Inside the ruined city where Siegfried was hiding.
A man wearing a skull mask stood there, lost in ecstatic song. His voice carried a strange magical power that could blur the minds of anyone who heard it.
He was the Servant known as Phantom of the Opera.
anwhile.
Adam's group had reached the outskirts of the ruined city where Siegfried was supposed to be.
Adam gazed at the shattered skyline ahead, wondering whether he should collect a little "interest" from Siegfried the mont they t.
He scrolled quickly through his Servant list, absently passing over rows of Elizabeth Bathorys and Black Marys.
Just as he was deciding who to deploy…
Ritsuka Fujimaru stood beside him, hands cupped around her eyes like binoculars, squinting hard at the devastated city.
She could see swarms of monsters in the open—wyverns, skeleton soldiers, ghouls…
At least a hundred visible at a glance.
Who knew how many more were lurking in the shadows?
Rembering Adam's plan to rescue Soldier Siegfried, she turned to him for orders.
"Adam, this city looks completely overrun by monsters."
"What's the play? Clear them out first, or go straight for the Dragon Slayer you ntioned?"
Her question pulled Adam out of his thoughts.
It was a real dilemma.
Prioritize healing Siegfried's critical wounds?
Or wipe the city clean of threats first?
After all, their Mr. Sorry—Siegfried—was in no shape to do the one thing he was summoned for in the first Singularity: fire his Noble Phantasm and take down Fafnir.
That was exactly why he kept apologizing.
Injured and low on mana, he was vulnerable every second in a city crawling with monsters. Even if he was hiding, anything could go wrong.
So… eliminate every possible threat first, or save the soldier and patch him up imdiately?
Adam's answer, naturally, was both.
Because right beside him stood the perfect solution: soone whose Noble Phantasm could devastate monsters across the entire city while simultaneously healing allies.
Adam slowly turned his gaze to tatron-Jeanne.
Her Noble Phantasm dealt damage to enemies and restored health to friends.
Absolutely ideal.
At that mont, tatron-Jeanne was lounging lazily on her floating chair.
With all the monsters clustered inside the city, she was actually enjoying a rare break.
She was just about to tear open a hidden bag of chips on the chair—plain ones, no special sauce from Adam, but still enough to relax—when she felt that familiar stare.
Adam: staring~
tatron-Jeanne already knew what it ant. Overti again.
She pouted, utterly unenthused, and floated the chair over to him.
"Ugh~ (exhausted) Master… more orders?"
Adam gave her the dead-fish-eye look, but his smile stayed warm and fond.
"I'll need one more Noble Phantasm in a bit, but this ti it'll be way easier. Just fire it normally."
The mont she heard "overti," her whole body lted back into the chair. She lazily raised one hand and stuck out a single finger.
The aning was obvious: overti pay.
Adam understood instantly. It was just a little fieldwork—nothing he couldn't handle. He agreed.
Only then did tatron-Jeanne sit up properly, smiling brightly at him.
Noble Phantasm problem solved.
Adam realized her Noble Phantasm radiated outward from her as the light source. The closer the target, the stronger the effect.
To maximize healing on Siegfried, she needed to release it right next to him.
Which ant they first had to locate him.
Adam glanced at the communicator on his wrist—the Chaldea standard model.
The Spirit Origin detection radar could pick up Servant signals within range.
He opened the line with practiced ease.
"Director, you there?"
The screen flickered to life instantly. Olga Marie appeared, cheeks puffed out, chewing sothing round.
"I'm here, Adam—munch, munch—what's up?"
Adam blinked at whatever she was eating.
"Director… what are you eating?"
Olga Marie grinned and held up the treat proudly, as if inviting everyone to share.
"Oh, this? So kind of sesa red bean bun. It's really good!"
"Want so, Adam? I'll save a couple for you."
The mont [Mash] saw the familiar scene, long-buried mories surged back. Her mouth twitched.
Mash herself stared wide-eyed at the bun in Olga Marie's hand.
She stepped closer, examining it intently, confirming it was exactly what she thought it was.
"Director! Those are the sesa red bean buns I made!"
Olga Marie froze mid-chew.
She looked at Mash, then at the bun, then quickly hid it behind her back.
"Ah… is that so?" (voice shaky, eyes darting everywhere)
Her panicked gaze landed on Romani beside her.
Olga Marie imdiately rembered Adam's trick for shifting bla and swung the cara toward the doctor.
"I didn't know! Romani gave them to !"
Romani was happily munching on his own bun, sipping tea, completely relaxed. With the Director around, his workload was lighter than usual, so he was enjoying the mont.
Mash watched her carefully prepared buns disappear into his mouth one bite at a ti. Rage ignited in her eyes.
"Doctor Romani!"
The shout made him jump; he nearly dropped the bun.
"W-what?! What happened?!"
Only then did he notice Mash glaring at him with pure fury.
She pointed stiffly at the bun in his hand.
"Doctor Romani… where exactly did you get that bun?"
"That was the sesa red bean bun I prepared for the two seniors after the mission!"
Romani scratched his head awkwardly.
"R-really? They were just sitting in the control room with the tea, so I thought…"
Translation: I found them and ate them.
Mash's anger flared hotter.
"Those buns were ant to reward the two seniors for all their hard work after the mission—not for the doctor to snack on!"
Instead of apologizing, Romani looked at Mash with genuine fatherly pride, still chewing.
"Mash, you've really grown up… such a thoughtful young lady now—munch, munch—man, these are delicious."
He kept eating without pause, sighing happily.
"I bet Ritsuka and Adam would love them too."
Ritsuka watched her cute kouhai's handmade treats vanish into the doctor's mouth and felt tears welling up.
"Ugh~ My precious buns…"
Mash's voice turned icy as she addressed both seniors.
"Before we return to Chaldea…"
"Please make sure you save enough resources for at least one full battle. Once we're back… I have a new shield-bash technique that needs a test subject."
"Heh heh heh, I'm in," Adam chuckled, happily playing along with the lighthearted mood.
[Mash] stayed quiet on the side, simply nodding in firm agreent the entire ti.
"Sesa red bean buns? They look delicious. I wonder what they taste like."
Marie Antoinette watched Romani eat with obvious envy.
Adam decided to wrap up the cody.
"Alright, atmosphere sufficiently lifted. Let's get back to business."
"Director? Still with us?"
Olga Marie swung the cara back to herself.
"I'm here, Adam. Need sothing?"
Adam glanced at the ruined city ahead.
"Director, I need a favor. Could you run a Spirit Origin scan for ? There should be a Servant signal sowhere in the city up ahead."
"Assuming everything's normal, we should pick up one reaction."
anwhile, inside the sa ruined city, Phantom of the Opera: ???
"Ah, give a second," Olga Marie said, turning to the radar display.
"…Ah, found it."
A few seconds later her voice rose with excitent.
"There is definitely a Servant signal in the city ahead. Sending you the coordinates now."
The map updated on Adam's device. A bright red dot glowed inside the ruins.
Adam smiled.
"Exactly where we expected. That has to be Siegfried."
He turned to tatron-Jeanne.
"tajeanne, it's all you."
She glanced at the marked spot, gave him a big thumbs-up, and flew off to get into position.
Paid work always gave her a temporary burst of motivation—though it sotis made her rush and ignore side effects.
At the sa ti.
Deep in the ruined city, Phantom of the Opera was still singing to himself in blissful self-absorption. The Chaotic Evil man wasn't bothering anyone; he was simply… existing loudly.
Whoosh~
While he was mid-note, he thought he heard sothing high above.
He looked up curiously and spotted a tiny golden speck in the sky.
"What's that?"
He frowned, puzzled. It was beyond his understanding.
Before he could think further, the little golden dot suddenly expanded into a radiant archangel and erupted with blinding light.
The golden radiance washed over Phantom of the Opera. He felt an instant, overwhelming heat.
"Ah—"
He didn't even finish the scream before he vanished without a trace.
"Hm?"
[Mash]'s sharp senses picked up a faint sound. She glanced over, saw nothing, and decided it was probably just a bug.
tatron-Jeanne's Noble Phantasm caused no harm to Adam's group.
They simply walked forward bathed in its warm, healing sunlight.
After releasing the Noble Phantasm, tatron-Jeanne slowly descended and rested where she landed. She really was tired this ti—not just attitude. Continuous Noble Phantasm use, then clearing waves of trash mobs on the road, then another full-power release… even the laziest version of herself was starting to feel it. If the reward hadn't been Adam, she would have gone on strike long ago.
The mont Adam approached, she started whining again, clearly angling for a raise in overti pay.
Adam soothed her, restored so of her magical energy, and only when she was satisfied did they begin searching for Soldier Siegfried.
He had to admit—tatron-Jeanne's Noble Phantasm was perfect for clearing monsters. Not a single one remained in sight.
But while every trace of monster was gone…
There was also no trace of Siegfried???
The coordinates were correct, yet after searching everywhere, they couldn't find him.
"Strange…"
At that mont Olga Marie checked the radar again and raised an eyebrow.
"Huh? That's weird. The Servant signal just vanished."
Adam looked up sharply.
"What do you an… the signal vanished?"
Olga Marie hesitated, unsure how to explain.
"Um… it just… disappeared."
"It happened right after that archangel finished releasing her Noble Phantasm. The signal is completely gone."
Adam's mouth fell open. He wouldn't… he wouldn't have accidentally sun-baked Siegfried to death, would he?
"The signal is completely gone?!"
"Are you absolutely sure?"
Olga Marie glanced back at the radar, looking troubled.
Even if you ask like that, I can't magically make a new signal appear.
Then she noticed sothing.
"Wait… there's actually one extrely faint reaction I missed earlier. It was so weak I didn't even register it at first."
Adam stayed silent for a second.
"…That has to be him. He's heavily injured right now—his Spirit Origin must be incredibly weak."
Only now did it click: the earlier signal Olga Marie had detected must have been the normal one.
"But… if this faint one is Siegfried, then whose signal was the stronger one you picked up first?"
Adam racked his brain, trying to rember who they had encountered before searching for Siegfried. Had they run into any other Servants?
Then it hit him—the one who had made a brief, dramatic appearance only to disappear just as dramatically.
Phantom of the Opera.
Olga Marie silently mourned the unlucky Servant who had been erased before he could even show his face.
"Uh… whoever he was, poor guy."
After so more searching, Adam's group confird the direction of the faint signal and headed toward the hidden spot.
——————————
anwhile, on Martha's side.
She had been riding her mount for a long ti, searching everywhere for Adam's group without success.
Just as she was starting to feel discouraged and ready to regroup, a massive, brilliant light suddenly filled the sky—the glorious radiance of tatron-Jeanne's Noble Phantasm.
***
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