After dawn, they would set out to investigate the Holy Grail bomb. Before that, they needed to sleep and recover their energy.
Three hours had passed since Naoki gave that order.
Okita still couldn't sleep.
Though Servants didn't need sleep, Okita's inability to rest wasn't due to that. After all, she had been in this world for ten years and had grown accustomed to living like an ordinary person.
The reason she couldn't sleep was that her heart was too excited.
Sitting on the roof of the inn, gazing at the sky, perhaps because it was late at night, the war had entered a temporary ceasefire. No gunfire echoed from the outskirts of the Imperial Capital, granting a fleeting silence to the war-torn city.
Yet, the sky remained dark, the moonlight faint, and the clouds of war still loomed over the city.
"You're here, can't sleep?"
A voice suddenly came from behind. Okita turned and saw Naoki leaping onto the roof.
Okita shook her head. "No, it's just that my heart can't calm down, so I came out to keep watch. What about you, Master?"
"Pretty much the same, but I'm not used to it." Naoki said with a wry smile. "After all, back in Chaldea, every night there's always Rei sneaking into my blankets, and I can only really sleep when dawn breaks."
"Rei-san really never gets enough, huh."
As Okita said this, her cheeks flushed slightly.
At Camelot Apartment, the things between Naoki and Rei were no secret. After all, they all lived under one roof—there was no way to hide it forever. Besides, the people involved never intended to hide it.
Riddell, Rei, Manaka, Merry, plus Aoko who returned irregularly—unless Naoki had business to attend to at night, he was basically dragged to the bedroom right after his bath. The night would end when dawn arrived.
If it was a weekend, it might even last until the afternoon of the next day.
Of course, this wasn't always the case. For instance, Merry sometimes pulled Naoki into the dream world instead of the real one. Riddell, with her frail physique, often couldn't last until midnight. In truth, the strongest in "combat" were Rei and Manaka.
This wasn't just about actual combat strength but also included the "combat strength" of various additional perks. For example, limited-edition skins that were never re-released, or personalized customization services that could be changed anytime to suit Naoki's preferences… Even Merry once said that if Naoki ever died, it would definitely be at the hands of Rei and Manaka.
(So it's the same in Chaldea. If there's no schedule there, Rei-san and Manaka-san must be monopolizing Master every day.)
Thinking about it, Okita sighed. "Master must be really exhausted there."
"It's manageable. But I'm a fairy—even if I die, I might come back to life. Plus, with Avalon restoring my energy, no matter how much I expend, I can recover in minutes. The only issue is mental fatigue."
This was also why Naoki was still awake.
The attention he usually poured entirely into Rei and Manaka now had nowhere to go, so even though it was two or three in the morning, he still felt full of energy and wouldn't feel sleepy until noon.
Under normal circumstances, Naoki would've admired his mental resilience, but when he thought about how it was trained bit by bit by Rei and Manaka, his feelings became a bit…
"Well, let's just say it's passing the time. By the way, there are some things I wanted to tell you, Okita."
"Huh? Something you want to say?"
"Let's call it heartfelt words from the bottom of my heart." Naoki smiled. "What I told you before about having you stand by my side until the very end… How should I put it? I'm sorry, that was a lie."
Okita froze. "A lie? Master, do you mean… I'm actually useless? Of course, Master is so strong, you could handle everything even without me."
"No, that's not what I meant… Ugh, it's more like the same mindset as your comrades back then."
Naoki explained, "The people in the Shinsengumi thought your body was frail and left you behind for your safety. From their perspective, they were surely doing their best for you."
"I'm more or less the same."
"If there were no unexpected circumstances, I'd be happy to fight alongside you until the very end. But if your sickly skill triggers, or you get seriously injured, I won't let you fight even if you don't want to stop."
Forcing a sick person to fight was wrong; sick people should rest properly—this was a very common mindset.
Okita could understand.
"Since long ago, I've always felt that Master is a rather strange 'Master.'"
After a moment of silence, Okita began to speak.
"For both Magi and ordinary people, we Servants are just tools, a kind of familiar. Even if we get injured, we can regenerate our bodies through spiritualization—frankly, our life and death aren't something Masters need to care about."
"But… Master cares a lot. Why?"
This was a question that had troubled Okita for ten years. Not only that, she was also puzzled about why Naoki spent so much Mana to maintain her presence in the world. If there was a purpose, it would make sense. But over ten years, Okita had barely received any serious orders from Naoki.
After all, orders like "Catch Merry when she's causing trouble and hang her up" were hardly serious.
Hearing Okita's question, Naoki didn't even think for a moment, answering with a completely natural expression. "Because I like you, Okita."
"—!"
The sudden words made Okita freeze in shock for a moment, then her entire face turned bright red!
Like?
"Master, the 'like' you mean is…"
"Well, it's the same kind of like I have for Merry and the others. After all, Okita, you're beautiful and cute, a gentle Yamato Nadeshiko-type girl, and when you fight, you're gallant and cool. It'd be weird if I didn't like you."
Beautiful? Cute? Gallant? Cool?
(Is that really me?!)
"Not just you, Okita, it's the same with Artoria. I really like Artoria too. That's why I care about you the way you described—though it's not just that, ninety-nine percent of the reason is exactly that. You can understand it that way."
"To exaggerate a bit—I want to make you my wife."
(Even though Master says that…)
The overly candid confession made Okita feel like a computer overloaded with information. Her mind was on the verge of crashing. For ten years, Okita had only seen Naoki as her Master. But now, her Master was telling her he had ulterior motives toward her? And he said it in such a cheerful tone…
This truly showed the attitude of someone who persisted in bad behavior, like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water.
But it also made sense. More than half the residents of Camelot Apartment were already "claimed" by Master. If he still wasn't open-minded by now, he could only be called foolish.
"Ma, Ma, Master…"
After her face stayed flushed for a while, Okita finally managed to speak again, stammering. "Th-thank you so much for your… liking me, but please give me a little more time. I've never experienced something like this before. I… Please allow me to not respond to Master's feelings for now!"
"Sure, no problem."
Naoki nodded. "Come to think of it, now's not really the time to talk about this. I just said it because it came up… Anyway, Okita, don't overthink it. You can give me your answer after everything's settled. After all, I have plenty of time. It's fine even if you think about it for a thousand years."
"Alright… Thank you so much for Master's understanding."
"Then I'll head down first. Even if I can't sleep, closing my eyes is good too. Okita, you should go back and rest a bit more too, or it might affect tomorrow's battle."
"I understand."
After saying that, Okita let out a slow sigh of relief. Even so, she could still feel her heart pounding rapidly. Being confessed to by someone—this was something that had never happened even when she was alive. It was truly her first experience.
Honestly, she didn't know how to handle it. Among the people she knew, few had experience in this area, and she couldn't contact them right now…
"Right, maybe he can."
Since she had previously stayed in Avalon, Okita had some communication with the Incubus living there. Before answering this summon, that Incubus had also said he could offer help anytime if needed.
Thinking of that, Okita softly called out, "Merlin, can you hear me? I have some questions I'd like to ask."
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
At the same time.
Merlin, who was busy guiding Artoria and the others in Avalon, heard this sudden call, and a bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
(Oof, Lia not done yet, and now there's another one… Sometimes accidents like this happen because of inappropriate live content.)
(Hmm, I'll have to charge Natsukawa a consultation fee later.)
(By the way, does this mean I can make a new section on the Magical Merry blog?!)