Chapter 1: The Beginning After the End
2015, Antarctica.
This is the human order protection organization, Chaldea.
A boy with black hair and blue eyes sat in the room, a steaming cup of black tea placed on the table in front of him.
Sitting in front of him was a round, middle-aged man.
Gordolf, a man who was always worried about him but too shy to show it.
He was struggling to knit his eyebrows together, trying to appear as steady as a mountain even in the face of parting, elegantly sipping his black tea.
But that chubby face couldn't look serious no matter what, and the worry that couldn't be hidden leaked out from between his brows.
He didn't look like a leader; he looked more like...
Fujimaru Ritsuka thought to himself.
An old father.
He looked up and carefully examined his surroundings.
The familiar ceiling, the familiar white room, not big, not small, yet it carried everything he had experienced over the years.
All sorts of strange gifts carefully prepared by the Servants.
During every half-stamina event week, the room was packed with EXP cards because the warehouse was full.
Various creatures that refreshed at night and attacked him.
...
Oh, right.
And that strawberry cake he never got to eat.
He raised his head, unsure if it was to vent the repression in his heart or to express his relief, and let out a long sigh.
No matter how much pain, reluctance, or happiness he had left behind, this was the last time he would sit here.
Just a month ago, the restoration of human order was completed, the last fantasy tree was removed, and with the coordination and help of numerous Heroic Spirits, the world finally returned to its original appearance.
The giant planetary model remaining in Chaldea, Chaldeas, had been confirmed to be completely destroyed.
The starlight distributed on it was no longer there, replaced only by a sphere made of chalk.
After being recovered by the staff who came to Antarctica, the human order protection was declared to have come to an end.
To reduce the huge magical load, all Servants in Chaldea were repatriated, and everything returned to normal.
There were those who were not repatriated, some died, and some survived.
And Fujimaru Ritsuka, as the well-deserved hero who corrected the Singularity and removed the Lostbelt, was sentenced to death by human order.
[The message transmitted from proper human history is just like this.]
That was probably the consequence of the restoration of human order.
Perhaps it was because the planet's consciousness regarded him as a threat. After all, an existence capable of protecting something also often possesses the ability to destroy it.
In short, the evidence of Fujimaru Ritsuka's existence in proper human history had been erased. Although the real world still existed, there was no longer a place for him.
In this newly born proper human history, he did not die, but was erased conceptually.
Ten years.
Ten years is neither long nor short.
Witnessing many births and destructions, experiencing countless life and death situations, only then did he finally arrive here—
"Cough, cough!"
Gordolf coughed, interrupting his train of thought.
"Ritsuka, anyway, there are three choices now," he said while adding sugar cubes to his black tea.
"First, stay in Chaldea. You are now a senior Chaldea employee, and you can also point out the direction for future work."
He didn't suggest him doing this, because without the core facility Chaldeas, Chaldea probably wouldn't last long, and he would eventually be repatriated.
Then.
Director Gordolf put sugar cubes into the teacup.
"Secondly, the Clock Tower promised to provide you with the best seat," he said, his voice a little low. "You don't need any study or work. Even if you fail all your courses, it doesn't matter. You can be the chief professor of a department. Also, the Musik family will provide you with protection."
Calling it a seat, it was more like a trap.
Fujimaru Ritsuka said in his heart.
It had been like this ever since the human order was restored.
Attributing most of the credit to Romani and giving him a seat as a Pride-rank mage was just to prevent the Clock Tower from placing a sealing designation on him.
Although after the restoration of human order, his rank had now been raised to Brand, the outcome wouldn't change.
After all, just the fact that he had formed bonds with a large number of Heroic Spirits meant the Clock Tower would never let him go.
The Clock Tower was very likely to place a sealing designation on him.
"Thank you, Director."
Fujimaru Ritsuka's tone was very flat.
Now, he just wanted to be an ordinary person, to live like an ordinary person.
"I choose the third one."
Gordolf's eyes drooped. He took the black tea with a trembling hand and took a sip, almost spitting it out.
He had added too much sugar; it was cloyingly sweet.
Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't add sugar to his black tea; he just drank it slowly.
He sat for a while, then finally stood up.
Gordolf was watching him.
"Director, thank you," Fujimaru Ritsuka said. "The Phoenix of the Musik family lives up to its name."
Gordolf choked on his black tea.
Fujimaru Ritsuka wanted to say something else.
"Fujimaru-kun, over here, over here!"
A small head poked out from the doorway; it was Da Vinci.
"Right on time, technical advisor. Prepare some necessary supplies for Ritsuka," Gordolf said at the right moment. "After all, it's quite a long way back from here."
"Got it, you really are a worrier."
"I made you an oversized backpack using simple spatial magecraft."
In the workshop, Da Vinci's small figure was busy.
It was as if Da Vinci knew what he would choose; everything was already prepared.
Da Vinci moved a pile of things back and forth, then stuffed them into a bag that was only the size of an ordinary satchel. A group of Nemo marines were following behind Da Vinci to help.
Fujimaru Ritsuka was curious about where he got so many things.
Until he saw Da Vinci stuff an elephant in.
?!
He remembered; those must be the gifts everyone had given him over the years.
"Anything else you want, like souvenirs or something?" Da Vinci asked in the midst of the busy work.
If he were to take a souvenir...
Shiny, colorful stones with eight edges, the things that had driven him crazy at all times.
That would of course be...
"Da Vinci-chan, please give me a Holy Grail~"
"Rejected!"
Da Vinci "slapped" a pile of things on the table, eyes curving.
"If Fujimaru-kun creates a Singularity, Chaldea will explode."
In short, if he caused trouble, he would have to go to work to fix it himself.
Fujimaru Ritsuka finally chose to put a Saint Quartz and a bag of Golden Fruits into the backpack.
He changed out of his Mystic Code and put on ordinary clothes.
Oh, and this, Da Vinci handed him a small black object.
"What is this?"
"Portable secret contact device... I'm pretty amazing, right?"
Da Vinci made a face, then said seriously.
"Because the outside world has just been corrected, it might still be a little unstable. If you encounter any danger, you can use this to contact Chaldea directly, bypassing UN agencies."
"Awesome, as expected of an all-around genius!"
"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"
Director Gordolf coughed violently, as if he wanted to cough his lungs out.
He squeezed to Fujimaru Ritsuka's side, stuffed a black card into his hand, and then walked away without looking back.
Da Vinci and Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at each other and smiled, neither saying anything.
Antarctica.
Chaldea staff were directing on the ice field.
A huge military helicopter was slowly descending. More than a dozen armed soldiers jumped down. The helicopter blades kicked up a huge wind, stirring the snow and also stirring Fujimaru Ritsuka's thoughts.
It's so similar.
In a trance, he couldn't help but recall that distant day.
The jubilation after killing Goetia with all his might, the heartache of losing an important senior, the relief that the most important junior was still by his side—there was no time to adapt to all these emotions.
They came.
That desperate winter that he would never forget, that blizzard engraved in his memory.
The thousand-year ice empire.
That werewolf who grabbed him by the collar.
Don't lose to this world that is useless except for being powerful!
It said so, the hoarse voice just like yesterday.
The person responsible for picking him up was wearing the clothes of the UN Association, and when he saw him, he waved to him.
"Come anytime, Chaldea always welcomes you," Da Vinci said. On the side, Gordolf was blinking constantly.
Fujimaru Ritsuka knew this was almost impossible.
"I appreciate the kindness, but who would run to Antarctica for no reason?" He said jokingly, but he couldn't stop the melancholy in his heart.
"Senpai!"
In the wind and snow, there was a familiar shadow waving in his direction.
"Senpai!"
She shouted happily, breathing white air. She was wearing a thick cotton coat, and her originally snow-white face was frozen slightly blue in the winter.
Fujimaru Ritsuka turned back, and his blue eyes lit up immediately.
It was Mash.
The helicopter rose, leaving that place amidst the huge mechanical roar. The two looked down, and the snow-white human order protection organization became farther and farther away, finally completely submerged in the blizzard.
"It's over."
Da Vinci looked at the departing helicopter and smiled softly.
"Did you see it?"
In the heavy snow, it seemed that two shadows slowly overlapped.
It seemed that many years ago, someone had said this too.
"You, you are already a mature master."
"By the way, Gordolf, stop blinking, or your tears will freeze and poke your eyes."