"I will do what I can."
The Chaldea staff's gazes towards the bowing Assassin were lukewarm.
Neither cold nor welcoming. He was a Servant, but there was too little use for him.
He lacked the intelligence to be hired as staff. There was no place for a farmer in the elite group of Chaldea.
The only work he could do was menial chores. And he was unskilled even at that.
He lacked dexterity, so there was nothing they could ask him to do besides simple tasks like fetching coffee.
That was the staff's reaction, but not Ritsuka's.
Ritsuka was strongly drawn to this bland, incompetent Servant.
An incompetent Servant is meaningless.
Likewise, an incompetent last Master of humanity is useless.
Even though Ritsuka had resolved many Singularities, in the end, she was no different from being a burden to her Servants.
Ritsuka, who was rotting on the inside, felt a sense of kinship with the Assassin, who was in the same boat.
"Mr. Lupus? Mr. Yi? What should I call you?"
"'Mister' is fine. Anything but 'grandpa'."
"Are you really not the person I fought in the Singularity?"
"This is the first I've heard the word 'Singularity'. I was just a farmer."
Ritsuka lay on her private room bed, conversing with the Assassin.
If one ignored the fact that Ritsuka's head was resting not on a pillow but on the Assassin's lap, it was peaceful enough to be mistaken for a family chat.
"Mister, what did you do for a living? I was a student."
"A student, you say. You seem like you would have been good at sports."
"Whoa! I was in a sports club, how did you know?"
"I guessed."
Ritsuka laughed. The word "guessed" coming from the mister sounded awkward, which made it funny.
"This is a strange feeling. You look exactly like him, and Johanna said you're the same person… but you feel like a completely different person."
"That may be so. I know nothing about beasts or anything of the sort. I'm just an ordinary person who lived as a common farmer and died enjoying a happiness I didn't deserve."
"Can't you tell me a little more?"
"I'm sorry. But I can tell you that I had a cute daughter."
A daughter. Ritsuka pondered. Tamamo's face reflexively came to mind.
Tamamo no Mae, who had been completely dismissed and had a slim chance of being resummoned. She used to reminisce about her father with a nostalgic expression.
-He's a wonderful, reliable, and very responsible father.
Ritsuka looked up at the Assassin. The Assassin tilted his head slightly, as if asking what was wrong.
"Your daughter's name. I think I know it."
"Is that so? It should be difficult to guess."
No. I'm sure of it.
Ritsuka had already finished her deduction based on him being the same person as the Beast. That's why she could confidently propose a bet.
"Give me a prize if I get it right."
"All I have left are these old clothes. Unfortunately, I don't have anything that would satisfy you, Master…."
"I don't need an object. How about a wish ticket?"
A wish ticket. It wasn't something of great significance.
The world outside Chaldea was currently incinerated, and Ritsuka and the Assassin, trapped in Chaldea, were not grand enough beings to grant each other's wishes.
A wish ticket between two people who were practically ordinary could, at best, be used for wishes like 'give me a massage' or 'fetch me coffee'.
If the Assassin had been a great magus instead of an Assassin, a wider range of wishes would have been possible.
Ritsuka, of course, knew this.
She also knew for a fact that the Assassin was a Servant who couldn't do anything amazing.
Ritsuka simply wished for it. She wished for the bet with a wish ticket itself.
She proposed the bet to the Assassin because she wanted to remember her daily life before she became the last Master.
"Let's make a bet for a wish ticket."
The Assassin smiled awkwardly and nodded.
"…Understood. If it is my Master's wish, then I, as an inadequate Servant, must naturally comply."
"I'm an inadequate Master, though."
"A Master is a Master… It seems we'll have to make the bet later."
Suddenly, the Assassin helped Ritsuka sit up. Now in a sitting position, Ritsuka puffed her cheeks in protest.
"Why did you…."
"Ritsuka? Lupus? Are you here?"
"Aha."
The door opened, and Johanna came looking for them. Only then did Ritsuka understand the Assassin's intention.
"So you were all here. I've been looking all over."
"You've worked hard. I'll give you my seat, please sit."
The Assassin politely stood up from the bed. Johanna waved her hands in refusal.
"No. I didn't mean to take your spot, Lupus. Please sit down. No. Please, have a seat."
"Understood."
Johanna was extremely courteous to the Assassin. That's how it looked to Ritsuka, a third party.
Lupus. The name of the Beast that Ritsuka fought in the Localized Singularity.
It was a welcome name to Johanna, but the Assassin seemed oddly displeased by it.
"Calling me Assassin or Mister is fine. However, I find it very difficult to get used to the name Lupus. I would ask you to use a different appellation."
"…But Lupus is Lupus. To me, you are."
Johanna's tone was slightly whiny.
"He is a stranger to me. I would like you to understand that Lupus and I are completely different people."
His attitude, close to a stone wall, was almost heartless.
That's how much the Assassin wanted to distinguish himself from Lupus.
"Even though Chaldea's super-smart machine said you two are 99.98% the same person, you still want to make a distinction?"
"I understand your point, Master, but that is what I believe. Even if I did something else in the future, the memories from the life of the me who has manifested as this Assassin ended in the fields. The future me and the current me are clearly different beings."
Ritsuka had nothing to say. Instead, she looked at Johanna with a worried expression.
Johanna clenched and unclenched her fist slightly. When she spoke again, her tone had become much more polite.
"Then… who were you married to in your life?"
"Johanna-chan?"
Johanna did not give up.
Instead, she tried to confirm the Assassin's taste in women.
Even if his memories are different, won't a person's preferences be the same?
Even if Lupus doesn't consider himself Lupus, to Johanna, he is undoubtedly a precious person.
That's why she didn't want to let go.
However, her method was crude.
"Brown hair, and big breasts!"
"Johanna-chan?!"
"A pure yet confident woman is your type, right?!"
Johanna's eyes were spinning. It seemed she didn't even know what she was saying.
They were words too vulgar for a sober person to say, especially a Pope.
But Johanna was confident. She had no doubt that Lupus would fall for her charms.
"H-How about… me?"
Johanna's body trembled as she struck a pose that emphasized her chest.
Ritsuka felt so sorry for Johanna that she could go crazy.
What on earth is love? To make her push herself to strike a sexy, provocative pose that didn't even suit her.
'Say something, mister!'
Ritsuka prayed inwardly. Unable to use telepathy, this was the best she could do.
Johanna's face was turning redder by the second. If left alone for another ten seconds, she would explode.
Finally, the Assassin stood up from the bed. He slowly approached Johanna.
And he straightened her disheveled clothes.
"Please don't push yourself. Even without doing such things, you are a sufficiently charming woman."
"Y-Yes."
"It's a beautiful garment. It feels even more so because you are the one wearing it."
Ritsuka gasped, covering her mouth.
To think there was a man who could say such things so calmly. And it suited him so well!
"Even if you had a good relationship with another me, there will be many differences between the me you remember and the me of now. If you expect to see him in me, you will surely be disappointed."
The Assassin spoke like someone who had experienced such situations many times.
"You are a beautiful woman. Far too good for me. I am a lowly farmer. Another version of me might be summoned by Chaldea's system. It would probably be better for you to wait for the me you remember…."
It would be much better, without disappointment.
Johanna stopped the Assassin before he could finish.
With none other than her lips.
"W-Wow."
Ritsuka let out a sound of awe without realizing it.
The brief kiss ended. Johanna's face, red as a beet, yet filled with determination, came into view.
"What are you doing…."
"Don't say that, Assassin. No matter what differences there may be, the you in front of my eyes is definitely the Lupus I remember. A man who's a coward, yet gets lonely if no one is by his side. That's everything I remember about Lupus."
Johanna smiled. It was a beautiful smile.
"I will fall for Lupus any time, every time, and Lupus will love me. Because that is our destiny."
Johanna took the Assassin's hand and intertwined their fingers. She liked his thick, rough hands.
"A fate to meet again one day in heaven. That kind of fate connects us, so it's fine whether you're Lupus, or a future or past you with another name. It's fine even if I might be disappointed."
The Assassin looked at her. He couldn't look away from her steadfast yet pleading eyes.
"Because in the end, the one I love is you."