"Hello, excuse me, is anyone home?"
Under Mash's worried gaze, Fujimaru Ritsuka stepped up and pounded on the door.
"Senpai, is this really..." Mash was trembling with fear. This was the residence where the Big Boss lived, and to just show up at the door like this...
"Leave it to Ritsuka, Mash," the Doctor comforted her through the Communicator. "Trust her judgment. Besides, based on the intelligence provided by the people they contacted last night, that Miss Firefly isn't a difficult person to deal with."
"But..." Mash was still very worried, but the main gate had already slowly opened.
"May I ask who you two are?" A Homunculus with white hair and red eyes appeared before them.
"Hello, we are Chaldea staff members temporarily staying across the street," Fujimaru Ritsuka said smoothly. "Sorry for the intrusion, but we have some things we'd like to confirm with Miss Firefly. Does she have time?"
"Chaldea?" Sella pondered for two seconds. It was an organization she had never heard of.
"It's related to this Holy Grail War," Fujimaru Ritsuka explained. "Chaldea is a subordinate organization of the Mages' Association. We've just come to understand a few things. After all, Fuyuki City has been... very lively these past two days."
"I see," Sella felt a bit cornered hearing this. After all, it was their Einzbern family causing all the trouble. Being sought out by the Mages' Association naturally made her break into a cold sweat.
"Then please, come in," Sella invited them inside. "Please wait in the living room. I will go and ask for instructions from Lady Firefly and Miss Illya."
"Alright, thank you, Miss Maid," Fujimaru Ritsuka replied with a smile.
When they entered the living room, they found that Xia Yu and Illya were already sitting there.
"Hmm? Rare guests," Xia Yu stood up as she saw Fujimaru Ritsuka enter. "Sella, go brew some tea. The best tea."
"...Lady Firefly," Sella said with a stiff face, "the tea you are drinking right now is the best."
"Is it? I can't really tell the difference," Xia Yu sighed with regret. "It all tastes the same. Fine, take Leysritt to buy some groceries. We need to properly entertain these two today."
"As for the specifications... well, use whatever specifications the Einzbern family would use to entertain a Savior who has saved the world," Xia Yu waved her hand. "To be able to host the two of them for a meal, the Einzbern family is punching above its weight."
"Savior?!" Sella turned her head in shock to look at the two young girls beside her.
"No, no, no, I can't possibly bear such a title," Fujimaru Ritsuka demurred, but alarm bells were ringing in her heart.
How does everyone seem to know my title?
In the previous Singularities, she hadn't felt that her identity was this well-known.
"If you can't bear it, then no one in the world can," Xia Yu hummed. "What's wrong, Ritsuka? Saving the world twice isn't enough? You want to come here and grind for a 'Thrice Savior' achievement?"
"Twice?!" Fujimaru Ritsuka froze. "How should I..."
"Hmm?" Xia Yu looked at her as if studying her closely. "You wouldn't be this distant with me. And Mash's equipment... why isn't it the Paladin Set?"
"This look... it brings back memories. You haven't reached the Grand Temple of Time yet, have you?"
"What Paladin Set?" Mash looked at her equipment unnaturally.
"The Grand Temple of Time. That name again," Fujimaru Ritsuka sat down opposite Xia Yu. "To be honest, this is the second time I've heard that name."
"The first time was just last night."
"Who told you?" Xia Yu asked curiously, reaching out to stroke the hair of Illya in her lap.
"A lady who called herself Furina," Fujimaru Ritsuka spoke decisively. "She also addressed me as the Savior."
"Oh, it's Fufu," Xia Yu said with a look of realization. "I didn't expect her to drift into this world as well."
"Uh, Fufu?!" Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash exchanged a look of pure bewilderment.
Mainly because Chaldea had a mascot also named Fou.
"Not that Fou you guys keep," Xia Yu saw her misunderstanding and explained with a smile. "Furina—or rather, Focalors. I prefer to call her Fufu."
"Focalors?!" the Doctor exclaimed. "That name... it seems to be Demon God Focalor's..."
"She's essentially an Otherworld Counterpart," Xia Yu nodded. "The Demon God Focalors, the Hydro Archon of Fontaine. Furina is her human half, the Regina of All Waters, Kindreds, Peoples and Laws."
"To think such a thing..." Fujimaru Ritsuka was somewhat shaken.
"It's nothing. Have you met Musashi-chan yet?" Xia Yu said. "Isn't she also someone drifting between worlds due to her own circumstances?"
"Oh right, last time I heard you say that she disappeared after helping you repel Chaos in Greece. Now she's been found... oh, I forgot you haven't reached that point yet."
"Wait, you said Chaos?!" Da Vinci asked in shock. "The Chaos from the origin of Greek Mythology?!"
"Musashi-chan? The one who left a name like that should be Miyamoto Musashi, right? Miyamoto Musashi can beat Chaos?"
"That's why Musashi-chan is different," Xia Yu shook her head. "Bearing the name Miyamoto Musashi, yet possessing a female body that no one cared about, carving out a place in the world with her twin blades."
"And she didn't beat Chaos; she just temporarily severed the channel for the other party to appear on Earth. Unless someone leads the way, it's basically impossible for that massive ship to appear in the physical universe again."
"Wait, ship?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked. "You're talking about Chaos?"
"Hmm? You didn't know?" Xia Yu tilted her head. "Aren't the Greek gods all ships from an interstellar colonial fleet? Only the last generation has a bit of a human appearance."
"No, there's no way that's possible, right?" Fujimaru Ritsuka almost jumped. "What do you mean the Greek gods are all ships?"
"Yes, that exact expression," Xia Yu spread her hands, looking at her. "You had that same expression when you described Artemis stationed in the exo-atmospheric orbit to me later. You guys were really put through the wringer by her there."
"Wait, we've met Miss Artemis before too," Mash's heart was also far from calm. "She didn't look like a ship at all!"
"The one you met was the Artemis who survived the Vanguard of the Umbral Star, suffered heavy losses, and finally chose to become a god of humans," Xia Yu said meaningfully. "But in the Atlantic later on, what you'll face won't be an existence with that much emotion."
Or rather, the emotional existences had all been purged.
"You mean Artemis is a strike warship stationed in outer space orbit?" The Doctor was visibly balding from stress. "How are we supposed to fight that thing?"
"Oh, it's simple," Xia Yu shrugged. "According to what the Ritsuka I know told me, you found Orion, and after convincing him, he discarded his Grand Saint Graph to fire a strike from the island that crossed five hundred kilometers, shooting down the machine-god Artemis."
"I remember when you told me the truth, your face was so full of emotion."
"Five hundred kilometers..." Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash exchanged a look. "He could actually do something like that?"
"He truly could," Xia Yu nodded. "It just cost him his life. But he's a Servant; he doesn't care about that, does he?"
"But I still find it a bit hard to accept," Illya poked her small face out from Xia Yu's arms, staring at her fixedly. "That the gods in Greek Mythology are all alien spaceships and such..."
"It's nothing," Xia Yu said dismissively. "Tiamat in Sumerian Mythology has spaceflight capabilities, she's an entire biological mother-ship. And if I recall correctly, that lot in the Americas were outsiders to begin with."
"As a warrior from the future, you know the past in such detail?" the Doctor asked tentatively.
"I didn't know originally," Xia Yu looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka with a smile. "But by staying by your side, didn't I see everything?"
"You mean I have to fight from Greece to Sumer, and then to South America in the future?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked tremulously. "And they're all high-end matches at the level of gods?"
"More than that," Xia Yu introduced happily. "You've been to Northern Europe, and you've taken a stroll through Celtic territory. You've fought God Arjuna in India. You've basically done a full lap around the mythological systems on Earth."
"So, this title of Savior—you've earned it."
At this point, Xia Yu withdrew her smile. "And here you are, fighting your way to me. Ritsuka, are you here to stop me?"
"I can only say, it depends on the situation," Fujimaru Ritsuka laughed awkwardly. "It's just... all these things you're saying, I don't have any sense of reality about them..."
"True. For you, this is the first time we've met," Xia Yu's tone suddenly grew tender. "No wonder that time when you first saw me, you came crawling over eagerly, without a hint of fear."
"Well, judging from the results, I must have succeeded this time."
"Ah? Oh, I guess so," Fujimaru Ritsuka began to feel conflicted.
"Sigh, I'm really not used to you being this distant," Xia Yu shook her head, set down Illya, and walked over to her, gently pulling her into an embrace.
"You must be very tired, Ritsuka. Chased and driven step-by-step by the end of the world to save this world, forcing yourself to keep moving forward time and time again..."
Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes stung.
Everyone called her the Savior, but this pressure was more than a person could bear... But as Chaldea's only hope, she couldn't easily confide in others. After all...
If even she backed down, what future would they have?
"It's okay, Ritsuka. Although I can't stay by your side forever, even if it's just for this one time," Xia Yu gently patted her back.
"Just leave everything to me."