Fate: How About a New Savior?

Ritsuka and Mash had rushed over upon hearing the sounds of battle.

What they saw was Shiomi tearing through the skeleton soldiers like a storm, sweeping the battlefield clean.

"Director? And... Mr. Shiomi?" Ritsuka was surprised. "Are you both alright?"

"For now," Shiomi replied as he put away his spear, glancing over at Mash.

"What exactly is going on?" Olga Marie asked Mash.

"This is Singularity F—Fuyuki City, Japan, in 2004. It's hard to believe, but I..." Mash's voice was low and reserved.

"That's not what I'm asking. I want to know why you only succeeded just now—" Olga Marie cut in, pressing for the more critical answer.

But she, too, was interrupted—this time more gently.

Shiomi patted Olga Marie on the shoulder.

"Calm down, Marie," he said. "Chaldea had prepared a Servant in advance to investigate Singularity F—namely, Heroic Spirit Summoning No. 2. Apparently, it caused quite a stir and a fair bit of destruction, and since then, it's refused to manifest its Spirit Origin. Now, that Heroic Spirit has lent its power to Mash, turning her into a Demi Servant. My guess is something must've changed its mind."

"Marie" was Shiomi's nickname for Olga Marie, and it helped her quickly regain her composure and listen.

"Yes. When I was on the verge of death, that Servant formed a contract with me, transferring his power and Noble Phantasm. Through that, we fused, and I became a Demi Servant," Mash said with a nod, confirming Shiomi's assumption.

Shiomi folded his arms and looked at Ritsuka.

"Even though she's a Demi Servant with a physical body, she still needs a Master's support to function in combat. So you chose Ritsuka Fujimaru?"

"Uh... I guess so?" Ritsuka rubbed her orange-red bangs, looking a little embarrassed. "By the time I came to, I was already here."

"It's not exactly like the Holy Grail War, but it's not unusual for someone outside the system to gain Command Spell qualifications," Shiomi said with a wry smile, trying to ease Ritsuka's unease. "Relax. Now that we're together, I'll take care of you both."

"Indeed, based on what just happened, Mr. Shiomi's combat ability is already well beyond that of a typical Servant. If he were to form a Servant contract..." Mash calmly analyzed.

But Shiomi raised a hand to stop her.

"Alright, alright, let's save that for later. What we need now is to find a foothold in this burning city of Fuyuki," he said. "But you're in luck. Aside from the newcomers, you've still got me."

"In terms of combat strength alone, we're definitely lucky," Ritsuka nodded again and again.

"No, what I mean is..." Shiomi looked toward the city with a serious expression. "As it happens, I'm originally from Fuyuki. Even without any prior investigation, I know this city better than anyone."

Olga Marie's eyes widened in realization. "Now that you mention it, I remember Reines saying you took part in the Fourth Holy Grail War—"

"I was already living in Fuyuki before that," Shiomi said with a shrug.

At that moment, the communicators on his and Ritsuka's wrists suddenly lit up.

They pressed them at the same time, and Romani's face appeared on the projection screen.

"Dr. Roman!" Ritsuka called out in surprise.

Before the Spiritron Transfer to this place, she had been settling into her assigned room, where she ran into Romani, who was flustered and tidying up. After introducing themselves, they had heard the explosion from the control room.

And then, they arrived at Singularity F.

"Fujimaru! Mash!" Romani looked both surprised and relieved. "I can't believe you managed to withstand the 'loss of meaning' without the coffins."

"Maybe they're just special," Shiomi said, glancing at the white creature perched on Ritsuka's shoulder.

It looked like a mix between a squirrel, a wildcat, and a puppy. Shiomi felt like he should recognize it, but couldn't quite recall where he'd seen it before, so he stayed quiet for now.

"Shiomi's here too?" Romani was stunned.

"Not just me—Marie's here as well." Shiomi pulled Olga Marie over to his side.

"Oh wow, just like Sakura said. He's actually still alive. Dad's vitality is on par with a cockroach that's survived since the dawn of time." Caren suddenly barged into the frame, shoving Romani aside.

Shiomi's face twitched. "Caren, don't you think it's a bit much to call your own father a cockroach?"

"Well, it's true," Caren said nonchalantly as she made herself comfortable and resumed the transmission. "Since Dad's safe over there, Sakura's salvage efforts should go a bit more smoothly."

"Are you all okay?" Shiomi asked with concern.

"Sakura and I are fine. Gray and my mother are somewhere else. They rushed over when they heard the explosion," Caren replied.

"Hold on—why is the head of the medical department sitting in that seat?" Olga Marie asked, turning to Caren.

She was pointing at the seat Caren had taken, which was originally assigned to Professor Lev, who was in charge of managing Spiritron Transfers and supporting the Masters in various ways.

"Because Professor Lev was at the center of the explosion. He's currently missing," Caren explained calmly. "Ninety-nine percent of the people in the control room were killed. Right now, the highest-ranking member of Chaldea is Dr. Roman, so he's handling combat command."

Olga Marie struggled to process the situation.

"Wait—you just said Sakura is 'salvaging.' What does that mean?" Shiomi asked.

"There were 47 people in the coffins, including Dad. All of them were critically injured in the explosion. Since the proof process was interrupted, your physical bodies ended up drifting in the Imaginary Numbers Sea," Caren said. "Sakura is trying to interfere with it to save Dad and the other Masters."

"That's not going to be easy," Shiomi sighed.

The Imaginary Numbers Sea—or Imaginary Numbers Space—was a boundless "big box." Inside, concepts like time and direction didn't exist, which was precisely what allowed Spiritron Transfers to enable time travel.

As one of the rare Imaginary Numbers Magus, Sakura, under Morgan's tutelage, had already learned how to manipulate the space with ease, using it as both a battlefield and a source of power.

However, salvaging the Chaldea Masters—whose coordinates were unknown—in that limitless void was another matter entirely.

It was quite literally like finding a needle in a haystack.

"The others have already been cryogenically preserved. Only Dad's coffin hasn't been touched," Caren added. "Since Dad managed to appear over there, he's not someone who'd go down that easily."

As she spoke, she took the lollipop out of her mouth and gave it a light twirl. Her voice stayed as calm as ever, but there was a faint quiver in her tone.

"After all, he's my dad."