Just as expected, the moment Marie heard Black Marie's words, her attention snapped away completely.
Her eyes widened a fraction as she stared at her counterpart, confusion flickering across her face—followed by a spark of dawning shock.
"Huh? Chaldea? A happy life? With the Master? Wh… what do you mean?"
"What do I mean?" Black Marie tilted her head with a delighted grin, her expression screaming you already know. "I think you've probably guessed it already, haven't you?"
The look on Black Marie's face hit Marie like a slap of cold water. Understanding crashed over her in an instant, and her features twisted into pure disbelief.
"No way… You must be mistaken."
"I'll admit, I do tend to act a little too familiar sometimes—getting a bit too close without thinking."
"But that's just subconscious on my part. You're reading too much into it."
"The only thing I truly love is France itself. I wouldn't feel that kind of affection for anyone else."
"Honestly, how could I misinterpret my own behavior like that? I really wasn't paying attention, haha…"
Marie gracefully lifted a hand to her lips and waved it lightly at Black Marie, clearly convinced the other woman was either joking or had simply misunderstood.
"Oh, so that's how it is? I got it all wrong?"
Black Marie's playful mask slipped back into a perfectly neutral, oh, I see expression as she watched Marie.
Seeing that reaction only strengthened Marie's certainty. Of course—Black Marie had misread everything.
"Right, right, it must have been a—"
Marie's words died in her throat.
Because Black Marie had suddenly switched back to that same beaming, mischievous face and leaned in close to her ear again.
Her voice carried a thrill she couldn't quite hide.
"So those ethereal little sounds you made while the Master was having his way with you… those were a misunderstanding too?"
Marie froze. After a long beat, she let out a tiny, questioning syllable.
"…Huh?"
She kept staring blankly at Black Marie, brain still struggling to catch up with what she'd just heard.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
Black Marie's grin widened until it looked like it might split her face in two.
"It means exactly…"
Instead of spelling it out, she raised one hand and formed a vague circle with her fingers. Then, with the other hand, she slowly slid a finger in and out of the circle—repeating the motion faster and faster.
"This. Heh heh heh~" A bright, bell-like laugh spilled from Black Marie's lips.
Marie watched the entire demonstration in stunned silence. Her mind spun at full throttle for several long seconds before the meaning finally slammed home.
The moment it did, her brain short-circuited completely. The carefree smile on her face locked up like a frozen frame.
"I-I…"
Black Marie drank in the ridiculous expression on Marie's face, her own delight only growing. But she still wasn't satisfied. She leaned even closer and kept whispering.
"Mhm, and that's not all…"
"There was one time when I was with you. I made a point of counting."
"You shocked me, honestly. An incredible number—seventy-six times. Seventy-six, can you believe it~?"
"And after a few of those, the second you were touched you'd just… give out. I know my own body pretty well. Even if it had been my first time, there's no way I'd be that weak."
"So there's only one explanation. Someone deliberately messed with your body to make it like that."
"I can't even imagine what you and the Master were doing in private before I ever reached Chaldea… to end up in that state."
Every single word sank straight into Marie's ears and carved itself deep into her mind.
Her brain had only just recovered from its earlier overload, but now her face was heating up at a dizzying speed. In seconds her cheeks burned scarlet, the flush spreading until she looked like a sweet, soft strawberry cake ready to melt.
Black Marie clearly decided that still wasn't enough and kept going, right in Marie's ear.
"Want me to describe the exact scene for you?"
"If I remember correctly, the Master had you lifted up and was thrusting so—"
The words poured into Marie's ear and burned straight into her memory.
It had to be said—there was a huge difference when the storyteller had actually been there. The images Black Marie painted formed instantly in Marie's head, vivid and merciless. She even described Marie's own expression in perfect detail, lingering especially on the position of her eyes and tongue.
The placement alone made Marie's state at the time crystal clear.
Watching the scene play out behind her own eyes, Marie's lips trembled with shame. Her already flushed face grew so hot it felt like it might catch fire.
The tiny scrap of reason she still possessed wanted to make Black Marie stop. But her body betrayed her—every word that reached her tongue refused to come out. She clearly wanted to hear more.
"After it was over, while you were cleaning the Master up, you even fought me for the chance to—"
"Mmm~~~"
[Marie Antoinette Emotion Value +10]
[Marie Antoinette Emotion Value +10]
[Marie Antoinette Emotion Value +10]
...
Meanwhile, Adam was still listening to Jeanne's endless lecture.
Every word was about how dangerous an Avenger-class Servant could be and how they might put Adam's safety at risk—backstabbing, betrayal, the usual concerns. In reality, her worries were completely unnecessary.
Still, watching Jeanne fret over him so earnestly, Adam understood exactly what it meant. He smiled softly and chose not to interrupt, simply enjoying the adorable sight of her getting all worked up on his behalf.
At the same time, a constant stream of notifications kept ringing in his ear—Marie's emotion values pouring in one after another.
Adam couldn't help wondering what on earth Black Marie was saying to her to rack up so many points.
After the latest flood of values from Marie, his thoughts shifted to the next target: how to harvest a fresh wave from Mozart once he returned.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
One of the handful of genius composers and performers the world had ever seen.
He possessed an extraordinary sense of music and was an unshakable prodigy in the field.
Rumored to be a child blessed by the gods—a miraculous talent.
Though in private the man was actually a pervert who loved telling dirty jokes.
Objective assessment: as a human being—regrettably, a scumbag.
None of that changed the sheer brilliance of his musical achievements.
Reaping emotion values from him wouldn't be hard at all. All Adam needed was to summon a certain Servant who shared a very deep connection with him.
As for who…
Adam's gaze drifted across the Servants in his arsenal and settled on one particular "masked knight."
Antonio Salieri.
Now this one was something else. His other name was practically Amadeus Alter (though that was a bit of an exaggeration).
Salieri had lived in the same era as Mozart and their paths had crossed.
After Mozart's untimely death, his fame only grew, cementing him as an immortal genius.
Salieri, despite his own high renown and even greater social standing, was largely forgotten by the public after his passing.
It did seem, Adam mused, that in the world of art an artist's work became most famous precisely when the artist died young.
In later legends, Salieri was branded the man who poisoned Mozart.
There was zero evidence for it. Surviving letters showed their personal relationship had been perfectly normal—Mozart's second son had even studied under Salieri.
But dramatic stories always won out with the masses. Salieri was painted as the "mediocre hack blessed with nothing but titles and status" who, out of jealousy for Mozart's divine talent, had schemed against him at every turn and finally murdered him.
That was why Salieri possessed the skill Innocent Monster: EX.
The rank was even EX, because in life he had never harmed a soul—yet the widespread rumors forced him to become the very monster the stories claimed he was.
The Salieri in Adam's roster wasn't the normal version, either.
How to put it… In a certain Lostbelt, Salieri had been cursed. At first he believed he was Mozart. Then, through a series of events, he gradually realized he wasn't. He kept insisting he lacked Mozart's talent, that he could never match Mozart's divine skill or move people's hearts the way Mozart could.
Later, under Mozart's guidance, Salieri finally cast aside all concern for others' opinions. He stopped trying to surpass Mozart, stopped holding himself back, and simply poured out his true self without restraint.
Adam sometimes wondered if the two of them shouldn't just get together already.
In any case, Salieri's fixation on Mozart ran incredibly deep.
How deep?
Put simply, Salieri was normally an obedient Servant who carried out Adam's orders without hesitation, eliminating enemies with mechanical efficiency and no trace of human emotion or will.
He was also calm, thoughtful, and level-headed. But because of Innocent Monster, cracks had formed in his psyche. The instant he laid eyes on Mozart, he could lose all reason.
Adam was dying to see how the unsuspecting Mozart would react to this Salieri.
It was bound to generate plenty of emotion values.
Heh heh heh.
Having settled on his plan for Mozart's return, Adam turned his thoughts to the three Servants they would meet next.
Kiyohime.
Saint George.
Elizabeth Báthory.
He was confident he could wring a good haul of emotion values out of all three.
Heh heh heh.
Once those three teammates were secured, the real battle against Black Jeanne would begin. After that…
The Servants still serving under Black Jeanne.
Carmilla.
Vlad III.
Sanson.
Berserker Lancelot.
Knight of the Lion.
Kitten Atalanta.
And of course, once the underlings were dealt with, Black Jeanne herself would remain.
Heh heh heh heh heh heh
Adam looked over the hundreds of Servants in his arsenal, already mapping out exactly which ones he would use against which opponents. The mental images alone sent a thrill racing through him.
The emotion values after that fight would easily double.
Just as he was lost in those pleasant daydreams, a cheerful voice shattered his thoughts.
"We're back~"
It was Mash.
She bounded ahead of the others and hopped straight up to Fujimaru Ritsuka.
Trailing behind her were Mash herself and Mozart.
"Hm? What's up, Mash? You went to fetch water—why do you look so happy all of a sudden?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked, blinking at the beaming Shielder.
"It's nothing, Senpai. I just figured a few things out." Mash shook her head gently and smiled.
Fujimaru Ritsuka looked momentarily surprised, then grinned.
"Figured a few things out? Does this mean you're going to make the Doctor replace your strawberry cake after the red-bean bun incident?"
At that exact moment, Swimsuit Black Jeanne noticed something odd.
She stared at Mozart and Mash, both empty-handed.
"Hold on… Didn't you two go to get water? Where is it?"
Mash froze. She glanced down at her hands—the ones that should have been holding the bucket—and found them completely empty.
The memory rushed back: right after filling the bucket, they had run into those monsters. In the fight the bucket had been knocked over. Then Mash had arrived to help, and she'd gotten so caught up talking with her master that she'd completely forgotten to refill it.
"Ah… my bad. I got too into the conversation and forgot to get more water."
Mozart had realized the same thing. He scratched his head in confusion, wondering if he should head back right then to fetch another bucket—when something impossible caught the corner of his eye.
Black Marie: "…"
Marie: "…"
Mozart: "…"
Mozart stared at Marie, then at Black Marie. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, as if checking whether he was seeing double. When he lowered his hands, two Maries were still standing there.
Mozart: "?!?!"
He raised one hand and pointed shakily at Marie. Then he raised the other and pointed at Black Marie.
"Marie? Marie?"
In a far corner, Siegfried and Kriemhild were still locked in their mutual stalemate—until the next instant, when Kriemhild suddenly vanished.
Siegfried: "?"
At the same time.
A man in a black formal coat over a red dress shirt, with gray hair and red eyes, appeared between Mozart and the two Maries.
It was Antonio Salieri.
Salieri: "…"
Black Marie: "…"
Marie: "…"
Mozart: "…"
"Salieri!"
Mozart pointed at Salieri in shock. The gesture seemed contagious; Marie suddenly pointed at him too.
"Salieri!"
Salieri pointed back at Mozart.
"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!"
Black Marie watched the three of them pointing at one another and decided it looked fun. She joined in.
And so the four of them stood there—each pointing at the next—caught in a bizarre, perfectly symmetrical square of mutual bewilderment.
***
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