By the Bonfire: Beneath titans

Ritsuka's eyes fluttered open as he felt himself coming around to consciousness, he groaned as he moved his left hand up to his forehead and clasped it. Another of the freakish dreams again.

He'd started getting them just after France, but they hadn't been too great of an issue because they mainly seemed to revolve around Chaldea. Then he started getting weird ones in places he'd never seen, like some weird graveyard and more recently it had moved into some nasty forest.

As he made to move himself fully, he found that his right side felt heavy.

As if something were holding onto it, he then felt a tickling sensation beneath his chin as if it were resting on something. He got a sinking suspicion that he knew what it was, although he desperately hoped that it wasn't the case. Although knowing his current streak of luck, it wasn't likely.

His head turned to look down as best he could, soon finding himself staring down at a mop of teal coloured hair lying on top of his shoulder, he froze and felt his heart rate quicken and the blood slowly rise up his face. He was certain he had locked the door before he went to bed. Which apparently had done very little to stop his new 'visitor' from entering and making herself at home.

Much as it somewhat freaked him out.

It didn't look like she was awake, therefore he could probably still escape if it were capable. He slowly raised his free arm to gently clasp Kiyohime's shoulder and lift her up just enough so that he could slide out from underneath her.

Unfortunately for him, it simply wasn't to be. He got about halfway out from underneath her before the Berserker's head snapped up and he found himself staring into her brilliant golden eyes which where entirely focused on him with an almost crazed gleam to them. Somewhat fitting for Madness enhancement EX, he supposed.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he attempted to greet her as best he could "G-good morning…"

She stared at him in silence for long enough that he began to feel uncomfortable before she eventually gave him a warm smile which positively oozed affection "Good morning, Anchin-sama." she replied back to him "I see you were attempting to get out of bed without disturbing me? Was my sleeping face that wonderful for you to see?" she then giggled, while maintaining her grip on his right arm "Because yours was...I couldn't help myself when I saw it."

"R-really?" He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head and looking away from her. He really hoped his discomfort wasn't showing that much "I've never seen it so I wouldn't know." he almost cringed at the sentence, although Kiyohime giggled softly and reached up and stroked his cheek with the back of her hand.

"Of course not, Anchin-sama...that is a privileged reserved for only the closest to you." Her smile grew as her eyes positively glowed at this point "And I feel very privileged."

He had no doubt she did. The problem was that he didn't. He very much didn't and he wasn't sure how to break it to her in a way that didn't involve setting her off. He didn't know that much about her legend, but she seemed like that kind of person to get passionate about certain discussions.

Her more recent discussion about raiding Ash's box for wedding rings honed it in for him.

He didn't think she was malicious...at least not completely. From what Roman had explained to him, it was a manifestation of her Madness Enhancement which made her slightly more...focused on her 'romantic' attraction towards him.

"Can I...umm…" He coughed into his hand awkwardly, trying his best to give her a confident smile to as to not appear as freaked out as he felt "Can I get some privacy...so I can get changed?"

"Why?"

"...Huh?"

"There's no need for secrets between us." She smiled up at him with such an innocent expression "And a secret is just another form of lying isn't it...and you wouldn't lie to me...would you?" he felt as though an icicle had been rammed down his back at the way her eyes suddenly glinted with what could only be described as murderous intent. Not directed entirely at him, more towards the idea of lying.

"N-no!" He shook his head rapidly, feeling sweat start to build up on his brows "I-it's just that there's...um...customs to think of...and I'm not mentally prepared." all of which were true, he was quite young and although he was technically of marriageable age in Japan, he wasn't in Japan right now.

He didn't think so anyway, he didn't know of too many places which had snowy mountain tops in Japan. There was also the fact he'd never had a girlfriend before, or boyfriend for that matter, he didn't judge he just hadn't found himself that interested in people until recently. More concerned with his studies and what not. Although...perhaps it was puberty that had made him more aware of girls.

He found himself a little caught off-guard at times at how cute Mash wa-

He wasn't going to go there. Not with Kiyohime in front of him.

She stared at him for what felt like hours, as if trying to discern his intentions. Soon, she released his arm and narrowed her eyes, flashing a fan into existence and hiding away half her face much. They remained that way for a few more moments before she eventually snapped the fan shut and gave him a wide smile "Of course, Anchin-sama! It wouldn't do for you to be too nervous when we eventually get married...I'll give you as much time as you need." she paused for a few moments before whispering out to herself "Just not too long so as you are snatched away by homewreckers."

Before he could even think to respond to that, she swiftly go up and made for the door to his room.

He could feel his heart rate return to normal.

Then the door opened up and he found himself paling again.

Olga stood at the entrance, winding herself up to knock on the door only to blink in surprise as it opened up. She soon frowned and looked down to see the Berserker dragon girl staring up at her in slight surprise before her expression shifted into a suspicious frown. Olga knitted her brows in confusion at her appearance before looking over the girls head and staring at Ritsuka.

A silence filled the room as she stared at Ritsuka, only just getting out of bed and not having the opportunity to put a shirt on yet. Wearing only a pair of boxers to protect his modesty.

The blood drained from his face as he followed her gaze behind him and in the direction of the bed, where the sheets were still somewhat messy from his rather hasty escape from the Berserker.

"...You have a Magecraft lesson in one hour." Her voice came out in a flat, almost disappointed tone to his which struck him like a bullet to the heart and almost had him recoiling "Clean yourself up before then…" she scrunched up her nose "And the Generators are not that badly damaged to warrant this." before turning away and walking down the hallway, leaving Ritsuka to stew in his own embarrassment.

"W-wait!" He called out, rushing to the door and into the corridor "Its not what it-" he found himself paling for the second time today as he came face to face with Astolfo. The Rider stared at his semi-exposed form for a few moments, then looked over the top of his head to see Kiyohime leave his room, sending one last smile in his direction before walking off in the opposite direction.

Astolfo remained silent for a few seconds, before a giddy expression came onto his face and he was soon shaking on the spot "Oooooh!" he let out a squeal and rushed over to Ritsuka, getting right into his personal space, with an ear-to-ear grin stretching across their own face "Master! I'm so proud of you!" he cheered, throwing an arm over Ritsuka's shoulder and drawing him into a side hug "You've begun your conquest already! I wonder if you now have a skill called Dragon Laying! Get it? I can't wait to tell everyone about this!"

He felt his life slowly end before his eyes. Truly, there were some fates far worse than death.

"Coffee." Olga ordered as she approached the counter top "...Black." she added on soon after, getting a raised eyebrow from the Archer servant stood there before an uncaring shrug as he moved to the kettle.

"You look like you've got something on your mind." Archer remarked as he filled the kettle up, soon boiling the water and making his way over to where they kept the coffee beans.

The Director huffed in response "My mind is where I'd like it to remain...but you should know your Master is a third rate magus." for some reason that brought a wry smile onto Archer's face, as if he was laughing at some inside joke "Is that funny to you?"

"No." He shook his head, looking over at her with a bemused expression "But you don't sound to aggrieved by the situation."

"I would be if it weren't for that fact I have my own Servant." She replied, sounding far too smug than the situation actually called for. It wasn't like she could help it, even if they were a Golem, her Berserker was proof that she could actually do it! Even if her Rayshifting capabilities were brought about by...extenuating circumstances, it nevertheless confirmed in her mind that she could do it!

"Ho?" Archer hummed in response "Impressive, so which one is it?"

"The Large suit of armour with the big axe." She replied, Archer nodded his head in reply, grinding up the coffee beans as the kettle soon began to steam.

"I believe I heard that one was a Golem of sorts, yes?" She flinched at that, so he'd heard about it. Just because it didn't really have any sort of will to argue with her didn't diminish her achievement in the least. She was still a Master and that was what mattered. "Still, I imagine they are an ideal Servant."

"Huh?" She furrowed her brows at him, he sounded sarcastic but there was an underlying tone of honesty in the remark. "In what way?"

"Servants like myself aren't all that different from you." He pointed out "Yes, we are glorified familiars, but we have our own minds and our own thoughts on how best to handle a situation which might contradict yours." he gestured to her hand, where the command seals in the shape of a falling star lay "That's why those exist, you'll likely never need to use one of those on your Servant in order to ensure an order is carried out with absolute compliance."

Olga squinted at him in mild confusion, scanning his expression for any evidence of sarcasm. However, his expression was perfectly straight. No evidence that he was being sardonic or making fun of her in any way shape or form, he didn't even sound insulted "...No, I suppose I won't." she muttered, tilting her head slightly "You seem to have a decent understanding of how Magi think for an Archer."

"Do I?" He responded, the wry knowing smirk made its way back onto his face "How odd. Maybe I'm just good at reading people." he gave a helpless shrug which definitely didn't feel genuine to her as he poured out the hot water into the mug "Who knows?"

The flat look she sent his way indicated that she didn't believe him being ignorant in the least, unfortunately there wasn't a lot she could do about it beyond ordering Candidate Fujimaru to order him to tell her. Which, while it would certainly solve this particular issue, wasn't worth wasting a command seal over and wasn't a priority at this time.

"Fine." She huffed in response, Archer snorted at her defeated look and placed the coffee in front of her "But I've got my eye on you."

"I'm sure you'll be most diligent." He chuckled wryly, she held the mug up to her lips and blew on it slightly to cool it down before she took a quick sip. Freezing on the spot before she sighed "Oh? Do I not meet your high expectations?"

"At this point I'm wondering if we'll summon a Servant who can't cook." She replied dryly before a slightly teasing smile came to her face "Besides...Siegwards tea is more impressive considering he can't taste anything." the way Archer's lip twitched slightly at the jab made her feel a little victorious in that moment.

"So what's got you looking so tired?" Archer changed the topic, avoiding the mention of how he so clearly lost to her in a verbal spar "Is my Master's 'third rate' nature getting on your nerves?"

"Well he's already at the tantric ritual stage it seems."

"…" Archer's eyebrows slowly climbed up his brow in mild surprise before they then knitted together "...really?"

"Hmm." She hummed in response "I didn't even need to teach him that one."

"Oh? Jealous are we?"

"Grgh-!?" She almost spat out her coffee onto the desk, levelling a heated glare in the grinning Servants direction "Absolutely not!" she hissed at him "And I'm more than grateful that certain other servants aren't here."

"Hound in heat following after you?"

"Thankfully no." She huffed "Although he's taken to calling me something stupid, honestly...the only people who show me respect around here are Candidate Fujimaru and Mash."

"Not your Doctor?" Archer quizzed with a curious expression, she shook her head in response with a frown.

"He's scared of me." She dismissed easily with a lazy wave of her hand "That and I'm not sure being respected by him is a good thing…" she paused for a few moments before she sighed "No, he's incompetent but he's not a bad person I suppose."

"I'm sure he'll be very touched by your compliment." Came the witty retort from Archer, Olga's lip twitched downwards in response for a few seconds before her lips thinned out "...So my Master isn't a complete 'hack' then is he?"

"Oh no, he is." She replied instantly "Didn't even know what a Leyline was when he first came here. So we're having to run him through the basics." her head dropped into her left hand while her right tightened its grip around the handle of her mug "And that was before we got the logic of some other world involved."

"No help on that front?"

"Not really." Olga let out a weighty sigh "Our only real source of information if the Divine Spirit we have roaming the halls and he's not exactly too forthcoming with information. Either him or the blacksmith but he's already confirmed he wasn't that affiliated with sorcery beyond making mystic codes with it."

"A blacksmith who makes mystic codes?" Archer blinked, raising an eyebrow at her "You don't sound too pleased about that."

"Oh, normally I'd be very pleased." She scowled in his direction "If we had anyone who could use them. Despite how good they are, they're effects are apparently very simple. You hit something and it catches fire, or electrocutes them or apparently poisons them with curses."

"Were you expecting something more?" Archer asked, she sighed and shook her head.

"From a blacksmith? No, not really." She shrugged, taking another sip of her coffee "He's good for what we need him for I suppose." tapping her chin with a single finger, her expression turned contemplative "Although perhaps if we had a Caster who specialised in making Golems…"

Archer, for his part, remained silent as he watched some of the other Servants shuffle into the cafeteria he got a slight wave from one or two of them which was honestly more than he was expecting to get. Although Siegward seemed to greet everyone equally and Astolfo just appeared to be slightly insane.

"I suppose we can use them with a Golem crafter." Olga affirmed to herself "It would definitely be a slight boon to any singularity we go to in the future."

"Good day, Sir Archer." Siegward's boisterous voice called out to him, both he and Olga looked over to the grinning man as he approached the kitchen. Archer nodded to him in greeting "Lady Olga, you're looking healthy as ever."

Olga, for her part, stared at the man for a few seconds before she replied "…Thanks?" in a somewhat confused manner at whether he genuinely meant it or if it was a backhanded compliment. The way his smile brightened indicated the former as he moved around the counter and into through the side door into the kitchen "By the way, were you able to find the ingredients you needed?"

"We've got everything we need." Archer affirmed to him "We're you able to look over the recipe I wrote out for you?"

"I was indeed!" Siegward boasted "I only hope I can live up to everyone's expectations."

"Somehow I'm sure you'll manage." Archer chuckled to himself, turning back to see Olga staring at the pair in mild confusion "Is something wrong?"

"Not really, just curious as to what you are planning." She replied "It is still within my purvey to be made aware of all major goings on in Chaldea, you know." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and assumed a defensive pose "Are we running low on supplies?"

"Hardly." Siegward shook his head, giving her a reassuring smile "Myself, Sir Archer and her Grace Boudica-"

"Her Grace?" Archer snorted out the title "You didn't say that to her face did you?"

"Well...She is a Queen isn't she?" Siegward responded with a mild frown "Is it not proper respect to address her by her official title?"

Archer let out a huff of amusement and shook his head, looking back to Olga "As he was saying, we were making sure we had enough supplies for the Moon Festival celebration that was being put on."

"...There's a Moon Festival celebration?" Olga knit her brows together, her eyes darting between the pair "Why wasn't I informed of this!?"

"You weren't?" Siegward looked genuinely surprised at her "I assumed that Roman had-"

"Romani?" She scowled "So this was his idea was it? Going above my head and trying to-"

"Spread joy and goodwill amongst the staff?" Archer finished for her.

"Yes tha-…" She glared at his smirk "...I am simply upset he didn't ask permission first." she composed herself, speaking in a much calmer tone "I would have had no issues with it."

"Hmm." Archer hummed in a not quite disbelieving tone but it was still more than enough for her to let out a huff.

"If it please you." Siegward brought her attention back to him "I believe he was going to ask permission, he merely asked us to prepare in the event that you did give permission."

That...was actually sensible. It meant there would be no time wasted in sorting through all the necessary steps. That and giving the staff a small break wasn't exactly out of the question as things stood. They had just solved two Singularities back to back without much rest and there wasn't any further luck in locating the next one as of yet.

"...Fine." She eventually relented, sounding more tired than annoyed "You can continue with your preparations. I'll inform Romani, if he remembers to ask me, that I've already given you permission."

"How magnanimous."

"Not a word from you!" She shouted at Ash as he made a drive by comment, only overhearing the latter part of the conversation, the unkindled gave her a somewhat lazy wave in response causing her eye to twitch. She sighed and turned back to see Archer and Siegward looking at her in equal parts amusement "...What?" a frown soon came to her face "What's so funny?"

""Nothing."" The pair responded, Archer sporting that insufferable smirk while Siegward held only an innocent smile as he turned away and moved further into the kitchen.

She didn't like those expressions on either of them for some reason, as if they were laughing at some hidden joke.

"It's not that funny." Romani lamented as his head was clasped in his hands, the smirk he got from Kerry indicated that the woman didn't believe him in the least.

"You sure?" She teased "Because your girlfriend thought it was hilarious-"

Romani levelled a flat look in her direction "Don't joke about that...Da Vinci would never let me hear the end of it if she caught wind of it."

"Ah...wise man." Maxwell nodded his head sagely, as if he was about to impart some grand words of wisdom. Romani knew him better than that "Keeps your options open. If she makes it official then you can no longer go fishing for other catches."

"...Really?" Kerry levelled a dour look in his direction "I would say men...but I can't actually complain too much."

"Is there a problem with Da Vinci, though?" Meuniere span his chair around to face the others, a thoughtful look on his face "She seems to like you well enough...and she's pretty."

Romani stared at the man blankly for a few moments "No...no...I don't think I could look at Leo that way...I think?" he suddenly sounded unsure of himself "No...wait...no, no." he shook his head "Even if I did, there really isn't any time for that kind of thing."

"You sure?" Kerry smirked "Way I see it, this is actually one of the best times alive for it." she crossed her arms behind her head and leaned back into her chair "Quick job so you don't need to worry about attachments and all that."

"...Am I being advocated on participating in one night stands?" Maxwell asked incredulously, Kerry barked out a laugh and slapped herself on the knee.

"What, you're telling me that there aren't any that take your fancy?"

"Well...my wife might take issue with it." Maxwell quietly muttered out, Kerry's expression froze before slowly receding into a more sympathetic one.

"...Right, yeah…" She quietly mumbled out, looking away from Maxwell "...Sorry."

"No, that's my bad." He sniffed, shaking his head before coughing into his hand "Still, I'm surprised to see you talking about this kind of stuff. Didn't do that before."

"Didn't have hotties around Chaldea before." She replied with a smirk before she turned back to Romani "So...you and Da Vinci!"

"No." Romani shut her down, looking back to the monitor at his desk "And besides, is it really appropriate to talk about people when they aren't in the room?"

"Who says they aren't?"

"Aaaaaeeei!" Romani leapt out of his chair and span around when he felt cold air tickle the back of his neck, grasping at in in a panic only to let out a sigh when he saw Da Vinci's grinning face staring back at him.

"Romani!" Da Vinci whined "How cold! You were all having a gossip session without me!~"

Kerry blinked at her and exchanged looks with Maxwell and Meuniere before turning back to the genius "Well, if I knew you were interested I would have invited you...although its always bad form to intrude on another Magus's workshop."

Da Vinci pouted in response "Is it because it doesn't have a door anymore?"

"That still isn't fixed?" Meuniere blinked in surprise "I thought it would have been by now."

"Yes...I intend to have Ash fix it, considering he broke it." She grumbled out "However, it got me thinking that if we are going to have more servants here, it would be best to strengthen the current environment of Chaldea."

"You mean like reinforce the walls?" Maxwell span in his seat so he was facing Da Vinci fully "We can do that?"

"Don't underestimate a genius!~" Da Vinci sang while placing her hands on her hips "I can do pretty much anything."

"Except fix your door within the span of a week apparently." Romani whispered, only to freeze when Da Vinci levelled a not so playful glare in his direction "I-I mean, I'm sure you're taking your time to make sure its perfect!" he corrected himself, relaxing slightly when her glare abated into a pleased smile.

"Whipped." Kerry coughed into her hand, then pat her chest slightly "Sorry." she grinned innocently at the Doctor "Must have had something stuck in my throat."

"Hmmm." Romani gave her an incredulous look before he sighed and shook his head "In any case, probably not a bad idea to reinforce Chaldea if we get some Servants who are temperamental...or can just damage the facility by simply moving. Or both."

Da Vinci frowned "Still complaints about Havel?"

"He cornered Vincent yesterday." Meuniere piped up "Caught the man trying to examine his weapon."

"That just sounds like stupidity then." Da Vinci's frown turned into a tired look "We put out that warning that he didn't like mages."

"You know what Parhope family is like." Meuniere sighed "Study of elementals and phantasmals, then he gets a man wielding a Dragon bone as a club, surprised it took him this long."

"Its also dangerous." Romani pointed out "I need to speak with Fujimaru-kun to try and get Havel to at least tolerate the magi around the base, considering that almost everyone left is one."

"Why not just use a command seal?" Kerry suggested with a shrug "Tell him to just leave everyone alone."

"We don't know how effective his ability to cancel magic is." Da Vinci replied this time "He could very well remove the compulsion of a command seal."

"...Could we...just...I don't know." Kerry muttered, then looked at the pair "Send him back?"

Romani and Da Vinci grimaced "We'd...rather not do that." he responded after a few moments "In truth, we really do need all the help we can get and he hasn't done anything actually violent yet."

"But he could." Maxwell crossed his arms with a thoughtful look on his face "He might very well be a ticking time bomb and if someone else like Vincent sets him off again…"

"...I'll speak with Fujimaru-kun." Romani nodded to them "See if we can't do something about him. I'd rather not have it come down to an ultimatum but if he does threaten the safety of Chaldea."

"We should probably discuss such things with the Director first." Da Vinci opted in "She is still in charge so it would ultimately fall down to her."

"Do as you will." Kerry grunted, spinning her chair around "I just man the coffins."

"I'm sure we can come to some compromise." Meuniere pointed out "The Divine Spirit managed to talk him down."

"True...but Gwyndolin rarely leaves his room." Romani pointed out "Although...Astolfo seems to be able to hold some sway over him."

"You mean assign him as a babysitter?" Maxwell cringed in response to the image in his mind. As did several others in the room.

"Lets...lets put that idea on hold for now." Romani nervously chuckled "At the very least if we can keep the other magi away from him there should be no problems."

"Yeah, that's all well and good." Kerry sighed "But his Master is also a Magus. Not a very good one by any stretch of the imagination, but still a Magus nonetheless."

Romani flinched in response, sharing an uneasy look with Da Vinci.

Havels first impression of Ritsuka had been poor to say the least, however despite that the Berserker had yet to do anything to actually jeopardise the safety of Chaldea beyond scare a few mages by glaring at them. Therefore Romani couldn't recommend any course of action beyond simply asking Ritsuka to keep a closer eye on them.

However, Kerry did make a good point. Fujiamru was a Magus, one of the types of people that Havel evidently didn't like. It could lead to a number of issues if he was to try and work with him in a Master-Servant relationship.

He could only hope that Ritsuka could build up a good repertoire with the Servant-

"Hey everyone!" The cheerful voice of Astolfo had the room jolt in surprise before they turned to see the pink haired rider bursting through the door and into the command room, an ecstatic grin on his face "I have excellent news!" he paused for a few moments before his expression turned sly and he let out a giggle "Or maybe I should say sexcellent news...hehehehe!"

The room stared at him in silence before Da Vinci broke it, giving the Rider a patient smile while holding a slightly amused twinkle in her eye "So? What's this news?"

"Master isn't a virgin anymore!"

"…"

"WHA-!?"

"And he's gonna spread it all around Chaldea…" Ritsuka lamented into his hands while Mash pat him on the back in a reassuring manner, her own expression a mix between sympathy for her Master and mild annoyance at both Kiyohime for sneaking into his room in the middle of the night and Astolfo for running off after misunderstanding the situation.

"What am I supposed to do?" He looked up, Mash also turned to their conversation partner.

Verndari's helmet perfectly hid his expression away, the man's form was rigid to the extent he could have passed as a statue. Unfortunately for Ritsuka, that was exactly what Verndari wanted to do at that exact moment.

'I have no idea how to answer this.' Was the singular thought running through his head. He didn't have much experience with women and court gossip. He spend most of his time as a squire and then as a knight. His duty to the Kingdom often took him away from these sorts of interactions. 'But I don't want to disappoint my Liege either.' was the other unfortunate thought running through his head.

"My Liege…" He hesitantly began "I…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say. His hesitance wasn't missed by either of them and Ritsuka's head fell into his hands before he let loose another pitiful whimper "P-perhaps you need only explain it as a misunderstanding?"

"Really?" Ritsuka sniffed, looking up with a hopeful expression "You think that will work?"

"It can't hurt." Verndari replied "Honestly, I believe that the fellows of Chaldea are of the mainly reasonable sort, My Liege." he clenched his hand and thumped it into his breastplate "And if need be I will be sure to stamp out all rumours of fornication!"

"...Thanks?" Ritsuka tilted his head and looked to Mash in slight confusion "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"You're probably right, Senpai!" Mash cheered, giving him a reassuring smile "I'm certain that once you explain it to everyone, then they'll understand-"

"Fujimaru-kun!" The Intercom loudly cut off what she was going to say as Romani's rather frazzled voice called out through it "Fujimaru-kun, would you please come to the infirmary right away!"

Ritsuka blinked looking to the other two in confusion "Huh...Wonder what Roman wants?"

"Maybe he just needs to check up on something, Senpai?" Mash replied, although she didn't look too sure of it either. "You should probably go though, the Doctor might get a little bit more panicky though."

"Yeah." Ritsuka pushed himself to his feet, giving the pair one more smile "Thanks you two, I'm sure I'm getting all worked up over nothing."

"Worry not, My Liege." Verndari gave a shallow bow of the head "I would allow no slander against you, and neither with Squire Kyrielight."

"E-eh?" Mash blinked at being addressed before she turned to Ritsuka and gave a determined nod "R-right! I won't let people tell lies about you, Senpai!"

"I appreciate it." Ritsuka gave a light chuckle as he waved to the pair, soon opening up the exit from the training room and closing it behind him.

The door to the infirmary slid open as Ritsuka approached it, the boy opening his mouth an beginning to speak as he entered "So what did you need me for Roman-" Ritsuka cut himself off when he saw the Doctor stood behind the desk, Da Vinci next to him with a positively catlike smirk on her face. The man had a chart behind him which made Ritsuka slowly feel the blood leave his face.

Your Servants and You: A guide to a safe physical relationship

"I'm surprised Leo was even able to make this so quick." Romani mumbled to himself before clapping his hands together and turning to face Ritsuka with a non-judgemental look "Okay Fujimaru-kun...Astolfo kind of already told us but I feel it best to-...are you alright?"

"It's all a misunderstanding…" Ritsuka whined into his hands "Kiyohime snuck into my bed. I didn't do anything to her."

"...Oh." Roman replied after a few moments, then gave a sigh of relief "That's good, for a second I thought you might have taken advantage of Berserkers madness enhancement."

Ritsuka snapped his head up to almost glare at the man, Romani raised his hands in surrender "I did say almost, you probably aren't the sort of person to do that."

"I'm not." He grumbled before shaking his head "Did you call me here just for this?" he gestured to the whiteboard, Romani nodded in response "So because I didn't do anything...can I go?"

"Nope~." Da Vinci sang, earning an odd look from Ritsuka and a slight cringe from Romani "Just because Astolfo was mistaken doesn't mean we don't need to address this." her smile grew wider "It means we're gonna have to cover tantric rituals!"

The only thing she got in response was a slightly confused look from the Master "...What's a Tantruck ritual?"

"Tantric." Da Vinci corrected, then frowned "How far have you gotten in your lessons with the Director?"

"She was explaining Elements to me." Ritsuka replied, Da Vinci blinked.

"Ah, so you're still at the basics, more or less." She remained silent for a few moments before she shrugged, giving a slightly more enthusiastic smile than normal "Then we're just gonna have to skip ahead a few steps to teach you this stuff!"

"But the Director told me to-"

"Up,up,up!" Da Vinci cut him off while wagging her finger, Romani's expression slowly turned to one of horror "Don't worry about a thing! It's really very simple!"

"Oh…" Ritsuka blinked in response before raising an eyebrow "So its going to be a quick lesson?"

"Well, that sometimes depends on the person~" Romani sputtered while flushing, Ritsuka gave the man an odd look before slowly turning his attention back to Da Vinci and narrowing his eyes in mild suspicion, he could feel a slight sensation of dread creeping up his back.

"Alright…" He slowly replied "So what do you mean."

"Sit, sit." She gestured to the seat while moving over to the whiteboard "Now, the first thing we need to discuss is how magical energy exists within living things…"

Olga sat at the table in the library with a mild scowl on her face as she continued to tap away at her desk. Her eyes travelled up to the clock on the wall, the sight of which only forced her scowl to grow in intensity.

The door finally opened and the object of her irritation slowly crept through and towards the table "You're late." she snapped at him, which would have earned a slight flinch were it not for the slightly perturbed expression on the young man which indicated his thoughts were elsewhere "When I told you to come here within the hour, I expected you within the hour. It has been nearly two."

Ritsuka at least had the courtesy to look guilty as he slowly fell into the seat just in front of her "Sorry, Director." he bowed his head in apology "I had to clear up a misunderstanding-"

"I'm not interested in your excuses." She cut him off "You should be grateful that I've taken the time to even entertain teaching someone like you, in fact you should be positively enthusiastic that the head of a mage family is personally having to explain the basics of Magecraft to someone of your position."

"...Da Vinci was explaining something to me."

"I just told you I...Da Vinci?" She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at him "What on earth could Da Vinci possibly need to explain to you?"

"...Tantric Rituals."

"Why would she…" She slowly scrunched her face up "You mean you weren't even aware the ritual existed before you participated in intercourse with your Servant?"

"I didn't….she snuck into my bed." His head dropped onto the table "I even locked the door...I was in the process of getting her to leave when you showed up."

"...Oh." She managed to resist the slight cringe from showing on her face at the misunderstanding on her part "I see. Well…" she coughed into her hand "That's...I appear to have made a wrongful conclusion."

"...That's a weird apology."

She bristled slightly "Well sorry!" she snapped at him in response "What exactly were you expecting."

"I'm not saying anything is wrong with it." Ritsuka reassured her, looking slightly worried about her reaction "Just that it was a little weird…." he sighed "Unfortunately Astolfo found us after you left...I think all of Chaldea thinks I slept with my Servant now…"

"They're mages." She dismissed "They will likely dismiss it as simply a transfer of magical energy, they'll think little of it." Olga paused before something suddenly clicked into place "Was this why Doctor Romani summoned you to the infirmary?"

Ritsuka slowly nodded in response "Da Vinci...decided to give me a lecture on Tantric rituals…" he shivered "She tried to give me a pamphlet as well."

Olga opened her mouth to reply before she snapped it shut, knitting her brows together and raising a single finger "...Where did she get the pamphlet?"

"I don't know…" Ritsuka replied with a shrug and a bewildered expression of his own "Although at least Romani would say he'd do what he could to correct peoples misunderstandings."

"Well, you're somewhat bizarre and fanciful excuse aside." Olga went on "I shall forgive you this one time for being late, however do not allow it to happen again." she narrowed her eyes at him and levelled a finger at his forehead "Understood?"

"Yes, Director." He nodded back to her with a determined expression.

She stared at him for a few moments longer before giving a satisfied nod "Now then, continuing on from the Elements, magi all have an affinity towards a certain one which forms the basis for their own magecraft…"

AN: A little chapter which focuses more on the people of Chaldea and the otherwise non-Servants/Main staff.

And some slight hints as to the explanation of Magecraft which Ritsuka didn't really get in the Grand Order story.

Anyway...Next time we're moving into the first proper Event! You've seen the build up over the last two chapters with mentions of the dumplings but we're going there in the next chapter which will probably cover about two or three chapters in total.