New Chaldea – Wandering Sea Headquarters, Central Control Room
"Um… you're already back?"
The massive Shadow Border slowly docked at the heliport above the Wandering Sea. The slightly worn but warm and lively doors of the control room opened once more. Kirschtaria Wodime, freshly returned from the brink of death, and Director U-Olga Marie, who had only just regained her memories, both let out complicated sighs at the same time.
For Wodime, this place was part of the good old warmth he had once cherished—something he would eventually have to abandon or destroy in order to chase his ideals.
For Olga Marie, however, the emotions were far more tangled.
The facility here was completely different from the Antarctic Chaldea she remembered. The corridors were crowded with noisy Servants she had never seen before—some of them dangerous Alter Egos and Foreigners—yet the air was filled with a busy but hopeful atmosphere. Everyone was working toward the same goal.
The long-awaited new director Goredolf welcomed them with a relieved smile. "Finally," he said, "I don't have to deal with that workaholic Sion all by myself anymore."
It felt as though the end-credits music was about to play and the entire audience was basking in the warm glow of a happy ending.
"Cough… cough…"
"I'd love to let everyone savor this touching moment a little longer," a familiar voice cut in, "but as your technical advisor, there's one thing I really should mention."
Steve's gaze swept across the room before settling on Olga Marie, who was holding a cup of red tea.
"You look lively enough to drink tea and complain again… but unfortunately, you are still not a 'living human.'"
"Hmm—!"
"I mean that literally."
Steve raised three fingers. "A fulfilling life is normally made of three parts: body, mind, and soul. Right now, you only have about one-third of that—just the spiritual manifestation."
"Your current body has arms and legs and even carries the origin of a Beast-class Spirit… but at its core, it's nothing more than a Servant vessel built from magical energy."
The entire control room fell silent.
Mash and Ritsuka watched the Director anxiously, afraid she might collapse in tears again.
Wodime frowned and immediately switched into problem-solving mode. "If two pieces are missing, we just need to find them. The body and the soul… where are they?"
"Good question."
Steve snapped his fingers. "First, the physical body…"
He hesitated. "Saying it out loud feels a bit cruel, but… the Director's body was thrown into Chaldea by Lev roughly a hundred years ago—around the time the Incineration of Humanity began. What remains of Olga Marie now is probably just a small cluster of nerve ganglia on an operating table. Theoretically we could clone cells, but it wouldn't be the original her anymore."
Olga Marie's face turned deathly pale. The teacup slipped from her fingers and shattered on the floor.
Terror welled up from the depths of her heart. Her legs trembled violently and she nearly fell.
"Director!"
Mash and Ritsuka reacted instantly, catching her from both sides. Mash hugged the Director's shoulders tightly, trying to share her own warmth with the freezing woman.
"But there's no need to panic," Steve's voice rang out at the perfect moment, calm and reassuring. "Finding the old body would be difficult, and even if we recovered it, it probably couldn't be used. Chaldea is short on almost everything except first-rate magi right now.
"However, if we combine the highest-level puppetry techniques from the Age of Gods, Sion's alchemy, and the help of Paracelsus and Medea… creating a new body even better than the original would be completely possible."
Steve's tone suddenly sharpened. His gaze grew intense.
"After all, she has been watching over our journey longer than anyone else. Isn't that right? That peeping familiar over there."
Everyone's eyes followed his line of sight.
In the imaginary space beyond the window, ripples suddenly appeared in the empty void. A girl floated there, suspended in nothingness.
Ritsuka's eyes widened. "The Alien Priestess?!"
He was right.
Through the blizzards of Russia, the frozen plains of Northern Europe, and beside the Great Wall—wherever a Lostbelt was on the verge of collapse—she had quietly appeared, observed everything, and then vanished without a trace.
The moment she realized she had been spotted, the girl's body trembled violently, like a child caught doing something forbidden. She instinctively tried to turn and flee, wanting to dissolve back into the imaginary numbers.
Even though thick protective glass and layers of imaginary space separated them, a strange causal connection activated instantly. The Priestess froze in place, completely unable to move.
"Everyone, allow me to introduce her properly."
Steve pointed at the trembling girl with the same casual tone one might use to introduce a new neighbor.
"That Alien Priestess who always pretends to be a ghost… is actually the missing fragment of Olga Marie's soul."
"Wha—What!?"
"Exactly. After the Director's soul was transformed into a Beast, the remaining portion wasn't discarded. It was directly shaped into this 'observation device.'
She possesses all the same past memories as the current Director. In fact, because she has followed us across every Lostbelt, she probably knows even more than our Director, who only just regained her memories. She has witnessed every battle, every choice, every moment of suffering and joy we've experienced."
Their eyes met through the glass—one living, one a phantom. An indescribable wave of sorrow and resonance passed between them. Both knew, without a single doubt, that they were looking at themselves.
"Therefore, the resurrection plan is actually quite simple."
Steve clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back. "We take this mind (Director U), that soul (the Priestess), and the body (a new puppet), knead them together, mix them thoroughly… and—ding!—a fresh, warm, energetic Director Olga Marie is born!"
"Ooooh!!"
Ritsuka and Mash nearly jumped with excitement. "Amazing! The Director can really come back to life!"
"…And then?"
Sion, who had been quietly thinking the entire time, suddenly pushed up her glasses and asked the question everyone had been waiting for.
"Steve, if you truly know everything… then who is the mastermind behind the Director's downfall, the blanking of the Earth, and the creation of the Lostbelts?
And how do we reach the world where that darkness lurks… so we can retrieve the Director's soul?"
The moment the words left her mouth, the control room became deathly silent. Every ear stood at attention like rabbits waiting for bait.
This was the ultimate mystery.
Steve took a deep breath, as if about to reveal a secret that would shake the entire world.
"The identity of that mastermind, and the way to reach that world… is—"
Everyone leaned forward, holding their breath.
"…"
The silence grew even heavier.
A few seconds later, an ear-splitting roar shook the entire control room.
"Steve!!!!"
Outside the window, the Alien Witch—who had looked extremely tense just moments ago—let out a visible sigh of relief. She even made a very human silly face at Steve before disappearing into the imaginary numbers with a soft "pon."
Despite being yelled at by everyone, Steve kept smiling the entire time.
Because he knew that in a world drowning in despair, the anger and energy born from being half-spoiled might just be the best fuel to keep everyone moving forward.
…
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