[FDJ]Chapter 73: Fate or Destiny

["Suzuki Yuki? Why are you here in the control room?"] Dr. Roman intercepted Suzuki, who hurriedly entered the control room. The nearby security guards seemed to ignore Suzuki as if they hadn't seen him.

The team leader of the guards gestured to the members with quick and subtle movements that Suzuki didn't notice. He thought the director hadn't given detailed instructions for his control.

"I..." Suzuki hesitated to directly express his readiness and immediate intention to proceed to the next singularity to prevent people from the past from using the Holy Grail to influence human history.

The doctor nodded knowingly, taking a moment to ponder. "Never mind if it's inconvenient to say. Yuki, you must have your judgment. Just because someone is helping you doesn't mean you should blindly follow their instructions. Truly sincere people are rare in this world, especially in our Chaldea. Among us magi, placing trust in each other is extremely dangerous. You also need to appropriately doubt others and speculate on their true intentions behind their kindness towards you."

Suzuki was surprised to hear these words from the usually optimistic doctor, but he took it as a reminder. Indeed, he had recently received a lot of goodwill from others without undergoing tests like being connected to instruments in the research room, as happened once before. He didn't know what purpose was hidden behind these acts; he only saw it as help among members of Group A.

"I understand. Thank you, Dr. Roman."

The doctor sighed lightly at Suzuki's unchanged attitude. "For example, as a doctor, I find satisfaction in treating others. Have you ever suspected that I added medication unrelated to your treatment in your pill bottle? Have you ever doubted that I..."

The doctor didn't continue his sentence. He looked at Suzuki's completely puzzled expression, realizing that matters unrelated to the Holy Grail War were difficult for Suzuki to grasp. Customized tools and ordinary people have their differences, although it was impolite, the doctor couldn't admit the reality. "Forget what I just said. Are you ready?"

"Ready?" Suzuki felt that the doctor had guessed what he was about to do and hesitated, feeling somewhat concerned about admitting it.

"Get ready and depart." The doctor didn't give Suzuki a chance to ask further questions and quickly left the control room.

No one paid attention as Suzuki walked towards the central rotating pseudo-sphere, CHALDEAS, and disappeared midway without a trace.

---

After finishing his drink, Suzuki's physical condition mostly recovered, and he also remembered what happened before his consciousness was transferred to Chaldea. Excluding the time he was unconscious in between, these memories should be events that occurred right before he lost consciousness. However, now when he tried to recall them, they weren't very vivid in his mind, as if he had just awakened from a dream and needed to carefully recollect to remember what happened in the dream.

Unable to currently use the Golden Chess to summon a Servant, Suzuki hesitated for a while and decided to first find the nearest residents to understand the current situation. The surroundings seemed deserted, and finding residents wouldn't be an easy task.

Just as Suzuki had walked a few dozen meters, he heard the sound of running footsteps behind him. As he turned his head, a blond knight in medieval armor, whom he had previously confirmed no one was behind him, appeared. The person drew their sword as Suzuki turned around.

Suzuki was taken aback and couldn't react in time to dodge. The blade grazed his sleeve as the young knight's first swing was too hasty, only tearing Suzuki's clothes.

"Who are you?" Suzuki's legs went weak from the blatant intent to kill emanating from the other person. He took two steps back, attempting to evade any subsequent attacks.

The young knight thrust their sword towards Suzuki's chest. As the blade pierced him, Suzuki's magical outfit carried him away from the original spot.

"Magicae(Teleportation)?" The young knight paused for a moment, reevaluating Suzuki, who had teleported 5 meters away and sheathed their sword.

"Why are you attacking me?" Suzuki thought that the other person could communicate, so he raised his hands to show that he had no weapons.

Before Suzuki could step back, the young knight rushed forward and knocked him down. Initially, the knight hadn't intended to capture him alive, but seeing Suzuki's complete lack of resistance, he decided to interrogate him about Chaldea.

Suzuki was no match for his opponent. The lightweight armor, combined with the weight of an adult, pressed down on him, causing a metallic taste to fill his mouth. He attempted to push away the knight holding him, but he didn't have enough strength to even move the person's hand.

The young knight pressed one hand against Suzuki's shoulder and warningly grabbed his neck with the other hand. "Potest non movere (Don't move)!" After giving the warning, the knight quickly pulled out a rope hanging from their waist, intending to bind him.

Not understanding the Latin words, Suzuki saw the rope being brought towards him and finally understood that the person wanted to tie him up. In his desperation, Suzuki struggled incessantly. He secretly reached into his waist pouch with his left hand, attempting to use a medical spray as a surprise attack on the knight's unprotected face, hoping to free himself.

"Potest non movere (Don't move)!" The young knight naturally noticed Suzuki's intentions. Although he didn't know the specific items the future magus might have on him, the chances were high that he carried disposable magical gems or similar items. He immediately lifted his foot to kick away Suzuki's left hand and swung his fist towards Suzuki's cheek.

Suzuki felt everything go black before his eyes. His right cheek uncontrollably hit the ground, and the taste of blood quickly filled his mouth. His cheek and chin burned with pain, but it quickly subsided. He didn't faint on the spot and had to thank the knight for wearing only leather gloves. If the knight had been wearing gauntlets with iron plates, one punch would have caused Suzuki to lose several teeth.

Curious about the counter-attack weapon the future magus had tried to pull out, the knight, who had freed himself from Suzuki's grasp, reached into his waist pouch. Initially, he didn't feel anything, but when his fingers touched the small objects inside, he felt a sharp, tingling pain, and not just from one item.

The knight instinctively pulled back his hand, inadvertently throwing out some items from his waist pouch—a roll of medical bandage, a half-eaten compressed biscuit packet, and two pure gold chess pieces.

The knight confirmed that the tingling sensation he felt through his leather gloves was indeed caused by these gold chess pieces. He carefully observed the two rolling gold chess pieces—one resembled a horseman wielding reins, while the other was a curved blade wrapped in cloth.

Suzuki struggled to maintain consciousness and realized that his waist pouch had been overturned, causing items to spill out. He turned his head slightly and caught a glimpse of the two gold objects, undoubtedly the second of the six gold chess pieces he had in his pouch.

"What... do you want..."

In his panic, Suzuki grabbed the knight's chess piece. Following his instinct to seize, the knight, disregarding the previous electric sensation, "snatched" the knight chess piece that Suzuki had obtained.

Now on guard, the knight didn't let go despite the electrifying tingling sensation. He instinctively tried to snatch the other gold chess piece that Suzuki had acquired, as his intuition told him that these gold chess pieces were of great importance to the future magus and were special magical props that could reverse the situation.

As a summoning magic circle appeared, the previously unresponsive gold chess pieces in Suzuki's possession emitted a dazzling light. Neither Suzuki nor the young knight anticipated this unexpected turn of events, and both temporarily lost their sight in the bright light.

The sensation of holding the chess piece in his hand did not disappear, and Suzuki heard a faint sound from his side, as if a Servant had responded to the summoning and arrived at the scene.

"What's going on? A Servant summoning?" The young knight waved his hands randomly, guarding against any potential attacks in the strong light. Of course, Suzuki didn't possess such awareness and ability, so his caution was unnecessary.

Suzuki finally understood the meaning of the Latin words the knight spoke—they knew about Servant summoning!

Once their vision was restored, they looked up and saw a noblewoman dressed in vibrant red garments observing the two of them.

"Ah, what a coincidence." The noblewoman couldn't help but chuckle. She covered her mouth with one hand and grabbed Suzuki's clothes with the other, pulling him behind her.

Although Suzuki didn't have time to check the attributes of the Servant, his safety was assured. The gold chess pieces might require a critical moment to be used, but not every critical moment provided an opportunity to take out the chess pieces. If the enemy hadn't taken out the gold chess pieces from his pouch, he wouldn't have had the chance to summon a Servant.

Gold chess pieces?

Suzuki looked at the Assassin-class gold chess piece he still held in his hand and then at the young knight, who had one hand empty. Wouldn't this lead to a problem of Servant allegiance?

Just as Suzuki had a crisis of thought, the noblewoman took the initiative to gesture to him. "Master, there's no need to panic. You're safe now with me here."

The possession of the chess pieces seemed unrelated to who held them. Three clear red command seals also appeared on the back of Suzuki's right hand, confirming that the Servant summoning ritual was successful. Suzuki breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought he would lose his life at the hands of the knight who had ambushed him just now.

The knight and the noblewoman faced each other for a few seconds. Gradually recovering from his astonishment, the knight took a few steps back and reached for the hilt of his sword, but then he withdrew his hand.

"What a coincidence... How did you come here?"

It seemed like the two of them knew each other.

The noblewoman suppressed her smile and gently caressed Suzuki's cheek. Using her abilities, she healed the injuries he had sustained. "Does it still hurt, Master?"

Before Suzuki could answer, the noblewoman turned her gaze back to the young knight and lectured him. "It's not right to hit people. I must have taught you that more than once."

The knight remained silent. He glared at Suzuki with a hint of hostility and warned, "Consider yourself lucky, future magus."

"Huh?! Did I ever teach you to apologize like this? Your noble manners seem to have been left in the stables of England?" The noblewoman heard the strong animosity in the knight's words towards her Master, Suzuki Yuki, and her face darkened slightly.

The knight was taken aback by the noblewoman's reprimand. Or rather, it could be said that he instinctively reacted. He straightened his posture, and his angry expression disappeared without a trace. His gaze became pleading.

Suzuki was a bit confused. The noblewoman who responded to the summoning didn't seem to be a Servant with excellent combat abilities like Jeanne d'Arc. However, it seemed that she and the young knight from this era knew each other. The young knight appeared to be around 20 years old, just a couple of years older than Suzuki himself. And the noblewoman who responded to the summoning was probably under 30 years old. However, the age of the summoned Servant didn't hold much meaning—it was merely the appearance of the vessel they inhabited.

"M-Mother, there seems to be a misunderstanding." The knight carefully chose his words as he explained to the noblewoman. Unbeknownst to him, the first word he uttered caused Suzuki's eyes to widen.

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