Chaldea.
When Rozen returned once more to this place, it had been nearly a month since his last departure.
This wasn't a long period—at least compared to the times Rozen had disappeared from Chaldea before. His previous absences had each lasted several months. This time, only a month had passed. Relatively speaking, it was short.
However, this time, when Rozen returned, Chaldea was engulfed in a tension that anyone could sense.
Because another month passing meant that the end of 2020 was drawing near.
In just over a month, Human Order would be completely incinerated—beyond any hope of restoration.
In such circumstances, as the final bastion of human civilization, and the place where the last remaining humans lived, how could Chaldea not be tense?
"If you're not mentally strong, staying in an environment like this long enough could probably make you clinically depressed."
Feeling the pressure hanging over Chaldea, Rozen remarked with a sigh.
Even Mash, who had returned with him, wore a solemn expression.
"Thankfully, while time is short, we're just as close to our final goal—restoring the Human Order."
Mash murmured as such.
Of the seven Singularities responsible for the incineration of Human Order, six had already been resolved.
Only one remained.
And this final Singularity had already been observed by Chaldea after the Sixth Singularity was repaired.
It was located in Mesopotamia, 2600 BC—an era from the final days of the Age of Gods and the time of humanity's oldest epics.
However, due to the difficulty of performing spiritron transfers to the B.C. era—especially that far back—safely transferring to 2600 BC Mesopotamia required more resources and preparation than all previous Singularities combined.
Thus, in order to enable a successful transfer to such a distant time, Chaldea's staff had been working day and night throughout the past month. Some had gone without sleep for extended periods.
If this final Singularity could be resolved, Human Order would truly be saved, and human history could continue.
To overcome this last hurdle, Chaldea had no choice but to go all in.
"This tension probably has a lot to do with everyone scrambling to finish the preparations for that final transfer."
Rozen thought to himself.
At a critical moment like this, Rozen really didn't want to trouble Chaldea. He didn't want to divert time or resources for his own sake.
But obviously, that was unrealistic.
"If you don't get your condition under control and recover, and then end up failing during the final operation because of it, the weight of that sin would be enormous."
Artoria [Alter] scolded Rozen bluntly.
"Not that I'd care either way."
Jeanne [Alter] added with a mischievous grin.
"Please think of the greater good, Rozen-sama."
Even Serenity offered a rare word of advice.
As for Attila, she simply stood silently at the side. She didn't say a word, her expression cold and unreadable as always.
Seeing this line of expressionless or stern-faced Servants, Rozen chuckled helplessly.
"I know, I know. I was just saying. Do I look like an idiot?"
With that, Rozen made his way through the tense halls of Chaldea and soon found Roman.
At the time, Roman was preparing restorative tonics for the staff to help maintain their stamina. When he looked up, he saw Rozen and his group barging in.
"You're back?"
Roman paused his work, clearly surprised.
Rozen didn't waste any time.
"Help me out, big bro."
Rozen bluntly made his request, leaving Roman momentarily stunned.
"Alright, this is the last part of the checkup."
About four hours later, inside Chaldea's specialized medical facility, Roman looked at a report as he spoke.
"Well? What's the result?"
Rozen stepped down from a large scanning device, pulling on his shirt as he approached Roman.
Only the two of them were present. The others had left with Mash to do their own thing, since it wasn't convenient to have them around for this.
Rozen had just completed a four-hour diagnostic exam with Roman. Now, the results were finally out.
As Rozen approached, Roman's eyes involuntarily fell on his right arm.
There, exposed to the air before he covered it with his clothing, was an intricate Magic Crest—a pattern as complex as a celestial chart or a labyrinth.
Roman knew exactly what it was, yet said nothing.
Because that was clearly not something to ask about casually.
Roman could only sigh.
"Honestly, if I didn't know for a fact that you're human, I'd have started wondering whether you're some kind of monster."
Roman glanced at the report, unsure whether to be amazed or alarmed.
"A magic circuit of this scale... Forget me—even globally, I don't think any Magus has ever seen something like this. Even in mythology, I doubt anything like this has ever existed."
Roman was completely dumbfounded. He couldn't fathom how Rozen had come to possess such a Magic Circuit.
After all, Rozen's circuits weren't like this before.
They used to be extremely high-quality—comparable to the best bloodlines of ancient magical families. But at most, they were simply "excellent."
Now? They were frightening.
"If a normal Magus's Magic Circuit is a 'water tank,' then those ancient noble families have 'ponds.' But you—yours are beyond 'rivers' or even 'lakes.' You've basically brought in an entire 'sea.' I can't even imagine how much mana you could store with circuits of this magnitude."
Roman now looked at Rozen like he was an alien wearing human skin.
"You sure you haven't been replaced? Are you even the real Rozen?"
Rozen rolled his eyes.
"I'll take that as a compliment," he muttered, not bothering to argue. "So, can you tell me now—what's wrong with my 'sea'?"
"Well, there's no major issue," Roman replied slowly. "Actually, with a Magic Circuit of this size, it's hard for anything to go wrong in the first place. I don't even want to know what kind of nonsense you pulled to push it into abnormal status."
Roman continued, "Right now, it's like an engine that's been overclocked. It's overheated and can't cool down properly. It's not going to burn out, but it's stuck in this overheated state, so its operating efficiency is lower than usual."
"In other words...?" Rozen picked up on it quickly. "We need to cool it down first?"
"Exactly," Roman smiled. "I'll request some resources from the Administration Division and set up the instruments to help recalibrate your circuits. Don't rush into generating more mana for now—let the circuits stabilize. Once that's done, with circuits like yours, you'll be able to recover all the energy you need in no time."
Hearing that, Rozen relaxed and nodded in agreement.