"That's a bit much for breakfast."
Today's breakfast: a porterhouse steak and grilled eel.
"Well, they say breakfast should be a hearty meal. Master, rather than supplementing protein to build muscle, you need to eat a lot to increase your body weight."
"But I'm at a normal weight."
"The idea is to eat a lot and convert that into muscle! Muscle can be developed, but we need to increase your fundamental body mass, Master!"
This is tough. A feast first thing in the morning.
I understand the steak, but why the eel? My stamina is already infinite.
The steak was Leonidas's choice, but the grilled eel was Olga Marie's.
"Well, you need to eat a lot to have some energy, don't you? They say eel is good for men."
I'm pretty sure that's not the kind of "good" she's referring to, right?
"Here, please have some."
Mash cuts the meat for me and feeds it to me. It does taste good.
"You all get along so well~"
Parvati watched us with a warm smile. "Get along well," huh. That sounds a little strange, but it must be my imagination.
"Ah, you started eating without us."
A moment later, Ritsuka and BB came in. The two of them together. They seem to have gotten close awfully fast.
"What were you two up to?"
"BB and I were checking out the library."
"You look tired, are you okay?"
It's like looking in a mirror. Ritsuka had dark circles under her eyes, as if she had been crying. She said she was fine and sat down in front of me.
"Maybe it's because I had a snack~ I'm not really hungry."
"Do you need something to drink? You should drink something when you're tired."
"I'm fine~ I had a lot to drink earlier."
Is something bothering her? Or is she still thinking about the conversation we had early this morning? I'm worried about her, but this probably isn't the time or place to talk about it.
I should talk to her privately later.
"Still, you look tired. Have something cold to drink. It'll make you feel a little better."
"Mmm, since you're so worried… I guess I have no choice~"
Ritsuka got up to order a drink. I'm definitely worried. With that guy gone, I didn't expect to see Ritsuka looking like this. Is she bothered by what I said?
"Please keep looking after her."
BB spoke to me as I was slowly cutting my meat.
"Hmm?"
"Your concern gives her strength."
BB was giving me advice. Should I say it's uncharacteristic of her? Or is this BB really different from the one I know? The sincerity in her eyes seemed to tell me it was genuine.
Should I have a serious talk with her before the Servant summoning? No, let's do it tonight. Tonight, the two of us will have a long talk. I need to give Ritsuka some time to collect herself, too.
If I do it right now, she's likely to just hide her true feelings.
========================================
"This is the Summoning Room. In practice, it's only been used once."
Olga Marie guided everyone to the Summoning Room.
It had only been used once in reality, and that one summoning had been Da Vinci.
Since that first Servant had ended up betraying them, it wasn't a place with very fond memories.
"Here are the Saint Quartz. As you requested, enough for three summons."
There were plenty of Saint Quartz to summon Servants. It was possible to summon 10, no, even 11 at once.
But Shou, considering his own capacity, had chosen to summon only three.
Ritsuka still had no intention of summoning Servants, so Shou's three summons would be all for today.
Mash's shield was placed in the center of the summoning room, and Shou picked up the Saint Quartz Olga Marie had brought.
Without delay, he placed nine Saint Quartz on the shield.
"Guardian Heroic Spirit Summoning System・FATE, activate. Commencing Servant summoning."
The moment BB activated the system, a brilliant light erupted, and the Saint Quartz vanished.
The necessary resources for a Servant summoning were invested, and the summoning began.
Amidst an intense flash of light, a giant man appeared on the shield.
He was the prince of Crete, the being known as the Monster of Minos.
A being who had the qualities to become a great hero, but was turned into a monster by the foolish choice of King Minos.
Asterios
"You've summoned a powerful Heroic Spirit. I never thought you'd summon the Minotaur."
The son of a divine beast, a cursed being born a monster from birth. His powerful strength was certainly on the level of a great hero.
"Uuh, hello."
"Nice to meet you, Asterios."
"..."
Unlike BB, Shou called him not by his name as a monster, but by his name as the prince of Crete, as a human.
"I look forward to working with you. Let's get along."
"…Uhm."
Though his body was that of an adult, he was essentially no different from a child. Shou gave him a gentle smile and shook his hand. At his smile, which seemed to be a genuine welcome, Asterios felt a strange warmth spreading in his chest.
Watching him treat Asterios with such kindness, Parvati smiled faintly. Shou himself dismissed himself as just an ordinary person, but…
He didn't exactly look like an ordinary person. Parvati held a high opinion of Shou's character.
After he stepped down from the shield, the light of summoning shone once more.
This time, in complete contrast to Asterios, a man of average height appeared.
He wore intellectual-looking glasses and was dressed in Eastern-style clothing.
Shou's expression stiffened as he looked at him, as if pondering how he should react.
He was indeed a descendant of the divine age, heir to the civilization of China, a land of myth.
A strategist and magus (technician) from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, who served beside an invincible hero, demonstrating abilities that surpassed modern science by using artifacts from the Age of Gods.
"Servant, Caster. My name is Chen Gong, my style name Gongdai. Being summoned like this is a bond in itself. Let us be together for a long time."
Chen Gong
"The strategist from the Three Kingdoms? Chen Gong can be considered one of the top strategists in human history. Of course, as long as this BB-chan is around, a strategist is meaningless."
"I don't know, BB. His true value is his Cornerstone of the Formation. It's the greatest tactic in human history, one that no one else can imitate."
"What?"
"Oh? You rate me so highly? Huhu, it seems I have a Master who recognizes talent. Moreover, it pleases me to see so many other outstanding individuals here."
Shou knew Chen Gong's true worth.
A master of self-destruct attacks, incomparable to Japan's kamikazes. You would not find another strategist like him in all of human history.
It was an inhuman method, but Shou believed Chen Gong's ways would surely be useful. Of course, he had no intention of sacrificing his allies.
"A strategist, I see. The strategists of my Sparta were more on my own level, so I look forward to seeing what kind of stratagems you will display, Lord Chen Gong."
"Haha, you can count on me. You possess quite a sturdy physique, my good sir."
He was already scouting for sacrificial pawns, but Shou deliberately ignored it. No one but Shou knew of Chen Gong's inner thoughts, and Ritsuka looked puzzled at Shou's strange attitude toward him.
A moment later, the light of summoning emanated from the shield again. This time, BB was intrigued by a magical energy that felt slightly different from the previous two.
Soon, a light mixed with something like blood surged upwards.
Everyone was surprised by the person who appeared on the shield.
She was a being who had lived on the Chinese continent since ancient times. A xiannu who roamed the earth before human civilization began.
Her name was…
"Hey, you, of all people, had to summon me. What on earth are you thinking?"
Yu Mei-ren
For some reason, her thin clothes had slipped down, and Yu Mei-ren had no intention of fixing them. Leonidas blushed and turned his head away, and Chen Gong, though uninterested, turned his head out of courtesy.
"Don't look."
Ritsuka shot a jealous glare at Yu Mei-ren and covered Shou's eyes. Shou could only wonder why on earth she had appeared in such a state.
"You're… Ms. Akuta Hinako from Team A, aren't you? Weren't you cryogenically frozen after the Rayshift accident?"
"Why are you here!?"
Mash and Olga Marie, who knew her, were flustered as to why she had been summoned, and Yu Mei-ren also seemed momentarily taken aback by their reaction.
But soon, she adjusted her clothes, stepped down from the shield, and approached Shou.
"You… why?"
"?"
"No, is that how it is? I don't know the reason, but what does it matter. Right, our bond is deep, so I have no choice but to help."
Shou couldn't understand what Yu Mei-ren was saying. But for some reason, she reacted as if she had known him for a long time. At that, BB watched her with a serious expression.
An unknown variable.
Why did Yu Mei-ren know Shou? She intended to find that out from her.
In any case, the summoning ceremony was over.
"Well then, first, I'll give you a tour of Chaldea."
Shou clapped his hands to wrap things up and decided to introduce the newcomers to Chaldea.
As everyone followed Shou out, BB, who was at the very back, approached Yu Mei-ren as she was slowly following.
However, she stared at BB and said curtly.
"There's nothing I'm going to tell you. So mind your own business."
"Hah? Excuse me, but I need to know. For Senpai's sake."
"Senpai, huh. I see, so you're different from the one I know, too. Interesting. But as I said, there's nothing to tell. This place seems fundamentally different somehow, so it would be meaningless to talk about my story."
With those words, Yu Mei-ren nonchalantly walked past BB.
"…Is there more to Senpai's hidden story? No, perhaps. It might be related to his knowledge, his memories from before."
BB theorized that there must be some connection between the way Shou acted in the previous timeline and Yu Mei-ren.
Realizing there were still more tasks for them to figure out, BB decided to analyze Shou once again.