Inside the Control Room of New Chaldea’s Storm Border, the cool white central control light screen cast a heavy glow, immersing the vast space in a quiet stillness.
The pale indicator lights of various instrument panels flickered sporadically, making the surroundings feel even more solemn.
Fujimaru Ritsuka stood before the light screen, his fingertips unconsciously hovering half an inch above the control panel.
His gaze was fixed on the light screen where data and images flowed; he remained motionless for a long time, his lips pressed into a somber line.
He even kept his breathing extremely light, leaving only a silent contemplation lingering in the air.
“…”
After a long while, he finally forced out a sentence, his voice wrapped in an unmistakable stiffness and melancholy, “…As I thought?
To bid farewell to the Avengers…”
As his voice fell, he slowly lowered his eyes, his gaze landing on the shadow spreading at his feet.
That shadow appeared heavier than usual, as if it were condensed with an inseparable gloom.
His throat bobbed slightly, and his tone carried a hint of painful realization as he asked a question he already knew the answer to: “King of the Cavern, ‘that guy’ Alter spoke of…
it’s you, isn’t it?”
The shadow remained still without a single ripple, showing no sign of movement at all.
Only silence spread between the two.
Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the motionless shadow, his brow furrowing unconsciously.
His face was etched with conflict and pain, and the confusion he had just suppressed surged back up.
His voice trembled slightly: “Does it really have to come to this?”
He raised a hand to press his brow, his fingertips turning white as if he were trying his best to suppress his surging emotions.
“Is this the only way to prove our innocence to the human order?”
There was still only a deathly silence.
The shadow gave no response, yet Fujimaru Ritsuka seemed to read all the answers from this silence.
He closed his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a faint shadow that hid the bitterness in his gaze.
When he opened them again, the vulnerability in his eyes was forcibly suppressed.
His back slowly straightened, and every inch of his posture exuded a forced strength, as if he were bracing himself in advance for the heavy weight of the final farewell to the Avengers that was bound to come.
Mash stood half a step away from him.
Her Chaldea uniform was crisp, but it couldn’t hide the worry in her expression.
Watching Fujimaru Ritsuka’s tense profile and his forced composure, her hands quietly gripped her skirt.
Her lips moved, but in the end, it only turned into a worried, soft call, her tone full of caution: “…Senpai.”
Hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka’s shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly.
He slowly turned around and forced a faint smile at Mash.
The disappointment and heaviness in his eyes vanished, replaced by a feigned calm.
His voice also regained its usual steadiness: “I’m fine now, Mash.”
“Phew—that’s good.” Seeing his expression return to normal, the heart Mash had been holding in her throat finally settled.
Her tense shoulders relaxed, and she let out a long sigh, the worry on her brow mostly dissipating.
Beside them, little Da Vinci raised her hand to steady her gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose.
Her fingertips adjusted the frame, and a hint of surprise and gravity flashed through her indigo eyes.
Her tone carried its usual lightheartedness, yet it couldn’t hide her seriousness: “Oh my, this is quite the big news.
Is this really how one of the extra classes, the Avenger, is handled?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Sion chimed in with perfect timing.
She leaned loosely against the control console, her shoulders slightly slumped.
She carelessly placed one hand near the frame of her glasses, her fingertips lightly rubbing the frame.
Her tone was calm but hid a profound thoughtfulness that couldn’t be mistaken.
Her gaze fell halfway onto a corner of the light screen as she spoke slowly, word by word.
“Then, how will the other extra classes be handled?
Ruler, Alter Ego, Moon Cancer, and—Foreigner.” Her words were filled with consideration for the unknown.
Jeanne dArc Alter could no longer care about her shyness.
The occasional bashfulness she had felt earlier was completely washed away by shock.
She stood dazed before the light screen, her golden eyes staring fixedly at the clear separation scene on the screen.
Her pupils constricted, and her entire aura froze, as if her brain had completely stalled and her thoughts had come to a standstill.
Only that image repeatedly echoed before her eyes.
After a long while, she snapped out of it.
Her voice was so soft it seemed like it would scatter with a breeze, carrying an indescribable bitterness and confusion: “…I understand.
To the Master, perhaps I am just an existence like a bubble’s dream.
One day, he will leave my side.
But…”
She paused, her throat feeling as if it were blocked by something.
Her voice took on an uncontrollable sob, and her purple eyes welled up with tears, yet she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
Her fingertips gripped her skirt tightly, her knuckles turning white: “…I really, really don’t want to let go.”
She looked down at her palm; it was empty.
The tears in her eyes grew more prominent, and her tone carried a hint of self-deprecating lightness, yet it hid a bone-deep loneliness: “But, even though I have no attachments…”
She looked up at Fujimaru Ritsuka’s back, her gaze filled with complex emotions.
“No hometown, no schools I’ve attended, no family, no friends…
I have none of those.
Whatever happens to me, I don’t care.”
She slowly looked away toward the porthole of the Control Room.
Outside was the vast, silent sea of stars.
Her tone was soft, almost a whisper, as if she were convincing herself, or perhaps just muttering to herself: “Whatever happens to the surface of the earth is fine.
Whether it’s burned to ashes or turned into a blank sheet of paper, it doesn’t matter.
I don’t care about any of it.”
The moment she paused, her gaze fell back onto Fujimaru Ritsuka.
That loneliness was suddenly infused with immense softness, and her tone softened as well, carrying total understanding and a willing concession.
Her eyes were red, but her voice was exceptionally firm: “But…
Master is different.
He must have things he wants to take back.”
“…Places he wants to return to,…people he wants to see.
None of those existences can be lost.” She looked at his back, a bitter yet gentle curve tugging at the corners of her lips.
Every word was steeped in a suppressed resolve.
“That’s just the kind of person he is.
So, I can only…”
Setting aside Jeanne dArc Alter’s undeniable grief for a moment, the central control light screen suspended above the Control Room had already begun to transition to a new set of images.
The originally heavy, cool white glow quietly softened, and even the pulsing data patterns changed their form.
Clearly, the content being presented now was entirely different from the heart-wrenching farewell scene from before.
On the light screen, several lines of striking text slowly emerged.
The handwriting was elegant yet carried a hint of warmth, clearly reflecting in everyone’s eyes—[Inventory of High-Purity Master Love: Jalter Side Story].
The line lingered for a moment, followed by a supplementary explanation that appeared word by word, clearly laying out the background of this side story: [This is a past story of Jalter after being defeated in the First Singularity, but before being officially summoned by Chaldea as an Avenger, during the time she spent with Fujimaru Ritsuka.]