Peaceful Chaldea.
There are two Masters in Chaldea.
Humpty Dumpty, 25 years old. Ritsuka Fujimaru, 17 years old.
That makes two. The gap between the two Masters was considerable. Of course, it's not that Dumpty is strong or anything. As a Master, he can't use magecraft, his physical abilities are average, nothing outstanding.
If anything is special about him, it lies in summoning Servants. Since everyone has high bond levels, he possesses the absurd ability of having them not just be loyal but even love him, let alone betray him.
On the other hand, Ritsuka has none of that. She is sociable and can quickly become friends with Servants, but it's not at Dumpty's level. Moreover, the Saber Alter summoned by Chaldea has the major drawback of being summoned quite weakly. Even the mostly fine Mash greatly lacks experience and confidence. The major factor is that she can't even use her Noble Phantasm yet.
At least, the Jeanne Alter who joined this time is decently strong in terms of power, and though lacking in skill, she shows the average strength of a Servant.
Furthermore, Ritsuka wants to get along not only with her own Servants but also with Dumpty's Servants... but there was a bit of a wall. At least...
"So, you really want to get along with us? Everyone is too stubborn, you see~ Of course, our only Master is our Master, but that doesn't mean we should ignore other Masters. Seeing that, should I say it's like a Barghest? A Banshee? Anyway, I probably can't help you with that. Ah, but I do think well of you? You're a weakling I need to protect because you're weak too, right?"
"I see... So it might be impossible with the others?"
"I can at least have a conversation for you, but persuading them seems difficult. Among those who love fairy tales, there are no bad people, you see..."
In the cases of Melusine and Kiara, they get along normally with Ritsuka. It's not a chosen people ideology, but because she's extremely strong, Melusine thinks the weak should be protected and embraced. Combined with her innocent personality, she can interact with others without pretense.
In Kiara's case, she is naturally sociable, and as her original profession is that of a Seraph, she listened well to Ritsuka's stories. Ritsuka also likes fairy tales to some extent and shared that she had participated in plays themed on fairy tales, so Kiara viewed her favorably.
Other Servants might be acting that way partly because Ritsika could become a rival... but these two had already noticed that Ritsuka showed no interest in that direction herself, let alone having any possibility.
Of course, Shiki and Taiga know too... but they are higher beings who don't see a reason to become particularly friendly.
"You'll need Saint Graph Reinforcement and experience points, it seems."
"Saint Graph Reinforcement? Experience points...?"
Beyond becoming friendly, Ritsuka voiced her worries about Saber Alter's strength, to which Kiara suggested a method.
"Is it necessary?"
"Could I ask you a small favor? I'm not confident in these things myself. My five virtues are inadequate for it, you see? Could you help create such a system within Chaldea?"
"... If Master asks me to, I'll do it."
Since it wasn't her area of expertise, Kiara asked Shiki. Shiki said she'd do it if Dumpty asked...
"Saint Graph Reinforcement, you say? I was thinking about how to do it, but it would be good if possible. Can you do it?"
"If Master says so, I'll do it. Then, what about the materials?"
"Hmm, create a Chaldea Gate...!"
"Master is a cruel person."
"Kebab, kebab... The pain of farming is something a Master must endure."
And so, under the auspices of Dumpty and Shiki, the Chaldea Gate and the Saint Graph Reinforcement and level-up system were completed. The ability of 「 」 was truly omnipotent.
"This 'farming', it's what's called grinding, right?"
"Yes, it's close to item grinding in games. Still, you have Jeanne Alter and Alter, Mash right now. No, Alter won't be of help, will she?"
"Who are you calling Alter...!?"
"You."
Dumpty called her by the convenient nickname and explained about farming. A dungeon to collect common materials, a dungeon to gather experience gems, and even a QP dungeon needed for enhancement. He explained kindly...
"Now do as much as you want."
"Do I just fight? It's simpler than I thought."
"Haha, do you really think so?"
Like a true veteran who knows the bitterness, Dumpty smiled with dead eyes as he said it. And then decided to just watch.
[To make such a thing in Chaldea... Couldn't you at least give a heads-up to me, the director?]
"I'll show you with actions rather than words!"
[What could I say to you...]
First, they try entering the Saber dungeon...
Bam!!!
"Why is it so strong!?"
Ritsuka's group entered the Sword Training Grounds - Extreme difficulty. It was utter devastation. Alter was knocked out in one hit, while Jeanne Alter and Mash fought desperately to continue the battle.
"Hmm... Didn't you not reinforce Alter, so you need pieces? In that case, the intermediate level should be enough..."
"Haha."
Shiki laughed, and what came out of the gate were a giant Spriggan and Shadow Servants Saber Diarmuid and the Servant Swimsuit Frankenstein, and the Dioscuri.
A truly shameless difficulty level. Afterwards, Ritsuka's group barely defeated the mobs and the Spriggan and returned. What they got was just about one Saber Gem.
"It's hard..."
"Indeed... I couldn't even defeat the Servants..."
"Hey, got nothing to say?"
Jeanne Alter, carrying the fallen Saber Alter on her back, glared at Dumpty and spoke up.
"It wasn't intentional, but I ended up showing you the full bitterness from the start. Of course, since we do it easily... Is this the veteran's perspective looking at a newbie?"
"Do it easily!? That's a Divine Spirit!"
"But since they're not real, they're weaker than the actual ones, right?"
"This is insane..."
"It seems our little Jeanne Alter is very angry."
"Who's little!?"
"Anyway, roughly so. Well then, I'll help you once. Since Shiki set the difficulty, Shiki, you handle it a bit."
"Got it~"
And so Dumpty entered the dungeon with just Shiki...
"It's over~"
For her, it was an all-too-easy task. Shiki handed the materials that dropped to Ritsuka. Ritsuka, receiving the blood-stained materials, thanked her for now.
"For today, let's rest after this much. Saber looks exhausted."
At Dumpty's suggestion, Ritsuka's group decided to rest for now. Dumpty, still satisfied with the completion of the Chaldea Gate. And while feeling pity for the junior who would walk through the farming hell... as a Master's quality, he didn't plan to help.
Dumpty rested in the lounge, eating snacks...
"So, Kiara suggested it, right?"
"Yes. She asked us for consultation, so I actively helped. It was also my original profession."
"I see."
Kiara, eating ohagi, spoke as if it were nothing. Beside her, Melusine said she also consulted and wanted praise, so he patted her head.
Kiara, saying nothing, ate ohagi with a happy expression. Dumpty, who had been eating snacks with his chin propped up, spoke to Kiara.
"Kiara, you're unexpectedly kind? Being beautiful and kind on top of that. That's cool."
Flustered for a moment and blushing at the genuine praise that welled up from sincerity. Dumpty, who was a social newbie, genuinely and purely thought she was amazing. Being the same age, she definitely had the qualities of an excellent Seraph, so he thought such a woman was amazing.
Since Kiara is also good at seeing through people's hearts, she noticed it was sincere and, putting down the ohagi, acted bashful.
"... What about me?"
"Huh?"
"Me. I made it, you know."
"Of course I'm grateful. If it weren't for Shiki, it would have taken months even if we made it, right?"
"I, I listen to Master's words well and follow along, you know..."
"... Ah, you want praise...?"
"How should I put it, don't I get that kind of evaluation?"
"... Kiara gives a very mature, mentor-like feeling, contrary to her original image... inversely, Shiki only gives the feeling of 'waking up recently'... How should I put it, she's a mature beauty, but seeing what she's been doing lately, she's a bit... yeah."
Only then did Shiki realize her actions were inversely a minus. Instead of the charm of an older sister, she had only shown an obsessive side.
As Shiki was thinking about improving her image, a loud noise and shaking occurred in Chaldea.
"Wh-what is that!?"
"... It's nothing. It's a spaceship accident."
"Eh?"
"That child has arrived. Of course, it's not the one Master knows, though."
"A spaceship... th-then, does that mean the start of Saber Wars already is!? To come before Gudaguda!"
"Should I kill them if they're annoying?"
"That point, Shiki..."
"Ah."
It seemed it would take quite a while to show a different side.