In a forest not far from the Pyrenees Mountains, Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had finished drawing the magic circle, looked up at the stars. Realizing it wasn't the optimal time, Fujimaru Ritsuka could only slowly return to the campfire nearby.
Mash, who was roasting food over the campfire, saw Fujimaru Ritsuka return and immediately tore off a freshly roasted rabbit leg, handing it to him.
"Please eat something, Senpai! You've been traveling all day and haven't eaten anything yet!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka took the rabbit leg from Mash and gave her a gentle smile.
"Thank you, Mash!"
"Senpai, it's what I should do!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka picked up the golden-brown rabbit leg and wolfed it down in a few quick bites. Mistakenly thinking he was starving, Mash immediately tore off another rabbit leg and placed it in his hand.
Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the rabbit leg Mash handed over again and waved his hand.
"You eat it, Mash! I'm already full. Did you forget that the internal organs of us Masters have all been reinforced by Da Vinci?"
"Senpai, how about I save it for you to eat later?"
The reason Mash said this was because a large number of animals within France had already been hunted by Jalter's subordinates. Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash, who mainly traveled through areas where humans appeared, hadn't seen a single animal until they returned to the vicinity of the Pyrenees Mountains.
As for the food sent from Chaldea, due to Rin's generosity in the last Singularity, the only food Chaldea had left to fill stomachs was the nutrient paste synthesized from organic matter by Touko.
Fujimaru Ritsuka stood up, walked to Mash's side, and ruffled her hair.
"Mash, if you keep this up, I'm going to get angry! You eat it!"
After hearing Fujimaru Ritsuka's words, Mash unexpectedly lowered her head and murmured.
"Senpai, am I very useless?"
"Mash, why would you say that?"
"I... in combat, I can't compare to the Heroic Spirits from the Director's Throne of Heroes, and I'm not like Senpai, who knows so much and can analyze intelligence... Senpai, I really feel like I'm so useless!"
Hearing these words, Fujimaru Ritsuka finally understood where Mash's abnormality was coming from.
Indeed, in a Chaldea with more and more Heroic Spirits, although Mash—who was created by the Old Director before his death—had undergone years of arduous training and her combat power was now fully comparable to a first-rate Heroic Spirit, she still couldn't use a Noble Phantasm. Because of this, despite her seemingly strong attributes and skills, her actual strength wasn't that high, placing her at the bottom of Chaldea's Heroic Spirits.
Furthermore, Mash, who had been removed from the Master sequence midway and hadn't undergone complete Master training, also couldn't compare to Fujimaru Ritsuka in terms of knowledge and analytical ability.
Not to mention management, research, and magecraft. Setting aside management and research—for which there was no time for Mash to learn—as for magecraft, although there were fast-track methods, no Magus in Chaldea except Rin knew this kind of crash-course training, and no one but Gudako could learn Rin's magecraft.
Because of this, Mash felt a sense of crisis. She was afraid—afraid of no longer being needed, afraid of being left in Chaldea as an insignificant person... and most of all, she was afraid of Fujimaru Ritsuka leaving her behind.
Especially after learning that Rin had ordered reinforcements to be summoned from Chaldea, Mash had been overthinking. She worried that Fujimaru Ritsuka would find her weak and far less useful than other Heroic Spirits, and then distance himself from her. So, these past few days, Mash had been constantly trying to do something for him to make him feel she was useful.
But what could this young girl, who had been an experimental subject for years in the isolated Chaldea, do? What did she know how to do? The answer was nothing! And as the saying goes, the more panicked one is, the more chaotic things become—a perfect description of Mash right now.
Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the dejected Mash and unconsciously clenched his fists, a look of determination appearing on his face. Then, he crouched down beside Mash and hugged her, gently stroking the armor on her back, feeling the fragile body and soul of the young girl beneath it.
"Mash! I will never abandon you! Not even if it's the Director's order!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka's gaze was both firm and sincere as he stared intently into Mash's eyes. After speaking those words one by one, he withdrew his hands, clutching a saint quartz in one hand while the other deployed a magic circle, chanting in a mysterious language.
Soon, with the help of the saint quartz, Fujimaru Ritsuka completed the magic circle and declared loudly.
"I, Fujimaru Ritsuka, swear once again: I will never abandon Mash!"
Then the magic circle emitted a burst of dazzling light, enveloping Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash. Under the power of magecraft, a contract appeared deep within their souls, and it seemed their hearts were connected from then on.
Fujino, who was on duty in the Chaldea Command Room, watched Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash on the large screen while holding a cup of coffee. She unconsciously set down her cup and touched her own face.
"Those two are really romantic! Master, when will you finally accept my feelings?"
---
In the forest far from the French Army fortress, Reines was boredly adding firewood to the campfire in front of her.
"Did that girl Jeanne succeed or not?"
Then Reines picked up the nutrient paste beside her, elegantly squeezed out a strip onto her finger, and put it into her mouth.
"Mmm! This stuff is actually quite tasty! Why do so many people dislike it?"
"That's because we're British!"
Reines looked down at the communicator on her wrist from which the voice came. She slightly adjusted her clothes and hair, then elegantly and calmly opened the projection on the communicator.
Olga Marie was currently wearing a pure white lace-trimmed sheer nightgown, sitting at her vanity brushing her hair while talking to Reines through the communicator on the table.
Reines looked at the projection of Olga Marie and asked with a smile.
"Did you just wake up like this?"
"Yes! Did you forget? The time in the Spiritron World runs according to Tokyo time. You're in France right now, aren't you?"
"I really didn't know that. Do Singularities actually have time zones?"
"Of course! By the way, I've already seen the situation you reported and approved it. But you know, although I am the vice director, since Elder Sister is no longer in Chaldea, the ones truly in charge are Touko and Fujino. In the eyes of others, I'm just like Sakura, both of us are just 'connected hires'."
Reines, of course, understood Olga Marie's current status in Chaldea. Even though she was the vice director, most affairs didn't actually involve her.
However, Jeanne's plan still needed to be reported to Chaldea. Afraid that Jeanne's plan would be opposed, Reines naturally chose to report it to Olga Marie. After all, both were British and former heirs to the Lords of the Clock Tower; thus, for Reines, Olga Marie was much easier to deal with than Touko or Fujino.
"Alright, that's all! I'm going to hang up!"
"Wait! Olga Marie, are you interested in showing off in front of Rin?"
As she spoke, Reines pointed the camera at the distant French Army fortress, a confident smile appearing on her lips as she stared at the projection of Olga Marie.
"Huh?"
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