In the lounge area outside the control room.
Handing a bottle of drink to Ritsuka, who was sitting on a bench, Naoki smiled helplessly. "Sorry, Fujimaru, you just witnessed something inappropriate… Erm, if you could forget what just happened, it would be greatly appreciated."
Forget…
Recalling what she had just seen, Ritsuka shook her head regretfully. "It's hard to forget. In fact, because it was so shocking, I'll unconsciously remember it again even if I don't think about it… Are the Department Head and Miss Rei always like that?"
According to Chaldea's time, it was around noon—still daytime.
Engaging in such intimate physical contact in broad daylight, right in front of so many staff in the control room—Ritsuka didn't know what to say. Did this mean their relationship was just that close?
Naoki gave a wry smile. "That's undeniable. Rei has a more possessive nature than most people. Besides, it's also one of the ways she expresses her love for me… Well, something like that."
"I'm amazed the Department Head can accept it."
If her future partner did something like that every day, Ritsuka herself knew she wouldn't be able to accept it. After all, it was just too embarrassing.
"Rather than 'accepting,' it's more accurate to say I've gotten used to it. It's been ten years, after all. At first, I couldn't accept it either."
"I see… Eh?"
Unconsciously responding to Naoki, in the next second, she realized an important, unignorable piece of information hidden in Naoki's words. Though spoken casually, Ritsuka, who was quite sensitive about such things, immediately caught on.
"Ten years? Department Head, have you and Miss Rei been together for ten years?"
"Yes, but if calculated specifically, it's actually been twenty years."
Twenty years?!
Ritsuka looked incredulous. "Department Head… Um… you're not joking, right? Knowing each other for twenty years… How old are you actually?"
Judging by his appearance, Ritsuka had assumed Naoki was around her age. After all, he looked like a very handsome high school or university student—maybe twenty-one or twenty-two at most, right?
If he'd known Rei twenty years ago, didn't that mean they'd known each other since they were babies?
Asked like that, Naoki paused for a moment. "Age, huh… True. I haven't really paid attention to it these past few years. After all, for me now, one day and one year are basically no different. But if counted in the normal way, I should be nearly forty by now."
"Forty years old?!"
Ritsuka couldn't help but exclaim in shock.
(He must be joking, right? The Department Head is almost forty?! The same age as my mom?! But this face doesn't look at all like a forty-year-old uncle's face! Way too young!)
Honestly, even if Naoki were placed into a high school, Ritsuka was certain there'd be no mismatch at all. He looked far too young. This couldn't be explained by just "looking young" anymore!
"Department Head, do you… have some kind of youth-preserving method?"
"No, how could I have something like that? It's just because my body is a bit special." Naoki laughed. "Actually, I'm not human, Fujimaru. You seem to read a lot of light novels, so you must know about fairies, right?"
Ritsuka nodded. "Yes, I know. In fact, in today's light novels, as long as it's an isekai or fantasy genre, fairies are a staple character."
"I am a fairy, though I might not be exactly the same as the fairies you know from novels—by the way, Senior Hinako is one too."
Naoki casually revealed his identity. "For the details, you can ask Roman later. Though he's not a magus, he's like an encyclopedia on these topics. Conveniently, he can give you some basic knowledge you'll need to know."
"Anyway, Fujimaru, in Chaldea now, you are the most important person. You can't keep being in the dark like this."
(The most important?)
(Me?)
Naoki's sudden shift to seriousness made Ritsuka slightly confused. "Department Head, what… do you mean by that? Me being the most important… Why do you say that?"
"It's the final conclusion reached by all of Chaldea after discussing all available information. When ranked by importance, first is you, Fujimaru, then the rest of us. I know this is hard to accept, but I'll briefly explain the specific situation now."
As he spoke, Naoki activated a device on his wrist. A screen appeared in the air, showing the image of Solomon he had seen earlier in Fuyuki City. On the other side of the screen was a special, glowing red globe.
"First, I'll tell you the current situation. The image on the left is CHALDEAS. Originally, it was an observation tool to see whether human history could continue a hundred years into the future. But now, it can't observe that far ahead. This glowing red form represents Earth being completely burned up in the near future."
"No, more accurately, human history. Humanity will vanish entirely from this planet, leaving no trace—everything will be burned away. And the one causing this situation is him, King Solomon."
Pointing to Solomon's image, Naoki continued his explanation. "Destroying all of human history isn't easy. To achieve this, King Solomon created seven Singularities across human history."
"Singularities?"
"It means he disrupted normal history. For example, the reason our current lives are full of light is because the electric light bulb was invented, right? But if Edison hadn't invented the light bulb, human history afterward would have drastically changed—do you understand?"
Ritsuka nodded with difficulty. She could understand, but it was hard to fully accept.
"You don't need to accept it now. We'll give you time to process it—simply put, because of the existence of these seven Singularities, the burning of human history has become possible. Therefore, human history is destined to end in 2015. If we want to reclaim our future, we must defeat this man."
"That is the only confirmed goal right now."
"And in this process, Fujimaru, you are the most important person. Chaldea can lose anyone else, but it cannot lose you."
Again, Naoki said those words.
Ritsuka was still confused. "But why me? Compared to me, the Department Head, the Director, Senior Akuta… and even Doctor Roman—you're all far more important, right?"
"The reason is simple. Because, Fujimaru, you are the only human in Chaldea with quantum transfer adaptation. And the only person currently capable of defeating King Solomon."