[Altair Miller]
"Are you okay?!" Nobunaga completely ignored Da Vinci, gazing at me as the arquebus in her hand vanished.
"A bit sore, but I'm fine." I gave a light smile to my Servant.
"Good. About time you woke up." She crossed her legs, resting her chin on her hand.
Da Vinci, with a finger on her lips, watched our interaction with a discreet smile. "For someone who spent the whole day protecting you, you're acting pretty cold."
Surprised by Da Vinci's words, I tilted my head and looked at my Servant.
That protective side of hers was a big surprise to me.
Nobunaga let out a soft sigh. "You fool, you're my retainer. Of course, I would stay by your side."
So, back to being called a retainer.
I thought, smiling. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't bothered in the slightest about being called that—actually, I found it kind of cute.
"Well, well! Now that our monkey hero is awake, I need to inform the doctor." Supporting herself with her staff, Da Vinci stood up and quickly left the medical area.
Leaving the strange Servant aside, I turned my gaze back to Nobunaga.
"Nobu, what happened after I passed out?"
As I said before, my last memory was using a Command Seal.
"I turned everything to ashes," she replied quickly, with a faint smile. "But I doubt that idiot in the top hat died. He probably fled before my attack reached him."
"Hmm." I placed my free hand on my chin. "I agree. He seems like the hard-to-kill type."
"Mwahaha! Definitely." She put her hand behind her head.
I had a small hope that he was dead, but I doubted it. Lev was the type of person who would be a pain for a long time.
As I thought about it, I felt movement in my arm.
Looking down, I saw Olga getting up. Her long white hair fell down her back as she leaned against my shoulder, adorably rubbing her eyes.
When she opened her eyes and saw me, they widened.
"Good morning." She said with a soft smile.
She blinked, as if not believing what she was seeing.
"Miller!" She exclaimed, jumping on me and hugging me, resting her face on my shoulder.
"I was going to ask if you were okay, but I guess I don't need to." I ran my hand through her white hair.
"I am! I am!" She repeated, like a broken record. "Thanks to you." For some reason, I felt a sniff near my neck… must've been my imagination.
While she hugged me tightly—almost pathologically—the door to the medical room opened, and a man with orange hair entered.
He was of average height, had orange hair tied in a ponytail, and green eyes that contrasted with his hair. He wore a doctor's coat over a green outfit.
"Hello, how are you—" Before he could finish, his eyes landed on Olga clinging to me. His eyes widened in disbelief. He raised his hands and rubbed his eyes. "Director?" he exclaimed in shock.
Hearing his voice, Olga turned to the door and saw the doctor staring at her in disbelief.
Her face instantly turned red, embarrassed at being caught in that situation.
But following Murphy's Law: if something can get worse, it will get worse.
"Altair-kun."
"Altair-senpai."
"Fuu!"
A redhead and a pink-haired girl burst into the room, accompanied by a small white fox. Both girls also widened their eyes upon seeing Olga hugging me.
"Oh my! You're quite the director charmer." Da Vinci's head popped into the doorway with a mischievous smile.
Olga's face looked ready to start steaming at any second.
"Idiots!"
A cute shout echoed through the room.
•••
After the emotional explosion, the white-haired girl stood upright, her face still red.
"Ahem! Ahem!" She coughed, shaking off her embarrassment. "Romani, what are you doing here!?"
"I came to check on our patient." The orange-haired man raised a finger, scratching his cheek, clearly distracted by the situation. "By the way," he turned to me, "even though we've seen each other before, we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Romani Archaman." He smiled gently.
"Nice to meet you, Altair Miller—"
"Altair-kun, are you okay?" Ritsuka asked, cutting me off, her large green eyes full of concern. Mash, beside her, also looked at me with unease. She wore a white shirt, a black skirt, and leggings.
"I'm perfectly fine." I smiled at them both.
"Even so, I should examine you. After all, you fought Saber nearly alone, and your right arm was virtually annihilated by what was essentially a miniature black hole." Romani looked at my arm.
At the mention of my arm, a flicker of guilt crossed Olga's eyes.
Romani walked over to the nearby computer.
Meanwhile, the little fox hopped into my lap, practically curling up there. I raised my hand and stroked her white fur.
"Fuu! Fuu!" she exclaimed, feeling my touch.
As I ran my hand through her fur, I heard Romani's voice.
"Oh! You're fine, just a bit exhausted."
At his words, the three girls breathed a sigh of relief.
"I told you." I shrugged. "By the way, how many hours have I been asleep?"
"Hours!?" Mash tilted her head. "Altair-senpai, you slept for a day."
"Two days!?" My eyes widened. I wasn't expecting that.
"You suffered both magical and physical exhaustion. Not to mention, you spent nearly the entire Singularity fighting non-stop, and your regeneration had to work at full capacity to restore your arm, which had been disintegrated on a molecular level. Two days down is actually pretty normal, Miller." Olga looked directly into my eyes, concerned.
"You must have burned through a lot of youthful energy." Romani put a hand on his chin with a light smile.
"Dr. Roman, you're just showing your age again…" Mash commented, causing the doctor to choke.
"M-Mash, I'm only thirty! Why did you have to say it like that?!" he protested.
I gave a slight smile at their banter.
"Jokes aside, Altair, your wounds healed quickly, without leaving any scars." Romani got up from the chair.
"That's good, but what did Lev… that guy mean by the end of humanity?" I tried not to say his name to avoid hurting Olga, but even so, a pained expression appeared on her face.
She let out a sigh, dispelling her anguish. "That…" She looked away, hesitant. "It's hard to explain… but we failed. The Incineration of Humanity has already happened."
"Wait, are you saying that humanity no longer exists?"
I asked, but a heavy silence followed. Mash, beside me, placed her hands on my shoulders, while Ritsuka, who seemed to already know, clenched her fists tightly.
"Essentially, yes."
She didn't say the Incineration of Humanity is happening. She said it already happened.
So...
"We've already tried contacting the rest of the world. Our allies in the United Nations, the Clock Tower, other parts of the globe…" Romani explained. "There's… there's nothing. Outside of this base and the mountain, we're on… there's nothing…"
I let out a long sigh, placing a hand on my temple. Even though this wasn't my world, learning that all of humanity had been wiped out was still shocking.
As sad as I was for the people, there was someone in the room who was in an even worse state.
Ritsuka's expression hovered between anger and sorrow. Her fists were clenched so tightly, it looked like her nails might pierce her skin.
I raised my face with a neutral expression—I couldn't and didn't want to let myself be shaken. "We may have failed, but we haven't lost yet, right?" My voice echoed through the room, making Nobunaga, sitting next to me, smile, and Ritsuka looked my way.
"Definitely." Olga crossed her arms, huffing. "After we returned, Romani, Da Vinci, and I detected other Singularities, like Fuyuki. Without a doubt, they also have Holy Grails acting as the axis of these time distortions. We haven't tracked their exact locations yet, but…" her voice grew firmer. "If someone goes to these Singularities and retrieves the Grails distorting time and space… we can reverse the Incineration of Humanity." For a few seconds, she held her proud gaze on me.
"Miller, I already owe you more than I can ever repay for what you've done for me. Even if this isn't your responsibility—or Fujimaru's—I'd like to ask the two of you…"
"I'll do it!"
Ritsuka and I spoke at the same time, our voices echoing in the room. We looked at each other and smiled.
"Idiots, I wasn't finished," she said, smiling.
"You didn't have to be," I said, getting out of bed. My legs were a bit weak, but I stood firm, earning a grunt of approval from Nobunaga. "You want us to go into those Singularities and fix all of this." I walked up to Ritsuka, who looked at me with the same determination. "It's not even a choice, is it?" I asked, looking into her blue eyes.
"Of course not. This is our duty, Altair-kun." Ritsuka raised her fist, smiling.
"Absolutely. We'll clean up all these Singularities and kick the asses of whoever thought they could incinerate humanity." I bumped my fist against hers, sealing our resolve as everyone in the room watched. Strangely, Da Vinci had an even brighter glint of interest in her eyes, directed at me.
••• ••• •••
Don't forget to throw power stones and leave a review to motivate me.