"Hmm?" Ian's gaze fell on Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had just said those words.
"You want to learn magecraft?" Ian asked, his blue eyes looking at her with a hint of surprise.
"Yeah." Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded. "I remember you're a magus, right?" The girl's eyes were full of anticipation.
"You can definitely teach me this kind of thing." Ritsuka said, her brown eyes looking at him expectantly.
"..." Ian's hand stopped stroking Mash's head.
Just as Fujimaru Ritsuka had said, having gone through so many things, he might indeed already be an excellent magus.
However——
The man wasn't the type to agree to a girl's request immediately just because she asked.
He asked in return,
"Why the sudden interest in this?" Ian asked, his blue eyes looking at her with curiosity.
"I don't recall you ever asking me for this before, have you?"
"Well..." Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the back of her empty hand—there should have been some Command Spells on it, but now it was empty.
The girl's eyes looked a little lonely.
"During the Singularities... everyone was working hard." Ritsuka said softly, her gaze downcast.
"Only I, after using up those few Command Spells, couldn't do anything anymore."
"I... really don't like that feeling!" Looking at Fujimaru Ritsuka's pouting face, Ian couldn't help but feel a little touched.
The usually carefree and cute girl was actually very worried about holding them back.
Although she seemed a bit nonchalant, she was definitely not the kind of person who would willingly become a burden.
"I see." Ian nodded, then smiled.
"Alright then——" Ian said gently, his blue eyes looking at her with understanding.
"If that's what you really want, I'll do my best to help you."
"Really?" Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes lit up with surprise and joy.
"Really." Ian confirmed with a smile.
"Eh——!" A hint of delighted color appeared in Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes.
Not caring about her current appearance, she directly leaned over and kissed the man on the cheek.
"I like you the best~" Ritsuka said happily, her cheeks slightly flushed.
"But——" Fujimaru Ritsuka's face turned slightly red.
"That reward and stuff, do you... want it?" Ritsuka asked shyly, her brown eyes looking at him expectantly.
"..." This was a question with an obvious answer.
Ian felt like teasing her a little.
"Of course I can't take it——" Ian said with a playful smile.
"..." Fujimaru Ritsuka felt a little downcast by these words.
But his next sentence made her happy again.
"Because——" Ian lowered his head and gently kissed Fujimaru Ritsuka's forehead.
"You're already mine." Ian said softly, his blue eyes filled with affection.
"Trying to bargain with me using your body... is completely impossible."
"You!" Fujimaru Ritsuka lightly punched Ian's head.
"Don't suddenly kiss me like that, you pervert!" Ritsuka said, her cheeks slightly puffed out.
"Alright, alright." Ian took Fujimaru Ritsuka's hand.
His gaze swept over his two girlfriends, who were lying beside him in different positions.
"Let's call it a day for playing... we need to rest quickly." Ian said gently.
"Mash——"
"It's time to sleep."
The pink-haired girl didn't respond to Ian, only nodding shyly.
For her, being able to be together was a rare happiness.
Gurgle, gurgle.
The sound of happiness echoed in the room, occasionally mixed with the girl's puzzled voice.
"Mash, how are you feeling? Are you uncomfortable?"
"I'm fine... I'm used to it now."
"Then I want to try it next time too!"
The night the three of them spent together wasn't as awkward as imagined.
The next day.
Having gone through the events of last night, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash had completely opened up to each other.
And Mash quickly learned about her Master's desire to learn magecraft.
"Eh." The pink-haired girl blinked her beautiful purple eyes.
"Ritsuka... are you planning to learn magecraft from Senpai?" Mash asked, her voice gentle.
"Yeah!" Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded very seriously.
"I said it before, right... I don't want to be someone who holds the team back anymore!" Ritsuka declared, her brown eyes filled with determination.
"Yeah... you did say something like that." Mash recalled the various past events in the Singularities.
A hint of determination gradually grew in her eyes as well.
"Then——"
"In that case, Ritsuka, is there anything I can help you and Senpai with?" Mash asked, her purple eyes looking at Ritsuka with concern.
"If you ask that..." Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had just changed her clothes, looked at Ian beside her.
Honestly, she really didn't know what to do next.
The girl simply felt that it was her responsibility, so she directly started her actions.
Fortunately, Fujimaru Ritsuka wasn't alone.
Her head wasn't clear, but Ian's was.
"Mash, I do need your help with something." Ian said softly, his blue eyes looking at her.
Mash wasn't one to be ambiguous. As soon as she heard Ian say this, she immediately replied.
"Senpai, what is it?" Mash asked, her purple eyes looking at him expectantly.
"Oh... don't be too nervous." The man gently stroked Mash's head.
He liked this sensible girl more and more the more he looked at her.
"Next, I might need to spend some time alone with Ritsuka." Ian said gently.
"Could you please keep Mo-chan company for me? Is that alright?"
"M-Mo-chan?" Mash's lips curled up slightly.
Ian quickly noticed this.
"Hmm... what's wrong? Is something the matter?"
"No, no!" Mash quickly waved her hands in denial.
"It's just that I happened to tell her before that I wanted to be friends... I didn't expect to have a chance to get to know her better so soon!" Mash said happily, her cheeks slightly flushed.
"Is that so?" Hearing this, Ian also felt happy.
He was actually quite worried that his daughter Mordred would dislike these girlfriends—but if they could become close friends, the situation would be different.
"Then that means it's fate for you two to become friends." Ian said with a smile.
"Mmm~" Mash smiled sweetly. "I think so too!"
"Then work hard at it." The man continued to encourage her.
"I will!"
After arranging things this way, Mash temporarily left the two of them and went to Mordred's room.
She was very happy to do this and even planned how to take care of the other girl later.
This wasn't about trying to please him.
But——
Mash genuinely wanted to be friends with Mordred.
At the same time, Ian wasn't idle either.
After settling Mash and Mordred, he took Fujimaru Ritsuka's hand.
"Ritsuka, let's go." Ian said gently, his blue eyes looking at her.
"Go?" The red-haired girl looked a little puzzled. "Where to?"
"That would of course be——" The man turned his head and looked at her behind him.
"To a place where you can learn magecraft."
More than ten minutes later.
Ian and Fujimaru Ritsuka arrived in front of a room door.
"0...1...6..." The girl read out the numbers on the doorplate.
But this didn't help her understand the situation before her at all.
Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the man beside her, her eyes full of confusion.
"Where... is this?" Ritsuka asked, her brown eyes looking at him questioningly.
"..." Looking at the extremely familiar doorplate, Ian's mind instantly went back to the past.
Room 016 wasn't a stranger's room.
Its owner was Ophelia.
And at this moment, she had fallen into a deep sleep due to that explosion incident, not knowing when she would be able to wake up.
Ian couldn't help but feel a little sad.
His relationship with her did indeed start with something unpleasant, but it wasn't just that.
Fujimaru Ritsuka also noticed the man's reaction.
She asked,
"Then Ian... what's wrong here?" Ritsuka asked softly, her brown eyes filled with concern.
"It's nothing." Ian took a deep breath and shook off all the thoughts from just now.
"Let's go in."
Although Ophelia no longer lived here, the room was still kept clean.
Ian couldn't help but admire Olga Marie's ability to manage Chaldea.
Even now, with the number of personnel drastically reduced, she was still trying her best to maintain the last bit of dignity of this organization.
However——
Ian only sighed for a short while before shifting his attention away from it.
The top priority was to satisfy Fujimaru Ritsuka's learning needs.
"Ritsuka." Ian said gently, turning his attention to her.
"Come and help me move some things."
"Oh, okay~" Following his memory, Ian and Fujimaru Ritsuka began to tidy up the things in the room together.
Whether it should be called lucky or unlucky.
Because the explosion happened so suddenly, the room's furnishings were still the way Ophelia had left them.
Ian quickly found the things she had used when teaching him before.
He felt a little fortunate.
"They're all still here... that's great." Ian said softly, a hint of relief in his voice.
"W-what?!" Fujimaru Ritsuka looked a little confused.
Or rather, she had been confused ever since she came in.
"What did you find?" Ritsuka asked, tilting her head slightly.
"The method to teach you how to learn magecraft." Ian replied with a smile.
"Eh——?!" Hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes lit up even more.
"Let me see!" The red-haired girl said, then took the book that the man had just found from his hands.
However——
After reading for a while, Fujimaru Ritsuka showed a puzzled expression.
She pointed to the content on the book and said with a slightly aggrieved tone,
"What... is all this written here?" Ritsuka asked, her brown eyes looking at him with confusion.
"..." Although he had been mentally prepared for it, Ian still couldn't help but feel a little headache when he really faced Fujimaru Ritsuka's extremely weak "foundation."
Just like when he had vaguely arrived at Chaldea.
Fujimaru Ritsuka was also vaguely aware of how to learn and use magecraft.
She only seemed to remember some very superficial content.
As soon as she encountered something slightly more complicated, she couldn't understand it at all.
However——
Ian understood this point.
He took Fujimaru Ritsuka's hand and said,
"It's okay." Ian said gently, his blue eyes looking at her with reassurance.
"Let's take it one step at a time... you'll definitely be able to learn how to use magecraft."
"..." Ian's words were Fujimaru Ritsuka's greatest courage.
She nodded, responding to the man's comfort, "Yeah!"
So, the two of them stayed in Ophelia's room.
However——
The actual situation was more complicated than Ian had imagined.
Learning magecraft was something that heavily relied on talent.
Some people could master it with just one look without much teaching;
While others, no matter how much they were taught, would find it difficult to understand what they needed to do.
Obviously.
Ian was the former, and Fujimaru Ritsuka was not.
This wasn't because the girl hadn't tried hard.
On the contrary, in order to perform well in front of Ian, Fujimaru Ritsuka changed her usual attitude and showed twelve times the focus.
But the result was far from what she had imagined.
Over the past few days, her learning progress, if not stagnant, was at least going in circles.
Ian saw it all and felt anxious in his heart.
But he knew that he could only patiently continue to teach her—he absolutely couldn't put pressure on her.
That would cause problems.
At night.
Ian, who was finding it difficult to fall asleep, woke up—he was still thinking about Fujimaru Ritsuka's matter.
And just at this moment, the man heard a sobbing sound.
He turned his head and saw that Fujimaru Ritsuka had already sat up, covering her mouth with both hands and sobbing.
"Ritsuka... what's wrong?" Ian asked softly, his blue eyes filled with concern.
"Eh?!" The girl didn't expect Ian to wake up at this time.
She quickly wiped the corners of her eyes, then pushed the man beside her.
"What are you doing... go to sleep!" Ritsuka said, her voice slightly muffled.
"I'm going to take a bath!"
After saying these words, Fujimaru Ritsuka quickly got up and ran into the bathroom of room 016 in a flash.
She slammed the door shut, then stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself and muttering,
"Why... am I so stupid?" Ritsuka said to her reflection, her brown eyes filled with frustration.
"I can't learn anything."
"Yeah, you're pretty stupid." The bathroom door opened again, and Ian's figure appeared there.
"But——" Ian said gently, his blue eyes looking at her with understanding.
"This isn't a reason to hide in the bathroom and cry."
"You..." Looking at Ian who appeared at the door, Fujimaru Ritsuka felt a little at a loss.
"Didn't I say I was going to take a bath?" Ritsuka asked, her cheeks slightly flushed.
"Why did you come in too?!"
"I know you're taking a bath." Ian revealed a smile that said he had everything under control.
"But I want to wash too."
"Wouldn't it save more time if we do it together?" Ian suggested with a playful smile.
"..." Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't refute Ian's words.
Or rather, she was too sad to refute.
The warm water vapor filled the bathroom.
In front of the slightly wet mirror, Ian hugged Fujimaru Ritsuka and gently comforted her,
"You're feeling... very uncomfortable, aren't you?" Ian asked softly, his blue eyes filled with concern.
"...Yeah." Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed. "Ian, why can't I learn it?"
"Silly girl, it's just that the time has been too short." Ian gently stroked Fujimaru Ritsuka's already wet red hair.
"It's only been a few days, how could it be so easy to learn?"
"...Are you trying to comfort me?" The girl asked softly, her brown eyes looking at him.
"I am indeed trying to comfort you." Ian didn't hide his intentions. "But I'm also telling the truth."
"I know you want to get stronger quickly."
"But——"
"Some things can't be rushed... you need to calm down." Ian said gently, his blue eyes looking at her with reassurance.
"I believe you can definitely do it, it's just a matter of time."
"Really?" Ian's encouragement gave Fujimaru Ritsuka a little confidence.
"Of course, it's true." The man's tone was filled with tenderness—it was his most sincere confession.
"You... are my chosen partner to save the world, haven't you forgotten that?" Ian asked softly, his blue eyes looking at her with affection.
"You actually still remember that!" Ritsuka exclaimed, her brown eyes widening slightly.
"Of course, I remember." Ian smiled slightly and lowered his head to kiss the girl's soft lips.
"So——"
"Don't think so much about it now... just relax a little."
Fujimaru Ritsuka naturally wouldn't resist the words Ian said.
She also needed some time to forget those overly painful things.
However——
What the two of them didn't know was.
As they were relaxing each other and getting some relief from this pain, the room door was pushed open.
"Eh, why isn't the door locked?" Olga Marie said, appearing there!