Noting that it was now 5am, the Angel of Crimea began her rounds, starting with her Master.
As the Head Nurse of Chaldea, she was in charge of making sure her patient was in perfect shape, and given that her Master was effectively the only way to cure history of it’s Solomon infection, she had taken it upon herself to ensure Ritsuka’s health was always in top condition.
Walking down the corridor leading to Ritsuka’s personal room, Florence Nightingale bumped into an unexpected person: the assassin Sasaki Kojirou.
Apparently startled by the unexpected arrival of Nightingale, the assassin blushed slightly, breathing heavier than he should for having bumped into someone.
“My apologies, Head Nurse.”
Before he quickly ran off.
Odd. The Training Rooms aren’t anywhere near here. I wonder why he’s breathing like he’s been through intensive training.
Nightingale quickly dismissed the encounter. Servants in Chaldea typically didn’t need her help, so unless her Master or the Servants specifically asked for her help, she wasn’t allowed to force treatment on them.
She arrived at her Master’s door, shortly after the odd encounter, and proceeded to press the intercom.
“Master, its time for your daily examination. May I come inside?”
The door opened quickly, and the red headed female form Ritsuka could use was what greeted the Head Nurse.
Their skin had a sort of rosy hue to it, their pupils dilated.
“Ready when you are, Head Nurse!”
“While I can understand the appeal, as your physician I would highly advise against taking narcotics that I haven’t prescribed you.”
Having done her responsibility as the Head Nurse and ignoring the baffled look on her Master’s face, she began with her examination.
—————–
5am once again, and Nightingale was already on her way to her Master’s room for the daily examination.
Routine was important, after all.
And once again, she bumped into an unexpected sight.
The Holy Maiden of Orleans, wearing a simple yet ruffled white shift, her typically braided hair unbound and mussed, the rosy shade she had seen on her Master’s face also on the Saint’s.
I wonder if our Master has an Infection. Their vitals seemed within the norm…..
“My sincerest apologies….” Jeanne muttered vaguely, apparently lost in a daze.
Nightingale made a note on her clipboard, to check with the acting Director if she was allowed to check on servants yet.
Arriving at her Master’s door, she pressed the intercom, and repeated her greeting from the previous morning.
This time, the black haired male form greeted her, the same rose shade across their skin.
“So are you planning on doing this everyday, Head Nurse?” her master asked with a slightly embarrassed look.
“No need to be embarrassed. I’m a Nurse, I’ve seen it all. But yes. Since the good Doctor Romani is busy running Chaldea, I suggested I just resume my duties from America, to which he agreed.” Nightingale informed her Master in a soothing but informal tone, preparing the examination.
———————
5am. Already en-route to her Master’s room, Nightingale paused as the shadows in the corridor deepened, and a slightly caustic mist slowly enveloped her.
An almost unnoticeable pain pressured her kidneys from behind, as a slight weight settled on her back and a small hand materialized on her shoulders.
“Oh, we’re sorry. We thought you were the creepy Rider.” the small white-haired girl flipped over her, landing in front of her.
“Understandable. Always best to take care of an parasite before it can establish itself.” Nightingale approved of how swift and precise the young assassin had been.
“How goes your surgical practice?”
The small servant started beaming.
“Really good! Nursery says she likes the patterns we weave.”
The Head Nurse tutted.
“But do they work as intended?”
Jack gripped a knife very suddenly, before slowly letting go, her head downcast.
“Wavy says so. We can trust his thoughts, right?”
Nightingale smiled. The servant known as Zhuge Liange, who also went by many other names, was a reliable and knowledgeable person, and thus she could trust his opinions of the young assassin’s surgical prowess.
“Then yes, I would say you are doing a marvelous job.” The Berserker praised the young assassin, who was once again beaming and had her knives sheathed.
“We need to go find Nursery now. Goodbye, Head Nurse!” Jack the Ripper quickly ran towards the room she shared with the young Caster.
As she ran past, Nightingale noticed that the normally pale young assassin had colour flushed through her exposed skin.
I really need to talk to master about this potential infection. A Human to Servant ‘spiritnotic’ disease would bring about the fall of Chaldea!!!
Going over the various potential scenarios and already formulating potential quarantine procedures that might work on the more troublesome servants, she quickly arrived at her Master’s room.
Not even bothering to ring the intercom, Nightingale barged in, eyes on her notepad.
“Master, I’ve been meaning to as-“
“Shhhhh!” a female voice shushed her.
Looking up, the Head Nurse noticed that Mash was tucking their Master into bed, their red hair a damp mess.
Mash raised a finger to her lips, before pointing to the door, apparently indicating to head outside, before quietly exiting their Master’s room.
Nightingale obliged the young Shielder and followed.
Having talked to both Mash and Dr Romani about past procedures, she was aware of what Mash had gone through, so she knew the demi-servant could be trusted to follow basic health checks before leaving an exhausted mage to rest.
Nightingale had spent a lot of time studying modern quarantine procedures, and knew how quickly something new and dangerous needed to be contained.
“Do we need to quarantine? How far has the infection spread? How quickly can we get a list of the last known Staff and Servants Master has interacted with? Wh-“
Mash held up her hands, causing the Head Nurse to pause.
“It’s not like that. We’ve just been spending time with Jack, and Senpai doesn’t have the ability to process the ambient mana of Chaldea, so they’re exhausted.”
The head Nurse thought the Shielder’s statement through.
“Does this have something to do with that Rider?”
Mash laughed quietly.
“No, well yes technically, but not entirely. Senpai is trying to figure out a way to enable better mana absorption without doing direct mana transf-“
Mash paused, blushing furiously, before continuing,
“Without relying on that specific type of Mana generation, due to the rather problematic nature of some servants.”
Going over a mental list of the Servants Nightingale knew were in Chaldea, she arrived to the only logical conclusion.
“Yes, Master committing to a relationship would cause those like Kiyohime to raze Chaldea to the ground.”
The shocked expression on Mash’s face confused the Head Nurse.
What other reason would there be?
“Um yes, thats actually the exact reason. I shouldn’t be surprised the Head Nurse could figure it out so easily.”
Mash paused again, a troubled look on her face.
“However, some of the ‘young’ servants have been asking Senpai in crowded corridors to ‘mana transfer’ with them, and given only one servant has shown active interest in those servants, the Hassans advised that I help Senpai when its those like Jack, given how easily Senpai gives in to peer pressure when I’m not around.”
Something was apparently bugging the Shielder, her face seeming to suggest she had forgotten something.
“Oh! There’s also the fact that Jack has explicitly stated they want to ‘return’ to Senpai, so the combined effort is also partially to ensure Jack doesn’t actually hurt Master.
“I wasn’t aware Master was into ‘that’.” Nightingale frowned, tense at the thought of her Master emulating some of that Rider’s more perverse ideas. She began writing out a potential series of treatments and procedures to try.
It seems Master might be in need of some psych evaluations……
Mash stiffened, realizing what she had implied.
“Oh, NO! Senpai ISN’T like that. But a certain Rider could easily coerce or trick Master into that sort of situation.”
Nightingale relaxed, marking the ‘psych evaluation’ from ‘Mandatory’ to ‘Occasionally’.
She then remembered the string of Servants with flushed skin she had been encountering since taking her job.
“Then how comes other Servants have shown similar symptoms to Jack?”
Mash blushed, refusing to look the Head Nurse in the eye.
“Well, according to Senpai, they managed to get a successful attempt by holding hands with Sasaki while watching the Moon, and established notable success while reading….certain…..stories while holding hands with Jeanne.”
Nightingale dismissed the tones of longing she heard when the purple-haired servant mentioned the experiment with one of Chaldea’s Rulers. It was irrelevant to what she needed.
“Then it seems my work is done for the time being. Please contact me if my assistance is needed.”
Nightingale was quick to depart, new plans formulating.
While there was definitely no proof of a potential ‘Spiritnotic’ disease, it wouldn’t hurt to do some research on similar zoonotic diseases as well as other Magecraft specific vectors.
“Will do! Thank you for your work, Head Nurse Nightingale!” Came the earnest reply of the talented young woman who was their Master’s Shield.
I should go inform Raikou of the situation. As Ritsuka’s mother, she will probably want to look after them.