Fate/Max Level Returner Chapter 58 58: [MAX] 58: Chaldea Interlude

Mash's mind flashed back to the nightmare she'd had earlier.

In that dream, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Adam had been…

Just thinking about the beginning of it made Mash clutch her head, shaking it desperately as if she could erase the mory entirely.

"Ahhh!!!"

She had two senpais now… two sources of happiness overlapping, each one multiplying the joy until it should have been pure bliss, like sothing out of a dream. So why… why had it turned into this?

Mash spiraled deeper into despair.

[Mash Emotion Value 10]

[Mash Emotion Value 10]

[Mash Emotion Value 10]

...

Adam: "???"

Adam stared at the nonstop notifications popping up and had no idea what was going on. Why was Mash suddenly so worked up?

Her face had gone deathly pale. There was no light left in her eyes. chanically, she lifted her head to look at him, her voice hollow and weak.

"Adam-senpai… you and senpai… you already… you already…"

She couldn't finish the sentence. Mash covered her face again, refusing to accept the conclusion her own mind had reached.

Adam imdiately understood what was happening. Mash had clearly misunderstood sothing—specifically, his relationship with Fujimaru Ritsuka.

Looking at her right now, it was obvious.

Did she really think sothing had happened between him and Fujimaru Ritsuka last night?

Mash's eyes were still glazed over. She kept muttering under her breath.

"I wonder if Da Vinci has any mory-erasing dicine…"

Adam quickly stepped in before she could break completely.

"Mash, nothing happened between and Fujimaru Ritsuka last night."

"I only ca out of her room because of a misunderstanding. In the Chaldea I ca from, my room number was also 48."

Only then did the light slowly return to Mash's eyes. She looked up at him, desperate for confirmation.

"Really?"

"You're not lying to ?"

Adam nodded firmly.

"Really."

Mash still wasn't entirely convinced. Her gaze drifted to his neck.

"Then… what about those red marks on your neck?"

"Weren't they left there by… senpai?"

Adam instinctively pressed a hand over the marks.

Ah. So that's why she suddenly got so emotional.

SHIKI! Just wait. I've got sothing very special planned for you later.

As for what that "sothing" was… she didn't need to know.

"These aren't from Fujimaru Ritsuka. They're just the result of a certain tomboy's prank."

Mash blinked, confused.

"A tomboy's prank?"

Adam nodded.

She still didn't fully understand, but at least she was certain now—Fujimaru Ritsuka and Adam hadn't done anything together…

The heavy stone that had been crushing her chest finally lifted.

Or at least… it felt like it had.

"Then… Adam-senpai, I'll go wake senpai up now."

Mash gave a small bow and turned toward Fujimaru Ritsuka's room.

Adam suddenly rembered how dead-to-the-world Fujimaru Ritsuka had been sleeping and quickly stopped her.

"Wait, Mash."

Mash paused, looking back at him curiously.

"When I woke up this morning, Fujimaru Ritsuka was sleeping really deeply. She's probably exhausted. The next mission doesn't involve her yet, so let her rest a little longer."

Mash instinctively agreed— if senpai was tired, of course she should rest.

But then sothing in Adam's words clicked. Her eyes widened again in shock.

"Wait a second!"

"What do you an, 'when you woke up this morning, senpai was sleeping really deeply'?"

"Does that an you and senpai spent the whole night in the sa room?"

"And what do you an by 'she's exhausted'?"

"Why was she exhausted?"

"Did sothing happen last night?"

"You two… you really didn't do anything, right?"

Her voice grew more and more frantic, like she was one second away from exploding.

Adam watched Mash jump to conclusions again and glanced at the nonstop emotion notifications still rolling in.

[Mash Emotion Value 10]

[Mash Emotion Value 10]

[Mash Emotion Value 10]

...

He rubbed his forehead in defeat.

It took him a while to calmly explain the entire situation from start to finish. Only then did Mash finally breathe a real sigh of relief.

The two of them started walking toward the command room.

Adam glanced at Mash, replaying every wild leap her mind had taken earlier. No matter what he said, she sohow twisted it into sothing spicy. The level of imagination on display was honestly impressive.

Yep, that's our Mash. In any world, you really are Chaldea's legendary perverted eggplant.

They chatted casually as they headed down the corridor to the command center.

——————

Chaldea. Command Room.

The surviving staff mbers sat with their heads down, faces drained of all hope. The future looked impossibly bleak.

"Do you think we can actually stop the Incineration of Human Order?"

"No chance. Just give up."

"Yeah… we finally got a super strong ally on our side, soone who felt like a literal savior…"

"But now…"

Romani watched the demoralized crew and let out a quiet sigh.

He understood. They had been ready to fight the Incineration of Human Order—that was literally why Chaldea existed. But then Professor Lev had betrayed them, blowing up most of the facility. Power was critically low, the Director was dead, nearly every Master was gone, and only one remained. Staff casualties had been heavy too. Everyone who could still work was already here.

And their greatest hope—the mysterious Adam who had appeared from a Singularity—was still missing, possibly dead.

In Romani's mind, the odds of Adam and Mash surviving the spatial collapse were almost zero. No matter how strong they were…

He sighed again, heavier this ti.

Can people like us really save humanity?

Right now, all Romani wanted was to slip away and vent to his favorite magical girl, Magi☆Mari.

The door slid open.

Lost in thought, Romani didn't even register the sound. He kept muttering to himself.

"If only Adam were here…"

A familiar voice answered right beside his ear.

"Thinking about ?"

Romani whipped around, stunned.

There stood Adam, completely unhard and looking perfectly fine.

Doctor Romani blinked rapidly, brain short-circuiting.

"Adam! You're alive?!!"

His expression was the sa one he'd worn when he watched the Director die in Singularity F—only for her to suddenly reappear.

Adam stepped forward and gave Romani a light backhanded pat on the shoulder.

"Relax. I'm not going anywhere anyti soon."

His eyes flicked to the ring on Romani's finger, and he smiled.

"By the way, I need to talk to you alone later."

Romani had been smiling happily, but that grin suddenly felt icy. A chill ran down his spine, like doom was approaching.

Adam walked past him to the center of the command room. He looked out at the remaining Chaldea staff. Their morale had been rock-bottom, but the mont they saw him, a spark of light returned to their eyes.

"I'm sure most of you already know who I am. I co from a different Chaldea in another world."

"In that world, I've already successfully cleared seven Singularities and restored the Human Order seven tis."

"None of that would have been possible without the support of Chaldea's technical staff. Their help is what let succeed."

"So in this world, restoring the Human Order will require all of you to work with ."

"Not for . Not even for Chaldea. For everything you care about."

...

...

...

After several minutes of Adam's passionate speech, emotion notifications began flooding in from every staff mber in the room.

The entire Chaldea crew was fired up. Their eyes burned with determination, as if they were ready to march out and personally destroy Goetia.

Romani watched in awe, genuinely impressed by Adam's natural leadership.

If he died and beca a Heroic Spirit, that charisma would probably manifest as a Skill.

Once the staff was motivated, Adam turned back to Romani.

"Roman, co here. There's sothing I want to discuss with you."

His gaze drifted once more to the ring on Romani's finger.

This ti, Romani noticed. He instinctively moved his hand to cover the ring that marked his true identity.

Adam's lips curved upward in a grin he couldn't suppress.

"Roman, that ring on your hand… it looks pretty special."

Doctor Romani's heart sank. Adam was from another Chaldea tiline, from the future. He might already know the truth.

But maybe… maybe Adam was only guessing. Maybe this was just a probe.

Romani forced a laugh, trying to play it off.

"Hahaha, what are you talking about?"

"It's just a regular accessory. It has so personal aning to , but that's all."

Adam narrowed his eyes, looking like he already knew everything. A playful glint appeared in them as he glanced toward his own Servant list.

"Oh? Really?"

Romani scratched the back of his head and looked away, classic telltale signs of lying.

"Of course! Why would I lie to you?"

Adam decided it was ti to drop the bomb.

"King of Magecraft Solomon, third ruler of ancient Israel."

Romani's balance faltered. His pupils shrank to pinpricks, face twisting for a split second before snapping back into that sa goofy smile.

"Hahaha, Adam, why are you suddenly bringing up that na?"

"King of Magecraft… yeah, I've heard of him. What about him?"

Adam sighed, disappointed, and patted Romani's shoulder again.

"I recall that King of Magecraft Solomon was the son of King David, right?"

Romani's eyes widened uncontrollably. His lips pressed into a thin line.

But he still wasn't sure if Adam actually ant what he thought he ant. What if he was wrong and accidentally exposed himself?

He answered shakily.

"Y-yeah… so what?"

Adam kept his hand on Romani's shoulder.

"You know I can summon Servants, right, Doctor Roman?"

"Want to bet whether I can summon King David?"

"And if I did… do you think he'd recognize that ring on your finger~?"

Cold sweat broke out across Romani's forehead. He still refused to admit it, standing there frozen, words caught in his throat.

"Oh, right. King Solomon had a wife, didn't he?"

"Her na was… Sheba? Think I could summon her too?"

"Roman~"

The way Adam was looking at him now… it was the gaze of a demon.

Under the relentless pressure, Romani finally gave in.

He reluctantly slipped the ring off his finger and handed it over.

"Waaaah T_T, my ring…"

Romani looked like he was about to cry as he watched his precious ring now resting in Adam's palm.

Adam examined the ring carefully. In the final singularity, Romani would use this very ring to sacrifice himself alongside Goetia.

"I'm confiscating this."

Adam had no intention of letting the ring remain with Romani. He stored it away safely, determined that it would never et its tragic fate.

Once the ring was secured, Adam followed the plan he had made that morning and headed toward Da Vinci's workshop.

Da Vinci was currently busy repairing the various pieces of equipnt damaged in the explosion caused by Lev. The workload was overwhelming, but she was the only one capable of handling it all. If only there were other Servants who could assist with maintenance, it would greatly reduce the burden on her.

Leonardo da Vinci (Caster)

Her appearance was quite different from the historical Leonardo da Vinci. In proper history, the genius had been a man. This version had manifested in the form of a beautiful woman—the very image of the Mona Lisa.

The reason she gave for choosing this form was that she wanted a body as perfect as a goddess, one that could maintain its beauty indefinitely.

However, taking on the Mona Lisa's body had its effects. A person is made up of three aspects—mind, body, and soul—that constantly influence one another. Even though the original Leonardo's mind had been male, the female body gradually shaped his way of thinking, turning him into a true woman.

In other words, the Da Vinci currently in Chaldea was no longer the sa person from history. She was a new existence created from the perfect fusion of Leonardo's soul with the Mona Lisa's body.

It didn't take long for Adam to reach her location. Seeing her focused on repairs, he greeted her.

"Good morning, Da Vinci. I need to talk to you about sothing."

Da Vinci turned at the sound of his voice. The mont she saw Adam, her face lit up with excitent and she imdiately set her tools aside.

That excited expression… it was the sa look a mad scientist would have when discovering the perfect subject for experintation.

"It's you!"

"I heard about it. You're the Master who ca from a parallel world's Chaldea, right?"

Da Vinci walked over and began circling Adam, her hands freely inspecting the Mystic Code he was wearing.

"I see. So this is the technology from a future Chaldea?"

"The person who designed this must have been a genius."

Da Vinci nodded in appreciation.

Adam's face went blank. The Mystic Code he wore had actually been designed by his world's own Little Da Vinci. The two were essentially the sa person.

She was praising herself.

He gave her a deadpan look.

"You do realize this Mystic Code was made by 'you,' right?"

Da Vinci waved her hand casually.

"Well~ Don't sweat the small stuff."

"A genius like is allowed to praise herself once in a while."

Adam decided not to pursue the topic any further. He pulled out a glowing, diamond-shaped golden object.

The mont Da Vinci saw it, her eyes widened—not with greed, but with pure scientific curiosity.

"Is this… a Holy Grail?"

"Correct."

The object in Adam's hand was the Holy Grail he had recovered from Singularity F. Thinking about Chaldea's current situation, he said:

"If I'm not mistaken, after that explosion, Chaldea is in desperate need of a massive energy source, correct?"

Chaldea's power consumption was enormous, especially when it ca to summoning Servants. A Holy Grail, serving as an energy crystal, would be the ideal solution.

With that, Adam casually tossed the priceless Holy Grail to Da Vinci as if it were nothing more than a toy.

Even Da Vinci was slightly flustered as she caught it.

She examined the crystal carefully, confirming it was genuine. When she looked back at Adam, there was clear admiration in her gaze.

"This is a Holy Grail, you know?"

"Even if it's only being used as an energy source, countless people would go mad for sothing like this."

"And you're just giving it to us?"

Adam simply smiled.

"Holy Grails are…"

"Sothing I already have hundreds of in storage back in my Chaldea. We have way more than we can use."

"It'll serve a much better purpose here."

Da Vinci: "???"

Even the well-traveled genius was montarily stunned.

Hundreds of Holy Grails?

While Da Vinci was still processing that information, Adam suddenly rembered sothing else.

"By the way, Da Vinci."

"If I'm not mistaken, Chaldea is currently short on maintenance personnel, right?"

Da Vinci nodded.

"That's correct. All the regular staff died in the explosion. I'm the only one handling repairs right now."

Adam browsed through his Servant list, searching for a particular Servant.

"In that case…"

"Let get you so help."

"I have a Servant who's very similar to you."

Da Vinci grew interested. She assud he ant another universal genius comparable to herself.

"Oh? A Servant with talent equal to mine?"

"This should be fun. Let guess."

"…Is it Thomas Alva Edison?"

Adam didn't even look up as he continued scrolling.

"Wrong."

Da Vinci thought for a mont.

"Then… Nikola Tesla?"

Adam shook his head again.

He had finally found the one he was looking for.

"Found her."

Adam looked at Da Vinci with a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Da Vinci, want to take one final guess?"

She pondered deeply. Perhaps soone more modern?

An absurd answer suddenly ca to mind.

"It wouldn't be Steve Jobs, would it?"

Adam paused at the ridiculous guess before shaking his head once more.

Da Vinci was out of ideas.

"Ti to reveal the answer."

Adam selected the Servant.

Leonardo da Vinci (Rider) was summoned.

The cost dropped to 16/24.

A small figure appeared between Adam and the adult Da Vinci. Little Da Vinci looked around in confusion.

"Huh? Where is this place?"

She clearly rembered that she had been processing materials for Adam earlier. She had just finished making a huge profit off him and was feeling quite pleased when she was suddenly transported here.

The first thing she saw was Adam.

"Master?!"

Seeing him, Little Da Vinci wondered if she had been overcharging him too much lately on quantum pieces and materials, and whether he had summoned her here for so kind of 'punishnt.'

The mont Little Da Vinci appeared, the adult Da Vinci froze completely.

Her thoughts fell into chaos.

The body she inhabited wasn't her original one—she had transford it into the Mona Lisa's form in pursuit of perfect beauty.

So what was this tiny Mona Lisa standing in front of her?

Was this Mona Lisa as a child?

That didn't make sense. Adam had said he was summoning a universal genius similar to her.

Could it be…

A wild possibility flashed through the adult Da Vinci's mind.

Is this child my future daughter with soone?!

Her gaze imdiately shifted to Adam standing beside them.

Could it be him?

It might be possible!

Wait, no… Servants can't have children.

But then again, I'm a genius. Maybe I broke through the reproductive barrier between Servants and humans?

The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seed.

Adam, on the other hand, was confused by the strangely maternal look in Da Vinci's eyes as she stared at Little Da Vinci.

Little Da Vinci looked up at her older counterpart.

Although she didn't understand the situation, she still greeted her politely.

"Isn't this the big ''?"

The mont those words left her mouth, everything clicked for the adult Da Vinci.

Combining that with the fact that Adam ca from the future, she instantly reached the correct conclusion.

"I see! An artificial Heroic Spirit!"

"As expected of !"

Da Vinci began excitedly inspecting Little Da Vinci from every angle.

Adam quickly explained the current situation. After understanding what was needed, Little Da Vinci happily agreed to help repair this world's Chaldea.

Then Adam rembered one more thing—the matter of Olga Marie's body.

He still needed high-quality materials from Da Vinci's hidden stash to create a new body for the Director.

Recalling how many tis Da Vinci had rcilessly ripped him off in the past, Adam's smile grew wider as he thought about how all her materials were now at his disposal.

"Da Vinci, you should have quite a collection of excellent materials hidden away, right?"

"Where exactly do you keep them?"

"I need them to create a new body for the Director."

Da Vinci had been ready to agree. Helping restore Olga Marie was important, and she could spare so materials.

But when she saw that faint, scheming smile on Adam's face, even she felt sothing was off.

It might be better to be cautious.

"Just tell what materials you need. I'll go get them for you."

"No, no, that would be too much trouble."

"You're already busy repairing Chaldea. Just tell where your stash is."

"I'll go get what I need myself."

"It's all for the Director, after all!"

Da Vinci sensed sothing suspicious in Adam's tone. Why did it feel like he had ulterior motives?

Just as she was about to say she wasn't that busy, Little Da Vinci cheerfully spoke up.

"If it's the big , the materials should be stored at…"

The mont Adam heard the location, he spun around and sprinted off at full speed.

"Thanks, Da Vinci-chan!"

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

Da Vinci tried to stop him, but Adam had already vanished.

It didn't take him long to reach the hidden storage room. Just as expected, it was packed to the brim with every kind of rare material imaginable.

Looking at the mountain of treasures before him, Adam couldn't hold back a satisfied laugh.

His expression was the very picture of soone who had hit the jackpot.

——————————

A long ti passed. Night had fallen.

With Little Da Vinci's help, the adult Da Vinci completed the repairs much faster than expected. Nearly the entire Chaldea facility had been restored.

However, when Da Vinci returned to her material storage room to check how much Adam had taken, she stopped dead in her tracks.

She thought she had entered the wrong room.

The place was completely empty. Not a single thing remained.

After confirming several tis that this was indeed her storage room, Da Vinci could only stare in disbelief.

Da Vinci: ???

Where did all my collected materials go?!

——————————————

After finishing the repairs, Little Da Vinci went to find Adam.

At the sa ti, Doctor Romani had finished his day's work.

He wanted nothing more than to return to his room and vent to his beloved Magi☆Mari about everything that had happened.

He had beco completely addicted to the virtual idol.

It never even crossed his mind to question how Magi☆Mari was still active when Human Order itself was being incinerated.

A certain helpful big brother found this very agreeable.

Lost in thoughts about Magi☆Mari, Romani walked with a light heart—until he suddenly ran into Little Da Vinci.

Perhaps because he was tired, or because his mind was elsewhere, he didn't notice anything strange at first. He greeted her normally.

"Good evening, Da Vinci."

He even called her simply "Da Vinci."

Little Da Vinci politely returned the greeting.

"Good evening."

They passed each other and continued on their way.

But after a few steps, Romani suddenly realized sothing was wrong. He whipped his head around.

Little Da Vinci had already disappeared.

"Da Vinci???!!!"

"Why did she look… smaller?"

"Was that just my imagination?"

——————————

Adam was busy using the materials to construct Olga Marie's new body. He had completely emptied Da Vinci's storage room.

While he was still secretly celebrating his success, Little Da Vinci arrived.

Adam set his work aside for a mont.

The two of them looked at each other and shared a knowing, mischievous smile—the perfect look of partners in cri.

"Da Vinci-chan, thanks for your help earlier."

He was referring to how she had helped him locate and loot all of the adult Da Vinci's materials.

Little Da Vinci's smile grew even brighter.

"Master~ There's no need to thank just yet."

"After all, you got quite a lot of materials from the big , right?"

Adam felt a familiar sense of danger from her smile. It was the exact sa expression she made right before scamming him.

"Uh, yeah, I did get quite a lot. Why do you ask?"

Little Da Vinci giggled.

"Hehe."

"Of course we need to split it. Didn't I tell you where everything was hidden?"

Adam thought about it and realized she had a point. He nodded.

"Alright. How much do you want?"

Little Da Vinci held up three fingers on one hand and seven on the other.

"Thirty-seventy split."

"I'm getting seventy percent? …Yeah, that's fair enough."

Adam hesitated for a second when he heard seventy, but ultimately agreed. After all, one should be content with what one gets. Seventy percent was already excellent.

Little Da Vinci blinked in surprise.

"Master, what are you talking about? I ant I get seventy percent."

Adam: "???"

***

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