After discussing the leyline Mana usage fees with Rin, it was already midday.
After seeing them off, Naoki returned to his room.
"Naoki-sama."
Seeing Naoki return, Angelica and Pandora, who were cleaning his room, immediately stopped their work.
"Is your business with Tohsaka-sama and Edelfelt-sama concluded?" Angelica asked.
"Yeah, the outcome was more or less as expected. This weekend, I can start the final steps. Honestly, I thought she'd ask for more."
Rin, with her Jewel Magecraft, essentially burned money every time she used it. Naturally, she'd try to rake in as much cash as possible. Surprisingly, she settled on a reasonable figure.
"Once the Greater Holy Grail gathers enough Mana, the puppet is just one step away."
"Meaning, after that, I'm no longer useful, right?" Pandora, now a maid, asked expressionlessly.
Her deal with Naoki was that once he completed his puppet using the knowledge and technology from this Age of Gods doll, she'd be introduced to someone with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception so she could truly die.
Since the puppet was nearly finished, the day their promise would be fulfilled wasn't far off.
"Yeah, that's right. So, before then, I'll thoroughly study you inside and out. Even if not from a puppet-making perspective, the Age of Gods knowledge in your body is a treasure trove."
"Do as you please. My body is yours to use—that was the deal from the start."
"Then keep cleaning my room. Angelica, come with me to the kitchen. Gray rushed out this morning and didn't have time to make lunch. You and I will handle it."
"Yes, sir."
Normally, Gray would prepare lunch each morning and store it in the fridge before leaving. But today, it was her turn for morning cleaning duty, so she had to wake up earlier than usual to head to school. It was no surprise she didn't have time to make lunch.
So, this time, they had to make it themselves.
"By the way, Angelica, I mentioned before that I could grant one wish of yours with the Greater Holy Grail, right?"
While preparing ingredients for katsu curry, Naoki chopped vegetables and said to Angelica, "The Greater Holy Grail is still in my hands. If you want, I could pour all the Mana into it—might be enough to activate its wish-granting function."
"Do you have a wish you want fulfilled?"
"No, Naoki-sama." Angelica replied after a brief pause. "I'm just a puppet. Before, I was a tool to fulfill the Ainsworth family's long-standing wish. Now, I'm just your maid. You don't need to think too much about me."
"But you were human once, right?"
Naoki scratched his head. "Even though transferring your soul to a puppet stripped away ninety percent of your emotions, not all of them are gone. Doesn't that tiny bit of remaining emotion make you think about anything?"
"Like, say, getting revenge on me—or something."
The kitchen fell silent.
Their vegetable-chopping stopped at some point. Staring at the ingredients on the cutting board, Angelica closed her eyes, pondered briefly, then shook her head. "What's left of me isn't enough to form thoughts like that. If anything, there's only anger."
"Anger because you killed my little brother."
Darius Ainsworth, the head of the Ainsworth family a thousand years ago, sought to save humanity by continuously transferring himself through Magecraft into the family's descendants. In this generation, his target was Angelica's younger brother, Julian Ainsworth.
When Darius attacked earlier, Naoki killed him, and the host body died along with him.
Even with ninety percent of her emotions gone, Angelica still felt something for her kin. In the original story, she even expressed a desire to save her brother.
"So, want revenge? With the Gilgamesh Class Card you have, killing me isn't impossible."
"My emotions aren't strong enough for that. In fact, even the anger was fleeting. Now, I only have a servant's thoughts toward her master, and a servant doesn't need her master to think about her."
"You never considered using the Greater Holy Grail to regain your emotions or turn back into a human?"
Angelica shook her head. "Never. Does Naoki-sama really want me to regain my emotions or become human again?"
"Well… a little."
"If that's what you want, then that's my wish." For Angelica, who had no desires, her master's thoughts were her own. She only needed to act according to his will.
That response made Naoki sigh in resignation. Her obedience was nice, but still.
"Ugh, forget it."
Naoki exhaled.
"A wish like that should come from you. A wish I give you isn't truly yours. Let's wait until you have your own wish—then we'll talk again. For now, finish lunch. I'm starving."
"Yes, sir."
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
In the afternoon, time seemed to fly for Naoki. Though he was, in a sense, unemployed, when he devoted himself to Magecraft training, there was never enough time. This was true for all Magi.
Reproducing Aozaki Touko's Mystic Code to study puppet Magecraft, using Pandora as a model to research Age of Gods magical knowledge—that's how Naoki spent his afternoons.
In reality, he rarely used Magecraft beyond Summoning Magecraft. His interest in Age of Gods Magecraft was purely curiosity, plus he had little else to do. Besides, since Pandora was created by Greek gods, there might be cosmic-level secrets hidden within her… Naoki had such small calculations.
What man could resist spaceships, Gundams, or Kamen Rider? If he got the chance to summon Odysseus, he'd personally pilot the Trojan Horse!
As time passed, dusk began to settle over the sky.
"We're home!"
"I'm back…"
Unlike the energetic Gray, Atalanta, who returned with her, looked utterly exhausted. Though she'd only taught at the elementary school for a day, she faintly radiated the aura of an overworked office lady.
Naoki was slightly surprised to see Atalanta like this. "You don't look so good… I thought you'd come back thrilled. Isn't being an elementary school teacher aligned with your wish?"
"Ah… yes, in that sense, you're right. I'm very satisfied with the job you gave me. Seeing these kids grow up happy feels like paradise to me."
"Then why are you…?"
"Big Bro, Miss Atalanta's exhausted from teaching." Gray explained. "Since it's her first time as a teacher, she wanted to learn from another teacher how to be a good one."
"Oh, that's great."
"But the teacher she asked was Fujimura-sensei…"
Alright, Naoki didn't need Gray to say more—he understood the situation. His gaze toward Atalanta carried a hint of pity. "Learning from her… You're really brave. Back when I was in school, she put me through the wringer too. But once you get used to her, you'll see she's a good person."
"Get used to her… You know her well?"
"Not that well here." Naoki shook his head. "Anyway, Gray, anything happen at school today? Atalanta didn't cause a stir, did she?"
"Just a few male teachers got a bit excited—oh, there's one thing I wanted to tell you, Big Bro. In two weeks, there's… uh… a school outing? It's for my grade only, a day trip for the whole class."
A spring picnic—no, it's autumn, so an autumn outing.
"That's awesome. Where to?"
"Tokyo."