The beeping of the outgoing call seemed exceptionally clear in the empty lobby.
Flat held the phone to his ear, his other hand lightly tapping out a rhythm on his knee.
He leaned back against the sofa, legs straightened and pressed together with his toes pointing at the ground, his body swaying slightly from side to side to the tune he was humming.
Like a primary school student.
"Beep—beep—beep—"
The dial tone rang three times before the call was picked up.
"Hello."
A low male voice came from the other end, carrying an obvious weariness:
"Mr. Flat, I hope you are calling because you have finally recognized the cruelty of the Holy Grail War and are prepared to pack your bags and return to the Clock Tower."
Though he spoke this way, the worry he couldn't hide in his tone still leaked through the receiver.
He was his own student, after all; what else could he do? It was a twist of fate!
London, the Clock Tower.
Lord El-Melloi II was sitting behind a tea table.
He held the phone with one hand and pressed his temple with the other.
The sky outside the window was gray, looking as if it might rain at any moment.
From the moment he received the news that Flat had secretly run off to the United Nations to participate in the Holy Grail War, he hadn't closed his eyes.
Now, hearing Flat's voice, his anger flared up once again.
But anger aside, his worry was also genuine, so he had picked up the phone regardless.
Moreover, the instant he heard Flat's voice, he unconsciously sat up straight, waiting for what came next.
The blonde girl sitting opposite him, Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, elegantly picked up her teacup and took a sip of black tea.
She was dressed in an exquisite gown, her blue eyes carrying a half-smiling expression.
She set down her teacup and turned to look out the window, appearing uninterested in the phone conversation.
However, her slightly tilted ear betrayed the fact that she was, in fact, listening.
On the other end of the line, Flat's voice came through the receiver, so loud it nearly ruptured the eardrum.
"Of course not!"
"Professor, you probably won't believe what I saw!"
In the lobby, several guests who were checking in were startled by the volume and turned their heads to look.
Flat didn't care about those gazes at all. Holding the phone, he leaned forward, his voice trembling with irrepressible excitement.
Lord El-Melloi II was long accustomed to Flat's behavior and silently moved the phone a bit further away:
"What did you see? Allow me to remind you, Mr. Flat, if you don't have something truly important to say..."
He paused and let out a cold, threatening chuckle.
"Hmph."
The meaning was clear: If you dare bother me with trivial trifles, prepare to die.
Flat waved his hand frantically on the other end, even though Lord El-Melloi II couldn't see it.
"No, no, no! Of course not! It's Miss Olga Marie! I saw her in Snowfield City!"
His tone was a mix of fawning and urgency, as if he were terrified the Professor would hang up.
The other end of the phone suddenly went silent.
II's eyes snapped wide the moment he heard that name.
The fingers gripping the phone tightened unconsciously, his knuckles turning white.
Flat waited for two seconds without receiving a response, so he added another sentence:
"It's true! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"...Who did you say?"
Lord El-Melloi II's voice rose sharply, carrying an edge of disbelief.
As for Reines, who was sitting opposite him, her gaze slowly drifted back from the window upon hearing the name "Olga Marie."
She raised an eyebrow and let out an interested "oh," looking at the phone in II's hand.
Clearly, she had developed an interest in this conversation.
"Olga Marie Asmleit Animusphere!" Flat answered. "The daughter of the Lord of the Department of Astronomy, the one who's always frowning and walking really fast!"
"Flat." II's voice returned to a calm—a terrifyingly calm—state. "I will give you three seconds to reorganize your language."
"Eh? Why do I need to reorganize?"
Flat was bewildered. "I'm just telling the truth! I really saw her! Just now! She even kicked me!"
"First of all, Olga Marie Animusphere should still be at the Clock Tower right now. I have not heard any news regarding her traveling to the United Nations."
Lord El-Melloi II said,
"Secondly, she has no reason to appear in Snowfield City, much less any reason to participate in this Holy Grail War."
"Finally—"
He lowered his voice. "In short, stop speaking such nonsense."
Flat's voice continued to come through the receiver:
"I forgot to mention, it's not the Miss Olga Marie from the Clock Tower! It's a Servant! And the quality of her Saint Graph is terrifyingly massive! It's truly incredible that the continent didn't sink under her weight just by her standing there..."
The other end of the phone fell silent again.
This time, the silence lasted even longer.
"...Explain."
Finally, II spoke, his voice gaining a hint of solemnity.
...
Listening to Flat's incessant descriptions on the other end, Lord El-Melloi II felt his blood pressure soaring at a rate visible to the naked eye.
What did he mean by "met a Servant on the road who looks exactly like Olga Marie from the Clock Tower and calls herself the President of the Earth"?
And what did he mean by "this Servant was caught in the pincer attack of King Gilgamesh and Enkidu's Noble Phantasms and remained unharmed"?
Furthermore! What did he mean by "her Saint Graph structure is different from those produced by a Holy Grail Summoning"?
Was she not summoned by the Holy Grail?
Lord El-Melloi II screamed silently in his heart—there were simply too many things to criticize!
Any single point taken on its own was enough to make one question reality, and now they were all piled together?
He felt his sanity emitting a groan of being overtaxed.
Of course, his bizarre, contorted facial expressions were fully taken in by Reines sitting opposite him, causing her to let out a light chuckle.
Lord El-Melloi II looked up at her.
Reines met his gaze, her red lips parting slightly as she soundlessly mouthed a sentence.
Lord El-Melloi II understood.
What she said was: "Olga Marie is still at the Clock Tower."
He froze for a moment, then immediately realized.
That was it.
If Olga Marie herself was still at the Clock Tower, then the one Flat encountered was certainly not her.
And it was impossible for Flat to mistake the person.
Thus, the most improbable answer was often the truth.
That Servant was Olga Marie.
It was just her from another world, another Timeline, where she had become a Servant.
That was the only way to explain it.