Over the course of their brief conversation, the freshly prepared, steaming hot food had already been neatly arranged on the table.
Even though this was food from B.C., thanks to Gilgamesh—a man who could literally see the future—both the presentation and the flavor were absolutely guaranteed to be top-tier.
After all, no matter what era or form he took, Gilgamesh would never, ever compromise when it came to "enjoyment" and luxury.
Because of this, Takumi—whose appetite had been fully piqued—started shoveling food into his mouth the second the dishes were set down. Whenever someone tried to talk to him, he would just mumble a vague response between bites and keep eating.
Honestly, he had eaten way too many processed Chaldea rations. Sometimes he genuinely wanted to ask Romani how the medical staff in the game always seemed to live so comfortably.
Watching Takumi eat like he had been starved for a month naturally drew knowing smiles from the rest of the group. They tacitly decided not to bother him and just chatted amongst themselves. However, perhaps infected by Takumi's sheer, unadulterated enthusiasm for the meal, everyone found themselves unconsciously eating more than usual.
"...Leonidas, won't you have a little? This ale is exceptionally good, you know!"
Merlin hoisted a flagon of ale, winking and nudging Leonidas, clearly trying to coax the Spartan King into taking a drink.
Leonidas glanced down at the cup Merlin had placed in front of him. Smelling the faint, enticing aroma of the alcohol, he couldn't help but swallow dryly. He was definitely tempted. However, remembering his past experiences of getting drunk and acting like a fool, he forcefully suppressed his craving. Sitting bolt upright, he declared sternly:
"Er... no, no need. I only require enough sustenance to maintain my physical condition. I shall wait until every last demonic beast is exterminated before I indulge in fine wine! And thanks to Takumi, the number of beasts has plummeted, so that day shouldn't be too far off."
"Oh, come on! You can deal with that stuff later at your own pace! If nothing else, just have a tiny sip? A little bit won't get you drunk."
Merlin wiggled his eyebrows at Leonidas, gently swirling the ale in his flagon to make it slosh enticingly.
"Well... just a tiny sip, then?"
Hearing the tantalizing slosh of the liquid, Leonidas felt his resolve waver and spoke hesitantly.
If I just take two small sips, with my tolerance, there's no way I'll actually get drunk.
Just according to plan!
Merlin gave himself a massive mental thumbs-up, but maintained a warm, encouraging smile on his face:
"Just a tiny sip!"
While the two of them began their back-and-forth drinking game, Takumi had already wiped his mouth clean and set his empty bowls down.
That's right. While everyone else was, at most, a third of the way through their meals, the vacuum-cleaner Takumi was already completely full.
Sitting idly at the table, with Ushiwakamaru seated right next to him, Takumi naturally found his gaze occasionally drifting toward her outfit. The longer he looked, the more the lingering questions and baffling thoughts he had harbored since his days of watching anime and playing the game involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
Coincidentally, Ushiwakamaru noticed Takumi's intermittent, puzzled stares. She tilted her head and asked curiously:
"Lord Takumi, is there a reason you keep looking at me?"
"Uh... I just wanted to ask... Ushiwakamaru, aren't you... genuinely embarrassed wearing that outfit?"
Thanks to the passive influence of the [Heart of Fire], Takumi had become the type of person who spoke exactly what was on his mind. He scratched his head and asked with a hint of hesitation.
If they were ranking outfits based on sheer exposure and bizarre design choices, Ushiwakamaru was absolutely guaranteed second place in this entire Singularity, and was a strong contender for first!
And who was the only one contesting her for first place?
That would naturally be the Goddess of Beauty, Ishtar. She was an absolute heavyweight in this category. If you gathered every single scrap of fabric on her body and stitched them together, you'd struggle to make a pair of booty shorts. And this was the tamed version because she was possessing Rin Tohsaka! A fully manifested Ishtar would wear even less!
Aside from Ishtar, the only other Servants who could compete in the "lack of clothing" department were the perpetually half-naked Gilgamesh, and Leonidas I—who wore absolutely nothing but a speedo, a bright red cape, and some metal greaves and bracers.
But those two were guys. While it was certainly a choice, it wasn't a huge deal. But Ushiwakamaru was a completely different story!
Could you say she didn't have enough fabric? Well, there was actually a decent amount of material on her. But could you say she was fully clothed? Absolutely not! Her entire thighs and her pale midriff were completely, shamelessly exposed to the elements. The armor plating strapped to her body was so functionally useless it was basically just a fashion accessory. She wore two massive, billowing sleeves on her arms, yet for some inexplicable reason, the lower half of her outfit was designed to proudly display her underwear to the world...
Of course, none of that was really worth hyper-fixating on. If worst came to worst, you could just convince yourself she was basically wearing a swimsuit. Same went for Ishtar; once you accepted it was just a fantasy bikini, it didn't even evoke any inappropriate thoughts.
But! Ushiwakamaru's upper half was a completely different beast! Unlike a swimsuit, her top essentially consisted of two flimsy flaps of fabric—which looked like they could be flipped up at any second—barely covering her assets. More than half of her pale, snowy peaks were just completely exposed to the open air, looking like a "ready-to-eat" meal.
Takumi genuinely wondered sometimes: when Ushiwakamaru sprinted at top speed, did the wind just blow those two "flaps" right open?
"Huh?"
Hearing this, Ushiwakamaru stared blankly at him.
But a second later, she realized exactly what Takumi was referring to. Her pretty face flushed a violent shade of red, and she awkwardly crossed her arms over her chest.
"U-Umm... Truth be told, while the armor I wore during my life was designed to be light and breathable for combat, it definitely wasn't this revealing. So I honestly have no idea why I manifested in this specific attire... However, under normal circumstances, I use magical energy to firmly adhere these two pieces of cloth to my skin, so there's usually no risk of... exposure..."
Ushiwakamaru mumbled softly, giving a shockingly honest and practical explanation.
"I... I see..."
Not expecting Ushiwakamaru to actually explain the logistics of her anti-gravity top, Takumi was left with dot-eyes.
But that raised an even more pressing question: What happens if she runs out of magical energy?
Ushiwakamaru fell completely silent, but her pale face turned an even deeper shade of crimson.
SLAM!
Right at that moment, the loud crash of a wooden cup slamming onto the floor echoed through the room, instantly drawing everyone's attention and completely shattering the awkward atmosphere between the two.
"Listen closely, all of you! A true warrior is also a mathematician! After precisely two hours of intense combat, one must absolutely take a fifteen-minute power nap..."
Leonidas had suddenly stood up. His face was beet red, his speech was heavily slurred, and he was loudly lecturing the room about some bizarre grievance he had been holding onto. He was completely, unequivocally hammered.
"——Who exactly gave General Leonidas alcohol?!"
Siduri, who had been busy coordinating the servants and had just re-entered the room, looked absolutely horrified.
"Hahaha! Look at Leonidas! He's such a lightweight! He only had two cups of ale and he's already completely wasted~"
Merlin giggled, pointing at Leonidas and casually taking another sip from his own cup without a care in the world.
Siduri: "..."
Great. No need to launch an investigation to find the culprit.
"It's fine. Having a drink is probably good medicine for him at this point. Despite his big talk, he definitely hasn't been getting anywhere near enough rest, just like he claimed he was!"
As a comrade-in-arms who had survived alongside Leonidas this entire time, Ushiwakamaru understood him perfectly. She shrugged and smiled warmly.
"Sigh, I suppose it cannot be helped..."
Siduri let out a helpless sigh.
"Even so! Those young recruits are utterly disgraceful! Amidst a horde of demonic beasts, the only ones capable of maintaining a cool head and decisive action are..."
The drunk Leonidas suddenly slammed his fist onto the table. Flinging his arms around wildly, he began loudly venting his frustration and disappointment over the inexperienced soldiers. Sitting right next to him, Merlin suddenly felt a strong sense of impending doom. Just as he tried to stand up and move away, he felt the cushion beneath him vanish, and a massive, muscular arm swung right toward his face.
"Ouch!"
Having his stool violently kicked out from under him by the drunk Spartan, Merlin was then clotheslined straight into the floor by a falling Leonidas. The Magus of Flowers let out a yelp of pain, his expression looking as if he were about to cry.
He tried to shake Leonidas off, but the King of Sparta had already passed out cold on top of him, snoring loudly.
"Serves you right, Merlin."
Ana, who was quietly sipping a cup of milk, ruthlessly kicked him while he was down.
And so, the gathering came to an end in a rather chaotic, farcical manner.
***
The next day.
The weather transitioned from cloudy to clear. Nothing major happened. The [Revelation] skill remained completely silent, and Gilgamesh—who could see the future—showed no signs of summoning him.
So, naturally, under Siduri's arrangement, Takumi began a day of "work."
For example: Repairing houses and hauling lumber.
"This is unbelievable! Even the absolute strongest warriors I've seen in the military couldn't carry over a dozen massive logs at once like you're doing!"
The "Construction Foreman" stared in absolute shock and giddy excitement at Takumi. Takumi had used Runes to bundle over a dozen massive wooden pillars—each requiring three to four men just to encircle—and hoisted the entire bundle onto his shoulder with a single hand.
"With your efficiency, a job that was supposed to take us two full hours is going to be finished in one... no, half an hour!"
The Foreman did some quick mental math and cheered.
Hearing this, Takumi simply offered a modest smile.
In reality, the Foreman had still severely underestimated Takumi. Once he memorized the workflow, it took Takumi less than half an hour to transport absolutely everything that needed moving. He even went out of his way to speed-run the process of pressing the mud-bricks and clay slabs into their molds and setting them out in the sun to dry.
With his absurd speed and monstrous physical strength, Takumi alone was far more efficient than the entire construction crew combined.
"I have to admit, having a Lord like you doing this kind of manual labor feels like a massive waste of your talents..."
Standing next to Takumi and looking at the sheer volume of work completed in thirty minutes, the Foreman clicked his tongue in awe.
"I had nothing else to do anyway, and I was planning on taking a walk around Uruk to get familiar with the city."
Sitting under the shade of a large tree, Takumi chuckled and took a swig of water.
"If you keep doing 'nothing' like this, half the city is going to lose their jobs."
The Foreman shook his head, joking good-naturedly.
With Takumi literally activating his ultra-high-speed state just to do construction work, who in their right mind could possibly compete with that?
"However, the rest of the process is just waiting for things to dry and set. You should head back and get some rest, my Lord. We can handle it from here."
Takumi nodded and took another drink of water. Then, as if suddenly recalling something, he asked somewhat hesitantly:
"I heard that King Gilgamesh has already told all of you exactly how Uruk is destined to end?"
"Ah, yes. The King, who sees the future, has indeed informed us of the state Uruk will be in shortly. If I recall correctly, he said Uruk will be virtually annihilated, and every single person who remains in the city will be completely wiped out."
The Foreman paused for a moment before answering, a trace of solemnity in his voice.
"So... what are your thoughts on that?"
Takumi asked quietly.
"Me? Emmm... I don't really have any special thoughts about it. Even though the King is organizing an evacuation for a portion of the populace, I want to stay right here. After all, I've spent my entire life in Uruk. The thought of just packing up and leaving at the very end... I just can't bring myself to do it!"
The Foreman thought for a second, then shrugged and smiled.
"Besides, I'm a healthy, able-bodied man. The elderly, the children, and a select few young adults should be the ones to evacuate. No matter how you slice it, a spot on that caravan shouldn't go to me, right?"
"Aren't you afraid?"
"Afraid? ...I don't know."
The Foreman shrugged again.
"Even though I've heard the King's prophecy, all I know is that Uruk will be destroyed. I have absolutely no idea how it's going to happen."
"The closest I've ever come to death was a few years ago during a demonic beast attack. And honestly? It wasn't that big of a deal."
"Don't let my current lackadaisical attitude fool you! Back in the day, me and two or three of my well-trained squadmates could hunt down and butcher a demonic beast without taking a single scratch! —That is, until I took a claw to the knee. Otherwise, I'd still be serving in the military right now."
Reaching the end of his story, the Foreman shook his head with genuine regret.
"If I had to describe it, I guess I'm just a little bit anxious. But for some reason, after watching you work today, that anxiety is completely gone! I suddenly feel like I could go out there and solo a demonic beast with my bare hands! Hahaha!"
The Foreman let out a hearty, booming laugh.
"...That's probably my fault... Making someone who has a chance to survive suddenly become completely unafraid of death... I always feel like this ability of mine is a bit sinister..."
Knowing exactly why the Foreman was feeling that way, Takumi stared blankly ahead, his voice heavy with guilt and reluctance.
"No, my Lord. There is absolutely nothing sinister about your power. On the contrary, it is an incredibly gentle, comforting strength."
Hearing Takumi's self-deprecating words, the Foreman—who could feel the warmth of that bright flame in his heart—shook his head firmly. He looked out at the city, opened his arms, took a deep breath of air, and continued:
"Being unafraid of death isn't something you forced upon me, or upon any of us. It is the true, deepest desire of our own hearts. I don't know what everyone else is thinking, but I, for one, refuse to act like a coward. When the critical moment arrives, I refuse to cower and cry like a frightened child! To face whatever comes with unwavering courage—that is exactly what I want!"
"Not to mention, you, and all the great Generals summoned by the King, are esteemed guests who traveled from incredibly far away to help us. If you're willing to fight so hard for our home, wouldn't it be incredibly shameful if we locals didn't step up and show some backbone?!"
The Foreman placed his hands on his hips, grinning broadly at Takumi.
Listening to the Foreman's earnest words, Takumi stared at him for a moment before a genuine, relieved laugh escaped his lips.
It was true. The power of the [Heart of Fire] was inherently gentle. It didn't possess scorching heat or destructive force. It was merely a unique flame that resided within the heart. It couldn't even forcibly invade another person's mind; it only took effect if the person actively chose to embrace it.
"You're right. I was just being overly sentimental. I apologize."
Takumi shook his head, then dusted off his pants and stood up.
"Hmm? You're not going to rest a bit longer?"
"No need. Since we're all going to face that impending future, I need to work even harder!"
Takumi smiled, waved goodbye, and quickly vanished from the Foreman's sight.