Adam fell into a long silence after listening to Doctor Roman. He didn't answer right away.
"..."
He casually scrolled through his Servant archive and quickly spotted several of the dangerous Extra Classes Roman had just warned about.
Lady Avalon.
Oberon.
The Count of Monte Cristo.
Aoko Aozaki.
Jeanne Alter.
Mysterious Executor Ciel.
CCC.
Female Kishibe Shirano.
And more…
Adam glanced at the familiar faces in his roster, then back at Roman's serious expression.
At that moment, an excellent idea popped into his head—one that would let him harvest quite a few emotion points from the good doctor.
He checked his current deployment cost.
Deployment Cost — 16/24
Da Vinci (Rider) was currently taking up 16 points, while Mash cost nothing.
That wasn't enough room to summon the particular Servant he had in mind while keeping Da Vinci active. He'd have to dismiss her for now and bring her back later.
Deployment Cost — 0/24
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Emiya had just heard Da Vinci calling for more food and stepped out with a plate, only to find the cafeteria suddenly empty.
Emiya: "???"
Adam looked at Roman and struggled to keep the corners of his mouth from lifting too obviously.
"I understand, Doctor Roman."
"From now on, I'll summon fewer Servants from those classes."
Roman let out a visible sigh of relief.
Honestly, if Adam had insisted on summoning those dangerous Extra Classes anyway, Roman wasn't sure what he could have done. He didn't think he could actually control Adam. Luckily, Adam seemed reasonable and had agreed to be more careful.
Just as Roman was finally relaxing, Adam smiled innocently and threw out another question.
"By the way, Roman…"
"Which specific Extra Classes did you say would make the Counter Force hostile toward us?"
Roman blinked, not thinking much of it. He assumed Adam simply hadn't caught all the names earlier. He completely missed how hard Adam was fighting back a grin.
"Let me recall… They were Avenger, Alter Ego, Moon Cancer, Foreigner, Pretender…"
Adam's deployment cost quietly rose again: Deployment Cost — 16/24
While Roman was still carefully listing the forbidden classes, he failed to notice the small red figure that had suddenly appeared in Adam's arms.
Adam gently stroked the soft, delicate body in his lap. Though she had looked a little lost and wary when she first materialized, the moment she realized she was in Adam's embrace, she settled down obediently. She sat quietly on his lap, one small hand tightly clutching his clothes in clear dependence.
After soothing the little cutie in his arms once more, Adam looked back at Roman, who was still naming off the classes that should never be summoned.
Once Roman finished his explanation, Adam asked with a straight face:
"Oh, that's great. So none of those classes include this child, right?"
Roman slowly lifted his head in confusion and looked toward Adam.
Sitting in Adam's arms was what appeared to be a ten-year-old girl wearing an elegant red dress. Her face was identical to that of the black Artoria, and a small golden crown rested on her head.
That alone was surprising enough, but what shocked Roman even more was the bright red tail behind her. That tail was currently wrapped tightly around Adam's waist, as if she never wanted to let go.
But the real bombshell was her class.
It felt… wrong somehow.
"It's Beast," Adam said cheerfully, answering the unspoken question on Roman's face. He could no longer hold back his smile.
That's right.
The petite girl in the red outfit who looked exactly like Nero was none other than:
Sodom's Beast/Draco (Beast)
The moment the word left Adam's mouth, Roman blinked twice in confusion, then his eyes widened as his gaze darted back and forth between Adam and the girl.
"Huh?"
"Huh?!"
"HUH?!!!"
First came doubt, then disbelief mixed with shock, and finally nothing but pure shock remained.
Dude… what did you just say?
Roman raised a trembling hand and pointed at Draco in Adam's lap, his voice shaking just as badly.
"A-Adam… what… what did you say… that thing in your arms… is… what?!"
[Roman Emotion Points +10]
[Roman Emotion Points +10]
[Roman Emotion Points +10]
...
Faced with Roman's overwhelming wave of shock, Adam simply smiled and gently stroked Draco's hair with clear affection.
"What's wrong, Roman?"
"You just listed all those dangerous classes, and this child's class wasn't among them, right?"
Roman's eyes widened until they looked ready to pop out of his skull.
What do you mean it wasn't on the list?!
This is way more outrageous than all the ones I mentioned combined!
Are you kidding me?!
I told you not to summon dangerous Extra Classes because they might make the Counter Force hate us…
And you went and summoned a goddamn Beast?!
A Beast! An actual Beast!
Did I misunderstand what the word "Beast" means?
You just casually pulled one out like it was nothing!
This… this can't be right, can it?
[Roman Emotion Points +10]
[Roman Emotion Points +10]
[Roman Emotion Points +10]
...
Adam waved his hand casually, trying to calm the panicking doctor.
"Relax, Roman. It's not that big a deal. This child is very well-behaved."
He stroked Draco's hair again as he spoke.
Contrary to Roman's nightmare scenario of the girl suddenly going berserk and destroying all of Chaldea, Draco showed no resistance at all. She simply sat there quietly, letting Adam pet her. A faint blush even appeared on her cheeks.
"Beast… well-behaved???"
How did those two words even go together in one sentence?
Roman felt his brain short-circuiting. He sat there in a daze.
After taking a moment to collect himself—only halfway, really—he tried to recover. But honestly, the shock of seeing one Beast was already more than enough. What else could possibly surprise him now?
Adam's next sentence finished him off completely.
"This child really isn't a problem."
"Besides, she's not the only Beast in my Chaldea."
As Adam spoke, he glanced at his Servant list. Just at a glance, he could see two more Beasts.
Cosmic Monster Ereshkigal (crossed out) / Cosmic Ereshkigal / Water Eresh / Beast Eresh.
The Director of Chaldea / U-Olga Marie.
Roman: "..."
He had to admit, the numbness hadn't been complete after all.
"What… what do you mean… your Chaldea has… more than one Beast?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. If I had to give a number, the Beasts in my Chaldea… well, roughly…"
Adam thought back to the other Servants in his Chaldea. While not all of them were currently in the Beast class, many of them had once held the position before manifesting under different classes for various reasons.
Tiamat.
Kama.
Kiara Sessyoin.
Koyanskaya.
Plus U-Olga Marie, Beast Eresh, and Draco…
"I'd say about seven Servants in my Chaldea have served as Beasts."
The moment those words left Adam's mouth, Roman felt his entire understanding of reality shatter—not just crack, but break down into individual molecules.
What kind of Chaldea do you have over there? Do you have a Beast recruitment poster or something?
Seven Beasts? Are you running a wholesale operation?!
"You're telling me… the Beasts in your Chaldea combined… are enough to hold their own Holy Grail War?!!"
Adam's eyes lit up as if Roman had just given him a brilliant idea.
"Oh, that's actually pretty good!"
"A Holy Grail War between Beasts? That sounds kind of interesting…"
Roman suddenly thought of the Counter Force. With this many Beasts, wouldn't the Counter Force do something?
"But!"
"With so many Beasts in your Chaldea, won't the Counter Force take action?"
"Won't they see you as an enemy?"
Adam simply gave a dismissive laugh at the mention of the Counter Force.
"The Counter Force did cause me quite a bit of trouble before. She suspected my Chaldea might contain Beasts."
"But ever since she found out that I really do have several Beasts—multiple Beasts, in fact—she's been much better behaved."
Adam imagined himself walking up to the Counter Force's door with seven Beasts in tow: "I came to visit. Are you moved?"
Counter Force: I don't dare move. I really don't dare.
Roman didn't fully understand what Adam was saying, but he was still deeply shaken!
[Roman Emotion Points +10]
[Roman Emotion Points +10]
[Roman Emotion Points +10]
...
———
Meanwhile, in the Final Singularity—the Grand Temple of Time, Solomon.
The recently deceased Lev had just been revived in this location.
The first thing Lev did upon regaining consciousness was rush to find his King. There was something extremely important he needed to report.
He stood up in a panic and hurried toward Goetia's location, stumbling several times along the way.
The other Demon God Pillars noticed his unusual behavior and grew curious.
In their memories, Lev—Flauros—was part of the intelligence division. He rarely ever lost his composure like this.
What could have happened to make him so rattled?
It didn't take long for Lev to reach Goetia.
At the top of several layers of pure white stairs sat a pristine white throne. Behind it was a large circular white ring with a small gap at the very top.
Seated upon the throne was a man with wheat-colored skin—Goetia, who had taken over the body of the Mage King Solomon.
Goetia was currently occupied with his great undertaking: the Incineration of Humanity. When he saw Lev practically tumbling toward him in haste, he spoke.
Goetia addressed the Demon Pillar by his true name.
"Flauros. You are in charge of intelligence. What has caused you such panic?"
Lev reported urgently.
"My King! I encountered an 'anomaly' in Singularity F!"
Goetia's expression remained blank.
"An anomaly?"
Lev immediately recalled the silver-haired young man he had seen in Singularity F.
"Yes, my King."
"In Singularity F, there appeared an individual capable of freely summoning Servants."
"From his actions, it seems he has sided with Chaldea."
Goetia continued staring at Lev without expression.
"And this is enough to make you panic?"
"They are nothing but mere Servants."
Lev shook his head, remembering how he had died.
"No, my King. Before I perished, I personally witnessed that 'anomaly' summon a Beast—one of the same kind as you!"
Goetia fell into a long silence. He did not doubt Lev's words; he trusted that Flauros would not lie to him.
However, the appearance of another Beast was certainly a headache.
A being equal to himself, now standing on Chaldea's side.
Sooner or later, Goetia would have to confront this Beast from Chaldea.
That would undoubtedly interfere with his grand plan.
After a long pause, Goetia looked at Lev, then at all his subordinates—the seventy-two Demon God Pillars.
In the end, Goetia remained supremely confident, as though everything was still under control.
"A mere Beast. Even if it is of the same rank, it cannot stop my great work."
"Besides, don't I still have all of you?"
"As long as I keep that Beast occupied,"
"The rest of Chaldea's rabble can be left to you to deal with, can't they?"
Goetia's words acted like a calming injection for Lev. He finally understood.
Yes, so what if Chaldea had one Beast?
They still had their King.
As long as Goetia held back that Beast, the seventy-two Demon God Pillars could easily crush the rest of Chaldea.
A mere Chaldea with one Beast was still no match for them.
Lev's confidence returned instantly, and he regained his usual gentlemanly composure.
———
Back in Chaldea,
in the command center,
Adam began discussing the upcoming raid on the First Singularity with everyone else.
***
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