Chapter 89: Sister, You Demonstrate It First!
After returning to Camelot, Noah had Scáthach go rest while he himself quickly reviewed the documents that had accumulated over the past few days.
First, the Northern Six Kings had submitted an application to sign the agreement. It seemed that the recent large-scale beast tide and the White Dragon had indeed brought complete stability to the north.
Hmm...
Aside from that, there weren't many other issues. The only thing that could draw Noah's special attention was that the alchemical materials he had been having people collect were finally almost complete.
The alchemical equipment that should truly be used by the Enforcement Knights could now begin to be manufactured.
And Alchemical Potions No. 4 and No. 5 could also start being prepared simultaneously.
"So now, as long as the members of the Enforcement Knights improve a bit more, we can steadily elevate them to the ultimate form currently achievable."
"As for Artoria, Scáthach, Kay, and the Knights of the Round Table... Hmm, I still need to study the protection brought by the Holy Lance's 'End of the World.' If the Lion King in the Sixth Singularity of FGO could achieve such protection, there's no reason I can't."
That was about it.
For matters here, as long as nothing was particularly important, Noah just skimmed through them.
After all, with Morgan in Camelot, nothing major would go wrong.
Unless... the culprit was Merlin!
That's what Noah thought.
But he hadn't been back for long when the door to the study was pushed open.
Morgan hurriedly walked in and went straight to Noah's desk, slamming both hands down so hard that the documents on the desk trembled.
"Morgan, what's wrong?"
Noah rarely saw Morgan like this, so he asked softly.
Morgan then leaned her face closer, locking eyes with Noah from a distance that was neither too close nor too far.
"Noah, I heard that during the days you were away, you've been spending all your time with that Bit... Queen of the Land of Shadows..."
When mentioning the Land of Shadows, even though Morgan was very angry, she instinctively lowered her voice quite a bit. Even so, she didn't dare to say what she originally intended and instead changed to a more respectful title before continuing.
"And I heard from the Lady of the Lake and the fairies that you're going to marry that Queen! What on earth is going on?!"
Morgan first questioned Noah, but before he could speak, she hurriedly added:
"I'm mainly asking on behalf of Artoria... She's already been poisoned by that old swindler Merlin, and now she's all silly and dazed, so I won't allow you to bully her!!"
"Wait a moment..."
Noah had been thinking that if he had truly done something wrong to make Morgan this angry, he should apologize properly.
But after hearing Morgan say this, Noah was stunned.
"When did I ever say I was going to marry Scáthach? How come I didn't know?!"
Noah was genuinely surprised.
After staring at Noah's face for a while, Morgan confirmed that he really didn't know. This made her frown slightly, and her earlier anger subsided quite a bit.
Seeing that Morgan had calmed down a little, Noah continued to explain.
"My previous trip to the Land of Shadows with Scáthach was to retrieve the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad."
"After obtaining the Holy Lance, we had a fight, which is why it took three days... So how did it escalate to us getting married? Who spread this rumor?"
As he asked this question, Noah thought of Merlin... but then he reconsidered,
"Merlin just got beaten up by Scáthach, so he probably wouldn't dare cause trouble from her side again."
Then who could it be?
Noah was completely baffled.
Meanwhile, Morgan pondered the sequence of events Noah described, combined with the intelligence the fairies had provided her, and soon grasped the general outline of what happened...
"If what you say is true, then it's likely that you and Scáthach were seen by residents of the Land of Shadows, and they misunderstood—so the rumor spread from the Land of Shadows, and other mystical realms naturally believed it."
Hearing Morgan's deduction, Noah nodded.
"Will this cause any problems later?"
Learning that Noah wasn't actually involved with Scáthach, Morgan visibly relaxed.
"It shouldn't cause any issues. At most, the Lady of the Lake and the fairies prepared some gifts for you and Scáthach. If you two never announce a marriage, they'll just be stuck with the gifts. No big deal."
"Besides, I'll go explain it to them later... I happen to be planning a trip to the Fairy Forest soon, so I'll clarify everything then."
Reassured that it was just a farce with no serious consequences, Noah nodded again.
"Alright, I'll go with you to check it out then. Explaining is one thing, and I'm also curious about these mystical realms. Let's go together."
Noah did have some curiosity about these mystical realms.
After all, in the inherited simulation memories he possessed, there was very little information about these places.
His actual contact with these realms...
If excluding the Land of Shadows, it was only during the simulation when he obtained the Holy Sword that he visited the realm of the Ladies of the Lake once. Most other interactions with the Ladies of the Lake and fairies were handled by Morgan; he had hardly any direct contact with them.
So now, with both north and south stabilized, the Saxon Barbarians destroyed, the Picts surrendered, and Vortigern's White Dragon incarnation—now that he had the Holy Lance, he could just find an opportunity to eliminate it without putting pressure on others.
This period would indeed be free to explore those mystical realms.
That's what Noah thought.
And Morgan didn't refuse.
So, after settling on a time, the farce was temporarily concluded in this manner.
At least... that's what Noah thought.
After finalizing the plans with Noah, Morgan left the study.
Although she had learned from Noah that it was just a false alarm, the thought of Artoria's dull, foolish demeanor still made her frown.
...
"Honestly, you sleep with Noah every day, yet there's still no substantial progress! If you keep dragging your feet like this, someone else is going to snatch him away!"
Driven by a heightened sense of urgency due to recent events, Morgan left the study and immediately sought out Artoria.
Without giving Artoria any context, Morgan launched into a scolding, leaving Artoria utterly bewildered, her eyes spinning like spirals.
Seeing Artoria's confusion, Morgan earnestly explained the whole farce and urged Artoria to take the initiative.
This time, Artoria understood, but she felt shy.
And...
"Sister, I know I need to take the initiative, but... no one ever taught me how to do that."
Seeing Artoria like this, Morgan rattled off a long list of methods she had read about in books.
Though she had no personal experience, if the books said so, it must be right, right?
But most of the proactive approaches Morgan described were beyond Artoria's comprehension, and the rest... she was too embarrassed to try. As Artoria watched Morgan speak with such authority, she seemed so experienced.
Artoria then looked at Morgan's face, which bore an eighty to ninety percent resemblance to her own, and—completely clueless about these matters—she said to Morgan:
"Sister, I really don't understand... Well, in the past, whenever I struggled to learn certain knowledge or martial skills, Merlin would simulate scenarios in my dreams and demonstrate them himself. That way, I could grasp something from it."
So...
Artoria clasped her hands together and pleaded with Morgan:
"Sister, please, tonight, could you dress up as me and go demonstrate it for me first!"
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