Chapter 47: Shirou Made a Mess Everywhere
"It seems I have to make a trip to Chaldea." Thinking back on the dream he just had, Shirou couldn't help but murmur to himself.
Sitting up from the bed, Shirou glanced at Saber, who was still fast asleep. He reached out to lift a strand of her golden-sand hair, gently stroking it between his fingers.
"Mm... ngh..." Sensing Shirou's movements, the girl's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and then she opened her eyes. "Shirou...?"
"Sorry, I woke you up. It's alright to sleep a little longer." Shirou smiled as he brushed the golden strands of hair away from her forehead.
"Mm..." The girl looked at Shirou with a faint blush, her eyes filled with a touch of sweetness. Fortunately, no goddess decided to interrupt at that moment; otherwise, this heartwarming scene probably would have turned strange.
Shirou left the room and, upon entering the living room, saw Sakura just stepping out of the kitchen. "Come eat breakfast, Shirou~"
"Mm, sure."
Not long after the two sat down at the table, Illya also woke up. Illya sat down at the table, happily swinging her slender legs. "Shirou, Shirou~ Are you leaving today too?"
"There are still some things left to deal with. I'll come back to keep you company once I'm finished." Shirou said while eating his rolled omelet.
After finishing, Shirou tasted the tamagoyaki and salt-grilled salmon Sakura had made, finally ending with a bowl of miso soup. "Honestly, Shirou made a mess everywhere." While lamenting Shirou's unrefined table manners, Sakura used a rag to wipe up a few drops of miso soup that had splattered on the table. She then tidied up Shirou's clothes, saying in a gentle tone, "Shirou, be careful on your way."
Shirou nodded. "Goetia won't take long. I'll try to speedrun this and come back."
.
.
.
Chaldea.
"Hah~" Gudako walked out of her room, yawning, and headed toward Mash's room while stretching her arms. Since returning to Chaldea yesterday, Doctor Romani and Da Vinci had begun analyzing the Holy Grail brought back from the Seventh Singularity, the Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia. When the analysis was successful, it caused violent fluctuations in space-time.
After confirming the fact that Goetia had already discovered Chaldea's location and that Chaldea was gradually merging with the Demon God King's Singularity, Doctor Romani announced to Gudako and Mash: "Gudako, Mash. From now on, you are granted one day of rest. Go and adjust your physical and mental states to the best possible condition. When the two of you return to this Command Room, the final operation of Chaldea will begin. The Singularity you are headed to is named Solomon. Final Singularity—Grand Time Temple: Solomon! Solomon's objective, the true nature of the band of light, the Incineration of Human Order... everything will be revealed in this operation."
Although she had felt fired up at the time, the result afterwards was that Gudako suffered from total insomnia. "If it goes on like this... I feel like I'll drop the ball at a critical moment..." Gudako said, stifling another yawn. "Mm... ah... I'm so sleepy."
Muttering lazily, Gudako strolled down the hallway, finally arriving at the door to Mash's room, and raised her hand to knock. Knock, knock, knock— "Mash, are you in?"
Soon, a familiar voice came from inside. "Is that Senpai? Please wait a moment." Before long, Mash opened the door. Her routine was very disciplined; she had been up for a long time and was currently writing in her diary diligently.
"Eh, writing in your diary again." Gudako looked curiously at the notebook on the desk. "Mm, recording the journey bit by bit makes me feel like it has great meaning. Mm... after Human Order is restored, won't everyone forget our efforts? It feels a little... lonely..." Mash couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental.
Upon hearing this, Gudako replied: "But if you look at it from another angle, at least we remember these things. Let's spend the rest of our time cherishing these precious memories together."
"Mm... it's a promise, Senpai." Tears of emotion welled up in Mash's eyes as she buried her head in Gudako's chest. "Mm-hmm, of course it is."
Gudako stroked Mash's hair, her eyes already drifting toward the diary the girl was writing. "Let me see how you've described my glorious image, Mash."
"Sen- Senpai—don't!" Even though it was her trusted Senpai, being seen reading the contents of her diary made Mash feel ashamed, and her cheeks couldn't help but burn with heat.
However, Gudako didn't listen. "Whoa, I didn't expect you to have such rich inner thoughts, Mash—" Before Gudako could finish, the girl quickly snatched the diary back, clutching it tightly to her chest, looking at her with a red face. "Senpai, I'm not happy about this...!"
Gudako paused, then playfully lunged at the girl. "In that case, let me make you happy~"
"Kyaa—!"
After playing around for a while, the two girls, clothes slightly disheveled, walked out of the room. They bumped into Shirou.
"You two are...?" Their hair was a bit messy, some buttons on their clothes were unfastened, and even their tights were torn in places; it looked as if they had been through a lot.
"I just wanted to look at Mash's diary, and it ended up in a fight with Mash," Gudako said.
Mash lowered her head with a blushing face. "I was teased by Senpai..."
"Oh, looks like workplace bullying. I strongly condemn this behavior. So, can I also take a look at your diary?" Shirou asked curiously.
Hearing this, Mash's face turned even redder, and she shook her head vigorously. "No, no, no, no, no!"
At that moment, the communicator on Gudako's wrist rang. "There's an emergency. Can you come over?" Gudako and Mash immediately exchanged glances, setting aside their playfulness. "We're coming right now!"
...
After the three arrived at the Command Room, Romani was already sitting in front of the main control computer, having opened the database. "Because of an emergency, our strategy meeting must begin ahead of schedule."
"Then, allow me to explain," Da Vinci said, walking over. "First of all, the biggest difference between this operation and previous ones is our method of Rayshift!" As she spoke, Da Vinci enlarged the image displayed on the computer screen. "Because the enemy is actively pulling us in this time, we will be making contact on a physical level. In other words, we don't need the coffins; we just need to open a 'door' and walk right in!"
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting