Romani 'Roman' Archaman was the head of Chaldea's medical department, he had spent much time with it's denizens, current and former, and was currently serving in the same capacity as it's Director, Olga Marie Animusphere, in lieu of the whole of upper command being six feet under thanks to a certain Demon God but that was something for later.
At least the A-Team were safe and sound, ensuring that humanity as a whole would be safe... eventually... when they got around to it.
ANYWAY!
Being in such a position meant he was privy to a lot of what went on in the organisation, at times, unwillingly.
Like right now...
Romani nervously fidgeted with his pen, trying to make himself as small as possible as he hid his head behind a random desk in the hopes of not being collateral damage for what was coming.
"U-Umm... Nicholas, we didn't lose anything critical."
You see, some of Chaldea's more 'eccentric' residents had rebelled over not being allowed to join their Master on his campaign against humanity's enemies... This had lead to them ruining the organisation's interior, destroying several facilities in the process and almost damaging the Rayshifting System they used to deploy their Masters.
"It's not about that, doc." The teenager in question dismissed his words with a wave of his hand, narrowing his eyes at the multiple servants sitting in the seiza position with lowered heads and bruised cheeks, "It's about the damn principle. What if they messed with the French reactor?"
The other Masters had left to rest already, leaving Nicholas to punish the few servants that were rampaging in his absence. The servants that came back with them had gone off to do the random hobb- ...er, activities they'd put off to join him.
Olga crossed her arms and glared at the servants, a vein popping out on her forehead, "You're all meant to be heroes of legend... Saviours! Why would you do something this reckless?"
"I am no hero! I am a tyran-...mmph!!" Artoria tried to speak out but was silenced by Carmilla putting both her hands in front of her mouth.
"You will stay silent, girl."
She must've not spent a lot of time in Chaldea because she screeched when the Altered Saber indignantly bit down on her pale hands, leaving deep bite marks, "WHAT ARE YOU?! A DOG?!"
"Hmph! A lion." Artoria smirked at the Blood Countess.
"And you, Elisabeth. I was out there trying to get you a music teacher and this is what you do?" Nicholas regarded the pink haired idol dragon with visible disappointment in his eyes, making Elisabeth flinch and shiver.
"You should kill her." Carmilla offered with bared fangs, peering down at Elisabeth and poised to strike at a moment's notice, "She is a useless girl that won't accomplish anything."
"B-But she told me you were in d-danger! How am I s-supposed to become a... f... famous idol if my manager is dead?" The girl squeaked out with teary eyes, wincing from the pain of Nicholas literally flying out of the rayshift like a demon out of hell and punching all of them in the faces.
Pure innocence being one of his well-known weaknesses, Nicholas' gaze softened… which was actually a medical mystery considering the man looked like he was a machine most of the time.
"How would I b-"
"How could he possibly be in danger?!" Olga cut Nicholas off, shouting at the flushed Elisabeth.
Nicholas nodded, "Yeah, I punched Ares' sword today."
"Yeah! He punched Ares' sw-... wait what?! You punched what?!" Olga turned to look at Nicholas in shock, "Did you just say Ares? As in, the Greek God of War, Ares?"
"Yep."
...Letting out a defeated sigh, Olga just walked off with slumped shoulders, "Honestly, why do I even worry about you? Of course he punched the damn sword of Ares."
"Aw, but it's so cute when you do worry..."
"S-Shut up! Deal with your servants!" The Director of Chaldea stomped off with tinted cheeks.
"Anyway! My Master! I was right in trying to force my way to your side! Why would you leave me? I wanted to try seafood too." Artoria complained with a plain face, massaging her bruised cheeks, "In fact, you should punish those who just didn't participate in my righteous missions! Those that resisted me, like Carmilla, Vlad and Siegfried, are worthy of praise. Those who stood silent and watched calling it a child's tantrum are the true evil! Surely, you understand this?"
Nicholas felt like punting her across the room, "As the one who started this shit, you get to spend the next week outside."
"But what about the cold?"
The Chaldean Master held out a clenched fist, opening it to reveal an empty palm, "There's all the fucks I give about that after this shit you pulled."
"W-What about Elisabeth?!"
"She's just a kid that got caught up in yo lies... And no junk food for two weeks. The only thing you're gonna be eating for a long while is vegetables." Nicholas spoke her punishment decisively, narrowing his violet eyes.
This was good enough right?
Da Vinci had told him they didn't cause any irreparable damage and a punishment like this would make the woman think twice before doing something like it again.
"Take her away." He waved his hand and turned to leave.
"Y-You monster! They call me a tyrant. You're worse!" Artoria shouted indignantly as she was dragged away by her fellow servants, to be thrown out to the cold Antarctic winds.
Nicholas paused, "Will somebody please teach that woman how to reflect on your mistakes?"
"You sure you're the one who should be saying that, Nicholas?" Romani chuckled slightly, heaving a relieved sigh as he rose to his feet, thankful for the lack of collateral damage.
Nicholas looked at him incredulously, "Man come on, even I know when I'm supposed to say sorry."
"Er...sure."
"Riight, I'mma go call over the cool cats from Septem, especially Atilla." The pale haired teenager shrugged and sauntered off.
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Nicholas walked through the mostly empty corridors that made up much of Chaldea.
He'd never liked the theme of this place, the white metal looked good for a futuristic sci-fi theme but it got boring and repetitive after a certain amount of time... Maybe he could ask Da Vinci or Marie to lighten it up a bit? Give it an artistic flair or something, whatever pervert exhibitionist artists did actually, it'd be way better than the current theme.
Consumed in his thoughts, Nicholas happened upon a sight he hadn't been expecting.
One of the most famous huntresses of Ancient Greece, blessed by the Goddess Artemis, was standing in front of a vending machine, trying to pick up a bag of chips with her mouth because her hands were already full.
"You know, this won't really go anywhere." Nicholas offered cooly, totally not trying to imitate Kirschtaria.
Atalanta's ears twitched before mumbling, "Yes, but it would not be wrong to prepare for the occasion just in case... Food is not to be left when offered so... plentifully?"
Nodding, Nicholas walked over to the bag she was trying to pick up and tossed it into her 'arm pile', "Sure... when I summon you though?"
"...I offered you my services as a huntress when you promised to help all children by becoming the ruler... president?"
Yeah, he remembered saying that... with a chortle.
Why'd she taken it that seriously?
Damn, ancient people were kinda desperate.
"Yeah..." Nicholas chose the smartest course of action and tried to change the topic completely, "You gonna eat all that?"
"...Yes." The Huntress nodded firmly, looking at him like he was playing a stupid joke.
"Alright, let's go watch a movie. Eating without a show kinda boring."
Atalanta narrowed her eyes as her ears twitched, she looked him up and down, pausing at his eyes before nodding again, much slower this time, "...Fine."
It seemed that the Huntress blessed by Artemis was slowly getting used to the accommodations provided by the modern era... or maybe she just linked his hopeful eyes (delusion) with her obsession with helping children (delusion).
And so, the Master-servant duo went off to watch a movie.
"Why ain't you help Vlad and the others with Artoria?"
"It was a child's tantrum, Jeanne made sure they wouldn't damage anything permanently."
"Cool."
They failed to consider the difference between Nicholas, Servants, and normal fucking PEOPLE.
Both were unaware of the golden pair of eyes watching their movements from outside the massive glass panes that lined the corridor.
"M-Monsters."
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Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
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You can find 10 chapters ahead on patre0n.com/Bleap