Section 9: 2nd Lap B/The Flame Silently Flickers

Next up is the outing check. How do we want to approach this one?

We do have that other help card we found on the way here.

So I guess we should start by deciding if we want to use it, like we did at the first checkpoint.

？！

Fine with me. I don't think we need to be overly conservative with them just because there's a limit.

Last time, you took her to an amusement park and got eighty-one, right?

So where are you planning to take her this time?

？！

That's a fairly different direction than before, but that could work in our favor.

If our score goes up, we'll know we're on the right track, and if it goes down, we'll know we were closer the first time.

So, have you decided who you're going to summon with the help card?

Whoever it is, it might be good to make sure they actually are a father this time.

？！

So, I take it your goal here is to take this Kazuradrop person somewhere outdoors...

...and show her what kind of fun there is to be had out there?

Exactly right, Geronimo.

Er, just to make sure, you ARE a father, yes? We're not just imagining it?

...Yes. I was indeed a father.

Though I can't say for sure how helpful that might be at the moment.

Well, seeing how none of us have ever been fathers...

...I think you'll still have a better chance of figuring out the right answer for this trial.

That IS why we summoned you, after all.

... ...

Right. I hope I can give you the help you need.

Of course, now that I'm here, I will do everything in my power to help Master and the rest of you.

My tribe and I lived in harmony with nature, so for us, enjoying time outdoors was a part of everyday life.

This means that, while any advice I have will inevitably reflect that aspect of my background...

...I do think I should be able to offer assistance and guidance, even in card form.

I'd say I'm an outdoor sort myself...

...so I can probably help somehow too.

Same here. I'm especially good at keeping people entertained in a lost woods for eternity.

Good, I'm counting on all of you. All right then, let's head to the test venue!

Welcome to checkpoint two! So, where will you be taking me this time?

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Is that so? Well, naturally, I'm not about to say whether that's a good or bad idea at this point.

Anyway, go ahead and get ready to go, please.

I've already given Master a description of the kind of place I know best. Go ahead, Master.

？！

Hmm. A forest. Definitely a forest.

Indeed. A very good forest. It seems as real as the ones I've visited in Chaldea's simulator.

It's quiet and peaceful, and I can almost smell the Elementals at its heart.

Of course you can. I poured a lot of resources into making sure this VR system was as good as the simulator.

Perfect race management begins with perfect resource management, after all.

At any rate, go on and take a nice, deep breath. Feel the blessings of trees in their natural habitat.

Feel the breath of life that has endured since ancient times.

Be aware of your neighbors, the countless tiny living things all around us, too small to see.

Take it all in as one singular being, complete unto yourself and still part of a greater whole...

...and for the space of a single breath, just...live.

It doesn't matter if you're a Servant or not. All you need to do is be conscious of your breathing. Go on, try it.

(Inhale...) (Exhale...)

？！

Yeah. I do think I feel better than I did before.

It's almost like a weight's been taken off my shoulders, or like my head feels clearer.

I'm from a place much darker and higher up than this...

...so I've never paid much attention to natural spaces like this before.

But you're right. This does seem like a good place. Is this where you wanted to bring me, Father?

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(I was surprised to learn this, since I had to spend time in the woods practicing magecraft since I was little...)

(...but apparently, for regular people, a campfire isn't a means of survival, but a form of entertainment.)

Just so we're clear, Kazuradrop, you'll be helping out, too.

That's one of the many ways there are to enjoy an outing together.

Gathering sticks for a campfire is a perfectly valid event in its own right.

Really? Well, then I guess I can help a little.

Do you know the trick to gathering sticks for firewood?

It's not enough to merely pick up any stick that catches your eye. Some are better suited to campfires than others.

？！

Oh, all right. So, what kinds of sticks should I be searching for?

Pick them up...

？！

Bring them back.

Now we make a fire. I'll leave you in charge of that, Kadoc.

Got it. I've got a simple flint and steel here. Use this.

Can't we just use magecraft for this part?

Well, we could, but

Think about it.

Has there ever been anything you could do with magecraft, but instead chose to do manually?

Hmm, I suppose not.

Then you should try it at least once, if only to see what it is like.

The whole reason magecraft like my family's declined is because it became easy for regular people to do things that only mages could do before...

...but, I guess that's not important right now.

Come here. I'll show you how to use it.

There, you've got the kindling lit.

Now you just slip it beneath the firewood and blow on it.

(Blowing)

It worked!

？！

Now, it's my turn.

See the picnic blanket over there? Go on and have a seat.

Cooking meat over an open campfire requires its own special skillset, so I'll take it from here.

Time to eat!

...Oh wow, this is really good. Even though all we did was cook it.

？！

Indeed. The trick is to salt and roast it juuust right...

Ahh, how relaxing.

I didn't expect we would enjoy this campfire so much, but here we are.

It's more than just a present for her.

People were always meant to live in harmony with nature.

I don't know.

You could say the modern age is the way it is because people can no longer do that.

I couldn't help but notice that you seem to have some opinions about how people should interact with nature.

...Eh, it's nothing that special.

My family had Anti-Beast magecraft forced upono...we're a lineage devoted to studying it.

But now, it's faded to the point of being practically irrelevant.

It makes sense. Most people don't live in the woods anymore. They don't need to worry about keeping animals away.

And even if they did, there are a ton of simple ways to protect a city now that don't require magecraft.

Honestly, I think it's kind of sad to see something that was once critical for survival, like a campfire, relegated to entertai

...No, that's not right. I'm not actually disappointed or anything.

I guess I'm just getting myself worked up over how magecraft doesn't mean what it used to anymore. Don't mind me.

Hmm. I suppose people's relationship with nature does change with the times.

？！

... ...!?

(Fujimaru. Fujimaru!)

What do you think!? I need your help!

You could say that! I need your help!

？！

(Zzz...)

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Hahaha. Well, don't wake her up now. Just let her rest on your shoulder.

No can do. Obviously, I'm hugely popular among fairies.

I can't be seen in a potentially compromising position, or there'll be no end of unsavory rumors.

"Oberon the Fairy King, Out on a Date with a New Potential Queen!" "The Hot New Fairy Couple's Secret Rendezvous in the Woods!"

If either the tomboyish half-assed excuse for a mage or the Elemental who always has that annoying knowing look on her face were to read headlines like that...

...there's no telling what kind of congratulatory remarks they'd make!

One of them!? Don't tell EITHER of them!

...Ugh. Fine. Just please don't tell anyone else about this.

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Hehe. I know she's the one trapping you in this world...

...but looking at her now, she just looks like a sleeping child.

I'll say.

You know, this situation has me thinking about my own papa back home.

I'm not sure if he ever saw me making a face like she is right now.

？！

Hm? Well, first of all, he was a mage, of course.

Hm, I suppose the fact that our family homunculi were always scolding him probably meant he was hopeless in some ways...

...but there was also plenty about him that was easily worthy of respect.

My training to inherit the Musik legacy wasn't always easy, but it wasn't all bad.

Honestly, I was quite blessed to grow up the way I did.

？！

Hm? Yeah, sure.

I don't have much to say, though. He went through the motions of teaching me the magecraft I'd need to carry on our family's legacy, and when he was done, he was gone.

That's really it. I barely have any memories of him just living a regular life.

He was never violent, but he almost never praised me either.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure we ever even had a real conversation.

(It's amazing he turned out as normal as he did!)

How about your father, then? I was told you lived a pretty normal life before you joined Chaldea.

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Well, I suspect that's how it is for just about anyone when it comes to their father.

It's not as if you have another to compare with, after all.

That's exactly why it's so difficult to say whether one was a good or bad father...

...to say nothing of what makes a perfect one.

Indeed. But that's also the same for the father himself.

Having been one myself, it's impossible for me to say whether I was a good father for my children.

As for a perfect one...

Perhaps if I'd been closer to a perfect father, my wife and children would have...

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...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring down the mood.

Excuse me? I'm sorry to interrupt all the deep talk, but I don't think my shoulder can take any more.

I've been stuck in this awkward position so long, my whole shoulder is about to cramp up.

I don't suppose you'd be willing to trade places with me, Mas

(Gasp)

I-I must have just drifted off!

Maybe it's a side effect of keeping such a fun game going for so long. Because I'm fine. I'm not tired at all.

...What? What's everyone looking at me like that for?

I feel like I might've sent the cushion I was leaning on flying when I woke up. Is it just my imagination?

Yup, it sure was.

Don't worry, I'm not mad. I know you didn't mean to punch me right in my jaw.

Huh?

Oh! I don't suppose you were the one who was so kindly supporting me while I was asleep, Master Father?

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Oh. Is that so?

That's too bad...

Well, anyway, we can't just hang around out here forever!

We've already used too much time on this trial as it is.

So I think it's time to announce the results!

Hngh.

What!? You're kidding me! Why so low? You looked like you were really enjoying yourself!

I'm not lying. My scoring system is fair and impartial.

We got an eighty-one on this test last time, so...yep. Score went down.

How unfortunate. I'm sorry things turned out this way.

？！

Indeed, he's right.

If anything, this was just the refreshment we needed. You have my word as director of Chaldea.

So, um...please don't be upset. You did a great job.

Hahaha, don't worry, I'm not upset. I accept what has happened.

Living in harmony with nature can be fun as well as painful. Sometimes, things you don't understand just happen.

Put another way, nature is as it is because not everything can be measured.

If the experience I came up with served to rejuvenate you, then that's more than enough.

Plus, this gives us a good reference point to contrast with the eighty-one we got last time.

So this was still productive.

Did our score go down because of nature, or because the last outing was more reflective of civilization?

Maybe there was another reason entirely. We have a lot to think about.

I got a little careless this time. I'm going to leave now and go reflect on my own mistakes.

See you all at the next checkpoint!

My job here is done, but the fire hasn't gone out yet.

I suggest you recover your strength here before heading out to your next battlefield.

？！

No objections here. Besides, now's our chance to ask you some other questions.

...You want my advice for future trials?

Well, I'm afraid I don't have much to offer when it comes to cleaning or selecting presents...

...but I do know there's still a fundamental question at the heart of all this that needs answering.

What IS a perfect father?

That's the obvious question, yeah. We still haven't figured that out, either.

Given my position here, I don't know if I should say that I don't have an answer for that, even as a father myself.

If anything, the fact that I can't say any more, even as a father, might indicate something about this situation on its own.

Really, there's something off about the whole premise of this race.

I have the sense this race's true nature is still being hidden from us.

Perhaps keeping that in mind will help you find the tools you need to conquer it.

As far as advice goes, I know that's not much better than the whisperings of the small Elementals you'll hear in the woods...

...but I hope it will prove useful to you down the road nonetheless...