Suzuki Yuki suddenly woke up, but in that instant of awakening, he couldn't feel the reality around him. The red light on the bedside kept flashing, and there should have been a clear ringing sound, but he didn't hear the alarm. He tried to sit up and press the incessantly flashing light, but he couldn't even lift his hand.
Echoing in his ears was the voice of a woman. He remembered forming a contract with her on the plains of Gaul in the year 451 AD, participating in the Holy Grail War, and ultimately surviving until the end.
In the end, he and his two Servants witnessed a meteor-like light reminiscent of the Age of Gods. The inexplicable pillar of light was pierced and engulfed by white light emanating from another direction, scattering into countless beams that descended back to the ground. The Holy Grail was destroyed, and Jeanne d'Arc and Gilles de Rais informed Suzuki of the outcome.
After his narrow victory over Brunhilda, Aetius and Attila had also determined their victory or defeat. Attila, who possessed the Holy Grail, was defeated. With the destruction of the Holy Grail, the source that could cause a Singularity was cut off, and history would continue to follow its established course.
The only regret was that Jeanne d'Arc and Gilles de Rais, due to the disappearance of the Holy Grail, quickly dissipated and returned to the Throne of Heroes. With relatively little magical energy consumed, as her body began to decompose, Jeanne d'Arc did not forget to bid farewell to her Master, Suzuki Yuki.
"Congratulations, Master. Then, farewell. If we have the chance to meet again, I'll probably have a different class."
"Meet again?"
"The Lord has shown me the possibilities of the future. Suzuki Yuki, your journey has just begun. Preserve your remaining Command Seals. When all the Command Seals are exhausted, I think it will be the time for us to meet again, at the end of the journey."
"The end?"
Jeanne d'Arc did not answer Suzuki's question further. After uttering the word "end," her entire body turned into golden magical particles and floated away with the wind over the blood-soaked plains. She had witnessed the cruel Battle of Châlons and could not interfere with the predetermined history, but at least the daylight was over, allowing the souls of the deceased to be free from the daylight's slaughter.
Not for good or evil, but for order.
"The end?"
Suzuki reached out but couldn't touch the particles of light. His vision gradually blurred, and he finally fell back into darkness. When he woke up, he was lying in his room in Chaldea. He couldn't tell how much time had passed, couldn't distinguish what was real. Confused by the unknown, Suzuki's mental state deteriorated once again. He kept recalling the events that seemed to have happened just yesterday in his memory—Jeanne d'Arc, Attila, Aetius, and the other Masters and Servants who participated in the Holy Grail War. But soon those memories were replaced by the blazing flames, and the symptoms that Jeanne d'Arc had barely suppressed completely resurfaced.
The scorching flames seemed to never burn out, and Suzuki would forever remain there until he was devoured by the illusory fire.
The door was opened, and a man with orange hair wearing a white lab coat hurriedly entered Suzuki's room. He quickly assessed Suzuki's distressed and lifeless state and gently guided him back to bed. He took the monitoring device from the window and reviewed the data results from the past 10 minutes, jotting down some of the data in his report.
"It's alright. It's alright. You're safe now. Everything will be fine," the doctor comforted Suzuki, whose expression was vacant. The doctor recorded Suzuki's vague cries, appearing genuinely worried about him, but whether it was out of kindness or for some other purpose remained unknown.
After Suzuki's symptoms slightly subsided, the doctor took out a vial of medicine from his portable medical kit, mixed it with water, and gently administered it to Suzuki.
"Cough..."
Letting out a sigh, the doctor had already begun to grasp why Suzuki experienced severe stress reactions, but he was unsure whether to forcefully remove Suzuki's karmic obstacles through drastic means. He watched as Suzuki closed his eyes again and fell into a peaceful sleep, his heartbeat and breathing returning to a normal range, and the tense expression on his face easing.
Disappearing from the control room in front of everyone's eyes, only to reappear in the same spot several days later. It seemed like an uncontrollable transfer of spiritual particles, but in reality... it wasn't.
The doctor didn't want to determine what was real and what was illusory for Suzuki. Before facing an imposed choice, he hoped that Suzuki could have a moment of peaceful tranquility. In the few days when Suzuki disappeared, he may have experienced another Holy Grail War related to the relationship between humans and the human order of the world. He must have fought for his life and survived to return to Chaldea.
"The Holy Grail War." The doctor seemed to recall a certain memory, and flashes of past flames flickered in his bright eyes. Miracles accompanied despair, and the price of fulfilling wishes was never cheap. He was well aware of this fact and therefore had a resistance towards the Holy Grail War.
As the doctor was recording data and lost in his thoughts, Suzuki's door opened once again.
The person who entered was the leader of Team A, Kirschtaria Wodime. This young magus genius held an exquisite notebook and completed the knocking action.
"Dr. Roman, hello."
"Mr. Wodime? Is Director Olga-Marie not here?" The doctor turned his head back and continued recording data. During the few days when Suzuki went missing, tensions were escalating within Chaldea regarding the incident of the failed Spiritron transfer. Director Olga-Marie alone couldn't control the conflict within Chaldea, especially with Kirschtaria Wodime, the leader of the magus aristocrats, at the forefront.
In particular, after Suzuki was found, Kirschtaria Wodime immediately stopped Director Olga-Marie from conducting further research on him. He directly accused Director Olga-Marie of engaging in serious anti-human research within Chaldea and stated his intention to go to the Clock Tower headquarters to file a complaint against the organization.
At that time, the doctor, although acting as a neutral party to mediate the conflict, was also angry at Director Olga-Marie's single-minded disregard for Suzuki's well-being in pursuit of the human order. To immediately send Suzuki to the research facility upon his return was simply treating him as an object, not as a human being.
"Hmph, that heartless woman? I had Kadoc detain her. A timid waste and a heartless cannibal, a perfect pair." Kirschtaria Wodime didn't hesitate to address them as such, and he didn't seem afraid of the doctor reporting to Director Olga-Marie.
The door behind him closed automatically, and the two individuals in the room exchanged meaningful glances, one after the other.
"Enough with the charades in front of me. Mr. Wodime, if it weren't for this series of events, would you have taken Suzuki seriously?" The doctor set aside his writing board with the recorded reports and pulled a chair, gesturing for Kirschtaria Wodime to sit while he took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Don't worry, the medicine I gave him contains a sleep-inducing component. He won't hear our conversation."
"Do you want me to tell the truth? At most... I would have treated him as an ordinary person. At least he has more courage than Kadoc." Kirschtaria Wodime looked at the sleeping Suzuki on the bed and casually shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't have had a chance to know, or rather, Director Olga-Marie wouldn't let people like us with influential backgrounds know about certain illicit research happening in Chaldea."
"Now you know. To save humanity, the previous director not only built this hidden fortress in the frigid land but also used various means to prepare for the salvation of humanity. His daughter, Director Olga-Marie, merely inherited these tasks. In my impression, she wasn't so extreme, as if she was missing a crucial person."
The doctor spoke as if having a conversation with a friend, revealing a portion of the information he knew. And he made his stance clear, not allowing Kirschtaria Wodime to push all the blame onto Director Olga-Marie.
"Are you suggesting that the culprit behind the creation of Suzuki is the former director, Lord Marisbury Animusphere? Talking about these moral issues now seems meaningless, I'm just looking for an excuse. Suzuki Yuki mustn't come to harm, and Director Olga-Marie's extremist actions might cost Suzuki Yuki his life. If you don't want to be the villain, it seems I have to take on that role."
"The Animusphere family has done me a favor. I can't do that."
Kirschtaria Wodime laughed at Dr. Roman's explanation. It was as if he was hearing a ridiculous joke.
"You just told me not to pretend to be oblivious. But now, it seems you're still playing a role. Let's cut to the chase. Let go of useless emotional attachments, step out of the role of 'Dr. Roman,' and discuss what to do next."
"Before Suzuki's next Spiritron transfer, protect him and let him rest well. Help him to the best of our abilities." The doctor didn't mind Kirschtaria Wodime's blunt statement. He had indeed lost his previous rationality and fully embraced his current identity.
If the question of what is real and what is illusion could be left for Kirschtaria Wodime to decide, then what remained would undoubtedly be the truth. The doctor hoped that when Suzuki made his decision, he would have the same determination, without regrets. No turning back, just moving forward on the journey. They were all just remnants of the past.
"But I feel uneasy about it."
"With you protecting him openly and me protecting him in secret, isn't Suzuki Yuki very safe?" The doctor was somewhat surprised, not understanding what kind of danger the other party had sensed.
"We need to be cautious not only of Director Olga-Marie, although her childish methods don't require much thought from me to counter. She can be kept occupied by someone like Kadoc for a long time. I'm more concerned about my comrades." Kirschtaria Wodime's tone of voice softened, and his expression immediately became serious.
"You mean the other members of Group A."
"That's right. I can see through illusions, but they may not be able to. I choose to protect Suzuki Yuki, the sole hope of Chaldea. But they might not, like Miss Hinako Akuta, who is solely focused on reuniting with a certain famous general from the East. If getting rid of Yuki Suzuki satisfies her wish, she would undoubtedly go on a rampage."
Kirschtaria Wodime's expression was serious, and the doctor nodded in understanding after hearing his explanation.
"On the way to the control room with Suzuki during our last encounter, I ran into a member of your Group A. Mr. Beryl Gut, the werewolf. He secretly installed a listening device behind Yuki Suzuki's back."
"Beryl? That professional deceiver? Alright, I'll keep a closer eye on him. People like him are too dangerous. If he harbors any inappropriate thoughts, I will personally eliminate him. After all, dead people are the most reassuring." Kirschtaria Wodime emphasized his tone at the end. If he had the intention to eliminate hope, it would truly be a disaster for humanity.
