Chapter 49: Beyond Proper Human History
Acting purely on impulse due to sheer embarrassment and mortification, Olga ended up chasing Da Vinci out of the room after her attacks failed to hit the teasing Servant, leaving Mash and me alone as the sounds of laughter and angry shouting echoed faintly through the halls.
Looking over at Mash, who had a small amused smile on her face from the whole situation, I finally did something I had wanted to do ever since waking up.
Getting out of bed, I caught Mash’s attention before suddenly pulling her up from her chair and into a tight hug, causing her to immediately squeak and freeze in place.
“S-Senpai!?” Mash muttered against my chest in confusion, her hands stiffly frozen at her sides.
Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, I tightened the hug slightly, earning another cute squeak from her.
“I’m really glad to see you safe and healthy, Mash,” I admitted quietly into her soft pink hair. “When I found you back in the Control Room trapped beneath that debris and moments away from dying… I was terrified that I had arrived too late and that you were going to die in my arms.”
Now that we were finally back in Chaldea and no longer trapped inside the Singularity, I could finally allow myself to acknowledge the emotions I had been forcing aside until now.
“…I’m alright, Senpai. And it’s all thanks to you,” Mash replied softly as I felt her hesitantly return the hug, her arms slowly wrapping around my back while she rested her head against my chest.
“Senpai was amazing. You saved not only me, but the Director as well and brought us safely back home.” Her voice grew quieter and more uncertain. “…I, on the other hand, wasn’t very helpful as your Servant.”
Hearing that pained tone coming from someone as kind and innocent as Mash made my chest ache slightly.
“Even after being empowered by your Mystery and having all that Mana… I still feel like I barely helped and just relied on Senpai the entire time,” Mash admitted sadly.
“Don’t say that,” I said firmly, immediately pulling back and placing my hands on her shoulders, startling her with the intensity in my voice.
“S-Senpai?” Mash blinked at me with wide eyes, tears beginning to gather faintly at the corners.
Gently wiping them away with my thumb, I looked at her seriously.
“Mash, don’t ever call yourself useless. You aren’t. You helped me more than enough and were never a burden.” I shook my head firmly. “Besides, wasn’t that your very first real battle under circumstances like those?”
Mash hesitated before slowly answering, doubt still visible on her face.
“…Even so, that’s no excuse. I have the power of a Servant now, which means I should also have their instincts and battle prowess.” She frowned stubbornly while trying to reason with me.
Seeing from both her expression and the feelings coming through the Shroud that she wasn’t going to change her mind so easily, I decided to use a different tactic, one that had worked surprisingly well with Eri whenever she became stubborn about her own insecurities.
Slowly lowering my hands from her shoulders, I curled my fingers menacingly and narrowed my eyes playfully.
“If you keep being stubborn, I’m going to tickle you until you admit you were incredibly helpful,” I threatened while making grabbing motions with my hands.
Mash immediately backed away several steps as if burned, covering herself protectively while blushing all the way down to her neck.
“S-Senpai wouldn’t dare!” she protested, glaring at me with an adorable pout that resembled an angry puppy more than anything threatening.
“I absolutely would,” I replied seriously as I slowly stepped toward her again. “So what’s it going to be, my dear Mash?” I asked while wiggling my fingers threateningly.
Lo and behold, seeing that I was serious, Mash only lasted a few moments before caving to my demands. She huffed and turned her head away with a pout.
“F-Fine. I’ll agree with Senpai this once,” Mash said a little petulantly, immediately causing a grin to spread across my face as I lowered my hands and walked toward her.
Seeing me approach, Mash visibly tensed and watched me warily, paying especially close attention to my hands as I slowly raised one before gently patting her soft pink hair.
The effect was immediate.
Mash’s pout vanished, replaced by an embarrassed but pleased blush as she quietly muttered under her breath.
“Senpai, why do you enjoy patting my head so much? I feel that I must remind you that I’m not a pet,” Mash complained weakly, though her body betrayed her words as she leaned slightly into my hand with a small smile on her face.
“If you ask me, Mash is even cuter than a puppy~” I teased lightly, earning a cute whine from her.
“Mou~ Stop teasing me, Senpai!” Mash protested while looking up at me with narrowed eyes.
‘You’re really not helping your case here, Mash,’ I thought in amusement since she somehow looked even cuter now.
Fortunately for her, we were interrupted before I could continue bullying—ahem—teasing her.
“My, my~ It seems our dear Sieg-kun has not only wrapped the Director around his finger, but Mash-chan as well~”
Da Vinci’s teasing voice echoed through the room as she stood by the doorway beside a slightly blushing Olga, who stubbornly refused to look directly at me.
“Eeep!” Mash immediately jumped back and lowered her head, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze as she nervously fidgeted with the hem of her sweater.
“I was simply cheering Mash up and reminding her that she’s a great Servant,” I explained calmly, already somewhat accustomed to being teased after dealing with the girls back home.
Da Vinci looked slightly disappointed that she failed to embarrass me, but quickly recovered as her eyes locked onto me once again with frightening intensity, causing me to instinctively take a small step back.
“Anyway~ Now that everyone’s awake, could you please share that wonderful Mystery with me as well? Please, please, please, please!” Da Vinci begged before suddenly dropping to her knees and crawling toward me while giving me an exaggerated puppy-eyed stare, clearly trying to weaponize her appearance to get what she wanted.
Olga suddenly sighed deeply, catching my attention as she stepped fully into the room and stared down at Da Vinci like she was something unpleasant stuck to her shoe.
“Just do it already, Sieg. Speaking from experience, she won’t stop bothering you until you give in,” Olga said tiredly while crossing her arms beneath her chest.
Looking at her for a moment, I eventually nodded.
“…Very well.”
At my agreement, Da Vinci’s eyes lit up with pure excitement as my Shroud manifested behind me, its golden tendrils slowly extending toward her.
“Please don’t resist. This will go much faster if you simply let it happen,” I explained seriously.
Unfortunately, hearing those words only caused Da Vinci to grin mischievously.
“Oh my~ Are you about to command your tendrils to do something ecchi to me, Sieg-kun? How scandalous!” she gasped dramatically while holding her cheeks and wiggling her body suggestively.
Her words instantly turned Mash into a blushing tomato while Olga’s face flushed just as red before she immediately brought her fist down onto Da Vinci’s head without hesitation.
“Quiet, you shameless pervert!” Olga shouted angrily.
‘I mean… technically the Shroud could be used that way, but there’s no way in hell I’m ever admitting that,’ I thought with a perfectly straight face.
Da Vinci merely held her head while grumbling quietly as the Shroud fully enveloped her, and moments later, I dismissed it after feeling the connection successfully form between us.
As soon as the process finished, I immediately noticed something had changed within Da Vinci as she stared down at her hands and body with a mixture of genuine shock and excitement.
“T-This is incredible! Your Mystery somehow rearranged my psyche to such a degree that I can no longer perceive myself as anything but a woman. Not to mention fully incarnating me while somehow still maintaining a connection to you and granting me this new power,” Da Vinci muttered in awe before her own Shroud suddenly manifested behind her.
Unlike my own golden tendrils of light, Da Vinci’s Shroud was made entirely out of countless nanites.
Several tendrils moved around her body as she examined them with sharp fascination, her smile slowly growing wider and wider until she finally turned toward me with almost frightening excitement in her eyes.
“Did you just gift me my very own omni-tool, Sieg-kun?” she asked eagerly.
Growing slightly wary under that stare, I slowly nodded.
“Pretty much. Each person manifests their own interpretation of the Shroud depending on their abilities and nature, with every version possessing different powers. Yours is called the Cyber Shroud, and it specializes in technology-related abilities,” I explained, causing Mash and Olga to immediately pay closer attention.
Manifesting my own golden Shroud once more, I continued the explanation.
“My version is called the Luminal Shroud. It gives me control over light and plasma since I’m the most compatible with it.”
I then turned toward Olga, who had already instinctively summoned her own Shroud. Unlike the others, her tendrils resembled fragments of a star-filled void drifting through space.
“Yours is the Astral Shroud, Director. It grants much greater control over the concepts of space and time.”
Finally, I looked toward Mash, whose Shroud resembled a fusion of stone, crystal, and earth.
“And yours is the Xeric Shroud, Mash. It specializes in earth, minerals, gems, and defensive abilities.”
Mash stared at her Shroud with open fascination while Da Vinci looked moments away from exploding in excitement.
“So the abilities of the Shroud differ depending on the user? Fascinating~!” Da Vinci exclaimed while gleefully reshaping her tendrils into various forms as she experimented with them.
Another voice suddenly interrupted us, this one sounding noticeably exhausted.
“Sieg, I’m glad you’re awake… W-What the!? What kind of Magecraft is that!?” Romani exclaimed in shock as he stood frozen at the doorway, staring at the various elemental tendrils emerging from our backs with complete confusion.
Looking at the visibly worn-down doctor, I carefully hid the frown threatening to form on my face.
He looked like he had aged several years since the last time I had seen him.
‘…Looks like it’s finally time for that long-awaited conversation about my origins,’ I thought silently.
=====
Since my room was too small for everyone, we moved to a larger meeting room and were now seated around a circular table with drinks placed in front of us.
Mash and Olga sat on either side of me while Romani and Da Vinci—or Da Vinci-chan, as she had demanded I start calling her—sat across from us, with the genius Servant absently fiddling with her Shroud while doing who knew what.
“Alright Sieg, it’s time for you to tell us who you really are.” Olga turned toward me with crossed arms and a serious expression. “While I appreciate everything you’ve done for us so far, as your superior I would like to know exactly who is working under me.”
Ignoring the shameless giggling coming from Da Vinci at Olga’s wording, I let out a sigh and nodded.
“Of course. I did promise, after all,” I replied calmly.
A small pleased smile immediately appeared on Olga’s face at me keeping my word, and she subtly straightened in satisfaction.
“Before I begin, though, I should warn you that there are some things I cannot reveal,” I continued seriously, immediately drawing curious looks from everyone present.
“Can’t, not won’t?” Da Vinci muttered thoughtfully while tilting her head.
“Correct.” I nodded, earning a smug puff of the chest from the woman. “The enemy we’re facing possesses an extremely powerful form of Clairvoyance—one considered EX Rank. To the point it can practically be described as omniscience.”
The atmosphere immediately became heavier.
Romani and Da Vinci both grew serious while Mash and Olga let out shocked gasps.
“If it’s truly that powerful, then how exactly have you managed to remain hidden while running around with abilities like yours?” Da Vinci asked curiously.
In response, I simply raised my hand and pointed toward the Shroud she was still casually manipulating.
Da Vinci’s eyes widened instantly before she looked back down at her tendrils with growing excitement.
“My Shroud possesses the ability to completely conceal the user from clairvoyance and similar abilities in addition to everything else I’ve already explained,” I answered calmly.
“Fufufu~ And you casually gifted us something this absurd?” Da Vinci turned toward me with an almost feverish look in her eyes, appearing moments away from pouncing on me if not for everyone else being present.
I merely shrugged.
“It was the best way to ensure your safety.”
As I said those words, I suddenly felt a small hand slip into mine beneath the table.
Glancing sideways, I found Mash smiling softly at me with warm, encouraging eyes filled with genuine happiness.
At the same time, Olga showed her support in her own awkward way by subtly scooting her chair slightly closer to mine while refusing to actually look at me, a faint blush still visible on her cheeks.
“Speaking of that, Romani, would you mind if I granted you my Mystery as well?” I asked while turning toward the doctor.
“Hmmm…” Romani hummed thoughtfully while rubbing his chin. “If it truly works the way you say, then I don’t think I have much choice. I have a feeling whatever you’re about to reveal is information our enemy absolutely cannot be allowed to hear.”
A moment later, he nodded at me with a tired but friendly smile.
“Go ahead, Sieg. Distrusting you at this point would just be foolish after everything you’ve done for Mash-chan and the Director.”
“…Thanks,” I replied honestly, feeling a little touched by the trust he was placing in me.
Under the table, Mash’s grip on my hand tightened slightly.
A moment later, Romani was successfully bound as well, and I quietly let out a sigh of relief now that everyone present was protected.
“Alright… then I suppose I no longer need to disguise my eyes.”
Pulling up my HUD, I disabled the filter concealing my appearance, allowing my eyes to revert back to their natural crimson color.
Olga and Da Vinci both blinked in surprise, clearly feeling some vague sense of familiarity from them.
“That’s better.” I leaned back slightly before finally speaking.
“To begin with… I’m not originally from this world. I come from a divergent timeline completely separate from this one.”
“Huhuhu~ You just keep becoming more and more interesting, Sieg-kun,” Da Vinci giggled while staring at me with intense curiosity.
The others reacted far more dramatically, with Olga outright losing composure as her eyes widened in shock.
“I came here to help…” I continued calmly.
“And I didn’t come alone.”
The next moment, a portal suddenly opened behind me, connecting directly to my personal dimension.
Silence filled the room.
Then, slowly, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed out from beyond the portal under the wary and expectant gazes of everyone present.