Ritsuka chose her words carefully. Perhaps more carefully than she ever did during a language exam.
She was an ordinary high school girl who loved gossip. Swept up in the Korean Wave, she would watch dopamine-filled makjang dramas that made their way to her country, guessing with her friends every day what would happen in the next episode.
-They have to be half-siblings.
-No way! I think he‘s the real son who everyone thought was born from an affair!
Ritsuka enjoyed those times, but she had never once imagined a makjang drama would unfold right before her eyes.
“I‘ve been looking all over for you, Lupus. Why did you run away? Is it… still hard for you to believe?”
“That‘s… not it, Johanna. Then and now, I‘ve always believed in you.”
“…You do?”
Ritsuka felt a sense of duty as a Master to take the lead in this situation.
She‘d felt this duty from the moment the man—the living Mr. Assassin (or more accurately, not a Servant anymore)—broke into a cold sweat and fled upon seeing Johanna‘s face at the hotel, and from the moment Johanna bit her lip with the most desolate expression in the world.
That's why she had contacted Chaldea to pinpoint his location and had spent the whole time running over, thinking hard about what she should say.
In the end, it was pointless.
“If you say so, then I‘ll believe you. Yeah.”
“…Thank you.”
They were clearly continuing their conversation, but the atmosphere was frigid.
A chill colder than Fuyuki's winter air had settled between them.
’I should probably just stay quiet, right…?‘
Ritsuka quietly erased her presence. All that really meant was keeping her mouth firmly shut.
Johanna took the lead in the conversation, speaking for the man who was unconsciously breaking out in a cold sweat.
“There‘s so much I want to say, but… have you been well?”
“So-so. I think I‘ve been getting by.”
After a five-second silence, the man asked.
“How about you? You‘ve been summoned as a Servant now, right?”
“Yes. I was summoned to Chaldea and I‘m helping Ritsuka.”
“…I see.”
And then, more silence.
Ritsuka could hardly bear to watch the scene unfolding.
’Is that it? Say something more! You have so much to talk about. Like Johanna-chan‘s outfit, or you could ask more about how she‘s been…!‘
The man, when he was summoned as an Assassin with no memories of Johanna, was a better conversationalist than he was now.
Ritsuka, who had heard Johanna‘s love confession back in Chaldea and had admired her as a fellow woman, felt a suffocating frustration, as if a lump was stuck in her throat.
Sure, their words were stiff, but she could feel the warm care they had for each other. She could feel it.
’But why are they acting so awkward, like a divorced couple meeting for the first time in five years?!‘
Ritsuka could only stomp her feet in frustration.
The wind blew.
“Um…”
“Johan—”
As if on cue, they both spoke at the same time, and then fell silent at the same time.
“You go first.”
“No, you go first… ah.”
Fuck! Ritsuka swore internally.
’And that child the man is carrying on his shoulders. Romani said she‘s a Beast… so why are they on such good terms? Is it because they‘re both Beasts? Ugh, my head hurts!‘
It was an amusement park employee, approaching to announce the impending closing time, who broke the suffocating silence.
“We‘ll be closing soon~!”
“Ah. Yes. Thank you for letting us know.”
This was it. An idea flashed in Ritsuka‘s mind.
“Hey! We can‘t just keep standing here and talking, so why don‘t we go to a cafe or something? It‘s cold outside. Right?”
Ritsuka said this while looking at Draco, whose outfit looked particularly cold.
’Please, just agree!‘
Did Ritsuka‘s desperate plea reach them?
Or was it just Draco‘s whim?
Draco gave the man‘s hair a gentle tug and said.
“We are getting tired of being outside.”
“Really? Then should we look for a cafe, as Miss Ritsuka suggests… Johanna, are you okay with that?”
“I‘m fine with it.”
Saved. Ritsuka‘s inner self threw her arms up and cheered.
“I know a cafe! I‘ll take the child and go on ahead, so you two can take your time and talk on the way. I‘ll tell Johanna-chan the location. How does that sound?”
Ritsuka couldn't even remember the last time she had spoken in such a rapid-fire burst.
It was probably back in her school days, when she was trying to stop friends who looked like they were about to fight. She could only vaguely recall it.
She thought she had made a rather good suggestion, but an objection came from an unexpected place.
“No.”
It was Draco.
“We do not wish to get down from here.”
’Oh, come on, why…!‘
Ritsuka gritted her teeth, but she couldn‘t let it show.
Even if she was a Beast, she was still a child, wasn't she?
And we were the ones who had interrupted their fun time.
As a modern high school girl who was kind to children, Ritsuka suppressed her burning frustration and smiled.
“Then shall we all go together? How about that?”
Fortunately, appropriate backup fire followed for Ritsuka.
“Draco. It‘s cold, let‘s go inside.”
“Hmph. It cannot be helped. But we have a condition.”
Draco, pretending to comply meekly, nonchalantly added a condition.
Ritsuka calmly asked what that demand was.
“Get rid of that woman. If you do, we shall follow your obvious little ploy.”
“That woman,” of course, was Johanna, and…
“…I‘m sorry, but I have something I absolutely must discuss with Lupus. I don‘t think that will be possible.”
“How amusing. Your turn passed a long, long time ago.”
It was all too predictable that Johanna, who would never comply with such a demand, would clash with Draco.
“Hey, Ritsuka. Are you okay?”
“Huh? Yeah! Of course, Johanna-chan. I‘m always healthy!”
“I wasn‘t asking about your health, but… I‘m glad you‘re healthy.”
Was coffee always this sweet?
Ritsuka, who had always ordered lattes and was trying an Americano for the first time, had this thought.
As Ritsuka sipped her hot coffee along with the cafe‘s jazz music, Johanna cautiously apologized.
“I‘m sorry. I ruined the mood because of my selfishness.”
“No! I‘m cheering for your love, Johanna-chan, so it‘s not a bother at all. Besides, I‘m a Master! It‘s only natural to help my Servant!”
“Isn‘t it usually the other way around? Fufu, but thank you. That gives me strength.”
As expected of the Pope. Even her simple smile shines.
The warm atmosphere of the cafe and the coffee warming her body. And Johanna-chan, whose mere presence was uplifting.
Ritsuka felt healed.
’This is nice…‘
It was then.
The distinct, high-pitched voice of a child reached the ears of Ritsuka, who was lounging on the plush sofa.
“This place is truly filthy.”
Ritsuka covered her eyes.
’This is not nice…‘
Ritsuka tilted her neck while leaning back against the sofa. The figures of the two, who had just come out of the restroom, appeared rotated 90 degrees.
“You should keep thoughts like that to yourself.”
“Hmph. We are the Emperor. We do not care for public opinion.”
“You‘re just being difficult because of Johanna, aren‘t you?”
“N-no! Mock the Emperor and you shall be executed!”
Ritsuka tilted her neck in the opposite direction. Johanna was sitting right next to her.
She saw how Johanna‘s expression, which had brightened instantly upon seeing the man, darkened again upon spotting the little kid next to him.
’Johanna-chan also fell for a troublesome person…‘
In a daze, Ritsuka pitied her Servant.
“Sorry. Did we keep you waiting long? It took a while because Draco didn't want to wash her hands.”
“A simple rinse with water should suffice. You were the one who wasted time by insisting on using that thing called soap.”
The time for soaking in comfort was over.
Ritsuka lightly tapped her cheeks and straightened her posture.
“Alright, now we can finally talk calmly. Johanna-chan is obviously ready… and the man and, um…”
She knew the name Draco but trailed off since she hadn't been formally introduced yet.
But she said a completely different name.
“It is Nero.”
“…Huh?”
“We are the same as the Emperor you are thinking of, but a distinctly different existence. Be sure to remember that.”
It was an identity she had never imagined.
Ritsuka was surprised but not flustered. She had met countless bizarre Servants already.
The child form of Emperor Nero, awakened as a Beast?
…It‘s possible.
The one who was more flustered was the man, who seemed to have already known her identity.
“Draco, but your memories…”
“We do not wish to speak of it in front of that woman.”
“I understand. If that‘s what you think, I‘ll respect it.”
What is it? What is it?
Ritsuka felt a clash between her curiosity as an ordinary high school girl and her reluctance as a Master towards ’information that will become a hassle if I know it.‘
There was no need to think too hard.
This was a morning soap opera. A morning soap opera where the Holy Grail had already been pushed to the background.
Ritsuka herself was an audience member and a supporting character, and the main characters were the three before her.
Steeling her resolve, Ritsuka took a long sip of her coffee. The coffee, naturally, tasted bitter.
“Now, give me a real answer. Who is that child? I already heard she‘s Emperor Nero. But Mr. Romani from Chaldea told me that she has awakened as a Beast. What‘s your reason for traveling with a Beast like that?”
Johanna‘s questions poured out in a rapid-fire burst.
“She‘s a child who is… close to my daughter. I‘m with her because I just can‘t bring myself to leave her alone…”
“She‘s not… our daughter, is she?”
Johanna‘s expression was as dark as if the world was ending, and the man was sweating bullets trying to explain.
“No!”
And then there was Miss Nero Draco, adding another problem to the man's denial.
“How could we possibly be the daughter of a wench like you. However, we are indeed this man‘s daughter.”
“Is that true, Lupus?”
Johanna asked the man, not even glancing at Draco.
This, of course, provoked Draco‘s temper.
“How dare you speak over us.”
“It is shameful for one who follows His will, but I do not take a liking to you. I would like to speak with Lupus alone.”
“Insolent wench.”
A suffocating power struggle. The man, caught in the middle, not knowing what to do.
Ritsuka remained silent, as if watching TV.
This was the result of removing the perception that she, too, was a participant in this situation.
’…This is fun.‘
Ritsuka was able to feel a sense of morbid pleasure.