Warning, the story will be up to date with the events of Fate: Grand Order, so there will be spoilers, although nothing too heavy in terms of amount of text, nor will I demand that someone read all of Fate to understand what happens, facts or characters from singularities, lostbelts, events and interludes may be mentioned.
The copyrights of Fate: Grand Order and Re:zero belong to Typemoon and Tappei Nagatsuki respectively.
Thank you for your time and I hope you like it.
"Aruji-sama"- Speak
"Aruji-sama"- think
Aruji= Lord
"Ranmaru, Ranmaru."
Ranmaru could hear her lord's voice.
"Eh? Aruji-sama?"
"You finally wake up, you were standing there looking at nothing."
"Me?"
Ranmaru looked around, noticing the strange environment they were in.
Stone streets and buildings with a clear ancient design, a population wearing ancient dress and clothing, wooden carts covered with cloth roofs to keep out the sun pulled by tamed creatures. Just like the images shown and stories told by other servants of centuries past in Chaldea.
Were it not for the distinctly non-human features and characteristics of several people, such as cat ears, scaly skin, among other things, and that the carts and carriages were pulled by creatures that resembled giant lizards.
Once she remembered what happened in the white corridors of the Chaldea facilities, she turned with concern to her lord.
"Aruji-sama, are you all right?"
"Yes, but, this is certainly a troublesome situation."
Fujimaru let out a sigh as he looked around, before turning to Ranmaru.
"For now let's walk around a bit and see if we can get some information, shall we?"
"Yes, Aruji-sama."
Ranmaru had agreed immediately.
As they walked through the streets, Ranmaru could tell that the people passing around Ranmaru and her lord were looking at them sideways, as if they saw something strange that they had never seen before.
She knew it was somewhat understandable, for unlike the robes, armor and odd costumes, Ranmaru and Fujimaru dressed very differently.
She was wearing her Ranmaru suit, the official clothing of the planet Ranmaru, worn by every Ranmaru who has gone through Ranmaru Academy and become an official Ranmaru. Certainly, common is her planet, but I would understand if she stood out in an unfamiliar environment. That in addition to her cute appearance.
Then there was her lord. Who wore what she was told was his Mystic Code Chaldea Uniform - Artic. The mostly black jacket and set of clothes along with his modern style stood out too much in comparison that he saw around him. That along with his lord's black hair made him stand out noticeably.
This was because all the people around him had hair colors ranging from brown and blonde, to colors like blue and green.
As they were walking down a street full of stalls selling different things, Fujimaru stopped in front of one particular stall.
He noticed the signs on the stall, but didn't even sigh at the most expected result.
"Just as I thought, I can't read it."
"Oh Boy, What weird clothes you wear, are you on a trip? I have something that will do you a lot of good."
The stall owner spoke to him, a stocky man with a scar on his face, he certainly gave an image that some might consider intimidating.
"I'm sorry, would you give me a moment?"
"Huh?...sure."
Fujimaru turned to Ranmaru, who stood behind him.
"Do you think you can read it, Ranmaru?"
At the request, Ranmaru tried to read the signs, but shook her head.
"I'm very sorry, Aruji-sama, Ranmaru doesn't recognize the symbols."
"Don't worry, it's not your fault."
"Hey, you guys."
The one who called out to them was the stall owner, causing them to turn to him, Ritsuka being the one who answered.
"Yes?"
"Are you going to buy something or are you going to keep blocking the road?"
Apparently, he was not someone of good character.
"How disrespectful."
Ranmaru muttered at the offense to her Aruji-sama. But, her complaint did not go unnoticed.
"Huh? Do you have a problem?"
Fujimaru put himself between the two to avoid starting an argument, plus he wanted to try to talk to the stall owner.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, but could I ask a question?"
"Are you going to buy something?"
With that question, Ritsuka remembered a sad fact.
"Money? I haven't seen a single Yen since I arrived in Chaldea!"
He had never needed it in Chaldea, and never in any of his travels either. And even the closest thing to money he had ever used were rare items that some servants asked him for in exchange for materials they had stashed away
So effectively, even if they paid him when they managed to solve the world whitening problem, he was currently penniless.
"I don't have any money, really."
"Then you're broke..."
The stall owner looked at them deeply, before letting out a sigh.
"Just one, if you want some more, they'll have to buy some."
Fujimaru smiled at their sympathy before speaking.
"Thank you, could you tell me where we are?"
The compassion on the salesman's face turned to confusion.
"What kind of question is that, are you making fun of me?"
"No, not at all, I just wish to know that, I promise not to bother anymore."
Noticing the honesty in the boy's words, he decided to answer the question, although it was still stupid.
"Lugunica, Capital of the Kingdom of Lugunica. Happy?"
"Yes, thank you. Let's go Ranmaru."
He started walking down the main street once more, away from the scarred lord's stall, but Fujimaru had to talk to Ranmaru.
"For now we should get organized though..."
As soon as Ranmaru heard her Lord's words, she looked around for some space where they could talk in privacy. Until she found it a little further ahead.
"Aruji-sama, there's an alley over there."
"Well, it will do for the time being."
Indeed, it was simply the entrance to a set of alleys off the main street, but it would be enough for them to be able to talk.
"Ranmaru."
Her lord's serious tone of voice confused Ranmaru a bit.
"Yes? Aruji-sama."
"Are you alright, don't you feel anything strange?"
Ranmaru didn't quite understand the question, but she still put all his effort into trying to notice something that was out of the ordinary.
His heart almost stopped as she noticed something.
"Aruji-sama, our contract!"
"Yes…our contract is broken."
Fujimaru nodded as he looked at the command seals over his hand.
"But it's not just that."
Ranmaru could sense her lord's concern as he spoke.
"I don't understand why, but since we got here, I can't feel any of my contracts with any servant in Chaldea. They are all broken."
All in all, it was an extremely troubling fact, not only of the fact itself, but of that which caused it.
"... Aruji-sama, do you have any idea why that happened?"
"... No, it's the first time it's happened to me, even when I was sent to some singularity I could feel every contract I had made, but that's not the case here."
Fujimaru sighed before looking up at the blue sky framed by the alley walls.
"Besides, with this much mana in the atmosphere, it feels similar to the age of the gods."
Fujimaru was reminded of when he went to the city of Uruk, but it was quite different at the same time.
"Well, a few mysteries to solve, for the time being let's redo our contract."
"Yes, Aruji-sama."
Fujimaru removed the gauntlet from his right hand and took Ranmaru's hand. Along with the glow of his command spells, came the soft comfort of having a contract with a servant.
"Ok, how are you feeling?"
"This Ranmaru is one hundred percent to serve you, Aruji-sama."
"I'm glad."
After speaking, Fujimaru put on his gauntlet and abruptly sat down on some steps in the alley.
"Aruji-sama, you are well?"
"Yeah, just a little short of mana, ending up in a strange world after a mission isn't something stimulating in a good way."
"Did the merchant information do you any good, Aruji-sama?"
Fujimaru immediately responded with a discouraging reply.
"I had never heard of Lugunica, neither had I heard of a middle-aged kingdom harboring mythical creatures."
Ranmaru saw him pull out a white rectangular object from one of his pockets.
"What's that?"
"My communicator, I'm going to check to see if Da Vinci-chan, or at least one of the staff, can be contacted."
A small holographic screen projected from the object. Ranmaru watched it touch what should be buttons for a while, until his lord put the contraption back where it came from.
"Without any kind of signal, though I wasn't expecting anything else, to be honest."
"What do you mean by that, Aruji-sama?"
"Transported to an unknown location, without any information or communicate with Chaldea, and with only a servant."
Fujimaru sighed before looking off into nothingness.
"Is it really okay that I've gotten used to that kind of situation?"
"Ranmaru thinks the ability to adapt is wonderful, Aruji-sama."
"Thank you."
Now that the topic of their situation was over for now, Ranmaru wanted to talk about a more important topic.
"Aruji-sama, we must think about how to address your stay and food in this place while we solve this mystery, this Ranmaru unfortunately does not possess money."
Ranmaru watched her lord check the pockets of his Mystic Code to then show her in his hands what he had.
Ranmaru deeply trusted her lord, but didn't understand why he had that with him.
"Aruji-sama, why are you carrying gems and glasses to a Rayshift mission?"
"That's because-"
"Hey you guys."
They both turned toward a group of three individuals blocking the way to the main street.
The first of them was tall and stocky. The second resembled Fujimaru in stature. While the last one was a little smaller than Ranmaru.
One of them spoke to Fujimaru.
"Hey you, you look like someone smart, don't cause trouble, okay? Just give us everything you have and no one will get hurt."
At the attempted assault, Ranmaru and her lord shared a glance before she spoke.
"Aruji-sama."
Fujimaru didn't need to read her mind to know she meant it.
"Please don't hurt them too much, and no deadly blows."
A graceful smile grew on Ranmaru's face at those words.
"Aruji-sama, your great kindness touches Ranmaru deeply."
The trio of bullies, on the other hand, did not understand what they were witnessing.
"What are they talking about?"
The taller one asked the other two.
"No idea."
The shortest of the three also didn't understand.
The second one, on the other hand, ignored what they might be talking about and pulled out a pocket knife from between his clothes.
"Hey, don't get brave."
Ranmaru's grin widened at that, letting those present see her full smile along with her affiliated teeth.
"Oh, a knife, in that case, I hope you appreciate my Aruji-sama's benevolence."
"Seriously, girl, what the hell are you-"
The thug was immediately silenced by a kick to the face, falling backwards to the ground almost unconscious.
The other two moved quickly to try to pin down the weird looking girl.
Only for one of them to receive another powerful kick to the jaw, meeting a similar fate to the knife wielding thug.
The other one recoiled as he noticed that he suddenly had a sword held together in front of his throat.
Where the sword had come from puzzled him, but not as much as the smile of the person wielding said sword.
The first thug coming out of his stupor tried to approach the knife lying not far from him. But he was stopped by the blade of another sword of the size of the girl wielding it.
"P-piety, please!"
Ranmaru chuckled at the deserved fate of these individuals intending to assault her lord. However, they might be of some use, some information of interest they must have.
"So, you guys could answer to-"
"Hey! Get out of the way! Get out of the way! I'm talking to you! Move aside!"
A voice shouted with a slight nervous tone, approaching down the alley.
What they saw running in their direction was a small girl with long blonde hair and red eyes. Among the people in the alley, she was surely the one who damned well looked like a delinquent.
A glimmer of hope seemed to cross through the lives of the thugs.
"Y-you are-Please help us!"
"Huh? Sorry, now I've got my hands full! You guys got yourselves into that trouble, learn to choose who to mug for next time!"
The girl just kept running down the alley until she reached a dead end, she used a wooden plank against the wall as a platform to jump and hang from the roof of one of the buildings where she disappeared.
After seeing their ray of hope run across a rooftop, the thugs turned to Ranmaru, who showed them no mercy.
"Don't think you'll be able to escape."
Seeing their current state, unaware of the future that awaited them, they did something they never thought they would do in their life as criminals.
"Help! Help! Help! Help!"
"Help! Help! Help! Help!"
"Help! Help! Help! Help!"
Ranmaru rushed to stop them and prevent them from causing a ruckus.
"How do you raise your voices any more-"
"Ranmaru stop there."
Both Ranmaru and the thugs were looking at Fujimaru, who was approaching where they were, and was looking seriously at his servant.
"Aruji-sama?"
Ranmaru, despite being confused by the order, obeyed it by withdrawing her swords.
"We mean you no harm."
After stating that, he crouched down to the level of one of the thugs lying on the ground.
"We just want to know a couple of things, after that, you may leave. Please, you would be very helpful."
The thugs managed to look at each other from their places lying on the floor, doubtful that he was telling the truth.
However, it was the best option they had at the moment.
"... Promise?"
"Sure, count me in."
The answer the black-haired boy gave was immediate, with a smile.
The thugs looked at each other once again coming to an agreement.
"... W-Well I guess-"
"Hold it right there, evildoers!"
Once again, the scene was interrupted by a visitor, who broke the moment with an insult and loud voice.
There was a girl at the entrance to the alley, long silver hair in braids along with somewhat pointed ears, violet eyes full of vigor. White clothes along with a white coat with embroidery of a bird of prey.
"I will no longer tolerate, nor observe, your misdeeds! That's enough!"
SHe gracefully waved her hand, pointing at Fujimaru and Ranmaru.
"Huh?"
That was the moment Fujimaru fell into the position they were in, him crouched down in front of a person lying on the ground with a bruise on his face. Two other people lying not far away and in the middle of everyone, Ranmaru with his two swords in his hands.
"N-no this is-"
Fujimaru tried to explain himself, but the girl frowned, and suddenly ice clocks appeared floating around her, aimed at him and Ranmaru.
"Magic?"
"I'm in a bit of a hurry, however, I can't ignore the crime going on here, so I'd appreciate it if you'd cooperate, if you stop right now I'll leave you-"
"Wait! Wait! This is a misunderstanding! They were the ones who tried to rob us first!"
The girl looked at him scornfully, clearly doubting his words.
"What are you talking about? They were asking for help."
"That was before, we've already agreed that we'd let them go, right?"
The thugs nodded after Fujimaru looked towards them.
The girl seemed to think for a moment before speaking again.
"Now that you mention it, looking at your clothes and that girl's are pretty weird, but they do look like evildoers."
For Fujimaru it wasn't good to judge people by how they looked, but he understood the situation and was grateful that it helped.
"I'm glad you understand. Ranmaru, let them go."
"Aruji-sama, but-"
"Easy, just do it."
Ranmaru obeyed, sheathing her swords.
The thugs slowly got up one by one, until they made up for running towards the main street, but not before saying their goodbyes.
"Know that the next time we see you, you're dead! Especially you! Patch girl!"
Fujimaru watched as they got lost in as they turned the corner of one of the buildings before trying to talk to the girl.
"Hey, do you think-"
However, he was interrupted when he was surrounded by the ice blocks. He shot Ranmaru a look to stop her from doing something, though she agreed, it was reluctantly.
"Don't move. I apologize for the confusion, but that doesn't mean I trust you."
Fujimaru couldn't blame her for it, really.
"No, I apologize, anyone would have thought what you did."
The girl looked at him quizzically at his apology. Before she could speak, another sharp voice was heard speaking.
"Wow, Lia, looks like you got yourself into a weird situation."
From behind the girl's back, it was revealed to those present who spoke.
It was a small cat, with gray fur and floppy ears, almost the size of a person's palm, being clearly not a normal cat.
Plus, it was floating freely through the air.
"Puck? How odd of you to come out like that."
The girl spoke to the cat, as it stretched as if just getting up from a nap.
"Well, it would be rude not to greet another spirit, wouldn't it?"
Saying that, the cat faced Ranmaru. The girl turned to look at the girl in the patch doubtfully.
"You're a spirit?"
To answer, Ranmaru stood upright with complete pride.
"Yes! I am the best Ranmaru of all Ranmarus, the only one allowed to carry this title! I-"
"Her name Mysterious Ranmaru X, you can call her Ranmaru."
"Aruji-sama that's unfair!"
"And I am Fujimaru Ritsuka."
The girl looked at them suspiciously, but the cat-like spirit intervened.
"Well, I don't sense evil intentions from them, I guess you can give them a chance."
"Shut up Puck... You guys know the girl who stole my badge?"
She had seen the one who had stolen from her run into this alley, and if they were here they should know something about the thief.
"No, not a clue."
"Who are you talking about?"
An immediate response.
"Huh?"
The ice blocks vanished due to the girl's surprise and shock. Nervously, she turned to the cat.
"W-Wh-What are we going to do? Was this really a waste of time?"
"A waste of time that's still in process, you really should hurry, with how fast the culprit went, he might have a blessing."
"How can you be so disinterested about all this, Puck?"
"You were the one who told me not to get involved, so what are you going to do?"
Both the girl and the cat turned their attention to the black-haired boy, who approached them.
"Hey, I know it's a bit nosy, but that badge that was stolen from you was something very important?
Fujimaru saw that the girl found the sudden question strange, but still, she answered.
"Yes, it's something of great value to me.""
"Ok, then let us help you."
"Huh?"
"I think I know what the girl who stole you looks like, I'd like to help you."
"Why, I don't consider you doing it for charity."
"Well, we're kind of lost, and we also have nowhere to reside at the moment, a favor would do us quite a bit of good."
"If Aruji-sama wishes to help you, I do the same. Ranmaru will do Ranmaru's best."
The silver-haired girl looked at them suspiciously.
"Just so you know, I don't have a single piece of copper with me."
"I wasn't talking about money, I just wanted to know a few things, the truth is we're new around here in Lugunica."
"You just arrived in the capital?"
"That's one way of putting it."
Seeing that she did not change her attitude, the cat intervened on their behalf.
"I don't sense any bad intentions from them and I don't think it's a bad idea you know, with how big the capital is, it's better than going without any clue."
Fujimaru and Ranmaru saw how she was pondering her words.
"Besides, the sun is starting to set. If night falls, I won't be able to help you. I'm not worried about you taking care of one or two thugs, but... it's better to be safe than sorry."
"Can't you go out at night, is there anything stopping you?"
Fujimaru asked what struck him the most from what he heard.
"Eh... that's weird."
The cat approached Fujimaru.
"I'm a spirit, I use a lot of mana just by materializing. When night falls, I return to the crystal that is my container and prepare for when the sun rises again. Being accurate in time, I'm only available from 9 to 5. You're next to a spirit, and you don't know about that?"
"Well, Ranmaru is a little different."
"Exactly, this Ranmaru will serve to Aruji-sama around the clock if necessary."
"Ohh, admirable, though I am better. After all, my fur is very soft and fluffy. Would you like to try it?, Fujimaru Ritsuka"
The cat stood in front of Fujimaru, showing him its back.
"May I?"
"Well, I was the one who asked."
Fujimaru removed one of his gloves and stroked the spirit.
"Certainly, it's very soft."
"I told you so."
"Aruji-sama!"
"Ranmaru is also very cute."
The girl sighed at the lack of seriousness of her spirit and the scene before her, before walking over and facing Fujimaru.
"I accept your help, but I'm telling you, I can't give you anything in return, okay?"
"Don't worry about it. By the way, what are your names?"
The girl seemed nervous at the mention of that, and it was the spirit who spoke first.
"Well, I'll be first, I'm Puck, nice to meet you Fujimaru Ritsuka."
"It's also nice to meet you, Puck, you can call me Ritsuka."
Seeing Ritsuka extended his hand in greeting, Puck jumped into his hand for a handshake, which resulted in it looking like Ritsuka was trying to strangle the cat
"Roger that, Ritsuka. By the way, you sure know how to pet a cat spirit."
"Well, I have some experience in a way."
The silver-haired girl watched the scene getting stranger and stranger.
"Even if you have a contract with a spirit, it's unusual for you to approach another so easily... and your name is just as unusual. With your black hair, you don't look like you're from the kingdom, you just... where do you come from?"
"Could we talk about that later?, it's a bit of a complicated subject."
"Looking at you again, you seem to be in good shape, were you taught any martial arts?"
"I know a little, but I'm far from a master at anything."
"You know martial arts, and you have a contract with a spirit, are you some kind of noble?"
She asked proudly as if she had solved a small mystery.
Fujimaru was a little flattered to hear that, but he couldn't live up to that kind of expectation.
"Not really."
Seeing that her assumptions seemed to be incorrect, the girl sighed.
"Ok, I'll let it go for now, but you'll answer some questions later... Ritsuka?"
"Yes, thank you for that."
"Though you certainly don't give the appearance of a nobleman."
"What do you mean?"
"Taking away everything mentioned before, your muscles look like a product of work and effort, and from what I saw, your hands don't belong to a nobleman, neither does your skin nor your hair. At least, not a regular one."
"Well, I've been through a lot."
"You're getting weirder and weirder and a bigger mystery."
"That's Ranmaru's Aruji-sama for you."
"Ranmaru... being called weird is usually not a good thing."
"But, rare can also mean unique or special, and to me there is no one more special than my Aruji-sama."
Fujimaru laughed at Ranmaru's uncommon reasoning, before turning to the silver-haired girl.
"In any case, I promise to answer any questions you have later, we should concentrate on finding who stole you."
"Yes, I'll accept your help."
"Okay... now that I realize, you still haven't introduced yourself."
Her eyes widened in surprise, and after a few seconds she spoke, a whisper that Ritsuka and Ranmaru barely managed to hear.
"...Satella."
"Oh?"
"I don't have a last name, so call me Satella."
Both Ritsuka and Ranmaru realized that there was something wrong with her answer, the way she said that name, without emotion, it could very well be a lie, or she didn't feel good about that name. In any case, they decided with a look between them not to bring it up and try not to call her by that name.
Puck, on the other hand, had something to say, even if no one would listen.
"... That's in bad taste, you know?"
Ranmaru heard him, though.
"Okay, a while ago down the alley there had been a blonde girl running, she seemed to be in a hurry, so it could have been her. Ranmaru, could you check the area a bit."
"Yes, Aruji-sama."
Heeding his lord's order, Ranmaru drew his Ōdachi, Ranmaru Blade. The blade hovered above the air horizontally, allowing Ranmaru to climb up the blunt side of the back and head for the skies above the city
"Well, we'll search by land, should we go to the main street?"
Looking at the girl's face, he knew she was doing her best to ignore what she had just seen. Puck, on the other hand, was laughing uncontrollably over her shoulder.
"I agree."
They walked for a few minutes, when they reached the entrance to the alley from the main street, she stopped him.
"Just a second, we could wait a moment?"
"What for?"
"I want to try something."
The girl stood in the middle of the alley with her eyes closed, occasionally muttering words that Ritsuka couldn't hear.
He watched her actions curiously in silence, until someone else spoke to him.
"You don't know about the lesser spirits either?"
Puck floated around her swinging his long tail, having noticed his curiosity.
"Lesser spirits?"
"Lesser spirits are beings who, in a state prior to becoming true spirits, begin to develop a certain degree of consciousness. If they eventually gain power and self-awareness, they can become true spirits like me. She is communicating with them."
While listening to the cat's explanation, Ritsuka noticed that the area around the girl began to glow. Faint lights like fireflies surrounded the girl.
A scene he certainly had no intention of interfering with.
"Huh? What are they doing?"
Before Ritsuka's eyes, the small lights began to move away from the girl and towards where he and Puck were.
He didn't know what to do as the lights began to circle around him.
"Oh, looks like you caught their attention somehow, could it be because of your contract with Ranmaru?, Lia, you might be losing your touch."
Lia was clearly not happy with the teasing.
"Shut up Puck!, Ritsuka you-"
"Aruji-sama!"
Her words were interrupted by a flying Ranmaru landing in the alley. This action caused not only the shock of those present.
"They panicked."
Just as Puck mentioned, the many lights began to flee before finally dispersing.
The girl tried her best to get them to come back, but to no avail.
"Look what you did! They're gone! What are you going to do about it?"
A bit self-conscious about the scolding, Ranmaru looked to her lord for help.
"Aruji-sama..."
"Ranmaru, apologize properly."
"I'm really sorry."
"Forgive her, okay? She didn't mean to, and I don't know what happened just now either, I'm sorry, I promise I'll make it up to you somehow later."
The girl's expression went from angry to somewhat depressed, shaking her head.
"It doesn't matter anymore, it doesn't look like they're going to respond."
"What were you trying to do with those spirits?"
Regardless, she answered Ritsuka's question.
"I was trying to see if I could get information from them about who we're looking for."
Ranmaru hearing that understood that due to her entrance into the alley, the resources to help the girl were reduced, and with that, that she went against her goal of helping her lord in helping the girl.
Everyone immediately noticed how Ranmaru seemed to almost shed a tear in frustration.
"B-but it takes some time and lesser spirits don't have the kind of self-awareness that regular spirits do, so I wasn't expecting much, but... ok, sorry, it's a lie."
Ritsuka knew immediately that she said it so Ranmaru wouldn't feel bad, and decided to try to change the subject to prevent both of them from starting to regret it more.
"Did you find something? Ranmaru."
Ranmaru seemed to sink deeper into her misery at the question.
"Sadly, no, she seems to have stopped running across rooftops to hide."
"I guess she's pretty skilled, we should look for where she might have headed."
Fujimaru sighed and decided it was best to keep moving forward.
"We'll have to gather more information, shall we?"
"Yes."
The group headed down the main street with a depressed Ranmaru trailing behind.
The group had been going through the main one for almost an hour now, and they hadn't gotten anyone who knew any information about the thief, and if they knew anything they didn't say it, maybe the way they looked had something to do with it.
As Ritsuka looked around the place looking for someone he hadn't talked to yet, the silver haired girl, tugged on her sleeve.
"Hey, Ritsuka..."
Ritsuka noticed that she was staring at something across the street. Looking in the said direction, he noticed that she was looking at her.
Near the building across the street, stood a young girl. She looked to be about ten years old, with brown hair, her eyes were full of anxiety and perhaps if they were closer they could surely see tears forming in her eyes.
Ritsuka didn't know the girl who called herself Satella very well, and neither he nor Ranmaru wanted to call her by that name until they knew the whole truth. But if there was one thing he could know about her in the short time he met her, and that was that she was too kind, so he could imagine what her intentions were at the moment.
"I see, you want to help her?"
She looked somewhat surprised that he guessed that, but then looked worriedly at the girl again.
"Yes, she looks like she's lost and about to cry."
"Ok, let's go."
Ritsuka started walking to cross the street next to Ranmaru, who heard everything and immediately accepted in small change of plans with a smile.
However, he stopped before crossing the street when he noticed that the silver-haired girl wasn't following them. He turned to her and saw that she was standing there staring at him.
"You... I thought you might protest or something."
"Not really, I understand it's important what we're doing, but I can't ignore a crying girl either."
The girl looked surprised by his response, while Ranmaru looked highly pleased with a big smile at her lord's action.
"Ranmaru's Aruji-sama is so kind."
Having the positive response to act from her companions, The silver haired girl trotted across the street with a smile, leaving the others behind.
The young girl across the street, who had been looking down with teary eyes, noticed someone coming toward her. She looked up with hopeful eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm not the person you're looking for."
Hearing that and seeing the silver-haired girl kneel before her, her eyes filled with fear.
"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but where are your father and mother, aren't they with you?"
The one called Satella, on the other hand, had not noticed such fear, and tried to speak to the young girl in the kindest tone Ritsuka and Ranmaru had ever heard come out of her.
But it wasn't enough to convey her procuring to the girl, who was now trembling.
"Umm... don't cry... please don't cry. I won't hurt you, okay?"
She tried to keep the girl from completely shutting herself off from her, but it didn't seem to work, and the girl was shaking her head from side to side, refusing to look up. She was about to shed the accumulated tears when...
"Hi, I'm sorry you're scared, but we want to help you, so you have nothing to worry about, Onii-san and Onee-san are going to help you."
A soft voice caught the girl's attention, she looked up a little to identify the other person who had approached her. When she did so, she didn't bother to look at either the clothes or the hair color of the person kneeling before her, she only looked at his smile and his eyes.
A soft smile, full of tenderness and compassion, and eyes of a deep blue color, which gave her a look full of warmth.
With nothing more than that, the girl leapt towards the person standing to the side of him, using him as an object to interpose herself and the unknown silver-haired girl.
A hand stroked her brown hair gently with much affection.
"Ok, ok, you went through a lot of fear right, it was really hard?"
She nodded as she had her face pressed against the black sleeve of the speaker.
"I see, You're a very brave girl, you're a good girl."
Ritsuka continued to coddle the girl, until she stopped shaking.
"But, did you know that?"
Catching her attention, Ritsuka got her to finally look directly at him.
"Onee-san can seem a bit scary and stern."
He could almost feel the silver-haired girl's gaze boring into him.
"But, she saw you across the street and was really worried about you, she was in tears when you couldn't answer her, do you think you can excuse her?"
The girl looked doubtfully at the silver haired girl, when she looked at the black haired boy again she was filled with some courage when she saw his smile. She took a few steps until she was in front of the girl.
Standing in front of her he could finally see the concern in the girl's violet eyes.
"...I'm sorry."
A voice so soft it was barely audible, but that was enough for the silver haired girl.
"Don't worry, I'm not angry."
When she saw the silver haired girl give her a smile, the girl also smiled and turned to look at the boy, who was giving her a smile full of approval before speaking.
"Do you think you can answer a question, to help you?"
The girl nodded and answered each question quickly and clearly.
"So, you got separated from your mother, don't worry, we'll find your mother and everything will be fine, okay?"
After stroking the girl's head once more, Ritsuka held out his hand, and she took it.
The silver haired girl, who was standing next to them, looked at him wide eyes.
"Ritsuka, you are very good with children, is it your trade to tame children?"
"Don't say it like that, you make it sound like I kidnapped them!"
"So, have you taken care of children before?"
"Yes, on more than one occasion, although I don't have any siblings."
Certainly, there were many servants who were or acted like children.
Fujimaru looked at the girl and an idea occurred to him.
"Hey, do you want Onee-san to hold your hand?"
The girl, looked a little nervously towards her Onee-san until she nodded and held out her other hand.
"Then, Onee-san, would you take this little girl's hand?"
The silver-haired girl took the hand with a smile.
"It's okay, don't worry. Let your Onee-chan take care of this, we'll find your mom, okay?"
Ritsuka took the moment to talk to someone a few feet away from them.
"Ranmaru, you've been very quiet, is something wrong?"
Indeed, Ranmaru was a few meters away from the scene, looking a bit nervous and depressed towards her lord.
"No, Aruji-sama, just... I'm not very good with children, even in my native place. I'm sorry I'm no help to you."
"Don't worry, Ranmaru is amazing, and you're always very helpful."
Ritsuka saw her eyes light up at his words, and by the gleam in her eye patch, he knew it was a bit literal.
Ranmaru wiped away the tears she almost shed and bowed to her lord.
"Aruji-sama... this Ranmaru can't thank you more for your words."
Ritsuka smiled at his servant and then spoke to the girl holding her hand.
"Ok, let's go find your mother."
And so, with a smiling group, the search began, not for a thief, but for a mother.
That quest ended soon after.
For better or worse, the group stood out too much in the crowd, from Ritsuka and his unique physical appearance, the silver-haired girl with her beauty and noble clothing, and Ranmaru with her Ranmaru suit that gave her a military appearance, along with the outrageous mix of colors of the costume. Making them find the girl's mother in no time.
"Thank you very much."
It were the words of the mother, a woman with long brown hair, who thanked the three of them several times, though they just smiled and let it go as if it was no big deal.
As they were leaving, the girl waved goodbye to them several times, which they reciprocated with their smiles. Once they lost sight of the mother and the girl in the crowd, the silver-haired girl spoke.
"You know Ritsuka, more than an Onii-san, you looked like a mom there."
"Where did that come from!"
She pressures seemed to think for a moment before answering.
"The way you comforted her and talked to her. You looked a lot like a very loving mom who tries to keep her daughter from crying, at least that's the image you gave me."
"No comment."
"You're a good boy."
"Now, who looks like a mom when you talk like that? Besides, it doesn't seem like our ages differ much."
In response, the girl narrowed her violet eyes and lightly said.
"Certainly... after all, despite how I look, I am a half elf."
Her violet eyes went through different emotions, to a mixture of resignation and helplessness.
However, those emotions didn't seem to faze her companions
"So, this is what an elf looks like, with pointed ears, Aruji-sama?"
"I really don't know, so far I haven't met an elf before."
"Huh?"
She could only express confusion before the scene before her. This was noticed by Ritsuka.
"What's wrong?"
"It's not that there's something going on, it's just... I mean, I'm a half elf... and..."
"I'm sorry, we should have reacted a certain way?"
The girl's reaction left Ritsuka and Ranmaru speechless.
"Ah-"
She made a strange sound in her throat, before turning away from them, finding the nearest wall, kneeling next to her and grabbing her head with both hands.
"Take that!"
"You hit me out of nowhere!?"
"Puck-sama, why hit my Aruji-sama?"
The cat that had come out of nowhere, and was coming and going at any time, had hit Ritsuka in the face with one of its paws.
Before the questioning of his actions, he just purred and stroked his whiskers with the same paw that hit Ritsuka.
"I don't know, I felt this overwhelming frustration inside me and I couldn't keep it inside me."
"That was the only reason?...although it didn't really hurt."
"Well, I'm not getting angry or anything. If I have to say anything, it's that it's actually the opposite."
"The opposite?"
"Yes, the opposite."
"... I see."
"You seem to have caught on."
Ranmaru, on the other hand, hadn't caught what the cat meant, but she could guess that it had to do with the fact that that girl, who had already returned along with the group, was half elf.
Twisting the tip of her hair, the girl looked forcibly at Ritsuka.
"Ritsuka, you... oaf."
"I guess I earned an insult for a reason unknown to me."
"If you don't understand, it's not my problem. More importantly, we need to continue our quest."
"Do you think we've lost much time?"
"I hope not, she must be getting farther and farther away."
"And as big as this place is, we're really going to need someone to ask about this thief."
Heeding her lord's frustration, Ranmaru tried to think of a way to help after making mistakes and not being of any help during the day, she wanted to contribute to the search very badly. Until she came up with an idea.
"Aruji-sama, I think we should try to go to the site of the robbery, there may have been an accomplice at the scene, or at least a witness who has an idea of what happened."
"That's a great idea, Ranmaru."
"Praise me more this Ranmaru, Aruji-sama."
"Okay, Ranmaru is the best Ranmaru of all Ranmaru."
Ritsuka watched as a bright smile grew on Ranmaru's face as she was pampered by him. Then he turned to look at the pointy-eared haired girl.
"Do you remember where you were robbed?"
"Yes, I think... it was around here."
The group followed the girl for a while until they came to a certain street that looked very familiar to Fujimaru and Ranmaru
"Aruji-sama this was where-"
"Yeah... I know."
"What, is something wrong?"
The place where she had been robbed was the same street where Ritsuka and Ranmaru had suddenly appeared.
"No... more like what-"
"You two again, Mr. Broke, didn't you promise you wouldn't come here anymore?"
Just as Ritsuka and Ranmaru remembered, further down the street, there was a fruit stall, tended by a burly owner who owed them a cold stare with which customers should not be served.
"I apologize for not keeping my word, but we need some help."
"And you want more, this time you'll have to pay."
Ritsuka turned to look at the rest of the group at the mention of money.
"Just so you remember, I don't have any money."
"Aruji-sama, unfortunately, money from my native home doesn't work here."
"Don't worry, I figured as much."
"If you know you are three beggars, then why come to me?"
The store owner watched as the boy scratched his head, a little embarrassed, until he started to look for something in his pockets.
"Mmm? Are you... the ones from before?"
Those present turned around. Standing in front of them was the woman with long brown hair, accompanied by a very happy girl holding her hand.
"Yes, although not much has happened, what brings you here?"
"Well, this is my husband's store, so I thought I'd stop by and say hello."
The group looked up at the burly man with some surprise. He certainly didn't look like someone very sociable at first.
"Oh, look, you seem pretty excited. Say, do you know these poor beggars?"
"Beggars? Honey, don't call them that!"
Hearing these words from her husband, the woman scolded him. She then explained how she met the group in front of her husband's store.
The man looked quite sorry for what happened after knowing the story.
"I'm sorry about that. That's no way to talk to the people who saved my daughter. Please forgive me."
"Oh, don't worry about it. I mean, it's true that we don't have any money, and..."
"I still don't fully accept it, it bothers me deeply as an insult to Aruji-sama."
Unlike the silver-haired girl, Ranmaru had an objection.
"I..."
"Ranmaru, it's okay."
"Aruji-sama?"
"He already apologized, and I forgave him, so it's all right."
Ranmaru looked at her lord, who pretended the problem was too small a thing to bother with and left it behind with a smile.
Ranmaru couldn't go against her lord's feelings.
"... If you say so, Aruji-sama, so be it."
"... Thank you, boy."
"Don't worry."
After that, the young girl approached the silver-haired girl, showing her hand, where she held an ornament in the shape of a small red flower.
"Please take it. My daughter wants to thank you in her own way."
The girl's mother urged her to accept it, heeding her words, the girl took the ornament and placed it on her coat, kneeling in front of the girl, so she could see it.
"Thank you, I like it very much."
Seeing her Onee-san's big smile, the girl blushed and looked away. The store owner, seeing all this, cleared his throat.
"You saved my daughter. I want to thank you. Ask me anything you want."
The man had put on his best smile to say that. The group accepted it with a smile and asked any questions that might give them a clue to their thief.
"That's all I know."
"Ok, let's head that way."
The group started walking down the main street after saying their goodbyes.
"By the way, catch!"
The owner watched as the black haired boy pulled something out of his pocket and threw it towards him. When he caught it, he noticed what it was.
A blue colored gem, perfectly cut rectangular.
"Boy, I can't accept this!...not like this."
"... Then consider it payment for the other time, after all I broke my promise, so I owe you. Besides, you have a family to take care of."
"Hey!-"
"See you later!"
Ritsuka ignored the owner's protests and rejoined the group.
"Ritsuka, if you had a gem with you, then why don't you have any money?"
"... For another time."
"You're getting weirder and weirder."
"That's this Ranmaru's Aruji-sama for you."
After a while, they arrived at the place the store owner had told them about. The atmosphere of the street was full of gloom and abandonment, a great contrast to the bustle of the main street which was not far from this street.
The slums, an area of Lugunica characterized by lawlessness, dank streets and sour smell gave a dark atmosphere, even if they were in broad daylight. But the streets were darker as dusk was approaching.
According to what the store owner said, if they had been robbed of anything, it was highly likely to be around here.
"So this is the place, it really is quite different from the main street."
Ritsuka agreed with Ranmaru's comment.
"Well, there's three of us, so we'll figure it out somehow, and there's also Puck."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
Puck, at the mention, squeezed his contractor's shoulder.
"But we really don't have time to just sit and talk anymore. Even if you want my help at some point, I only have an hour left."
Ritsuka took the spirit's words into consideration and thought of a plan.
"In that case, Ranmaru."
"Yes?"
"Could you watch over us from the sky, you'll be able to help us quickly if necessary, and being less, we won't attract so much attention."
"Understood, Aruji-sama. Please take care of yourself."
Using his Ranmaru Blade, Ranmaru flew over at a distance close enough to see every movement of his Lord and the pointy-eared girl, and large enough to not be noticed in the sky, taking advantage of the fact that the sky was orange due to it being darkening.
After that, Ritsuka turned to the girl beside her.
"We'll investigate through the streets."
"The people who live here are probably used to getting into fights, what kind of magic do you know how to use?"
"…"
Only silence was the answer he gave her.
"Wait, you don't know spirit magic? Even though you have a contract with a spirit?"
"The truth... I don't know the term."
The surprise on her face was something Ritsuka had almost gotten used to by now. She, on the other hand, sighed and accepted his ignorance on certain subjects once again.
"You... you really owe me a lot of explanations."
"As many as you wish."
Faced with the prospect of not getting any information for now, she put the matter aside.
"In that case, I'll go to the front."
"Understood, I'm not really used to going to the front when it comes to fights."
"Although that would make it easier for me."
With her in front and him behind, Ritsuka was reminded a bit of going on missions with Anastasia. Both girls had similar hair and wore ice, though that was the only resemblance the half elf girl had to the Duchess of Chaldea.
Though, despite what was said, the term walked beside her.
The further they went into the streets of the slums, the more people they encountered, and while they didn't manage to get any relevant information from them, they at least managed to get some directions and advice.
"The people around here don't seem so bad, they've been pretty a friendly to be honest."
"Probably has to do with how you look, you've got quite a bit of dust and dirt on you, and somehow people like you."
Ritsuka laughed at the mention of his current state. Even before coming to this place, he had dust and dirt on him because of Rayshift's mission. After all, you had to expect some dust and flying debris if you had two Berserkers with you.
"That's one possibility. Although, with you, it's another case."
"... I guess I stand out, don't I?"
Certainly, people either ignored her or responded to her in a hostile manner, probably due to her spotless white clothes and coat, that was for sure, besides herself. Ritsuka supposed she gave a very noble and high-class appearance in this place.
"Well, leave it to me."
She nodded reluctantly at having to rely on his help.
"I'm sorry, but I'm already at my limit."
The one who spoke faintly was Puck, who was leaning against her neck. His gray fur glowed with a faint light, and his figure was a blur.
"I see, sorry for not making it sooner."
The cat let out a snort at the blue-eyed boy's apology.
"Look at you nothing else, you talk like I'm going to die, relax, I'm fading because I worked harder than usual."
"Still..."
"I just tried to stay longer than usual because I wanted to protect my daughter from suspicious people around her. But when I overwork, I end up fading away when it's time for me to disappear."
Seeing that Ritsuka stopped trying to retort, Puck looked at the girl, who pulled from her breast pocket a crystal that glowed with green light.
"I'm sorry to push you so hard, Puck. I'll do my best from here on out, so just rest."
Puck crawled from her arm to the crystal in her hands. When he reached the crystal, he hugged it with his small body. While still hugging the crystal, he turned to the girl.
"I'm sure you know this, but be careful and don't over exert yourself. If anything happens, feel free to use your Od and call me back."
"I know, I know. I'm not a child. I can take care of myself."
"I wonder about that... My precious daughter always makes me worry when it's things like that. I'm counting on you, Ritsuka, Ranmaru too."
To Ritsuka, the way Puck was looking at the girl, it was indeed that of a father looking tenderly at his daughter. Though, she looked somewhat irritated and embarrassed by his words.
"Understood, we'll tread carefully, and I can call Ranmaru right away if necessary."
"I can tell you haven't told us the whole truth about you and that spirit yet, but that's okay. Now with that out of the way, good night... be careful."
With one last look directed at his daughter, Puck finally faded away. His small body transformed into a small ball of light, which gradually melted around as if disappearing.
"It's just the two of us now... but don't get any funny ideas. I can still use magic, you know?"
"I wasn't going to do anything!"
"By the way, I've been weighing it for a while."
"Yeah? What's up?"
She pointed to his right hand.
"What's that mark on your hand, it doesn't look familiar to me from any particular place or family."
"They're called command espells, you might say the symbol of my contract with Ranmaru, besides having other functions."
"I see."
He noticed that she still had curiosity in her eyes, but, they had work to do.
Their search continued as before. Every time they found someone, Ritsuka would ask about the thief, describing her features, seeing if anyone would tell them who she might be.
Until they came across a man who could give valuable information.
"It's Felt you guys are looking for, whatever she stole is probably at the Stolen Goods Warehouse. She usually takes the stuff there, they tag it and then the old man, who is the master there, will sell it to a market somewhere."
"It must be someone very trustworthy."
"If he wasn't, people wouldn't give him what they steal. Anyway, if they're looking for something stolen from them, they'd better have it to pay for, here what was stolen has already lost its owner. After all, it's the original owner's fault for allowing it to be stolen in the first place!"
After the man laughed, Ritsuka got him to tell him the information of where the warehouse was.
Having a concrete clue and a place to go, Ritsuka called Ranmaru, and they met in an alley to get organized.
"Aruji-sama, now that we know about this warehouse, what's the plan?"
"It looks like we will have to pay or fight to get the badge back."
"Why do I have to pay to get back something that's mine...?"
The girl sighed before Ritsuka asked her a question as he reached into his pockets for something.
"How expensive is your badge?"
"Where does that come from?"
"If we'll try to bargain a little, I needed to know how expensive it might be."
"... It's small, but it has a gem embedded in the center. I don't know how much money someone could buy it for, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be a small amount."
As soon as he finished describing his badge, Ritsuka showed him what with his hands what he had been searching his pockets for.
"Do you think this might help?"
"You... I don't know where you get these gems from, but that doesn't matter. I can't accept you making this expenditure on me."
Even if she refused, Ritsuka didn't seem to hear her and continued to insist with a smile.
"Don't worry about the expense. If I can help someone with this, then it's not much of a problem."
"If Aruji-sama wishes to proceed that way, then you should accept it."
Ranmaru supported the idea completely with a big smile.
The girl looked quite frustrated from what they could see.
"... Why are you trying so hard to help me?, I already told you that I have no way to pay you back."
The girl saw him look to the side as he scratched his cheek before answering her.
"... To be honest, I don't have any particular reason, I just thought you needed it and decided to help you, that's all it was."
Ranmaru watched as the girl's eyes widened in surprise at her lord's smile and honesty. Ranmaru herself was touched by her master's simplicity and manner.
"Ranmaru's Aruji-sama's heart is beautiful."
Ranmaru noticed how the girl sighed before looking at her lord.
"... You...are a complete fool."
Despite her words, the girl had a small smile on her face.
"Thank you for the insult."
Her lord accepted the words with a smile.
"... But...thank you."
"Happy to help."
A small, comfortable silence settled among the group, before Ritsuka spoke again.
"So, how much do you think I can get out of this?"
"Are you going to go through with it?"
They all laughed at the discussion.
After they finished laughing, Ritsuka proceeded to end the meeting in the alley.
"Well, let's go to the warehouse first, then we'll see if it's possible to negotiate. Ranmaru."
"Yes."
"Could you go first and keep an eye on the warehouse?, once we get there, let us know with a signal if everything is okay."
"Yes, Aruji-sama."
Making use of his Ranmaru Blade, Ranmaru headed towards the depot.
"Come to think of it, we didn't ask how to approach the depot master, will there be a password?"
"Let's be direct and honest. We'll just have to say: they stole something from us, so if you find it, please return it."
Ritsuka laughed nervously at her suggestion.
"That won't work, unfortunately. Let me take care of this."
"Alright. I'll take care of it."
Noticing the strange silence and his stare, she became a little nervous.
"... What's wrong, why are you staring so much?"
She watched as Ritsuka shook her head from side to side before speaking.
"Nothing, I just thought you'd protest or something."
Seeing how she suddenly started laughing with her answer, Now it was him who was confused.
"What's so funny?"
"It seems we've had this conversation before."
Ritsuka took a moment before remembering their conversation when they were going to help the little girl across the street, making him grow a smile.
"You're right."
"... Ritsuka?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry... it's nothing. Once we get the badge, I'll apologize properly."
"I guess I'll be able to ask for some explanations too."
"You fool."
Despite the insult, they both headed for the warehouse with a smile.
Ranmaru arrived at the address indicated to her by her lord.
Next to the capital's boundary wall, deep in the slums, there was The Stolen Goods Warehouse.
It was a tall and relatively large building, at least large enough to serve as living quarters for numerous people.
Ranmaru did not see that it had any windows to corroborate information or the presence of anyone, which was understandable considering the purpose of the building. Nor could she identify any light source inside the building from the outside without approaching it.
After about ten minutes of rigorous surveillance, she saw her Lord and the girl arrive at the entrance of the building.
Ranmaru, not noticing any activity inside the building, nor having seen anyone enter or leave, signaled her lord to continue with the plan.
Ranmaru saw her lord talking to the girl, probably talking about who would enter first.
"That's odd. Aruji-sama goes first?"
He saw his lord knock on the door, before opening it and making his way through the seemingly empty building.
After a while passed, the girl proceeded to enter as well.
"Now she... What's going on?"
After a while longer, Ranmaru's blood ran cold with what happened.
"Ranmaru come!"
"This feeling!"
The entire expanse of her body, even her saint graph, was pierced by the lord's voice.
His voice demanding his presence with a command spell.
In an instant, she slashed through the roof of the warehouse using his Ranmaru Blade. Wooden boards and dust flew for a few milliseconds before being dissipated by a swing of Ranmaru's blade.
Ranmaru was able to witness the scene before her clearly thanks to the light coming from the hole she created.
Her body froze at what she saw.
Boxes, pots, swords and metal objects strewn about the place, some marinating in a thick red, almost dry liquid.
Blood.
Blood that came from a large corpse to his left, no one she recognized.
To his right lay the body of the girl with white hair and white clothes, now stained by the red of her own blood, spilling in heaps on the wooden floorboards.
But none of that mattered, and it was what was in front of Ranmaru that shocked her...
There by a wall, stood a woman in a black dress and cloak with purple hues, her black hair and eyes matching, along with a friendly smile...
She stood next to her lord.
"... Ran... maru."
Her voice was pained and choked.
Her lord was pinned to the wall from his arms by a pair of blades.
At her lord's feet stretched a lake of deep red.
It was his intestines.
On his torso was a large gash from both sides that let out his intestines.
And from his neck there was another sea of red running down his body.
His throat had been slit.
"Ara, looks like someone is interrupting our quality time."
The smile on the woman's face only made Ranmaru clench the hilt of his blades even tighter.
"Aruji-sama!"
"You must be that look I've been feeling for a while now."
The woman smiled at Ranmaru before looking at Ritsuka.
"So that's what you used your last words for, and here I had thought it was for a spell."
Ranmaru watched as his lord struggled to keep his eyes open. He was trying to speak by moving his jaw a few millimeters, but the sounds wouldn't come out.
"Aruji-sama!"
Ranmaru tried to call out to him, but it seemed in vain.
Moments later... Fujimaru Ritsuka, last master of mankind and Ranmaru's lord... He had died.
"Ranmaru, Ranmaru!"
Ranmaru looked in front of her, a person, a person very important to Ranmaru, who just a moment ago had been on the verge of death.
"Huh?"
His hands gripping her shoulders. His black hair with a bit of dust in it. And his blue eyes, full of life and concern for her.
"Are you sure you're okay? You're standing there staring at nothing again."
"...Aruji...sama?"
Well, here is the first chapter.
To be honest, I didn't expect anything particular from doing this, but I really appreciate the good reception, and especially the suggestion about the pronouns for Ranmaru. It's fun, but it certainly makes it hard to read without pronouns, so I'll use it during the narration, as well as avoid filling the paragraphs with the word Ranmaru.
Although the question about whether there will be more servants is something I can't answer, literally, regardless of whether I say yes or no, it would be a spoiler of the general idea I have, but I will answer it in not too long.
Anyway, yep, it's not Ritsuka who holds the return by death, but his servant Ranmaru. the return by death obviously has some changes, since it was not Ranmaru who died, but Ritsuka. this will be explained in the future. it was something that came to my mind just because it was Ranmaru I put there, I didn't want to just go and replace Subaru with another character, I really wanted to at least make something a little interesting, at least for me, by changing something.
Another thing that i would like to see or write someday would be a crossover where subaru is not eliminated, nor his return by death removed. it would be something very interesting because it would show from an external point of view the change of sabaru through the checkpoints.
In any case, I hope you like it, and if anyone has any questions, criticisms (with respect, of course) or suggestions I would gladly accept them, without further words, thank you for your time.
And have a Merry Christmas, or Happy Friday if you don't celebrate it.