Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

However… Chaldea was wary of Fujimaru Ritsuka, the last Master candidate to arrive, because 100% aptitude was still quite rare. Therefore, she tested him slightly, and the result was—

Chaldea thought that Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had stumbled and fallen unconscious on the ground due to the pressure, was just overthinking things. Since Fujimaru Ritsuka posed no real threat, Chaldea didn't bother with her anymore and let her continue lying on the ground.

And so, the orange-haired girl lay peacefully in the middle of the corridor leading from Chaldea's main gate to the central control room, bathed in sunlight streaming through the window. Later, because Ritsuka's 'cross pendant' carried the scent of Novia, Fou came running because of the smell.

...How come this little brat smells like her master? Is it because this pendant was a gift from her master (Novia)?

The white demonic dog poked the peacefully lying Fujimaru Ritsuka with its ear, but there was still no reaction.

Wow, another girl. Master (Kurohime)... Never mind, this is not something I should be thinking about. It has nothing to do with me. I should just call Mash.

And so, under Fou's guidance, Ritsuka was successfully discovered and woken up by Mashu, and also met with Rafe, learning a little about her responsibilities. Although still half asleep, she was taken to Director Olga Marie's meeting, where she was slapped by the director and kicked out because she had fallen asleep...

"In short, thankfully, the director's slap has brought you to your senses. You've just been eliminated from your first battle."

So now I'm taking you to your room, senior.

"Hey hey hey, did I get hit?!"

The orange-haired girl, oblivious to the fact that she had been beaten, was completely unaware of the reality.

"...Anyway, we have arrived at our destination. This is your personal room, senior."

Mashu nodded slightly to Ritsuka. "I'm sorry, senpai. Since I'm in Team A, which is in its first operation, I have to go back quickly. I'll take my leave now. If I'm lucky, we should be able to meet again."

"Oh... okay..."

Watching Mashu, whom she had just met, turn and leave, Fujimaru Ritsuka felt a little disappointed.

After all, from Mashu's words and explanations, it was clear that Group A was a group of people who were hard to meet. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said something so ambiguous like, "If we're lucky, we might meet again." Ritsuka wasn't disappointed; she was just a little unaccustomed to being in an unfamiliar environment again.

The girl was also puzzled as to why she felt dizzy as soon as she came in, which led to her being slapped, though she felt nothing at all.

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Fujimaru Ritsuka took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the room Mashu had mentioned.

"Hi~ I'm coming in—"

"Who are you?! This is an empty room, our refuge when we skip work!! Who gave you permission to come in!?"

Roman, who was secretly slacking off here, was startled. In fact, Ritsuka herself also seemed startled and froze on the spot. This wasn't because of Roman's reaction, but because there was another person in the room besides Roman—

"Long time no see, Ritsuka. How have you been lately?"

The mere act of calling a girl's name is enough to make her heart flutter.

From now on, I'll be working with Hibiki's father, Novia.

Gudako.jpg.

Chapter 348 Divorce is Forbidden and Human Principles are Burned Away.

"I see, so they already knew each other before entering Chaldea... Advisor Novia and Fujimaru Ritsuka..."

After seeing the two greet each other and then hearing their explanations, Roman had an unexpected expression on his face.

I didn't expect Novia to be married and have children at such a young age. You can't tell from her appearance at all. I don't think her name is listed in her file... After all, she is a member of the Atlas Institute. Maintaining her appearance shouldn't be a big problem for her. However, it would certainly be quite a shock to meet her child's classmate with such an appearance.

Roman leaned against the fireplace and took a bite of strawberry cake. In a short time, he witnessed the change in the orange-haired girl's attitude as she drank tea, from being very excited at first to becoming somewhat quiet. This reminded him of something that had happened to him in the past.

That was after he became human. During a Holy Grail War, he protected a female Servant who was about to 'leave the stage', and thus successfully gained her gratitude. Thinking about it now, it's a very subtle feeling. After all, he became human from a Servant, which can be described as going from the 'past' to the 'present'.

The Servant represents the 'past', in other words, he received gratitude from the 'past'.

However, Roman also understood that the main reason was that he was now a 'human'. If he were still in Solomon's time, he would not have reacted no matter how much gratitude he received, nor would he have taken the initiative to help with the impending crisis. Instead, he would have just watched it happen.

Just as my father, the Great King, once said to me when I was not yet king, 'You, as a child offered to the gods, this is quite cruel.'

Even in that state of mind, there are still people willing to treat me with genuine kindness, even though I can't possibly reciprocate in the slightest.

"What, Roman, did seeing Ritsuka and me like this remind you of someone you used to know?"

Suddenly, Novia, who had been talking to Ritsuka, smiled and spoke to Roman, who was deep in thought.

"...Why, why do you say that..."

"Because your face showed an expression of nostalgia for the past, yet a reluctance to be questioned."

As Novia sipped her tea, she said, "And you just unconsciously touched your ring, didn't you? I know, even though you often wear gloves, I've seen you wash your hands before. So, Doctor, you must be married, right? Are you missing your family?"

It must be said that Novia's words were indeed accurate. However, upon seeing this, Roman once again dismissed his speculation that Novia might be related to the 'First Pope Novia', because the ring on his hand was not a wedding ring, but a distant gift left to the future by 'King Solomon' according to God's instructions when he passed away. It was also a relic that the old director unearthed when he summoned Solomon during the Holy Grail War.

Therefore, if one were an existence of that scale, one could naturally recognize that one's true form was Solomon at a glance, without even needing to look at the ring; a single glance at oneself would suffice.

However, the consultant from Novia only recognized it as a wedding ring, so the answer is obvious: it was really just a coincidence.

So, Roman shook his head as he answered:

"Well, to put it simply, we're probably already divorced..."

Roman was referring to the Queen of Sheba whom he met during the reign of King Solomon. It wasn't until he truly became human that, in his rare moments of leisure, Roman realized the 'feelings' of the former queen for him. But he also thought, 'The queen loved Solomon as king. As a human, I shouldn't be worthy of her love,' using this thought to reassure himself somewhat.

"Yeah."

"Hey, divorce, divorce..."

The words that Roman uttered surprised Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had just graduated from high school. This made the girl think of the seemingly lazy Roman, "I still hope that Dr. Roman can get over his failed marriage quickly..." That was roughly the idea.

But when the topic of divorce came up, Fujimaru Ritsuka felt it was a bit strange. She remembered how deeply she was affected after seeing Novia's wife, and how she didn't go back to Hibiki's coffee shop for several days before subtly asking her about it.

"Mother? I don't know either, I only know that Mom is the same as Mother, except that what Mom did to Father was very bad, so I don't want to call her that, so I call her a bad person."

Could it be that Xiao Xiang's mother and her mother are not the same person? That would be illegal...

Ritsuka was quite puzzled by this, and if the tall blonde woman could be the mother, then surely the little black-haired girl couldn't be the mother, could she?

This topic had been buried in Ritsuka's heart, but it has resurfaced now that the topic of 'divorce' has been brought up.

Perhaps feeling that there was no need to discuss this topic further, Ritsuka decided to change the subject for the two of them.

"To be honest, when I came to Chaldea, I don't know what was wrong with me. I always felt like my head was in a mess and I had a bit of an urge to doze off."

Ritsuka chuckled as she spoke, rubbing her head. "According to Mashu, the director scolded me, but I was asleep, so I didn't feel a thing, hahaha..."

Fujimaru Ritsuka's words gave Roman a wake-up call. He turned to look at Novia and asked, puzzled:

"This is the first official launch of the spirit particle transfer experiment. Aren't you going to be watching the whole thing, Advisor Novia? I was at least kicked out by the director for the reason that 'the atmosphere can't be serious as long as Romani is present!' Shouldn't Advisor Novia have no reason to be reprimanded?"

As the current maintainer of all Chaldea facilities, Novia should have gone to the control room with Director Olga Marie after the meeting to monitor the entire process of this spirit transfer experiment, instead of slacking off here with Roman. Moreover, since Novia is an external staff member of the Atlas Institute, Olga Marie is unlikely to easily show a bad expression.

"Because the director said he would call me over later..."

Novia paused, glancing at the name tag flashing at her waist. "Looks like it's about time. Ritsuka, you and Roman stay here. I'm leaving now."

And so, Novia left the room and headed to the assembly point for the first spirit transfer experiment.

After Novia left, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Dr. Roman fell silent.

"Well, although you already know me from Novia's advisor, Fujimaru Ritsuka, I still want to introduce myself properly again."

To break the ice, Roman spoke up.

"Yes, nice to meet you. I hope you will take good care of me in the future. I am the head of the medical department, Romani Archman. I don't know why everyone calls me Dr. Roman. I don't know the reason, but it just sounds nice. Please don't be shy and just call me Dr. Roman like Consultant Novia does."

"...Hmm, so Dr. Roman is actually a gentle type..."

Ritsuka subconsciously began to categorize Roman.

"..."

This left Roman at a loss for words to say to Ritsuka, while Ritsuka seemed completely oblivious to the strangeness of her words, simply staring at Roman with both eyes.

Isn't this child a little too outgoing? She clearly has amazing social skills, but why is she acting differently when she was consulting with Novia? Could it be that the presence of an elder made her feel more at ease?

That should be the case, after all, they are the parents of a familiar junior, so they can be considered elders in a certain sense.

Just as Roman was pondering how to continue the conversation, an announcement suddenly came over the loudspeaker in the room:

"Romani, the spirit transfer is about to begin. Just in case, could you come over for a moment? Group A is in good condition, but some people in other groups, including Group B, who haven't adapted yet, are showing some abnormal phenomena. It's probably due to anxiety, since the basket is like a capsule."

"...Oh dear, it's Rafe. That's so pitiful. I'll go give them anesthesia."

"Okay, please hurry. You're in the infirmary now, right? It should only take two minutes to get there from there."

After hearing the somewhat familiar voice on the radio fade away, Ritsuka looked at Roman, who was looking at her with an embarrassed expression, and said without hesitation:

"This isn't the infirmary, is it? Dr. Roman skipping work is not a good thing."

"...Aaaaaah...Don't say it out loud—"

"Excuse me, is Fujimaru Ritsuka there?"

The door opened again, and a serious-looking girl walked in.

"I am Fujimaru Ritsuka, and you are?"

"Oh, it's Little Gran. What brings you here all of a sudden?"

The newcomer was none other than Leonardo da Vinci, a figure that Roman rarely encountered in Chaldea, much like Fou.

“I’m sorry, Romani, it’s confidential, I can’t say.”

Little Da Vinci shook his head and walked to Ritsuka's side, extending his hand. "Please lie down, Fujimaru Ritsuka. I should begin my facial manipulation."

“…Huh? Why?”

Although she had no idea what was going on, Ritsuka obediently lay down as Little Da Vinci had instructed, and closed her eyes as well.

Soon Ritsuka felt a pair of hands touching her face, which felt incredibly comfortable; in other words, she was being massaged.

"Alright, that's done. See you next time, you two."

After withdrawing his hand from massaging Ritsuka's face, Little Da Vinci revealed a smile of 'task accomplished' and skipped out of the room.

"What on earth is going on...?"

Ritsuka watched the departing figure of Little Da Vinci and unconsciously rubbed her cheek. Even though it was only for a minute, it felt really good, like the pain of being hit by the director had completely healed.

"The only people Chaldea can really control about Gran are Leonardo da Vinci, the director, and Novia, since he was Gran's teacher."

Roman said thoughtfully, "But why did he massage your face, Fujimaru? Could it be that the director felt he went too far in scolding you? That can't be right, how could the director possibly admit his mistake?"

After hearing Roman's words, Ritsuka thoughtfully touched her face.

She thought it might have been Novia who called him, but she was also curious. She had only mentioned being scolded by the director, omitting the part about being slapped. If it was Novia, how did he find out? Could it be some kind of magical ability? Then why didn't he come himself, but instead called this Gran? Could it be that she didn't know how? No, if it were a teacher, he should be able to come too, so only a student would know how.

Oh, I see.

The orange-haired girl quickly figured it out. It was probably because Novia thought he looked too young, so she wanted to avoid getting too involved with him. Well, she already had a lover, so she had to be more mature when dealing with the opposite sex, especially since she already had two grown children...

"Ugh……"

Thus, in Roman's eyes, the vibrant orange-haired girl let out a sigh that seemed incredibly complex.

Although he didn't quite understand, and couldn't find out why Leonardo da Vinci had come, Roman decided to go to the control room as Rafe had asked.

"Let's not talk about it for now. Once things have calmed down, Fujimaru, come visit the infirmary. I'll treat you to some delicious cake next time."

At that very moment, the entire Chaldea was plunged into pure darkness.

……

A little earlier, somewhere outside of time, a person sat on a decaying throne, with a landscape of blue and white clouds behind him, and a halo that seemed to be forming, hazy and indistinct. Around the steps were half-built pillars covered in moss.

This place is the Temple of the Crowned Time.

"Flauros has already placed the Holy Grail in every era."

"Lighting the lamp, one understands all, and therefore sighs at all!"

"We will dig back into the past and destroy the future!"

Seated on his throne, Goetia rested his chin on his hand, displaying an indifferent attitude as he listened to the cheers of the seventy-two demon pillars.

Now that time has come, the first step in rebuilding the 'great work of God' is about to begin, but Goetia remains silent, unlike the Seventy-Two Demon Pillars who uttered joyful sounds. The reason is simple: the maintenance advisor from the Atlas Institute who recently came to Chaldea.

Floros, as Raef, failed to recognize him, but Goetia found him incredibly familiar. Although he appeared to be just an ordinary person, he possessed an aura that even Raef's clairvoyance could not penetrate, and he had the exact same appearance. This reminded him of the person he had encountered when he was still in his juvenile form and had not yet reached his complete form.

That incident was undoubtedly a disgrace for Goetia, and it intensified his denial of humanity.

Therefore, he couldn't help but be wary of the first Pope Novia, who appeared at the last moment. He had even secretly observed the previous Holy Grail War in the snowfield, but to no avail. This inevitably made him suspicious of Novia, the maintenance personnel who suddenly arrived in Chaldea.

But Goetia was also puzzled by this. His plan could not possibly escape Goetia's eyes, so why did Goetia stand by and watch?

It's impossible that he, like Solomon, possessed the ability to resolve all disasters yet stood by and watched them unfold; it must be, it must be—

Goetia understood why Draco's beastly aura had disappeared. The second Pope, who had once been a disciple but had now fallen into this state, was a disaster and was thus dealt with by Novia. However, he was not, which meant that what he had done had been recognized by Novia.