A night that left Uruk bustling and noisy quietly passed.
It took the entire night, but the identities of the 100,000 rescued citizens teleported into Uruk were finally confirmed, and they were all properly settled.
Although housing and food remained significant issues, after some coordination, all 100,000 humans had places to stay.
The priestesses from the Temple of Priestesses had also all been mobilized, preparing to hold a ritual to pray for a bountiful harvest.
Since Uruk's tutelary deity was Ishtar—not only the goddess of venus and war but also the goddess of life and harvest—the priestesses serving her directly would naturally conduct such rituals.
Once held, the harvest should increase greatly.
This was a mystery impossible to replicate in the modern era—a luxury only possible during the Age of Gods, where ritual magecraft could be used to boost crop yields.
Of course, conducting such a ritual required significant preparation, including many ritual implements.
In Chaldea's terms, it consumed vast mana resources, along with magic crests and various magical reagents, before it could be executed on a large scale.
Therefore, it wasn't a method that could be used continuously.
Otherwise, Gilgamesh wouldn't have needed to worry about food storage in the first place.
To ensure the ritual's success, Gilgamesh—while not going so far as to bring out the Holy Grail—still provided a large number of mana resources from his treasure vault to support the ritual.
Under these conditions, Uruk was able to turn the chaos into opportunity.
Once the issues of shelter and food were resolved, these 100,000 people would undoubtedly bring new vitality to Uruk.
Some of them were already well-trained soldiers; others possessed skills in forging, smelting, manufacturing, brewing, and other trades.
They required no retraining and could be immediately integrated into various sectors.
Uruk's active labor force would certainly increase significantly after this, and the frontlines of the battle against the magical beasts would receive a massive reinforcement, easing the severe shortage of military power.
With this in mind, the people of Uruk devoted themselves even more earnestly to the task at hand, doing everything they could to settle the 100,000 newcomers.
Even Siduri was running around busily, with no time to tend to the Chaldea Embassy.
Only Merlin returned yawning in the middle of the night with Fou in tow, going straight to his room and sleeping like a log.
Naturally, Rozen also put everything down and allowed himself a full night of rest.
To prevent his magic circuits from deteriorating further, and to recover some mana, rest was absolutely essential for Rozen right now.
Thanks to that, by the next morning, Rozen's mana had recovered to a decent degree.
"It's nothing compared to my peak condition, but the recovery speed is much faster than before. That's probably proof that the nurturing and tempering of my magic circuits are having a positive effect."
Waking up early, Rozen first checked his own magic circuits, sensing the mana flowing through them, and felt somewhat relieved.
It was only then that Mash and Altera emerged from spirit form, materializing from the mist of mana.
"Are you really okay, Senpai?" Mash asked, still looking a little worried.
Altera remained her usual quiet self, her ruby-like eyes fixed on Rozen as if trying to see through him.
Rozen smiled at them both.
"You two are familiars bonded to my soul. You'd know if I was lying about my condition, wouldn't you?"
That much was certainly true.
With mana pathways connecting them, they should have at least some awareness of each other's mana and magic circuit condition.
Even an ordinary master-servant contract allowed for this, let alone familiars who were absolutely contracted and soul-bound to Rozen.
So both Mash and Altera knew Rozen wasn't forcing himself.
Altera even spoke.
"The sublimation of your Foreign Mana is nearly complete. That transformation and refinement has also had positive effects on your magic circuits. The fact that your circuits didn't deteriorate yesterday despite how recklessly you pushed them is likely thanks to that."
Rozen himself had sensed that as well.
As the sublimation of Foreign Mana approached completion, his entire existence was naturally becoming more transcendental. It was only logical that his internal magic circuits would benefit from that.
Rozen even believed that even without actively nurturing and tempering his circuits, once the sublimation of Foreign Mana was complete, his circuits might be restored to peak condition—or even improve beyond that.
"Unfortunately, time is still a problem."
Although the sublimation of Foreign Mana was nearly complete, it would still require two to three months—at minimum, about a month and a half.
Whereas nurturing and tempering the circuits could bring them back to peak condition in about one month.
It might seem like a small difference, but right now every second counted. Rozen couldn't afford to pin all his hopes on the sublimation of Foreign Mana.
With that in mind, it was necessary for him to recover his prime condition as soon as possible.
"Looks like I can't afford to be so reckless next time," Rozen reflected silently.
Perhaps sensing Rozen's thoughts, Altera spoke again.
"Leave the fighting to me. You just focus on keeping yourself safe."
With that, Altera vanished into the mist, returning to spirit form.
"I'll protect you too, Senpai. Please don't push yourself anymore," Mash said with the same firm expression.
Seeing Mash's determined little face, Rozen smiled gently.
"I'm counting on you two."
He patted Mash's head, making her lower it in embarrassment, though she clearly enjoyed it—adorable as ever.
Just then, voices from Chaldea came through Rozen's communicator.
"We're seriously begging you—stop giving us heart attacks!"
"Really now, it's weird for a Master to jump into battle himself. As a Servant and a Magus, I'd really like to give you a lecture, Rozen," Da Vinci said.
"If only we could send supplies to that Singularity, like we did back in Chaldea. We could at least adjust your magic circuits a little. But since we can't, you have to be extra careful," Roman added.
Olga Marie, Da Vinci, and Roman each chimed in.
It was clear that from the perspective of these observers, Rozen's actions had always been nerve-wracking.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Rozen replied with a bit of exasperation, then stood up.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Rozen's expression shifted, and he furrowed his brows.
"What's wrong, Senpai?" Mash asked in surprise.
"...It's nothing."
Rozen shook his head, but his brows remained tightly knit.
Taking Mash's hand, Rozen left the room while using Wise Eye and Mind's Eye to observe his surroundings—and even the entirety of Uruk.
With that observation, Rozen confirmed it.
(It wasn't just my imagination.)
Under the dual observation of Wise Eye and Mind's Eye, Rozen discovered that Uruk was inexplicably filled with an invisible miasma—and numerous undead had started to appear.
(What's going on?)
Rozen thought silently as he descended the stairs.