To become a king and a magician

"Let's chat? What should we talk about?"

“About my face…” Grey took a deep breath. “Could you tell me about the hero who looks just like me?”

Mordred frowned immediately: "Huh? You want to know about Father? Why don't you just ask the Master? Isn't he King Arthur too?"

“My brother will only talk about the hero he knows, and that hero doesn’t look like me. But Miss Mordred, you must know the answer. So please, tell me!”

Grey suddenly bent over and pleaded loudly.

"Please tell me about that hero. I want to know... what kind of person I will become in the future!"

48. What exactly is your relationship with King Arthur?

What kind of person was King Arthur?

This is a question that probably no one can answer for Grey, not even Mordred, a Knight of the Round Table. After all, everyone is different, and when evaluating others, everyone will inevitably have some personal bias, let alone Mordred, the "rebellious knight".

Therefore, "All I can tell you is what I know about King Arthur."

Mordred leaned against the railing, beginning to recall her memories of her father.

In my memory, King Arthur almost never smiled. No matter when or where, he was always calm and composed, as if nothing in the world could shake his spirit. Even when Lancelot and the Queen's scandal was exposed, King Arthur did not have a strong reaction.

If it weren't for Lancelot's actions violating the religious taboos of the time, and the fact that the people and knights vied to advise him to be punished, Mordred estimated that her father would never have punished Lancelot and Guinevere in the end.

King Arthur was such a figure, completely devoid of personal emotions, acting solely with the goal of protecting Britain.

She governed the kingdom with unparalleled skill, repelled foreign enemies with invincible power, handled affairs with absolute precision, and punished enemies without bias. She was like a scale with precision down to several decimal places, calculating the balance of gains and losses.

This is King Arthur.

The "perfect" king.

"—This is the person you will become," Mordred said. "And the person I want to become."

"The person you want to be?"

Grey was somewhat surprised by Mordred's words.

"Um... Miss Mordred, you are King Arthur's child, and you killed King Arthur in the end, right?"

"Yes! I'll use this sword in my hand to blind her and smash her skull!"

As Mordred spoke, she conjured her magic sword in the air to demonstrate the situation. Seeing the excited and joyful expression on her face, Gray couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Judging from the current situation, Mordred should hate her father, but why?

Why would you want to be like King Arthur?

"..."

Grey's question silenced Mordred.

Of course, it's to become king! To make my father, who doesn't acknowledge me, acknowledge me!

Mordred couldn't immediately utter this answer, which she could usually give directly, in front of the girl who looked just like her father and mother.

Hatred, love... Mordred harbored a complex mix of emotions towards her father, too many to explain in a single breath. Did she want to surpass him? Or stand shoulder to shoulder with him? Or perhaps, get ahead of him?

Mordred didn't understand these things, but at least for now, in the way she could think of—

This guy just idolizes King Arthur.

An untimely voice suddenly rang out, directly exposing Mordred's true thoughts. After a moment of stunned silence, Mordred immediately flew into a rage: "Which bastard is talking! Who the hell admires King Arthur?!"

[Ha! Isn't it natural for a son to admire his father? You're such a child who never grew up!]

What a brat!

This time, Mordred clearly heard where the sound was coming from, reached under Gray's cloak, and pulled out the birdcage!

"You're the one slandering me, aren't you!"

[Who slandered you! I was just telling the truth! And that idiot Grey, help me! That brat is definitely going to tear me apart!]

“Yard, please say less,” Grey said helplessly. “Miss Mordred, I’m sorry, Yad has always been like this, saying whatever comes to mind. I’m really sorry if he offended you.”

"Waaah... Waaah... Please, please don't do this."

Faced with Grey's apology, Mordred, who had been fierce, immediately softened, blushing and turning her head away as if she couldn't take it anymore: "Well, it felt like my mother was apologizing to me very seriously... It made me so uncomfortable that I got goosebumps all over!"

[Hahahaha! You idiot Grey, keep apologizing, a few more times! Aaaaaaah! Don't shake me! I'm going to throw up!]

Before Yad could finish stirring things up, Mordred swung him around like a windmill.

Although she knew Ad was wrong, he was still a friend who had been with her for several years, so Grey quickly stepped forward: "Miss Mordred, um... I'll talk about Ad later, so please be gentle..."

"I told you not to talk to me like that! Here you go!"

As if electrocuted, Mordred's body twitched violently twice, then she tossed Ad to Grey as if she had picked up a hot potato.

I'm not used to it!

I'm really not used to it!

Even though she knew it wasn't the same person, Mordred felt her hair stand on end when she saw her mother speaking to her so politely when she was a child!

"Speaking of which... I only just realized it now, this kind of trouble-making personality... you're Kai, right?" Mordred said to Yard, "How did you become like this?"

"It's not the real Knight Kai, just a simulated Knight Kai persona."

The one who answered Mordred was not Grey or Ad, but Natsukawa Torato, who had appeared beside them at some unknown time.

Mordred frowned. "A simulated personality? What the hell?"

“Ask your mother, she made this too.” Natsukawa Tora nudged Yad. “However, I think you should be very familiar with what’s inside. Yad himself is a Mystic Code, and a certain Noble Phantasm is sealed inside.”

Mordred, who was about to say something, was immediately drawn to Natsukawa Torato's words: "A Noble Phantasm? What Noble Phantasm? And one that I'm familiar with?"

"It's the Holy Lance Rungominiad that your father used to stab you through."

"..."

Mordred was truly numb.

Another father and the holy sword, a resurrected mother, a child who looks just like her... and now, a holy spear that killed him has suddenly appeared?!

Is my Master's relationship with King Arthur a little too deep?! Why is there so many things related to King Arthur around me?!

"Oh right, this is for you for now, I don't need it right now."

As he spoke, Natsukawa Tora took out Avalon from his body and handed it to Mordred.

“This was originally given to me by Merry in case of emergency, but I don’t really need it, so you can use this scabbard temporarily during the Holy Grail War.”

"..."

You even have a scabbard?!

49. It's you! Christmas Mask!

The next day, in Romania.

Sigishwara.

"Hey Mordred, are you still not over it?"

As Natsukawa Tora walked down the street, he asked Mordred, who was following beside him and maintaining his spirit form.

Ever since she got Avalon from him last night, she has been like this. Even when Natsukawa Tora calls her to manifest, she doesn't react, although she will respond if you talk to her.

"Does obtaining your father's sword sheath really make you so uneasy?"

"Huh? I'm fine with that stuff now, I was just thinking about something," Mordred replied irritably. "Before, when Father and I were fighting in Camran, she wasn't wearing a scabbard..."

The two most important reasons why King Arthur became an invincible king were that he possessed both the sword and its scabbard. The sword made him invincible, while the scabbard made him fearless.

"The scabbard made my father invulnerable to swords and spears, and he could recover quickly from injuries, practically immortal... If my father had still had the scabbard when he fought me back then, perhaps..."

In that case, let alone killing King Arthur, Mordred would probably only be able to hold out against Artoria.

"If my father had had a sword sheath back then, how would I have defeated him? That's what I was thinking about."

"Is that even a question? If that were the case, you would definitely be taken down in two or three moves."

Natsukawa Tora said this, completely unconcerned that his words would displease Mordred, but just before Mordred could get angry, he added, "But it's no use thinking about this now, is it?"

"what?"

"The Battle of Camlann is over. You and King Arthur were both severely wounded. That's a fact. Why waste time thinking about impossible scenarios? Besides, thinking about such troublesome things is not suitable for you at all."

Although he couldn't pat Mordred's head because Mordred didn't manifest a physical form, Natsukawa Torara still raised his hand and waved it: "I gave you the scabbard not so you could have wild thoughts, but so you could take down all the enemies with it."

"Tch! I know that without you telling me!"

Mordred replied curtly, but one could vaguely detect a hint of happiness in her tone.

She likes this kind of Master who suits her taste and is thinking about wiping out all the enemies.

"So, where are we going now? To the enemy's lair?"

"Let's go meet with the people who are probably our allies first. You know this Holy Grail War is a seven-on-seven format, right? We're on the red side, and the other six Masters besides me have already gathered together. Let's go meet with them."

Mordred understood the meaning behind Natsukawa Tora's words.

It's not a rendezvous, just a meeting, which means that the Master has absolutely no intention of acting together with the other party.

(Hehe, this is fine too!)

As they were talking, the two had already crossed the main road of Tulifas and arrived at the entrance of a church.

Pushing open the door and knocking twice, Natsukawa Tora looked at the person kneeling before the statue and asked, "Is this the meeting point?"

"Yes."

The priest, dressed in black, stood up and turned to look at Natsukawa Torato: "Nice to meet you, Magician of the Moonlit Night. I am Kotomine Shiro, the supervisor of this Holy Grail War."

"Kotomine?"

Xia Chuanhu raised his eyebrows, feigning confusion.

"Are you related to Father Kirei Kotomine of Fuyuki City?"

"Qili?"