Tokyo Singularity (VII) Alter, under the gun...
"yes."
Without hesitation or doubt, Fujimaru Ritsuka's voice was warm and firm: "I believe that even if it's over... even if nothing is left, the act of saving itself is meaningful."
Is salvation itself... the meaning?
Xia Youjie's heart surged with turmoil as he listened to Fujimaru Ritsuka's words. He suddenly walked to Oberon's side, took a deep breath, his cheeks puffing out, and asked in an extremely soft voice:
Is there really no other way?
As a Servant, Oberon naturally overheard these words. He slowly withdrew his gaze from Fujimaru Ritsuka and looked sparingly at Natsume.
Oh dear, you chose to ask me because you were afraid that the questions you asked would add to Ritsuka's mental burden?
Oberon blinked, and a cheerful and reliable expression suddenly appeared on his handsome face, making people involuntarily believe everything he said.
“Maybe things will take a turn for the better,” he said casually. “But the chances are slim. It’s better not to know in the first place than to have hope only to fall into despair.”
Xia Youjie slowed his breathing and retorted, each word choked with difficulty, "No, please tell me."
Oberon smiled, finally turning all his attention to him, and said in a gentle voice, even with a hint of expectation, "Then go and make a wish."
"After Ritsuka resolves this singularity, she usually retrieves a Holy Grail. Some people call it—the omnipotent wish-granting device."
Xia Youjie instantly understood Oberon's unspoken words. He stopped asking and secretly made up his mind. Meanwhile, Fujimaru Ritsuka was oblivious to this little incident and was still talking to Leonardo da Vinci.
"As expected of you, Ritsuka."
The beautiful homunculus smiled. Her voice softened at the end, "Since this is what you desire, Chaldea will continue to fully support your actions, Master Fujimaru Ritsuka."
After being given a few more instructions by Da Vinci, Fujimaru Ritsuka saw that the little Da Vinci suddenly stopped, frowned and showed a troubled expression, and slowly said that the support servant would be sent tomorrow, and told her to be prepared tomorrow.
The projection disappeared, and Fujimaru Ritsuka lowered her wrist, pondering Little Da Vinci's words. They sounded more like a farewell to an enemy than a comrade.
An ominous premonition washed over her, and she suddenly shivered. Who was thinking about her? Smoothing the goosebumps on her arms, she glanced at Oberon and Xia Youjie, who had somehow ended up standing together.
The moment Xia Youjie met those golden eyes, she almost thought Fujimaru Ritsuka had seen through something. But she didn't; she simply patted her cheeks in relief and gestured for Oberon to leave.
Oberon and Xia Youjie brushed past each other. In the instant their eyes met, he raised his eyes and gave a fake smile, as if he were mocking something.
But when Xia Youjie looked over again, he only saw a prince-like reassuring and encouraging smile and two figures walking side by side.
The journey back to the temporary dormitory went smoothly. Fujimaru Ritsuka yawned, a single tear of weariness welling up in the corner of her eye.
She leaned against the wall, intently watching Oberon as he tried to turn the dormitory into a makeshift magic workshop, chatting with him casually.
"Tomorrow we need to find the culprit that caused the singularity. Will you continue to follow me or go out to gather intelligence?"
As Oberon retorted, he vigorously scribbled on the door, his strokes so forceful they seemed capable of snapping five pencils in one go. "I'm telling you, you really can't stay still for a moment."
"Can't we just treat this place as a vacation and relax? It has nothing to do with pan-human history anyway."
Staring at the dazzling patterns, he almost swore several times but managed to swallow it back, sustained only by the belief that he couldn't let Ritsuka mock his ability to build up his position.
“Oberon clearly knew my answer all along,” Fujimaru Ritsuka said slyly, resting her chin on her hand. “Just like I knew you deliberately let Mr. Natsuyu see the scene of us talking to Chaldea.”
"uh-huh?"
Oberon suddenly turned his head, a harmless smile on his face, "I know nothing about Mr. Xia You's affairs."
Fujimaru Ritsuka propped herself up, watching Oberon fiddling with the door with a teasing yet complicated gaze. She slowly began to dredge up old grudges in her mind.
She still remembered that night in the fairy kingdom, when this cheerful, talkative, and seemingly trustworthy prince earnestly acted as a caring older brother. At that time, nothing had happened yet; the prophecy Merlin had sent in his dream had not yet revealed its fangs.
Who would have thought that such a person would be the destroyer of Britain? And no one could have imagined that since arriving at Chaldea, this mastermind would become—a complete slacker.
These days, it's rare to see Fujimaru Ritsuka maintaining that tiring prince persona at night. Even a fool would know he wasn't just acting on a whim; he was probably planning to lie again.
Perhaps Ritsuka's gaze was too piercing, Oberon held back for a while before finally asking her what she was looking at. Lost in thought, Fujimaru Ritsuka inadvertently blurted out the words "Fairy Kingdom."
Oberon fell silent for a moment, and after several seconds he apologized half-heartedly, "...I'm really sorry, I didn't expect that I would leave such a deep impression on you back then."
"How could it not be profound?" Ritsuka turned and opened the window, placing her hands on the window frame and peering into the sparse stars in the sky. For a moment, the British night sky seemed to overlap with the one here.
"It was an unforgettable journey."
The summer night breeze is gentle, playfully sneaking through the window with the lingering warmth of the day, blowing strands of orange-red hair.
Fujimaru Ritsuka unconsciously reached out, as if trying to hold onto something. But the breeze merely brushed against her fingertips affectionately before smiling and leaving.
After a moment of silence, Oberon's voice slowly came from behind: "So you almost built a small fairy kingdom in Chaldea. A queen, knights, a prophetic child, and a villain..."
He casually listed them off, and by the end he exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, there are countless!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka blinked. "I'm so happy."
"What?"
“Oberon can respond to my summons.”
"I'm just a poor soul who was forced to work all night at Chaldea because you had no choice. Don't worry about it."
Fujimaru Ritsuka turned around with a smile, the faint starlight casting a blurry shadow on her. "But without the consent of the Heroic Spirit itself, the summoning circle cannot summon a Heroic Spirit through fate."
Oberon: "...Oh, really?"
He gave a disgusted look, his speech quickening, "Unbelievable! How could you say something like that? Aren't you ashamed? You should know that associating with liars is never a good thing, right?"
“Hmm,” Fujimaru Ritsuka’s tone revealed a hint of a smile, “She keeps saying she’s going on strike, but she’s actually been working overtime; she listens to my pessimistic remarks and gives me reasonable advice; the person who caught me during the spirit particle transfer definitely wasn’t Oberon, right?”
"...Okay, stop!!" With the magic workshop finished, Oberon breathed a sigh of relief and immediately stopped Fujimaru Ritsuka's outburst. Did that girl even know what she was saying?!
"You're not thinking straight right now, you should go to sleep! I hope I'll see a normal Master when I wake up!"
Goodnight, Oberon. Thanks for your concern!
"...Bye bye!"
—
The next day was another beautiful day. A rare cool breeze blew in the morning, but Xia Youjie felt the morning was incredibly long. With newly formed dark circles under his eyes, he painfully dodged the flaming stones that came flying from the playground.
The surrounding area was burned beyond recognition, and the ground was uneven, as if it had been struck by a meteorite. If Xia Youjie hadn't maintained a certain distance with his cursed spirit, the affected area would have been even more extensive.
Teacher Moth will probably yell at me, right? She definitely will, won't she?
"You've got some skills! Come on!" Gojo Satoru rubbed his hands together again and continued to throw them at the silver-haired youth as if they were free.
"Hahahaha, take this!" The young man dodged Cang by the side, then flicked his flag, sending a crimson flame slicing through the ground and hurtling towards Gojo Satoru.
So, why did it turn out this way?
While cleaning up the mess, Xia Youjie recalled with a headache. They had barely slept all night, and had come to stake out the Chaldea Servant this morning, hoping to find someone to fight and test their strength.
The Servant wearing purple furisode sleeves was taken away by a mysterious boy named Oberon, and then a woman wearing armor who looked like she was very capable of fighting appeared.
Excited about what happened yesterday, Gojo Satoru approached her without even asking her name... no, provocation would be a more accurate description.
Xia Youjie had assumed that Gojo Satoru's victory was a foregone conclusion. After all, Gojo was the Six-Eyed God Child, currently the undisputed strongest in the world of jutsu!
He couldn't even imagine what Gojo Satoru would look like in defeat.
But why?
Not only were the two evenly matched, but the fighting was escalating into a frenzied frenzy. This was no longer a mere exchange of blows; they were about to get serious!
This won't do. He doesn't want to be scolded by Teacher Yemo and forced to write a self-criticism along with Satoru. Xia Youjie took out his phone, tapped a few times, and sent the message to Ieiri Shoko.
Meanwhile, Ieiri Shoko met Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had just woken up and was full of energy, downstairs at the dormitory. She yawned, walked side by side with Ritsuka, and told her that two Servants had arrived at Chaldea.
Ieiri Shoko had only described their appearances, but she hadn't expected Ritsuka to guess who they were so quickly. One was Alter, and the other was Shuten-dōji.
Fujimaru Ritsuka's mind conjured up the image of the person in question. She opened her mouth, but only sighed inwardly. "Wow, no wonder Da Vinci was so mysterious yesterday."
It's practically a paradise of chaos and evil.
"Shuten-dōji?" Ieiri Shoko recalled the legend of Shuten-dōji, then compared it to the alluring girl from that morning. She couldn't help but fall silent for a moment. Wasn't Shuten-dōji supposed to be a handsome young man who deceived women?
Ha, what a liar.
Shoko Ieiri's expression was complex and strange. "That being who lived on Mount Ōe and commanded all the demons during the Heian period actually existed?"
“At least in the pan-human history, it really exists.” Fujimaru Ritsuka replied relaxedly, “By the way, now that Shuten-dōji and Oberon have left, do you know where Alter is?”
“If you’re referring to the young man in black armor…” Ieiri Shoko glanced at her phone and said casually, “She’s probably locked in a fierce battle with Gojo on the training field right now.”
Fujimaru Ritsuka: What's going on? It's so lively so early in the morning, it's like being back at Chaldea.
Fujimaru Ritsuka: ...They're fighting?
Fujimaru Ritsuka: "Alter and Gojo-san are fighting?!"
Before the words were even finished, a loud "thump" resounded. The enormous explosion shook the entire building.
Upon seeing the girl, Ieiri Shoko instantly dashed out, shouting:
"Alter, dear—! Spare his life—!"
A note from the author:
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