Golden Ascension- Fate c11

Marcus was satisfied with his abrupt test. It was a simple idea, but it worked out. He saw Sion and Rin's observation skills.

Both Sion and Rin have impressed him. He knew Sion was smart, but she went beyond what he expected, and Rin, while not an Alchemist or someone good with Technomancy, saw through his Reactor through her understanding of physics. 

Once the test was over, he took the pair back upstairs. However, he could see that they wanted to see the rest. They will have a chance to do that.

But for now, it was time to talk.

When they returned to the dinner area, the cups of tea and the sliced-up cake were waiting for them.

Sion quickly took a small plate with a piece of cake for herself, and then she swiftly tasted it. Her eyes closed as she hummed with satisfaction.

"This is very good, not too sweet, just the right amount." The girl with purple hair hummed with satisfaction. Seeing this, Marcus and Rin took their seats and got their piece of cake.

"Yes, I know, this one is one of those I get on my birthdays." The Alchemist chipped in as he started to eat. The taste was just like remembers.

"I am quite jealous that you have something this good on your birthdays." 

Sion said with a smirk. Atlas doesn't have the best food, at least for her. 

Not that she needs to eat as much food as humans do.

"You get used to it. I don't pay much attention to these events."

Maybe at first, but he did celebrate quite a huge number of birthdays. 

"In that case, I need to step up and make the birthdays a big deal!" The purple head got pumped up for a bit; it appears sugar is already in her system. 

"Well, try your best. I had a lot of birthdays before. I want to see how they will stack up to your plans."

"..."

"..."

The pair got silent, 

He reminded them of what he said before.

"We did pass the test. Can you tell us what your story is?" Rin asked curiously. While she is all about the good cake, this is far too serious to focus on just eating it.

"Hmm, very well. This, by all means and purposes, is my second chance at life. In my previous life, I was Marcus Goldman as well. But my world was a different place. We didn't call ourselves Magus; we called ourselves Mages, and the society of magical kind was governed by the Magic Association. There was no Clock tower or Atlas. It was one big group.

That was until I destroyed them, and the remnants were absorbed by the world governments. Making magic accessible to everyone to some degree."

His explanation made them a little bit spookish… Did he destroy the whole Association?

"...You did it with your Homunculi army?" Sion asked. She wondered if he was just doing what he had done in his previous life.

"Nope, don't be silly, this time I am not doing Solo, no this time I am going to build a faction of my own." He quite casually replied to her question.

"...You ended an Association…on your own?" Rin asked with a small gulp. She felt that he was dangerous, but not this dangerous!

"I was called Master Alchemist at age 65 for achieving Eternal Youth. Such a thing is more difficult than pure destruction. I am pretty sure Sion can agree on that." 

The purple-haired girl slowly nodded. She was still processing what he said. 

"It still doesn't explain… So you come from…FUTURE of an Alternative world, you have been placed in a much younger yourself body?" She asked for clarification if this was what he meant.

"Yes, you got it right."

"I see… How is that possible, though? Such a thing… What did you do to achieve such a possibility?"

He shrugged at her question.

"I died in space, by that point I have been exploring space for over 150 years, I discovered and studied over 30 worlds. 

From massive oceanic to barrel worlds extremely close to the sun.

I guess that one of the suns went supernova and killed me in my sleep, or I was sucked into a black hole and slammed into my younger self's body.

Truthfully, this is a mystery that I have no idea about either." He explained with a frown. He doubts he will ever figure out how he died. 

"...Space…you have travelled in space!?" Rin squeaked her words when she heard that! 

"And we will be returning to it soon. My Shipyards will soon come online. And my Homunculi will proceed to build the ships."

Sion slowly nodded, she now can grasp the scope of what Marcus can do. He is someone from the future and his magic technology is far more advanced than what the world can produce at his moment.

She can safely put aside the fact that the current human society can't fight back or resist. No, it's simply impossible. By this point, what she can do and focus on is getting close to him and influencing him like how the wife does to her husband. It's the only way she can for at least a small piece to survive.

"How many of them do you have?"

"At this moment, there are 224, and another batch of 14 is joining soon."

Sion slowly nodded, so she was right all along. A massive army of Homunculi… he has it all covered.

"...I see… can you answer me though…why all of this?" Sion asked him, wanting to understand his train of thought. As someone who saw a lot, there should be a reason why he wants to do it.

"...Hmm…there are several reasons why, one is that Space exploration alone is difficult, so I need people, another reason is my grudge against regular people. It took years but it did fester.

Nagging for Eternal Youth and my gravity research made them constantly try to get their hands on them. They all wanted those for the 'Betterment of Everyone' even when I would send them packing they would return in the next generation. 20 to 30 years later, each time they would be bolder because they would have bigger numbers.

The cycle lasted for quite a bit. I simply have grown tired and decided to leave. 

I had the means to do it so I did." He explained to them as he was spinning the spoon in the tea. Eventually, he pulled the spoon out and took a sip.

"...So you just went to space."

"No, I went only after I brought humanity to its knees, I fried all of their technology and electronics. They effectively returned to the stone age." He said with narrowed eyes. 

Feeling his anger, Rin slightly gulped down.

"...But couldn't you just build a place for yourself far away from them? Like a powerful boundary field." Sion didn't understand why he did it. 

"Several reasons: one is that I was planning to leave, two because I was already living in a remote place in Canada, and three because I was petty, and I hold petty grudges, especially in this situation." He explained with a shrug.

"I see… I guess it makes sense for someone who has been nagged for years." Sion agreed with a forced smile. She is still proceeding with what she learned. 

Marcus was much more than she had expected, but this is where she needs to improve her game. However, what about Rin Tohsaka?

Will she accept the fact that their target is much older than they are? At least mentally?

The purple head looked at Rin, the black-haired girl was spacing out for a bit but she couldn't sense anything remotely resigned from her.

"...I see… Thanks for sharing your secret. In truth, I am quite excited about the future now." Sion was the first one to start talking after his explanation.

"Oh? Do tell. I was wondering what your thoughts are about this." Marcus asked very curiously, as he was trying to think what they were thinking after hearing his story.

"I am a Magus you know, like always, research potential was always part of my life, and now I have a chance to study under someone who has over 300 years of experience, who lived in space for a prolonged amount of time. 

It makes me… quite… Excited and a little bit terrified of what I might learn." The Alchemist girl explained truthfully and didn't hide what she was thinking.

"I see… This was what I was expecting from the Magus of this world."

"Oh? What about your original world?" She curiously asked him.

"They treated it like art. However, this led them to be stuck in an era similar to the Renaissance. My Technomancy and use of biology made them treat me like a Heretic, which led to their destruction."

"...Oh…sorry for asking." Sion was slightly antsy here, she is curious but at the same time she doesn't want to make Marcus remember some bad things. It's not good for her if he gets angry with her.

"That's fine. I showed that my creations were superior to their 'artwork' there is nothing there to say." As the Grand Alchemist said that he looked at Rin who was quietly listening in.

"What do you think, Rin? You are far too quiet." 

"...This well…it has put quite a bit of pressure on me…" She said while fiddling with one of her ponytails.

"I see, makes sense, I can always give you some work and you can adjust and get over it." Marcus proposed to her, and this made her almost immediately accept it but the Goddesses in her head screamed at her to stop!

Rin had a thoughtful look for a bit before she realised that she was between a rock and a hard surface. In other words, she is about to enter a hierarchy which is Marcus' faction. The little games are over and now she can't ignore it or pretend it doesn't exist.

In other words, she just forced herself to tell him her real reason for being here, if she doesn't then she can be easily relegated to some casual duties and away from Marcus and Sion who can work together on something.

It would be game over for her right here.

Nope! The time for being shy and embarrassed is over. She needs to fight back shamelessly if need be!

"I-I could be your G-G-Girlfriend! I think it's the best position I could hold!" 

That moment, Sion accidentally slammed her hand on the table—her hand slipped! This was a surprise attack from Rin—it was from nowhere!

"Nonsense! I could be a much better choice!" Sion snapped back.

"Oh? So, can you do all the girlfriend duties?" Rin asked almost from a superior point of view. She is confident that she could be a much better girlfriend than Sion.

"Easily fixable, I can quickly catch up after doing some reading. I think Marcus needs an actual helper in his grand quest." 

The Black haired girl smirked when she heard that.

"Then you can be his 'Helper'; his girlfriend should be AND IS more than that." 

Sion narrowed her eyes when she heard that. Now, this girl is just picking on words.

"I think it's up to Marcus to decide which one of us he prefers to be his girlfriend."

The purple head said that while looking at the Alchemist, the person in question that moment opened the paper bag where two of his pastries were placed.

He pulled out his cinnamon swirl and took a bite. While this was happening, the pair waited for him.

A few moments later, he looked at the pair. He looked like the conversation they had didn't involve him at all.

"Well?"

"Well, what? If you two argue, then I won't pick any of you." He said with a shrug.

His words made them pale, like turning so white it looked like they hadn't seen the sun for years.

"B-But"

"No buts, you two forgot that I can make life if I want to, I could create my 'Dream Girlfriend' if I want to but I never did because I never needed it." 

The more he talked the more they realised how stupid they were. Now that they found out the scope of his power. They don't truly have things like 'cards' to use against him.

"S-Still! Wouldn't it be better to pick one of us?" Sion is trying to salvage the situation, as well. She overestimated him, and now she is in the same boat as Rin.

"What for? You said to yourself if I can't pick one, then I will take both. If I can't, then I won't take either." As Marcus explained, he took out the other pastry from the paper bag and showed it to her.

"B-But, it was pastries! Not people! It's different!" The purple-haired alchemist girl can't believe he used her words against her like this!

"How is it different to me? I destroyed human society in my previous world. I ended world war 3 because it was getting out of hand. Do you think I care about semantics? You gave me a solution, so I am using it." 

His words made her stiff for a bit. This guy ended world war 3!? 

"You two forget that I won't simply pick this because you two are part of my faction either way. If I pick one, the other one will get salty and be a source of Discord.

So, to keep maximum efficiency, I will simply decline." 

"..."

"..."

The pair completely forgot that they went into a very deep mess, blindsided by the fact that they signed themselves off to a possible future world conqueror. They don't have choices or escape paths from this. Sure, they can run off, but for how long?

Servants are watching them, and if gets spicier he can always summon more because he has found a way to do that…

"Fine… I understand."

"...Same."

The pair deflated hard after this wake-up call. As they say, war is unpredictable; it can shift at a moment's notice. 

This was no different; they were naive to expect that this could be solved by directly going to Marcus and telling him to choose. Especially when they heard his story, it now makes sense why he is so conservative and defends his territory so ferociously.

He won't be picking anyone because it will create more discord.

However, they don't realise that he doesn't need to pick or do anything… They started this war so they are going to end it. While he will be the one who will observe it and have fun.

"Good now let's finish tea and desserts, after that we will return to exploration. I will be showing you two the rest of the workshop." Marcus' words snapped them out. The pair slowly nodded they were sluggish after that decline.

It is a hard pill to swallow, especially when they are building confidence. 

While this was happening in the background Artoria Alter was biting her lower lip in frustration. She was blind. Far too blind. She didn't count the possibility that these females will act so shamelessly. 

One could say this has made some of her traumatic memories resurface. No, this was not good; as the Head Maid and Master's Servant, she needed to make him resistant to these seduction tactics these females would be employing on him later on.

This was just like her past. She kept Morgan close, but the witch created chaos in her court.

This was not the same, but similar, no less. If she can make him keep his mind clear, then he will be able to resist.

And this is not related to the saltiness she was feeling because she didn't snuggle with him or he didn't pay much attention to him is not at all! 

No, she is just having reasonable conclusions from her past experiences.

~~~ 

After the tea break was over, Marcus led the pair downstairs once more and toward the Mana pools. 

So, seeing such a wide open room with bodies of liquid and glowing water made them quite out of words. That's the beauty of underground construction. 

It can be extremely wide. And no one will notice. 

However, for Rin…inside her head, Ishtar was going mental…

"RIN!!! Do you know what this is!!?"

'Mana of some sort?' She wasn't certain, but she did have her hunch.

"YES! BUT NO! This mana is neutral and fused with water. It can be used as a power source for pretty much anything! You could use this to summon my Bull of Heaven or Manna! 

Do you realise that!? Marcus has pretty much an unlimited amount of mana! This is just glorious! I have decided! only he can be my husband!"

Rin and Ereshkigal deadpanned upon hearing that. Is this airhead Goddess serious? Does she believe he would even look at her? With her reputation?  

"What!? I am serious! Who wouldn't want to have him for life!?"

"I doubt he will look at you. You do have your reputation. Remember what Rin said? Easily, solutions lead to far-reaching consequences. In your case, your reputation." The Underworld Goddess reminded what Rin said not long ago.

"Hmph! I will think of something!"

'Think of what? You are just consciousness in my head. Unless he makes a body for you, which I doubt, you are just that… my unless advisor.'

Once again Rin brutally put her down. This time she was extra angry about it. Her plans spectacularly fired back. And she is feeling despair seeing such huge reserves of mana ready for use.

A similar situation was with Sion who was looking at this and doing some simple calculations trying to figure out how much mana they were looking at.

"Mana you see is fused with water, it's so thick that it becomes liquid." As Marcus said that he crouched for a bit and scooped some of it.

And then showed it to the pair.

"I use a method I picked up in space. It's called hypercompression. The mana fuses with the water atom to the point that it becomes liquid just like water."

"H-How much mana we are talking about?" Rin gulped down while asking him.

"Hmm, one pool is enough to summon a heavily altered and improved form of a Servant. And I have three such Servants." He explained to the pair.

This made them think that, in total, there were 4 mana pools in front of them.

This is a lot of energy.

"This is the storage area for the energy. This energy can flow to ritual rooms or the Assembly Line."

"Assembly Line?" Sion curiously asked if he was going to show where he industrialised alchemy.

"Assembly Line and underneath it is a Matter Converter. Those two working together can make anything as long as you have schematics.

I use liquid mana and transmute it into the material I need, from food to metals. Anything can be created as long as you know the composition and structure." 

His explanation only made them more…antsy… this guy is fully and completely self-sufficient. It makes it hard to approach him in any sort of way!

Moments later, the automatic doors opened and showed them a room glister with runes all over it. 

"Doesn't look much, but at standby, this place looks like this." 

As he explained, he walked inside.

"Each of the sections moves independently, depending on what you requested. The only shortcoming of this is the size. At this moment, I can build anything the size of this room."

This immediately explained one thing to Sion, he has a bigger place somewhere else to build those spaceships, while at the same time it explained where all those Homunculi are which he spoke about before.

"...If this can build you anything and those mana pools…this means… You have a complete and separate ecosystem." Rin said that with a realistic look.

"Indeed. I am glad that you finally realised what this means, Rin."

The black-haired twin tails dumbly nodded at him, sure she does! This is so messed up, so bad for her that she doesn't know what to do!

Hell, even Ishtar's suggestion to go purely in and kiss the very daylight out of him sounds good by this point. She is outpaced and outgunned. She never expected to face an entire FACTION FROM FUTURE!

After showing the Assembly Line and the Matter Convertor, while they don't look as impressive OR flashy, they are engineering and alchemy wonders. 

They have impressed Sion once more. Like buying her over for the third time. This was not over as they walked over to the Homunculi chambers. They saw 14 water-like tanks in which the Homunculi are growing at this moment.

"I am using a formula model to grow them, this means they are as organic as one could get. A lot of space for improvements in the future as well." Marcus explained to them as they looked at the tanks.

"How long is their operational time?" Sion asked curiously. Rin wanted to know as well. If they are as good as Einzbern, their Homunculi last for years.

"At this moment, they only have several months of operation time."

The pair were shocked to hear that!

"That little?"

"Yes, because we are still in the early stages of development. Each time they stop functioning, their memories are recorded, checked, and stored in memory banks. 

They would feel that they are living in a cycle, each time they finish a cycle their operational time improves and they get smarter. In a sense, I am building a new society of warriors and workers."

Their eyes widened a bit before they realised what this meant.

He is building a zealot army, most likely fanatics who don't mind dying, as when they die, they will return to new, more powerful bodies…

'He has it all covered… By the looks of it, he only needs to develop his assets, and he is all set…' Sion, with a slightly sweaty forehead, thought about this situation.

After checking the Homunculi Chambers, it was time to see the Shipyards.

The pair walked out from another set of automatic doors, and they noticed they were in a tunnel.

"Look behind you. It's my main workshop, we are at the tunnel you saw before Rin. Now, if we continue walking forward we will arrive at the main construction area."

Marcus' words made the pair turn around and look back. They did notice that it was his workshop.

"How far do we need to walk?" 

"Around five minutes."

"That far?" Rin asked with some bafflement how much he had expanded underground!

"Indeed, I built my extended workshop in a much more open and less lived area. Thankfully, such an area is not far from my house."

His explanation made them nod with some understanding and fearfulness of how big it was going to be.

~~~ 

Rin and Sion looked with open mouths as they saw a huge cavern carved out. It was simply enormous. They could see tens of Homunculi working on something at the same time.

After seeing everything, they came to a simple conclusion. 

Marcus doesn't need resources or some sort of political stuff or allies, no he operates on different rules. You can't pressure him with anything.

The only thing that could potentially affect him is his parents, but doing something for them is a first-class ticket to being neutralised. No… The only thing he needs at this moment in time is Time, and that's it. Once the clock stops ticking, its game over; no one can stop him.

Endless soldiers, endless energy, endless weapons, endless spaceships. Only a being who has a similar concept of something 'endless' could potentially stop him. Even then, that is if someone intercepts him before he takes off.

"...How big is this cavern?" Rin asked him, her echo spreading through the surroundings.

"I have two of these, and it's 1 Square Kilometre. At this moment, it's enough. Once the ship takes off, we can proceed to move to space. Our first destination would be Saturn and its Moons." 

His destination has intrigued the pair. Why Saturn specifically?

"Why Saturn?"

"Multiple reasons. For one, it has enough basic resources. The asteroid belt around the gas giant itself will shorten the construction time of Shipyards around it.

I am in no rush, but there is a difference between wasting time endlessly and using specific tools provided by the cosmos itself."

Shipyards around Saturn…how big is it going to be!?

"Roughly speaking… how many ships and Homunculi will be produced by Shipyards as big as you have envisioned?"

Sion wanted to ask, she has almost cracked the scale to its full extent, once he tells her she will have a 100% image of his true scale and what he has planned!

"Rough estimation is around 110 to 120 thousand ships. Just use Saturn's diameter and you will know how big the Shipyards are going to be." He said with a thoughtful look.

"How often will they be constructed?" Sion asked while trying to play this off. However, her eyes are telling a different tale. She is freaking out. He isn't planning just Earth! No! He is planning stuff on a cosmic scale! He isn't just Earth's conqueror but space itself! 

"Every week or so. Once the schematics are finished and the testing phase is done it will be built at factory speed." He while looking at the cavern. He is already imagining the dagger-shaped ships being constructed here. It will be beautiful. Piece of art!

"And how big are these ships going to be these ships?" Rin asked as she was catching up and realising the scales as well.

"Roughly 1 Kilometre long and 120 metres wide, they will have Triple Core Reactor and Assembly lines themselves. Meaning that they will be producing energy, resources, and soldiers themselves." 

Now, this is terrifying! The pair concluded that this was far greater and more terrifying than they had imagined.

'No wonder Kaleidoscope called the meeting. No wonder he gave me the cards. This is not a joke! This doesn't concern the Earth itself, but the whole Cosmos!'

Rin was thinking with a sweaty forehead; however, Ishtar in the background was starting to annoy her!

"So beautiful! Endless War, I think I am in love!"

'Get a grip, you airhead Goddess! Don't you realise how serious this is!?'

"You get a grip! You are a failure. You can't even get close to him and seduce him! You HAVE to become his wife and future ruler of this Cosmic Empire! Otherwise, I will find a way, and I will get back at you for this stupid and unacceptable failure!" 

For a second Rin was taken aback by how angry Ishtar was. While Ereshkigal was silent for some time now. It appears she was affected by the grand scale as well.

'Okay, Okay, geez…calm down.' 

"I am very calm, only infuriated by your crudeness, I am an incarnation of beauty and what a woman is. I represent Venus the morning star itself, I know better than anyone what it means to be a woman. There is a difference between boldness and passiveness. You can show your affection through close contact. It doesn't need to be pure carnal lust, just showering him with attention, your attention should already win him over.

You did that already even if you didn't know, Him hugging your waist in school was proof that he likes you. You are just too crude to understand that." Ishtar explained with an annoyed tone.

Her explanation made Rin think this over.

'Why didn't you explain this before!?' The twin tails-wearing girl asked in a snappy tone.

"Are you serious? Are you asking me how to make you act like a girl? How to cuddle? How to act coy?" Ishtar asked with disbelief. For a moment, she needed to think about such basic things. Just how crude are these Easterners!?

'...On second thought…no forget about it. I am just being stupid.' Rin internally facepalmed and groaned, yes she forgot the middle ground which he even started himself in the school. How stupid and silly she can be?

"And you have the gall to call me airhead when you fail at basic woman actions." Ishtar snorted and decided to get back and think about things.

While Rin had no answers when she heard that she was indeed a failure at this very moment, she wasn't going to surrender, not now, not ever. Not when she knows the full stakes in this.

"...So each ship is almost like an independent base… sweet Gods… isn't this an enormous overkill?" Sion asked him while her eyes were getting bigger and bigger. She can understand that these ships will have gravity technology to travel via space but be factories as well!? That's just overkill!

"Indeed, once I finish designing tanks, walkers, and robots, I will have a very versatile attack force."

'...I see… I Guess those people truly affected him to the point that he decided that world conquest is better than leaving… or there is more? Well, it doesn't matter anymore. I guess I know my parameters and what I need to work with.' 

In the end, Sion knew what she needed to do. By this point, she doubts she can stop him. All she can do is try to mitigate the damage.

"I see…anything else to see or can we progress to the point where we talk about what I will be doing?" She asked him curiously. Though her body language is screaming to pay attention to her. She realised that casual actions are no longer needed; she needs to progress to more open seduction.

"Sure, we can check the other floors, and then we can return to the main workshop."

Marcus nodded at Sion and led the pair out of the shipyard back into the Assembly Line floor. 

He then showed the lower floor, like the Reactor and Mana Pool floors. This floor alone made Ishtar salivate once more, which made Rin bite her lower lip from annoyance and realisation of what this much mana could mean!

The amount of mana that will be stored in this enormous pool is simply mind-boggling.

Yes, if she had this much mana, she could just retire and live her life doing research into her family arts. Things like the Holy Grail would be meaningless. This much mana could allow her to open the path to the root alone!

And this is nuts. Her brain is still trying to grasp what she should do.

After seeing shipyards, Assembly Lines, Reactors, and Mana Pool, they didn't react much to the massive Homunculi chambers which soon are coming online. By that point, they simply accepted the scale…

It's just like the chambers in the main workshop, only bigger in scale… 

It will be pumping out over 2000 Homunculi every few days. It's simply…a lot. Not that they can grasp the sheer numbers without seeing them first.

~~~ 

"I suppose we can talk now about how you two can contribute to the cause."

Both Rin and Sion nodded, they resigned to this. They are joining a guy who will be taking over the cosmos. It is simply absurd.

"You already know that I am good at Spiritron coding and not bad at designing things." Sion started first.

"Hmm…yes, that reminds me. Follow me, you two." 

He took them to the homunculus table and turned it on. Quickly, Sion realised that this was a computer terminal of some sort.

Soon after, he started to show memories. 

"These are the Homunculi memories, I want both of you to input on this. Rin as far as I know you have hand-to-hand combat experience and some other things. I want these memories to be synthesised, while you Sion, I want you to add Spiritron coding into this. Maybe make the process even more smooth."

Both looked at him with wide eyes. Memory manipulation!? He does this!?

"Wait! Hold on! How does this work!?"

"Yes! I need to see the platform which I will be using! I can't just add things randomly!"

Both Rin and Sion panicked for a bit. They were happy that he is giving them some serious work, but at the same time, they don't want to be overwhelmed by this!

"Calm down you two." He shook his head from amusement, the reaction was simply priceless. It's like he made the floor extremely hot and they can't stand on it.

"Let me explain the basics, and then we can proceed with the tasks."

The pair nodded at the same time as they proceeded to listen to his explanation.

~~~~~~Later~~~~~~ 

After getting Rin and Sion on board Marcus was feeling quite satisfied with himself. He was able to dodge the bullet and make them join him full-time. It was simply a master stroke from him.

Not only that, but the War is getting more intense as it reaches the next step between those two.

He is pretty sure they will start getting all touchy with him soon enough. This is why he is going to bury them under quite a bit of work. This way, they won't have time to scheme all the time.

Though his first assignment already left Sion scratching the back of her head. She needs to develop an entire platform to make the homunculus table interact with the homunculus mind.

He already built the bulk of the system; the only thing he left for her was to improve it and make it more mainstream.

While Rin needs to pick up on the entire set of new Magecraft.

In other words, they are busy.

"Master, do you have a minute?" 

Artoria Alter brought him back from his thoughts. 

"What is it?"

For a moment, it was silent. This made Marcus turn around and look at her. 

He found her slightly fiddling and a little bit blushing. It appears something is on her mind.

"Well, do tell me. You are far too quiet." 

She sighed before starting to talk.

"Those two. You should be careful. They are getting desperate, especially when you reveal the scale of your projects." 

Her words made him raise an eyebrow. Is she warning him?

"Rin Tohsaka is someone I vaguely remember. I was in a few Grail wars. She was in one of them. I don't know how much this one is different but she can be quite crafty if you give her a chance." His Rider said with a thoughtful look.

"While Sion… She is not far in that regard as well. Her talent and expertise will make you lower your guard." 

"Shouldn't I be happy that I have two competent helpers?"

This time, she frowned at him.

"Yes, however, be careful, don't fall into a trap."

Marcus smirked when he saw how she was behaving. He can  FEEL her jealousy and saltiness.

"You know, for a maid, you are making a very bad joke by trying to play down your jealousy."

"...I am not jealous!" She almost snapped at him.

"And now you are lying to me. Should I dismiss you and get a new maid?"

Her eyes bulged out when she heard him say that in an icy tone. It made her feel cold, ice cold! 

Artoria immediately dropped to her knees.

"I apologise, I…my…jealousy got the better of me." She swiftly apologised to him. It wasn't a top-class apology but it comes from a person who doesn't do things like apologies.

"Accepted. Now tell me why there is jealousy."

She blinked a couple of times at him when she heard him. Is he clueless!?

"...Master…are you serious?"

"If I were not, I wouldn't have pointed out your jealousy." He said with an eye roll.

"...This…ahhh…" She grabbed her head in frustration!

She walked over and stood in front of him. Since he was laying lazily on his couch in the resting area, he could see her sideways. Standing in front of him.

"I am your maid, but you are paying attention to these hyenas! My status is way above theirs. They have no experience in serving you, while I do. I should be on the top of the list, not these…girls." She said that with a growing pout.

"So my maid is ambitious, as expected from an Alter," Marcus said with a smirk; however, he thought that this was cute.

"... It's only natural that I will be rewarded for my hard work." 

"Hoh? So what does my maid want for her hard work?"

Instead of answering, she turned around, dropped on top of him, and started cuddling.

Marcus simply wrapped her hands around her and adjusted to hold her body. This made the pale blonde maid move as well. She moved the way that she was facing him. There was a thin smug smirk on her face.

"Master~ you need to develop a resistance towards females. As your maid, it's my priority to make my Master as resistant as possible. It's my duty as well to make sure you are fully satisfied as well~."

'Well, well, she is not holding back at all, ' the alchemist thought to himself as he looked at Artoria, who leaned forward and ended up leaning her chest on his. Her face was very close to his.

"What do you think? I am your Servant~ I can do anything you want~" She said while getting extra close to kissing him. 

The Alchemist could feel how his body was reacting. This was his cute and sexy King of Maids. She is far bolder than the original Saber. And yes, she belongs to him, so he can do whatever he wants with her.

This is why he leaned forward and claimed her lips. This made her eyes gleam with happiness, and it turns out her action was the right choice!

As their lips collided, the pale blonde beauty wanted to establish some sort of dominance as she wrapped her hands around his neck and pushed her body forward trying to dominate the kiss.

However, Marcus as a scientist and researcher by heart was researching the whole kissing thing. He was new to this so he was testing the grounds. 

Which has quite confused the maid by bit as he was just kissing, not trying anything more! She even started to worry that she might be doing this wrong. After she was new to this just like he was! 

Then out of nowhere, his hands went to her rear and grabbed her ass cheeks firmly. Making her squeak into his lips. Then he started to massage her bum, which made her start to get hot and bothered! As he knew how to make her ass feel the most pleasure.

Before long, Artoria Alter started to moan softly. She needed to pull back after a few minutes.

"...This…this was very good." She praised her Master without even realising it!

"Yes, it was something I can approve of." He then squeezed her rear once more.

This made Rider feel pleasure erupt through her whole body.

"Ohhh~!?"

"Your voice is quite beautiful," Marcus mentioned off-handedly. He never heard her moan.

"W-What was this!?" The maid asked him as she looked back. All she could see was his hands. Is he doing that with his fingers?

"I did conquer human's body, Artoria. You do know that I can use that knowledge in several ways."  As he said that, his hands sneaked under her short skirt and touched her panty-clad rear. It was quite thin material, which meant he could feel her up even more.

"!?"

The maid's thought process was one step behind as she didn't understand what he meant and the next moment she moaned quite loudly.

"N-No! Hnnnn~~~"

It was too late as she moaned uncontrollably as Marcus' fingers touched quite specific areas, sending waves of pleasure. When you know the human nervous system so well that you can play music with it, that's what Artoria was experiencing.

Pleasure bombarding her according to a tune.

While all this was happening, Marcus' Valkyrie Thrud was in spirit after watching all of this! 

If she was visible one could see how she was hitting her lower lip and there was a familiar look of jealousy. Not that she can grasp what she was feeling!

Nope, all she could do is watch and try to grasp what this means, she even shared this with her sisters who are confused as she is!

This was it. The maid has unleashed something which will change the dynamics of this household.

"Master?"

At that moment Caster walked in as well. The clueless Fae immediately stopped in her tracks as she saw the maid sitting on her Master's lap, facing him, it was quite an intimate position with his hands being in her skirt!

Not only that but the maid had heavy blush on her cheeks, it was quite the contrast compared to her pale skin. 

"Yes? What is it, Artoria?" He asked her while pulling his hands away from the maid's bum. That moment, the maid moaned, her moan had some disappointment in it. She was not happy that he was pulling out his magic hands.

"W-What is g-g-going on!?" His Caster asked with a borderline freaked-out tone. What is he doing with his maid!?

"I am having fun with my darling maid here." To prove the point he kissed the maid on her lips. His maid did remind him that she indeed belonged to him and he could snuggle her or any other of his servants any time of the day.

The Fae eyes widened for a bit. What happened to him? Why is he so touchy with the Alter? It was more like a natural response as he would only cuddle with her, but now he is doing that with Rider and even kissing her!? That is quite a shocking revelation!

"B-But…Why!?" 

Her question made him stop, and instead he stroked the maid's cheek for a bit.

"Because she is my maid, and I can do whatever I want with her," Marcus said with a smile, which made the Fae slightly frown. This was not good! Is she losing her cuddle position to this sarcastic maid version of Artoria Pendragon?

"Yes…Master~" The maid spoke with a dreamy tone. From the looks of it, she was still in pseudo-dream land. The Alchemist quite literally tormented her with his fingers and made the Alter Maid climax multiple times in just a few minutes.

Thankfully, she is a Servant and not a human; a human, most likely by this point, would become addicted to pleasure or, worst case, would end up with fried nerves. Nerves which are fried from pleasure. 

All Marcus did was test out how pleasure works and he liked he might have more fun with his Servants. The best part is that he has a human, a Divine, and a Fae Servant! They all are different humanoid beings! Who knows they sense pleasure differently!

"T-That's not fair! I am the one who cuddles with you! I am a Fae! Your Fae! Remember? I will help you relax!" The blonde Fae huffed and crossed her arms, starting to channel her jealousy into him.

This made Marcus realise that his two Servants already like him more than just Master.

Sigh 

"Fine, we can sleep tonight together." He said with an eye roll. At that moment, the Fae smiled brightly at him. 

However, the maid in his hands slightly pouted and pulled back to look at him. 

"What….about…me?"

"Aren't I pampering you right now?" 

She pouted less and instead frowned now.

"Besides, at night time, I sleep and do not play as I do now." 

Once again, she pouted at him, almost as if he was accusing her of only playing and nothing else!

"You…can…easily use me to hug and cuddle, I don't mind." As she said that, she hugged him once more, emphasising what she meant.

Alter's blatant actions made Fae's jealousy grow, she almost had a look of a murderer but she controlled herself. She can't flip like that, nope, she is the cute and cuddly Caster of her Master. 

"I suppose." 

Hearing how he accepted it ground to halt all the thoughts the Fae had. He accepted it!? Wait! Does this mean he is going to pull both of them into the bed!?

"Glad to hear. This means we can continue to cuddle." 

"Hold a second! This is not fair!" The Blonde Fae snapped out of her shock and walked over to the couch. If Alter is doing this, then she will have to improve her game as well!

She ended up sitting next to her Master and leaning on his shoulder. This made Marcus a little bit confused with their behaviour. 

He is not going anywhere, and they have a lot of time together. How can one day make a difference? Maybe they still haven't realised? Well, it doesn't matter. He is now surrounded on two sides by a pair of attention-seeking, twin-looking, heroic spirits who are extremely different but at the same time, extremely similar. It's simply amusing and incredible if you think about it.

~~~~~~Later~~~~~~ 

As evening arrived, Marcus returned home. He was quite bothered by the fact that he needed to stop cuddling, and his maid knew about it.

The maid smugly looked at him. She almost told him that they could continue anytime, anywhere. However, he fought through that and went back to his house.

Once back inside, his father had a smug look, similar to his Alter maid's, but the meaning behind that smirk was different.

"I have heard that you have been around with TWO girls this time. Your mother said her name is Sion. Can you tell me more about her? It appears this girl is quite smitten by you."

'You have no idea. She is here because of me in the first place…'

"She is old blood, and using her extensive network, she found out about my hobby. She is into engineering and programming, so she wanted to find someone who is just as good. And apparently, I was the one which she has been looking for." 

Roland nodded his head. This was getting interesting. An old blood looking for his son? He could only smile thinking how special his son is! He felt that he was great, but this is just above and beyond what he has expected.

Now that he thinks about it, Marcus has far greater luck than he has anticipated he has two girls gunning after him! This is quite something else!

He would have been happy if he found someone capable to reel in the obsessions the Goldman family has. Not that he can see it happening if someone like this Sion girl found him through their hobbies.

"I see. Do bring her over, both of us want to see her, according to your mother she is…quite exotic." 

"You have no idea…" Marcus said that with a slight chuckle. Programming spirit-like particles is classified as 'exotic'.

"...that reminds me, what are you going to do with Rin? I heard that she was with you two." 

'Right…of course… common sense… Where did I leave you? Probably when I altered my body to ditch old age…

Or was it when I decided to explore space solo… Yeah, somewhere around there.'

"We are friends at this moment. We will see how it goes." 

'I don't think I can tell him that they are waging war on each other, which is something I am quite invested in.' The Alchemist internally thought about it. He should update all the events from the afternoon.

"I see. Rin is a great girl."

"Indeed."

He didn't say much. After the black-haired girl popped up in his life, they were all about teasing him, but now Sion has popped up, and they are more controlled. It was more like they were confused about how to act with more girls around their son.

Now, they are more serious since he has to haggle with more females around him. He does not truly know what is happening behind the scenes.

~~~ 

When Marcus returned to his room, he took a seat at his table and pulled out his notebook. He opened the page where the Waifu wars were.

'It still should be a draw. The one where they included me to pick one doesn't truly count. The whole time in the supermarket, nothing truly happened.

I suppose it's still a draw.'

Realising that nothing had happened after the first exchange, the Alchemist sighed and went back to his design.

He got the Star Destroyer's concept done. Now, to start working on the interior.

'I should make a laptop. I can easily put this on Sion or Rin, and they got it for me.'

This was good, he can now use the connection he has with them to bring some of his technomancy into his room.

'Yes, once that is done, I will accelerate some of the projects.'

After realising that, he swiftly changed what he was doing and focused on the laptop idea. He already has his PC and Assembly line. Designing and building a laptop is, by this point, a child's play for the infrastructure he has developed in his workshop.

So, all he needed was the designs and how they were going to look—the most difficult parts for him!

However, a few hours later, his mother returned, and they had a short conversation. Just like his father, she was much tamer than she was before with Rin.

Once again she asked common sense things which he had no idea how to answer. Like, he can't say that they are waging war on each other? 

It would be 'wrong' for him to interfere in female stuff. This is why he was as vague as possible.

After all of it was done he was finally able to retire for the day. He was feeling quite tired. Not physically but mentally. He is not used to being surrounded by that many females who are aiming at him.

He always passed his Servants as more like subordinates, but now he realised that they are gunning at him similarly as the Magus girls.

It just made him more tired than he usually is.

So, without much fanfare, he was in his bed, already snoozing off. He didn't even register how a pair of blondes slipped under his bedsheets.

"I don't understand what with this current interest in acting all lovey-dovey with Master!" Caster asked with a hushed tone as she was laying on one of Marcus' sides.

"Lovey-dovey? I am his maid, so I am doing what I am supposed to be doing." 

"...You telling me a maid is supposed to be doing all that?" The Fae asked with disbelief.

"I thought you already have a deep understanding of human society." The Alter maid asked with a small frown.

"... That's… can't be the truth!" 

"It is. Since time immemorial, maids and servants fully belong to their Masters."

"T-Then why did he start acting like this!?"

The Maid Alter didn't say anything, instead she snuggle more into her Master and started to snooze off.

"...Find…out…by asking him yourself." The blond Rider slowly does off as well. She was feeling tired after being tormented by her Master. It's one of those rare torments that she loves!

"Hmph… this is just getting more confusing!"

"Caster, can you get silent already? Master needs his sleep." Thrud said out of nowhere. The Fae huffed once more before starting to sleep as well.

She doesn't like this change at all! 

Once the pair of Artorias started to sleep, the Valkyries were free to do their thing.

Which at this moment is to talk!

"It looks comfortable," Hildr said to Thrud via their connection as she was looking through her older sister's eyes.

"We should try this out one day!" The pink-haired Valkyrie said what she was thinking when she saw her Master sleeping like this with two Servants of his.

If they are sleeping, why can't the Valkyries do it? And besides, they are the three! Master should like it more! At least, this is what Hildr was thinking AND what she was feeding into the Valkyrie network.

"Are you mad? We can't do such things without the Master's permission!" Thrud said with a panicky and embarrassed tone. Not that Ortlinde or Hildr understood. However, they did pick up something weird with the blonde Valkyrie.

"But our Master won't ever ask such things. We need to have the initiative. Any good Valkyrie should be able to predict what needs to be done. This includes keeping us when the Master is alone." Ortlindle said from her side. She was still watching over Sion.

"But that can be considered overreaching! It's against what Valkyries stand for!" 

"True, but we are more than Valkyries. We are our Master's Servant." Hildr chipped in. She liked how Ortlindle was thinking.

Thrud grimaced for a bit. She was not certain about this, but part of her, a huge part of her, did want to try this cuddling thing. The Caster was doing.

Another, more hidden part of her wants to try out what the maid did. She can associate with the maid more than the Caster. The Valkyries are quite similar to what a maid is. The Battle maidens of Allfather had a single purpose. Similar to what a maid is. 

A maid who has a single purpose to be a Master's Servant.

Truthfully if Marcus heard what the oldest Valkyrie was thinking he most likely would facepalm and sigh. Before dropping and forgetting about it as it would take much longer to explain.

Thankfully, Marcus will never know what the Valkyrie is even thinking.

"Hmm, I see. It makes sense, sister, so should we start planning how we will serve our Master?" Hildr asked with an almost giggling tone. This is going to be great.

Though Thrud could only shyly blush at what the Valkyries started to think about.