Fate/Grand Order story · Events, Eternal Tropical Summer Altar, Luluhawa Ver. 2.0
9: The Alliance Strikes Back (III)
Eternal Tropical Summer Altar, Luluhawa Ver. 2.0. Chunchun-tei
1 scenes, 179 lines
1. Before the battle
179 linesWhen did their will first come into being? How long has their environment existed?
It is very unlikely that any human knows the answers to those questions.
It's possible a dragon, with their extremely long lifespan, may have been there to see it...
...but since old dragons tend to forget most things, dismissing them as irrelevant, they probably wouldn't remember if they had.
Though they are visible, humans cannot see them.
While humans may sense their presence every day, they can never truly know about them.
But their wish... Their wish was clear to see. So much so that humans of the time drew it on cave walls out of sheer terror.
...don't want...
Although they did not come from this planet, they had no idea what they were or where they did come from.
Truthfully, they never gave those questions any thought, because they couldn't care less about themself.
All they cared about was the planet that stretched out beneath them and the creatures that lived on that big island.
We don't want to disappear
And so, they chanted this wish day in and day out, until their voice could speak no more.
– ServantFes Day Two –
All right...
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...let's get this Third Calamity Countermeasure Conference started!
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I'm so sorry. It's mortifying that Chloe is the newest calamity...
Don't apologize, Illya. We all figured Chloe would do something like this eventually.
I really hope you're wrong about that!
Please try to calm down, Illya. Worrying will just make you feel worse.
I can understand how hard it must be to see someone like Chloe, who's practically the same person as you, turn into a giant rampaging monster...
...but it's okay. I'm sure things will work out somehow.
Is this you trying to cheer me up!?
At any rate, we all share responsibility for this.
The fact is, we've been taking advantage of Chloe's kindness.
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Fujimaru is exactly right.
No matter how superhuman a Servant may be, everyone has a limit.
It is time we began dividing responsibilities for each club amongst ourselves, so we can lighten Chloe's load.
The real problem is what comes afterward.
We were truly fortunate for this last reset. But for its intervention, we would probably all be dead by now.
After all, we cannot very well bring our sacred swords to bear against an innocent young girl, can we?
Fine, but we can't just, like, leave her like that. Where is Chloe now, anyway?
I heard through the UDK's network that she stopped around Diamond Head.
They said she's sleeping right now. Probably worn out from all that commotion. (Although...)
Then it sounds like we're safe for the time being.But, this happened because
So Chloe ended up like this because
She's been working too much, of course.
Beni-Enma? Oh, thank you for the tea.
Editing the books for six clubs at once? Pure insanity, chirp.
That we failed to notice the warning signs she was giving reflects poorly on us all.
Wow, I had no idea editing was such a demanding job... But, um, what exactly's so demanding about it?
It may not be physically tiring thanks to the internet's ability to let artists and editors collaborate remotely...
...but the mental fatigue takes an unimaginably heavy toll, chirp. In particular...
You there. The delinquent Alter trying to hide. Confess your sins and make your accusations, chirp.
Wasn't hiding. I was just, uh, slouching.
Anyway, I've always been great with my editors, so I don't know anything about damaging their psyches or whatever...
...but, if I had to guess, it's probably things like...
...worrying about when the artist, who's supposed to be their partner, will finally finish the damn draft they promised to.
Grk!
Assisting the artist directly by inking the rough draft themself to help them get it over the finish line...
...only for the artist to decide to make last minute changes to the plot, making a completely different rough draft and going with that instead...
Ghh...!
Dinging a character's depiction for being insensitive to the represented group, only for the artist to barrel ahead with it, claiming freedom of expression...
...resulting in exactly the backlash everyone expected and the unsurprising result of their boss raking them over the coals and making them a scapegoat by forcing them to apologize publicly...
...and then having the artist, as icing on that cake, complain that the editor should have caught it before publication, conveniently dodging any blame that might be laid at their feet...
Gaaah!
I hear you. I experienced almost all that and more at the last ServantFes.
Oh man, and Chloe was shouldering all that for multipleclubs on her own... I'm so sorry, Chloe...
Then, maybe having everyone from all the clubs apologize to her will help calm her down?
That was the first thing we tried. No dice.
She just said she wouldn't accept any apologies and squished Blackbeard flat as a pancake.
Besides, there's a bunch of weirdos that've been gathering around Diamond Head since this morning.
What's with them, anyway? They've all got this crazy look in their eyes.
Oh, right. The UDK actually told me something else too.
Apparently, a cult has sprung up worshipping Chloe as their god.
They call themselves Mumamumamuans, and they're actually an even bigger problem.
According to them, "Lady Chloe will awaken on day five and unleash hell upon artists who have yet to finish their drafts."
...Or something like that.
I even heard they have their own beast god shrine maiden similar to Baobhan Sith's MikoCer.
What a disaster. Just when we had resolved the First and Second Calamities, now we have a third to contend with.
And one that came from our own ranks, at that. Ahh, how this saddens me...
Huh? Chloe's the Third Calamity?
I really, really don't want to admit it, but how could she NOT be!? I mean, did you see her!?
Uh... Eh, never mind.
Yeah, good point. Okay then, let's figure out how we're going to fix this!
If we can't apologize to her, and we can't fight her, then...
...maybe we could let her keep sleeping until she stops being angry?
I wonder if that would work. I know I said she wore herself out earlier...
...but knowing Chloe, she's probably just sleeping in at this point.
So given her current size, and comparing it to data for all the times she's slept in, I'd say there's a strong chance she wakes up in three days' time, just as angry.
That would make it day five of ServantFes...just like this cult is predicting.
So we need to find a means of returning Lady Chloe to her old self before then.
And yet, we currently have no leads at all. I swear, why is Lord Merlin never around when you need him?
I overheard the whole thing!
Cn-Cnoc na Riabh!? You're already here!?
Sorry. It took longer to wrap up all my work for the Normalization Committee than I thought.
But I can't just do nothing while Chloe needs help, either. She was an exceptional editor, and she deserves our support.
Plus, I...may have played a small part by asking her to manage my own doujin as well...
And so, by virtue of who I am, I know of a method we can use to get those spirits out of her.
That method is...
...Is?
You have to finish your books at a level of quality she would approve of, then make an offering of them!
Finish our books and make an offering of them to her!
...
Hey, that's smart! So we can, like, use her own deification against her!
Deification? She's already ascended to godhood? I mean, I get it, but doesn't that seem awfully fast?
Well, that should only make this plan more effective.
However stubborn she might be about ignoring artists' excuses, if she's a god now, she'll HAVE to read any books offered to her.
Then what are we waiting for!?
Then we'll just have to make sure they get done!
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Right! Between all the clubs, there are so many books Chloe wasn't able to see through to completion.
So by giving them to her now, we can show our appreciation and help her see what a wonderful job she did!
But there's one other book in particular that'll be absolutely essential.
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...Yeah. I know. I'll do it.
When you get right down to it, it's my fault Chloe turned into an editing monster.
So this time, I really will finish my draft! Even if I only have three days... Wait. There's only three days?
Ghh... E-even if I only have three days, I swear I'll get it done! Will you help me, Miyu!?
Of course. Don't worry, I've got this. There's software to make it easy to add backgrounds to comics now, so I can finish my job with time to spare.
(I wonder if it's really Miyu who's the heartless one...)
Then I'll contact the other alliance members.
Fortunately, their books are already finished, so once we have the printer make sampl
No. Forgive me, Mash, but I cannot condone that course of action.
Sir Lancelot? What do you mean?
I lacked the certainty I needed to speak up at the beginning, as I should have.
No more! In my capacity as a Knight of the Round Table...
No, simply as one of the congoers who has enjoyed ServantFes in the past, I must share my opinion!
We began creating works in the Altria genre expressly to defeat the Normalization Committee.
Huh? I just said you needed to place in the top ten. I never said anything about winning or losing.
Heck, you don't even have to place higher than me.
All I said was that I'd approve your alliance as long as you got enough votes.
WhaReally?
Oh, she's right. It's Blackbeard who brought up winning.
Hey, yeah. Blackbeard's the one who made this a competition.
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I see... That does sound like a misconception he would make. And then we all followed his lead...
...
Yikes! Lancelocci's knocking on death's door now that he's had, like, the ladder kicked out from under him!
D-don't worry about it, Lancelocci! You're basically still correct☆ Go on, you got this. Say what you gotta say.
...Thank you, Miss Suzuka. Your kindness is... Well, I'm just very grateful.
All right, once again from the top...
We began creating works in the Altria genre to defeat the Normalization Committee.
That is all well and good. Indeed, we now have some wonderful books celebrating our king as a result.
But, that is still not what ServantFes is about. Or at least, that is not what the last ServantFes was about.
We cannot let ourselves be constrained by genre. The act of creationno, of doing what is right, is inherently fierce.
Those who walk that path should adhere openly and proudly to their beliefs, never hiding who they are.
Even if that goes against the very regulations our king decided on!
Sir Lancelot... (Kind of impressed he came back from that.)
And so I say the books we offer to Chloe should not be bound to a single genre!
They should flow from the passion unique to each clubsingular gems of creativity no other group could create, regardless of genre!
(He can get pretty fierce when he wants to!)
(Man, if only he'd been wearing his armor for this!)
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...Well said. I can't argue with a single word of that.
Sir Lancelot is absolutely right! Putting aside his own questionable conduct for the time being...
...now is the time for the Anti-ServantFes Alliance to create the books only they can!
Attention all alliance clubs! The Altria-only genre restriction has been lifted! I repeat, the Altria-only genre restriction has been lifted!
Sounds good to me. Knowing them, they'll all gleefully jump right back into the hellfire of deadlines now that they can make whatever they want.
But are you okay with this, committee girl? You know this means all-out war, right?
I know. Give me a second.
...Phew.
...Fine. As the Normalization Committee's on-site representative, I accept this new declaration.
But know that if any of the work your clubs turn in is half-assed, I'll have the members arrested and sent to a reeducation facility.
All right! Thanks, Yaraändoo!
That's fine with us! Thank you, Yaraändoo!
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Hmph. Don't thank me. I'm doing this for Chloe.
Everyone's rushing back to their club headquarters! I guess they really did still have other books they wanted to make!
So this is where the real ServantFes begins!
Yeah. I think this is going to be the last seven days.
By the way, Altria, are you hiding something?
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Oh, you mean my joining the UDK without telling you? Well, I mean, conservation IS important, right?
What about you, Fujimaru? Are you sure there's nothing you're keeping to yourself?
You still haven't told everyone how you really feel, right?
Ouch. You've got me there. I will, but not just yet.
I just need a little more time, that's all.
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I see. Okay, then. How about we both come clean after we've helped Chloe get back to normal?
In the meantime, let's forget that we still haven't solved so much as a single mystery and go help the clubs with their books!