Chapter 63: The Troubles of Servants
[May 26, night.]
[You've just soaked in the extremely relaxing hot water, and the headache from the hangover has completely disappeared.]
[There's still quite some time before the dorm closes, so you decide to go to the library later to study seriously.]
[But before that, you decide to use your phone to log into the Einzbern Counseling Room website Oberon mentioned, to see what it's like.]
[Because the program with the same name is so popular, this counseling site's servers are often overloaded. From Grand Servants to those from other worlds, everyone shares their troubles here, making it practically a part of Servant pop culture.]
[You don't post about your troubles right away; instead, you want to see what the atmosphere of the discussions is like first.]
"..."
Stepping out of the bath, Eikou felt his whole body refreshed, his mind completely clear.
Carrying his basin and towel, he scrolled through his phone while walking back to the dormitory.
Using the link Oberon sent, Eikou entered the Einzbern Counseling Room website.
Probably because of the huge traffic, he had to reload three or four times before finally getting in.
What greeted him was a clean, bright layout; at the top of the page were two avatars — Irisviel and Fujimura Taiga — apparently the MC duo and founders of both the program and the site.
Eikou refreshed the page once more.
"Wow, there are so many people coming here for counseling…"
Every time he pressed F5, a flood of new posts popped up — showing just how massive the traffic and number of posters were.
There were posts about love, careers, studies, and worries about Servants' second lives — for example:
"A Servant from the Human Order came to me for revenge, saying that the Lostbelt version of me stabbed him to death. Can I ask everyone for help?"
"Seems like the Servants at Chaldea Academy really do have all kinds of troubles."
Looking at the screen filled with pleas for help, Eikou casually clicked on one of the posts.
It was a post from an anonymous user named "Rain."
"I'm a married woman living in Academy City. Lately, I've been having some family troubles."
"Oh, so it's the troubles of a housewife, huh?"
Eikou curiously scrolled down to read more.
Rain: "I've raised a lot of children. When they were little, they were easy to teach, and very adorable, but now I honestly feel like I'm starting to lose my ability as a mother."
"In this house, the only ones who make me worry the least are my eldest son and fourth daughter. As for the rest, each of them has their own problems and flaws."
"Especially the daughter chosen as my heir — she just caused trouble at school and got a call for a parent-teacher meeting."
"As punishment, I've frozen her credit card."
"I'm wondering if this punishment is too harsh, and whether it can really make her change."
"If anyone can help me resolve this troubling matter and offer a practical solution, I'll be extremely grateful and give a generous reward — exactly 1,000,000 QP."
"Also, speaking of daughters, I really like the episodes where the host of Einzbern Counseling Room appears with her daughter — that girl is so adorable."
"Oh right, the two maids in her castle are also super cute, like dolls."
"Okayyyyyyy..."
For some reason, he vaguely felt like he already knew who this person was.
Eikou tried not to think about their true identity.
Nickname "Rain," has many children, likes cute things…
And that generous 1,000,000 QP reward — the identity of this person was practically screaming out loud.
"Calm down, there are plenty of wealthy married women in the Throne of Heroes, there's no way this is Morgan..."
Eikou shook his head, trying to throw away that terrifying thought.
Below the post, there was a reply from a user with an ice cream avatar and the nickname "Ice Witch," leaving a very thoughtful comment.
Ice Witch: "Forget the money."
"I also work in the education field, so allow me to give you some professional advice."
"Rigid punishment alone can't really solve the problem. The key is close supervision and strict discipline. But since you may not have enough time and energy, why not talk to your daughter's friends or classmates, ask about her situation first, then handle it based on the actual circumstances."
Rain: "I see, that's truly wise advice..."
"Calling yourself Ice Witch, yet speaking with such wisdom and sharpness — could you be some kind of druid-like educational elder?"
Ice Witch: "Don't call me old."
Rain: "Then, I'll have my husband pay more attention to her later. Conveniently, my husband and my daughter are in the same class."
Ice Witch: "…?"
Ice Witch: "Wait a second!"
Ice Witch: "Why are your husband and your daughter in the same class?! What kind of relationship is this?! Which class?!"
Rain: "Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it, goodbye!"
"..."
Eikou lightly pressed his palm to his forehead.
Now there was no need to guess anymore — the anonymous user named "Rain" had already exposed everything herself.
Morgan, it's obviously you!
Why is she so free that she's browsing forums like this? And she even watches Einzbern Counseling Room?! Well, Illya really is cute, but still…
"Aaa… why is it that every time I go online, it's always some 'acquaintance committing crimes' situation…"
Eikou's head started throbbing painfully.
He originally just wanted to find a way to solve his own problems, but the moment he opened the forum, he stumbled upon a whole new mess.
"Come to think of it, did Baobhan Sith cause trouble at school recently, so Morgan's been stressed out like this…"
The Queen of the Fairy Kingdom, who always appeared cold and domineering, was in truth the kind of person who only worried about and cared for those she valued — especially her heir, Baobhan Sith.
Temporarily setting this post aside, Eikou continued to check other complaint posts from the Servants.
He casually clicked on another post.
The poster was "Ice Witch," the very same person who had just replied to Morgan — claiming to be work in the education field.
"Ice Witch, huh…"
Eikou pondered,
"It doesn't seem like anyone I know fits that description. I can basically conclude she's not someone I know."
The post by Ice Witch was a plea for advice.
It read:
"Since it's very easy to trace my identity, I won't reveal my specific occupation."
"And don't try to figure it out from my nickname or avatar either. This account was registered through facial authentication, and both the nickname and avatar were automatically generated by the system."
"Ahem, now I'll start talking about my problem..."
"Just yesterday, I drank a lot of alcohol with a junior who's much younger than me, and accidentally… ended up lying on the same bed with him..."
"Right now, I'm thinking about how to deal with him."
Scathach — so it was Scathach!
Eikou was instantly startled.
Why the hell is even she posting for help on a forum like this, and using such a feminine-sounding nickname too?!
Could it be that because she used facial authentication, the system automatically linked her to the Skadi account with the same face and logged her in?!
Seriously, Einzbern Counseling Room really is full of monsters. There's not a single normal person here.
Scathach: "That boy may be a little slow in the head, but he gave off a very reliable masculine aura. After what happened, he even decided to take responsibility for me."
Scathach: "I'm thinking about whether I should accept him or not…"
Scathach: "Hmm... I'll just give him a simpler nickname… let's call him Mochizuki Ei."
Isn't that the stupid shortened name Tristan once made up for me?! This doesn't protect my privacy at all! It can't even be called "shortening"!
Morgan: "Mochizuki, huh, this person has the same last name as my husband?"
"!"
Why the hell did you get into this thread too?! Spare me from this kind of thing already!
A drop of cold sweat trickled down Eikou's forehead.
Damn it, the two women he absolutely didn't want to see collided head-on — online of all places. Why do I have to face a harem warzone even on the internet?!
His heart pounded violently, as if death itself was drawing near!