Chapter 7
"Huh? You're asking if I know anything about Master's relationship with the one who calls herself a genius?" Medea answered Mash's question with a question of her own.
"Yes, and specifically speaking, senpai's relationship with the old Da Vinci…" she added, and Medea looked at her, worried herself.
The Lord El-Melloi II was beside her, deep in thought as well.
The Witch of Colchis crossed her arms. "Well, shouldn't you two be aware of it as well, considering you both are also Master's first Servants, especially you, Miss Kyrielight."
Mash was flustered, but then shook her head. "I know, but I'm terribly sorry, I merely assumed his visits were for consultation, since he was a new Master back then." She explained.
"And you, human mage?" Medea then asked El-Melloi II.
"His personal affairs were of no concern to me, as he was merely my contractor, and I his instrument. But, there were times I observed that he seems to rush off towards the direction of the workshop after a briefing. I thought the same with lady Kyrielight on that matter." He replied, implying that he also thought the Master's visits to the workshop were for consultation as well.
Medea sighed. "Then, it's the same answer for me. I only saw him a few times going to the direction of that workshop, and nothing more. I didn't mind, though, as I was his Servant, and private, personal matters are not for me to interfere in." she explained, and Mash bowed. "Thank you so much, Medea!" she says, and the Lord bowed as well.
Medea merely shook her hand, implying that it wasn't a big deal.
As the two went on their way, Medea sighed. "Master hasn't been calling for me the moment that human Caster came, anyways…" she spoke, hugging herself and trying not to cry. "Such a fool, that Master…"
"Hmmmm? Worried for Master aren't we Mash~?" asked Tamamo Cat, and Mash was suddenly flustered. "W-Well, o-of course I am!" she replied.
"But lately, I've been purretty darned worried too~" she then admitted, somehow deflating on the spot. "U-Uh Tamamo? W-What are you doing?" she asked, and the Lord merely sipped another cup of his tea.
"Why I'm moping of course! Master hasn't been calling for me lately too you know…" she then said, and Mash patted her head. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm sure senpai's just really busy." She tried cheering her up.
Tamamo Cat smiled. "Well, the cafeteria is always lively, so I guess it's a blessing on its own!" she then added, as she properly sat back on her chair.
"So, regarding our query…" then spoke Lord El-Melloi II. Tamamo Cat went to ponder over it.
Until, eventually, she sighed and shook her head. "Sorry nya~ This cat's got nothing to say about Master and Da Vinci-chan's relationship. If they do have one, then this cat would most definitely get into a catfight!" she then replied, and Mash giggled nervously, calming her down.
El-Melloi II finished his tea and stood up. "That will be all, thank you." He spoke and motioned for Mash to follow suit.
As the two walked away, Tamamo Cat slumped on the table again. An Archer wearing red approached her. "So, how did it go?" he asked, and she sighed. "It's nothing, Nameless…" she spoke, slumping further.
The Archer merely smiled and took a seat opposite of hers. "You can tell me about it."
"The Master and the mage of the workshop?" asked Siegfried, trying to remember instances where the Master would prance away towards the workshop.
"If you can't remember anything, its fine." Then spoke the Lord, but Mash was rather determined. "I-It would greatly help if you remember anything though!"
"Indeed, I don't remember seeing the Master visit the mage in the workshop, however…" he spoke, and then trailed off, recalling even further.
"…I remember a conversation we had when I noticed he was quite down." He finished, and this began to pique the interests of the other two.
The Dragon Slayer smiled. "He asked me how he would know if he had fallen in love with someone." He said.
They were all silent, until Mash spoke in disbelief. "L-Love?!" she blurted out, and the Lord merely adjusted his glasses.
The Dragon Slayer chuckled. "It caught me off guard as well, but the moment I looked at him, he was all red. I knew then that he was already feeling something beautiful, but I hadn't the faintest idea to whom he was feeling this for." He added.
The Lord then took a cigar, lighting it. Mash adjusted her own glasses. "I didn't know…" she softly spoke.
"Now that you told me about his possible relationship with the mage of the workshop, I'm starting to realize the weight of the words he spoke that time." Siegfried added, nodding even.
"Would you care to tell us what he asked?" the Lord then asked, and Siegfried complied.
"Um, Siegfried, I don't know why I'm asking you this of all people, but…how do you know when you're in love with someone?"
The Master asks quite the tricky question. However, it was not something the Dragon Slayer was unfamiliar with.
"That is indeed a tricky question, Master, but I do believe that it could be answered by simply saying that the moment you gaze at someone and think at how special they are no matter what they do, that's love. At least, that's how I think it's supposed to go."
The Master showed a small smile. He seems to be grateful to have someone understand. "Is that how you see Kriemhild?" he suddenly asked.
Now Siegfried was truly caught off guard. A small blush was present on his face. Ritsuka can't help but laugh.
"He then told me about the feelings he has whenever he was talking with this particular someone. It only made me reassure him that it was indeed love." Siegfried continued explaining.
Mash has become silent, so it was the Lord who did the questioning.
"Did he tell you about who this person was? Or did you ask him about it?" he asked.
Siegfried chuckled again. "Believe it or not, he aptly and quite vaguely described this person's characteristics and physical features."
"W-Well you see, this someone I've fallen for…she's very gorgeous, as in, the epitome of beauty I think. She has a very lovely face with a smile that never fades, that perfectly matches with her beautiful long hair and form. On top of that, she's very smart! A literal genius! There's never a dull day with her!"
The Lord nodded at what Siegfried recounted. "I suppose it should've been somehow obvious when he said 'genius'." He remarked.
"I was still somehow new to Chaldea back then, so I was not yet accustomed to the place nor did I know the people." Siegfried spoke in his defense. The Lord kept smoking and smiled. "Pay it no heed, Dragon Slayer, it was a jest." He replied.
"U-Um, w-would that be all?" then asked a suddenly timid Mash. The two men turned to look at her and saw that she was teary eyed.
"Is something wrong, lady Kyrielight?" asked El-Melloi II, with Siegfried also concerned. Mash forced a smile. "I-Its nothing!" she said and bowed down. "T-Thank you for sharing this, Siegfried!" she spoke, and then ran through the hall.
The two men were left standing, with Lord El-Melloi II finishing up his cigar.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know my recounting of that conversation would hurt miss Mash." He spoke, and El-Melloi II patted him on the shoulder. "You're a good man, Siegfried. Lady Kyrielight merely has…her own personal feelings that needed answering."
"I'll say, what kind of gentleman makes a young lady cry?" spoke Holmes, a disappointed look on his face as a whimpering Mash was hugging him.
"N-No, its alright Holmes…I-I was only overwhelmed…" Mash then spoke, and Lord El-Melloi II sighed. "So, what did you find in this workshop, detective?" he asked.
"Miss Kyrielight told me about the conversation the Master had with the Dragon Slayer a long time ago, and I could say, my own findings line up with what you have gathered." He spoke, and out came little Da Vinci-chan. "Hello~!" she greeted.
She then opened a window and showed to everyone who was present in the workshop a series of clips from the last two weeks.
"Master Ritsuka Fujimaru seem to be rummaging through the various files and trinkets in this very workshop, even asking Da Vinci for help. He said something about wanting to recover records of Mnemosyne from the Singularity that we were able to correct." He explained, and Da Vinci then laid out the files that the Master took out.
"These are our records about the Singularity. Frankly, I don't know what Master-kun would be looking for, until he stopped at this…particular image." She explained, showing the image of Mnemosyne.
An image of the previous Leonardo Da Vinci wearing an odd, ominous kind of headgear.
"He also asked me if we would be able to access Mnemosyne's records all throughout the time she was active, but I answered him, bluntly even, that all of those are gone, just like the Singularity." She further added.
"So, my blunt hypothesis that he's looking for Mnemosyne's records was correct, but the reason for that is because—"
"—he's looking for memories. Specifically, memories of the previous Da Vinci, of his first love, I'm assuming." Interrupted Holmes, but finishing the Lord's sentence nonetheless.
El-Melloi II merely chuckled. "As expected of the great detective." He remarked.
"Please, you're not giving yourself enough credit, Lord El-Melloi II." Holmes then replied.
Everyone then remained silent.
Mash stopped crying and immediately stood properly, moving away from the detective she was hugging earlier.
"Well, I suppose we already know what the next course of action is." Holmes then broke the silence, looking at Da Vinci.
The girl sighed. "Oh, I get it already…" She softly said, pouting as she showed an expression of annoyance.
"My sincerest apologies, I only thought an additional reminder of what we discussed prior to this was needed." Holmes replied, as he bowed slightly and exited the workshop.
"I guess this case is closed." El-Melloi II spoke, exiting the place as well.
Only Mash and Da Vinci remained.
She looked at Mash and saw that the sad expression was still present.
"Mash, I'm—"
"You don't have to apologize." Spoke Mash, adjusting her glasses and looking at her, with a sincere smile on her face.
"I was…slow, I guess." She said, as she walked towards the exit of the workshop as well.
Ritsuka was in his room, reading a summary of the briefing held earlier. There have been multiple sightings of minute Singularities lately, and all of them have become top priority before they could proceed with their main objective.
He sighed. "It really is tiring…" he said, as he tossed the file on the nearby table and let himself crash on the bed.
The door to his room suddenly opened, and he jolted back up.
"Yo, Master-kun!" greeted little Da Vinci.
Ritsuka raised a hand. "Y-Yo, Da Vinci-chan!" he greeted. He was suddenly nervous.
"You weren't at the workshop today, I was waiting for you, you know…" she said, pouting as she approached him.
"Da Vinci-chan, I…" he began to speak, but trailed off. He doesn't know what to say, or rather, doesn't know how to say it.
The little Da Vinci then cleared her throat. "We know, Master. We already know why you've been frequenting the workshop recently." She then spoke, and as Ritsuka gazed at her, she had a serious expression on her face.
"You know, huh…?" he softly said, and smiled small. "I'm terribly sorry Da Vinci-chan, I'm just…still hurt." He added.
Da Vinci then proceeded to sit on his lap, leaning on his back. "Da Vinci-chan?" the Master then said.
"I have the experiences of the original as memories, but that's not something I experienced." She then spoke, and Ritsuka wrapped his arms around her. "I know that…" he softly said. "I know that, and yet..." he trailed off.
"That's why," Da Vinci continued, "in order not to lose to those memories, I want to go over many adventures."
She looked up at the Master, who was shocked at what she was saying. Da Vinci smiled, making herself even more comfortable sitting on the Master's lap. "I want to do more and more things, and know about different topics." She continued.
Ritsuka…found himself smiling. There were no tears: just a genuine smile.
"Because that's the meaning of me being here. In addition to that," she then got off the Master and smiled at him "I feel proud of you being here, Master."
Her words truly touched the Master's heart, that he pulled in the little Da Vinci for a long, gentle embrace.
"Please don't let go." He softly said.
Da Vinci giggled. "I never will~" she replied.
Mash was outside the room with Lord El-Melloi II and the detective Sherlock Holmes.
They were eavesdropping, but only because Da Vinci told them so, and even gave them the tools to do so.
As they heard of the conclusion of the conversation, Mash couldn't help but smile.
"He truly does love Da Vinci, huh?" she softly spoke, even though these words hurt her as well.
