-141- The unchanged scenery

Chaldea, Rozen's room.

"Zing!"

A door composed of swirling light vortex suddenly appeared in the room, breaking the silence.

A young man dressed in traditional attire walked out of the vortex, stepped onto the room's floor, and returned to his long-forgotten residence.

The vortex behind him disappeared without a sound.

The room returned to its silence.

The young man looked around the familiar room, his eyes revealing a sense of nostalgia.

"It's been exactly fifteen years..."

Even though he was mentally prepared, returning to Chaldea still made Rozen feel a bit melancholic and excited.

"The room's arrangement hasn't changed at all."

Rozen had a good memory and quickly noticed this fact.

And this was to be expected.

"Though the world of automata has passed fifteen years, due to the difference in time flow, Chaldea hasn't experienced that much time."

Exactly how much time had passed, Rozen himself didn't know.

But as mentioned before, the greater the time flow difference between Chaldea and the other world, the younger Rozen would become.

"Since when I went to the world of automata, I turned into an infant, it shows that the time flow difference between the two worlds is quite significant, right?"

Fifteen years in the world of automata, but who knew if even a year had passed in Chaldea?

"One thing is for sure, at least it's not yet 2020."

Otherwise, Chaldea would have already disappeared.

"Let's see how much time has passed."

Rozen put aside his emotions and skillfully walked to the bed, pulling the laptop from the nightstand and turning it on.

The familiar startup music played, making Rozen's mood considerably lighter.

"Haven't touched a computer in over a decade, it's been torture."

Rozen's fingers itched to start, almost desperately wanting to open up those familiar games, just to get a feel for how they used to be.

However, Rozen managed to resist and instead confirmed the time on the laptop's screen.

"So, I've only been gone for a little over three months?"

A deep sigh of relief escaped Rozen's lips.

You see, when Rozen left Chaldea, the time available for corrective measures was down to just a year and a half. Once 2020 arrived, everything would vanish in an instant.

Originally, Rozen had mentally prepared himself for a year and a half passing, humanity's prospects teetering on the brink of extinction. Now, realizing he'd only been gone for a little over three months, he felt an immense relief.

"I wonder how Big bro and Mash are doing?"

Rozen thought about these things in a relaxed manner.

Until...

"Shht..."

The sound of an automatic door opening broke the silence, snapping Rozen out of his contemplation.

"Fou!"

An exclamation, filled with both surprise and delight, echoed from outside the door.

Following that...

"Senpai...?"

Carrying a full tone of disbelief, the voice followed and entered Rozen's ears.

Rozen turned his head sharply, looking towards the direction of the door.

There, dressed in Chaldea's white uniform, stood Mash, her eyes brimming with excitement.

"Fou!"

Fou, who had been quietly perched on Mash's shoulder, leaped down and after a few graceful jumps, pounced into Rozen's arms.

"Haha! Long time no see, little guy!"

Rozen burst into a hearty laugh as he caught Fou in his arms, playfully stroking the soft fur of the incredible creature.

And then...

"Senpai!"

To Rozen's surprise, Mash also rushed into his arms.

"Whoa!"

Because of Mash's exuberance, Rozen was unexpectedly knocked down onto the bed, landing face-first.

However, Mash seemed completely oblivious.

"Senpai... Senpai... Senpai!"

Mash clung to Rozen as if trying to grasp something important that had been lost, holding on tightly. Rozen could clearly feel the touch of Mash's graceful and beautiful figure, a mix of pain and happiness.

"Truly..."

Rozen could only chuckle, hugging Mash back while silently thinking.

(It seems like I'm going to get scolded badly this time.)

...

Chaldea, Control Room.

"Right now! Immediately! You better give me a perfect explanation!"

As soon as Rozen returned to the control room, he was met with this furious voice.

The owner of the voice was naturally Olga-Marie.

However, the one emitting this voice was an owl.

At this moment, the owl flapped its wings, hovering in mid-air just in front of Chaldeas, glaring at Rozen as he entered the control room.

Seeing this scene, Rozen smirked.

"It looks like you've adapted well to your new body, Director."

Several months had passed, and Olga-Marie had clearly learned to control her body as an evil spirit. She could even manage the high-difficulty task of flight, proving she no longer faced any physical limitations.

Yet, Olga-Marie wasn't proud of this newfound ability.

"I'm asking you a question! Answer me honestly!" Olga-Marie ranted furiously. "Do you have any idea how much chaos your sudden disappearance had caused!?"

Chaos.

This wasn't an exaggeration.

Rozen's disappearance from Chaldea for over three months had indeed caused quite a bit of chaos.

It wasn't just a simple matter of a staff member going missing.

You see, currently, Rozen was the sole Master in Chaldea, the only one capable of Spiritron Transfer, travelling to Singularities, and saving human history.

The absence of his presence in such situation, directly affected Chaldea's operations and the restoration of human history.

If anything were to happen to Rozen, not only would Chaldea be doomed, but even the hope of saving human history would vanish.

In such a situation, how could Chaldea not be thrown into chaos?

And Olga-Marie had to bear the brunt of this chaos as Chaldea's director, devising strategies and solutions to the best of her abilities.

As a result, Olga-Marie was understandably furious.

And she wasn't alone.

"I also want to hear your explanation, Rozen."

Wearing a white lab coat, Roman stood below Olga-Marie, his once-feeble face now stern, his eyes a mix of relief and indignation as he fixed them on Rozen.

Even Mash, who had initially shown extreme excitement upon seeing Rozen, now stood on Olga-Marie and Roman's side, sharing their sentiment.

"This time, I'm a bit angry too, Senpai."

Mash's delicate face had tensed up.

"Fou!"

Fou, perched on Mash's shoulder, echoed in agreement.

Facing the stern questioning from the people before him, Rozen, even though he had expected it, couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"Um... well," Rozen spread his hands helplessly, "Didn't I leave a note saying I was just going out for a stroll?"

This simple sentence triggered an explosion from all sides.

"You think you can get away with this that easily!?"

The voices of Mash, Roman, and Olga-Marie echoed throughout the control room.