The blinding light slowly dimmed. When Ritsuka opened his eyes, the air of Chaldea immediately greeted his sense of smell.
"It turns out we were returned right to Chaldea, huh. I thought we would be thrown into that Singularity again," Ritsuka muttered in relief.
The entire group was now standing in the middle of the main hall of the Chaldea facility, which looked dim and quiet.
Olga took a deep breath, enjoying the sensation of the cold air filling the lungs in her new body. "Finally... we are back," she said softly.
However, that melancholic moment did not last long. Olga's expression turned stern again like a commander. She immediately turned to the genius girl near her.
"Da Vinci, open the internal communication line immediately! Contact Romani and tell that lazybones to come to this hall right now!" Olga ordered quickly.
"Yes, Director! Give me a few seconds," Da Vinci replied cheerfully. Her tiny fingers nimbly tapped the virtual communication interface on her wrist. Shortly after, a blue holographic screen glowed in the air. "Hello, Romani! Can you hear me?"
While Da Vinci was busy setting the call frequency with Dr. Roman, Ritsuka stepped closer to Olga.
"So, how is it, Madam Director? What is our next plan after this?" Ritsuka asked politely.
Olga turned her head, looking at the young man with a slightly furrowed brow and folding both arms across her chest.
"Why are you asking me instead?" Olga replied with a slight snort. "Technically and operationally, you are the commander and leader for this team now, Ritsuka."
Olga fell silent for a moment, then turned her face away slightly, not wanting to look Ritsuka directly in the eye.
"Besides... in the meeting room earlier, you were also the one who took the initiative. You were the most rational and could calm the situation when tensions heated up among those people," Olga continued, her voice softening slightly while still maintaining her pride.
Ritsuka chuckled upon hearing Olga's words. "Hahaha... I am just the leader for field matters. Meanwhile, here, the supreme leader of Chaldea is still you," Ritsuka said with a gentle smile, looking directly into Olga's eyes. "I will always listen to your orders, Madam Director."
"Y-You...!" Olga's face instantly turned ripe red. She hurriedly looked away, suddenly flustered at receiving such a sincere gaze.
However, Olga was completely unaware that at the same time, there was another pair of eyes watching her intently.
In another corner, Rikka stood frozen. The girl was now silent. Her gaze was empty, dark, and exceptionally cold—locked sharply onto Olga's figure. The atmosphere around Rikka suddenly felt heavy, as if a thick shadow enveloped her upon seeing the woman's closeness with Ritsuka.
"Senpai...?"
A soft call from Mash startled Rikka, pulling her back from her dark daydream. Rikka slowly shifted her eyeballs, glancing at Mash without turning her head completely.
"Mash..." Rikka called softly. Her voice sounded excessively flat, devoid of emotion. "You... are not like that woman, right?"
Rikka glanced briefly towards Olga, who was still flustered near Ritsuka, then looked back into Mash's eyes.
Mash tilted her head, her face radiating total innocence and confusion. "Eh? What do you mean, Senpai...?"
Just as Mash was about to turn her head towards Rikka's line of sight to see what was happening, Rikka suddenly stepped in to block her view.
A sweet smile—which for some reason didn't seem to reach her eyes—instantly adorned Rikka's face again. "Ah, it's nothing! Just forget what I said earlier, Mash," Rikka interjected with a cheerful tone.
"O-Okay...?" Mash replied hesitantly, her brain still unable to process Rikka's overly rapid change in personality.
Ignoring Mash's confusion, Rikka shifted her gaze forward again. While maintaining her sweet smile.
"For now, we wait for Romani to get here first," Olga decided in a tone that accepted no arguments. "After that, Rikka may go rest, but you—" Olga pointed firmly at Ritsuka, "—are coming with me to check your body's condition."
"Eh? Why me too? I want to rest," Ritsuka complained softly.
"Don't play dumb! Have you forgotten that you forcefully transplanted a Dragon Core into your body?!" Olga's voice rose, her facial expression showing worry masked by anger. "That's the same as forcefully inserting a nuclear reactor into a human body! You were lucky Merlin came to save you just in time back then. We have to check whether your body can still withstand such a massive magical burden, understand?!"
Right as Olga finished scolding, the hall doors opened with a bang. The sound of hurried footsteps echoed in the room.
"Director! You finally returned!" shouted an adult man wearing a white coat with messy orange hair. He ran in, panting heavily, with a face that looked extremely relieved.
Olga turned toward the source of the voice. "You finally arrived, Romani," she replied.
Olga took wide strides toward the man, leaving Ritsuka who was still standing silently in his position. Romani's echoing shout drew everyone's attention in the room—including Nobunaga and Da Vinci—completely toward the entrance.
However, only Ritsuka was different.
He remained standing like a statue, his back to Romani who had just arrived. His body didn't budge the slightest bit, and he didn't turn around at all.
A suffocating guilt and a rush of bitter memories instantly struck Ritsuka's inner self. His body began to tremble faintly as Romani Archaman's cheerful voice greeted his ears.
"Doctor..." Ritsuka muttered very softly, almost like a breath of wind.
His chest felt tight, as if squeezed by an invisible hand. Remembering the past—remembering his failure—brought immense agony. Even though not all his memories had fully recovered, he still clearly remembered that one tragedy: the sacrifice made by Romani Archaman in the final Singularity.
The world around him seemed to dim. His ears rang loudly. Ritsuka could no longer clearly hear the conversation behind him.
He could only catch the faint voice of Director Olga, who seemed to be scolding Romani for his habit of being late.
Ritsuka continued to sink into his own thoughts, until a heavy pat landed on his shoulder.
"Master? Are you alright?"
The reprimand pulled Ritsuka back to reality. He flinched slightly and turned his head. Beside him, Oda Nobunaga tilted her head, looking at him with a sharp gaze. The Demon King noticed the anomaly. "Why is your body trembling?" she asked suspiciously.
"A-Ah, Nobu. Yes, I... I am fine," Ritsuka answered, stuttering. He tried hard to hide his emotional turmoil with a forced smile. "I just... hmm, my stomach suddenly hurts! I want to go to the toilet now. We were in that Singularity for too long earlier, to the point I held it in and forgot!"
A very ridiculous and rushed-sounding excuse. However, without waiting for Nobu's reply, Ritsuka left immediately.
"Director! I am going to the toilet first! I leave the rest to you!" Ritsuka exclaimed quickly while running past them.
He kept running, quickening his pace as he passed Romani. Ritsuka lowered his face deeply, hiding his eyes behind his bangs. He didn't dare to raise his head at all to look at the orange-haired man's face.
"Hey, Ritsuka! Wait a minute! You just arrived here, you don't know where the toilet is! You could get lost—" Olga shouted, trying to stop him.
However, Ritsuka completely ignored her. The young man kept his head down and ran through the hall's exit doors, disappearing behind the corridor.
"Hmm? What's wrong with that kid?" Romani muttered in confusion, blinking his eyes seeing the back of the young man running in a hurry as if being chased by a ghost.
"Tch!" Olga clicked her tongue in annoyance with her hands on her hips. "Romani! Quickly follow him and show him the way to the toilet! Don't let him get lost in this ruined facility. For your information, he is our 47th Master Candidate!" Olga ordered sternly.
"E-Eh? The 47th Candidate? Understood, Director! I will catch up to him!" Hearing the instruction, Romani immediately nodded obediently and ran out of the hall following Ritsuka's trail.
After making sure Romani had left, Olga turned her body to face the rest of the group. Her expression returned to operational mode. "And as for the rest of you, come with me. We need to immediately clean up some main areas of the facility."
"Ehhhh?!" Rikka whined lengthily, her face instantly scrunching up. "Do I have to do manual labor like a construction worker now? I am already tired..."
"Don't be spoiled!" Olga reprimanded sharply. "As the Director, I will also step in to help! We just need to clear out the building debris scattered from the explosion."
Seeing Rikka's still pouting face, Mash immediately stepped closer. "No need to worry, Senpai! I will help you!" the girl comforted with a bright smile and clenched fists. "Just leave all the heavy lifting to me!"
"Well... with Mash's physical strength and the help of the Servants, the cleaning process will surely go much faster," Olga said, nodding in agreement.
Olga then glanced towards Oda Nobunaga, who was still standing casually with arms folded across her chest. Olga's lips half-opened, intending to order the Japanese hero to help carry the debris. However, her words immediately caught in her throat.
Olga's courage suddenly shrank upon meeting Nobu's red eyes, which radiated a very thick intimidating aura.
As if she could read Olga's mind, Nobu snorted in amusement and smirked arrogantly.
"Don't even hope for it. I would never be willing to do such manual labor," she refused outright. "Do it yourselves. I want to follow my Master."
Without waiting for any reply, Nobunaga's body instantly glowed into spirit particles and simply vanished from the room, leaving Olga, who could only let out a sigh of resignation.
. . .
"Hey! The toilet isn't that way, it's over here!" Romani called out.
The steps of the young man who had been running all this time finally stopped in the middle of the quiet corridor. However, he just stood stiffly with his back to the doctor, saying nothing.
Romani stepped closer with an awkward smile. "Hey, I heard from the Director that you want to go to the toilet, right? If you keep going straight, you'll actually get lost. The way is over here," he admonished amiably.
The young man still remained silent. Feeling the awkwardness, Romani slowly scratched the back of his head.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? You must be our 47th Master Candidate... Fujimaru-kun, right?" Romani greeted, making sure.
The orange-haired man then adjusted his white coat and smiled gently. "I am Dr. Romani Archaman, Head of the Medical Treatment Department."
Just a second later, his formal tone of voice instantly changed to be much more casual and cheerful. "But, everyone here calls me Dr. Roman! So, please call me that too!"
"Fou~!"
Suddenly, a small white-furred creature jumped lightly and landed comfortably on Ritsuka's shoulder. Fou leaned its head against the young man's cheek, as if understanding the emotional turmoil raging in his heart and trying to calm him.
Ritsuka remained silent for a few seconds. Romani began to look confused, blinking his eyes slowly as he thought the young man in front of him might be a very shy type of person.
However, from behind, Romani could see the young man's hand rise, wiping his face quickly—as if wiping something from both of his eyes.
After taking a deep breath to eliminate the tremor in his voice, Ritsuka finally turned around. He forced the warmest smile onto his face, even though the corners of his eyes still looked a little red and watery.
"Oh, Dr. Roman. Yes, I've heard a lot about you from Madam Director," Ritsuka replied.
He then reached out his hand, accepting Romani's handshake. Unconsciously, Ritsuka's grip felt slightly tighter than a normal handshake, channeling the longing and relief that he couldn't express in words.
"My name is Fujimaru Ritsuka, the 47th Master Candidate. Nice to meet you."
Right as their skin touched, Romani flinched.
For a fraction of a second, an ability that he should have discarded a long time ago... suddenly flared up again.
Like lightning striking his consciousness, two horrifying visions flashed through his mind.
First, he saw the scorched surface of the Earth, completely swallowed by a massive and endless sea of fire. Then, in just the blink of an eye, the scenery changed to an expanse of a dead, frozen Earth, tightly covered by a sea of white fog.
"Doctor?"
Ritsuka's soft call broke the silence. The young man looked at Romani, who suddenly froze with a worried look on his face.
Hearing the voice, Romani immediately snapped out of it. He blinked rapidly, taking a deep breath as if he had just woken up from a nightmare.
"A-Ah! Yes, sorry, sorry!" Romani exclaimed, flustered. He hurriedly let go of the handshake and put on an awkward smile again, remembering his initial task. "So, Fujimaru-kun, didn't you say earlier that you were in a hurry to go to the toilet?"
"Yes, I was just about to go there," Ritsuka answered softly.
"In that case, come follow me, let me show you the way," Romani said.
The man in the white coat turned around and walked, taking the lead in front of Ritsuka.
However, as he turned his back on the young man, the cheerful smile on Romani's face instantly faded, replaced by a sharp wrinkle on his forehead.
'Was that... my Clairvoyance activating just now?' Romani thought, his mind churning in tremendous confusion. 'Impossible... Why did those terrifying visions suddenly appear? That ability should have been lost from me a long time ago since I became a human.'
Secretly, Romani glanced toward Ritsuka from the corner of his eye. 'And what's even weirder... why does this kid's presence feel so familiar to me?'
Not long after the two of them walked away and disappeared behind the turn of the corridor, a bluish glow of light appeared right at the spot where Ritsuka had been standing previously.
Oda Nobunaga materialized. The Demon King stood with her arms folded across her chest, her sharp eyes staring intently at the departing back of the young man.
"Master... who are you, really?" Nobu muttered softly. "And for whom... were the tears you struggled to hide earlier?"