A day had passed since the explosion in the Command Room at Chaldea.
The sudden explosion had caused heavy losses for Chaldea. At the same time, the Director, Rin, and the vice director, Olga Marie, had been transported to a Singularity. If Rin hadn't used her contract to notify Da Vinci to take over the aftermath, Chaldea would likely be in total chaos by now.
Da Vinci, who had rushed out from the inner side of Chaldea after receiving Rin's notification, lived up to the title of the "Universal Person." With the help of Fujino, Touko, and others from Rin's faction, it quickly and forcefully seized temporary command of Chaldea.
Upon gaining temporary command, Da Vinci ordered the 'Masters' in the freezing pods to be cryogenically suspended, then began leading the staff to rush repairs on the equipment damaged in the explosion, attempting to restore communication with Rin as soon as possible.
At the same time, under Da Vinci's authorization, Touko activated all of the internal defense puppets within Chaldea and began monitoring all of Chaldea's internal personnel.
Da Vinci, who was currently repairing equipment in the Command Room above the Control Room, gloomily put down its tools.
"Arghhhhh! What is this! Rin, you really know how to cause trouble!"
In fact, according to the original work, the explosion created by Lev shouldn't have damaged the equipment in the Command Room. However, the defensive Formula Rin had deployed in the Control Room happened to deflect part of the explosion's direction, causing the full force of that part of the explosion to hit the Command Room.
Having finished repairing most of the instruments, Da Vinci crawled out from under the communication console and took the towel handed to it by Sakura, wiping the sweat and dust from its face.
"There's no other way! The communication console is almost completely destroyed. It would be better to build a new one than to repair it!"
Reines, who was repairing parts with magecraft nearby, raised its small face gloomily to look at Da Vinci.
"In other words! All this work I've done was for nothing?"
Da Vinci looked at the pile of newly repaired parts in front of Reines and scratched its head sheepishly.
"Theoretically, most of the parts are indeed useless now."
Upon receiving a clear answer, Reines slumped onto its chair, staring blankly at the ceiling of the Command Room.
"Fine!"
Worried about Rin's safety, Sakura tugged at Da Vinci's sleeve somewhat anxiously.
"Da Vinci, do we have a spare communication console in Chaldea?"
Da Vinci rubbed its messy hair and said helplessly.
"We do have one, but we can't get to it. The place where backup equipment is stored requires the Director or vice director's authorization to enter. And if we force our way in, the equipment inside will be completely destroyed by the self-destruct program!"
Upon hearing this, the worried expression on Sakura's face instantly turned into one about to cry, and she murmured.
"Then what should we do? If Elder Sister..."
At this moment, a large hand pressed onto the top of Sakura's head and rubbed it vigorously.
"Sakura, don't forget the Tohsaka Family motto!"
Just as Sakura was feeling down, Touko walked into the Command Room with Tokiomi, who had been patrolling all night. Seeing his younger daughter looking so dejected, Tokiomi decisively walked over to Sakura and asserted his paternal authority.
However, Tokiomi himself wasn't doing much better. Although he still maintained his usual elegant demeanor, the sudden 'disappearance' of his eldest daughter and the night of patrolling had left him unshaven, with bloodshot eyes and a wrinkled suit. He looked exactly like a middle-aged uncle who had pulled an all-nighter; there wasn't a shred of elegance left.
However, none of the people present laughed at him. After all, a father whose daughter had gone missing, a man who still stood strong after his daughter's 'disappearance' to support his family, should not be mocked.
Furthermore, if anyone in the Tohsaka Family was the most worried about Rin, it wouldn't be Sakura, who adored and was obsessed with Rin, nor would it be her mother, Tohsaka Aoi—it was Tohsaka Tokiomi.
For Tokiomi, Rin was not just his daughter, nor just the successor of Jewel Magecraft; she was the hope of the Tohsaka Family, the future of the Tohsaka Family, and the best candidate to pursue the Tohsaka Family's long-cherished wish.
Whether from the perspective of the family, as a Magus, or as a father, no matter which angle you looked at it from, Rin was currently Tokiomi's everything!
Touko coughed twice, drawing everyone's attention.
"Da Vinci, have you forgotten that there is a third way to enter the warehouse where the backup equipment is stored!"
Realizing it after Touko's hint, Da Vinci slapped its forehead in sudden understanding, then turned and grabbed Sakura's ID badge. Sure enough, it found the answer on it.
Chaldea Commander! Chaldea Logistics Manager!
"Hahaha! When on earth did that girl Rin issue these two positions! Sakura, you truly are Rin's own sister!"
Chaldea Commander and Chaldea Logistics Manager, as the names suggest, are the officials in charge of operations and logistics. In normal times, this might not mean much, but with both the Director and vice director missing, the Chaldea system defaults to granting the three positions of Commander, Logistics Manager, and Personnel Director partial Director authority.
However, in Da Vinci's eyes, those three positions were theoretically vacant, as the offices for those three positions were still sitting there gathering dust.
Having just received the hint from Touko, Da Vinci immediately thought of this clause in the underlying protocol of the Chaldea system and decisively checked the ID badge of Sakura, who usually did odd jobs.
Perhaps it was because Rin doted on her younger sister, or perhaps it was just Rin being playful, but in any case, two of these three most important positions had been thrown to Sakura, who was usually quiet and unassuming.
Sakura looked at Da Vinci joyfully and asked.
"Can we go to the backup warehouse now?"
Da Vinci handed the ID badge back to Sakura and shook its head.
"To open that warehouse, we also need the Personnel Director's authorization. Just your two authorizations aren't enough... Oof! Touko, what are you doing?"
Touko's eye twitched slightly as it walked over to Da Vinci, put its arm around Da Vinci's neck, and began pulling on Da Vinci's face with its other hand.
"I'm looking at an idiot! Look at your own ID badge!"
Da Vinci, released by Touko, coughed a few times. Too busy to retaliate, it hurriedly began searching its person for its ID badge.
After a long while, Da Vinci pulled out a crumpled ID badge. Looking closely, it saw that the position column indeed listed "Personnel Director and Chief Researcher."
Da Vinci scratched its head sheepishly and said apologetically.
"It seems I am the Personnel Director! Uh, but I've never looked at this thing, so you can't blame me for that, right!"
Touko lifted its foot and kicked Da Vinci in the butt.
"Stop goofing around! Hurry up and go to the warehouse to get the backup communication console so we can restore communication with Rin sooner!"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Knowing it was at fault, Da Vinci hurriedly grabbed Sakura, took a few puppets, and rushed toward the warehouse area.
At this moment, knowing that communication was about to be restored, the look of exhaustion on Tokiomi's face lessened slightly. Tokiomi walked up to Touko with deep emotion and bowed deeply to it, paying his respects.
"Touko, I've troubled you again this time. Thank you very much for taking care of my daughter all these years."
Touko immediately helped up Tokiomi, who was bowing to it, then pulled a pack of cigarettes from its pocket. Then, right in front of Tokiomi and Reines, it used a Magic Bullet with minimal power to shatter the "No Smoking" sign hanging on the wall.
Touko then handed a cigarette to Tokiomi, and with a threatening look, placed a cigarette into Reines' hand, before finally lighting one for itself and taking a puff.
"Don't thank me. As for me now! I've been turned into an ally by Rin. Isn't it only natural for allies to help each other!"
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