A curse fell upon Romani's hidden stash of sweets, and while he wallowed in despair, Chaldea busily began preparing to welcome its guests.
No matter how reclusive the clan—steeped in countless Mysteries and tied to an Aristocratic Faction Lord—the visit of two Magicians was never something to be taken lightly.
"…I'm not sure if I should find it strange that Magicians are using a helicopter."
"It's not something to be surprised about. The Magician of the Third and the Einzbern family are particularly categorized that way… considering they've hired a Magus Killer in the past and are currently making a fortune through oil."
A short while later, a helicopter touched down at the Chaldea landing pad. A man and a woman stepped out, treated as V.I.P.s, and quietly entered the interior of Chaldea, largely ignoring the bone-chilling cold.
Following behind a staff member acting as a guide, they headed straight for the Command Room, where they were met by a perfectly dressed Olga Marie Animusphere.
"We appreciate the hospitality on such short notice. I am Karma Kirigaya, the Third Magician, currently holding one corner of that seat, however immaturely."
"And I'm Aoko Aozaki, the Fifth Magician, holding another."
"I recall meeting the Third Magician previously on the Rail Zeppelin. This is my first time meeting the Fifth. Your older sister has already arrived at Chaldea."
After her dry response, she shifted her gaze, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Karma.
"So, may I hear what business brings you to our Chaldea? I believe we sufficiently 'repaid' you for the incident regarding the Rail Zeppelin…"
"Ah, it's not for that this time. I came because I wanted to observe this Rayshift experiment."
"Rayshift… Indeed, you, the Third Magician, possessed a Rayshift aptitude. However, I am certain you declined to participate in the experiments?"
"Can't I just be curious? Besides, Kayneth El-Melloi is observing as well, and you've got a Princess of the True Ancestors, the Holy Church… even an analyst from the Norwich faction. A Magician or two joining in is nothing special, Miss Olga Marie."
"…I'd like to question your common sense if a Magician has somehow become 'nothing special' in your eyes."
"Haha! It's a joke."
Exhaling a sigh, she clapped her hands and called for Romani.
"This is Romani Archaman, head of Chaldea's medical staff. Despite his title, he's effectively a useless chicken, so he will guide you as he sees fit. As for me, I must leave to prepare for tomorrow's Rayshift experiment."
"Ah… Wa-Wait! Director, you're telling me to guide them alone?!"
"Well, Romani. Are you planning to refuse?"
"Sigh."
With his sweets and Magi*Mari held as critical hostages, Romani began guiding us as per the Director's orders. Once we were finally out of her sight, I chuckled and spoke.
"She really is an interesting girl. Don't you think so?"
"In many ways. She has a prickly side, but… she's not a bad person at heart. By the way, Kayneth and Waver have arrived, but I'm surprised the Team A kids haven't shown their faces yet. They are Waver's students, after all."
"Kiritsugu Emiya—that old man has been training them to within an inch of their lives. Regardless, did you bring Ritsuka Fujimaru?"
"…For now, yes."
She had likely been moved from the helicopter's cargo hold to the unloading bay by now.
When she wakes up, she'll probably wonder why she's in an astronomical observatory built in the middle of Antarctica. It was, by all accounts, an act of kidnapping.
"Well… if all goes well, the Restoration of the Human Order should be possible even without Ritsuka Fujimaru stepping up. Among the Crypters, Zemlupus and Wodime… and Void—they are competent enough to restore the Human Order on their own."
"Wodime and Daybit I understand, but Kadoc Zemlupus too? You think surprisingly highly of him."
"That type is actually stronger in abnormal situations. He's the classic 'soft on the outside, steel on the inside' type."
As we talked about various things, Romani, Aoko, and I naturally arrived at a room. After opening the door and showing us the bed and wardrobe, he pulled a small box out of a corner.
"Are you really hiding sweets in a place like this too?"
"Munch, munch… Well, they're delicious, aren't they? Ever since that lady, Manaka Sajyou, arrived, the sweets I had hidden in the infirmary have been picked clean."
As he spoke while tossing a lemon madeleine into his mouth, the Magician of the Fifth gave him a light smack on the head.
"Your role is supposed to be monitoring those dangerous individuals!"
"Is there a need to risk my life monitoring people who've sealed their connection to the Root and just want to live 'normally'? More importantly, what should we do about the bombs? I found one near the food storage."
"Getting rid of them now would be foolish. If we need food, we can get as much as we want from Arcueid's Millennium Castle… and Alice's Ploy Kickshaw, as well as my Naraka Path, has two years' worth of supplies stored."
"The real problem will be the Saint Graphs and the summoning system, FATE."
"Da Vinci couldn't do anything about that part even after modifying it. Aside from the Demi-Servant experiment and Da Vinci's own summoning, everything else summoned through Heroic Spirit Summoning so far has been nothing but Essence."
"That can't be helped."
The conversation, which started with tomorrow's Rayshift experiment, eventually shifted to preparing for the 'terrorism that might occur.'
"The 'puppets' are ready. Cloning everything from a fairy hybrid to an immortal mountain-dwelling sage… that's at a level that should truly be called Authority."
"Indeed. Come to think of it, the only ones in Chaldea who know Akuta Hinako's true identity are you, Romani, and Touko Aozaki."
"She herself is extremely averse to revealing her identity, after all."
"I've linked the fire alarms and the anti-terror system with Da Vinci's Workshop. Even if an emergency occurs, the Da Vinci Workshop is essentially an absolute defense and won't be breached, so we should be able to prevent maximum casualties… though preventing it from happening at all would be best."
"I feel the same way."
Just then, a voice that sounded like it belonged to someone who would betray you echoed through the speakers along with a small chime. Romani sighed and headed back to the infirmary, his primary residence.
Tossing my luggage inside and flopping onto the bed, I rolled a pre-compressed puppet of the Six Paths of Pain between my fingers and muttered softly to myself.
"…The future can be changed. Right?"
"Of course. Because, in the end, there is no such thing as a fixed destiny."
Aoko-nee replied.
*
The next day.
The glorious day of the first Rayshift experiment—and the decisive day of departure for 'Minor Singularity - 1994 Fuyuki'—had arrived.
While the presence of the Magicians alone made this a flamboyant gathering, it was no exaggeration to say that the core of the three great powers had assembled here. On the stage, Olga Marie began her keynote speech, looking confident on the outside while unable to hide the anxiety within.
As she continued her speech, weaving in numerous plausible platitudes, her eyes caught sight of a girl with orange hair nodding off… A moment later, a sharp slap and a hysterical shout echoed through the room.
"If you're going to do nothing but doze off like that, pack your bags and leave Chaldea this instant!"
Ritsuka Fujimaru, the girl who had come to Chaldea after hearing about a high-paying part-time job, began walking down the corridors of Chaldea in a daze.
From a purple-haired girl with glasses who called her 'Senpai,' to a hysterical young woman who seemed fun to tease…
"Oh? Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Ritsuka Fujimaru turned around and saw a man.
The man in the doctor's coat had a fluffy atmosphere and hair that looked like soft cotton candy. He looked like a little chick that would go 'Ack!' and collapse if you poked him even slightly.
"How mean?! This is the first time I've been insulted as a chick, not even a chicken, the first time we meet!"
"…Eh?! How did you read my mind? Is this the mind-reading that my brother and uncle use…!"
"What mind-reading…! You definitely said it out loud!"
"Ah, here's a nametag! Hello, Mr. Mumanie Chicken-man."
"It's Romani Archaman! It's not Mumanie, it's not Chicken! And I'm not a chick either!"
"What are you talking about? Do I look like the kind of person who would say such mean things upon our first meeting? I'm not some juvenile delinquent that everyone's talking about lately."
"…I guess so, right? I must have misheard?"
"That's right! In fact, I am a juvenile delinquent!"
"Stop joking! You're clearly over fifteen years old anyway!"
"Hehe, sorry, Doctor. Teasing you is just too much fun."
After finishing their brief banter, the two began chatting about Chaldea and the Director. During the conversation, her older brother was summoned as a topic.
"Shirou Fujimaru? Ah, that guy's cooking skills are absolutely top-notch."
"Hehe, my brother's cooking is the best in the world!"
"Don't forget, Ritsuka. If the Director has an angry look on her face, you must never talk to her until after she's had the hot chocolate Shirou Fujimaru made that night!"
"Ooh… such a useful tip!"
And at that very moment, an explosion roared through all of Chaldea followed by rising flames. Ritsuka, who was talking with Dr. Roman, began looking around in shock, while Roman's expression hardened into one of grim determination as he stood up.
*
[CHALDEAS registration confirmed. Aptitude Number 1, Kadoc Zemlupus… Kadoc Zemlupus, existence loss confirmed. Number 2, Ophelia Phamrsolone… existence loss confirmed...]
"Shit, I'm clearly alive, so what the hell is this damn nonsense!?"
"What happened!?"
"It's a magecraft-based terrorist attack! Blu-nam Hydrajerum, protect the others!"
The bombs inside the Command Room had long since been dismantled, but a certain type of magical circuit—installed at a speed that even an 'Omnipotent' eye would find difficult to detect—triggered a massive explosion throughout Chaldea, and flames began to erupt across major facilities.
The explosive magecraft circles were too numerous for even the Preta Path, which absorbs magical energy, to counter. They only began to be suppressed once two individuals with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception stepped forward and started slashing wildly.
Naturally, the first thing Olga Marie concerned herself with was CHALDEAS. Seeing it stained crimson, she bit her lip and began issuing orders to the staff.
"All Rayshift candidates, stay in your positions and suppress the flames! Moving unnecessarily and getting caught in an explosion will only worsen the crisis! I don't know why the Rayshift isn't functioning properly, but the priority is handling the attack on Chaldea!"
"Director! For some reason, all candidate Rayshift aptitudes have plummeted!"
"Have their Magic Circuits necrotized?! Tell them to at least put out the fires!"
"Dammit, Wodime! You and I handle the food storage! Ophelia and Daybit, move toward the Saint Graphs!"
Staff and outsiders alike ran about, using water-based magecraft and fire extinguishers to suppress the fire. Olga Marie also rolled up her sleeves, gathering the staff members caught in the blast to move them to the infirmary.
At that moment, the door burst open with a rattle, and a man in a lab coat smelling sharply of antiseptic ran in with an orange-haired woman.
"…Romani? And even that civilian from before… Romani! Treat the staff members here first! This is an emergency, so use anything, narcotics or painkillers, just get it done!"
"Understood, Director!"
"And you, civilian… Ritsuka Fujimaru, right. It's dangerous here, so get out…"
[Warning. Warning. Alert from CHALDEAS. The future up to 2016 is uncertain. Aptitude Number 1… Mash Kyrielight, and Aptitude Number 48, Ritsuka Fujimaru, designated as Masters.]
.
.
.
[Failure. Re-designating Master process underway...]
.
.
.
[Success. Command tower signal received, establishment complete. Aptitude Number 2 designated as additional Master.]
"Wa-Wait… what kind of nonsense is this. You're sending that kid out as a Master now? Are you insane!? A kid like that will die if she goes to a Singularity! Command Room, halt the Spiritron Conversion system immediately!"
[Director, we can't! An unidentified enemy is controlling the Spiritron Conversion system. The Third and Fifth Magicians are barely holding it together, but if we force a shutdown now, Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash Kyrielight's very existences might be erased!]
"Then shut down the whole system! Both of them will die at this rate!"
[We can't, it's too late!]
"Dammit… divert all resources to Existence Proof!"
She screamed hysterically before turning toward Mash, who had suddenly donned a strangely shaped suit of armor while her wounds vanished.
"Mash Kyrielight, you've been trained on Singularities, haven't you?"
"Y-Yes, Director!"
"Good. Chaldea will prioritize basic communication equipment. Remember, as long as you belong to Chaldea, your lives must be protected. The fact that you were chosen for Spiritron Conversion is purely coincidental, so maintain the safest possible position and wait for our rescue. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand!"
At that moment, a chillingly dry mechanical sound filled the room.
[Unsummon Program start. Initiating Spiritron Conversion.]
With a flash of bright light, the two vanished from Chaldea… Soon after, Olga Marie confirmed through the visual display from the Command Room that the two had successfully Rayshifted to Fuyuki, 1994.
"…Please, let them be safe."