[This concludes everything I know.]
Reading the final piece of intel regarding the British Lostbelt, Da Vinci flipped two more pages. Finding the rest completely blank, she threw her hands up.
"That's it."
She turned to look at Olga Marie.
At the end of the day, Olga Marie was still the Director and leader of Chaldea. Even if she stumbled occasionally, the staff naturally looked to her for guidance.
Knowing this, and generally preferring not to interfere too much with administrative decisions, Da Vinci naturally yielded the floor to her.
Just as Da Vinci expected, the Magi gathered in the room all turned their expectant gazes toward the Director.
Under the collective stare of the entire room, Olga Marie felt the sweat begin to pour.
Though she maintained a stern, thoughtful expression, fine beads of sweat were already forming at her temples.
Feeling an immense pressure crushing down on her, almost making it hard to breathe, Olga Marie instinctively wanted to call out for Lev—the man who had helped shoulder her burdens ever since she took over Chaldea.
But the moment she opened her mouth, she remembered the harsh reality: her most trusted confidant was missing, and there was a ninety percent chance he was the mastermind behind this entire disaster.
Left with no choice, Olga Marie forced herself to endure the pressure and rapidly analyzed the situation.
Is the intel in the diary real? What actually happened to the boy in the video? Is Team A truly compromised like the diary claims...?
No! I'm not Lord El-Melloi II! Deduction and detective work aren't my strong suits! Why am I overthinking this?!
After a brief internal panic, Olga Marie suddenly realized her role. She relaxed slightly.
Right now, the most important thing is to do what I—or rather, what Chaldea—does best!
"Aside from the core Command Room personnel, everyone else spread out and initiate a full-scale search for the missing Team A members and Lev! Check their personal quarters immediately!"
"Yes, Director!" xN.
The staff responded in unison and scrambled to act.
"And remember, use every detection Magecraft at our disposal! Sweep every inch of this facility!" Olga Marie hurriedly added.
"Understood!" xN.
Olga Marie then turned to the remaining staff.
"As for the Command Room crew: half of you, monitor CHALDEAS constantly! If you notice even the slightest anomaly, report it immediately!"
"The other half, continue analyzing the logs from those missing 268 days! See if you can uncover any other crucial clues!"
The staff nodded seriously, their fingers flying across their keyboards.
"As for you..."
Olga Marie turned to Da Vinci, who was standing beside her with a distinct "What about me?" look. She couldn't help but sigh internally.
This Servant was notoriously difficult to command. She usually just did whatever she wanted. If it weren't for this world-ending crisis, she probably would have stayed locked in her workshop.
"You take the diary and crack the censored sections."
"You got it!"
Da Vinci happily agreed, grabbing the notebook and practically skipping away.
Seeing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka—who had been acting as a completely unnecessary spectator—peeked around suspiciously before casually slipping out of the room to follow Da Vinci.
Olga Marie obviously noticed the incredibly conspicuous redhead sneaking away, but she genuinely didn't have the energy to deal with the girl. Sighing heavily, she slumped back into her chair.
After reading the diary and watching the video, she had a general idea of where the items on her desk came from.
The gorgeous half-mask: a gift from Emperor Nero in the Second Singularity.
The eyepatch: likely a gift from Captain Drake.
As for the highly valuable golden dagger, she only knew it came from the Seventh Singularity.
These three items might hold immense sentimental value for Takumi, but to Olga Marie, aside from the potentially useful dagger, they didn't mean much.
Even the dagger wasn't that impressive in her eyes. After all, a Mystic Code was nothing compared to an unknown boy capable of soloing a Beast!
Not only was his combat power absurd, but he possessed critical future knowledge. Even if he came back and treated them coldly, it would still be a massive asset!
Sigh. But reality is cruel. Not only did he not come back, but...
Olga Marie finally understood how Takumi must have felt: possessing crucial knowledge but feeling completely powerless to change things.
Ahhhh! Why am I so unlucky...?
Suddenly remembering she still had to report all this to the Clock Tower and the United Nations, Olga Marie genuinely felt like crawling into a hole and dying.
***
Fujimaru Ritsuka walked cautiously down Chaldea's hallway.
The events of the day felt entirely surreal to her.
First, she was somehow dragged to Antarctica. After taking a bizarre aptitude test, she fell asleep in the hallway. She was woken up by a soft-spoken junior who kept calling her "Senpai." They barely had time to chat and introduce themselves before an emergency broadcast demanded everyone gather.
She arrived here completely alone. Aside from Mash, she didn't know a single soul. She just blindly followed everyone else, which led to her standing in a crowded room watching people read some stranger's diary and reviewing security footage.
Honestly, while she felt a bit sorry that Takumi didn't return, it was only a mild pity. Her main emotions were confusion and profound awkwardness.
After all, a diary isn't a novel. She still hadn't fully grasped what the diary was even about. It was just a barrage of historical figures, mythological names, and bizarre jargon she had never heard of before. It made her head spin.
Aside from thinking Takumi looked pretty cool swinging his sword in the video, she didn't understand a single thing.
—The worst part was that almost everyone else in the room would occasionally gasp in shock or turn pale at certain revelations, making her feel incredibly stupid and out of place!
Add to that her supposed identity as the "Savior of Humanity" mentioned in the diary, and her presence felt even more embarrassingly redundant.
"Sigh..."
Thinking about it, Ritsuka couldn't help but sigh.
Her only acquaintance, Mash, had run off to search for people. With absolutely zero professional skills to offer, Ritsuka's only option was to wander around and try to find her assigned room to rest.
After all, she was still pretty tired from that initial test.
She wandered through Chaldea for a while.
"Emmm... I think this is it?"
Ritsuka checked the info displayed on her wristband, scratching her head uncertainly.
She wasn't entirely sure if Chaldea was a legitimate organization, but they undeniably possessed some seriously high-tech gear, perfectly satisfying her sci-fi fantasies.
Because of that, she still hadn't fully figured out how to use the device on her wrist.
After double-checking a few times and confirming this was indeed her room, Ritsuka confidently opened the door.
Hiss—!
The pneumatic door slid open.
"Eh?"
Her confident expression instantly vanished. Ritsuka tilted her head in confusion.
Sitting in a chair inside her room was the same man who had been standing next to her earlier. The one who had remained completely silent and looked incredibly depressed while reading the diary. He was currently staring blankly at the ceiling.
Ritsuka backed out, checked the door number again, confirmed it was her room, and stepped inside.
"Uh, you look pretty down. Did something happen?" she asked cautiously.
She had actually noticed him earlier. Unlike her own confusion or the others' shocked curiosity, this man seemed deeply troubled from the very beginning, and he had been the first to leave the Command Room.
"...It's nothing. I just realized someone ate the strawberry cake I hid in here."
Snapping out of his daze and recognizing the "Fujimaru Ritsuka" from the diary, Romani took a deep breath and forced a wry smile.
"Huh?"
Ritsuka was completely dumbfounded.