The bonfire's glow faded almost instantly, as if someone had dialed down the world's brightness. Even the moon veiled itself behind clouds, reluctant to watch what would come next.
An unseen, irresistible force pressed down on the players, ushering them gently into sleep—into dreams they could neither escape nor resist.
Then, just as the veil of unconsciousness began to fall—
"One more thing," Sakatsuki's voice pierced the silence, calm and distant. "For those Servants who feel lost in logic, whose thoughts circle in fog... sometimes it's worth trusting your instincts."
Instincts? In a game like this, where logic is king?
Some struggled to make sense of his words, but the voice faded like mist. Soon, even stray thoughts were swallowed by the night.
[Wolves, open your eyes. Choose your target.]
[Wolves, close your eyes.]
[Dreamcatcher, open your eyes. Choose a player to become a Sleepwalker.]
A flash of golden light in the dark—Sakatsuki's eyes gleamed without hesitation. Once again, he selected Player 6. Ritsuka Fujimaru.
A second time Sleepwalked. That made it two strikes. Under the Dreamcatcher's rules, Ritsuka was now spiritually "dead"—even the Witch couldn't save her.
Trouble's coming tomorrow...Sakatsuki sighed inwardly and allowed himself to drift into true sleep.
[Witch, open your eyes. The player who died last night was ▉▉▉. Would you like to use your potion? Heal or poison?]
[…]
[…]
[Countdown begins—3...2...Countdown terminated.]
[Witch, close your eyes.]
[Day has broken.]
Eyes opened. Pale light filtered through the trees. By the time they stirred, barely five hours had passed—but even Illyasviel looked fully refreshed, brimming with energy.
Clap! Clap! Clap! The sharp sound of hands clapping cut through the lingering tension.
"Alright, people! It's construction time!" Sakatsuki's voice was bright and cheerful, already shedding the weight of last night's slaughter. "Game time resumes this evening. For now—breakfast, and back to our delightful little vacation!"
"Mm... feels like we didn't even finish dinner," Tamamo-no-Mae said as she rubbed her still-flat stomach. Her gaze drifted to the roundtable, piled high with venison, fish, boar meat…
She grimaced. "Isn't all this a little too greasy for breakfast?"
"Even BBQ gets tiring if you eat it nonstop," Ritsuka agreed, sighing. She shot a glance at Sakatsuki—only to be met with his radiant smile and a thumbs-up.
He even winked.
"You can do it, Ritsuka-chan! Build the town of your dreams!"
But rather than being moved, Ritsuka's face darkened. She looked away.
(Lazy freeloader... I meant go back to the real world and buy some proper breakfast!!)
Her mouth twitched, but she couldn't bring herself to call him out. In the end, with Tamamo's help, she managed to scrounge together a few leaves and boil a basic veggie porridge to calm her empty stomach.
"Based on the current situation, Senpai," Mash reported dutifully, "we'll keep looking for more food sources. But yes, eating only BBQ won't do. We'll need proper cooking facilities."
She added with the calm of a seasoned steward:
"Also, we found a small stock of grain buried under our supplies. With the right kitchen equipment, we might be able to make something more substantial."
"So we're choosing which facility to build next?" Ritsuka asked. "We don't have enough labor or resources for everything, so we'll have to focus on one."
Frankly, anything that made Sakatsuki actually do some work sounded great to her.
"Perfect," she said. "Gather everyone. Let's discuss it."
But as it turned out, she didn't even have to give the order. The Servants, all equally worried about food, had already gathered.
At their front—unsurprisingly—was a certain ahoge-bearing king.
"This truly is... a most troubling dilemma."
Swimsuit Artoria Pendragon, wearing a rare solemn expression, placed a hand to her chin in thought.
"If I were to use a metaphor… it would be as though three different divisions of knights were each requesting reinforcements from me. If I choose to assist one, I must abandon the other two…"
Her voice wavered.
"Ugh… even here, I'm expected to make a king's decision…!"
Mash wiped her brow. "No, the final decision is still up to Senpai."
Fou: "Fou." (Special translation: "As expected of you.")
As an Eastern-aligned Servant, Tamamo-no-Mae was the first to speak:
"Our recommendation goes without saying. Of course, it's the standard stove! Incredibly versatile, easy to use… and the perfect flame control for cooking proper rice!"
Unlike her other selves, this Tamamo—who dreamed of becoming the perfect housewife—was full of hopeful sparkles.
"With the right chant: 'First a gentle flame, then a fierce boil,' we can make rice that's perfectly fluffy and fragrant!"
"Even if the child cries, don't lift the lid... the child… is mine and Master's... fufu..."
With a practiced motion, Tamamo smacked down a rapidly spiraling Kiyohime and concluded:
"Ignore little Kiyo—she's fully deep-diving into her fantasy dimension again. Anyway, if it's rice we want, the stove is definitely the way to go!"
"White rice, white rice, truly good… simply… the very best…"Who else could it be but that ever-radiant King of Knights, voicing her fervent agreement?
Then, stepping up for the Magical Girl faction, Illya raised her hand:
"Um, um! I think a pizza oven would be a better choice!"
"You like pizza, Illya-san?" Mash asked with a smile.
"Nn~ not really?" Illya shook her head. "Actually, I've never had it before. I only saw it on TV… but Mom, she and Liz would sneak into the kitchen at night and eat it with their hands, and it looked soooo good!"
"Oh, right!" Ritsuka clapped. "Drake-san loves pizza, and Caesar once went full 'one hand pizza, one hand cola,' belching like a warcry. Just watching them makes you want to try some too!"
"Exactly!" Illya nodded furiously. "But Liz and Sella always stop me, saying stuff like, 'Illya, you're too young for junk food like that!'"
"Probably because they don't want you to become like Caesar-san…" Mash shuddered at the memory of that formidable physique.
"Pleeease~ Just this once, on an island with no Sella and Liz to stop me, I want to try pizza~" Illya clasped her hands together, big teary eyes pleading for approval.
"Pizza, pizza, truly good… simply… the very best…" And yes—Artoria again, face full of yearning.
"Pizza's nice and all," Mordred chimed in, "but baking takes time. It's a pain. What we really need is volume. I say we go for a big pot first."
"Ah, you mean the more we can cook in one go, the better." Sakatsuki nodded thoughtfully.
"That reminds me of Saint Martha's special Bethany-style stew," said Kojirou, eyes distant. "I always thought Lady Martha was just a fearsome warrior, but the flavor of that dish… it hit just as hard as her fists."
"I don't know if Martha would be pleased or insulted to hear that..." Ritsuka chuckled.
"Stew, stew, truly good… simply… the very best…" And yes, once again—Artoria's gaze drifted off as she swallowed with a gulp.
Tamamo squinted. "Hmm… We've got a certain king here who's clearly switched sides more than once already. Totally hopeless, that one."
"Anyway, the final call is up to Master! Come now, follow your heart—or your stomach—and decide…"
"Ahem."
Sakatsuki cleared his throat, then gestured behind them—toward three small houses standing quietly in the background.
"You know…" His face broke into a smug grin.
"The real problem is… why didn't any of you check if the houses already had kitchens?"
He ignored the fact that no one had returned to their rooms yet, or that he never told them anything in the first place.
"Isn't it possible… that I already built kitchens in them during construction?"
A pause. Then—
An explosive uproar.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO EARLIER?!"
***
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