In the end, the feast continued until night fell.
Naoki's last memory was drinking with Arthur.
And now, "Ugh… so heavy…"
Waking from his recovery sleep and feeling a weight on his body, Naoki instinctively pushed it away—as usual, it was something soft.
Was Rei still asleep?
"Ugh… I can't eat anymore… Father King…"
He heard some mumbling.
Father King?
Not Rei?
"No… this is weird!"
Snapping out of his confusion, Naoki clearly saw who was lying on top of him.
It was Mordred.
The girl was dressed in casual clothes like she wore in Trefas a decade ago, just a bralette and denim shorts, now sprawled over Naoki's body. There was a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth, and her face showed an expression of pure bliss.
What kind of sweet dream was she having? Judging by her words, was she still eating in her dream?
(This Ahoge family really can't cure their gluttony?)
Sighing helplessly, Naoki pushed Mordred off his body, letting her lie beside him to continue sleeping, then got out of bed.
The house was one Artoria had prepared for him and Gray earlier. Since he had no memory after drinking with Arthur last night, there was no way he returned on his own.
(Maybe Gray brought me back, and then Mordred… snuck in here in the middle of the night?)
Besides those two, there was no one else in the house. Gray was nowhere to be seen either.
Was she outside?
Pushing open the wooden door and stepping out of the house, Naoki saw the fortress streets, already bustling with activity.
Perhaps because Vortigern was defeated yesterday and the dragon calamity had vanished, the pedestrians who had faces full of sorrow when Naoki first arrived were now brimming with vitality, looking like people earnestly living their lives.
Judging by the sun's height, it was almost noon.
"It's been years since I woke up this late when Rei wasn't around. I'm too relaxed… Well, no harm done."
After a battle, one must rest well. Only after recharging energy can one have the strength to face the next fight.
The battle in this Singularity was over. What he needed to do now was recover his energy, prepare to head to the seventh Singularity, and face an even stronger enemy.
Beast II, Tiamat, the Mother Goddess of Creation.
She would be the strongest enemy Naoki had faced so far, and in terms of nature, she was an enemy Naoki absolutely couldn't defeat.
"Whatever, now's not the time to think about this."
Stretching vigorously toward the sun, Naoki didn't lower his head but kept looking at the sky.
In the clear sky, vast ribbons of light were still visible.
(It's been a day, and the Singularity still shows no signs of collapsing… Where's the problem?)
"Oh? The Department Head's awake."
Just as Naoki was thinking, Ritsuka's voice suddenly came from beside him. Turning, he saw her walking over with Mash and Gray, carrying something. A Fou was lying on Mash's shoulder.
"Good afternoon, Big Brother."
"You woke up a bit late today, Brother."
Naoki smiled. "Probably because I drank too much yesterday. By the way, were you all out shopping?"
"Oh, this was given to us by the locals. They said it's a token of gratitude for protecting them yesterday." Ritsuka explained. "Since it's about lunchtime, and I ran into Gray-senpai on the way, I thought I'd come straight to the Department Head."
"Also, the Doctor said there's something he needs to tell us."
Ritsuka waved her wrist.
Roman had something to say?
"Alright, then come in—by the way, where's Senior Hinako? Weren't you with her?"
"Akuta-senpai doesn't like crowded places and is still hiding in the house, refusing to come out."
"…"
Typical as always.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Lunch lasted over forty minutes.
Though for Naoki and Mordred, who was woken by the aroma mid-meal, it was essentially breakfast.
After eating, they cleared the table and tidied the area. Mash placed her shield on the ground, transforming it into a round table. Accompanied by a flickering blue light, a projection from Chaldea's control room appeared clearly before them.
Including Roman's face.
"Um… Can you see clearly, Fujimaru, Mash?"
"I can even see how many pores are on your face." Naoki interjected. "No need for pleasantries, get to the point, Roman. Fujimaru said you had something to report?"
Roman turned serious. "Yes, it's about the analysis results for the sixth Singularity. The situation there is that Vortigern and the Holy Grail have been destroyed."
Naoki: "At the very least, I don't think the Holy Grail could've survived the Moon Fall attack."
"But based on previous cases, if the Holy Grail, the root of a Singularity's formation, is destroyed or reclaimed by us, the Singularity itself should start collapsing immediately. Yet, the sixth Singularity shows no such signs… So, though we thought it unlikely, we analyzed the battle area with Vortigern."
"The result is that we detected a suspicious Mana reaction resembling the Holy Grail there."
As soon as Roman said this, the four people in the room immediately looked at Naoki.
Naoki held his chin, thinking for a moment. "The power of the Moon Fall attack should've been enough to destroy the Holy Grail… Are you saying something abnormal happened there, causing the Holy Grail to still exist, Roman?"
"At this stage, we can only theorize as much. If the sixth Singularity is to collapse, we need to retrieve that Holy Grail. Additionally, we detected a number of faint Mana reactions there, much weaker compared to the Holy Grail. They're likely enemies formed from residual Mana. Be cautious when you go to retrieve it."
"Got it." After nodding, Naoki looked at the others in the room. "Then, let's treat it as a post-meal stroll. We'll inform Artoria and the others, then go retrieve the Holy Grail."
"Yes."