"This operation was carried out perfectly. It solved a problem that had troubled Rhodes Island for a very long time."
Inside the office, Kal'tsit briefly reviewed the written report in her hands before speaking to Nameless standing before her.
Several months had already passed since he began participating in Rhodes Island operations.
The operators partnered with Nameless had changed batch after batch. Opinions regarding him varied greatly, but in terms of combat ability and tactical planning, the praise was unanimous.
He would always take the most dangerous combat positions in the team, as well as the most aggressive tactics, to eliminate enemies as quickly as possible.
Moreover, he was practically like a tireless machine. As long as there was a suitable mission, whether assigned or encountered directly, he would deploy immediately. His work efficiency was absurdly high.
"However… you still have no leads at all?"
After flipping through the report Nameless submitted, Kal'tsit still did not see any information related to the things he had been investigating.
The Holy Grail, Servants, Masters, or information related to magecraft—there were still no clues whatsoever.
It was not only Nameless investigating. Kal'tsit had also used Rhodes Island's resources and some of her own connections to gather information, but the results had been equally disappointing.
Perhaps she and Nameless were simply worrying too much. Maybe there was no such thing as a Holy Grail War at all. Perhaps his summoning this time had merely been a pure accident…
Still, matters involving Amiya were better handled cautiously.
"Under normal circumstances, a Holy Grail War would not last this long. Perhaps I am simply being overly suspicious. Still, the necessary precautions cannot be neglected. Have the people in S.W.E.E.P keep a closer watch for the time being."
Sitting in the chair across from Kal'tsit's desk, Nameless voiced his thoughts.
There were many problems surrounding his summoning itself. He simply had not considered them from that angle before.
He had already ruled out possibilities such as Lostbelts. After all, Terra's history shared absolutely no similarities with the history he knew. That was also the reason he had deliberately gathered information regarding this matter from the very beginning.
Next was the matter of Originium and magical energy. He already had some clues regarding that aspect, though he had not mentioned them to anyone yet.
"I know. Closure and the engineering department have almost finished handling that side of things. Rhodes Island's security systems will be far better afterward."
Placing all the documents onto the desk, Kal'tsit leaned back into her chair.
Now that she had learned from the only person who understood so-called magecraft and Holy Grail Wars that the possibility of related dangers was low, she finally relaxed slightly.
Truthfully, regarding the dangers Nameless had mentioned before, Kal'tsit's mentality had already improved greatly compared to when she first learned of such information. After all, many aspects of Rhodes Island's operations could not function without her involvement. As she became busy, the matter was gradually pushed to the back of her mind.
Still, every now and then, whenever she saw the red markings on Amiya's right hand, her nerves would tense again. Only now did she finally manage to temporarily set that concern aside.
"Rhodes Island should already have corresponding security systems, correct? Are they simply unusable?"
When the topic of security systems came up, Nameless seemed to recall something.
Based on his earlier observations and analysis of Rhodes Island's interior, the landship should have possessed its own defensive facilities and systems. Yet for some reason, they had remained inactive the entire time.
Originally, he assumed Rhodes Island simply chose not to use them. Now it seemed more like they could not use them.
"..."
At that question, Kal'tsit visibly froze for a moment. She fell silent and lowered her head toward the drawer of her desk.
"Help me contact Closure. I have experience with this type of work and can help you test things."
Seeing her reaction, Nameless could roughly guess part of the situation and had no intention of pressing further.
He was not particularly interested in such matters anyway. Instead, he was more curious about the alternate security systems Closure's side had developed.
"You are not planning to continue taking missions? I assumed that after filing your report this time, you would immediately pick another assignment and leave again. Amiya and several elite operators have all come to discuss this matter with me. They all believe I have been continuously forcing difficult missions onto you."
Hearing Nameless's words, Kal'tsit quickly pulled herself out of her gloomy mood and responded.
However, her tone lacked its usual calmness. After all, Nameless himself was the one accepting and carrying out missions. She had neither forced work onto him nor assigned excessive tasks, yet she somehow ended up carrying blame that was not hers.
She had no idea who started the rumor, but Rhodes Island was now full of stories claiming that offending Kal'tsit would result in endless work assignments and missions, followed by nothing but nutritious meals for every meal afterward.
Even Amiya had become unusually polite around her because of it.
"The surrounding regions near Rhodes Island have already been investigated almost completely. If I go farther, magical energy becomes somewhat insufficient. It would be better to wait until Rhodes Island moves elsewhere before continuing investigations."
Although Kal'tsit's tone had not reached the point of sounding resentful, Nameless could still vaguely sense her subtle emotions.
There was no need to guess. It definitely involved Amiya. Only Amiya's attitude could affect Kal'tsit to such a degree.
No wonder Kal'tsit had been speaking so directly today. It left Nameless slightly unaccustomed to it.
"Magical energy… speaking of that, the Originium concentration in Amiya's blood has decreased significantly recently. The spread of her Oripathy has practically stagnated."
Seeing Nameless ignore her earlier remarks, Kal'tsit felt somewhat displeased, but still followed the flow of the conversation and brought up her recent discovery instead.
In the past, because of the Black Crown, she had never been optimistic about Amiya's Oripathy.
With Rhodes Island's current technology and the suppression provided by the ring, the spread of Amiya's condition could be slowed to a certain extent.
However, compared to other Infected, Amiya's Oripathy progression had still been relatively fast. That issue disappeared after Nameless's arrival.
Comparing her current examination reports to the previous ones, Amiya's Oripathy could practically be considered "healed" to a certain extent.
Since neither medication nor other treatment factors had changed, Kal'tsit believed that the so-called magical energy was suppressing the disease.
At present, however, the only person who truly understood this concept was Nameless himself.
"It happened faster than I expected, and things are indeed exactly as you suspected."
Nameless had actually developed some understanding of this matter long ago, though he had not informed anyone else.
An incurable terminal illness suddenly showing the possibility of a cure could easily drive people into madness.
When that time came, Rhodes Island would be the first to face those desperate people, and possibly Amiya as well, as the first successfully healed patient.
Nameless had witnessed such things many times before. The reason he had not told Kal'tsit was simply because he wanted to observe her attitude and thoughts regarding the matter.
Her attitude remained calm, as though she were merely asking a question about something unfamiliar. There were no hidden personnel surrounding the office either.
"I understand. I will not record this matter in the files. I will also place stricter viewing restrictions on Amiya's medical examination data."
Seeing Nameless act as though he had known all along, Kal'tsit felt as if her own earlier suspicions had come back to strike her.
"Oh? I thought you would ask whether your people could use magical energy or magecraft."
Hearing Kal'tsit's response, Nameless appeared somewhat surprised.
Being able to resist such temptation was truly impressive. Especially considering Rhodes Island's primary goal was suppressing Oripathy, he had assumed she would have countless questions.
For example… whether the people of Terra could cure Oripathy through magecraft.
"There are many unknown things upon this land. Even I have areas I have never touched upon. But if there truly existed a method or technology capable of curing Oripathy, there would definitely have been at least some rumors about it.
"Furthermore, Operator Nameless, your origins, existence, and many other aspects all prove that you have absolutely no relation to the Terrans currently living upon this land, nor even to those from much more ancient times."
"Those points alone are enough to determine that the so-called magecraft system simply did not exist before your appearance. As far as I know, you also discussed related topics with Logos and the other casters at Rhodes Island, but the results were unsatisfactory."
Kal'tsit understood very well why Nameless had asked such a question. If she did not already know so much, perhaps she really would have thrown herself into exploring that bottomless abyss.
"..."
Faced with Kal'tsit's long explanation, Nameless suddenly felt that this was more like the Kal'tsit he was used to.
Just as she said, once he inferred that possibility, he discussed it with Logos and the others. In the end, however, they reached no particularly useful conclusions.
"However, when you convert Originium into magical energy, do you feel anything unusual happening to your body?"
Seeing him fall silent, Kal'tsit continued asking.
"…No. At the moment, there is nothing unusual."
After pausing briefly, Nameless answered.
"That is good. As for your future arrangements, proceed according to your own ideas. Regarding Closure's side of things, there is no rush either. For now, take some time to properly rest."
Kal'tsit stared at Nameless suspiciously for quite some time, but failed to notice anything unusual, leaving her no choice but to let him leave.
There was not much she could analyze anyway. Rhodes Island's equipment simply did not support understanding Nameless's bodily structure. Unless he willingly explained things himself, it was extremely difficult for anyone else to figure anything out.
If Amiya were slightly more proficient with her Originium Arts, perhaps she could be used to probe him a little.
Unfortunately, the current Amiya was still too inexperienced. Her abilities in that area were not stable enough yet.
As for forcing him to talk?
What a joke.
Back then, even without being serious, he had easily endured Mon3tr. Not to mention that during these past three months, he had resolved several difficult missions, even single-handedly wiping out entire groups of infected creatures during operations.
The Sankta who accompanied him at the time gave him overwhelming praise and stated that they had never imagined gunblades could be used in such a manner. If given the chance, they would definitely promote that style in Laterano.
Receiving recognition from a Sankta, a race famous for firearms, was already enough to explain many things. After Kal'tsit's overall assessment, if Nameless truly wished to, he might be capable of dismantling Rhodes Island by himself.
"As for that matter… in the end, I will still have to trouble Amiya to test him a little."
After thinking for a long time, Kal'tsit wrote the matter down on a memo slip and stuck it to the side.
In all of Rhodes Island, only Amiya could shoulder this task.
It was not because her Originium Arts would necessarily work. Rather, Nameless would actually listen to Amiya's thoughts and opinions.
His behavior toward children and adults was completely different. When dealing with children, he restrained the impatience on his face along with his various mocking remarks. When facing adults, however, he was far less restrained.
"At this time… they should be at the training grounds?"
Outside the office, Nameless first checked the time before heading toward the training area.
Some time ago, he promised Amiya that he would spare some time to guide a Rhodes Island operator.
After watching the combat recording of his battle with Ace, that operator became extremely interested in the way he fought near the safe point during the final moments. Because of that, they specifically approached Ace and Amiya to request training from him.
The operator was quite capable. Although their mission record was still lacking, they were eager to learn, willing to endure hardship, and learned very quickly. Combined with their ideals and mindset aligning perfectly with Rhodes Island, they would likely be promoted to elite operator status once their operational record was sufficient.
Strictly speaking, Nameless could already be considered acquainted with this person.
They had participated in missions together before, though they operated separately at the time, so they never interacted face-to-face. He merely had a vague impression of them.
A rather poor impression, at that.
Still, that slight negative impression would be easy enough to fix. It was merely a matter of sparring a few more times.
If he remembered correctly… the operator's codename seemed to be Blaze.
A large black Feline with a very carefree personality.
Thinking over the information Amiya and the others had given him about Blaze, Nameless arrived at the training grounds.
As usual, large numbers of operators were training there, with several "instructors" supervising nearby.
Typically, the instructors taught operators the basics of combat, while the rest depended on how much the operators themselves could comprehend. In addition, instructors would simulate various battlefield situations to give the operators firsthand experience.
Today, Nameless was going to temporarily take on the role of instructor himself, so while passing through, he observed how the others conducted their training.
Once he accepted a request, he intended to do it properly. That was his professional code.
After watching the methods used by the other instructors, and combining them with his own habits and ideas, Nameless quickly organized an entire training process in his mind.
Basic combat techniques would be skipped entirely. In his opinion, the priority was correcting some of Blaze's bad habits during battle.
Ace, Scout, Amiya, and the others who requested he train Blaze all believed that this was the most important matter as well.