Once again, Fu Hua wondered how deep her relationship with RITSUKA really went. This thought came about as she watched Senti pacing around while they waited for Ritsuka to finish speaking with Welt. There was being cautious and then there was being paranoid; Senti was leaning towards the latter as she became increasingly concerned about Ritsuka's safety even on the grounds of St. Freya.

"Will you please calm down?" Fu Hua sighed, tired of Senti's nervousness. "Nothing is going to happen to him, or do you believe Welt is secretly conspiring with whoever shot down the ship?" She didn't say it, but Senti was starting to affect her too.

Her Herrscher was undoubtedly about to retort but fortunately was silenced by Ritsuka finally exiting the building. "About time," sighed Kama. "These two were getting ready to storm inside for you."

"I was not!" Senti protested with a stomp while Fu Hua sighed again.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did Welt wish to discuss with you?" She asked to get the topic off of them.

Ritsuka answered with what amounted to "don't worry about it," saying that the older man had a few words he needed to tell him but not going into specifics. "So what's our plan for the day?" It was plain as day that he was also trying to change the topic but Fu Hua was willing to let it go for now. If it was truly something they needed to worry about, Ritsuka would've told them, or so she believed.

"Hmm… Perhaps we could—"

"Ooh, ooh! Let's go on a tour of St. Freya! We didn't get the chance yesterday!" Senti spoke over her and didn't even notice Fu Hua giving her a disapproving glare. While she was going to suggest training somewhere, Fu Hua had to concede Senti had a point, especially since they now have two more joining them—though one was currently moping in the corner and being unresponsive, needing to be dragged around.

"Alright fine, let's do that instead," she grumbled before Senti grabbed both her and Ritsuka's hands, dragging them along…

The first place they went to was—naturally—the stores around the campus. Well, at least, Ritsuka was drawn towards the bookstore first, much to Senti's annoyance. While she waited outside (though the gaze can still be felt all the way in here) and Kama opted to go invisible, Fu Hua accompanied Ritsuka as he browsed through the aisles. Xu Fu also followed them in but was browsing other sections away from them.

Fou meanwhile had gone missing a bit earlier— no doubt trying to win treats and such from unsuspecting students enthralled by his adorable charm.

"Do you like reading, Ritsuka?" She asked as he checked the back cover of a novel.

"I try to sit down and spend time in Chaldea's library whenever I have the chance," Ritsuka answered. "It's usually history books and legends; I rarely could read any real fiction there." Considering that Servants are apparently long-dead historical figures or legendary heroes, that made sense to Fu Hua. Before she could comment on that, Ritsuka glanced to his side and muttered, "No, I'm not going to ask about that."

"Is something the matter?"

"Kama was just curious about something," he replied with red dusting his cheeks before glancing back at the unseen Servant. "Besides, I doubt they'd carry something like that here. This is a school." Fu Hua could only wonder what they were talking about.

Ritsuka resumed his browsing before something else caught his attention. "Oh, guess some things are the same here," he commented. A curious Fu Hua leaned closer to see what caught his eye.

"Oh, the Song of Roland?"

"Yup, he's a bit eccentric, even more so than most others, but I can still count on him," he nodded before flipping the book to read the summary. "...Roland's a girl?"

"Yes…?" Fu Hua had no idea how to respond to that. She knew it should not be that surprising to learn considering they are talking about alternate universes; however, even something as "small" as being a different gender was still a bit of a shock to hear.

"And Charlie too? Huh…? I wonder what they look like," Ritsuka muttered before responding to Kama again. "No, he'd probably look the same if we're being honest." Again, she could only wonder what they were talking about…

In any case, Ritsuka resumed his browsing. Fu Hua also took the time to see if something caught her eye too but nothing stood out. Well… until they reached the Mystery Novels section. Ritsuka was quick to find what he was looking for—"His stories are here too," he hummed as he picked out a book Fu Hua was more than familiar with, even if she couldn't remember all the details. "Hmm, both Holmes and Watson are still guys."

'Ah—' Fu Hua was again struggling to find the right words to respond. From the way he spoke, Ritsuka was familiar with them. "Are they in Chaldea too?"

"Ur… No," Ritsuka answered after a moment of hesitation. "We haven't met Watson yet and Holmes…used to be there. He did tell me I could keep up with him like Watson did."

"Is—is that so?" Of all the things Fu Hua expected to discuss with Ritsuka, him being on par with her as assistant to one of the greatest detectives in history was not one of them. "You and he were close then?"

"I like to believe so. After all, he…" Ritsuka trailed off, making Fu Hua immediately regret asking. Before she could apologize, he continued, "He was one of my most reliable and trusted allies, and that's never changed even to the end."

Fu Hua could share the same sentiment. "He was one of the best, wasn't he?" That drew a curious glance from Ritsuka which quickly morphed to an amused smirk.

"Oh right, 50 thousand years." Of course he was clever enough to put two and two together. "Any other famous figures you've met I should know about?"

"I'll tell you if they come up," replied Fu Hua with a soft laugh.

"…So I just remembered I'm technically broke. I don't think what I have can be used as cash here."

At least it was a purchase she could get behind; certainly better than some of the things Senti liked to buy.

There was a tense atmosphere in the office after those five left; Theresa tried to ignore it as she spoke with Tesla. However, once the call ended—"…Mei, if you have something in your mind, don't be afraid to say," Theresa said, giving her a reassuring smile.

Mei, who had been silently sitting, perked up upon hearing her name. "It's that obvious, huh?" She sighed. "I'm sorry, but every time I think I can accept Ritsuka's story, more details pop up that make me doubt it again." Well, learning Ritsuka—or rather Chaldea—had the power to revive long-dead heroes from ages past was something that would take a bit to wrap one's head around.

And now he was also claiming that Elysia was a Servant inhabiting his dreamscape. It was only natural to scrutinize such a thing.

"Just take your time. You're not wrong to have doubts."

"But if I'm wrong, then I'm just needlessly suspecting an innocent person—one who is already being targeted by someone," Mei sighed again.

"Do you think there's a particular reason you distrust him so much?"

"No, I don't think so." She didn't truly know how she felt about him anymore. A stranger who came out of nowhere, claiming to be from another world and somehow gaining the trust of several of the most important people on the planet. That should be reason enough to be wary of him but at the same time, Mei wanted to believe in him too. "I'll… try to sort things out with him."

If only she could get him alone for that. While having Fu Hua around was always a calming presence, this was a matter between the two of them.

Beep beep!

"Hmm? Oh finally." A relieved sigh escaped Theresa as she received the report she was waiting for. It was only a preliminary report but should still shed some light on the situation. "Let's see…"

Heightened levels of Honkai activity in the area; yeah, that made sense.

The blast was not made by anything they could analyze yet. So far, the blasts were similar but not the same as any weapon in their database.

Herrscher energy, most likely Senti…

So all in all, a rather unhelpful report with the one thing of note being something they did not know. Just… great. "Maybe I should catch up on my sleep schedule…"

As if things weren't bad enough, it had only gotten worse with Yu Mei-ren and Xiang Yu now missing as well. Nemo loathed to admit it but the Nautilus was not as secured as he wished it was. To that end, he called all the remaining Servants together for a meeting to discuss their next step.

"Captain, how is the progress on the repairs?" Sigurd questioned. Perhaps if they were on the move, whatever was going on would stop.

Unfortunately— "It'll still take a day before we're ready to set sail," Nemo answered with a hint of frustration breaking through his professional tone. "Till then, we have to sit tight and tread carefully."

"In other words, just wait for whatever it is to pick us off one by one," grumbled Hildr for which she was quickly scolded by Brynhildr. "Sorry…"

"Miss pink Valkyrie has a point," Moriarty agreed with a scoff. "You're telling us to pray we don't fall victim to whatever fiend is stalking these halls."

"Archer, stop fear-mongering."

"Oh, was it that obvious?"

"Enough." Nemo once again wondered just how Ritsuka was able to juggle all these personalities; he could barely handle the four, or seven, left. "To set the record straight, I also agree that this is a terrible plan. However, we are short on options at the moment."

"So we really are at the mercy of—"

"Archer!"

"I'm being serious this time," Moriarty scoffed again. "We should have taken a Foreigner or Caster with us." Unfortunately, it was too late now. They'll have to make do with their slowly dwindling party.

BEEP! BEEP!

…that might just keep dwindling. "Captain! Something is approaching the ship!" One of the Marine units alerted them from their station. "Only one lifeform detected."

That was honestly more unsettling than if it were a traveling horde that usually ignored the stranded ship. "Are you sure it's not just passing by?" Sigurd questioned, though he and the others were ready to go out and meet the potential threat.

"Negative. It's headed straight for us, starboard side!" If that's how the situation is looking then it's better to treat it as such. Nemo nodded towards the Servants, wordlessly giving them the clear to meet this unknown entity. When the hatch opened and they stepped out, they did not know what to expect. This place had been quite the experience to be in but that only added to the danger this dimension held.

"Forgive my appearance but… are you all stranded here?"

So needless to say, the potentially dangerous individual revealing herself to be a young woman with cat ears and missing half her face was completely outside their expectations. Still not that weird, all things considered.

A/N: And finally up. Sorry it took a while, editor had been busy again with work so the chapter got a little delayed. To make up for that, the next chapter had already been finished and edited too so you'll be seeing that tomorrow~

In any case, another chapter of mostly bonding and I finally get to tackle the genderswaps. Only briefly though but hope this satisfy you enough before the slight Holmes angst. IIRC, it should be only a few weeks after the events of Traum if I got my timeline right (Traum immediately led to LB7, which then led to the OC Prologue after a few days at most, then OC1 not too long after). I wanted to tackle that too and I assure you this won't be the last of that. Other than that, Theresa is getting overworked and Mei is still trying her best to keep up with everything.

...Oh yeah, and Schrodinger is here too. Why? Idk, but now I'm questioning why I haven't added Einstein yet.