March 11, 2031
10:34
Location: Southeast of Harukuni; Near the Borderline River.
3rd Person POV
Noon is almost upon the world of SE.RA.PH has ever since the group departed from the
Millennium Capital. Hakuno Kishinami is leading the group to their next point of stop, not far
behind Ritsuka Fujimaru is following her. Elizabeth Bathory is walking side by side with
Ritsuka, meanwhile, Gawain is in the rear, ready to defend the others at every moment.
As they walk to their destination, the Master of Chaldea can't help but look at the sight from
every angle.
"No matter how much I've seen it, it's still pretty." Ritsuka said so, reminding him of the time
back home before he encountered any of the disasters that he faced.
"Well, this is Harukuni, "The Land of Eternal Spring," "Hakuno replied.
Like what the Sovereign said, the land they are walking on is filled with lavish green, where
the grass seems to bloom while the surrounding trees are all cherry blossom trees. As they
keep walking every now and then, a gust of wind comes, blowing some of the sakura petals,
making for a glorious scenery.
After that brief discussion, the four continued their journey, occasionally stopping for a
few-minute breaks.
Right now, they are taking a break under the shade of a tree. Ritsuka and Hakuno are sitting,
Elizabeth has fallen asleep, snoring, while Gawain remains standing with his sword in hand.
"Gawain, take a seat and rest for a while." Hakuno offered.
"Don't worry, Master, I don't mind. Not only that, but this is also a form of training!" Gawain
said while pumping his fist with pride.
Hakuno sweatdrop and just replied with 'okay' before turning to Ritsuka, who is leaning on
the tree and looking up, lost in his own world.
"Hey Ritsuka, you there?" Hakuno crawled to him and waved at his face to get his attention.
"Yeah, what is i,t Hakuno?" Ritsuka snapped out of his daydream and faced Hakuno.
"Something on your mind?" Hakuno asks.
"...It's nothing." Ritsuka replied.
"Ritsuka…" Hakuno said in worry.
"Hey, if you want to talk about it, you can just tell me you, okay?" Hakuno said with a
reassuring smile. Ritsuka, hearing this, also smiles back before a thought pops into his mind.
"Oh yeah, Hakuno, I just want to ask, why don't we just teleport to the nearest town there?"
Ritsuka asks.
"Well,
two
reasons.
One,
it's because a Void Gate doesn't exist there yet." Hakuno
answered.
"Hmm? Why?"
"Well, they said because they do not want to add any technology based there, as they want
to keep the town as old-fashioned as back in the early days of Britain, as the town is based
on the fairy tale style town."
"I see…" Ritsuka said while nodding his head.
"Though, recently, they now ask us to have an established Void Gate there. Probably
because of the recent emergence of attack programs."
"The second reason is that if they do have a Void Gate, we would use it, but you'll get left
behind." Hakuno explained the other reasons.
"Yeah, now that I think about it, the place I only goes to are Luxaria, Aurum, Regalius, and
Melum." Ritsuka thinks for himself.
"Well, you don't really have a reason to explore other areas in this unknown world you've
found yourself in. Plus, like what I said, you don't have access to most of the Void Gate here
in SE.RA.PH." Hakuno said.
After that conversation, a gust of wind blew through the group. Elizabeth, who is sleeping,
shifted a bit and shivered from the cold wind. Gawain didn't mind the wind and continued to
guard the group. Hakuno and Ritsuka look up at the sky filled with binary numbers.
"It's almost noon now," Ritsuka said. As to how he'd have known that, because of the
experience of travelling to many locations.
Just as Ritsuka said that Hakuno's stomach growls.
"Hmmm, I'm starving…" Hakuno said while rubbing her belly.
Gawain, hearing this, stopped his 'training' and went to the two sitting.
"If that's the case, Master, let's have lunch! I bring a handful of mashed potatoes that I
made!" Gawain excitedly said, while bringing out a 'handful' of Mashed Potato, with the
handful part being a whole pot of Mashed Potato seemingly out of nowhere.
He opened the pot while Ritsuka and Hakuno looked at the content of the said pot with a wry
smile and a sweatdrop, at the suspicious-looking Mashed Potato.
"Dig in!" Gawain said with a grin. He looked at the duo expectantly, like a kid saying
something to his parents and waiting for praise.
"It's still two hours before we reach the borderline. Would we even survive if we ate this and
continued to our destination?" Hakuno can't help but think for herself.
"Sure, I'll have some." Ritsuka, with a straight face, accepted Gawain's offer.
"What?!" Hakuno proclaimed.
"I'm curious." Ritsuka said while taking a spoonful of the mashed potato. The Master of
Chaldea is not a picky eater due to the nature of his work, he trains himself to appreciate all
kinds of food he eats, no matter how fancy it is. Of course, he has his preference, but he
welcomes new things too. It would be no exaggeration to say that he has already tasted
almost all of the cuisine in the world, which includes Gawain's cooking, so there's really
nothing worth noting about his action. In the 5 months that Ritsuka has lived in the mooncell,
he has already eaten a lot of things, some of it not even edible, but he still hasn't tasted
Gawain's infamous Mashed Potatoes. Ritsuka is simply curious about what this version of
the Knight of the Sun's cooking is, and if it would have a difference compared to the one he
knows back in Chaldea.
After Ritsuka took a spoonful of the mashed potatoes, he put it in his mouth. The taste is
definitely is mashed potato, a sad potato. It's not THAT terrible, it's just bland, there's no
explosion of flavour or anything, it seems like he just cooked a potato without adding
anything to it. Not to mention ,the consistency and texture is that of a snot, like if a person
decided to use a bag of chips as a substitute for an actual potato.
So in short…
"Yeah, this is Gawain's cooking alright." Ritsuka said with a hint of disappointment.
"Why are you so disappointed?" Hakuno bewildered.
"I guess I'm just expecting something…different" Ritsuka said in a disheartened voice.
"Normally, I would not be discouraged by something like this, but for some reason, hearing
you say that Lord Fujimaru saddens me." Gawain replied after hearing the criticism.
The three continued to eat while Elizabeth still sleeps, later the dragon girl would wake up
and eat thereafter.
Xx
16:56
After 7 hours of walking, with a few breaks here and there. They finally arrive at their
destination, specifically, the "bridge" to their destination.
Their "bridge" isn't a bridge; what they see is a short river they need to cross. What's truly
right in front of them is an invisible barrier.
"A Bounded Field…" Ritsuka muttered.
Every Mage, no matter what rank they are, would know what a bounded field is. A type of
geographical magecraft where a mage would make use of the magical energy they place on
the land and use that to create a sort of barrier that essentially keeps everything from inside
the barrier to the outside. You can say the modern equivalent of it is that of a soundproof
room. But in the case of the world inside the Mooncell, it's on a continental scale.
Every "continent" of SE.RA.PH has its bounded field placed on it. But some of the natural
causes of the continents sneak through, such as the weather within that continent.
So even though what they see from the other side of the river looks like the continent of
Harukuni, once they go through the bounded field, the scenery would change.
"Ritsuka." Hakuno said. Ritsuka walks to her side, at the same time they both extend their
arm which each carrying the Regalia.
The regalia glows, and magic circuits appeared in the air, or rather, the space that separates
the two continents. There was a small "door" or warp that appeared, seemingly distorting
reality in a spiral.
Hakuno looks behind and says, "Let's go."
The two servants nodded, and the four walked through the warped space.
Xx
16:57
Location: Glyden Haerfest; Northeast of Center Point
What they see in front of them can be described in a word.
Beautiful.
A forest full of trees with golden leaves, even the land and the grass, as if being highlighted
by the golden leaves, seems golden too.
Glyden Haerfest, also known as the land of eternal autumn, lives up to its name. It's a
continent of perpetual autumn, where the land seems to inhabit the autumn name to its
fullest. It's like what you see in a British forest in a fairy tale. Though it's called the Land of
Autumn, and the leaves are the color of gold, imitating the look of a fall season, the leaves
themselves never fall.
Now that the sun is coming to set, the sky is no longer its blue, but reddish orange,
complementing the view even more.
"Woah…" Ritsuka uttered in awe as he witnessed the magnificent view he saw.
"Beautiful, right?" Hakuno said.
"Yeah…" Ritsuka said, still in awe. The view in Harukuni is by no means inferior to this. But
the feeling that he can describe is that of nostalgia. While the feeling that is evoked by the
Master of Chaldea in Harukuni is that of a new beginning and the excitement of a new
chapter, the view and vibe he gets when seeing Glyden Haerfest is that of nostalgia, as if the
day is coming to an end.
Ritsuka, seeing this view, couldn't help to feel nostalgic.
The School has ended and now going home after club activites while doing eating popsicles
bought from a convenience store while walking with classmates and friends as you talk
about the idiotic thing you did on the school, the feeling of when you need to separate and
making it to your home as a meal is waiting and your mother greets you home as the day is
coming to a close.
"Since when is the last time…" Ritsuka thought to himself before someone put a hand on his
shoulders.
He looked to his right to see Gawain be the one who put his hands on Ritsuka's shoulder.
"Lord Fujimaru, anything okay?" Gawain speaks out about his worries.
"Anything wrong, Ritsuka? You've kind of zoned out for a while." Eli said so, looking worried.
Being brought back to reality, Ritsuka shakes his head and offers them a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, I just got lost in thought. Hakuno where's the next destination?" Ritsuka asks
and looks at Hakuno.
"We just walk through the welsh forest southeast, and we should find the Entrance."
"Right, so let's go then!" Eli said before walking in the direction they were given. Gawain and
Ritsuka follow suit, but Hakuno stays at her place. She eyed Ritsuka with worried eyes
before Gawain called her.
"Master, is there something wrong?" Gawain asks.
"No, nothing, come on, let's go before the entrance changes location."
18:09
The group, after walking for an hour, finally arrived at their destination, but…
"So where is it?" Ritsuka asks Hakuno who keeps looking at the spot of the tree.
"It doesn't make sense, it should be here." Hakuno analyzes the tree to determine where the
Entrance to the Core should be, to no avail.
"Did the Entrance change location already?" Elizabeth asked, to which Gawain shook his
head.
"It shouldn't be; the next change of location of the Entrance should be in 3 days. This is too
early." Gawain explains.
"Wait, didn't you guys say that the Entrance would appear in 3 days?"
"Yes, in 3 days the Entrance should appear physically, but there's always a week when the
Entrance is in the same place in a dormant state, it would only appear visibly at the end of
that week. As long as one verifies the entrance's location, it should appear even if it's not the
end of the week." Hakuno explained.
"Should the two of us detect it again?" Ritsuka suggests.
"Yeah, we should." Hakuno said.
The two of them touch each other's foreheads and begin to locate the Entrance. After a few
seconds, the two of them finish locating.
"So where is it?" Elizabeth asks.
"Strange, it said the Entrance is in Norwich." Hakuno said.
"Where in the City, though?" Elizabeth asks.
"I don't know, the place where we find the Entrance is inside a dark room." Ritsuka said,
trying to recall any specific detail that might help them.
Deep in though,t Ritsuka keeps tryin tog recall something that can help them out, though the
silence gets broken when Hakuno stretch her body while groaning.
"Well, we can worry about that later. I, for one, am tired and want to rest early." Hakuno said
while stretching her arms.
"I as well. I think this place looks like a good place to stay, so I should say we camp here for
the night." Gawain, before setting up the camp on the side of the tree.
"Finally, I can take a break, I've been walking for an hour, and an Idol needs to be always in
top shape so her fans can see their full glory." Eli said before taking a seat, after brushing
away the dirt on the land.
"You're tired already? I can still keep going." Ritsuka said.
"That's because you have almost unlimited stamina for some reason, seriously, I know you'd
have this grand journey back in your world, but you're stamina is still so monstrous, are we
sure you're even human in the first place?!" Eli points at Ritsuka with an accusing tone.
Ritsuk, on the other hand, just shrugged.
"Last time I checked, I still am very much human." Ritsuka said.
"For some reason, I highly doubt that," Eli argued.
"Well, whatever, I'm gonna go find something to eat," Ritsuka said before walking off.
"I'm gonna join you." Hakuno said before standing up and walking towards Ritsuka.
"You sure?" Ritsuka asks.
"Don't want you getting lost, are we?" Hakuno, with a smug smile, says so.
Ritsuka got ticked by her remarks, he restrained his annoyance at her and just sighed.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." Ritsuka said so, admitting defeat.
"Hehe, I won this time." Hakuno proclaimed with a smug tone.
"Shut up," Ritsuka said in annoyance before the two of them walked out of the area
searching for food.
Xx
After walking for about five minutes, the Master of the Moon and Chaldea are walking deep
into the forest, trying to find something edible that they can cook.
Hakuno looks in every direction to see if they can eat. Ritsuka, meanwhile, in contrast to
Hakuno, is looking through every nic and corner of the trees and bushes, trying to find even
the smallest food they can it.
Seeing this, Hakuno can't help but to sweatdrop at the bizarre sight she sees in front of her.
It's like a dog sniffing at every place they see when they're taking a walk.
"Oh, I found something!" Ritsuka exclaimed. Hakuno, hearing this, walks towards Ritsuka to
check what it is he has found.
"What is it, what is it?"Hakuno asks.
"I found these things." Ritsuka showed on his hand a bunch of gray mushrooms, dozens of
them.
"They look edible to me." Ritsuka said.
"Uhh, no, they're not, they don't have a name yet, but from what I know, they are essentially
based on the Amanita Phalloides, a very poisonous–"
"I'm gonna eat them."
"Wha–"
Before Hakuno could even react, Ritsuka ate the poisonous mushroom in his hand with no
hesitation. He munched the mushroom as if it were a snack.
"Are you crazy?!!?" Hakuno shouts at him, bewildered by the stupidity of Ritsuka's action,
she immediately rushes into him and tries to nurse him.
"You stupid, crazy idiot! What the hell are you thinking?!" Hakuno said while casting a
healing code-cast on him.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Ritsuka nonchalantly says while urging her to stop the code-cast.
"What do you mean you're fine?! You just ate poison! Wait, huh?" Hakuno, after shouting at
him, suddenly looks confused. She examined his body to see if anything was wrong with
him. There are no marks indicating something is wrong with his body, nor are his eyes
changing color, any signs of coughing also doesn't exist. He is perfectly normal with no signs
of poison effects.
"How…?" Hakuno asks, still bewildered.
"I'm immune to any kind of poison." Ritsuka answered. For as far as he can remember, he
has been immune to poison ever since he discovered it in London back in the restoration of
humanity. At first, he thought that it was because of the divine blessing of the Round Table,
which is his servant's shield, but this immunity continues even after the Temple of Time. It
should've ended when the Heroic Spirit inside Mash Kyrielight stopped lending them their
help, so Ritsuka suspects it's probably because the poison is being burned away.
"Even still, based on Hakuno's reaction, this time of poison should have been so severe, but
for some reason, it does not affect me, no slight headache or anything. " Ritsuka Fujimaru
notices that his immunity has been high, on the same level as when back in the Incineration
of Humanity, if not higher, and he began to wonder why.
Thinking deeply, he suddenly jolted when he felt an impact on his shoulders. He clutches his
shoulder, but it's not super painful, and the sudden impact surely did surprise him. Looking at
his companion, whom he knows is the one responsible for it, and tries to tell her off.
"Hey, what the hell? What's that for–" Ritsuka stopped just before he finished his sentence.
Hakuno Kishinami, after punishing his shoulder, is now looking down her body, shaking,
even the sound coming from her mouth seems to quiver. Hakuno, while shaking, then
speaks to him.
"Even still…you can't just do that….what if something happens to you, idiot….what if
something actually happens to you…"
"I told you, it's fine, poison doesn't work on m–"
"But what if it did! What if it actually works on you! I…I… idiot, you're my friend and I care
about you…think about how I would feel…" Hakuno yelles at him, looking straight into
Ritsuka's eyes. Ritsuka sees her eyes tearing up with worry and fury.
Ritsuka Fujimaru is by no means an insensitive person; how he maintains the bond he has
with his Servants back in Chaldea is proof of that. But simply because no one has said
anything about this kind of thing back then he didn't even consider on the possibility that he
might one day get poisoned and fell ill because of it. That in itself doesn't mind Ritsuka, what
bothers would him will be on how other people who is close to would be affected.
Realizing this fact, Ritsuka holds Hakuno's hands and offers her a reassuring smile, his
reckless nature previously gone, replaced by a caring attitude. With this sudden change,
Hakuno can't help but notice it. Ritsuka then reassured her.
"Hey, sorry for being reckless, I won't do it again, I promise, so don't cry, okay?" Ritsuka
softly said that to her while smiling. Hakuno, seeing his face and finally noticing her tears,
wiped them using the sleeve of her clothes before facing him once again.
"I'm not crying…" Hakuno said with a brave face, denying her previous action. Ritsuka,
meanwhile, just chuckles at her, to which Hakuno just pouts at him.
After calming down, Ritsuka once again speaks to her.
"Hey, you don't need to worry that much, okay. I faced way more danger than this. I won't go
down so easily." Ritsuka grinned at her to reassure her.
Hakuno, seeing this, can't help but smile at his positivity. After the two of them calm down,
Ritsuka stands up and offers his hand to her.
"Come on, we still need to find something to eat." Ritsuka said, Hakuno nodded and
accepted his offer as he help her get up.
The two of them decided to once again start searching.
However…
"Get down!" Ritsuka yelled at Hakuno, who was surprised at the sudden call.
Ritsuka brought out his sword in a matter of seconds and swung it to but Hakuno dodged
just in time the sword hit her.
The Attack Program, which sneaks up behind Hakuno's back and gets sliced in two
horizontally, disappears in ashes consisting of 1s and 0s.
"Attack Programs"
"Yeah."
Ritsuka and Hakuno put their guard up. Soon after, many Attack Programs appear from
behind the trees.
Seeing them being outnumbered, Ritsuka quickly analyzes the situation and determines
where he should attack next.
Activating his magic circuits and reinforcing himself, he propelled forward, and he sliced one
of the attack programs on his left.
The Attack Programs themselves are the size of at least 2 boars, which makes them fairly
massive, but that means they are an easy target, which holds true when Hakuno fired a
Gandr at the one behind the Attack Program that Ritsuka sliced at.
Realizing Hakuno's plan, Ritsuka continued to move and attack more, not letting his flow
stop. Hakuno continues to support Ritsuka from her position, firing off Gandr and using
Code-Cast to boost Ritsuka's power.
Noticing an Attack Program from behind her, she jumped away and touched it when it
suddenly malfunctioned.
After that she uses her code-cast "Sword of Repentance" to which using a sword made
entirely of Data appeared in her hands, she swung it at the attack program causing it to get
knockback stunning it, as the data sword fade away from her hand she finishes the enemy
off with a final gandr, detroying it.
Ritsuka, meanwhile, is running across the field trying to keep analysing the field with no
brakes. He doesn't have a Servant on his side, so he must keep moving to create more
space and analyze the various enemies. As he move,s he slices and destroys his enemies
with every chance he gets. However, a group of Attack Programs jumps on him at the same
time.
"Ritsuka!"
Hakuno
yelled
before
using
his
Code-Cast
"Protection
Charm,"
increasing
Ritsuka's
durability. Noticing the effects, he blocks the incoming attack and uses his regalia and
magical energy and pouring it into his sword.
"GRAHH" Ritsuka cried out as he swung his sword, as the magical energy stored in the
sword released, blowing his enemies away as the Attack Programs began to burn in blue
flames, disappearing into nothing.
After that short battle, Ritsuka put his hand on his knees and began to pant, trying to catch
his breath.
Hakuno lowers her guard and approaches Ritsuka, as she, in contrast to him, seems
relatively fine and not as exhausted.
"You okay?" Hakuno asks.
"Yeah, just need to catch my breath." Ritsuka replied to her.
"You shouldn't move too much when fighting, you know, it can drain your magical energy and
stamina too quickly." Hakuno said before noticing that he's magical energy is actually fine
making her wonder what's causing Ritsuka to be so tired.
"Don't worry about it, the good thing is, neither of us is hurt." Ritsuka reassured her with a
smile, while Hakuno just looked at him worryingly.
But in that moment of weakness and low guard, they failed to notice a small attack program
not bigger than a house cat. Because of how small they are, they get underestimated the
most, and because of it, they are the one who always has the last to laugh. Ritsuka Fujimaru
and Hakuno Kishinami is the living proof of that statement.
Sneaking in from a branch of a tree, it attacks the low-guarded Hakuno.
"Behind you!" Ritsuka, being the one who noticed first, warned her.
But that no longer matters, as Hakuno, who responded to the warning and turned to protect
herself, is already a second late, as the small Attacking Program is already close to her face.
And just like that, the small guy gets to laugh last.
However
BANGG
A loud metallic sound was made, and its vibration seemed to echo throughout the forest.
The small Attacking Program has been blown away by the massive impact of the metallic
weapon, crashing into one of the trees, making it fall, and the attacking program dies, both of
them turning into data ashes.
Hakuno covered her face as the impact of the sudden attack from an outsider and the
damage it caused to the surrounding areas were so massive that even the wind seemed to
try to escape the location. Bewildered, Hakuno shouted at the new person standing in front
of them.
"Who are you?!" Hakuno shouted.
"What?"
Hakuno, looking at the sudden question, looks at Ritsuka, who expresses he's confusion.
His eyes widen as if seeing a ghost or an anomaly that shouldn't exist.
"Letting your guard down, while still in the danger zone, what a reckless behavior, yet
something I expected from the stories I heard about you." The figure said so, as the dust
began to settle, Ritsuka, with bathed breath, couldn't help but still be in shock.
You're…" Ritsuka said.
"It's nice to meet you, Master of Chaldea, I believe this is the first time we me,t yes? Or
rather, the first time "I" met you." The figure is a young man in his teens, he has messy white
hair where the bangs cover his left golden eye. He is clad in dark silver armor with a hint of
purple highlights, he has a purple cape on his hips, and on his left hip, a simple medieval
sword is sheathed in a scabbard. He also wears a purple cloth hanging from his shoulders,
making the figure look like a combination of a knight and a priest. What's the most notable
and striking aspect of the person in front of them is the weapon he is holding.
It is massive, an 11-inch tall shield, its shape is that of a cross imitating the shape of the Holy
Trinity from the Catholic Religion, with a round metal being behind the cross of the shield
itself.
This is a familiar sight for the Master of Chaldea, one he has seen way too many times and
even used it once to defeat an Evil of Humanity. A snowflake shield representing the Round
Table itself, where Heroes gather. It is the weapon of his first servant, and the original owner
of it is standing right in front of him.
"...Galahad." Ritsuka finishes his sentence while still being in shock, as the Knight of the
Holy Grail himself looks the Master of Chaldea in the eye.