To become a king and a magician

"Huh?"

Somewhat puzzled, Fujimaru Ritsuka walked up to Aozaki Aoko. Before she could ask anything, Aozaki Aoko whispered in her ear, "I'm giving you a little task, Fujimaru. Keep an eye on my idiot at Chaldea for me."

"Minister? Why?"

"Of course, it's to prevent some vixens from cheating while we're all away. My husband has a lot of luck with women; he used to bring a girl home every time he went out. We can't let him get away with this. This arduous task is now yours—bye-bye!"

Aozaki Aoko patted Fujimaru Ritsuka's back hard, then turned around and walked away into the distance.

(Miss Aoko...you basically mean I need to collect evidence of the minister's infidelity, don't you?)

Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at Aozaki Aoko's retreating figure with a hint of helplessness.

(But given the minister's situation... what exactly constitutes infidelity?)

Given her own department head's daily routine of getting intimate with Director Olga at the drop of a hat, being dragged into a room by Ms. Zero at the drop of a hat, and being called to the workshop by Ms. Orange at the drop of a hat, Fujimaru Ritsuka really couldn't figure out what level of infidelity was considered cheating.

【Fujimaru, Mashu, Akuzu】

Just as Fujimaru Ritsuka was feeling lost, Roman's voice rang out from her wrist.

[Our preparations for the spirit particle transfer are complete. You may now proceed with the spirit particle transfer back.]

"Ah...yes!"

After responding, Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at Mash, who was smiling at her, and Hinako Akuta, who was standing silently to the side. She took a deep breath and smiled.

"Let's go back."

——————————————————————————————————

Soon after.

Just a few seconds after Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others began their spirit transfer and left.

Near the now-empty pit.

A figure quietly appeared here.

"Hmm... I think it's still not too late. Although there's almost no residual information left, fortunately, it has already left a trace in the world itself."

"Master is really something, actually sending one girl to save another girl. I'll have to demand a good reward from him later. Alright, please rest in my body for a while."

"Miss Joan of Arc Alter".

59. Can the reward be claimed by someone else?

Chaldea, Central Control Room.

The first thing Fujimaru Ritsuka saw when she opened her eyes was not the huge crater that had been blasted out, but the somewhat familiar ceiling of Chaldea and Chaldea in the distance.

"Click..."

As the basket's cover opened and she stepped out, Fujimaru Ritsuka glanced around and asked, "You're back?"

"Yes, we have successfully returned to Chaldea, senior."

Like Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mash, who was also wearing the Chaldea combat uniform, walked over and spoke. Not far away, Akuta Hinako also got up from the basket, glanced over here, and walked directly towards the exit.

It's the same old reaction.

"Fufu~~~"

Just then, accompanied by a shout, Fufu suddenly jumped out of Fujimaru Ritsuka's basket and landed on her head in a few quick movements.

Seeing this, Mashu couldn't help but say, "Fou, so you were doing the spirit transfer with your senior. Speaking of which, Fou disappeared along the way, and I didn't even notice."

"Me too, I always feel like Fufu is sometimes there and sometimes not, like a hallucination."

"Fufu!"

As if somewhat dissatisfied with the two's evaluation, Fufu lightly jumped on Fujimaru Ritsuka's head, then quickly jumped to the ground and ran towards the door.

Just as it ran to the door, a hand reached out in front of it, as if welcoming it, and picked it up.

"You're such a worry, Fou. You don't even lend a hand over there. Be careful, or I might throw you off Chaldea like Merlin did."

"Fu—!"

"Haha, just kidding, don't get angry, okay?"

Gently smoothing Fou's fur, Natsukawa Tora, who appeared at the exit, looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mashu: "Welcome back, Fujimaru, Mashu. You did a good job in the operation of the First Singularity."

“No, it wasn’t hard at all, brother.” Mashu shook her head slightly. “Actually, it was Aoko who did most of the work.”

"Yes, yes, Miss Aoko put in a lot of effort, unlike you, Captain, who just stayed in the control room slacking off and drank cola until you needed to pee. I didn't get anything over there." Fujimaru Ritsuka said as she rushed over to Natsukawa Torato.

Natsukawa Tora smiled and said, "Yes, yes, yes, it's my fault, but you can't say I did nothing, can you? At least I was helping out when proving your existence and when we were finally dealing with the Demon God Pillar."

"That's what you should be doing as the operations commander."

Roman walked over with a helpless expression and smacked Natsukawa Tora on the head with a disgruntled tone: "If you were willing to go over there, there would be no need for Fujimaru and the others to go through such a dangerous battle."

"Isn't this training them? Actually, it's quite a good experience, isn't it? What do you think, Fujimaru?"

Was it a good experience?

Reflecting on her experiences at the First Singularity over the past few hours, Fujimaru Ritsuka paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded: "Well... to be honest, it was pretty good, it's just that things progressed too quickly, dealing with a super boss right off the bat, it was a bit..."

"You'll get used to it. I went through the same thing back then."

"Don't apply your experience to others!" Roman glared at Natsukawa Tora and said, "Fujimaru, Mashu, you two come with me to the infirmary. This is your first time undergoing a complete spirit transfer, and I want to give you both a full-body check-up to prevent any problems from arising."

Mashu nodded: "Yes, I understand, Dr. Roman—let's go, senior."

"Okay. We'll take our leave then, Minister."

"Remember to come to the cafeteria after you're done with the inspection. Consider it a reward for your hard work over the past few hours. I'll cook you a delicious meal myself today."

"real?!"

Upon hearing that the minister had prepared something delicious, Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes lit up immediately: "Mash, Dr. Roman, let's hurry up and finish the check-up!"

"Wait, wait, Fujimaru, don't push me—Natsukawa, remember to save me a piece of cake!"

"Me too, thank you for your trouble, brother."

Watching Roman and Mashu being pushed by Fujimaru Ritsuka as they jogged towards the infirmary, Natsukawa Torato couldn't help but chuckle and shrug: "This is really quite amusing, isn't it? You guys... this way, one of them is taken care of."

Turning around to look at the fiery red Chaldea and the singularity on it, Natsukawa Tora took a deep breath and left the control room.

————————————————————————————————————

Soon after.

canteen.

"Da da da da..."

As soon as he entered, Natsukawa Tiger heard the sound of chopping vegetables, and then the figure of Grey, wearing an apron and busy at the cutting board, came into his view.

Seemingly hearing footsteps behind her, Grey turned around: "Brother? What brings you to the kitchen all of a sudden?"

"It's nothing, I just came to prepare lunch. Fujimaru and the others just got back, so I made something nice to treat them," Natsukawa Tora explained. "Besides, I can't let Grey be busy in the kitchen every day, so just think of it as me coming to relieve some of your stress."

"Brother, you're just itching to cook, and I'm not the only one in the kitchen. Other chefs will be coming later."

Grey smiled and said, "Besides... I don't actually have too much pressure. After all, I can't perform spirit transfer, and I can't help my brother with his work like other people. In reality, all I can do is let you work with all your might without any worries."

Gray cannot perform spirit transfer.

This doesn't mean Gray lacks the adaptability for spirit transfer, but rather that compared to Hinako Akuta, Ritsuka Fujimaru, and Mash, her adaptability is not high enough. With sufficient manpower available now, Gray has no need to risk performing spirit transfer.

Patting Grey's head, Natsukawa Tora sighed: "It's not just [only], ensuring logistics is very important. To exaggerate a bit, if I didn't get to eat the three meals you prepare every day, Grey, my motivation would disappear by 99 percent."

“That’s an exaggeration, brother,” Grey couldn’t help but laugh.

at the same time--

"I can't pretend I didn't hear that, Master."

As she walked in through the door, Sajou Rei, who had somehow changed into a maid outfit, immediately grabbed Natsukawa Torama's arm: "Does Master mean that the food I prepared wasn't as delicious as Gray's?"

"I already said it was an exaggeration, why are you making such a fuss about this? It's been so many years."

"Well, she's just a maid, after all. She can't be careless about her job, or Grey will make her lose her job soon."

Sajou Rei laughed, then pointed to her chest: "By the way, Master, you've done what you asked me to do, so shouldn't we discuss the reward now?"

Xia Chuanhu's expression froze for a moment: "Uh...we'll talk about that later. Let's prepare lunch first. Gray, come and give me a hand."

Seeing Natsukawa Torata fleeing in a somewhat disheveled state, Gray looked helplessly at Sajou Rei: "Rei-neechan, brother... please restrain yourself a little. Even if you don't mind the clothes, brother's clothes are still a bit..."

"Ah, that was our oversight, we're really sorry~~~" Sajou Rei clasped her hands together, closed one eye, and smiled at Gray. "But speaking of which, Gray, you really are patient, aren't you...?"

Leaning close to Grey's ear, Sajou Rei whispered, "Could you collect my reward this time?"

"Waaah... I... I'll go help my brother first!"

Gray's cheeks flushed bright red instantly, and she hurriedly fled from Sajou Rei's side.

You're really generous.

The voice of Aika Sajou echoed in my mind.

Sajou Rei smiled: "After all, it's a bit worrying to watch, isn't it? You know, Gray has actually been with Master the longest, so it's a little embarrassing to keep cutting in line for her, isn't it?"

That's true. I wouldn't mind if it were Grey either; she's a good girl.

"right?"

60. A carrot and a stick combo will knock you out.

Although the first singularity was successfully resolved, given that this was only the first singularity and there were still many things to be resolved, not all the Chaldea employees participated in the lunch break. They only came over to greet Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others before returning to their posts.

As one of the three most important figures in this singularity operation, Hinako Akuta was also absent from the cafeteria. According to Natsukawa Torato, she doesn't like being around people, and she will come as the final guest when the cafeteria is about to close.

Therefore, in the end, only Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mashu, Natsukawa Torato, Gray, and Sajou Rei were able to have lunch together.

Then--

"Ugh... I can't eat anymore... I really can't eat anymore..."

Slumped on a sofa in the cafeteria with her large pregnant belly, Fujimaru Ritsuka made sounds that were both happy and painful.