With Ishtar's departure, the great hall was left with only Rozen and Ryougi Shiki.
Rozen looked toward Ryougi Shiki, a rare trace of curiosity appearing in his eyes.
"What is it?"
Ryougi Shiki was leaning against the wall in an effortlessly cool pose, eyes closed in quiet repose. Noticing Rozen's gaze, she opened her eyes and looked back at him.
That gaze carried not even the slightest hint of avoidance—completely upright and direct—creating no small amount of pressure.
Rozen, however, wasn't about to be cowed by her stare.
It was just…
"I honestly didn't expect you to agree so decisively to form a temporary contract with me," Rozen said with a shrug. "Especially considering we were fighting seriously just before."
This was, at best, a conversational opening.
In truth, for Servants, going from enemies one moment to allies the next was not uncommon.
After all, Servants were all heroes with strong individual personalities, for whom battle was as natural as eating or drinking. Even if they were enemies for a time, if the need arose to turn spears into plowshares, they could do so at any moment.
That was the nature of a Servant—no matter how fiercely they fought to the death, it was only a battle, not a reason for lasting grudges.
Given that, it shouldn't have been surprising that Ryougi Shiki acted this way.
But… the person in question seemed a bit unaware of that fact.
"What? You expect me to apologize to you?"
Ryougi Shiki frowned slightly as she said it.
"That's not necessary," Rozen replied with a faint laugh. "I'm just curious about you. After all, I've never heard of any hero named 'Ryougi Shiki.'"
This Servant was quite mysterious—unknown even in name, yet possessing the incredible Mystic Eye of Death Perception—so it was natural for Rozen to be curious.
However…
"If you're hoping to learn my identity, then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed," Ryougi Shiki said flatly. "Because I don't even know who I am."
"What?" Rozen was taken aback for a moment.
Then realization began to dawn on him.
"You don't know who you are? Could it be…"
Seeing this, Ryougi Shiki's lips curved into a faint smile.
"Looks like you're quick on the uptake—you've guessed it already." She spoke with disarming frankness. "That's right. I have no memories of my life before death, and I didn't even know I was a Servant. If Ereshkigal hadn't told me Servants exist, I'd still think I was just some strange human."
This was indeed an unexpected revelation.
But from her open and unflinching manner, Rozen could tell that every word she spoke was the undeniable truth.
"When I awoke in this era, the only things in my head were the name 'Ryougi Shiki' and the skills I possess. Nothing else."
Her voice, with its masculine edge, sounded slowly in the air.
"I had no money, no belongings—just a dagger, and that clay tablet that fell into the Underworld with me."
With nothing else to go on, Ryougi Shiki had wandered the Underworld with only her dagger, the clay tablet, and her name.
"That goddess took me in, told me about this era. I didn't know what I should be doing, so I worked for her temporarily—as a kind of freeloader."
She didn't conceal any part of her scant memories.
"So don't ask about my identity. I have no idea where I came from, or who I was before I died."
Hearing this, Rozen frowned slightly.
He hadn't expected this situation at all.
Still, even though her origins were unclear, Rozen remembered seeing the surname "Ryougi" in Chaldea's archives.
It was said that outside Chaldea, apart from the hidden mystery of Magecraft and the Magus families who propagated it to preserve their secrets and fulfill their long-cherished goals, there were also families born with special spiritual or supernatural abilities—families unrecognized by the Magecraft world, yet continuing through various circumstances.
The Ryougi family was one such lineage—a family of exorcists.
It was very possible that Ryougi Shiki belonged to this exorcist family, and that her possession of the Mystic Eye of Death Perception was due to some innate quality she was born with—something that ultimately allowed her to awaken this pair of Mystic Eyes said to exist only within the realm of the gods.
However, Chaldea's archives contained no record of a hero from the Ryougi family possessing the Mystic Eye of Death Perception—and even the records on the Ryougi family itself were vague.
In fact, the Ryougi and other exorcist families were often thought not to exist in this world at all, their records merely parallel world data obtained through the observation anomalies of SHEBA.
Thus, Ryougi Shiki was very likely a Servant from a parallel world—or perhaps even from the future.
After all, the Throne of Heroes was not bound to the normal flow of time; past, present, and future heroes all resided there.
If that were the case, then it was only natural that Rozen and the others would have never heard of such a hero.
As for Ryougi Shiki's lack of memory, that wasn't unusual either.
Servants who traveled between different eras and even different worlds often experienced many factors interfering with their memories.
For example, a Servant who once manifested in the world would return to the Throne with their memories intact—but if summoned again later, they would not retain the memories of that previous manifestation.
There were exceptions, such as Hercules in the Fifth Singularity, whose memories persisted due to the unique nature of that Singularity—but those cases were rare.
Additionally, upon being summoned, a Servant would gain knowledge of the current era, which itself was a form of memory.
Therefore, in certain special circumstances, it was entirely possible for a Servant to lose all memories of their life before death.
"My guess is that because you fell into the Underworld right when you were manifesting, something went wrong with your memories, causing you to forget everything from your past life," Rozen speculated.
"Maybe." Ryougi Shiki's tone was indifferent. "But since I've forgotten, I'm not going to force myself to remember. I don't care about the war between humans and gods, either."
In other words, this girl was completely adrift—living in the moment, letting the river of time carry her along.
"The only thing I've probably cared about at all is that clumsy goddess."
For the first time, a trace of emotion entered her voice.
"She's really not honest with herself. You just can't leave her alone, and she's not the sort of person you can easily persuade. I thought she'd just stay like that forever."
Ryougi Shiki lifted her gaze to meet Rozen's.
"Until you showed up."