16 Two of Them?!

Olga tapped her fingers against her elbow involuntarily, staring at the ginger haired doctor standing across from where she was sitting with a bit of nervousness, "H... How did it go?"

"It went well, Nicholas succeeded. I don't know how, but the system worked for him." Romani reported honestly, "He's successfully summoned a heroic spirit contracted to him." He withdrew a page from the clipboard in his hand and placed it down on her table.

That was good news.

Nicholas had been looking forward to it and she didn't know how he'd handle failure, she'd never seen him discouraged. But then again, it was hard to discourage someone who just punched his problems before forgetting them completely.

The idiot was an idiot but he was a good guy, he was even refusing to take his pay for several months in hopes that it'd cover the money she spent to fix damages in London... even though she told him he didn't need to.

"How?"

"Er..." Romani scratched the back of his head, averting his gaze, "He punched it."

"...He punched the FATE system?" Olga deadpanned, facepalming even if she'd expected it.

The doctor nodded, "Yes, claimed it worked most of the time... it did somehow." From his skittish demeanour, Olga surmised even Romani couldn't make heads or tails of how a system that blew up in their face even with rigorous optimisation and testing was 'fixed'.

"Then I suppose you know what comes next." Olga narrowed her eyes, pushing away the defeated smile that had started forming on her lips, "Prepare the rest of the A-Team."

They weren't in too much of a rush, mostly because it didn't work, but also because the true potential of the system would be realised on missions, not in idle times but if it was working, hey, this could let the masters get acquainted with their strongest allies and formulate strategies.

"I did, I mean, we tried. Young Kadoc and Hinako were more than willing to test it with Professor Lev overseeing the process; he looked pretty frustrated."

Olga narrowed her eyes at the doctor's sudden nervousness, "Let me guess, it didn't work."

Chaldea's Director sighed into her palm at her subordinate's hesitant nod and opened her mouth to placate him.

Nicholas told her that was the first step to mending her reputation.

But suddenly another thought crossed her mind, "If it works for Nicholas, why not just have the contracts transferred after using him to summon them?"

"That was proposed by one of the staff too."

She'd have to commend the person who made the proposal.

"She said she'd answered her Master's call and adamantly refused a contract change after meeting the other Masters." Romani admitted in a low voice, "She even threw a chair at Daybit and called Peperoncino a vile affront to her Lord's design. Then tried to apologise?"

"...My God."

Olga's eyes widened in shock.

"There's two of them now?!" She shot to her feet and shouted at the flinching doctor, "Who did he even summon anyway?!"

"Saint Martha, from the 1st century. Blessed by the God of the Church and vanquisher of a descendant of the Leviathan, Tarasque." Romani explained briefly, withdrawing a small note from his clipboard, "It's a wonder she accepted Nicholas."

"He's an atheist?" Olga asked, slightly tilting her head, she hadn't really asked because in the pursuit and nature of their goal, things like that held little importance, "Is he?"

Romani shrugged, "Dunno."

Hesitantly, Olga opened her mouth again, "W...What did he do?"

Right the next instant, she regretted her actions.

"He called her a prostitute."

"..." Olga deadpanned, she hadn't seen that coming.

"She tried to peacefully resolve the matter, he asked her how much she'd cost."

Olga clenched her hands and grit her teeth, "That idiot."

"She hit him."

"He hit her back." Olga calmed down, that was about as she'd expected, "And it probably dealt some degree of damage too, right?"

Romani nodded, "Uh-huh, and now she admires his disposition? Something about blunt honesty and self reliance, also God's gift? They're in a combat simulation right now."

Olga Marie Animusphere pursed her lips, she wanted to smack someone right now.

"I-I'll take you to them." Romani stuttered and promptly retreated, terrified of bringing her wrath down on himself from a misstep. As a doctor, he knew that people took out their anger on whatever came up instead of the cause.

Seeing her take a slow, firm step his way.

"A-Actually, I don't t-think you need a guide."

Romani Archaman, head of Chaldea's medical department, turned around and broke into a full sprint down the well lit hallway, unashamed of the judging gazes of fellow staff members.

-

"He's a master! A Master! You know what that means right?! It means he's supposed to be SUPPORTING the servants! Not trying to beat the shit out of more people than them! The damn fool's putting himself in the way of danger!"

"I... Isn't it alright? Everyone has their own way of fighting... Miss Akuta. "

Mash inconspicuously eyed the two 'arguing' members of A-Team and then returned her attention to the screen above them, her hand cautiously resting against the seat of the bearded staff member managing the simulation.

Pieces of rock and earth were strewn about a grass field that shook again and again as Nicholas and Saint Martha dismantled a veritable force of dozens of test golems.

Somehow they'd gone from being at each other's throats, hitting each other and then hitting everything else, getting along like there was no animosity between them.

The intricacies of how were something Mash didn't understand, never having had a normal life as a lab grown human for a purpose that the previous Director had deemed her unfit for. The two's dislike for each other was replaced by camaraderie faster than she could even process.

But well, looking at the 'combat, Mash realised again why unlike her, someone who was only on the A-Team for the convenience it allowed their other members, Nicholas had easily joined in and built relationships with the rest of A-Team.

While he was outmatched by the Rider servant in terms of speed, which of course he was, Mash was half-sure Nicholas was... well, punching harder than the 'Rider' who was hitting stuff with her hands and staff, her mount, you know, the reason she was a legend, nowhere in sight.

He was a Master who could play an active role in combat situations, outclassing all of the A-Team in terms of raw power.

The lavender haired girl fixed her glasses and was brought out of her musings by the last of the golems having it's head crushed by two fists from either side, crumbling apart in a 'fist bump'.

"Alright, let's go! That was aweso-..." The saint coughed heavily, before gently placing a hand on her chest and speaking eloquently, "...I mean, your fighting capabilities are splendid, Master."

"Yeah, Martha, that one isn't going to work." Nicholas deadpanned at his servant's attempts at maintaining an elegant appearance.

"The kid might be kinda stupid but he has a way of dragging people in." The bearded man suddenly spoke, nodding with his arms crossed, and startled Mash who squeaked and stepped back, "Oh... sorry."

"It's alright..." Mash waved both of her hands with closed eyes, "I'm fine."

... The young girl found it strange how Nicholas could treat anyone as a close friend but her.

Or maybe that was because Nicholas' own personality seemed to almost mirror the servant he summoned.

-

...I just noticed I got nothing on my page other than fate. Anyone got any franchise to suggest? Only ones I refuse to do are DBZ, Pokémon and One Piece.

...

Or I could repost DxD: Wings of Steel though I doubt anyone here remembers it...

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