The second morning after the first Singularities had been successfully resolved.
Although, due to the Burning of the Human Order, normal time flow no longer exists outside Chaldea, within Chaldea itself, this was now the second morning.
As Ritsuka awoke from her bed, the searing pain coursing through every muscle made her inhale sharply.
"Oww… Oww… Oww… I was really pushed to the limit by the Department Head…"
Yesterday, because she'd asked Rei a few questions, Ritsuka had arrived late to the training room—just as Naoki had demanded. As punishment, she endured a full day of brutal training.
Long-distance running, squats, pull-ups, weighted sprints, push-ups, sit-ups… nearly every form of physical conditioning imaginable, all delivered at extreme intensity.
Because of it, last night she hadn't even felt like eating dinner. As soon as training ended, she collapsed straight into her room and fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow. Now, for the first time since then, she was awake.
"Let's see… 8:18 a.m.—time for breakfast."
If she could, Ritsuka would have gladly sat down and walked straight to the cafeteria. Since she hadn't eaten dinner yesterday, she was starving. But the agony radiating across her entire body made even shifting position unbearable. If she tried standing or walking, she was certain she'd collapse onto the floor immediately.
"I'll have to walk while holding onto the walls…"
That was the only way she could move right now.
With great effort, she grabbed the clothes laid out on the chair beside her and dressed herself. Using the bedframe to pull herself upright, Ritsuka bent forward and began shuffling slowly toward the door, gripping the wall with both hands.
The cafeteria wasn't far from the residential area—it had clearly been designed with accessibility in mind. Even moving this slowly, Ritsuka reached the cafeteria quickly. And as soon as she stepped inside, three familiar figures came into view.
"Good morning, Senpai."
Mash greeted Ritsuka immediately: "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, good morning, Mash… Not really. With this whole-body ache, 'sleeping well' is impossible." Ritsuka gave a wry smile. "Director and Gray-san, good morning too."
Marie immediately frowned. "Good morning—but don't speak to me so casually, newbie. Just because you saw my vulnerable side yesterday doesn't mean our relationship improved, got it?"
"..."
Her embarrassing side yesterday?
Ritsuka paused thoughtfully. "Ah—you mean when Gray threw you to the ground with a throw—"
"Stop! Who told you to say that—Agh… Oww… Oww…"
Before Marie, face flushed with humiliation and fury, could finish speaking, her body suddenly stiffened. She quickly grabbed the edge of the table and lowered herself into a seat.
Seeing this, Ritsuka asked cautiously: "Director… you're also feeling sore all over?"
"Ugh… Miscalculation. You can see it…"
"In light of yesterday's training regimen, it's perfectly natural." Gray said gently with a smile. "Rest well today. I'll go prepare breakfast. Wait here for a moment."
Ritsuka nodded vigorously. "Yes, thank you, Gray-san. But rest… I'm afraid the Department Head will pop up out of nowhere again and drag me back to the training room."
Just imagining the scene, Ritsuka shuddered involuntarily—and a chill ran down her spine.
Gray shook his head softly. "Don't worry. I think Big Brother won't wake up until noon. He has other matters to attend to this afternoon. So today, Fujimaru, you can rest properly."
"Hooray!"
No training? That was wonderful! Even though she knew skipping exercise might cause problems later, with her body half-dead from pain right now, Ritsuka absolutely did not want to train!
But…
"Why did the Department Head only wake up at noon? Did he oversleep?"
"That…"
At the mention of the topic, Gray's expression tightened slightly. He awkwardly turned his face away. "Well… hmm… he just slept too long. Big Brother does tend to oversleep."
"The Department Head is truly lazy. Aoko-san said before he didn't come to help because half of him just wanted to be lazy."
"Ahahaha…"
Gray, still facing away, let out a helpless sigh.
(Sister Rei… she said she didn't want to, but she completely ignored me. Honestly, Big Brother has no idea how to refuse her.)
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Not long after.
As Gray predicted, throughout the entire morning and into noon, Naoki did not appear anywhere in Chaldea. It wasn't until after lunch—around 1:30 p.m.—that he finally showed up in the control room, looking as if he'd just rolled out of bed.
"Good morning, everyone… Hoam~~~~"
"Good morning, pal! It's already afternoon!"
Roman scolded Naoki as he yawned. He scanned him from head to toe, then gave him an "I-know-what-happened" look. "Got exploited again?"
"Yes. As agreed. My back is killing me."
"You two really have a blissful married life. Now I'm starting to wonder—if Chaldea used soundproof materials during construction, was it really for the sake of secrecy… or because of this?"
"My situation ten years ago wasn't like this. We had shift schedules. Now, only Rei shares my bed like this."
Shift schedules?!
(I'm so jealous of you, Department Head Natsukawa!)
(Better yet—this revelation is sensational!)
(Does he actually have a harem? Where's he from?)
(Most likely he's joking. The Department Head is barely twenty—he couldn't possibly have a harem.)
(True…)
(That's an eighteen-year-old high schooler's fantasy.)
After exchanging several knowing glances, the staff in the control room shared a collective look of disgust toward one person—then returned to their work.
Meanwhile, having finished teasing Roman, Naoki turned serious and focused on the mission: "How's the status of the Singularities? Have we investigated the next one?"
"Fairly well. Aside from the first Singularities we've already resolved, the second one—the one with the smallest fluctuation—has also been analyzed. My plan was to let Fujimaru and the others rest for two more days, then begin o… p… e… r… Hah?"
Roman stopped mid-sentence. His face instantly twisted into disbelief.
Below, the staff monitoring CHALDEAS via Sheba mirrored Roman's stunned expression, staring at the screen.
"This…?"
"What's wrong, Roman?"
"Natsukawa… Look at this!" Roman urgently pulled Naoki over. "Besides the six existing Singularities, now… two new ones have appeared?!"