Final Section: Epilogue

...I see. So you actually decided to take your job seriously?

Well yeah, of course. I didn't want to come up short if I was compared to everyone else.

Ha! Looks like you still have a looot to learn about the art of slacking! Okay, these are the rules of a TRUE slacker!

One: No helping look for Embers or treasure! Two: If you get a chance, you need to run away as fast as you possibly can!

Three: Never work a real job, no matter what! And Four: Use whatever excuse you can come up with to slack off!

... ...

What? Why're you looking at me likeHuh? Behind me?

Five: We found you.

Six: We drag you off by the scruff of your neck.

!!!

Hey! Lemme go, dammit! I just wanna enjoy the easy life!

Let's all do our best, everyone!

... ...You know, working sounds pretty good!

... ...

Well, that's a shame. I really wish I could have been there.

A Holy Grail War focused on glasses sounds amazing. That would have been the perfect Singularity for me.

But it's all in the past now... (Siiigh) And now all these tears are fogging my glasses up...

I'm, uh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to exclude you...

Don't mind me. I'm just going to sulk over in the corner for a while.

Uh-oh! Captain made Professor cryyy!

This is my fault!?

I know it's nothing new at this point, but man, this room is just all kinds of gaudy, isn't it?

You think? I'm kind of used to it by now.

So you're really telling me Nobukatsu, of all people, dealt the decisive blow?

Master told me the same thing, but, I mean...I'm still struggling to believe it.

Oh yeah, it's totally true. You oughta give him a pat on the back. His finisher was a thing of beauty.

Hmm.

I don't know how direct I want to be with praising him. Especially when he only just started standing on his own two feet...

Oh well, maybe a little wouldn't hurt! Maybe something like, "Good thing you're so weak, huh, Nobukatsu!?"

...That's your idea of praise? Well, he'd probably still be delighted.

I mean, yeah. He's pretty thrilled anytime I give him attention at all...

Intellectual games with glasses, huh.

All the strategy stuff aside, you must've looked pretty stupid wearing them.

Oh, I think they looked all right on me. What do you think, Okita?

Honestly, I can see glasses looking good on you.

At this point, that suit fits you better than our haori anyway.

... ...

Maybe I oughta mix it up once in a while...

Hmm...

Is everything okay, Paracelsus? I can't remember the last time I saw you reading a book so intently.

...Yes, everything's fine. I was just inspired by the Singularity that was repaired the other day.

Apparently, another iteration of me materialized there as a Rogue Servant...

...ran around like a small child...

...and even wore glasses.

Glasses?

I'm sorry, wait a moment. What do you mean by "ran around like a small child"?

Hard as it is to believe, it seems I partook in a vigorous game of tag.

I see... That IS hard to believe.

Indeed.

But, if that was what the situation called for, then I could see myself running around as fast as I could.

So that's why

You're reading a book about track and field?

I see. You know it's difficult for Servants to enhance their physical abilities, but you thought you might at least be able to learn to move a little better.

I can understand your logic, but, umm...

Wouldn't actual experience be more helpful than reading a book in a case like that?

Absolutely. But unfortunately, I don't know who I could ask to teach me.

...I have a Saber friend who runs very fast.

Depending on their mood, they may not be receptive to giving lessons, but we can certainly try our luck.

I see. I'm a little nervous about this, but all right, let's go talk to them.

A little? I'm rather more than a little nervous!

...Interesting. Peacekeeping Demonic Beasts, huh.

I, for one, would be much too afraid to engage in any skullduggery if I knew I were being observed by a deadly, invisible force.

It certainly seems a perfect fit to your run-of-the-mill dystopian surveillance state.

Technically peaceful, yes. But at what cost?

The whole idea's screwed from the word go. Typical mage thinking.

Be that as it may, I still believe his desire to bring about peace was a beautiful thing.

It's just an unfortunate fact of life that people often take things to extremes...

？！

Oh, they probably just programmed in the typical stuff most people would say: theft, murder, assault, and so on.

But evil exists in countless different forms. And by the same token, something once evil can become good.

So how did they try to distinguish between ordinary evil...

...and evil that might also bring about something good?

I'm going to tell you something very dull, and you're not going to like it at all:

They simply could not have cared less about such nuances.

For those engaged in such large-scale plotting, such things are, at best, to be ignored.

If so, I can only conclude that the mages were indeed mistaken.

By the way, Master, I take it you're rather fond of those glasses, since you're still wearing them?

Well, glasses can certainly be as much a fashion accessory as anything else.

Then I recommend swapping out the lenses.

Glasses that let you see the invisible may sound good in theory, but such things are usually like that for a reason!

？！

... ...

Something on your mind?

Nah...I was just thinking.

If those Demonic Beasts had managed to survive our attacks and escape from that building into the wider world...

...what kind of civilization would they've built?

I would guess they'd resume cannibalizing each other at some point and consequently die out.

I certainly can't imagine anyone who destroyed a civilization being able to build a new one.

...Yeah, maybe you're right. Gimme another round.

Coming right up.

Peace is a precious thing. A beautiful thing. It is rightly valued.

But that is also exactly why it is so hard to obtain.

For example...well, take how things are right now. Suffice to say, nothing comes easily.

？！

Yes?

？！

...Right you are!

So, no matter how difficult it may be to create peace, it can be helpful to think about.

Oh? Just think?

That's right. Think about peace. At least the time you spend doing so should be peaceful!

I suppose you're right, but...

It is the very reason people strive to accumulate knowledge and wisdom, why they record their accomplishments at all.

And, to be certain they would ever be able to peruse such records at their leisure, they invented a tool to augment our sight.

Who can deny that, of the five senses, sight provides the vast majority of the information we perceive? As much as eighty percent!

Which is to say, I am speaking of

？！

Precisely!