002 - Fate/Half Astral

The moment the little girl managed to open her eyes again, she realized she was no longer in that place anymore. Instead, she found herself in a completely different place.

Everywhere she looked, there was only destruction. Flames roared, consuming the shattered remains of buildings, with smoke rising high into the sky. The air was thick with heat and ash.

"Cath Palug?" she whispered, her voice soft but steady as she began searching for her fluffy companion. "Where are you?"

Her eyes scanned the burning landscape, looking for any sign of him, her steps cautious but swift as she moved through the devastation.

She kept walking, her small steps steady as she continued her search for Cath Palug. There was no need to worry about getting hurt—her papa had taught her well how to protect herself. So, she moved confidently, walking through the ruins without fear.

After some time, she finally spotted someone up ahead. He was a large, tall figure standing in the distance. Her eyes brightened slightly. "Someone," she murmured, her voice barely audible as she quickened her pace, moving toward him.

As she got closer, she began to see his appearance more clearly. He had wild, spiky blue hair, and his muscular build was covered by a long, flowing robe. He held a wooden staff, the glow of magic faintly flickering around it, his piercing red eyes fixed on something in the distance.

But before she could get any closer, the man spoke, his voice cold and sharp. "That's enough. If you come any closer, I won't hesitate to attack."

The little girl froze mid-step, frowning in confusion. This was the second time someone had managed to sense her, even though she was using her invisibility magic to conceal herself.

"It would be more polite if you revealed yourself," the man continued. "I can tell you're not a servant. Your mana feels different from the others."

Hearing this, the little girl finally removed her magic spell, allowing the man in front of her to see her. "Hmm, my magic still isn't good enough," she pouted, looking upset.

"Huh? A little girl? Are you a survivor? No, I'm certain no one survived this place. So, are you with them?" He looked surprised that such a small girl had suddenly appeared.

"With them?"

The little girl looked toward where the man was pointing and saw three people fighting against skeleton monsters. But then, she spotted someone she had been searching for. "Cath Palug!" she exclaimed. Just as she was about to run over, someone grabbed her by the back of her shirt and lifted her up.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I want to get Cath Palug back," she said, thrashing around to try and get free.

"No, it's too dangerous, little girl. You stay here until it's safe."

"It's fine, I know how to protect myself. By the way, are you a Servant?"

"Oh? You know about Servants? Are you a Magi?"

"No, my mama told me about Servants. In fact, one of my moms is an ex-Servant too!" she said proudly.

"Wait, what?" He looked completely confused by what she was talking about.

"Do you want to form a contract with me?" she asked suddenly, surprising him.

"Pfft, hahaha! You're so funny, little girl! I haven't laughed like that in forever," he said, laughing heartily as he put her down.

"Moo, I know about Master-Servant contracts. My mama already told me all about it!" she pouted again, looking even more upset.

"Haha, sorry about that. So, what's your name?" he asked, still smiling.

"Me? My name is Ritsu ######," she said with a bright smile.

"Huh? What? Ritsu?"

"Ritsu ######," she repeated.

"I didn't catch the last part," he said, looking confused.

"Huh? It's Ritsu ######!" she repeated again, but just like before, he couldn't understand the last name.

"I still don't get it, but that doesn't matter. You can call me Caster," he said with a grin.

"Caster? What's your actual name?" Ritsu asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Heh, you know, you're not really supposed to ask for a Servant's true name," Caster said, gently patting Ritsu's head.

"A Servant's true name is really important to them, but at this point, it's pretty useless to keep it hidden since this war is already chaotic. My name is Cú Chulainn."

"Cuchu?" she repeated, mispronouncing it.

"No, it's *Cu Chulainn,* not Cuchu."

"Cuchu!" Ritsu smiled brightly as she called him by the wrong name again.

Caster could only stare at the happy little girl before sighing in defeat. "Alright then, call me whatever you want."

Just then, he sensed something and turned his attention to the three people from before.

"Looks like they're in a pinch," he said, noticing they were now being ambushed by a Lancer and an Assassin.

"Cath Palug!" Ritsu suddenly shouted and ran off toward the battle. Caster, still focused on the fight, didn't catch her in time.

"Oi! Where are you going!?" he yelled, quickly trying to cast a spell to stop her, worried she might hurt herself.

But to his surprise, the little girl was so fast that his spell couldn't catch up with her.

"What the—!? For a little girl, she's really fast!"

Ritsu kept running until she was near the battle and then screamed, "Cath Palug!!!"

"Fou?" The small creature standing beside the other three perked up at the sound of his name and then spotted her.

"Fou Fou!" He immediately ran toward her, meeting her halfway.

The lilac-haired girl in armor, holding a large shield, looked confused. "Fou!? Where are you going???"

A young woman with long white hair and golden-amber eyes also stared in shock "Wha!? Why is there a little girl here???.

"Another prey is here!" one of the shadow Servants said when he spotted Ritsu.

"This one is mine!" said another shadow Servant wielding a lance, who then lunged toward her.

"Watch out!!!" yelled the young man with short, unkempt dark brown hair and blue eyes, looking really worried.

Ritsu didn't seem too worried, calmly staring at the lance speeding toward her. Before she could react, there was a sudden *Clang* as someone parried the attack, landing in front of her.

"Really? Attacking a little girl? How low can you get?" Caster said, his expression filled with anger as he blocked the attack with his staff.

"Another Servant? This one feels different... Is he a normal Servant?" the long-haired girl asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Yo, young girl with shield. Let's just say I'm a friend, and I'll help you deal with these two," Caster said, glancing over at the girl with the shield.

"Master?" the girl asked the young man behind her.

He nodded in agreement, trusting Caster's offer.

"Alright, good! Now let's beat them!" Caster declared, and he and the shielded girl charged together, launching an attack against the two shadow Servants.

Meanwhile, Ritsu calmly petted Cath Palug, watching them with mild interest. "Hmm... Cuchu's Rune spell is really good."

"Hey, what are you doing here?!" A sudden voice yelled at her, causing Ritsu to turn and see a girl with long white hair rushing over.

"Hmm? Hello," Ritsu said nonchalantly.

"Don't just 'hello' me! What are you doing in this place? No—how did you even get here??"

"I'm here because I followed this guy after the explosion," Ritsu explained, holding up Cath Palug toward the girl.

"Explosion?? You mean you were there during that??" the young man looks startled said, surprised because he thought only he and Mash had been in that room.

"No, no… I'm sure we don't have any child employees, or anyone bringing kids to Chaldea," the white-haired girl muttered, visibly confused and deep in thought.

"Romani, do you have any idea who brought a child?"

But no reply came for a while. After a long pause, a hologram finally flickered to life. "No... We don't have anyone bringing a child to Chaldea..."

"Then who is this!?"

"Me? I'm Ritsu ######," Ritsu answered.

"What?"

"Ritsu ######," she repeated, but once again, just like with Caster, they couldn't understand the last part of her name.

"Dr. Roman, did you understand what she said?" the young man asked.

"No… I don't."

"Well, that doesn't matter. Fujimaru, go help your Servant. I'll stay here and watch the kid," the white-haired girl suddenly decided.

The young man named Fujimaru nodded and ran off to assist Caster and Mash in their fight.

Now both of them stood there in silence, watching the Servants fight. Olga knew she should probably be helping them, but for now, it was better to stay by the little girl's side, ready to protect her if anything went wrong.

"What's your name, onee-chan?" Ritsu suddenly asked, her cute eyes staring up at her.

"Me? My name is Olga Marie Animusphere," Olga said proudly, emphasizing the *Animusphere* part, something Ritsu quickly noticed.

"Olga Marie... Anmuphere?"

"No, it's *Animusphere*," Olga corrected.

"Animushere?"

"No!"

And then silence fell between them as Ritsu tried to figure out how to pronounce the name.

"But whatever... You can just call me Olga or Marie. Doesn't really matter," Olga sighed, giving up. Dealing with kids was turning out to be more difficult than expected.

"I see. I'm gonna call you Olga-neechan," Ritsu said with a happy smile.

"Sure..." Olga responded, her eyes shifting back to the fight, keeping an eye out for any moment to step in.

Ritsu was also watching. She could see Cuchu skillfully using runes, covering the shielder girl, and creating openings for her to strike.

"Cuchu is pretty good at fighting, but that girl... she looks really amateur. Is this her first time fighting?" Ritsu asked, her head tilted curiously.

"Yes, she's the first successful experiment as a Demi-Servant. This is her first real battle," Olga replied without looking at Ritsu.

"Experiment? Is she a homunculus?" Ritsu asked, remembering her Aunt Cagliostro and how her body is also a homunculus just like the shielder girl.

"I see you know about homunculi. Are you a Magus? But I've never heard of your name before... Who are you really?"

"I'm Ritsu ######."

"Like I said, I don't understand what you're saying!!" Olga exclaimed in frustration, then quickly realized she was yelling at a child.

"...Sorry about that."

"Hmm, I'm fine. My mama sometimes yells at my papa too, saying he's always doing weird experiments," Ritsu said, looking quite happy, as her mama had once told her that yelling at papa meant she cared about him.

"...Your family sounds kind of weird. But then again, it's ironic coming from me," Olga muttered, shaking her head as she remembered her own heavy burden as an Animusphere.

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"Young girl!" Caster called out after trapping both shadow Servants with his rune magic.

"Haaaahhh!" the shielder girl, Mash, immediately bashed the enemies with her shield, sending them flying into a pile of debris from a collapsed building.

When the dust settled, the shadow Servants had vanished, signaling their victory.

"Nice one," Caster complimented.

"Thank you for the assist!" Mash said, smiling as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Cuchu, you're strong!" they suddenly heard a little voice call out.

"What!? When did you get here?" Caster exclaimed, surprised to find Ritsu standing right in front of him, staring up with wide eyes.

"Make a contract with me," she said, holding out her right arm to him.

"...." Both Caster and Mash fell silent for a moment before Caster finally laughed, "Hahaha, you're still going on about that? You know what? Fine, I'll make a contract with you!"

"Eh? What's going on?" Mash asked, utterly confused by the scene unfolding before her.

"Oi! How did you move so fast?? In the blink of an eye, you disappeared from my side, and now you're here!" Olga suddenly appeared after running frantically to catch up with Ritsu.

"Are you okay, Mash? Did you get hurt?" Fujimaru also arrived, concerned as he rushed over to Mash.

"I'm fine, Master. You don't need to worry," Mash reassured him.

"Of course, I'm going to worry! There's no way I wouldn't be concerned for you."

While Mash and Fujimaru exchanged words, Ritsu looked pleased, happy she was about to form a contract, just like her mama did when she was a teenager.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Olga asked, finally noticing what Ritsu and Caster were up to.

"We're going to make a contract!" Ritsu said with excitement.

"What!? Why? Do you even understand the risks of becoming a Master? Your small body can't handle it!" Olga protested, worried for the little girl.

"You don't need to worry, ojou-chan," Caster interjected. "This girl has more mana than most people. I can feel it. She's not ordinary."

"But she's still a child! You can't just burden her with the responsibility of being a Master!" Olga argued.

"I'm fine, Olga-neechan. I'm just curious how it feels to become a Master. Let's go, CuChu!" Ritsu exclaimed, extending her right hand toward Caster once more.

"I'm Ritsu ######," she said as the contract began. The atmosphere around them changed drastically.

Fujimaru and Mash, who had been talking, suddenly fell silent as they felt an overwhelming pressure.

"Fujimaru? Mash?? Director?? What's happening?! We can see something strange from here!!" The hologram of Romani appeared again, panicking as he noticed the sudden surge in mana.

As Ritsu held out her right hand, Her usual playful demeanor disappeared, replaced by a calm intensity. When she spoke, her voice no longer held the light, innocent tone of a little girl—it had taken on a weight, a commanding presence that caught everyone off guard.

"Caster," she began, her voice steady and filled with purpose. "I offer you a contract, not as a mere Master, but as someone who can grant you the benefits of overwhelming power. With me, you will have the strength to crush any foe, to achieve victory in ways you've never imagined."

Caster fell silent for a moment, staring seriously at the little girl in front of him. After a pause, he scratched his head with a slightly puzzled expression. "I didn't expect you to have this much power, little girl."

"But like I said before, I accept your contract," he said, touching Ritsu's small hand. In no time, a blue symbol appeared on the back of Ritsu's hand, marking the formation of their contract.

As soon as he connected to Ritsu's Mana, Caster immediately felt it—an immense, seemingly endless energy, like a boundless ocean. Caster's eyes widened slightly, taken aback by the overwhelming power hidden within the little girl.

"This much Mana?" he murmured, astonished by the sheer magnitude of the energy now at his disposal.

After that, Ritsu lowered her hand, and the intense atmosphere that had surrounded them moments ago disappeared, returning to normal.

"Wow, so this is what it feels like to be a Master!" Ritsu said excitedly, her eyes lighting up as she admired the symbol now on her hand.

"What... just happened?" Olga muttered in confusion, clearly baffled by what had just transpired. She looked between Ritsu and Caster, still trying to comprehend the sudden turn of events.