To Become a King and a Magician 881-885

Title: Differences in Paths and Opinions

Naoki Number Two.

The entity of memories separated by Naoki.

After Merry and Ritsuka mentioned him, everyone finally realized he had disappeared at some point. In fact, thinking back carefully, it seemed he had vanished since the previous battle.

“Did no one notice he disappeared?”

【You definitely wouldn’t have noticed, because you were fighting at the time. Actually, I didn’t notice it myself back then. I only realized it when compiling information later. To be able to escape from so many people, even undetected by Naoki, it seems Naoki Number Two is hiding a lot else.】

Naoki possessed surveillance Magecraft capable of monitoring every inch of Britain’s land. Except for the Land of Shadows, anything that happened on this island of Britain, he could know precisely.

However, he showed no surprise at all regarding Naoki Number Two’s disappearance...

“Does Naoki Number Two have a way to hide himself?”

【Who knows? But at the very least, ordinary disappearance Magecraft won’t work. I don’t believe Naoki’s surveillance Magecraft could be fooled by just disappearance Magecraft—well, let’s not talk about this for now, we can interrogate him properly after we catch him.】

【The key point is what he mentioned before—about the contract between Naoki and the World.】

Naoki Number Two once said that the reason Naoki could possess nearly infinite Mana was because he signed a contract with the World, exchanging the Holy Sword left behind forever and discarding his self from Proper Human History for nearly infinite Mana.

And as long as Naoki retrieved the Holy Sword and took back the self from Proper Human History that he had separated, he would instantly weaken to his normal condition.

That is, the Naoki they saw most often.

Although in that state Naoki’s power was still equivalent to a Divine Spirit, at least he was far, far weaker than now. Weak enough to be defeated, requiring only a few people to unite and overcome him.

【The Holy Sword is carried by Naoki Number Two, and he himself is the individual separated by Naoki. We just need to find him and have him reunite with Naoki.】

After that, the action of destroying the throne could proceed smoothly.

“That means, we have to find that person first now... But where is he?”

【Why not just ask directly?】

“Ask... You mean ask Naoki?” Aoko frowned, “Will Naoki tell us?”

【Don’t worry, he wouldn’t refuse to tell something that minor, and I think he himself is quite curious about the existence of his other self.】

The solution Merry provided made everyone smile wryly, but what she said was true. At least from Naoki’s attitude, such a small favor shouldn’t be a problem, as long as they hid their initial intention well.

“No, that’s not right. Hiding our intention won’t work.” Okita raised her hand. “Master seems to always use mind-reading Magecraft. Even if we don’t tell the truth, he’ll know immediately.”

【Don’t worry about that, I actually left a Magecraft seal on all of you. Later, I’ll use an illusion to help hide it.】

Merry said while laughing, uttering words that made everyone’s blood pressure rise slightly.

A Magecraft seal?

On everyone?

Aoko: “You really do a lot of things without us noticing, Merry!”

【Hehehe, force of habit. I’ll help you remove them later, for now just leave them be. Who knows, they might come in handy?】

“Tch! After we get back, I’ll settle this with you properly!”

“In that case... I won’t participate in this operation.”

At this moment, Rei suddenly raised her hand and spoke.

Hearing this, the others were momentarily stunned.

“Sister, you... why say that suddenly?” Ayaka asked, confused, “Even though Naoki will—“

“I said, it has nothing to do with me.”

Rei laughed: “I am Master’s puppet, given life by Master. My goal in coming to this Lostbelt was to bring Master back to Proper Human History. But now, even if I do nothing, I can still return to Proper Human History with Master, so of course I don’t need to take any action.”

“Are you serious?” Aoko frowned deeply, “Naoki plans to destroy the entirety of Britain.”

“Yes, I know, but that has nothing to do with me.” Rei said in a natural tone. “Aoko, is it because we’ve been together for so long that you’ve forgotten? Originally, I was also a woman prepared to kill all humans in the world for Ayaka’s sake. Just a small island, it’s none of my concern.”

“You—!”

“Besides, the memory erasure Master mentioned doesn’t apply to me either. After all, my essence is a puppet; backing up memories isn’t difficult. As for marriage with Master, I think that’s easier to achieve—In short, Ayaka and I see no need to destroy the throne. We will not participate in this operation.”

After saying that, Rei stood up and walked towards the exit.

“Oh, right, of course, I also won’t help Master fight you all. After all, we’ve been sisters for many years. I will observe completely from a third-party position. See you later.”

“W-wait, Sister, wait for me a moment!”

Ayaka hurriedly stood up to chase after her.

Watching the Sajyou siblings leave, the air in the room fell silent for a moment, then Angelica also stood up and walked towards the door.

“Wait a minute, Angelica, are you the same as Rei?” Aoko called out to her, “You all... really don’t care about our world—“

“I think it’s fine.”

Angelica replied.

“I am a puppet who has lost over ninety percent of my emotions. What sustains me is Natsukawa-sama. Therefore, following Natsukawa-sama is my sole purpose in life, even if he wants to erase my memories. Please excuse me, everyone.”

“......”

Under everyone’s gaze, Angelica also left the room.

With this, two people had left the room. Ayaka should return later, but losing Rei and Angelica, two key combat forces, might make things difficult later...

“There shouldn’t be anyone else wanting to leave.”

“I actually wanted to.” Arcueid, who had been quiet until now, raised her hand, causing the hearts of everyone present to skip a beat. But Arcueid quickly lowered her hand while laughing, “But I won’t actually leave. Although I’m not interested in your idea of protecting Proper Human History’s society, I want to properly thrash the current Naoki, so I’ll help you.”

“If you left, we’d truly have to give up.” Aoko broke out in a cold sweat, “Then, let me confirm once more, everyone here besides Arcueid wants to stop Naoki, correct?”

Stopping Naoki, protecting Britain in Proper Human History.

That was essentially what they wanted to do. Even though he was someone they loved, they couldn’t simply let him destroy Britain and subsequently become an enemy of the world.

Seeing everyone nod slightly, Aoko breathed a sigh of relief.

“Then, let’s start preparations now.”

“The sooner the better, before the problem grows bigger.”

-

Title: Transparency!

“Sister!”

In the corridor of Camelot city.

Ayaka jogged after Rei, who had left the room, and grabbed her sister’s hand: “Sister, are you really serious? Not joining the others.......”

“Yes.”

Rei nodded without hesitation: “The reason is as I said earlier. As long as Master ultimately returns to Proper Human History with us, I don’t care about the process.”

“But if this continues, Naoki will destroy Britain in Proper Human History—“

“I already said. We don’t care about things like that,” Rei laughed. “Besides, if my guess is correct, Master should be prepared to accept immigrants from Proper Human History afterwards.”

“Exterminating all the fairies means only an empty island is being moved. And since it’s an empty island, of course the people who immigrated earlier can return. Although city construction, culture, and other aspects would have to start from scratch, given the state of Proper Human History and Master’s power, full recovery should take about one to two years.”

Rei felt Naoki might be thinking that way. But thinking is one thing; whether the Proper Human History side is willing to accept it is another. It might be hundreds of years before proper diplomatic relations with Proper Human History truly begin.

(Well, but all that has nothing to do with us.)

Thinking this, Rei looked at her younger sister: “What about you, Ayaka?”

“Eh? Me?”

“Yes, your own thoughts. Will you also join them to stop Master?”

“.......”

Ayaka didn’t answer immediately, instead sinking into thought.

If it were her initial thought, Ayaka did want to stop Naoki. Her initial thought was that what Naoki was doing was wrong, and it was an unacceptable action.

But upon careful consideration, Naoki had made preparations in all aspects. Whether it was preparations before the transfer or after, he had prepared solutions for all possible eventualities.

He was serious; he wouldn’t cause too many unplanned impacts on Proper Human History under the premise that his plan succeeded—even though the plan itself was already impactful enough on Proper Human History.

“I... I still want to stop Naoki.”

After thinking for a long time, Ayaka finally answered like this.

Rei immediately asked: “Why?”

“If I had to exaggerate, maybe you could call it a kind of personal wish? I feel Naoki is walking the wrong path, and I don’t want him to continue on it, that’s all.”

“Is that so? Then it seems our views differ. That’s good.”

Rei only thought about Naoki. Even if he walked the wrong path, they would continue to follow him. Whereas Ayaka wanted to bring him back from the wrong path.

These two ways of thinking and acting each had their own merits, and neither could be blamed.

Turning around and hugging her younger sister, Rei said: “Do your best, Ayaka. Although I won’t help you, for the sake of our good relationship, I also won’t help Master. But if you’re in danger, I will protect you as much as I can.”

“That’s called favoritism, Sister.”

“What’s wrong with a sister protecting her younger sister?”

Rei smiled.

“Then, I’ll go to Master’s place. You should go back too. Convey my apologies—well, if you win, punishing me is also fine.”

“I understand, I’ll remember that, Sister.”

After waving her hand, Ayaka jogged away from the spot. Meanwhile, Angelica, who passed by her, came in front of Rei: “It seems your conversation went well, Miss Rei, Miss Ayaka.”

“Yes. By the way, have you retrieved the Noble Phantasm you lent them?”

“Not yet.”

Angelica shook her head: “Although there’s a temporary difference in opinion now, I think a small help like this is fine, just like you promised to help Miss Ayaka.”

“After all, she’s my only younger sister... But it’s surprising, I thought more people would leave, but it turned out only the two of us. Everyone chose the latter between feelings and the world, or perhaps some of them just want to hit Master?”

“I think it’s both, Miss Rei.”

Rei smiled wryly: “Everyone truly has their own intentions, but even so, they can still stand together. This is also thanks to Master gathering us who were originally unrelated—just like you all.”

The last sentence, Rei directed at the four people behind her.

Barghest, Melusine, Baobhan Sith, Artoria Caster.

Three Fairy Knights, and one Faerie of Paradise.

Rei didn’t know the original knowledge about this Lostbelt. Only Naoki, Merry, and Morgan, who had returned to the Throne, knew. But that didn’t stop her from knowing about the four people in front of her.

“Were you waiting for us?”

“That’s part of the reason. Her Majesty Morgan just told me there might be collaborators on our side, so she sent me to pick them up,” said Barghest. “As for them.......”

“Purely out of personal interest to see who the traitors are,” Baobhan Sith said as she approached Rei and Angelica. “I haven’t introduced myself. I am Baobhan Sith, Fairy Knight Tristan, daughter of Father and Mother, the First Princess of Britain, this Fairy Nation.”

Princess?

Daughter of Naoki and Morgan?

(Ayaka, that means—)

(Yes, basically it is....)

After exchanging thoughts with her other self, Rei laughed and grabbed Baobhan Sith’s hand: “Then—you are also my daughter!”

“Eh?”

Baobhan Sith was stunned for a moment, then immediately pulled her hand back: “Hah?! Why should I call you Mother?! I’m not your daughter!”

Rei laughed: “But you are Master’s daughter. Master and I are a couple who love each other sincerely. That means I am also your mother. Or stepmother is also fine.”

“What kind of weird logic is this.......”

“By the way, the one here, Angelica, is the same. And also everyone in the dining hall, you know.”

Rei kept adding explanations. Hearing her explanation, Baobhan Sith was completely dumbfounded. Artoria Caster was also dumbfounded, because by status she was also considered the daughter of Naoki and Morgan, so...

“S-s-so... my sister and I suddenly have over a dozen Mothers?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Rei stroked Artoria Caster’s hair. “But, being called Mother by Lia... feels really strange. Right, Angelica?”

Being called upon, Angelica pondered for a moment: “Indeed, but this form of address will become complicated. How should I address Miss Lia from the Lostbelt? Of course, Princess.......”

“Who would acknowledge you as Mother!”

Baobhan Sith suddenly shouted, startling everyone.

Pointing at Rei’s chest with her finger, Baobhan Sith said angrily: “Listen carefully, my mother isn’t someone like you who can be my mother! Especially the top and bottom are completely incomparable to Mother—“

Baobhan Sith’s words were cut short. Because as she uttered that sentence, the tip of her finger simultaneously touched something soft and elastic. Then, under the astonished gazes of the three Fairy Knights and Artoria Caster, Rei’s figure gradually changed from average to rivaling Barghest’s.

And then......

*POP!*

A button that came loose from her chest clothing bounced off Baobhan Sith’s forehead.

Rei stroked the braid that had formed and hung beside her chest: “You said, whose top and bottom are completely incomparable to Morgan? As you can see, I’ve completely surpassed her, both top and bottom.”

Baobhan Sith: “.......”

Artoria Caster: “......”

Angelica: “.......”

The three of them looked at this scene and couldn’t help but fall silent.

As for Melusine......

“Amazing! Can you teach me this technique? Naoki’s ex-girlfriend!” Melusine tightly hugged Rei’s arm, looking at her with sparkling eyes, “I also want to have a stunning figure like yours that can rival Barghest! Then steal Naoki back from Aesc!”

“Oh, sure. But there’s something that needs correction. I’m not an ex-girlfriend, I’m the current fiancée, you know.”

Watching Rei and Melusine hugging, Barghest, as the most sensible person there, suddenly felt it would be better for her to report to Morgan immediately.

-

Title: Aurora! I’ll Kill You a Thousand Times!

“Eh? Looking for the whereabouts of my other self?”

Just as Rei and Angelica over there reached some sort of consensus and awareness to confront the three Fairy Knights and Artoria Caster.

To swiftly halt Naoki’s actions, Aoko and the others also quickly launched their plan. After Ayaka returned, they sent representatives to ask Naoki—Atalanta and Gray.

“Yes, you should know.”

“I can, but why are you looking for him?”

Hearing Naoki’s counter-question, Atalanta conveyed the previously agreed-upon reason: “He disappeared after using Displacement Magecraft to send us all here. Now we find it suspicious, so we want to bring him back and question him properly.”

“Is that so...”

Naoki raised an eyebrow, and his eyes quickly scanned the two.

(Not lying, but not the whole reason either. No other thoughts in their hearts, purely for this purpose...)

“Wait a moment.”

After saying that, Naoki waved his hand and opened a large projected map in the air. It seemed similar to the technology used by Chaldea. Judging by the outline, what was displayed in the projection was the entirety of Britain, the Fairy Nation.

“This is?”

“A terminal for the surveillance Magecraft I use—after all, this is Magecraft for monitoring the whole of Britain. If I were on the throne, it would be fine. But when I’m not on the throne, I can’t grasp all information at once, so I need an auxiliary Mystic Code like this.”

(Eh? That means...)

(Brother can only manage the entire Britain in a unified way when he’s on the throne?)

“Yes, just as you thought.”

Atalanta and Gray were slightly surprised to hear Naoki suddenly utter that sentence, then immediately reacted—their minds were being read again.

“Hey, stop reading our minds all the time! It makes us uncomfortable.”

“The me now cannot trust you. Reading minds is necessary. Besides, this is essentially a semi-automatically used Magecraft. Once activated, unless I turn it off, it will keep operating.”

Naoki’s explanation left the two somewhat speechless.

Gray let out a small sigh: “Brother has truly become an incredible Magus. I remember before, Brother only knew a few simple Magecrafts, only Summoning Magecraft was exceptionally powerful.”

“Summoning Magecraft.......” Naoki’s fingers paused for a moment. “I rarely use it now. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I almost forgot.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Because it’s not needed.”

Naoki pointed outside: “The targets of my Summoning Magecraft are fairies and Elementals. But in this Fairy Nation, usable fairies are everywhere. I don’t need Summoning Magecraft to make them submit... Moreover, there’s no situation that requires me to summon conceptual Elementals.”

Conceptual Elementals.

That is, the Elementals summoned by Naoki in the battles against Tiamat and Goetia. Because it was unknown if they existed, he established the concept of their existence, then forcibly materialized that assumption. The Elementals born from that process.

For example, the Solar Star Elemental during the fight against Goddess Tiamat, and the Time Elemental during the fight against Goetia—both were conceptual Elementals, Elementals imagined by Naoki.

(The Summoning Magecraft that was so helpful to Brother before has now become a nearly forgotten Magecraft? In a way, he hasn’t changed, but in another way, he has changed, Brother.)

Gray felt a little sad.

“......”

After reading Gray’s thoughts, Naoki’s hand movements paused again for a moment. He stared at his hand for quite a while, as if hesitant, then placed his hand on Gray’s head and gently stroked it.

“Eh?”

“The me from before did this.” Naoki withdrew his hand. “Even though I have no real emotions, my memories tell me that when you look sad, it’s best to pat your head like this. But I only knew you were a little sad after reading your mind. If I was presumptuous, I apologize.”

“No, not at all.”

Gray’s cheeks flushed slightly, she lowered her head with a smile: “Thank you, Brother. You really haven’t changed.”

“Perhaps. I myself don’t know if I’ve changed or not—I’ve found him, my other self.”

Enlarging the map image in front and focusing on southwestern Britain, Naoki pointed to a city on the map and said: “Here is Salisbury, the headquarters of the Wind Clan. My other self is here.”

The Wind Clan.

One of the six great clans of the Fairy Nation. All clan members are fairies with beautiful appearances. Their clan leader, Aurora, is also a rare, beautiful fairy.

If judged solely by beauty, within all of Britain, Aurora’s appearance should rank within the top ten.

Even so—

“That place is probably the most disgusting place in Britain.” said Naoki. “Perhaps the saying ‘a bad leader leads to bad followers’ applies. To outsiders who don’t know, that place does look beautiful, but fundamentally, it’s gold on the outside, trash on the inside.”

“Brother says that... Is it that bad?”

Naoki nodded: “You probably already know that every year I gather a thousand fairies from across Britain to extract their Mana. Actually, those thousand fairies are the thousand most deserving of death that I filter out after observing through surveillance Magecraft.”

“And Aurora, the leader of the Wind Clan, I select every year, torture and kill her thousands of times before releasing her, letting her revive.”

One could call it a grudge. Among the six great clan leaders, Aurora is the one Naoki hates the most.

Beheading, poison, burning, drowning, dismemberment, decay, slicing, disembowelment... Every year he would use every method he could think of on Aurora—this lasted for about fifteen hundred years.

After all, no matter how great the hatred, after lasting that long, it no longer held much feeling. So, since five hundred years ago, even though Aurora was still on the list, Naoki no longer used methods like before, instead letting her undergo the unified extraction process like the other fairies.

“By the way, do you want to go capture him yourselves, or should I have someone bring him back? If you want to go yourselves, I can arrange escorts.”

“Regarding that... we’ll go ourselves.” said Atalanta after a moment’s thought. “It’s not good to linger here too long. Besides, we also want to see the Fairy Nation under your rule with our own eyes. After all, we only heard descriptions from your other self, perhaps not very realistic—Sorry for disturbing you. We’ll take our leave, Gray.”

“Alright. Then we’ll be going, Brother. Hope we meet again.”

After saying that, Gray and Atalanta left together.

Watching them leave, Naoki put away the map terminal.

(Reality, huh... The content told by my other self is one hundred percent real, Atalanta, Gray.)

(Perhaps not a single fairy in all of Britain doesn’t hate me.)

(Rather, I didn’t expect my other self to seek them out—)

Naoki recalled the situation in Salisbury he had just seen through surveillance Magecraft.

It was a scene of Naoki Number Two talking with two women dressed like warriors on the streets.

(So, you will also join the forces opposing me?)

(Miyamoto Musashi, Tomoe Gozen.)

-

Title: Mordred, Are You a Love Slave?

Naoki Number Two is in Salisbury.

After obtaining this information from Naoki, Atalanta and Gray immediately returned and informed the others.

But just as the two returned to the room, they saw someone talking very familiarly with Ritsuka and the others.......

“Artoria?”

“Eh?”

Both Artoria Caster and Artoria turned their heads when Atalanta called. Then Artoria asked: “Atalanta, are you calling me or the Artoria from the Lostbelt?”

“Both. By the way, this is the Artoria from the Lostbelt? The one mentioned by Naoki Number Two?”

Artoria Caster nodded: “Yes. Nice to meet you, Miss Atalanta, Miss Gray. I am Artoria Caster, the Artoria of this world. Pleased to meet you.”

“Hello, Miss Caster.”

Gray nodded slightly.

Meanwhile, Atalanta frowned: “Why is that Naoki’s daughter here?”

“Because I heard Ritsuka and Mash were here, so I wanted to come find them. I troubled them before on the Isle of Avalon, I felt I should apologize.” Artoria Caster proactively explained. “But, after coming, I realized... besides Ritsuka and Mash, there’s also another me and another of my daughters... It feels a bit strange.”

After all, Artoria and Artoria Caster had completely identical appearances, without the slightest difference, like looking in a mirror. If these two met, no one knew what kind of interaction they would produce.

As for Mordred’s situation...

“What’s going on? What’s happening? Two Mother Queens? And one of the Mother Queens seems to have a very good temperament? Very different from the blue Mother Queen! An angel? Is she an angel? Eh? So there is a gentle-natured Mother Queen too?”

After being greeted in a friendly tone by Artoria Caster earlier, Mordred had already shown an expression questioning life, squatting to the side while continuously muttering.

In Mordred’s impression, even though they were reconciled now, the image of the strict Father King Artoria was still deeply ingrained in her mind, not easy to change.

Now seeing another Artoria who was so gentle, cheerful, and cute like an angel, it was no wonder she was experiencing mental shock!

(The situation is a bit chaotic to the point of not knowing how to react.)

Gray could only smile wordlessly at this situation.

At this moment, Aoko asked: “Did you get the information? About Naoki Number Two.”

“Ah, yes, we asked Brother.” Gray, remembering, hurriedly conveyed the newly obtained information, “He said he’s in Salisbury... but we were in a hurry, so we didn’t note the exact address.”

“Eh? You’re going to Salisbury?”

Artoria Caster was slightly surprised: “I know the way there, you know. If you want to go, I can lead... Ah, but I have to ask Father’s permission first. I just ran away once; if I go out again this time without telling him, I really feel my butt will be thoroughly spanked.”

Thoroughly spanked?

Hearing this sentence, everyone’s gaze unconsciously shifted to the backsides of both Artorias. Although only slightly... it seemed Artoria Caster’s was bigger?

“Miss Caster, were you punished with spanking this time too?”

“No, no. I was just confined to my room for a week.” said Artoria Caster. “Rather than that, are you really going to Salisbury?”

Aoko and the others nodded: “Because we’re going to look for Naoki Number Two... ahem, with a term you can understand, he is.......”

“The Keeper of the Holy Sword.” Ritsuka explained. “We plan to go to Salisbury to find the Keeper of the Holy Sword. He seems to be there now; we have business with him.”

“Eh? The Keeper of the Holy Sword left the island?”

Artoria Caster’s mouth hung open in surprise. Then, as if remembering something, after a moment’s silence, she immediately stood up: “Alright! I’ll immediately ask Father and Mother for permission to go out with you! Wait for me here!”

“Miss Caster, wait—“

Wait a moment—Mash didn’t have time to finish her sentence before Artoria Caster dashed out of the dining hall.

Watching her retreating back, Touko couldn’t help but sigh: “Both are Artoria, but this one seems more like a teenage girl. Could it be because she’s still young? Remember, she’s only sixteen years old.”

“Even a sixteen-year-old Artoria shouldn’t be like this... Although I pulled the Sword from the Stone when I was only fifteen, because I was taught kingly teachings by Merlin every night, I should be more mature than her.”

Artoria herself wasn’t too confident in what she said. After all, this was only her own impression of herself. What she was like back then, perhaps only Merlin and Kay knew.

Aoko tapped the table: “Alright, alright, back to the main topic. Since we have the information, let’s decide who should go look for him?”

“Eh? Not going all together?”

“That’s too conspicuous. Besides, going all together isn’t good... Frankly, some of us need to stay here as undercover agents. For example, to report what Naoki is preparing while we’re away—and such.” Aoko explained. “The number of people going to find Naoki Number Two should be controlled to about four.”

“Then, I’ll go!”

Mordred was the first to jump up from the floor and raise her hand to volunteer: “Since the Mother Queen here is going, I should go too!”

“I also want to go.” Gray also raised her hand. “I want to see the situation outside, and also communicate properly with Miss Caster.”

That’s two people.

Two more needed.

Aoko thought for a moment, then shifted her gaze to Mash and Ritsuka: “Ritsuka, Mash, you two come too?”

Ritsuka: “Us?”

Mash: “It’s fine... but why us?”

“No particular reason, just feel you two are suitable... Besides, Ritsuka’s ten rings, even though I think Naoki has already seen them, it’s better not to be near him constantly.”

“T-that’s true.....”

Ritsuka touched the rings on her finger.

“Then, I’ll make the long-distance communication Mystic Code. Ciel, help me.” said Touko. “It can be finished by tomorrow noon at the earliest.”

“Alright. Then we depart tomorrow noon—if Caster doesn’t come, I’ll go with you too.”

“Understood.”

-

Title: Suddenly Having Over a Dozen Mothers

Transportation in the Fairy Nation, in a certain sense, is actually quite simple.

Even though it has developed for two thousand years, there are no villages or small towns in the Fairy Nation, only a few cities that serve as gathering places for the fairies. Besides that, the entire landmass is purely undeveloped territory.

This situation has led to underdeveloped transportation in Britain. Additionally, fairies don’t travel around visiting each other, so there is only one road connecting two relatively close cities.

And now, on the road between the cities of Camelot and Salisbury.

Ritsuka, Mash, Mordred, Gray, and Artoria Caster—five people—were riding in a fairy-drawn carriage arranged by Naoki, heading towards Salisbury.

Sitting by the window observing the world of the Fairy Nation outside, Ritsuka’s heart was filled with curiosity and a sense of freshness.

“Outside Camelot city... it’s like this?”

The perpetually twilight sky, the endless grasslands, the rolling mountains in the distance... Compared to other Lostbelts she had visited, Ritsuka felt this British Lostbelt was the one that most gave the impression of an Otherworld.

She truly felt like she had come to another fantasy world.

There was even the sound of singing echoing in the air.

“From here, it doesn’t look like a desperate world at all.” Mash also commented. “It’s more like a world from a fairy tale, full of hope and beauty.”

“Well, on the surface it is like that.”

Artoria Caster laughed. “But that’s just put on by everyone. After all, except for a small portion of fairies, all fairies are very afraid of Father. Because they fear Father suddenly imposing punishment, the fairies act very obedient on the surface, maintaining the appearance of Britain as peaceful and beautiful—that’s what my older sister told me.”

So this peaceful and beautiful scenery is just an illusion created by the fairies? If not for Naoki’s tyranny, this world would be extremely terrible and full of despair.

“Brother’s tyranny... I still find it hard to believe even now that Brother could become a tyrant.” Gray’s tone sounded somewhat sad. “He’s usually a very easygoing person. Meeting Brother these past two days, I also didn’t feel he had changed in that regard.”

“Perhaps Father is very good at distinguishing the attitude he should show in private and public situations.” explained Artoria Caster. “In fact, I think so too. Although he is very cruel in matters concerning the fairies, privately he is actually a silly Father who loves us very much... He even pulled me aside to talk about many precautions when I wanted to go out this time.”

Even though she had just run away once, Artoria Caster’s request to go out this time was not hindered at all by Naoki and Morgan. The smoothness of it surprised even her.

However, afterwards, the two of them, like doting parents, pulled her aside and talked about many things to pay attention to outside. They also specifically taught her a few small Magecrafts that might be useful in the wilderness.

“Caster, is your relationship with Brother very good?”

“Eh? Hmm... I don’t think it can be called good.” Artoria Caster thought for a moment and then said. “I can feel that he cares about me very much and does his best in taking care of me. Even if I make mistakes, he basically won’t give me punishments that are too serious. He is a good Father, even though sometimes he does things that scare me.”

“Only, between him and me, there always seems to be a distance.”

Distance?

Artoria Caster’s statement surprised Gray and the others slightly.

“You mean... Brother doesn’t open his heart to you all?”

“Perhaps. I don’t know if it’s just me who feels this, but when I live in Camelot city, I feel Father keeps a distance from everyone, as if hiding something very important without telling anyone, even though it’s definitely not a bad thing.”

Hearing this explanation, Gray and the others nodded understandingly and showed empathetic expressions.

“We can understand this.”

“Father King has been like that since way back, doing things on his own without telling us, and thinking it’s the best for us.”

“Basically almost the same... The Director will also explain things later.”

“Brother sometimes still acts very arbitrarily.”

Whether it was Ritsuka, who had only known Naoki for about a year, or the others who had known him for ten years or even longer. Gray, who had been with him the longest, had known him for twenty years, and they had all experienced his well-meaning but high-handed kindness.

Although it was indeed a good thing, finding out about it afterwards still made people feel a bit uncomfortable or sad.

(So... everyone has a good relationship with Father...)

Artoria Caster looked at the several people, then suddenly posed a question: “By the way, there’s one thing I’ve always been curious about—what is your relationship with Father?”

“Uh?!”

A rather startling question made everyone fall silent for a moment.

“Why ask about that suddenly?”

“Well... just curious. After all, before I met all of you yesterday, I met two women named Sajyou Rei and Angelica in the corridor. They said they were... my stepmothers?”

(Stepmothers... in a sense it’s true, but you’re too blunt, Sister Rei!)

Letting out a soft sigh, Gray explained: “Regarding this, everyone’s situation is different... I am Brother’s younger sister, an adopted little sister he took in from a small village in Proper Human History twenty years ago. Mordred is a Servant summoned by Brother in a certain parallel world.”

“I’m a sort of subordinate of the Director.” Ritsuka laughed. “I act together with him in an organization called Chaldea in Proper Human History. Mash is the same, but she has an additional identity as a little sister, just like Sister Gray.”

“Oh~~~~ Then what else?” Artoria Caster pressed, “It definitely can’t be that simple.”

“Uh... this.......”

Gray’s cheeks flushed slightly. Honestly, asking her to reveal her other relationship with her brother was quite a challenge, because it was somewhat embarrassing.

But—

“Besides that, we are all Father King’s fiancées and lovers—the kind who have already boarded the vehicle and are ready to buy the ticket.” Mordred directly dropped the bombshell.

Artoria Caster: “Eh?”