One hour after Vortigern's defeat.
["So, it's confirmed that Vortigern has been completely annihilated?"]
Atop the outer wall of the fortress established by Artoria.
Leaning against the wall, Naoki was speaking with Roman through a communication device he'd just received from Ritsuka.
"Well, more or less. At least I can't sense his presence anymore. You should be able to observe that too."
["You could say that, but because of your moon attack, the data there is still in chaos and can't be analyzed. It'll take a few hours to get actual results—though, the situation there is still a bit strange."]
Naoki nodded. "Yeah, it's indeed strange."
Based on previous Singularity experiences, once the strongest enemy within a Singularity was defeated and the Holy Grail reclaimed, the Singularity would begin to collapse. It was a rapid process, almost immediate after everything was resolved.
For example, in the first Singularity, after the Demon God Pillar transformed by Lev was defeated, the Singularity immediately began to collapse.
But now, after Vortigern's defeat, this Singularity showed no signs of collapsing. Not only that, the Servants—Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table—who should've returned to the Throne of Heroes after completing their mission, were still present in the Singularity with no indication of returning.
["For safety reasons, we'll conduct another analysis of the entire Singularity, though the results will come quite late. If anything else happens there, we'll leave it to Natsukawa."]
"With me here, you can rest easy… Anyway, forget that for now. You guys really had the guts to disobey orders."
Naoki suddenly changed the topic.
Hearing him say that, all the staff in Chaldea tensed up, and Roman paled.
"I remember before I came here, I told you all to ignore me and head straight to the seventh Singularity. But you came here instead?"
["T-this…"]
Roman immediately tried to explain.
But at that moment, a voice came from behind Naoki. "I was the one who asked the Doctor to send us here, Department Head."
"It's Fujimaru."
Naoki turned to the fortress entrance and saw Ritsuka standing there, holding a serving of lunch.
After unilaterally cutting off the communication, Naoki laughed. "What are you doing here? All done down there?"
Since Vortigern had been defeated, the people who had long suffered from the dragon's attacks finally found peace. Plus, they'd been protected by the Knights of the Round Table all this time, so now a feast was being held in the fortress to celebrate the arrival of peace.
In the words of the Knights of the Round Table, it was a victory feast after the war.
Placing the lunch on the ground, Ritsuka explained, "This is food made by the locals. It tastes good, so I brought some for the Department Head to try, since you disappeared when the feast started."
"I had something to discuss with Roman." Naoki said, handing the communication device on his wrist back to Ritsuka. "Well, sit down first. Let's eat and talk. We both have plenty to discuss."
"Yeah."
Smoothing her skirt, Ritsuka sat on the ground with Naoki, then suddenly felt heat under her. "Eh? The floor's warm?"
"I heated it for you. Sitting on a cold floor wouldn't be comfortable."
Naoki said as he picked up a piece of roasted meat.
"So the Department Head is actually really considerate?"
"I'm curious what I was like in your eyes before."
"A rogue uncle with a young face who's super flirty." Ritsuka answered firmly. "Also, the strongest Department Head who shows up at the most dangerous moments and defeats all enemies."
Lowering his half-raised hand, Naoki ruffled the girl's hair hard. "If it weren't for the second half of that sentence, I'd have smacked your head… But the second half isn't entirely true. After all, in the four previous Singularities, when you faced danger, I was never there."
"Tell me, what did you go through in those four Singularities?"
The four previous Singularities?
Ritsuka brushed aside her dangling hair and, after organizing her thoughts, recounted her experiences over the past five months.
Fighting alongside Emperor Nero and successive Roman emperors in Rome, racing across the seas with Captain Drake in Okeanos, exploring foggy London with writer Servants, and tending to the sick with Nightingale in America…
Limited by language, Ritsuka couldn't fully convey all her experiences, but from her brief words, Naoki could sense how significant those past experiences were to her, as well as her respect and affection for the comrades who fought alongside her.
Fighting with renowned historical heroes was a priceless experience that couldn't be gained any other way. If she left Chaldea later, these experiences of saving Human History would surely be memories Ritsuka would cherish for a lifetime and an irreplaceable treasure.
(After going through four Singularities, has she grown completely, both physically and mentally? She's starting to look like the Fujimaru Ritsuka I know…)
"Department Head?"
Noticing the change in Naoki's eyes, Ritsuka tilted her head. "What's up? You're suddenly looking at me like a dad…"
"It's nothing, just happy to see you've grown like this. You can do well even when I'm not around. As your Department Head and senior, nothing's more satisfying than that."
"Likewise, I understand why you disobeyed my orders and came here with Mash and the others."
Pushing aside the now-empty plate, Naoki smiled, raised his hand, and gently flicked Ritsuka's forehead. "But worrying about me? You're still too early for that."
"That hurts, Department Head…" Ritsuka covered her head. "It was for your sake, you know."
"Even Rei isn't in a rush, so why are you? If something really happened to me, Rei would've come herself before you even decided to show up. The fact that she's happily rolling around in my blankets back at Chaldea means she's not worried about me at all. You should be like her and have more faith in me."
Naoki said, ruffling Ritsuka's hair.
"But… regardless of all that, I'm still grateful that you came here to help me."
"Thank you, Fujimaru."
"As a Master, your decision was excellent."