"Ian—"
Fujimaru Ritsuka's call rang out.
Ian looked towards the sound and saw her running towards him, waving her hand.
And behind her was Mash, holding up her shield.
"Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine."
Touching the wound that had already been healed by Slaanesh, Ian responded to Fujimaru Ritsuka.
"Just took a blade strike, that's all."
"What?"
A few minutes later.
After learning from Ian that the enemy at the summit of Mount Enzou was Artoria, both Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash revealed expressions of surprise.
"You mean, you took out King Arthur?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka felt astonished even as she said these words herself.
Although her attainments in Magecraft were not particularly outstanding, she at least understood the point that Servants were more powerful than humans.
Moreover, this was the legendary King Arthur.
To be able to hack her to death...
"Ian, what kind of monster are you?"
"Um, Senpai..."
Mash subconsciously touched her buttocks, which were well-wrapped in her bodysuit, and then vaguely guessed something.
"Perhaps, Secretary Ian didn't necessarily kill King Arthur, but just found a way to make her leave."
"Just like... our enemy suddenly disappeared too."
"Hmm—"
Fujimaru Ritsuka rubbed her chin.
"That makes sense..."
"Anyway, we're safe now, right!"
"Pretty much."
Ian's gaze swept over the two young girls before him.
"You two have worked hard as well."
"Ritsuka, you should know how to use the 'Command Spells' now, right?"
"Totally understood!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka showed off her now-empty arm.
"It just feels like there aren't enough of them—"
"Can I cover my whole arm with them after I go back?!"
"If I do that..."
Fujimaru Ritsuka's hand rested on Mash's shoulder.
"Next time I can coordinate with Mash even better!"
"That won't do." Ian knocked on Fujimaru Ritsuka's head. "These are important crystallizations of magical energy, not some simple tattoos. Just the ones you used up just now might be what an average magus could only save up over the better part of a lifetime."
"Eh!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at her arm.
"Then aren't I doomed?"
"Probably—how about Fujimaru Ritsuka's career as a magus ending right here?"
"No way!"
"Just kidding."
Seeing Fujimaru Ritsuka's teary-eyed look, Ian smiled.
She was truly kind, but also truly easy to fool.
"After we go back, there will be ways to replenish them, just don't treat them like some renewable resource to waste casually."
"Don't scare people like that!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka put her hands on her hips, staring at Ian.
But soon, she couldn't hold back a laugh herself.
"Forget it, at least... I fought with all my might this time."
"Three Command Spells, not a single one wasted."
The way Fujimaru Ritsuka comforted herself while counting on her fingers was simply overly cute.
"Yeah."
Ian reached out and patted her head.
"You worked very hard."
"..."
Meeting the man's gaze, Fujimaru Ritsuka did not resist this head pat.
"Um, although it seems inappropriate to ask at a time like this..." Mash's voice rang out from the side.
Holding her shield, she looked cautiously at both Fujimaru Ritsuka and Ian.
"But, what are we going to do next?"
"That's simple—"
Fujimaru Ritsuka waved her right thumb.
"It was mentioned during the pre-battle mobilization, right?"
"The so-called Singularity is, well... that..."
Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't get the rest of the words out for a long time—which wasn't strange; how could someone who dozed off during the pre-battle mobilization possibly remember these things?
"It is time and space that should not have existed."
The man smoothed things over.
"So if it wants to maintain itself, there must be some kind of 'magical energy source' acting as a foundation. If we find it and retrieve it, we can thoroughly repair the Singularity."
"Right, right, right, that's it!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka grabbed Ian's hand and pulled it against her chest.
"What he said is exactly what I wanted to say!"
Such an intimate action naturally made Mash blush.
However, she quickly took a deep breath and continued:
"I understand that too."
"What I meant was what comes after that—right now, there are no 'Coffins' left, right? How... are we supposed to return to Chaldea?"
"Eh, that..."
"Right, how do we go back?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka subconsciously looked at Ian beside her.
"We won't have to stay in this Singularity, will we?"
"Don't worry."
Ian comforted the two.
"There must be a way—the Director will know how to save us."
In the timeline where Olga Marie is confirmed dead, Chaldea would at least have Dr. Roman to oversee the overall situation and maintain basic rescue operations;
And now, having survived by deceiving the world through Lev's observation, it was naturally impossible for her not to organize an even better operation.
However—
Recalling the situations encountered along the way, Ian felt it might not go that smoothly. But looking at the girls before him who were already full of fatigue, he felt he shouldn't pour cold water on them.
"Is the Director really okay?"
Mash's expression remained somewhat worried.
"The explosion in the Central Control Room was so severe, she..."
"Mash!"
"You're saying discouraging words again!"
"Even though when we were fighting that dark fellow earlier, we didn't even think we'd survive!"
"But now—"
Fujimaru Ritsuka looked straight at her partner.
"We did it!"
"...That's true!"
Encouraged, Mash nodded.
But after a while, as her gaze swept over what was in front of her, she became shy again.
"Um, Senpai..."
"What's wrong?"
"Your chest is squeezing his hand, isn't this..."
Just as Mash said, part of the man's arm had already sunk into Fujimaru Ritsuka's cleavage.
"Hehe, of course I know."
Fujimaru Ritsuka grinned.
"But this is 'friendship', don't you get it?"
"Friendship?!"
"Yeah!" Fujimaru Ritsuka turned her body to look at Ian and winked.
"We are partners fighting side by side, no need to fuss over this, right?"
"..."
Although she felt there were too many things wrong with this logic, seeing the man's subtle gesture signaling silence, Mash spoke no more.
However—
Mash naturally couldn't fail to notice the affection Fujimaru Ritsuka was displaying toward the man.
But precisely because of this.
If she knew what Ian had already done to her in private, would she...
Mash dared not think any further.
And what she didn't know was that this reaction had been conveyed to the man long before she realized it.
The power conveyed by [Slaanesh] was growing stronger.
I see.
Aside from indulgence, making them immoral is also a good choice for cultivation.
"Anyway—"
"Let's find the magical energy source maintaining Singularity F first."
"We'll continue our operation after Chaldea sends the next instructions!"
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