Thanks for the invitation. I'm in Type-Moon, inheriting the legacy of Zi-O.

"...Let me make it clear beforehand, you're the one who passed out in the end, I didn't knock you out, okay?" Seeing that the girl lying on the bed couldn't even sit up, Nianzhuo had no choice but to pick up the fruit knife again and slowly start cutting the apple. "And also—"

"—Well done, magician." He stopped what he was doing and looked directly into the girl's orange eyes. "To think that a mere magician could force me to take things seriously, I apologize for what I said earlier."

Then, Nianzhuo's expression turned helpless, and he tapped Mary's head.

"But I have to say, you really dare to do that." Taking out the report that was placed on a bed of fruit, Nian Zhuo opened it again and read it aloud in front of the girl, "There are three obvious external burns alone. The huge flow of magic power caused the magic circuits to overheat slightly. As for the internal organs, you actually adjusted your own consciousness and used your own organs as magic circuits?!"

No matter how many times he read Nianzhuo's work, he couldn't help but feel a little angry, but this time he forced himself to calm down... probably.

The only difference was that I used a little more force when peeling the apple.

"Huh?!" Unexpectedly, Mary, lying on the bed, made a dissatisfied sound. "Who do you think caused this? Couldn't you just let me vent my anger? You actually took out that kind of thing..." Now that she thought about it, Mary was a little afraid of that bright red dragon, especially when she faced the dragon's breath that seemed to be able to burn everything. It was practically the last image she had before she lost consciousness.

“…I don’t think you’d be happy that way either.” Nian Zhuo closed his eyes, placed the apple, which had been cut into seven pieces, on a plate to the side, and then picked it up. “Although I still don’t know why you insisted on fighting me, your eyes were really filled with the look of wanting to defeat me. Although I did consider the option of just admitting defeat, I think that would only make you angrier.”

Then, he picked up a toothpick from the side, stuck one of the pieces in, and put it near Mary's mouth.

Come on, come on, ah~

"Hey! I'm not a child anymore!" Mary blushed instantly and glared at Nianzhuo, but since she couldn't move her body, her actions posed no threat whatsoever.

“I understand, I understand, how could you be a child~” Nianzhuo smiled and stretched the toothpick forward again. “So consider this my apology, my apology.”

"..." Mary stared intently at Nian Zhuo, and finally ate the fruit on Nian Zhuo's toothpick in one bite.

For the next few minutes, neither of them spoke, and they remained in the same position.

As if in a fit of pique, Mary would bite off the fruit every time Nianzhuo finished arranging it, making Nianzhuo sigh inwardly, "She's just a little girl after all..."

The small apple was quickly eaten, and Nianzhuo gently placed the plate back on the table to the side, looking at Mary lying on the bed.

"So, can you tell me why now?" With a sigh, Nianzhuo placed his hands on his knees. "Tell me your reasons for doing this."

Mary bit her lip, her orange eyes shifting back and forth between Nianzhuo and her own hands, which were tightly gripping the bedsheet.

"I just... don't want to be seen as a burden by you..." she whispered, revealing her true thoughts.

"What...?" Thinking she had misheard, Nianzhuo leaned closer.

"I mean, I don't want to be a burden to you—!" Mary suddenly raised her voice, looking at Nianzhuo and saying loudly, "I don't want to, I don't want to just watch you make decisions on your own, fall into a desperate situation on your own, and then die on your own!"

“You are my servant, and I must have the strength to fight alongside you.” Then, Mary lowered her head, looking at her hands, which were clenched so tightly they were turning white. “I don’t want to be powerless, I don’t want to watch your reaction table disappear from the screen while I can only watch…”

“So, I thought… I wanted to show you what it’s like to fight alongside you.” Mary pulled the blanket up to cover half her face, her orange eyes looking at Nianzhuo beside her. “So, I was thinking that if I did this, you would feel more at ease, and I could help you in some way…”

"...Is that not okay?" In the end, only orange eyes remained as Mary looked at Nian Zhuo, who had fallen into a daze, and she muttered softly.

"—Ha, hahahahahahaha!" Then, Nian Zhuo first smirked, then clutched his stomach and burst into laughter. "So, so it was for this reason...? Hahahaha—"

Wiping away the tears that had welled up in Mary's eyes from laughing with her little finger, Nianzhuo's laughter also intensified the blush on Mary's face.

"What? What? What are you laughing at?! What's so funny?!" If her body's magic circuits weren't currently unusable, Mary would have shot a spell bullet into the face of that Nen Zhuo who was mocking her.

"No, I'm not dead... Hahahaha!" Nian Zhuo was still clutching his abdomen, but his other hand was stroking Mary's head. "Just for this kind of reason? Mary, you really are a little girl, aren't you?" The laughter gradually stopped, and Nian Zhuo's expression calmed down. Looking at Mary's ashamed and indignant face, Nian Zhuo's expression gradually became serious.

"That's why I have a question for you, Mary." Looking at Mary's constantly grinding teeth, Nianzhuo assured her that he wasn't asking the question out of fear of being bitten.

“Saving humanity—no, that’s not quite right either.” Nian Zhuo crossed his hands on his chin, his black eyes fixed on Mary, who was looking at him with some curiosity. “Preserving the spark of humanity, that is my mission. By some chance, I became a Heroic Spirit. Before that, I didn’t have this mission in my life, but after that, I will choose to fulfill that mission.” Nian Zhuo looked at the two bright red Command Seals on the back of Mary’s hand, his thoughts seemingly drifting away from the present.

"So, I've been thinking about this question."

"The future that humanity has built, in short, is colorful and ever-changing, which is why it lacks stability." Nian Zhuo tapped his knee with his fingers, saying words that didn't sound like something he should say. "Human beings are creatures that carry a huge and beautiful baggage... or perhaps a burden, but it is precisely because of this that they are full of danger." He watched as a bubble rose in the glass of warm water on the table and then burst instantly.

"Because you see, if that were the case, humans would go bankrupt the moment they tripped over a pebble, wouldn't they?" The huge Chaldea symbol on the wall was particularly eye-catching. "And you, Ritsuka, and Mash, you're all here to eliminate that risk, aren't you?"

“There are very few things I can do, and they are very insignificant.” Nian Zhuo’s tone was somewhat heavy as he flexed his wrists. “But I can still manage to move the pebbles at my feet.” Then, Nian Zhuo looked up and met Mary’s orange eyes.

"So, what about you, Mary?" The girl's eyes were filled with confusion.

"Do you want to be a burden?" Nianzhuo spread out his left hand, looking at the girl in front of him.

"Or, would you rather be the one who bears the burden?" He then opened his right hand, offering another option.

"Or perhaps you could just kick the pebbles at your feet or something?" After asking three questions in a row, Nian Zhuo shut his mouth and waited quietly for Mary's answer.

“I…” Looking at her hands, a hint of confusion flashed in Mary’s orange eyes.

"None of those are me." That's what the girl wanted to say at that moment.

Am I truly capable of shouldering such a heavy responsibility as protecting humanity? — Ever since learning that humanity was doomed to extinction, Mary has been filled with unease.

Mingming—the meaning and value of the future are meaningless to me. —In her heart, little Mary hugged her knees and squatted in a corner where the sun couldn't reach. "All I have is the sense of crisis that I must prove that I have talent."

So painful—

It hurts so much, it ...

The girl unconsciously tightened her grip on her knees, burying her head even lower.

There is no future; there is no future to speak of every single day.

I want it to end, I want it to end, I want it to end soon—

But how can this end?

In her heart, Mary's eyes gradually became empty.

How can I become happy?

—Clearly, clearly I knew absolutely nothing about any of this. Completely, without a single clue…

As for her own goals... the girl bit her lip until it bled.

“It’s really…” Mary wanted to close her eyes, but something forced her to keep them open.

Then the lights came on, dispelling all the darkness and waking the little girl who was hugging her knees in the corner.

"..." Mary looked up and saw that the person standing in the doorway was her servant, but for some reason, he was not smiling.

“Ah…” Mary reached out her hand, and just as she was about to smile, her eyes gradually lit up.

Then the lights went out, and the girl's world was suddenly plunged into darkness.

Even his own servant gave him a cold look before turning and leaving.

“Ah…!” Mary reached out to reach him, but found that her hands were trembling uncontrollably.

"Oh, so you're Mary?" Recalling their first meeting, that guy had that carefree smile. "My name is Tokiwa Sougo, and I'm the new Servant summoned by Chaldea this time." Equally aggressive was the hand that guy extended.

Although it was later discovered that the guy's real name was Nencho, even Tokiwa Sougo couldn't find anything about him.

Seeing his own wary expression, the guy smiled and withdrew his hand.

"Oh dear, aren't you going to shake hands?" Looking at his own serious expression, that guy clearly had no sense of responsibility as a familiar. "No problem, it's worth the effort. After all, trust takes time to build."

Having signed a contract with him, I was overjoyed to have a Master compatibility with him; the almost suffocating future could finally see a glimmer of light...

Then, reality slapped him hard in the face.

Inside that singularity, F, I couldn't help them at all and could only watch helplessly as they went about their business.

Even... the man she once trusted implicitly...

With a sinister grin, Rafe drew himself toward his father's masterpiece, Chaldea.

No matter how much I struggled, no matter how much I cried for help... no one came to save me.

—Only him.

Having read countless fairy tales and stories, Mary scoffed at the so-called hero-saves-the-damsel plot.

"How could a girl fall in love with a hero just because he saved her life? Is she stupid?" That was what she thought at the time.

But seeing her servant, who had been severely injured and knocked into the ground by Lev's wave of his hand, yet still managed to get back up, Mary suddenly found herself unable to look away.

Even though she was getting closer and closer to Chaldea, it didn't matter. All she wanted to do was to etch Nian Zhuo's image into her eyes.

What happened next was even simpler. Nianzhuo did something and suddenly seemed like a different person, using an almost crushing method to severely injure Rafe and save himself.

From that moment on, a small, ordinary feeling began to sprout in the girl's heart.

In the first singularity, Mary watches his adventure and is anxious about his serious injuries.

In the second singularity, Mary would feel heartache for him who stood in front of her, and also feel proud of him for ending the singularity all by himself.

The third singularity—the girl's reaction as she watched him disappear from the screen left her with only boundless fear and emptiness in her heart.

Then, as if flowing backward, the scenes brought their encounter back to its very origin.

"..." Mary stared blankly at the hand extended in front of her, while Nian Zhuo smiled kindly.

Finally, he revealed an incredibly sad smile.

"Hello." She gently grasped the hand of the Servant in front of her, a formulaic smile on her face. "Servant Nianzhuo, on behalf of Chaldea, I welcome your arrival."

Yes, that's enough—a weak and useless version of myself doesn't deserve to stand beside him.

Even in that battle, despite holding onto three trump cards, they still lost. If it were that guy—that father's prized disciple—he would definitely have won.

The image of the blond man suddenly appeared in Mary's mind, causing her to unconsciously increase the pressure on her hands.

If it were him...

If I had his power...

If I had his qualifications...

Does that mean I'll be qualified to like Nianzhuo?

At this moment, the girl couldn't help but start imagining the future.

That was a confident look of trust between him and Nianzhuo as they stood back to back during the battle, followed by the skillful correction of one singularity after another.

Finally, using the authority of the Chaldea director, we'll leave him here.

...The beautiful dream was torn apart, leaving only a shattered reality.

"Um, Nianzhuo..." The girl, like a cautious little animal, watched Nianzhuo's reaction warily. "If, I mean if...?"

"If one day I lose my position as director of Chaldea, if I lose those abilities, if I fall into that kind of danger again..." Mary gripped the blanket tightly with both hands, her eyes narrowing sharply.

"Will...will you come to save me?"

Then, a deathly silence fell.

As Mary awaited Nianzhuo's reply, her chest heaved rapidly, each second feeling like an eternity.

"Ha..." His own servant let out a soft laugh. Was it denying him? Was it mocking his ignorance?