have no interest in disrupting the night's balance for the time being."
He shook the bottle, the mixed liquor reflecting a clear light. "Please don't try to change the subject; I'm talking to you about that child."
"You know more than I do."
“Of course, of course… but I didn’t expect her light to be so warm.” The bartender lowered his eyelashes. If it were him in the past, just the lingering glow of that light shining on him would have made him feel redeemed.
“But a kid like that,” he said, “is destined not to live long in Gotham.”
Batman looked up, his eyes sharp. "What do you want to do?"
"Gotham, this rotten swamp, doesn't need a ray of warm light, because it's destined to be extinguished in the darkness." The bartender seemed to be talking about Ritsuka, but also seemed to be implying something.
"What it needs is a fire that burns everything away."
A flame he brought.
It is also the shared wish of the gentleman and himself, and the Holy Grail will help them achieve everything.
After leaving the bar, Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't return to the safe house. Although she was eager to find Holmes, she—got lost.
She and Xu Fu wandered around for seven or eight minutes without finding the right way back. Xu Fu, who had initially been gloating, eventually became exhausted and fell silent.
The two women now stood on the edge of an empty road, unsure which side street they had wandered onto; there were hardly any pedestrians around. Their eyes held the same despair. Just as Fujimaru Ritsuka was about to say something, she suddenly felt a bump on her leg.
"...A Holy Grail reaction detected!" Sion, who was on duty, slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed in surprise, "Ritsuka, are there any suspicious people around you?"
The sudden appearance of the secret communication blue screen, visible only to Chaldea members, nearly blinded Fujimaru Ritsuka.
Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had just been hit: "???"
Suspicious person? She couldn't help but look down and saw a girl covering her forehead, her blank expression turning into surprise upon seeing Ritsuka's face.
"Ah, it's that older sister from that day!" The girl jumped up happily and pulled the boy who was hiding behind her to her side. "God, I never thought we'd meet again!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka also recognized the two children; they were the ones she had rescued from the armed police when she first arrived.
The boy, pulled to the front, gave Ritsuka a shy smile. He rummaged in the pocket of his thin clothes and handed all the colorful candies to his sister.
So, along with the few candies she had left in her pocket, the girl carefully held them as if they were her own joy, and handed them all to Ritsuka.
"Big sister, these are all for you!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka involuntarily bent her knees slightly, gathering her hands together to accept the girl's heartfelt gift. But the instant she touched the girl's fingers, a chilling coldness shot straight from her fingertips to the top of her head, almost making her shiver.
A belated question was swirling in her mind.
Seeing that all the candy had been taken, the girl grabbed the boy's hand and ran off, waving vigorously back at him, "Goodbye then! Big sister, I wish you peace and happiness in the future!"
Young children run energetically towards the sun, seemingly forever so happy and so vibrant.
"Hey! Wait...!" Fujimaru Ritsuka, holding the candy in both hands, didn't have time to stop the two.
But the question finally arrived belatedly, posing a challenge to her.
She couldn't help but turn to Xu Fu, who was clinging to her, and ask, "Dear Xu Fu, if I remember correctly, the timeline has rewound from the 23rd to the 16th, right?"
"Hmm, that's right."
The winter sun seemed cold and unreal at this moment, tearing apart the silhouettes of the two vibrant children.
"Why do these two children remember that I saved them on the 23rd?"
What causes the Holy Grail reaction?
The two children were unaware that their benefactor had fallen into deep thought after they left. They stealthily made their way through street after street until they reached an inconspicuous room in an equally deserted alley.
Their mother was clutching the cross to her chest, murmuring something as if in prayer. Even the two young children knew who their mother was praying for.
They carefully moved in front of their mother. "I'm sorry, Mom, we shouldn't have run away from home."
Mary breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her two children were unharmed, but as she looked at the lively children and the undisguised sullenness in their eyes, she gave a bitter smile.
"Did you guys go out to play again?"
"Yes!" Realizing her mother wasn't going to pursue the matter, the girl quickly moved closer to her. "We even ran into the older sister who saved us before! She's such a kind person!"
The boy tugged at Mary's sleeve. "My sister and I gave her all our candy... but Mom, can't we really go buy something else? Even just a bouquet of flowers would be fine?"
Hearing the child's small wish, Mary lowered her eyes, concealing her pained expression, and shook her head, suppressing the urge to cough.
"Do you remember what I said? Just wait a little longer... just a little longer."
—
"Oh? Regret?"
Inside the safe house, the polite detective held a magnifying glass, trying to figure out the tricks his old rival was playing with the two lines of text. "Miss. Ritsuka, it seems you have something else to say."
Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had been called out, sat upright on the sofa. She thought for a moment and said that before she left, a clear voice came from behind her. The bartender was willing to provide information free of charge in return for her trust.
The person who traded the black-masked maneuvers was a thin woman.
"After that we left. Mr. Matchstick Marlon wanted to give us a ride, but the bartender stopped him."
"Ha, haha, Matchstick Marlon... How come I never thought of that?" Jason sat in his chair, his mind wandering as he pondered life with his head in his hands. He was completely distraught after hearing that Ritsuka had met Matchstick Marlon.
Others might not know, but surely he knows who Matchstick Ma Long really is!
The fact that the bartender wanted to keep the insignificant character Matchstick Marlon only proves that he knew the other mask behind that face.
A bartender, suspected to have been trained by Moriarty, discovers Batman's disguise... Good heavens, has Batman lost all his vigilance these past few years?!
Oh no, he shouldn't be worried about that guy; he should be more worried about what information Batman got from this girl, who is the greatest detective besides Sherlock Holmes.
"Are you sure you didn't say anything else besides what you just said?" Jason asked again, having already asked three times like a mother hen.
“I’m sure,” Fujimaru Ritsuka replied good-naturedly. She was actually very curious about Jason’s relationship with that Batman, but this kind of question was easy to trigger. In order to maintain their cooperation and trust, she thoughtfully kept her doubts to herself.
Seeing that Jason wouldn't be able to extricate himself from the matter anytime soon, Fujimaru Ritsuka gave up on discussing the case with him and instead asked Holmes if he had any ideas.
"The desire to make amends suggests that this woman has lost something, which is why she needs a time loop," Holmes said. "And she believes that removing the black mask will allow her to reclaim or protect that thing..."
Work, friends, lover, children—that's about it. But based on Miss Ritsuka's later experiences, those two children are most likely related to the Holy Grail—
"It's a child, isn't it?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka blinked, and a name instantly popped into her mind: Atalanta. Parents who want to protect their children must get along well with Atalanta.
“It seems you already have an idea.” Holmes raised one eyebrow. “However, my advice is to keep your guesses to yourself until you have conclusive evidence, so as not to create stereotypes.”
The sound of keyboard clicks came from the other side. Jason, who had restarted his computer, joined their discussion, his hands manipulating the computer to navigate freely between some confidential websites.
"Woman, who has had two children harmed by Black Mask... Ha, there are countless people like this in Gotham."
Jason and Holmes weren't idle after Ritsuka left today. They separately investigated Black Mask's workplace and living quarters, but they were a step too late.
The Black Mask's residence had been completely ransacked, with the servants' corpses piled up in the room, and the gang he belonged to had scattered like birds and beasts the moment news of his death broke in the news.
Even though Holmes used his proud deductions to find several former Black Mask's trusted henchmen, none of them felt that their boss had offended anyone he shouldn't have.
As for the countless people who were directly or indirectly harmed by the boss, they don't even remember the names of those victims, let alone others.
Moreover, it is quite possible that the Black Mask did not have time to harm the child in this cycle.
Fujimaru Ritsuka glanced at the densely packed names on Jason's computer and couldn't help but wipe her face. There was simply no way to trace back to who made the wish for the Holy Grail from the victim's perspective.
"Experts, what should we do next?" Jason asked, throwing down his mouse and slumping back in his chair.
Looking around at Xu Fu, who was slacking off, and Holmes, who was deep in thought, Fujimaru Ritsuka offered a suggestion that wasn't really a suggestion: to conduct a thorough search centered on the place where she met the two children.
After all, logically speaking, a mother who has experienced the loss or injury of her child wouldn't allow her child to go too far. But Gotham is too big, and its household registration system is a mess, so they almost had to resort to splitting up to conduct investigations.
Returning to the safe house empty-handed in the middle of the night, Fujimaru Ritsuka barely managed to greet Xu Fu before collapsing onto the bed and falling into a deep sleep.
She was soon plunged into a bizarre and fantastical dream.
It was a sinister building, hidden in the dark of the moonlit night. The pitch-black interior was like an abyss, drawing those who came to offer sacrifices there.
A clown covered in paint emerged from the abyss, stepping on the blood that had spread across the ground.
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