Johanna was covered in wounds.
Her beautiful, pale blue cassock was tattered and frayed. It looked more like a patchwork of rags than clothing.
Her face, which suggested a fierce battle had taken place, was filled with exhaustion.
But her expression was strangely bright. To be precise, it held a bright energy.
“I lost!”
“…Huh?”
“I gave the King of Knights my blessing, and I fought pretty hard myself, but I lost. They were just too strong, I couldn‘t win.”
…Isn‘t that a serious problem?
Chaldea‘s objective is to restore the Singularity, and restoring the Singularity means recovering the Holy Grail.
But Johanna‘s face looked so relieved. She was radiating a bright energy as if all her problems had been solved.
No matter how much I was turning a blind eye to the Holy Grail War, I couldn‘t help but be concerned about the rise and fall of Chaldea.
It is a group carrying out the noble mission of protecting the history of humanity.
To put it bluntly, if Chaldea falls, all records of humanity, including myself, will disappear.
Johanna, who should be fighting with gritted teeth, threw down her staff as if it were a nuisance and trotted over to my side.
“…Are you really okay with that? Has Ritsuka given up?”
“Mm. The acting director of Chaldea made a deal. In exchange for giving you up, we‘d get you back.”
My eyes widened at the outlandish statement.
“It sounds like you sold me… am I right?”
“No! That‘s not it at all!”
Johanna waved her hands, clearing up my misunderstanding.
Then she began to talk about the rather complicated world of magecraft. It was a difficult story that Johanna herself didn't fully understand, and she stumbled over her words several times.
I asked Johanna for more detailed information and came to my own conclusion.
“Since I am now a being who can exist in multiple parallel worlds, there's no need to be obsessed with the current me. So, in exchange for giving the Spirit Origin of the ’me‘ summoned in Chaldea to Morgan, you decided to receive the Holy Grail… is that it?”
“Yes, yes! That's right. Exactly!”
“According to you, the summoned ’me‘ has already been kidnapped.”
“Morgan-san said she‘s not interested in this world anymore, so it seems the deal was just an excuse, and she plans on just giving us the Holy Grail.”
It was a plan that seemed to have a number of problems.
“…What if Morgan loses to Gilgamesh?”
Johanna fell silent.
The words she reluctantly uttered were a spectacle.
“Won't it work out somehow? Ritsuka said she‘d try to negotiate with Gilgamesh-san somehow…”
“The future of humanity is bleak. Though it‘s not my place to say.”
For now, I decided to put Chaldea's future on the back burner.
It wasn‘t because of my laziness. It was Johanna who suggested it first.
“That‘s our business, so I want to talk about something else with you, Lupus. The things I haven't been able to say in this Singularity.”
Johanna's eyes narrowed. At the end of her gaze was Draco, still asleep.
“She‘s not a bad kid.”
“I know. But, how should I put it… as the ruler of the Christian world, I feel a sense of rejection? A feeling that isn't my own… do you know what I mean?”
“Since you were summoned as a Servant, that could be the case.”
Johanna nodded, humming in agreement.
“But now I feel really at ease. Like when I first met you in Naples, a long time ago.”
Following Johanna‘s nostalgic mood, I too became lost in thought.
My first meeting with Johanna was warm… no, it wasn‘t?
Why did I get all nostalgic?
“Didn't you flip the restaurant upside down because they served you spoiled cheese, and then knock me out with a Johanna Punch? Am I the only one who remembers it differently?”
“Ahaha… did I? Maybe I did…?”
“Seeing you avert your gaze, it looks like you remember everything.”
Johanna swung her fists around in the air.
Her bright red face seemed to be a direct indicator of her level of embarrassment.
“Anyway! It‘s just. Since I got a break from Chaldea‘s work, I wanted to see you again… so I came to find you.”
Johanna sat down on the grass. Even in her light movements, a sense of holiness could be felt.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“I was just thinking that you look definitely different from when we first met.”
“Did I… gain weight?”
Seeing Johanna speak of her weight with a serious face, I couldn‘t help but burst into laughter.
“What. Is it true? I thought I had succeeded in my diet because my body felt lighter than when I was alive?!”
Perhaps she took that laughter as an affirmation, as Johanna quickly got up and started jogging in place.
“Hup! Hup!”
With every jump Johanna made, dirt flew up around her.
It was so holy I wanted to add a ’boing‘ sound effect.
This time, I felt a slightly different kind of holiness, so I grabbed Johanna‘s arm to stop her before she ran out of breath.
“No. You‘re just as beautiful and slim as ever.”
“…Oh, I see… right. I‘m sorry, for suddenly freaking out.”
Johanna tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Sitting calmly on the grass again, Johanna gazed at Draco, who was occupying my lap.
“She‘s not waking up? She must be a deep sleeper.”
“It's beyond deep sleeping. I've even put my finger under her nose to check if she was alive.”
“Really?”
Johanna‘s eyes widened. Was she trying to see if it was true?
In her un-pope-like frivolity, I sensed her purity.
Johanna, who had been watching intently, declared her surrender.
“I can‘t really tell. If I put my finger there too… that would be rude, wouldn‘t it.”
“It‘s fine, she‘s alive and well.”
“That‘s a relief.”
Well, I wonder what it‘s like for a Servant to say ’that‘s a relief‘ when a Beast is alive and well.
No, wait. I met Johanna when I was a Beast too, so maybe she was like this from the beginning.
The atmosphere had relaxed to some extent. Both I and Johanna felt it.
We hadn‘t planned it, but we turned our heads at the same time and our eyes met at the same time.
Johanna asked.
“Are you okay?”
To the broad question, I first nodded.
If the question was whether this moment was uncomfortable, it was far from uncomfortable; it was comfortable.
“Lying is bad. The Lord is watching, so answer honestly.”
“What‘s with that teacher-like tone.”
“Hurry, hurry!”
Alright. I give up.
“I‘m sorry. I lied.”
“That‘s right. Lying isn't a bad thing. But let‘s reflect on it!”
“Yes, ma‘am. I have reflected.”
“Pfft. What was that. Your lie is so half-hearted!”
It was a little play.
Johanna was the Sunday school teacher, and I was her only student.
Far from putting our hearts into our roles, we just kept laughing, so the play didn‘t proceed at all.
“Ahem. Ahem. Now, I‘m going to ask seriously.”
“Yesh.”
“Hey! Are you going to keep making me laugh?”
Even when Johanna tried to set a serious mood, I kept wanting to mess with her.
Yes.
I just liked laughing and talking like this.
I didn‘t need any grand things like being the prince of some Fae Kingdom or a Sage God.
Just this small time where we could speak only the pure truth to each other and pass off even lies as jokes was what I wanted.
Johanna, who had been laughing while clutching her stomach, grabbed my hand as if to say the play was now truly over.
The hand she held was neither warm nor cold. It was familiar.
“Can you stand up for a moment?”
“Draco is…”
“I‘ll lay down my cloak for her.”
Johanna spread her beautiful blue cloak on the ground without hesitation.
One could think, it's already frayed anyway, but…
“Since she‘s small, it can even cover her completely like a sleeping bag.”
The pure goodwill that a person named Johanna possessed.
That‘s what I thought.
Johanna, after neatly covering the sleeping Draco with the cloak, puffed out her chest and made a V-sign.
“How is it?”
“Perfect.”
Draco now looked like a baby nestled in a cradle.
“Where do you want to go?”
“Somewhere quiet would be nice.”
Johanna subtly pointed to the sky and said.
Gilgamesh and Morgan were still fighting.
“…That building over there is mine, how about it?”
I suggested the clinic on the hill.
“Really?! That‘s your building, Lupus?”
Johanna‘s jaw dropped in admiration.
She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, but her mouth, which only opened as wide as a sparrow‘s, was also really cute.
“It just happened to turn out that way.”
“You‘ve worked hard, haven‘t you? Good job! I‘ll praise you for it…!”
Johanna came trotting over and reached out to pat my head, but,
“Ugh…!”
Sadly, she couldn‘t reach.
Because every time Johanna‘s hand was about to touch, I would dodge my head.
“Don‘t dodge…! Hey!”
“It‘s no fun if you tell me not to dodge when it‘s this fun.”
I wanted to tease her a little more, but the prank ended with me surrendering after seeing magical energy gathering in Johanna‘s fist.
Johanna, who had turned my hair into a bird‘s nest, didn't enter the clinic right away.
Instead, she lifted the sleeping Draco into her arms.
“Then let‘s take this child… Draco with us.”
Johanna held Draco in her arms with a skillful touch.
Her hand technique, supporting Draco's head and making sure her spine didn't bend, was something I should learn from.
“…I‘ll go ahead and open the door.”
“Could you hurry? I think Draco might be cold.”
I didn‘t say the tactless thing, that Draco is a Beast and doesn't feel the cold.
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