Arthur slowly buried his face in his hands.
"...Damn it."
Knock.
The office door opened at that exact moment.
"Hey there, darling~"
An extremely cheerful voice echoed through the room.
Arthur recognized that voice immediately.
"...Speaking of the problem girl."
Ritsuka walked into the office carrying an Eevee in her arms as if that were the most normal thing in the world.
The small Pokémon was sleeping peacefully curled up against her chest.
In fact, there was another one sleeping on top of her head, and a third clinging to her pants.
"..."
Absolute silence filled the office for two whole seconds.
Then Chloe slowly pointed.
"...Why are there three of them on you?"
Ritsuka looked down as though she had only just noticed.
"Hm?" She blinked. "Oh. They just kind of appeared there."
"That does not answer the question, Ritsuka," Arthur immediately shot back.
Ritsuka completely ignored his protest.
She simply walked calmly over to Arthur, placed one of the Eevees onto his lap, and sat down beside him.
The little Pokémon immediately curled up there and relaxed.
Arthur stared at it expressionlessly and began gently petting the small Pokémon's fur.
The Eevee let out a tiny happy sound while sleeping.
"He likes you," Ritsuka said with a smile.
"This little furball likes following me around whenever you're not nearby." Arthur laughed softly.
Luminous silently observed the entire scene.
"Now that I think about it..." she began slowly. "How exactly did the two of you meet?"
Arthur froze.
Ritsuka immediately lifted her gaze away from the Eevee in her arms.
"Hm?"
Luminous rested her face on one hand while smiling faintly.
"You talked so much about Ritsuka..." she commented. "That it ended up making me curious."
Arthur immediately pointed accusingly at her.
"I literally just said I wasn't planning on telling any more stories today."
"And that's exactly why I'm curious." Luminous replied calmly.
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"Besides... from what I understood..." she continued. "You met her the same way you met Artoria, didn't you?"
Arthur immediately let out a deep sigh.
He already knew there was no escaping this conversation.
Meanwhile, Ritsuka was already completely excited.
Her eyes were practically sparkling.
Arthur could almost see puppy ears and tails sprouting from her, to the point where he could practically see the tail wagging excitedly.
"...You clearly just want to hear my version of the story."
"Because your version is cooler." Ritsuka replied without the slightest shame.
Arthur remained silent for a few seconds.
"Why do you always look at me like that whenever you want something? You weren't like this back then." Arthur sighed.
When they had first met, Ritsuka hadn't been his "problem girl." Quite the opposite—she had been much more serious and composed.
'I think I may have been a bad influence on her...'
"...Fine." He finally gave in after seeing her puppy-like stare becoming stronger and stronger.
Ritsuka immediately celebrated.
"YES!"
"But this is going to be the last story of the day," Arthur said.
"You all remember that I stayed in Fuyuki for a while after the Holy Grail War, right?"
The three girls nodded.
"I didn't stay in Fuyuki just because I wanted to relax. Sure, that was one of the reasons, but it wasn't the only one. I needed to make sure certain events happened properly in the future."
Luminous tilted her head slightly.
"...Events?"
Arthur nodded.
"A Fifth Holy Grail War needed to happen, and I needed to make sure a certain man participated in it."
"Wait, you manipulated events?"
"'Manipulated' is kind of a heavy word..." Arthur replied. "I prefer to say that... I made small, extremely invasive adjustments."
"...That is literally manipulating events," Shion commented.
Arthur completely ignored her.
"Anyway..." he continued. "Rin and Sakura participated in that war."
Ritsuka immediately raised her hand.
"Sakura summoned a Rider-class Servant. You already know her—Medusa."
"Yes, I still remember the chaos when Sakura found out you slept with her." Luminous teased.
"Ahem! Back to the topic, Rin forced me into forming a contract with her, so I became Archer." Arthur continued. "Rin was terrifying back then."
"Especially because YOU taught Rin unnecessary things," Shion pointed out.
"I had to teach her how to protect herself."
"You taught Rin how to use magical explosives."
"She was very happy while learning." Arthur replied.
Chloe was already starting to laugh.
Arthur rubbed his forehead before continuing:
"Anyway... in the end of that war..." he said, "Marisbury Animusphere won exactly as I intended."
"He summoned Solomon as a Caster-class Servant and won the war."
"...It's still strange thinking all of this happened before CHALDEA even existed," Ritsuka said.
"I think so too. Anyway..." Arthur continued. "What mattered was what Marisbury did after winning."
"He opened a path to the Root?" Ritsuka asked.
Arthur shook his head.
"No. Instead..." he continued, "Marisbury used the Grail's power to obtain the resources necessary to found Chaldea."
Ritsuka smiled faintly at that.
"And also..." Arthur added, "he turned Solomon into a normal human."
"After that..." Arthur continued, "I ended up becoming something like his partner."
"Partner?" Chloe asked.
"I helped with Chaldea's initial development," Arthur replied. "Mainly regarding magical systems, temporal observation, and the stability of the Rayshift system."
Ritsuka immediately raised her hand again.
"In other words..." she said, "Arthur basically helped build half of that organization."
"Pretty much. Dealing with mages from the Clock Tower was already irritating..." Arthur muttered. "Now imagine dealing with mages funded by governments and coming from prestigious families."
Luminous laughed softly.
"And that was when you met Ritsuka?"
Arthur stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Not exactly."
He looked down at the sleeping Eevee on his lap.
"And that's when the truly absurd part of the story began."
Ritsuka immediately broke into a huge smile.
Arthur pointed accusingly at her.
"Don't make that face. This was partially your fault."
"Partially?" she replied indignantly. "You literally created a catalyst to summon yourself!"
"..."
"..."
"...Wait." Chloe blinked slowly. "What?"
Arthur looked away.
"I needed to make sure certain future events happened."
Shion stared at him in absolute shock.
"You left an item capable of summoning YOURSELF in Chaldea's possession?!"
Arthur immediately crossed his arms.
"In my defense, it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"THAT IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA!" Ritsuka shot back.
Luminous was already starting to laugh again.
"Anyway, during the Seventh Singularity, Chaldea ended up using that catalyst, so I was summoned and met myself. It was a strange experience, but it helped me change a few things about my past." He continued.
(End of chapter)