Unlike Holmes, who uses the same spiritron transfer technology as Chaldea—not only allowing him to transfer between Singularities but even hitch a ride back to Chaldea after Ritsuka Fujimaru returns—Alaric's entry into Chaldea is thanks to his unique perspective granted by Independent Manifestation. By relying on his connection with Ritsuka Fujimaru, he successfully made his way into Chaldea.
When confronted by Da Vinci's questioning, the weakened Holmes, affected by repeated spiritron transfers, chuckled and said, "Failing to see through Moriarty's plan was a major blunder. It's almost like I'm here to reflect on my mistakes. Can I stay here for a while?
Of course, due to the repeated spiritron transfers, my Spirit Origin values have dropped to the level of a third-rate Servant. In terms of combat, I'm little more than a burden—reduced to being an armchair detective."
"Oh~ so that means there's something you want to investigate, right?"
Da Vinci's eyes curved into a smile. "Fine, fine, I'll approve it."
Naturally, Da Vinci wasn't naive enough to believe Holmes entered Chaldea for such a simple reason. If something could motivate the great detective Holmes, it would only be an intriguing mystery.
"Exactly. As expected of Leonardo Da Vinci, you're quick to catch on. Let me share the intel I've gathered."
Holmes smiled and said, "After successfully capturing Moriarty, I also managed to extract some information from him—specifically about the remaining Demon Pillars.
Aside from Baal, there are still multiple Demon Pillars active—at least three of them. However, they are no longer advancing with the goal of incinerating humanity. Instead, they each harbor their desires and are hiding in various eras."
"In other words—"
Although Da Vinci had considered this possibility before, hearing it confirmed from Holmes made her expression inevitably serious.
"That's right, Da Vinci. The incineration of humanity has been averted, and the Shinjuku Phantom Incident has been resolved peacefully. However, this world is still filled with countless mysteries. Additionally, there's one more thing that bothers me—"
"What is it?"
"..."
After pausing for a moment, Holmes finally said, "It's not the right time to reveal it yet."
Before his words could settle, a large hand suddenly reached out from the side, clapping Holmes on the shoulder. Alaric's cheerful voice followed, "Miss Da Vinci, aren't you furious about this?"
"Experiencing this kind of treatment would indeed make me furious."
Da Vinci, with a forced smile, barely agreed with Alaric's words.
"Haha, I'm honored that you're both so eager. I'll make haste to investigate a few things now."
Holmes laughed as he broke free from Alaric's grip. "If I feel inclined, I might even tweak Chaldea's data, integrating truth and falsehood—that's my specialty."
As Holmes departed, Alaric naturally became the focus of Ritsuka Fujimaru and the newly arrived Mash Kyrielight.
As an old friend from past encounters, Alaric's reappearance in Chaldea was met with—
"Sir Alaric!"
Even though she repeatedly reminded herself to stay composed, Mash ultimately couldn't resist the joy of reunion.
She leaped forward, spreading her arms and tightly embracing Alaric.
Catching Mash firmly, Alaric immediately noticed how ordinary she had become.
The once strongest shield, who had served as their greatest support, was now hardly different from Ritsuka Fujimaru.
"I'm back, Mash."
Without much thought, Alaric responded to his friend's expectations, smiling as he gazed at the girl before him. "Surprised?"
"Ah—!"
After the initial joy, Mash blushed and quickly stepped away from Alaric, retreating quietly to Ritsuka Fujimaru's side.
Da Vinci, with a playful glint in her eyes, refrained from teasing Mash at that moment. There were more pressing matters to attend to.
"Sir Alaric, what are your plans next?"
Da Vinci's smile faded, her expression turning serious.
Alaric, unlike the Servants summoned by Chaldea, was a living human—a person of this era.
He was the same as Ritsuka Fujimaru and the staff at Chaldea.
But it was precisely because of this that Da Vinci felt uneasy.
During their encounters and collaborations, Alaric had always demonstrated absolute unpredictability, with strength rivaling that of top-tier Servants. While this wasn't necessarily a problem for Da Vinci, the potential impact of Alaric leaving the Singularities—or even Chaldea—and entering human society was concerning.
Granted, Da Vinci didn't deny that this world still held many mysteries, and beings as powerful—or even stronger—than Alaric likely existed.
However, that didn't justify ignoring Alaric's presence.
"Identity? That's not an issue at all—I'm very skilled at this!"
Alaric gave a thumbs-up, grinning. "I've been living off the grid for years!"
Something as trivial as identity wasn't even worth considering!
"That's not what I mean. How do you plan to act?"
Da Vinci's serious tone continued. "Someone as powerful as you would find it hard to avoid the Mage's Association's attention, even if Chaldea erased your records—"
"I'll take it one step at a time, Miss Da Vinci."
Alaric, still smiling, replied, "The future's adventures won't end just like that."
Behind him, the operational Pseudo-Earth Environment Model: Chaldeas emitted a faint, ethereal glow.
Seeing this, Da Vinci smiled as well. "In that case, how about a medical checkup?"
The future was still long, and since Alaric had given his answer, Da Vinci decided there was no need to worry further.
The group didn't linger. While Ritsuka Fujimaru returned to her room to freshen up, Mash followed Da Vinci as she led Alaric to the medical bay.
There, where Mash herself had undergone countless physical examinations as a Demi-Servant—human fused with Heroic Spirit—her condition had always been monitored alongside Ritsuka Fujimaru's.
Even after losing her power, Mash still underwent these checkups regularly—for health was paramount.
Under the watchful eyes of Chaldea's staff, Alaric, now dressed in examination attire, completed a series of tests. Reviewing the results, Da Vinci raised an eyebrow and let out a meaningful "Hmm~~."
"Physical strength comparable to a Dragon Kind, yet still classified as human. As for magical energy—it rivals King Arthur, Artoria Pendragon, at her peak."
Alaric's strength was well-known, but what stood out even more was—
"The bindings on your body—are they from Tiamat?"
The crimson marks on Alaric's body, resembling the Chains of Heaven, prompted Da Vinci's surprised reaction. However, she quickly understood their significance.
"Are the bindings an issue?"
Alaric, not sensing any changes in his body, curiously asked, "The bindings haven't changed, right? Or is there some kind of weakening I didn't notice?"
It was undeniable that his maximum output had decreased, but by how much, even Alaric wasn't sure. He could only adjust his strength based on the situation.
"This… is still under observation. The conclusion will take some time."
Da Vinci didn't immediately answer Alaric but continued flipping through the examination report.
"Nega Genesis, huh…" Da Vinci muttered as she gazed at the final examination report. Alaric's transformation into the larval form of humanity's evil had not escaped Chaldea's investigations—or rather, Alaric hadn't intentionally tried to hide it either.
Compared to the larval form of humanity's evil, there were things Alaric was even more reluctant to let Chaldea discover: things of far greater significance.
As for the True Name-obscured Authority of the Beast, even with the help of the spiritron supercomputer, Da Vinci seemed unable to arrive at a definitive conclusion.
This only made Da Vinci more curious—just how much was Alaric still concealing?
The initial observation of Alaric possessing qualifications as a Beast occurred in Mesopotamia. However, during the journey to the Temple of Time—or even in the Singularities created by the Fourth Holy Grail War—Alaric never manifested into a larval form.
Could something have happened to him afterward?
Curious about this, Da Vinci questioned Alaric.
Alaric, in turn, was equally surprised by Da Vinci's inquiry.
"If your investigations didn't detect it, then it must mean my issue wasn't significant enough."
At the tail end of the Holy Grail War, Alaric had wondered why Chaldea never appeared. What surprised him more was that Chaldea hadn't even detected the emergence of a Singularity.
After a brief exchange of information, Alaric left the infirmary and began chatting with Mash, who had been waiting outside for some time.
"I never thought we'd get the chance to talk like this," Mash said, her expression gentle. She smiled and added, "But with Chaldea about to disband, I imagine a lot of people will be leaving soon."
"The Mage's Association is sending someone to take over Chaldea?"
Walking alongside Mash and touring Chaldea, Alaric casually conversed, though his eyes were scanning everything around him.
It was as if he were trying to find something.
In a corner that Alaric didn't notice, the Foreign God's priestess silently observed his back.
As the only outsider, she was the one who posed the sole threat within Chaldea—
Tap. Tap.
In that instant, Alaric, who had been walking with his back to the priestess, suddenly turned around and locked eyes with her vacant gaze.
———
That's a story for a little later.
Alaric's life in Chaldea unfolded relatively smoothly.
Thanks to his social skills, Alaric, who had no financial concerns in Chaldea, quickly became familiar with the staff.
Likewise, as his understanding of Chaldea deepened, Alaric realized that the Heroic Spirits who had been stationed in Chaldea had already been returned to the Throne of Heroes.
Only Da Vinci remained for cleanup duty, along with the Spirit Origin symbolizing the Heroic Spirits' connections.
But none of this mattered as much to Alaric as a certain other thing.
Wandering around Chaldea endlessly and even assisting Holmes in reviewing Chaldea's records and the spiritron supercomputer's database, Alaric was searching for something.
However, until he reached a definitive conclusion, Alaric felt he didn't even have the right to act.
At present, he didn't have the qualifications to join—or rather, he hadn't found the corresponding qualifications yet.
Such days passed quickly until one particular day arrived.
"We've detected a Singularity similar to the Shinjuku Singularity, potentially linked to a surviving Demon Pillar!"
Mash, who was responsible for reporting the situation, looked grave as she explained the emergence of the new Singularity to the arriving Ritsuka Fujimaru. "This conclusion was reached by comparing the data we obtained during the Shinjuku incident. There shouldn't be any mistake, but—"
"But what?" Ritsuka asked, puzzled, as she looked between Mash and Da Vinci, seemingly not understanding their reactions.
Faced with Ritsuka's confusion, Da Vinci offered an explanation: "Up until now, you've visited various locations and Singularities through spiritron transfer. However, even so, this time, the situation is extremely unusual. It's the kind of place where you'd want to say, 'There's no way a Singularity could exist there.'"
"But we've verified it multiple times. The calculations and analyses are correct.
So, even if it's completely incomprehensible, we have to act on the assumption that 'it does exist.'"
"Looks like it's another adventure. Do you need us to step in?" Ritsuka glanced at Alaric beside her.
Even though Mash couldn't accompany her, as long as Alaric was there, no challenge would be insurmountable.
"I can't. I don't have the qualifications for spiritron transfer," Alaric said, folding his arms with a troubled expression. He hadn't expected that he lacked the aptitude for spiritron transfer.
After a thorough examination by Da Vinci, not only was Alaric subjected to strict medical orders, but more importantly, his plans to swipe spiritron transfer technology from Holmes were thwarted.
Alaric lacked the qualifications for spiritron transfer. This fact had been confirmed by Chaldea and was indisputable.
"Hmm~ You're not planning to use Independent Manifestation?" Da Vinci quipped, her tone playful as she saw through Alaric's act.
Caught red-handed, Alaric, who had already planned to visit the Singularity to meet the Demon Pillar, smiled and said, "Ahaha, as expected of Miss Da Vinci."
Although he couldn't use spiritron transfer, Alaric had Independent Manifestation. Combined with Chaldea's observation of the Singularity and Ritsuka Fujimaru's connection, Alaric could still manage to transfer into the Singularity.
"So, where are we headed this time?"
Unlike Alaric, who had been in the command room the entire time, Ritsuka, who had only just arrived, was still a bit confused about the situation.
"Listen closely. This Singularity is located in Central Asia around the year 2000 CE—like Shinjuku, it's a modern setting very close to the present.
While there are no public records of any wars or incidents occurring there, the problem lies in the Singularity's coordinates."
Even Da Vinci couldn't help but adopt a mysterious smile when mentioning the coordinates. "You'll be surprised when you hear this—the location is underground! The Singularity is in an enormous, mysterious subterranean space beneath part of Central Asia, vast enough to contain an entire nation. That's where you're headed."
...
Later—
[Reverse Summoning System: Activated.]
[Spiritron Conversion: Initiated.]
[Time until spiritron transfer begins: 3… 2… 1…]
[All systems: Complete.]
[Analyze Lost Order;]
[Begin exploration of Remnant Order.]
At the moment the transfer began, Alaric grasped the thread of connection. Activating the ability he had rehearsed over a hundred times, he leaped into action.