The next day.
As an alarm clock rang from the table, Ian opened his eyes.
The first thing that entered his sight was Tamamo-no-Mae's affectionate gaze.
"Abe-san, you're awake?" The fox spirit's tone held a hint of excitement.
"Yeah." Ian reached out and gently stroked Tamamo-no-Mae's incredibly soft cherry blossom pink hair.
"Tama-chan, did you wake up very early?" Ian asked gently, his dark eyes looking at her.
"Mmm-hmm~" Tamamo-no-Mae nodded obediently.
"Then why didn't you call me?" Ian looked at the fox spirit before him. "Watching me sleep like this... wouldn't it be very boring?"
"It's nothing." Tamamo-no-Mae shook her head.
"Being able to watch Abe-san's sleeping face like this... is already a very dreamlike thing for this concubine."
"Therefore——" Tamamo-no-Mae smiled gently.
"No matter how long it is, I won't feel bored."
"..." Ian knew that Tamamo-no-Mae wasn't trying to please him—the look in her eyes held endless love.
"I see." Ian said softly, his dark eyes filled with affection.
"But——" Ian hugged Tamamo-no-Mae, his voice becoming gentler.
"I actually want to see Tama-chan too."
"Eh?" Tamamo-no-Mae was stunned for a moment, then showed a happy smile.
Her hands soon followed with some movements.
A feeling of fair and smooth skin came from Ian's forehead.
"Tama-chan, you..."
"Shhh——~" Tamamo-no-Mae used her other hand to make a gesture for silence.
"Abe-san has only just gotten up... his body isn't fully awake yet."
The fox spirit licked her lips.
"Let this concubine awaken your body~"
"..." Because they were going to bed, Tamamo-no-Mae wasn't wearing the magic wedding dress.
At this moment, she looked like a true wife, looking at the tall man before her with eyes full of love.
Her hands gently massaged his shoulders, each touch just right.
"Abe-san~" Tamamo-no-Mae wrapped her arms around Ian's neck and whispered in his ear.
"Please don't hesitate."
"If you feel uncomfortable, please tell this concubine immediately."
"I understand." Ian touched Tamamo-no-Mae's hand, which felt as smooth and delicate as jade.
"Tama-chan... you are really virtuous."
It had to be said that Tamamo-no-Mae's performance in serving him was indeed remarkable.
Every touch was impeccable, making the man feel incredibly comfortable and unable to extricate himself.
So Ian didn't say much in the end, just silently enjoying her massage.
The fox spirit delivered a perfect score—she finally leaned directly against Ian.
"Abe-san." Tamamo-no-Mae looked at the man before her with a blushing face.
She felt that this state of completely becoming his wife was incredibly happy.
"Will there be more opportunities to serve Abe-san like this in the future?"
"Of course there will be." Ian smiled calmly and replied to her.
"You are already my wife... I will definitely not forget you."
"However——" The man looked at the completely wife-like Tamamo-no-Mae.
"We have to hurry to the meeting today."
"And... there are some things I need to ask you to say."
"Eh?" Tamamo-no-Mae recovered. "What is it?"
"...It's like this."
A few minutes later.
Ian had changed his clothes.
And Tamamo-no-Mae looked blissfully happy, one hand touching her lower abdomen, the other arm linked with the man's.
The two opened the door.
However, they didn't expect that Olga Marie was standing right there.
But her whole person seemed to be still thinking about something, her expression looking very hesitant.
Seeing this scene, Ian immediately realized what had happened.
Olga Marie had actually arrived here very early, but had been too embarrassed to knock.
Thinking of this, the man greeted,
"Director, good morning."
"Eh——?!" Olga Marie, who was clearly still thinking about whether to knock or not, was startled.
"I-Ian, good morning!" Olga Marie said quickly, a hint of blush on her cheeks.
"Director, no need to be nervous." The man looked at the silver-haired girl who was stuttering slightly.
"Also——" Ian smiled gently.
"If you want to knock in the future, just knock directly."
"Waiting around like this will be very uncomfortable."
"Yes, indeed." Tamamo-no-Mae, who was holding Ian's arm, also echoed his words.
"This concubine... wouldn't mind if Miss Olga Marie knocked."
Realizing that Ian had seen through the thoughts in her mind, Olga Marie blushed and began to argue meaninglessly.
"I, I wasn't thinking of knocking!" Olga Marie said quickly, her amber eyes darting around.
"I just happened to be passing by here!"
"Okay, okay." Ian reached out and gently stroked Olga Marie's head.
"Whatever the Director says." Ian said with a smile.
"However——" Ian looked at her, his dark eyes filled with a hint of amusement.
"The Director should still remember that we have a meeting today, right?"
"Of course I remember!" Olga Marie, whose head was being patted, exclaimed hurriedly, "I came here specifically to remind you!"
"Eh?" Ian feigned surprise. "Director, why are you now saying that you came here specifically?"
"..." Suddenly realizing that Ian was setting a trap for her, Olga Marie's face turned even redder.
"S-stop talking nonsense!" Olga Marie stammered, her amber eyes looking away.
"Let's go to the meeting room quickly! Don't waste time here!"
After saying these words, Olga Marie turned around and walked ahead, her face and ears red.
Ian and Tamamo-no-Mae looked at each other and then suppressed their laughter.
More than ten minutes later.
Ian and his group arrived in the meeting room.
However, unlike what the man had expected for a full assembly, Da Vinci and Doctor Roman were not present in the meeting room at this moment.
They didn't seem to have come to this meeting.
Ian knew that these two were definitely not disobeying his orders.
He couldn't help but feel a little worried—could something have happened?
The thoughtful Mash quickly noticed the change in Ian's expression. She immediately came to his side and explained,
"Senpai!" Mash said with a worried look.
"The Spiritron Transfer System seems to have some minor problems."
"Da Vinci-chan and Doctor Roman went to check the situation."
"..." Ian didn't doubt the truthfulness of these words.
After all, Da Vinci and Doctor Roman did hold important positions.
One was the Servant responsible for repairing the entire Chaldea using "Omnipotent Man," and the other was the general manager of logistics.
If there was really something wrong with the Spiritron Transfer System, they would indeed have to personally step in to "repair" it.
However—— Ian's gaze quickly swept around the meeting room.
Mash, Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mordred, Tamamo-no-Mae, Olga Marie.
Coming and going, it was still the same group from last night.
"Um." Olga Marie, having regained her composure, also reported to Ian.
"I was the one who allowed them to do so."
"Was that not a good idea?" Olga Marie asked hesitantly, her amber eyes looking at Ian.
Seeing the Director's worried expression, as if afraid she had done something wrong, Ian quickly said,
"It's nothing." Ian said gently, his dark eyes looking at her with reassurance.
"The 'Spiritron Transfer System' is very important to Chaldea... if something goes wrong, it should indeed be repaired as soon as possible."
"You did the right thing."
"Also..." Ian reached out and gently stroked Olga Marie's head.
"No need to be so nervous." Ian said with a smile.
"I believe you definitely won't make reckless judgments again."
Hearing these words, Olga Marie blushed.
She just liked hearing him affirm her—that was already a very meaningful encouragement for her.
"I understand." Olga Marie replied rather shyly.
"Hmm, that's good." Ian composed himself, then spoke in a much more serious tone.
"Everyone, please sit down."
Feeling the change in the man's attitude, the girls didn't say anything more and took their seats one after another.
And Ian walked to the front, bringing the meeting to the main topic.
"Everyone." Ian said, his dark eyes looking at each of them.
"Although the first Singularity has been repaired, I think you have all noticed many problems, right?"
"Therefore——" Ian continued.
"For this meeting, I won't announce my decision first."
"I want to hear your thoughts on the Singularities."
"..." The man's words were direct enough.
Soon, the first person to respond to him was Tamamo-no-Mae.
She stood up, bowed to everyone present, and then spoke her thoughts.
"Um——" Tamamo-no-Mae said hesitantly.
"Although this concubine only learned some things about the Singularities from Master."
"But this concubine feels... that the current way of acting might have some slight problems?"
"Problems?" Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at Tamamo-no-Mae in confusion. "What problems?"
"Uh..." The fox spirit looked at Ian, and after receiving his nod of permission, she continued.
"It's just that it's a little time-consuming."
"...Time-consuming?" Mash murmured the word Tamamo-no-Mae said, then realized something.
"Now that Tama-chan mentions it, I do feel that way too." Mash said thoughtfully.
"Ritsuka, Mo-chan, and I spent a lot of time looking for Senpai back then."
"But——" Mash continued.
"Actually, there was no need to do that."
Hearing this, Mordred immediately became anxious.
"Hey, Mash!" Mordred exclaimed, her green eyes flashing.
"What do you mean by 'no need to do that'? My Master ran off with a terrifying witch! Isn't it reasonable to spend time looking for him?"
"Eh, this..." Mash was still very timid. Being questioned like this by Mordred made her words falter.
"That's not what I meant!" Mash said hurriedly, waving her hands.
"Then what did you mean?!" Mordred was very agitated.
"..." Olga Marie, who had been silent for a long time, spoke again at this moment.
"Mordred." Olga Marie said calmly.
"I think... what Mash wants to express is that if we had trusted Ian from the beginning, we wouldn't have needed to spend that time chasing after him."
"Is that right?" Olga Marie looked at the pink-haired girl.
"Yes, yes!" Mash nodded repeatedly. "Director, you're right!"
"This..." Mordred, understanding Mash's true meaning, fell silent.
But after scratching her face, she continued to ask.
"But even if we hadn't gone looking for my Master... we wouldn't have been able to use that time to do other things."
"..." "..." Mordred's words were obviously a concern for everyone, and all the girls' gazes returned to Ian.
This was the topic he had brought up, so naturally he should be the one to give the answer.
"Ian." Olga Marie said, her amber eyes looking at him. "It's time for you to say your thoughts, right?"
Hearing this, the man smiled calmly and began to summarize.
"It seems everyone has more or less thought about this issue."
"Right now, there are still many Singularities that need us to repair."
"If we continue to act with that kind of distrust towards each other, the time taken might become longer and longer."
"Of course—I think there are no trust issues in Chaldea at this moment."
"But we still have to find a way to speed up the process."
Ian's gaze swept over everyone present, and he spoke his thoughts.
"For example——" Ian looked at them, his dark eyes filled with determination.
"Repairing multiple Singularities simultaneously."
"This...?" Olga Marie was a little incredulous at what she had heard. "How are you going to repair them simultaneously?"
"Actually, the logic is very simple." Ian looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka.
"Chaldea uses the 'Spiritron Transfer System' to send me and Ritsuka to different Singularities separately."
"This way, we can start repairing them at the same time."
"No!" Olga Marie interrupted Ian's words.
"Didn't we mention this before separating and transferring?" Olga Marie asked, her amber eyes filled with concern.
"The biggest problem with doing that is that Ritsuka will be in danger, right?"
"That was indeed the case at first."
"But——" Ian's gaze turned to Mordred and Mash, who were standing together.
"I think if two Servants could go with her to that era, it would be much safer, right?"
"..." Olga Marie completely understood Ian's thoughts.
After summoning Tamamo-no-Mae, he now had two Servants.
If Mordred was "assigned" to Fujimaru Ritsuka, she could protect Fujimaru Ritsuka together with Mash.
And this kind of thing was also feasible in terms of underlying logic.
Chaldea already had a precedent of successfully transferring two Masters + two Servants, so the current situation of one Master + two Servants was obviously simpler!
However, Ian's magical energy burden might be unimaginably large.
After all—— This was supplying magical power across different eras...
Unlike what Olga Marie was worried about, Mordred was concerned about being "assigned" to Fujimaru Ritsuka's side.
"Master!" Mordred exclaimed, her green eyes flashing.
"Why is it me following Ritsuka? Isn't Tamamo-no-Mae okay?!"
"Because I believe in you." The man looked at Mordred very seriously.
"I witnessed your strike that split the Chaldean iceberg."
"I also witnessed your persistence in attacking the other Jeanne at all costs."
"So Mo-chan, I know you can definitely protect Ritsuka for me."
"As for Tama-chan... this is a good opportunity to test her strength."
"..." Mordred fell silent.
She knew that the father before her wasn't just perfunctory, but really believed that she could do such a thing.
She didn't object anymore, which could be considered a tacit acceptance of this arrangement.
"Alright." The man waved his hand.
"This is just a temporary idea... we still need to study further on how to proceed in the end."
"That's all for today."
"Meeting dismissed."
After saying these words, Ian went to Tamamo-no-Mae's ear and whispered a few words.
Then.
While the girls left the meeting room one after another, the fox spirit approached Olga Marie, Fujimaru Ritsuka, and Mash in succession.
She left the same sentence for all of them.
"My Master——" Tamamo-no-Mae said with a gentle smile.
"Hopes that you can go to the Director's office tonight."