More Findings

( 3rd POV )

In the quiet corridors of Chaldea, a man clad in a crisp white lab coat strode purposefully alongside another figure, distinguished by the vibrant red hue of his coat, embellished with intricate golden details upon its shoulders. Both bore the weight of exhaustion etched into their features, evident in the weary lines of their faces and the dark circles beneath their eyes, testament to the sleepless nights they had endured.

"Yawn... Good afternoon, Lord El-Melloi. Did you also receive a meeting notice from the director?" inquired the orange-haired man, his curiosity piqued as they continued their shared journey down the hallway.

"Yes, Olga sent me a message this morning. And please, dispense with the formalities, Dr. Romani. The title of Lord holds no significance since my summoning to this new world. It's rather embarrassing to hear such titles from the king of magecraft himself," replied El-Melloi II wearily, pausing momentarily to take a sip from the steaming cup of coffee clasped in his right hand.

At the lackluster response from the newcomer, Romani could only chuckle wryly. "Ahaha, fair enough. You may refer to me simply as Romani; after all, I am nothing more than an ordinary human now," he remarked, though his companion's skeptical gaze remained fixed upon him.

An awkward atmosphere settled between them after their exchange. The combination of a skeptical magus and a laid-back HikiNeet king proceeded on their journey towards the designated rendezvous point, following Olga's directions.

Before long, the pair reached the designated meeting room. Stepping inside, they were greeted by the grandeur of a massive circular conference table crafted from pristine white marble, its elegant design exuding an aura of importance. Arrayed around the table were high-backed ergonomic chairs, upholstered in sumptuous leather and equipped with state-of-the-art touch screens for seamless interaction and collaboration.

Above the table, a holographic projection of the Earth shimmered brightly, presenting a flawless replica of the new world they now inhabited. Serving as a striking visual centerpiece, it provided a platform for presentations, data visualization, and virtual conferences. It became evident that they were the last to arrive, as the other members of the Chaldea group were already seated and awaiting their presence.

"Both of you are late. Especially you, Romani," admonished the director of Chaldea impatiently, her gaze piercing as she directed her disapproval toward the orange-haired man.

"I... I overslept because I was reviewing the file you sent me yesterday, not because I was indulging in Magi-Mari! Absolutely not!" Romani hastily defended himself, a note of desperation creeping into his voice as he sought to avoid additional tasks being added to his already burdensome schedule.

"Really? We can check the SHEBA database from last night, you know?" Da Vinci, seated next to Olga, teased with a playful tone, enjoying the discomfort of her colleagues.

"No! I-I mean, I'm not lying. I was really reading that file last night," Romani protested, but Olga's intense gaze was too much for the poor man to bear. "I finished reading it... And maybe watched something afterward," he confessed with a defeated tone.

Olga, who had anticipated his response, gave him a disdainful look. "You're coming to my office after we're finished here." she declared, her voice leaving no room for argument.

Romani could only nod with a helpless expression as he made his way towards his designated seat. Meanwhile, El-Melloi, already seated, observed the other participants intently. "Where is that kid and his other servants?" he inquired, noting the absence of a certain individual.

"He is in the Simulation room, training with Ushiwakamaru and Mash. Only Hassan of the Hundred Faces is here with us; she will also share her result of investigation regarding the Savage Land from yesterday," Sion responded to El-Melloi's question, her attention divided between her tablet and the ongoing conversation. Seated beside her, the assassin servant nodded in agreement, confirming Sion's explanation.

"Why isn't he attending the meeting? Isn't it important?" El-Melloi further asked, feeling quite puzzled. He, Waver Velvet, as one of the kid servants, felt somehow neglected by him.

"Last night, my master informed me that he's already acquainted with the information we're set to discuss today. He's primarily interested in our responses and decisions regarding it. Mash and Ushiwakamaru seem to share his sentiments," Da Vinci expanded on the reasons behind Ken's absence from the meeting.

"I see... What a troublesome master," El-Melloi whispered quietly, feeling flabbergasted by his master's carefree attitude.

"Could we start the meeting already?" Olga's question garnered her all of the attention from all the participants in the room. Seeing that she received their silent confirmation, she started their meeting. "Alright, I'm gonna assume that everyone in this room already read yesterday's file that I gave you. So, before we discuss it, I want to hear Hassan's investigation result first."

Hassan of the Hundred Faces, who was being called by the director, stood up before she reported everything she had encountered yesterday. "After Master Ken tasked me with investigating our surroundings, I immediately used all of my clones and spread out in all directions in a concealed manner.

In the region our Master has dubbed the Savage Land, I discovered numerous extinct flora and fauna specimens, some of which I collected as samples. I even traveled to the edge of the Savage Land itself and could only find a snowy mountain covering us in all directions. While I didn't find any civilization around us, I found something really interesting.

I found a cave full of stalactites and stalagmites that had hand drawings of ancient humans on the walls. The drawings showed various weird pictures like a fish-like creature that came from the deep ocean and their city on it, a huge great flood that devoured the entire land, a spaceship with people landing on this land, and lastly, a weird giant that seemed to be wearing strange armor towering over all of the humans in that drawing. There is also this weird piece of metal that I saw inside of that cave; here, let me show you."

Hassan, nearing the conclusion of her presentation, shifted her gaze towards Sion, silently signaling her to unveil the evidence she had meticulously gathered. Without hesitation, Sion sprang into action, manipulating the holographic display at the center of the table to showcase the images captured by Hassan. As the rest of the participants studied the displayed picture, Hassan gracefully returned to her seat, allowing the others to scrutinize the evidence at their leisure.

"Hmm, the image isn't crystal clear, but I can discern some of the details you've described," remarked Dr. Romani, his gaze fixed intently on the mural depicted within the cave.

"An underwater city and a fish-like creature? Isn't it similar to what Atlantis describes in Ken's file?"

"Maybe it is Atlantis... Sigh, we can only hope that there is no god ruling over that place."

As conversation swirled about the possibility of an underwater city in their newfound reality, Olga's brow furrowed with concern as she scrutinized the depiction of the armored giants. "That giant... Don't tell me it is what I think it is..."

"The drawings on the murals and the details from the file seem to align... It's highly probable they're Celestials," Romani remarked in a dry tone, offering confirmation to the director's suspicions.

"If Ken's accounts in the file hold true, then these beings are akin to agents of a god, creating, destroying, and experimenting with universes in each in their wake," Sion's words made the already solemn Olga more depressed and stressed.

"What the hell did I get myself into..." Even the vessel of a hero known as the great tactician felt everything in Ken's report was unreal and just a bunch of nonsense trying to make whoever read it crazy.

"Why are you guys feeling down all of a sudden again? It's not like the Celestials will endanger Earth or us in the future; the file says seeing those cosmic beings is a very rare occurrence. I'm more curious about the metal that you mentioned, Hassan." Feeling the gloomy atmosphere around the meeting room, Da Vinci tried to reassure them while shifting the topic.

Hassan, who silently observed all of this, noticed Da Vinci's effort before she replied to her. "Yes, that metal is weird. Whenever I get closer to it, my other metal equipment seems to be rendered useless and liquefied after a certain period of time. I couldn't bring the sample, but I remember the location."

Sion and Da Vinci, the two big brains of Chaldea who heard the news about an unknown metal, immediately showed a lot of interest in their eyes.

"A metal capable of rendering other metals useless? Are you certain?" Sion inquired eagerly, seeking further clarification.

In response, Hassan retrieved an object from her pocket and placed it on the table. "This is a dagger from the warehouse that I brought with me, and this is what happened." The thing that she threw was just a flat metal that seemed to have lost a part of it; it didn't look like a dagger at all.

"Hmm, fascinating..." Sion murmured while picking up and observing the item. "So this is what Ken said as an anti-metal. He wrote in the file that this metal emanates vibrations which cause the atomic and molecular bonds in nearby metals of other kinds to weaken, resulting in the liquefaction of nearby solid metals. If we somehow could obtain a large amount of it..." Da Vinci also lost in her own thoughts as she murmured loudly.

Olga, who saw the great potential from this new type of metal, also got interested. "Could we mine it?" She asked in a curious tone.

"Um... Director, we don't have many resources and people to do it..." Romani reminded her about their organization's situation again, bringing Olga, Sion, and Da Vinci's excitement down. As a result, all of the women were staring menacingly at the poor man.

"As much as I hate to say it, Romani is right. Even if we solve that problem, we still need to figure out how to contain the anti-metal first before we mine it," Sion sighed, agreeing with Romani's opinion.

"Sigh, very well, let's refocus on the primary agenda. I want your insights on the MARVEL file from yesterday. We need to discuss how we should proceed with our actions in this new world," Olga said with a more serious tone befitting of a leader toward the others.

Hearing the director's question, the rest of the participants also started voicing their opinions one by one and trying to form a new plan about how to establish their new foundation in this new world. From what it looked like, they would spend the rest of the day staying and brainstorming in the meeting room.

Meanwhile, within the confines of the Simulation room, meticulously designed to replicate an environment from one of the singularities, a young man stood poised with a pair of gleaming daggers clutched tightly in his hands, readying himself for the impending clash against the women adorned in vibrant red samurai armor.

"I'm coming again, Ushiwaka! Kyōka!" With determined resolve, he invoked the reinforcement spell to his body. As his magic circuit appeared around his body and glowed, the ground beneath him trembled and cracked in response.

"Come, Ken-sama!" Ushiwakamaru also prepared her sword in her hand for the incoming attack.

After their declaration, in the blink of an eye, Ken and Ushiwakamaru vanished from their original spot and rushed toward each other simultaneously. Both wore excited smiles on their faces as they were about to clash.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing reverberated immediately in the surrounding plains as both weapons tried to overpower each other. Ushiwakamaru held her katana with both hands, while the twin daggers in Ken's hand crossed in an X pose in front of her sword.

The grounds beneath them were torn beyond repair as they imbued more power into their attacks while trying to push each other. "You've gotten way stronger since the last time I saw you in Babylon, Ken-sama," Ushiwakamaru remarked, a smile gracing her lips despite the intensity of their duel.

"Thanks, I've gotten lucky from the gacha of life, and I must say, you are even faster and more powerful in your peak form," he replied, both of them casually chatting even though their weapons were aiming and trying to overpower each other.

As time passed, both combatants reached a silent agreement and decided to back off from their collision. They landed a few meters from each other before chuckling and laughing heartily at their draw. "Hahaha, that was a good sparring, master," Ushiwakamaru said with a face full of satisfaction.

"Same for me; it was different from sparring with just a projection from the Simulation room,"

"But Ken-sama, why didn't you ever use your other magecraft, like the one with space-tearing ability, in our spar?" inquired Ushiwakamaru.

"I wanted to test my physical limit when fighting a genuine servant like you. As you can see, I only used my reinforcement magecraft. Now, I can overlap the spell twice with a slight pain in my body while using it. Maybe pushing it to three? But I guess it will come with a drawback afterward," Ken replied, feeling a slight soreness after their spar.

Ken is trying to make his body adapt more to intense battles with a servant and utilize his reinforcement spell more skillfully during fights. He knows that if he doesn't train his physical strength diligently, it will only hinder him in the future.

"You're working too hard, Ken-sama. As a master, you should let your servants fight for you in battle. Let us be your swords and shields, for that is our purpose," remarked Ushiwakamaru, a mix of admiration and concern evident in her tone as she observed Ken's relentless pursuit of strength.

"Thanks for your concern, Ushiwaka. But I'm tired of being a spectator when my allies and companions are gambling their lives on the front line. Seeing you guys getting hurt, falling, and disappearing in front of my eyes feels like my heart is getting gouged out. I'm too powerless to do anything to help you in the past, but not anymore.

As a master, from now on, I will fight side by side with all of you. Helping and covering each other's backs, no more running around and leaving my servants behind anymore. If you guys want to protect me, why couldn't I do that for you?" He said with a serious tone and a face that showed his will and determination.

Ken is done being a weak son of a bitch who can only watch from the sidelines; he even hates it when someone sacrifices their life just for him. In this new world where he was given a second chance, he swore to never leave any regrets behind.

Ushiwakamaru by his side is just too stunned to even respond to his words. A long-lost familiar feeling that she has been losing in her life is slowly coming back, a feeling of being cared for by someone. For the first time, she saw her new master in a new light, and whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, it's all dependent on Ushiwakamaru herself to find out.

.....