With not a single intention of letting anyone return alive, the 'Tide-Fang of the Great End' — here demonstrated even greater majesty.
"Marduk's operation during space navigation, you say?"
"Umu. You said your Riding skill was EX back in London. Counting on that skill—I shall entrust the steering of Marduk to you."
"A battleship...! I see, calling out to me was the best choice! In other words, you are saying you need me even after the Restoration of Human Order!"
"Indeed. Who else but you could handle a request in space?"
"――――――"
"...What is it? You've gone silent. Do you have a stomachache?"
"N-No... Being told 'I am needed' face-to-face... is, is embarrassing! Aha, ahahahaha...! My body temperature is rising, so I request ice cream, Gil!"
"Hmph, very well. —How ironic. To think you, of all people, are making the most maiden-like moves by some mistake."
"Mnya mnya... Zzz..." ← The hot spring worked, and she fell asleep.
"—The next renovation is practically decided. I must speak with Siduri, Ereshkigal, and Tiamat. —To grant your dream, defeat cannot be permitted."
(Motorcycle touring, space travel... Yeah, yeah. Those are dreams befitting you, who loves the world, Ea.)
—Gil... Fou... Everyone... Together...
(Even her sleep-talking is precious... —Ah...)
『Becomes a futon and covers Ea』
"...Maria, Sita, and Lancer Artoria might get along with Ea as well. Hmph, it will be a sight to see what kind of conversation is born."
—Mnya... Zzz...
"...Someday, the day will surely come when you challenge the earth as you please. Wait for it with anticipation, Ea."
"—Haa. Now that Ea is asleep, let us quickly finish the miscellaneous tasks."
(—...)
A Desolate Hangar
An exceptionally sturdy container was modified into a truck, given self-driving capabilities.
"The treatment facilities and life support functions inside the container truck are perfect. Even if the world is destroyed, the human lives inside will be protected."
"Is that so."
Answering Nightingale's report with utter boredom, he transplanted the frozen coffins of 'Team A' and 'Team B' into the expanded container truck.
"Is the durability sufficient? King of Heroes."
"I selected surplus sturdy materials. It should easily deflect an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm."
Carrying in perfect life support devices, he completed a 'Minimal Self-Driving Treatment Truck Shelter.'
Ejection timing is 'Immediately after Human Order Restoration.' Ejection gate set. Destination is in front of the 'Clock Tower.'
(With this, the moment Human Order is restored, these guys are exiled from paradise, huh?)
"Normally, I could just give them their last rites and be done with it. —But with Ea here, I cannot simply kill them on a whim."
(Guarantying their lives is so merciful it makes me want to cry. I hate even looking at these guys.)
"I agree completely... but I shall pay respect to the vitality of cockroaches that survive ungracefully. Just the tip of a fingernail, or a single strand of hair's worth."
(It would be unbearable if they used the coffin transaction as a pretext to invade Chaldea, right Gil?)
"Precisely. I care nothing for their safety from the bottom of my heart... but it would be annoying if they became material to denounce Olga Marie's mismanagement. I shall return their extracted Magic Circuits and return the defective goods with all limbs intact."
(Right, right. Not even worth killing. Magus and the like. Quick exile is best.)
"Then, I shall manage them. Even if lives are lost, I will save them."
"I leave it to you. —My soul feels soiled. I suppose I should go to sleep. Let us go, Beast."
(Yes, yes.)
Without even trying to hide his displeasure, Gilgamesh and Fou entrusted the management to Nightingale and returned to paradise...
"I wonder if it will be okay... I wonder if I can do it, Marie... I have to say it properly... Even though, really, I'm the one who should have said it..."
~
"I will convey it. As the Director, I will do it. You stop worrying about unnecessary things and go bond with Sheba-nyan."
~
"It will be fine~♥ The bond between everyone will surely become tighter♥ Yes, here is a question. What do you call a gathering of people who can overcome any despair or sorrow?♥"
"That is—"
Because I cannot cast aside tomorrow's bond.
Chaldea Counseling & Healing Room
It is an infirmary equipped with facilities to provide mental care for injured staff and to ameliorate psychological trauma and stress.
The room features a planetarium reproducing the cosmos—a near-futuristic darkness and a starry sky. It is an arrangement made by the King of Heroes to induce relaxation and enable smooth treatment.
And in the center of that room, within a capsule resembling a snowflake, a single girl undergoes a procedure to regenerate her body's cells and revitalize her life force...
"—Confirmation: nearly all cells in the body have been regenerated. Your body, which had an operational limit of 18 years, now shows data capable of activity up to age 65."
Grasping and conveying the situation of Mash, who is undergoing treatment inside the 'Age of Gods Regression Capsule' bestowed by the King of Heroes, is... Chaldea Director, Olga Marie Animusphere.
『Until 65... That is amazing! Compared to the 18 years I had heard of, that is so much...!』
Mash raised a voice of delight, but Olga Marie shook her head.
"No, not yet. It still doesn't reach the average life expectancy of the modern era. You must acquire a lifespan more akin to an ordinary person. —Yes, just like an ordinary person."
A shadow of anguish surfaced on Olga Marie's face... but she lifted her head without letting Mash perceive it.
"You will continue to undergo this procedure. Eight hours a day: cell mutation and regenerative reinforcement of bodily functions. No matter the reason, I will absolutely not allow you to skip or neglect this treatment. Is that clear!"
『Y-Yes! This Mash Kyrielight! I will dedicate myself body and soul to physical reinforcement and modification!』
Bubblub, Mash shook the capsule filled with the liquid ether of the Age of Gods.
"Very good. ...Well then, I will shift you to Sleep Mode. We are entering the body cleaning and reinforcement phase... so sleep soundly. Okay?"
『Yes! ...Um, Director Olga Marie.』
Mash called out, and Olga Marie turned back.
"What is it? Are you feeling unwell?"
『—No. ...Thank you very much, Director. I... I am truly happy that you are alive, Director.』
Fleetingly yet strongly, Mash smiled.
『I am truly happy that I could become friends with you, Director. ...Truly, truly...』
"...Yes, me too. On that, I swear it is the truth. Mash."
The two looked at each other and shared a smile.
『Yes! Goodnight, Director! When I wake up next, I will show you and Senpai the power of Super Mash, powered up Mash-ively!』
"Yes, yes, just don't be reckless. You're a scaredy-cat, after all."
『Ugh... Yes. I will be careful...』
"...Goodnight, Mash."
She slowly lowered the consciousness levels into a sleep state, putting Mash's mind and body to rest before moving on to the improvement tasks.
"...Sixty years old isn't even enough to see past retirement age... I can't call a lifespan like that 'long' yet. At the very least, she needs an old age..."
As Olga Marie looked down, lost in thought...
"Fou! (Yo, it's Fou-kun!)"
With a hop, Fou jumped onto Olga Marie's shoulder.
"Oh, Fou. ...Could it be..."
"Fou, kyu. (It's that 'could it be.' I called her for you. Just being considerate.)"
He jumped down and trotted out of the room, patter patter.
"Huh? He left... Fou is restless, isn't he~?"
Watching him leave with a puzzled look, the Strongest of Humanit—the Last Master, Fujimaru Ritsuka, entered the room.
"Yahoo, Marie! Is Mash asleep?"
Olga Marie gazed at Ritsuka, who returned a cheerful greeting after finishing her simulation farming (solo) in a tank top and spats.
"...What's wrong? Why the scary face?"
"Ah, ahh, I'm sorry. I'm not angry or anything. ...Ah, come to think of it... since being reborn by the Holy Grail, I haven't had a single hysterical fit. ...Fufu, I do nothing but laugh now."
There was no trace of her former self in the way she laughed with amusement. All that remained was the figure of a strong woman, bearing a smile like a flower blooming nobly and proudly, uncrushed by responsibility and pressure.
"That's a good thing! We've both changed since the beginning, haven't we?"
"...You too, how should I put it... your smile has gained some substance, hasn't it?"
"I guess so~. Before, 'I could only smile,' but now 'I smile because I want to!'"
Yes. She has learned the 'Meaning of Emotions.'
That is why... she laughs so brightly.
"...I suppose so. We've been together long enough to notice the changes in each other, haven't we?"
"Isn't that obvious? We're friends!"
Ritsuka conveyed this without hidden meaning or misunderstanding. Olga Marie smiled and nodded.
"Yes. ...That is correct. I, and Mash, and you... are friends."
"Of course! We've survived five brushes with death together, after all!"
And so, the two of them looked at Mash.
"Mash, too... she has protected me all this time. Even though she must be scared, she tries her hardest, rousing herself to fight."
"...So you understood. Mash's resolve."
"Of course," Ritsuka nodded.
"After all, Mash is my one and only junior (kouhai)! She's so cute I can't help it! Yep!"
"—Did you not have juniors in middle school?"
"Regrettably, I was never called 'Senpai'... And I'm a first-year in high school, so I wasn't a senior yet."
"I see. ...—Ritsuka."
Making up her mind, Olga Marie turned to face her.
"There is something I want you to know. ...It is about Mash's birth and upbringing. ...To be honest, I am terrified to tell you, but..."
"?"
Suppressing her trembling hands, rousing her responsibility and self-discipline, Olga Marie spun her words.
"Why she was able to become a Demi-Servant. Why we are performing these procedures only on her. How she was born... I have an obligation to tell you, and you, as her Master, have an obligation to hear it."
"..."
A serious conversation. Sensing her resolve, Ritsuka nodded without joking around, draping the Nemean Lion pelt over herself to avoid catching a cold from the mud of heavy truths.
"...You are free to form whatever opinion you wish. It would not be strange for you to despise or scorn me. ...I am telling you this story prepared for you to cut ties with me."
"—...Yeah."
"...Mash was... in this Chaldea... the former laboratory of the 'Animusphere.' I intend to hand over full authority to Gil soon, but... anyway, in the lab. She is one of the many created through inhumane experiments... a subject of the 'Heroic Spirit Fusion Experiment,' and the only successful case—"
And so, Olga Marie began to speak. Of the karma of the Animuspheres.
Of the taboo and inhumane attempt committed by the previous Director—
—The previous Director, Marisbury Animusphere... my father, focused on the value and danger of Heroic Spirits.
No matter how much one looks down on Heroic Spirits as mere familiars, they are existences far surpassing humans. If they felt like it, they could easily rebel against their Master, against humans. And then return to the Throne.
That cannot be called a safe 'weapon.' That is what Father thought... No, I have already died once... I am just Olga Marie. I should stop claiming blood relation.
...The experiment Marisbury conducted was the fusion of 'Heroic Spirit' and 'Human.' The 'Demi-Servant Experiment.' He sought a more certain, safer power of a Hero.
...I understand now. The entire perception held by magi toward the 'predecessors' who spun the history of heroes was wrong. To ask for help earnestly and sincerely. That is the only optimal solution to borrow the power of heroes... I know that now.
...Regardless, Marisbury decided to set a 'human' as the catalyst to summon a Heroic Spirit. He plotted for a human to become the catalyst. A child possessing a pristine soul and Magic Circuits worthy of summoning a hero. By combining these, making the Heroic Spirit and the child a single existence, he attempted to have them become 'human.'
Creating a human to make them a vessel for a hero. The reason this experiment is inhumane lies there. While creating a human, their existence as a human is not considered...
...And under that concept, Marisbury created children via artificial insemination in secret.
Sixteen years ago, the year 2000 AD. That is Mash's birth year. She is... a human created through artificial insemination and genetic manipulation.
...In the sense that she was 'made,' she might be an existence close to a homunculus. ...Truly, it is unforgivable, but... it is the fact.
—But, she is a human, right?
...Yes. That's right. Right. ...She, Mash is a human. She is human... she is a human...
—Don't cry, Olga Marie.
...I'm sorry. I said something foolish. I'll continue. Then, ten years later, in 2010, when Mash was ten years old, the experiment was conducted.
I may have said it failed before... but that is misleading. The summoning of the Hero was indeed successful. It was the second successful case of Chaldea Heroic Spirit summoning, following Solomon... 'Romani.' It succeeded, but to state the conclusion... the spirit did not awaken.
That Heroic Spirit was a noble person, and he did not acknowledge the deeds of Chaldea... of Marisbury.
'I absolutely cannot forgive your actions. However, if I were to depart, this girl would die. Therefore, I will not depart, but I will not awaken either.' He stated this clearly.
...Mash proved it. The correctness of the 'Heroic Spirit Fusion' formula, and 'the repulsiveness and error of that act.'
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