The first thing that greeted me was the ruckus of people coming out on the streets in an uproar. Incoherent screaming and answers being demanded were on such a volume it’s making my ears hurt a little.

Oh dear, there’s a fire occurring down some streets if that smoke billowing in the distance is any indication. That’s bad. A wince crossed through me from a crowd trampling upon each other trying to scramble to who knows where.

If it wasn’t obvious already, I’m currently not back in the dorm right now but in the outskirts of Vale standing upon the walls separating it from the Grimm.

The dorm was my first stop much earlier with the group. A much-needed time of winding down happened when we arrived as we discussed how we’re supposed to take responsibility for the……disruptive noise spread across the neighborhood.

After arguing back and forth, we had to address the obvious consequence of riling up people from their sleep and see the giant mushroom cloud visible to everyone in the kingdom. It doesn’t take much to figure out that it emerged from an explosive, but what they wouldn’t be able to wrap their heads around was the size of it.

Either that or they’ll assume it’s the figure of an unidentified kaiju Grimm approaching.

Regardless, it was time for someone to do damage control. I volunteered to go myself since I was perfectly equipped for the role, though that caused Alyssa and Lilia to protest, saying it’s much too dangerous for me or that I deserve to rest after a long day. I said otherwise as I’m officially a Huntsmen and it fell upon me to do my duty of protecting the kingdom and its people just like everyone else with the same profession. I gotta make right with this world and clean up after the impacts the group has left upon it even if I’ve only been here for a short amount of time.

That stopped the words they were about to say in their throats and they begrudgingly relented. Although they were left dissatisfied and grumbled about, muttering how I’ve grown to be such a smooth talker or whatever.

“Amazing, Kaito-san. You really are the older brother of the group.” (Tanjiro)

“Way to go, Kai-chan! You go out there and show ‘em who’s boss. Meanwhile, I’ll get all hunky dory right here. I’m beat.” (Neptune)

“Sorry again you had to do this because of me.” (Minato)

“I said it was okay. Get some rest, you deserve it.” (Kaito)

Back to the present, I felt the cool breeze on my cheeks from this elevation. The smell of smoke had already reached here, likely due to the wind carrying it over. I heard the stressed voice of the people down below one side of the wall and the menacing growl of the Grimm on the other side.

There are two tasks that need to be done. One was to calm down the riots to stop them from attracting the Grimm’s attention with their negative emotions, the other was to dispel the Grimm clawing away at the walls.

Both were simple enough jobs for me. I’ll extend the range of my magic outwardly like a cone to the inside of the kingdom to envelop the people in its balm. At the same time, I’ll freeze the Grimm and order them to mutilate themselves and wipe out the low-level critters at least. It’ll be good practice to handle using two kinds of magic simultaneously.

I commenced my magic to forcibly alter the emotional imbalance of the people to veer towards tranquility and did the same to the other side but with an inclination of self-destruction to the monsters.

I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the humans and faunus cooling their heads before a fight would start to outbreak. At the corner of my eye, the Grimm began to cannibalize each other, which I averted my gaze away from immediately.

Now, it wouldn’t do to linger in one spot as the situation was occurring across the entire kingdom. I’ll have to traverse around the entire perimeter along the walls to repeat the same thing upon every untouched area, which normally would be too time-consuming, but as I have a unique teleportation tool that allows me to teleport to any location within my sight, I can manage.

I teleported to my desired spot and began my clockwise trek around Vale. Only for me to stop the brakes at my third jump. My scroll picked up a message and I briefly recognized the person who sought a voice call with me.

“Ozpin-sensei, how can I help you this late at night?” (Kaito)

“You’re safe? I was distressingly worried something might have happened to you. I can relax easily now that my worries were unfounded.” (Ozpin)

The slightly distressed voice of Beacon’s Headmaster became much lighter after confirming my safety. I was touched by the sincere care from across the phone.

“Doctor claimed that you and your team have managed to come out of that giant light unscathed. I am further reassured to have confirmed the truth on my own.” (Ozpin)

I sucked in a sharp intake of air. Better leave out the grievous state Minato ended up in formerly.

“Yes, we were at the site no doubt, but I suppose fortune hasn’t abandoned us yet. We have reached back to the walls which is where I am currently.” (Kaito)

“Then I suppose I should strike while the iron is hot. I know you and your friends are understandably shaken and desire nothing more than to rest on a comfortable bed right now, but I have to trouble you with a favor of mine. I need your continued help.” (Ozpin)

A tinge of bashfulness crept into his voice. It appears he still requires me to do work. Well, I’m not the least bit offended since I can tell the reason for it is because he’s thinking of the well-being of the citizens. There’s no doubt about that.

“Yeah, I’m seeing everything here, so I know you have your reasons, and I can understand them. Which is why I went ahead in quelling the troubled people.” (Kaito)

“Excellent. I’m proud to have a friend who can remain so composed even now like you. With your Sympathy Magic and teleportation method, there is no one more reliable for the task.” (Ozpin)

That’s another piece of news I’m learning from him. So he knows about me being capable of using magic. I registered the information while new memories briefly washed over my brain. I wonder how far I told him of my real identity.

“I have one last question for you. Did you happen to see who was responsible for the attack?......Was ‘she’ responsible for it?” (Ozpin)

There was a sudden sharpness behind his question, and a graveness at the mention of this ‘she.’ I recall only one name that could spook this man that badly.

“This is not the work of Salem. One other thing I can confirm is that something like this won’t occur a second time.” (Kaito)

“……Very well. I shall trust your word for it. But for tomorrow, I’m calling for my group and your team to a meeting in my office. It’s high time we get your friends onboard and for us to come clean with each other. I’m sorry, I know we both have our secrets and that we promised to gradually tell them the longer our partnership continued, but the scale of something like this has given me reason to hasten the process. I have little doubt that Salem will make her move in the wake of this.” (Ozpin)

“Oh, I’m more than fine with that. I believe this to be for the best too.” (Kaito)

“I thank you again for being so understanding.” (Ozpin)

The call with Ozpin ended there. I wonder what we’ll be discussing tomorrow. Strangely, I felt calmer than ever and was even looking forward to it.

I picked up the sound of whirling winds and turned to it. Oh, it’s the drone Alyssa made with Kirschtaria appearing on the screen.

“What an eventful night I must say. I looked away for a few moments and missed out on the excitement. There is never a dull moment in this group.” (Kirschtaria)

“Kirschtaria-san… can I just call you Kirsch-san?” (Kiato)

“Go ahead. I encourage you to do so.” (Kirschtaria)

The drone lowered down to my level, and I laid my hands on it to carry it with me when I teleport.

“I don’t think you’ll find any more excitement to be seen until tomorrow.” (Kaito)

“I’m not looking for excitement. No, I’m here for you.” (Kirschtaria)

“Me? What could you want with someone like me?” (Kaito)

I arched my eyebrow at his unexpected intention.

“Primarily, this is just me looking for a partner to converse with. And for some time, you have caught my interest the most.” (Kirschtaria)

“Well, I’m honored.” (Kaito)

His eyes seemed to smile while I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

“I’ve heard that you were the only one to have prior experience traveling to another world before joining the group chat.” (Kirschtaria)

“I suppose that’s the truth more or less. My home world was a blue planet called Earth.” (Kaito)

“Intriguing. That’s the same for me in my world. And Minato shares the same background. Is there a higher power that turned the planet Earth into an archetypical concept across every world I wonder? And where would the focal point, the original Earth, remain at?” (Kirschtaria)

“……” (Kaito)

“Oh, forgive me, I shouldn’t be boring you with such uninteresting subjects. That was the mage in me talking.” (Kirschtaria)

“Ahaha, it’s okay. I’m not troubled at all.” (Kaito)

I staggered a bit trying to keep up with his talk of archetypes or concepts and whatnot. A flash of demureness crossed Kirschtaria’s face before settling back into a neutral one, opting to wait for me to speak again.

“When I was 21 years old, I got summoned to Trinia to take part in a festival to celebrate the success of the Hero who defeated the Demon King and united the world into harmony.” (Kaito)

“I see. It reminds me of the Heroic Spirit Summoning ritual.” (Kirschtaria)

“What’s that? It sounds really cool.” (Kaito)

My interest had been picked up by that name he mentioned. Kirschtaria adopted a contemplative look before briefing me on what it is.

“Basically, it’s a ritual in which a summoner calls forth a Heroic Spirit of legend, mythology, or fiction from the Throne of Heroes to bind them in the physical world in a servant-master contract. You have something much similar with your Heart Tool and Alyssa. The concept between them is more or less very alike.” (Kirschtaria)

“That sounds really cool!” (Kaito)

My excitement kept rising and he chuckled at the display. An apologetic look formed on his face again after composing himself.

“My apologies once more. I seem to keep distracting you from your story.” (Kirschtaria)

“You take it too seriously. Anyway, I and three others who were still high school students were summoned to Lilia-san's estate. There was only supposed to be one person summoned to act as a hero who will be guided to enjoy the festival and do speeches across the Human Realm. The rest like me tagged along by accident.” (Kaito)

“That seems very irresponsible. You and your friends must have been very stressed from being put into an unfamiliar situation so suddenly like that.” (Kirschtaria)

His disapproving frown told me enough that he worried for me and my kouhai’s well-being when we were stuck in a new world out of the blue.

“You could say that again. But it wasn’t all bad. Lilia-san turned out to be a wonderful host who took her duties of caring for us very seriously. Our safety and necessities were guaranteed due to her. And we weren’t forced to do anything like fighting for the country or defeat an unreasonable being. No, we were told to enjoy ourselves for our year-long stay. Once that was over, we could decide for ourselves to either stay in Trinia or return home.” (Kaito)

Kirschtaria visibly relaxed his tense shoulders from relief.

“I see. And you ended up staying in Trinia in the end.” (Kirschtaria)

“That’s right.” (Kaito)

“For your decision, you must’ve not had much lingering attachments to your original world I presume.” (Kirschtaria)

“No, I did. It’s what made me hesitate the most before making my decision.” (Kaito)

I wryly smiled as Kirschtaria blinked, imploring me to continue.

“I still had an aunt and uncle who took care of me after my parents died in an accident. I couldn’t immediately decide to abandon my connections to my old world. It would’ve been unfilial towards them.” (Kaito)

“It really wasn’t easy for you, was it? I myself do not have a strong bond with my family, so I cannot truly understand the anxiety you felt. However, that quality of valuing the bonds you have is something I admire.” (Kirschtaria)

I nodded towards his heartfelt praise and the silent condolence in his eyes.

“Yeah, ultimately, my decision was made when I found my irreplaceable treasure in Trinia.” (Kaito)

“I see. It must’ve been something you hold so dearly to make you choose the new world over your old one.” (Kirschtaria)

“No, I chose both though?” (Kaito)

I laughed at the confused expression he wore.

“I wanted to live in Trinia. But I also wanted to express all my gratitude to my relatives first before committing to my new life. It was an unprecedented decision not made before in the long history of Trinia. You could either stay or go home, those were the only options. One way or another, I challenged the creator of Trinia to complete a trial they prepared for me before they could fulfill my selfish wish.” (Kaito)

“You what!? How? Tell me more!” (Kirschtaria)

He raised his voice, demanding an explanation.

“After I overcame the trial, I spent one month on Earth saying my goodbyes before returning to Trinia and calling it my new home.” (Kaito)

I stifled a laugh at Kirschtaria being rankled from me skipping the entire context of the trial. He shook his head with an amused smile.

“For you to cause such a being to move in the way you wanted, forcing them to grant your wish. My humbled self continues to admire you even more. That’s quite the reasonable god you’re acquainted with. I’m surprised they didn’t hold a grudge.” (Kirschtaria)

“How can that happen when we’re lovers now? I’m also surprised to hear someone call Shiro a reasonable person.” (Kaito)

Kirschtaria blinked his eyes owlishly.

“You and the creator of a world… are a couple?” (Kirschtaria)

“We also plan on holding a wedding in the future. Oh, it goes without saying that everyone in the group chat will be invited to it.” (Kaito)

(I will allow it. Having more eyes to witness the sealing of our love will surely surpass the audience present during Kuro’s.) (Shiro)

I can hear the jingle of Shiro’s smug aura in her telepathic message to me.

“Dear me. I don’t hold a candle to you. Ah, Doctor said something a while ago, that you were the illegitimate child of the group chat. I’m starting to see why you earned that moniker.” (Kirschtaria)

“I’ll never be free of that title, won’t I?” (Kaito)

I deadpanned which drew a short laugh from my conversational partner.

“So this lover of yours must be the irreplaceable treasure that convinced you of the path you take, hmm?” (Kirschtaria)

“Whoa now, that’s quite the dangerous question you threw at me just now.” (Kaito)

I had a stiff smile on me and twitched my eyes a little.

“But you could say she played a part in helping me become the person I am today. Shiro is special to me, someone that no one can take the place of.” (Kaito)

“Hoh. Is it because of this trial she forced upon you?” (Kirschtaria)

“That’s a part of it. But it was because of our first meeting that further defined my resolve.” (Kaito)

I still remember the sudden question she presented to me just like it was yesterday.

“Shiro asked me what I desired, and with her omnipotent power she’d grant it to me.” (Kaito)

Kirschtaria remained silent, cupping his own chin with a curious smile.

“I refused her offer. I’m just an awkward human being, what am I supposed to think of doing with an offer like that from an omnipotent being? Because I was encouraged by Kuro, I decided that I would search and grasp for something important to me as just myself, a meek powerless person with no renown. My meeting with Shiro and her thrusting that unreasonable offer helped me a lot.” (Kaito)

“But were you not tempted by it in the slightest?” (Kirschtaria)

“Oh, I was extremely tempted. But I found my courage and told her she didn’t have the power to grant what I wanted.” (Kaito)

I was startled by the barking laughter Kirschtaria was making. It was so very unlike the image I had of him.

“You told an omnipotent god she could not grant your wish? You surpass all my expectations! It’s clear to me why you’d draw the interest of an absurd existence like that.” (Kirschtaria)

“If that’s what you gleaned from my story, I guess my arrogance can be entertaining to some. Since you listened to my story, mind if I ask you a question in return?” (Kaito)

“You may.” (Kirschtaria)

“Why’d you single me out as the person who piqued your interest the most?” (Kaito)

“Because you are by far the most normal person in the group from personality to demeanor and remain as such no matter the achievements you accumulated. That was my assessment of you from my observation.” (Kirschtaria)

That was it? There had to be more to his reasoning.

“I don’t believe you. If it was a normal person you were looking for, wouldn’t Tanjiro-kun satisfy that criteria as well?” (Kaito)

“No, Tanjiro definitely does not satisfy that criteria. He may appear to be the second most normal person, but he has a passion and drive that sets him apart from people like you. I could tell he had a quality like that of a champion. A Heroic Spirit in the making so to speak.” (Kirschtaria)

“Hehhh~…” (Kaito)

“You on the other hand…… I can’t quite pinpoint it, but you never change, do you? You can be surrounded by beings beyond your comprehension, yet I don’t see you being out of place in such a spot or stray away from your true self.” (Kirschtaria)

I hummed thoughtfully from his evaluation of myself. I heard similar things from acquaintances when describing their impressions of me.

“To be so weak and stay so firm amongst a crowd so unreasonable, I’ve yet to see any other surpassing that talent you have.” (Kirschtaria)

“If it’s talent you’re talking about, I’ll bet I don’t have one-millionth of the talent you might possess.” (Kaito)

“And you give me too much praise.” (Kirschtaria)

“Right back at you.” (Kaito)

We shared chuckles with each other over our tendency to overly praise one another.

The night continued in such a fashion as Kirschtaria listened to my story while I did my work to protect Vale.

 

 

 

Afterword:

Serious-senpai: “I’m surprised you and the others restrained yourselves so much when learning that Kaito is forcing himself to work so much.”

???: “If Kaito’s made a decision for himself, there isn’t much more people like Alyssa-chan or Lilia-san can do to convince him to take it back. They have to respect his will. On to a different matter, hurry and give me details about this Fourth Holy Grail war you’re cooking up! Don’t tell me Kaito’s going to get involved in this bloodbath!?”

Raven12345: “Bloodbath? It’s more likely for Kaito to use his influence to turn it into a friendly sport with no ill feelings. If it's the details you want, that can be arranged. As you know, I have the ability to see the future, so I’m well aware of how this Fourth Holy Grail and its setup will drastically change. Each Master will summon a pair of servants, but the extra set of servants hail from worlds not that of the Nasuverse.”

Serious-senpai: “Oh, this is a lot more serious than I imagined.”

???: “Pipe down. Did you not hear her say Kaito’s influence will transform it into something more family-friendly?”

Raven12345: “So to speak, the setup is something inspired by the Fate/Zero Paradox fanfiction the author has been obsessed with lately. He’d even promise to release these character’s servant sheets early before the arc begins if the audience guessed right on their identities.”

Serious-senpai: “But those hints the author gave in the glossary are so barebones, you can’t figure them out from just that!”

Raven12345: “I think they’re enough. But the author might be kind enough to throw some more bones to help them rack their brains if they beg enough times.”

???: “Uwah, how blackhearted.”