Peaceful Chaldea...
No, not exactly peaceful. I caused a bit of an incident for Ritsuka yesterday. Thankfully, he let it slide, but I still feel bad about it.
Anyway, such is life in Chaldea...
"Dad... look what was in our room."
I slept comfortably with my daughters today. But there, on the table in the room, was a strange letter.
"An invitation...?"
Opening the letter revealed a scenario I had somewhat anticipated.
"Hmm... this isn't Elizabeth's doing."
The writing style is too clean and polite to be hers... Polite? Well, at least the content seems decent enough. Regardless, the conclusion is that it's a Halloween party. Considering the timing, it must be the season for events. I doubted events would happen in the exact order or that all of them would occur. Usually, the moon-viewing event comes first, but seriously—watching the moon while eating dumplings to celebrate some Japanese Culture Day in the middle of Antarctica? It doesn't make any sense.
There are no dumplings in Chaldea. So, rather than saying it won't happen, there's just no reason for it to. Does that make this the next event, the Halloween one? Honestly, at this point, it's not worth worrying about the flow of the original story. Rome has been restored, and it's currently the end of the summer of 2015. We just need to restore the Singularities and take down Goetia by 2016...
Since we have over a year left, our plan was to rest at Chaldea for about a month.
But a Halloween commotion right away... Man, this is going to be a headache.
I immediately took the invitation to the control room. Olga Marie was there, receiving the morning briefing.
"Olga. Someone left this in my room."
"An invitation...? What's this?"
"There are no signs of a break-in, at least in my room. It was transmitted through pure Mystery, not magecraft. There are coordinates written in detail on the back. Can we track it?"
"You're saying they bypassed Chaldea's security...?"
"Most likely."
"...Romani, Da Vinci. Trace the location immediately."
"I'm fairly sure it won't be anything serious."
"They sent this without permission! Even if the content itself is trivial..."
A moment later, a very faint Singularity response was detected at the provided coordinates.
"This is the site of Csejte Castle. If it's Csejte, then it's the Blood Countess...? Wait, isn't that the girl we met in France?"
Romani identified the location as the ruins of Csejte Castle and looked at Olga Marie and me. We both nodded.
"However, based on the writing style, it doesn't seem like her. Someone else must have written it for her... probably."
"True, I doubt that frantic girl would write something like this."
Even Olga Marie acknowledged Elizabeth's usual standard... Well, she is that kind of girl, after all.
Regardless, it clearly seems to be a Halloween party.
But why do I have a bad feeling? It's not that I think things will turn into a total disaster. Just... an inexplicable sense of unease. I wonder why.
Right then, Ritsuka entered the control room.
"Director! Ah, Fergus is here too. Good morning!"
"Good morning. What's the hurry?"
"Well, it's that... those three Fergus calls the clairvoyant trio!"
"What did those three do this time?"
"They're gone!"
"....."
I wondered who pulled this off... Was it those three? No, it's not so much that they caused it, but rather that they probably saw this invitation arrive while we were sleeping, backtraced it, and went off to have some fun.
"At this rate, we have no choice but to follow them... Olga, I think we have to go."
"Sigh... the Director's job is exhausting. For now, it's not a Singularity on a scale that absolutely must be restored. It's the type that will vanish on its own if left alone. So, let's just send whoever wants to go."
"Wait, what's happening?"
"It's a Halloween party, Ritsuka."
"Then I'm going!"
With Ritsuka deciding to go, the Director made an announcement over the intercom for anyone else interested to join. Hinako probably won't come.
A few minutes later... as expected, Hinako was nowhere to be seen.
"She was lying in bed reading manga."
"You two got close fast..."
"She said she quite likes me because I'm not human."
It seems Ibaraki and Hinako have hit it off. Non-humans really do stick together... For now, it's Ritsuka, Mash, and Ibaraki. And Jeanne Alter came as well.
She had chosen to stay at Chaldea after her Holy Grail was extracted, contracting with Ritsuka as his Servant.
Next were my daughters, Uathach and Connla. Naturally, they had contracted with Olga Marie.
And... that was it.
"Um, was it really too much?"
"It seems so..."
My other wives? Haha... their backs are basically broken. Maybe the impact on their bodies was too much, because they're currently recuperating in bed, still struggling despite using Runes to heal. Even Artoria is having a hard time even getting up to eat!
I suppose I was a bit excessive... Honestly, it's usually like that for a day or two after my other wives go a round with me.
Olga Marie, being a modern human, only recovered in a day because I subconsciously adjusted to her body and she's gotten used to it after two years.
"Then, it looks like this is the whole group."
"Sigh... alright. The goal is simple. It's supposedly a Halloween party, but there's a chance it's a trap, so be careful. We'll secure the three who supposedly disappeared there and assess the situation. Got it?"
"Got it!"
"Somehow... it feels strange that it's for a party. A Rayshift for this?"
"There will probably be plenty of these in the future..."
Actually, it's a certainty...
With that, we began the Rayshift.
"Wh-what is this ominous-looking graveyard..."
[Wow... it's like a scene from a horror movie...]
[Heh~ the atmosphere in this Singularity is really quite something, isn't it?]
Da Vinci is acting as the operator this time. Though an operator feels somewhat redundant with me around.
"First off, there are no hostile reactions in the vicinity, Fa—Father."
"Nothing here either~ despite the mood, it's pretty quiet."
"Are you sure there's nothing...?"
Olga Marie hid behind me, unsettled by the eerie atmosphere...
Flutter!
"Eek!"
"Don't scare me like that... Director, it's just crows and bats."
Unexpectedly brave, Ritsuka calmed Olga Marie down and pointed at the flying bats and crows.
"Why is it a combination of such unlucky birds..."
"You're quite the coward. How can you lead an organization like that?"
"I saw you flinch too!"
"...No, I didn't!"
Jeanne Alter didn't scream when the crows and bats popped out earlier, but she had definitely tensed up.
"Hmph, what's there to be afraid of in a place like this?"
Surprisingly, Ibaraki wasn't scared. Although, she might be afraid of ghosts...
"First, let's head out. Anywhere!"
"Understood~"
I put my arm around the trembling Olga Marie as we left the graveyard together. Starting things off in such a chilling atmosphere. Was this Elizabeth's idea...?
"Hic...!"
"What is it, Olga?"
"No... just now, did you see that?"
"See what?"
"You really didn't see it...?"
"I didn't see anything either, Director."
"Me neither."
Ritsuka, Mash, and the others hadn't seen a thing. What had spooked her so much?
"No... wait, I definitely saw something..."
"Hmm, hold on a second."
Using a Primordial Rune, I shared the memory of what Olga just saw with myself. Something had been visible through the dark trees. How do I turn up the brightness? Let's see...
"...."
What was it that watched us and then left? And I hadn't noticed it?
"Hmm... this might turn out to be more interesting than I thought."
I have a feeling things are about to get fun.
Inside the dark forest...
Deep within the eerie, pitch-black woods where countless spirits drifted, stood a mansion.
A girl with fluttering black wings entered the dilapidated manor, whose front gate was falling apart. Folding her wings as she landed in front of the door, she opened it and went inside.
"It seems they've noticed. I can fool the eyes of ordinary humans and Heroic Spirits, but I couldn't fool the magus."
The girl entered a library located within the mansion, where a silver-haired boy was reading. Soon, the boy closed his book and stood up.
"So... we've been found out."
"Yes. However, it shouldn't be a problem."
"I see. That's fine then. This is still the observation phase, anyway. After all, it wasn't us who created this place, but those people over there. They're clearly the main attraction, and you'll likely be viewed as just another part of the event."
"Is that so? They'll certainly think that. Then, what about you? How do you plan to move from here?"
"We have to wait for the right moment. The moment they let their guard down. That's the only chance. No matter the being, everyone has moments of carelessness. If they're off-guard, even the most powerful existence can't exert half of their strength. That moment will be our first and final opportunity."
"In other words, only one shot... That'll be tough. Why did I end up with this role? Flauros... leaving me with such a bothersome cleanup."
"Isn't that why you summoned me?"
Passing by the girl, he left the library through the door she had entered and began ascending the mansion's stairs.
"Since I've been called, I'll do my best. My Master."