It was a truly miraculous meeting. Ian looked at Gareth, a hint of tenderness in his eyes. He hadn't expected Ritsuka Fujimaru to be able to summon his daughter to Chaldea at this time. But—upon closer thought, it didn't seem to be a complete coincidence. After all, the two had already met in the Singularity of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. And because of her sister Joan of Arc, they had traveled together for a long time. It would be an exaggeration to say they had no connection at all.
Moreover, looking at Gareth, Ian felt there was no need to dwell on it. Being able to see the girls from his past come to his side one by one was actually a very gratifying thing. This kind of reunion, spanning different eras, was not something you could just wish for.
"Eh—?!" Ritsuka Fujimaru quickly recognized Gareth. Her beautiful orange eyes filled with the joy of reunion. "It's you—! It's Gareth from the Singularity!"
"Hmm?" Upon hearing "Singularity," Gareth looked directly at her Master. She squinted her eyes, then recognized Ritsuka Fujimaru. "Oh, oh, oh!" she exclaimed. "It's you, Ritsuka, who was with Mordred back then!"
"That's right~" Ritsuka Fujimaru nodded. "It's me~ Gareth... you still remember me?"
"Of course I remember," Gareth said, wiping her nose. "Mordred mentioned you several times back then! As her older sister, how could I ever forget you!" "Eh, wait a minute..." Gareth seemed to remember something. "Since you're here, does that mean my..."
Gareth remembered that her father was very familiar with this girl named Ritsuka Fujimaru in the Singularity of the Hundred Years' War. If she was here, did that mean he was too...? The girl's premonition quickly became reality.
Ian spoke up at that moment, "Gareth, long time no see."
"Eh—?!" Hearing the familiar and incredibly nostalgic voice, Gareth looked at the other side in disbelief, her green eyes filled with surprise. "You're here too!"
In front of Ritsuka Fujimaru, Gareth immediately lunged forward and hugged her father, Ian. Although he felt this action was a bit inappropriate, he still reached out and gently stroked her head.
"Yes, I'm here."
"Mm... you're here!" Gareth tightly clutched Ian's clothes, not wanting to let go. After a long moment of tender affection, the British knight suddenly remembered the instructions her sister Mordred had given her during the Singularity. "Absolutely do not reveal Father's identity!" Immediately, she trembled as if she had been electrocuted, then turned around awkwardly. "Master, um..."
Just as Gareth thought she wouldn't be able to explain herself, she saw Ritsuka Fujimaru with her hands behind her back and a smile on her face.
"It's okay," Ritsuka Fujimaru said. "I can understand... you were forced to part ways back then, so a little excitement is a normal reaction. You don't have to explain it to me."
"Oh..." Seeing how understanding Ritsuka Fujimaru was, Gareth gradually relaxed. "Is that so... that's great. I thought you, Master, would be very unhappy."
"How could I be, I saw..." Before Ritsuka Fujimaru could finish her sentence, she clutched her head, looking very unwell. Realizing that something was wrong, Ian immediately rushed to her side.
"Ritsuka, what's wrong?"
"I... I'm a little dizzy," Ritsuka Fujimaru held her forehead. "Just let me rest for a bit and then..." Before the girl could finish, she collapsed. Fortunately, Ian's reflexes were quick enough to prevent her from falling to the ground.
"What happened?" Gareth didn't know why this was happening, but she instinctively felt that the situation was bad.
"I don't know either." The worried Ian took out his phone and shouted into it, "BB, are you there?!"
"I'm here—!" BB responded in an instant. "Pig, what's wrong?!"
"BB, can you use Chaldea's medical scanners?"
"I should be able to—after all, they're essentially just code-based tools. After a bit of analysis, BB should be able to understand them."
"Do you have time to help me now?"
"I think so—that girl you brought here just got excited and passed out again."
"Good, thank you, BB." After getting BB's promise, Ian directed his daughter next to him. "Gareth, help me carry Ritsuka to the infirmary."
"Eh?" Although she still didn't know what was happening, Gareth knew that following her father's command was the right thing to do. "I understand."
Ten minutes later, the two of them brought Ritsuka Fujimaru to Chaldea's infirmary and placed her on a machine. A green light scanned her, and BB completed the analysis. For a Super AI like her, Chaldea's normal instruments were just toys that ran according to a program. Essentially, there was no difference from controlling a ○-vibrator.
"Hey!" BB on the screen couldn't help but complain upon seeing the analysis results. "You pig—playing such ridiculous games again, huh!"
"Shh," Ian motioned for the girl on the screen to be quiet. "BB, first, tell me... what's Ritsuka's condition."
"..." Realizing that reporting Ritsuka Fujimaru's condition was indeed more important, BB didn't say anything more about Ian's cat-training activities. She reported the information she had read.
"According to the scan, Ritsuka Fujimaru's magical circuits are relatively average in both quality and quantity, only slightly better than a normal person's; she is barely an existence that can be called a 'magician.' The excessive magical energy outflow caused a significant load on her 'origin,' resulting in an overloaded magical circuit that exceeded the predetermined limit. The initial estimate of the difference is two levels or more."
"Wait a minute!" Ian stopped BB's report, which sounded like an official document. "Your explanation is too complicated—is there a simpler summary that someone can understand quickly?"
"You want the idiot's version, huh?" BB on the screen put her hands on her hips. "Of course there is. Pig—if you don't understand what BB just said, just simply understand it as Ritsuka Fujimaru's magical energy is now insufficient to support her as the Master of two Servants simultaneously."
"Ah, this..." In all honesty, Ian had never considered this possibility. After all—for him, who possessed numerous powers, supplying magical energy to several Servants at once was not a very difficult task. For example, right now, the man had to bear the magical energy consumption of Mordred, Tamamo-no-Mae, and BB alone. Yet he felt no burden at all. This might be the source of the current mistake—Ritsuka Fujimaru's current ability was not enough to do this. He had miscalculated. Ian was a bit regretful. How could he have failed to consider that magical energy consumption would put a strain on her body?!
Gareth saw her father's distressed look. She quickly came over and asked the girl on the phone screen, "Then what should we do now? Please tell me... how to save our Master!"
"..." Although BB was verbally sharp, she was actually very kind, having been born from Sakura Tohsaka's wish. Facing Gareth's plea, she nodded. "Of course BB will save her—otherwise, what would be the point of a Super AI?"
"Thank you so much!" Gareth said, thanking her repeatedly.
"Don't thank BB so soon." The girl on the screen stopped the British knight's thanks. "BB can only provide the method, but the final result depends on you yourselves."
"On us ourselves?" Ian was a bit confused. "BB, what do you mean?"
"The literal meaning," BB continued to explain. "Think about it—the magical energy between a Master and a Servant is not a one-way flow; it's a complete circuit. Right now, Ritsuka Fujimaru has fainted because she can't bear the magical energy required by Gareth. To alleviate this, you just need to reverse it."
"..." Ian suddenly realized something. "BB, do you mean to input magical energy to Ritsuka from an external source?"
"Something like that," BB nodded. "You can understand it that way—after all, with enough magical energy, this condition, which was caused by it, can be solved at its source. And to achieve this—" The BB on the screen looked at Gareth and Ian outside the screen. "You, pig, with your body, are very suitable to act as the supplementary source—you should know what that implies."
"..." Ian, of course, understood what BB meant—to feed magical energy back to Ritsuka Fujimaru through the connection between the Master and the Servant. But Gareth, who had just been summoned, couldn't understand at all.
"What does that mean?!"
Ian couldn't bring himself to say it, but BB, who was unaware of the relationship between the two, had no psychological burden whatsoever. She said it directly, "It means ○-ing with the pig—! The more you ○, the more magical energy Ritsuka Fujimaru will get from you."
"W-what?!" Gareth never expected this—this was her father!
"We can't do that," Ian denied this method. "BB, there must be another way, right?"
"Perhaps," BB said, crossing her arms. "But time is of the essence. I'm afraid if we delay any longer, Ritsuka Fujimaru won't be able to hold on. So you'd better start now, and the more excited you are, the better—that's when the magical energy concentration will be highest."
"..." Ian absolutely did not want to do this. But he also couldn't abandon Ritsuka Fujimaru—what should he do?
The man didn't know that his distressed expression had been fully seen by his daughter, Gareth. She realized one thing—her father cared deeply about this girl named Ritsuka Fujimaru. Furthermore, Gareth felt that this situation was partly her fault. After all, if she had a way to restore her Master's magical energy, things wouldn't have turned out this way. After some thought, Gareth made up her mind—she had to save her Master.
"I understand," the girl said, then took her father Ian's hand. "Let's... start now!"
A few minutes later, in a room deep within the infirmary, the curtains around them had been drawn, creating a pitch-black environment that was the easiest atmosphere to feel things in. However, Ian had no desire to do anything at this moment. But Gareth was very proactive, leaning close to him. Her face was red, and she nestled up to the tall man.
"Father... I know you can't do it, so let me do it myself."
After saying this, the girl reached for the long spear that her mother, Morgan, had proclaimed ownership over. In all honesty, she didn't want to do this—but it was the only way to save her Master, Ritsuka Fujimaru. The problem was that as one of the few female Knights of the Round Table, Gareth had never been in a relationship until her death. So even though she wanted to make him feel something, her movements were too clumsy—to the point where it could even be called torture.
"Hiss..."
"Is it... uncomfortable?" the girl asked, very worried.
"It's okay, keep going."
Fortunately, Gareth was known for her "beautiful hands"—her hands were very well-maintained, to the point of being flawless. With this advantage, Gareth finally managed to "polish" the long spear.
"Then next—please bear with it a little longer, Father."
Gareth said this, then raised her head and gently kissed the man's lips. The kiss, which would have been completely normal otherwise, became strange and immoral at this moment, causing the girl's body to tremble throughout the process. Fortunately, Ian also understood Gareth's feelings. He gently stroked her head with an equally trembling hand, comforting the sensible little knight.
However—no matter how immoral the preceding acts were, they were still within the range of what Gareth could accept. This last step was what would truly break her psychological defenses. Gareth's throat was convulsing slightly. With her trembling hands, she laboriously untied her skirt armor, then lifted the white veil underneath. The girl's intimate area was as well-maintained as her hands, not only pristine but also incredibly soft. She carefully rubbed herself against him for a while, and after being overwhelmed by a strange sensation, she made up her mind.
"Father," she said. "Please try to ○ as much as possible inside."
After saying this, Gareth closed her eyes, making the most daring decision of her life. Ritsuka Fujimaru... you must get better!
But at that moment—the sparse luck of the Knights of the Round Table finally gathered for once. The surrounding curtains were suddenly pulled open with a swish. An anxious Mash burst in. As a Demi-Servant who had also formed a contract with Ritsuka Fujimaru, she felt the other person's crisis through this connection and woke up forcefully.
"I understand Ritsuka's situation!" she said. "Gareth... leave the rest to me!"
"Oh, okay." Gareth breathed a sigh of relief. "Mash, I've already done the preliminary steps for you."
"Mm, thank you."
Looking at Mash, who had stripped down, sat on the ○-stick without hesitation, and started passionately kissing her father, Gareth initially wanted to leave but ended up staying. On one hand, she was genuinely worried about her Master. On the other hand... the girl was also thinking about something. If she had really sat on that large ○-stick just now... what would it have felt like? Hiss... that seems like a very dangerous topic.
Gareth thought this, and her legs couldn't help but tremble. She felt she definitely needed to talk to Mordred later.