I had been here only a single day and I had already solidified a single thought about Chaldea.
What the fuck was wrong with this place?
First that thing, which had been able to sneak up on me. I had no idea what it was only that it was something monstrous hiding beneath its fluffy surface that was kept under lock and key. It didn't appear hostile for now, so I had stopped overly worrying about it, for now.
But still, what the hell was it doing running around here?
And this, this new creature/man/being.
What had Olga call him, Lev?
What the fuck was that thing?
Because every instinct of mine told me that he wasn't human. But I also had no idea what he was, and her had been….friendly with the Director, so did I even have a right to call him out? I can't exactly call myself a normal human either and I don't have any ill intentions towards the people here.
That's how I tried to rationalize the situation to myself, however, that thing gave me a very strange feeling, and I didn't know how to process the reaction I had. There was a sense of…..familiarity, but something else that set me on edge around him.
It was no where near the same feeling of terror that the little animal gave me, but it was still something that made me cautious. A dim glow rather than a spot light.
But more importantly, why did I unconsciously default to hatred for whatever he was? I caught myself from overtly reacting, but just being in his presence made me annoyed and uncomfortable, and I don't know why.
No wonder the old man wanted me to investigate this place; there was a lot happening here under the surface. And frankly, I was becoming more and more confused on where to even begin my investigation.
It was hard to pay attention to what the Director was droning on about. Not that it was things I needed to know. She was giving a quick course in how to act around other Mages, but it was important for those who might be in my future team.
Just because I had a main objective which was to investigate what was going on, it didn't mean I would skirt any responsibilities I was given. Call it pride, but if I was supposed to get these people up to scuff, I would do so.
"And that is why you don't interrogate other Magi on their crafts." Olga clapped her hands, breaking me from my thoughts. I glanced up to see her wiping away chalk dust from her hands, looking proud of herself as everyone else was listening intently. "Anything you want to add, Shimoda?"
Jeez, why do I feel like I'm back in school with my teacher calling me out?
I scratched my head a little awkwardly, because I think she knew I hadn't really been paying attention. "Honestly, it's a pretty decent rule of thumb to just not ask too many personal questions, even if you think the question might be innocent. A good majority of Magi have a story, you never know what could poke them in the wrong way. Best just to be polite and not ask too many questions if you don't know, just to be sure. If you really need help with something or are confused, I'm sure there are people on staff that could help you without getting offended."
And I did say they could come to me about anything.
"Good, I will make sure you know which staff members are available for questions to not cause problems." Olga nodded in confirmation before taking out a pocket watch of all things. "That lazy idiot should be ready now. Shimoda, you're up first, head to the Medical Facilities for your check up."
"Um, where—"
"…I'll show you the way." She let out a sigh.
"Roman, you better not be slacking off!" Olga practically kicked open the door. "I swear, if I see you watching that stupid cartoon again, I'm going to –"
"D-Director!" I peeked inside to see a light-browned haired man fumbling with some things in his hands as he tried his best to shove them into a draw at the desk he was sitting at. "I'm working, I'm working, I promise!"
"Sure." She snorted. "I have your first patient, give him a proper check up, make sure there's no problems."
"R-right on it, Director!" He stuttered out, clearly caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be.
The Director scowled, but stomped out of the medical area, presumedly going back to where the others were.
"Whew, that could have been bad." The man sighed in relief. "So you're my first patient, huh? You should be a member of the B-Team that we just had arrive."
"Nice to meet you, Takao Shimoda" I held my hand out, something I would normally be hesitant about with these kinds of people, but he gave me a very…..fluffy feeling. I felt comfortable around him, strangely enough.
"Romani Archaman." He smiled rather good-naturedly, taking my hand for a shake. "You can call me Roman, everyone else does."
Suddenly, I felt the Spear in my ring vibrate, and for the briefest moment, there seemed to be a spark of Holy Power between us as soon as our hands met.
We both quickly jerked our hands back, looking at each other in confusion.
"….that was strange." I quickly tried to play it off.
Honestly, it was really weird. The Spear didn't usually react to things or people like that. And I couldn't very well take it out to investigate in a place like this. Who knew what kind of sensors or alarms might start blaring if I take out such a potent Holy Weapon.
"Y-yeah, what was that?" He smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, I have a Mystic Code on my finger under my glove, maybe some kind of reaction? Like two magnets or something."
"….yeah, that's probably it, I'm wearing a few Mystic Codes myself, I'll make sure to keep them from activating." I took the out that was given to me. "So, what kind of check up am I going to do? I doubt you want me to cough while you – "
"No, not that kind of physical." He chuckled awkwardly again. "Well, I guess we do need to check your physical health, but this is mostly to make sure there aren't going to be any foreseeable side effects to using the FATE system or Rayshifting if the time comes."
"Sorry, Fate System?" I furrowed my brow.
"Did the Director not get to that yet?" He scratched his cheek. "Uh, she'll probably explain it better than me. It's the system we use to summon servants, based on the one used in the Grail Wars."
"Ah." I nodded in understanding. "She did mention Servant summoning, but there's….. a lot of things to cover for mundane people who have just stepped into our world."
"Oh yeah." He winced. "I'm sure the Director is loving that."
Yeah, she definitely felt put off having to do something like that.
"It seems like she's going to hand over those responsibilities to me though. Most likely I'll be the Leader of B-Team from what she said." Networking was a go. It's a good idea to start making acquaintances with the other staff members
"Congratulations." He smiled rather happily. "Take care of me when you start moving up."
"I'm probably going to be nothing more that a glorified teacher." I chuckled. "But the benefits are probably good."
"The Director takes care for her people." He nodded. "A word of advice, if you need anything reasonable, she'll probably huff and groan about the costs and necessity, but she generally makes sure we're all satisfied."
Huh, a surprising take based on what I'd seen of her so far.
"I'll keep that in mind, thanks."
"Anyways, we should get started before she kicks my door down again." He slumped his shoulders. "She already confiscated my hidden snack stash the other day because she caught me taking a break."
I'm wondering what he meant by 'break'.
Well, not my business.
"Alright, so, what's first?"
"Mmm, going to need you to strip first, down to your unders, please."
I shrugged, as I began taking my clothes off. Thankfully, the old man had prepared me for a situation like this.
My command seals were hidden by a Mystic Code he created, a small bracelet on my wrist. I could easily play it off as my own 'Magi Paranoia' that I refused to take it off, or bullshit some other reason. It also did a good job of hiding my non-human nature from most probing, though it was certainly not full proof.
"Let's see..." The Doctor was flipping through some documents. "We have most of your information from when you signed up originally. Blood type, Gender, general medical history…..though there are a few more….invasive questions we're going to need."
"I understand, ask away." I hopped up on the bed, seat, table hybrid thing that most doctor offices had, sporting only my briefs.
"Are you a virgin?"
Well, that came out of left field. "…..are you coming on to me?"
"W-wait, I know it sounds weird to ask –"
"I'm flattered, really. But I think this is highly inappropriate given the circumstances." I could feel the corners of my lips twitching upwards.
"You're messing with me." He sighed, slumping his shoulders. "Why does everyone bully me."
Probably because it's easy and natural. "So, what's the explanation for that question, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I know it's weird, but it's generally an important thing of note when using the FATE system for summoning. It can affect what Servants can be potentially summoned and the more information we have, the better we can facilitate the whole process."
Should I make it more awkward for him? Ask him to clarify if certain activities counted as losing my 'virginity' or not?
'Does it count if I went balls deep into King Arthur's throat?'
I'm sure that would go over splendidly.
But, actually considering what I knew of how Servant summoning works, I can actually completely understand why he was asking that in hindsight. "No, I'm not a virgin." I chuckled.
And I'm already starting to miss my girls.
"Alright, moving on." He quickly jotted some notes done. "Are you related to any notable historic individual through any direct means. Be it a direct bloodline, or an inheritance of some kind?"
"Not that I know of."
Yet, anyways. Would it count if one of them bared my children?
"Hmmm, I'll put you down as unconfirmed for the time being. We may need to further search your history if it turns out to be an issue down the lost."
I shrugged, not like they could find anything meaningful.
"How many questions are there, exactly?" I asked.
"Uh…." He began flipping through pages, dozens and dozens of pages. I realized we were going to be here for awhile.
[****]
"Right, moving on, I'll mark you down for a positive on the time dilation."
Funnily enough, they had a question asking if I've ever had my personal time altered to not align with the world. Which….I spent a few years in the Land of Shadows, while only a week passed outside. So….technically? I was obviously vague about spending time in an area that flowed different than the outside.
"How much longer do I have to hold this?" I asked.
"Oh, I forgot about that. Eh….you should be fine now. I'll mark it down as a pass." He reached over, taking the Mystic Code out of my hand. "It's just a measure of how much Magical Energy output you can sustain for the process of facilitating the Summoning of a Servant."
It was just an orb-like object that constantly drained my Magical Energy at a consistent rate and I had to keep a consistent flow into it.
"Now….are you aware of any inhuman ancestry you might possess?" He asked. "Oh, and you can put your clothes back on."
[Nope, none whatsoever. Completely mundane human over here, no need to check.]
Hush, you.
[Ignore the wings, and the Divinity, and the Dragon. Completely natural, I assure you.]
I rolled my eyes at Ddraig's antics.
But there was the matter of how to answer this question. "I…..have a relation to Youkai – specifically of the Kitsune variety."
Which….was technically the truth, just not the type of relation he would assume. And I very well couldn't say I had demonic ancestry. The Church would probably burst through the door before the words left my mouth.
He raised an eyebrow as he looked at me. "Huh…..that's new." He scratched his head. "While we have some non-human blood among some of the staff, it's the first time we've run into someone related to Youkai. Not many Magi from out east that come on over here."
"Do you think it'll be a problem?" I asked, putting my shirt back on.
"Probably not?" He sounded a little uncertain. "We can't know for sure until later. But...you have Magic Circuits, so it's not like that kind of inhuman blood is predominant. So….I think it's fine to treat it as any other mixed-blood among our staff."
"…..It might also help if you gave some blood for testing." He said quietly.
"I would rather not." I forced a smile as I fixed my buttons and adjusted my tie back into its original place.
He did ask before, more officially, but we could also reserve the right to refuse. No Magus worth their salt would willingly give their blood to another Magus. The amount of horrible things you could do with willingly given blood was absurd.
An interesting thing of note, that willingly given and forcibly taken, made a huge difference when conducting rituals.
"Speaking of inhuman blood, would you happen to know a person by the name of 'Lev', the Director seemed familiar with him. Big poofy hair, likes to wear all green. But a snappy dresser?"
"Oh, lev?" He perked up. "Yeah, I know him. We studied at the Association together, and we've been friends for years." Roman smiled warmly. "Lev Lainur. He's supported the Director for years now and even after Lord Animusphere passed away."
Hmm, they seemed to have a good opinion of him, so maybe I'm just overthinking things?
"Wait, what did you mean by inhuman blood? Lev is fully human, I've known him since we were still teenagers." Roman blinked.
"Oh, my mistake, I was probably just misunderstanding something." I played it off easily enough. "Do you think he is – "
"If you have any questions about me, I would be more than happy to answer them myself."
My eyes dilated for a moment as I turned my head towards the source. The man was standing right in the doorway.
I didn't even sense his presence and I was hesitant to expand my senses outward in case anything unnatural about myself was noticed.
"We can consider it a trade." He smiled innocently but I felt an underlining hostility there. "Afterall, I'm also very curious about you."
[***]
Here's the Tuesday/Wednesday chapter. No chapter for Thursday, took the day off for some personal time, wanted to play some Hogwarts Legacy.
If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.c.o.m. / astoryforone