"Alright, Ritsuka. Stay calm. You can do all of it again." Ritsuka calmed himself as he exited Kazuha's quarters. After confirming he was, once again, in Kaedehara Kazuha's body, he repeated the steps he previously took. Putting on his outfit, pinning the strange ornament on his back, and sheathing the sword that was useless in his hands, Ritsuka made his way up above deck to get a better understanding of his situation. He recalled they were supposed to sail off when he returned to his body.

After taking in the salty sea breeze again, Ritsuka noticed that they were not that far off from shore. He estimated they'd reach the dock within the hour. In any case, Ritsuka knew he needed to see the captain again—just in case.

"Good morning, Captain."

"Yo, Kazuha," she replied out of habit. As he came up from her left, she probably did not see him coming up. "We should be reaching Ritou soon. Just hold on tight." Whether Ritou was the name of the town or the island itself was unknown to Ritsuka but he'll figure out soon enough. "So… how does being back here feel?"

"Huh? Oh…" Ritsuka's heart skipped a beat for a second there. "It's been a while since I've been back, right?"

"It's only been a few weeks."

"Yeah… but you can never not feel homesick on some level, could you?" Ritsuka replied though he could not hide the nervousness in his voice that well.

"I suppose you have a point," the captain hummed. "What parts of Inazuma do you miss?"

'So Inazuma's the country then?' That or the island's name. That also confirms that wherever he is was not Earth. Ritsuka was confident enough to say that since he did not recognise that name or Liyue's. The Count also believed Kazuha hailed from a Singularity since he was definitely not from the currently bleached Earth. Temporarily putting a pin on that thought, however, Ritsuka answered, "The people there." It was a vague enough answer that should not expose him whatsoever.

"I see… but you've not met anyone there yet, haven't you?"

"…Ah?"

"Pfft… Bwahahahah!" The captain turned to look at him and immediately burst into laughter at the look on Ritsuka's (well, Kazuha's) face. "Sorry, I couldn't help it," she apologised. "I've got to say, I wasn't expecting you to come back right before we reach Inazuma." She paused to give it some thought before adding, "Actually, this was probably what we should've expected. In any case, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Tatsuka."

"Tatsu… It's Ritsuka," he corrected her which made her apologise again.

"Ah, right. Kazuha only mentioned your name once the day after your switcheroo. Sorry about that."

That made sense. Even if it was unlikely to happen again, Kazuha would have probably mentioned the incident to someone. "So… you're not weirded out by this whole thing?"

"Kid, when you've seen the things I've seen, nothing is too weird. Kazuha's the type to go with the flow but as for me? I've seen enough to know you can never truly understand how the world works." Of course the pirate captain was a source of wisdom too, Ritsuka should have expected as much. Despite sounding like Caren, it was (naturally) more accurate to say she was similar to Drake. "Oh, name's Beidou by the way. Now sit tight, we'll talk more when we enter port."

"Su—sure..." Ritsuka muttered as he turned around. Before he went back down the steps to wait by the bow again, he looked back and asked one last question. "Wait, how did you know it was me and not Kazuha?"

"Simple; you forgot to tie your hair again."

Ah... that explains it. Well, at least it turned out much better than he thought it would. He supposed he had to thank Kazuha for making things easier for him. Ritsuka, meanwhile, never said a word of the initial incident to anyone who wasn't already aware of it. Speaking of which, since he was here, that meant Kazuha must be back in Chaldea. Ritsuka just hoped none of the Servants would do anything drastic should they discover Kazuha in his body.

Knock knock

"Senpai?'" Mash worriedly knocked on the door again. Ritsuka had yet to leave his bedroom for breakfast. "Are you alright?"

Still no answer.

"Senpai?" She knocked again. 'Did something happen to him in his sleep again?' There was only one way to find out. Quietly apologising under her breath for intruding, she opened the door and entered. The lights were still out so her first thought was that Ritsuka was still sleeping. Upon turning on the light, it was clear this was not the case. 'Empty?!'

Oddly, Ritsuka's bed was already made so it was unlikely he was whisked off in his sleep unless the kidnapper or kidnappers took the time to clean up the evidence. 'But his uniform's here too.' The black Mystic Code was still hanging by the closet. That was another oddity…

In any case, there was still a problem and it was the missing Master. She'd have to inform the others first.

While Mash rushed to the command room, elsewhere in Chaldea in one of the private rooms, the occupants were busy discussing their options.

…Actually, it'd be more accurate to say only one of them was talking as the other two were silent; the Count of Monte Cristo was observing the other, whose face was planted firmly on the table.

"…Do you realise it's rude to ignore people when they speak?" Merlin spoke with a serious tone but there was the ever-so-slight grin on his face. "Avenger? Not-Master? Are you listening to me?"

"No." "Mmess."

"At least someone is nice enough," the magus pouted. "In any case, let us give Kaedehara here the floor. What were you doing before waking up here? Do not spare a single detail please."

After sighing into the table for several seconds, Kazuha pushed himself up to address the Servants. "According to Captain Beidou, the Alcor— that is our flagship —was going to enter the port town of Ritou. I was supposed to carry out a task for her once we do but…"

"Do you expect whatever task she had for you to fall onto our Master?" The Count narrowed his eyes at Kazuha. At this point, the latter believed that was the Servant's resting face.

"I want to say no since I've informed her of our situation but…" Beidou was prone to making decisions that she felt would be useful in the long run. And if he and Ritsuka were to continue swapping bodies like this, what better way to help him than have Ritsuka familiarise himself with the lands of Inazuma? Kazuha just hoped she'd have the foresight to have someone accompany him.

"Hmm… I suppose we should stop wondering and simply have faith in him," Merlin stated which Kazuha agreed with. He knew little of Ritsuka but he should trust him to get through the day like before. However, Merlin continued speaking— "Right now, our main priority is to make sure you survive today. It's unlikely that you'd manage to fumble through everything a second time."

Oh… that didn't sound good…

A/N: Head empty so not much to say. Enjoy the chapter, I guess