—Memory Restoration—
—Physical Stabilization—
Inside the Chaldea Director's office, Ian opened his eyes. Instantly, fatigue spread through the man's body, as if heavy metal had been poured into him. The weight of his memories was overwhelming. Ian felt even his breathing become somewhat difficult. The replicated Holy Spear had not killed the suffocatingly powerful Caster, but instead had once again inflicted severe trauma on the man. Ian still remembered the look in their eyes at the end and their final words. It wasn't the arrogance of victory, nor an aloof gaze from above. Instead, it was a gaze as if witnessing a miracle.
"Return, I await you at the end of the world."
What did that sentence even mean? Ian couldn't decipher it at all. And more importantly than that, the emotions he hadn't yet properly comforted were what pained him the most. Especially Morgan. He had, after all, just managed to reunite with her. And Sakura. If things continued like this, her future would surely become a mess, wouldn't it?
Sitting in the chair, Ian had lost all desire to sleep. He lay there, pondering these memories, his mood growing heavier. But then, the man heard a strange sound. He followed the sound and witnessed a rather alluring scene.
Ritsuka Fujimaru was facing away from him, diligently searching for something in a small mountain of bras, panties, clothes, skirts, and stockings belonging to herself, Mash, and Olga Marie. As she bent down, her most sensitive and beautiful parts were perfectly aimed at Ian's position. Although unintentional, with the occasional restricted scenes appearing as Ritsuka Fujimaru moved, Ian found it somewhat difficult to maintain his composure. After a moment of hesitation, without disturbing Mash and Olga Marie, he stood up, walked behind Ritsuka Fujimaru, and gently patted her shoulder.
"Ritsuka, what... are you looking for?"
"Eh?!" Startled by Ian's sudden pat on the shoulder, Ritsuka Fujimaru almost cried out. However, she seemed to realize that this would wake the other two girls still in the room, so she immediately stifled her voice. Gulp. Ritsuka Fujimaru swallowed what she was about to say, then carefully spoke: "Um—Ian, I'm looking for clothes."
"Looking for clothes?" Ian reached out and touched Ritsuka Fujimaru's cheek; it felt soft and somewhat hot. The man knew what this meant. Although they had already become intimate, a girl Ritsuka Fujimaru's age would still feel some embarrassment about being exposed naked in front of a man. Thinking this, Ian softened his tone, trying to make her feel as little shame as possible. "Don't bother looking. Just put them on with the Director and the others after you wake up. Now, go get some rest; you must be exhausted after all that trouble last night, right?"
However, faced with Ian's considerate words, Ritsuka Fujimaru did not immediately respond. She seemed to have her own thoughts. The man noticed this and asked, "Ritsuka, is there something else you want to say?" Realizing there was no need to hide her thoughts from her savior partner, Ritsuka Fujimaru quickly spoke: "Um, Ian. I want to go outside for a bit."
"..." Ian subtly glanced at the clock on the wall. It was the middle of the night. What did Ritsuka Fujimaru want to do going out at this time? But despite all his inner doubts, the man ultimately did not refuse her request. He took off his jacket and put it on Ritsuka Fujimaru. Due to their height difference, Ian's clothes on the girl looked like an oversized dress. Just barely, they managed to cover everything that needed to be covered. Ian's hand left Ritsuka Fujimaru's cheek, then he took her hand. "Let's go, I'll accompany you."
"..." Ritsuka Fujimaru said nothing, but her cheeks flushed even more than before. Finally, she nodded.
Clearing Ritsuka's Doubts
A few minutes later, in a Chaldea corridor. Ian and Ritsuka Fujimaru walked hand in hand, looking very intimate. In the quiet of the night, the two seemed out of place, as if they weren't members of Chaldea.
"I'm suffocating!" Ritsuka Fujimaru, wearing only the man's jacket, exclaimed. "Finally, I can speak loudly."
Ian looked at her lively, cheerful demeanor, and his mood brightened slightly. "Ritsuka," the man said, "staying up in the middle of the night... you must be thinking about something, right?"
"This..." Ritsuka Fujimaru, hit where it hurt, stammered a bit. After a long while, she finally squeezed out a sentence. "N-No, not at all."
Such a clumsy denial was naturally not accepted by Ian. "Your performance is terrible—there's no way I can believe that."
"..." Probably realizing that her actions indeed held little persuasive power, Ritsuka Fujimaru quickly changed her attitude. Only this time, her expression became somewhat embarrassed. "Ian, what... what did you think of my performance in the first Singularity?"
"..." Ian's brow furrowed slightly. Clearly, he realized that Ritsuka Fujimaru's question was not as simple as it seemed on the surface. "It was quite good. We fixed it together, didn't we?"
"We fixed it, yeah," Ritsuka Fujimaru tightened her grip on Ian's hand, "but most of it was thanks to you. I... was mostly just holding you back, wasn't I?"
"..." Ian was momentarily unable to refute Ritsuka Fujimaru's words. After all, during the restoration of the Singularity of the Hundred Years' War between England and France, she was almost constantly out of commission due to magical energy exhaustion in the latter half. Besides attending his wedding with the two Jeanne, she did nothing else. It was not strange for her to have such thoughts now. According to common sense, Ian knew he should comfort Ritsuka by saying "you didn't perform that badly." However—looking at the girl's uneasy expression, Ian felt that doing so would merely postpone the activation time of a ticking time bomb. This wouldn't do. If he only treated the symptoms and not the root cause, it might become a major problem later. Ian decided to try a different approach to resolve this matter.
"Mm," the man nodded. "If you put it that way, there's nothing wrong with it. Ritsuka, your performance indeed wasn't great."
"So it's true then..." Ritsuka Fujimaru lowered her head, looking very sad. Being confirmed by the person she liked as holding them back was not an easy thing to accept. But Ian's next words quickly lifted her spirits again.
"So you definitely have a good way to fix it now, right?"
"Eh?" Ritsuka Fujimaru was somewhat surprised. She had expected Ian to further scold her after stating the fact that she had been a hindrance. But what she heard now was words of encouragement. That's right. What he valued was her future performance, not her past shortcomings. Thinking this, Ritsika Fujimaru also gained confidence. She nodded and replied to the man. "I've thought about it—since my own strength isn't enough for frontal combat, I've decided to support my Servants in a different way!"
"Support Servants in a different way?"
"Yes!" Ritsuka Fujimaru nodded very seriously. "Didn't I mention to you before... that I wanted to learn new magecraft?"
"Mm," Ian acknowledged, "there was indeed something like that. And—if I recall correctly, the Director also agreed to help you, didn't she?"
"Yes!" Ritsuka Fujimaru grew even more excited. "The magecraft I want to learn is for healing! This type of magecraft consumes relatively less magical energy and doesn't have as much impact on the body! That way—I can maximize Mash's combat effectiveness!"
"So you plan to become a silently contributing green leaf?" Ian asked. "Leaving all the opportunities to shine to Mash?"
"Y-Yes," Ritsuka Fujimaru lowered her head. "By the way... will that embarrass you a bit?" "After all—when we first set out, we said we'd save this world together, didn't we?" "But now..." Ritsuka Fujimaru stopped mid-sentence. Because her face was cupped by Ian's hands, then lifted by her chin. The man's gaze fell directly upon the girl's face, with a hint of complete dominance in it.
"Why would this be embarrassing?" "If you think that way, does that mean Da Vinci-chan and Dr. Roman, and even the Director, who silently contribute, are also embarrassing me?" "Ritsuka, heroes don't always stand in the light. People in the shadows can also be heroes—as long as you do what you need to do."
"Ian..." Listening to the man's words, Ritsuka Fujimaru felt her tangled thoughts suddenly clear. "Oh, right... The Director and the others are like that too."
"Good to know," Ian released Ritsuka Fujimaru's cheek. "From now on, just keep moving in that direction. Ritsuka, just do as I say."
"Mm~" Ritsuka Fujimaru hooked onto Ian's arm, nodding happily. "I understand!"
"That's a good girl."
Having finally dispelled Ritsuka Fujimaru's inner conflict, Ian breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly recalled the flood of memories that had poured into his mind. However, before the man could revel in them for long, Ritsuka Fujimaru leaned closer again. Wearing only Ian's jacket, she blinked her beautiful orange eyes, clearly having something to say.
"Just say it," Ian gently tapped Ritsuka Fujimaru's head. "I don't want to guess what's on your mind."
"You found out~" Ritsuka Fujimaru mischievously stuck out her tongue. "Um—I heard Mash say... that you filmed a lot of those ○ videos with her, right?"
"..." Ian froze for a moment. He hadn't expected Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash to discuss such things in private. There was no point in trying to hide it now. Though his scalp tingled, the man could only admit, "I did film a few."
"I knew it!" Ritsuka Fujimaru pouted. "No wonder Mash is so skilled—it turns out she practiced with you privately so many times!"
"Uh... perhaps," Ian replied somewhat helplessly. "Ritsuka, why are you bringing this up?"
"Because I need to practice too—!" Ritsuka Fujimaru said very seriously, "Mash shouldn't have to do everything alone! Ian, I really want to improve!"
"There's no need to pursue improvement in this kind of thing, is there?"
"There is!" Ritsuka Fujimaru stared at Ian. "I want to be your best girlfriend too! Hurry up and film sex videos with me~"
Ritsuka Fujimaru was so persistent that Ian had no choice but to try a different way of persuading her. "But we can't film now—I didn't bring my phone out."
"Hehe~" Ritsuka Fujimaru revealed a triumphant smile. She slightly opened the lapel of Ian's jacket that she was wearing, then placed the man's hand inside. "See what this is?"
"..." Feeling what was being transmitted to his hand, Ian was somewhat speechless. Because it wasn't just skin, but also a glass-like texture. "When did you put your phone in there...?"
"Just as we left!" Ritsuka Fujimaru explained proudly.
"..." "So Ritsuka, you intended to do this from the start?!"
"No way!" Ritsuka Fujimaru mumbled, "Everything I said just now was from the heart! And... doing something like this for you, I'd also be very shy!" "Or are you saying you dislike me doing this alone?"
"..." Ian sighed, then somewhat helplessly picked up Ritsuka Fujimaru and placed her on a long bench in the corridor. Sitting there, the girl's lips were at just the right height for filming a video. The man picked up the girl's phone and spoke. "I'll be frank first—even if it's for practice, things might get a little out of hand." "Even so, Ritsuka, do you still want to film?"
"Film!" Ritsuka Fujimaru answered without hesitation. "And I'll film until you can't hold back anymore!"
"So confident..." The man held the phone in one hand, pointing it at the girl, and gently placed his other hand on her head. "Then let's begin."
Soon, the girl earnestly immersed herself in filming the video. Although her movements were quite clumsy, she was very diligent. Even though it wasn't comfortable at all, the man, as an encouragement, still couldn't hold back.
"Amazing... finished so quickly." "Can we go back to sleep now?" "Why are you shaking your head? It's over!" "Don't think that just because you swallowed it, it didn't happen!"
There was no helping it. Ritsuka Fujimaru was truly too persistent—she absolutely refused to give up. Ian could only seriously teach her how to make himself comfortable, aiming to reach the same level as Mash. The video's duration increased little by little, with gulping sounds recording Ritsuka Fujimaru's repeated secret practice sessions. Unconsciously, her legs also began to restlessly rub together.
However, what the two didn't notice was that the originally broken surveillance camera suddenly moved, precisely aiming at their practice location.
"I see, they've already given their consent, huh~~"
"Well, that makes things much easier~"
"Chaldea, must become his paradise, as promised, mustn't it?"
Such a voice echoed in the air, then quickly vanished.