I haven't neglected my training during the two years in Chaldea... But perhaps it's because I haven't had a proper fight in a long time. My body is quite fatigued.
Even Heroic Spirits have stamina. It's just recovered with magical energy, but fatigue including stamina consumption exists depending on magical energy. Moreover, I am a special case with characteristics close to a living spirit while being like a Servant...
To recover stamina and fatigue like this once lost, physical time is needed. It's a drawback that just recovering magical energy isn't enough...
Riding the chariot driven by Nero instead, we fortunately arrived in the Gaul region. Tomorrow evening, we should be able to reach Britannia. From the sea, we'll fly through the sky with Vimana... Since the sea and sky are similar, low-altitude flight will do.
"We've arrived... Let's rest here today."
Getting off in a suitable forest, I throw rune stones and set up two simple tents.
"I'll entrust the night watch to you..."
"Mmm~"
I leave the guard duty to Do-Un and the White Horned Cow. Of course, I also set up a barrier, and if there's danger, they'll immediately inform me. It's a barrier with detection abilities that can discern even with presence concealment. Moreover, those two divine beasts have Servant-level stats, so it's fine.
"Please have dinner with the boxed meal... I'm tired, so I'll rest first."
"Didn't you say Heroic Spirits don't need to sleep?"
"Sleep is possible... Moreover, I'm special, so to recover stamina or fatigue, I need to actually rest... It's a drawback."
I immediately enter the tent and lie down on the mattress laid inside. Ah, I'm tired...
With that, I quickly fall into a deep sleep...
===========================
Tonight, I have dinner alone. The same delicious boxed meal as always...
The food is more than satisfactory. However, I feel something is lacking. After finishing the meal, as I put down the box, it disappears with a magical light.
"..."
I look down at my hand, clenching and unclenching it. Although I've returned to childhood, many things are different. A tail like that of a dragon... Is this the Red Dragon of the Apocalypse that those Christians speak of?
They've finally turned me into a monster. No, if it's me now, I can understand. More fundamentally... I can see that such a fate is deeply rooted in me. In my body, there has always been something called the beast factor.
Is the me now really the same as before... So much has changed that I think to that extent. Mentally, physically... My body has become younger, but my mind hasn't. On the contrary, it has grown more. Should I say my perspective has changed...
It's not particularly a bad feeling. But... I think I understand why I received so much hatred.
`You can do anything, and you will do anything. Nero, you will surely become a perfect work.`
My mother must have wanted to make me into this form and desired absolute power...
Truly foolish. Even from an incomplete state, I was so hated and rejected, how could she think of ruling the world with me? Although I've become a beast... become an Evil of Humanity...
There are facts that don't change.
"... Being alone is lonely, it's been a while. Is this my true heart that I had forgotten, that I had been avoiding..."
That I am the niece loved by my uncle. That I am the woman he risked his life to protect.
Keeping his promise to protect me, risking his life to fight against Rome's new order—that sight, I probably won't forget for my entire life. My uncle wasn't a person who easily acknowledged others, and those intelligent, wise eyes properly saw through any person. My uncle's eyes were accurate. Looking at him, I can tell.
Step, step...
I enter not my tent, but his tent. Fergus, deeply asleep, breathing softly as if very tired.
I lie down beside him and hug his body.
"... A person's embrace, was it this warm and reassuring..."
This sensation is after a long time... A comfort I never felt from my parents... It's like when I was young, when my uncle hugged me.
But, it's a bit different... Ah, this is...
Love.
Have I fallen in love with the knight who protects me...? For a dirty woman like me to love a man as brilliant as the sun... I shouldn't, but. I don't have the qualification, but...
It's a love that shouldn't come to fruition. For an Evil of Humanity to love a protector of humanity... No, from the start, it's strange. For a protector of humanity to protect an Evil of Humanity.
Our relationship, from the beginning, is peculiar...
Even so...
"Even though I know it's a relationship that shouldn't continue... When I see you, my heart aches..."
I want to keep following this man...
============================
"...."
Why is this child sleeping in my arms? I gave her another tent. Is it because she's younger and lonely alone?
No, it shouldn't be infantile regression...?
Still, for some reason, it reminds me of Medb when she was young. Stroking Nero's head as she sleeps, I then pat her to wake her up.
"It's morning, wake up, Nero."
"Already, morning...?"
"Yes, we need to depart soon, right? We should arrive in Britannia today."
"Is that so... Hmm, understood."
After eating breakfast, finishing up properly, we head towards Britannia as our destination today. Crossing the Gaul region with one chariot, we encountered no enemies.
Is the Emperor Alliance not going to bother us anymore? They must know about the beast's awakening. But leaving us be, is it because they think it's a bomb that will explode anyway? Or, is there another plan?
"It's going too smoothly, it's unnerving."
"Isn't good good? It should be fine to just go."
"I suppose...? We've arrived."
Taking one day, we reached the end of the Gaul region. Arriving at the coast, I retrieve the chariot. Then, I take out the key sword, open the treasury, and take out Vimana. There are no enemies around... At top speed, it'll be quick...
I board Vimana with Nero and head to Britannia at top speed. From the coast of Britannia, I use clairvoyance to look for the holy city.
"It's closer than I thought...?"
It's the coast of Cornwall, and beyond the nameless forest near the primal forest, the holy city is visible. There, the sun is shining... Is it a Gift?
The Gift of the sun that never sets, the sleepless night. As expected, is he there? From here, we can walk. That would be safer.
Passing the coast, through the nameless forest, we immediately get off Vimana.
"Is that the castle? It's incredibly majestic... It's been a while since I've seen Britannia too."
"Right? Honestly, it was a backwater, but it's amazing how it has developed like this, isn't it?"
I hold Nero's hand and move forward. Knights are visible in the distance. Holy Knights... Knights that can fight at the level of Servants, like Phantasmal Species. I need to be careful.
Walking through the forest, gradually approaching Camelot... I hear a presence. I immediately look there, and there is...
"You are..."
"Welcome to Camelot, Lord Fergus."
Bedivere...!?
Does he know about me? Did Merlin tell him? No, more than that... This man, he's not human...
"A Servant...? That can't be, you are clearly..."
"As expected, you know about me too. First, let me guide you to the castle. We can discuss the details after meeting the King."
"... Understood."
What, has he already returned the holy sword? But that light was clearly not just Rhongomyniad but a divine strike. If he returned it in the meantime, he wouldn't be a divine spirit anymore. Then, the Gift shouldn't be maintained...?
For now, since there's no hostility, I follow him to Camelot. The gatekeepers are only Holy Knights... The gate opens, and we enter Camelot.
"It's a magnificent palace."
"Right? Haha..."
No hostility is felt inside the castle. Following Bedivere up the castle... We arrive at the King's chamber.
The large door opens, and I see the Knights of the Round Table lined up in front of the throne. Seeing that some are missing, was there a battle?
The members are Gawain, Lancelot, Tristan, Agravain, Gareth, Mordred, Percival... and Bedivere. Galahad is naturally absent from the start.
And, the one sitting on the throne stands up. This... The spiritual power is at a higher level than I expected... At this level, it's like the highest god...? It's comparable to Quirinus in scale... A divine spirit of the Grand Class?
Those cold eyes... Really, has she received the holy sword...? It doesn't make sense. If not, Bedivere wouldn't follow her as a Servant. What am I missing?
Could it be...
Is it dragonization? Because of what I taught, over the past 1500 years, by repeating dragonization, even after receiving the holy sword, she didn't return from a divine spirit to a human who has ended her life...?
Will she be hostile to Nero? No, if she were hostile, she wouldn't have let us in this far.
No, she seems to remember me... Then, is she planning to persuade me and, if that fails, subdue me by force and eliminate Nero?
I don't know... A god's thoughts are originally like a storm, so they're unpredictable.
Clank... clank...
The Lion King slowly walks towards me, making the sound of armor. It's a moment that's a bit tense.
She stands in front of me and looks down at me. Her height was the same as mine, but she has grown... Looking up at Artoria, I can't get used to it.
Immediately after, she opens her mouth... At the same time, her cold armor is disarmed... Huh?
"Finally, I meet you again. I have been eagerly waiting to meet you again, my companion..."
Un, unarmed...? Is, is she serious...? Really? No, really? On the contrary, it's bewildering? It doesn't seem like a trick.
Beside, on the contrary, Gareth is crying as if relieved, and Bedivere and Percival are smiling as if reassured. Tristan is playing a moving melody, and Gawain is smiling contentedly.
Beside, Mordred is gloomily bowing her head, Lancelot is deliberately pretending not to notice, and only Agravain is standing calmly and solemnly.
What is this, is this The Truman Show...
"... It, it's been a while... Artoria. I'm a bit very bewildered...?"
"Which part do you mean? Fergus."
Artoria looks at me with a gentle and warm smile and asks. It's quite bewildering. Is she really the Lion King...? Her power is definitely the Lion King, but...?
"No, I thought you were a goddess who lost her emotions now... Do you have the holy sword?"
"Ah, of course."
She shows the holy sword kept in Avalon... Excalibur. Avalon... Ah, she took it then. No, but why is she a goddess...?
"I met Sir Bedivere a year after that. I received the holy sword back then."
"... What did you say?"
"After that, I wandered the world waiting to meet you again. And, I found that you were in this world line where the Incineration of Humanity occurred, and I came. No, if it weren't for this time, the world line wouldn't shake, so I couldn't come. I came using the seat of the divine spirit as a medium."
Wait a minute... So, in conclusion, she received the holy sword but didn't die from dragonization and continued to live, then became a dragon god due to the influence of the holy lance and wandered the world...? This is crazy, the butterfly effect is intense...
"I see... But, aren't you hostile? You must know what position I'm in now...?"
"What does that matter? To me, you are everything, and the world's crisis is no longer my business. Didn't I suffer enough when I was king?"
"That's true..."
No, that's too straightforward...
"But, you're quite small. Is it because you haven't metamorphosed yet?"
"You, are you the goddess who shot that holy lance? I am Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. The former emperor of Rome, though not now..."
"I see. Your name is too long, so I'll call you Yonyong as you look."
"What!? Call me Yonyong!?"
"If you don't like it, I'll just call you Nero."
"Just call me by my name... What kind of nickname is that..."
"Hmph, I'm not teasing. It's just, you look quite petite."
Artoria, crossing her arms, emphasizes her chest that has grown larger than before. It seems larger than the original Nero.
"... You're an annoying woman."
"You're the one who's like a child."
"Wait... Don't fight, please...? Artoria, aren't you respecting my beliefs...? For now, she is someone I protect. Please don't be rude. Nero, this is Artoria, my wife. So, please get along."
"Wife...? This woman?"
"Yes. She is my wife."
"Yes, she is my wife."
"... I see."
For a moment, her expression seemed to darken... Is this party going to be okay?