To become a king and a magician

Experience?

Xia Chuanhu thought about Mordred's various misdeeds over the past four years—including but not limited to gathering his underlings to roam the streets, establishing his own territory in the city and becoming a local tyrant, skipping classes, missing exams, and talking back to teachers... Although in the end none of them caused any real trouble, he took the initiative to resolve all the minor issues himself and apologized and cleaned up the mess.

"Ah... um... well... experience... I do have some experience."

"Master, you could speak with more confidence!"

Natsukawa Tora sighed helplessly: "But your behavior makes it impossible for me to speak up for you with confidence... Saber, now that you've manifested, please discipline your daughter more in the future."

"Yes, leave it to me. I will educate you with the strictest methods, Lord Mordred."

"Hey! This isn't going to happen! You promised I'd beat up my father, Master!"

"Hit me?" Artoria frowned. "Speaking of which, Lord Mordred did indeed unleash murderous intent on me just now, which wasn't unexpected, but... are you still harboring resentment towards me?"

Natsukawa Tora shook his head: "No, it's a different matter. Mo probably doesn't hate you now, Saber. After all, her obsession with you has gradually faded since she failed to challenge the Sword of Kings."

"Challenge the King's Sword? What does that mean?"

“The Holy Grail,” Mordred explained. “My Master and I won the last Holy Grail War, so I wished on the Holy Grail to challenge the Sword of the Chosen King. If I could just pull that sword out, your claim that I don’t have the qualities to be a king would fall apart—but in the end, I couldn’t even pull it out properly, and could only watch my father, who was a child, pull out the sword.”

Did you see yourself as a child?

Even Artoria felt a little embarrassed. Everyone would be reluctant to talk about their childhood, and she was no exception, even though she didn't have any dark history.

"However, although it is said that we have returned to the day of the selection of the king, we have not actually returned to the past. The Holy Grail requires magic to grant wishes, and the amount of magic required to go back a thousand years is astronomical. Therefore, in the end, we can only grant wishes in the form of a dream that is infinitely close to reality. But it doesn't matter to Mordred."

"She saw your past self, understood your will, and gradually let go of her obsession and hatred towards you. She is already very satisfied with this outcome."

"Don't say that in front of Father, Master!"

Mordred wished she could disappear into a hole. How could anyone just blurt out her thoughts like that! That damned Master, at least try to understand her feelings! Are all fathers just mindless, incapable of understanding human nature?!

Hearing Natsukawa Torato's words, Artoria smiled with relief, but she quickly realized another problem: "Then... why is Lord Mordred still alive? If his wish had been fulfilled, the Servant should have returned to the Throne of Heroes."

"Because there are still things I want to do."

Suppressing his shame, Mordred answered while looking directly at his father: "Father, your wish to achieve through the Holy Grail is to go back to the past, to start all over again, and to make someone more suitable than you king, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right."

Although she was curious as to why Mordred knew about this, Artoria nodded seriously in affirmation: "I do hope to change the fate of Britain through the Holy Grail—no, I should say, if it had been someone else who drew the sword instead of me, Britain might not have been destroyed in that way, and perhaps it could have become better in some ways."

"I thought so."

Artoria knew from the beginning that Britain would be destroyed; Merlin had told her about Britain's fate from the start.

Even so, she did not want to accept that fate, even if its end was certain destruction, even if the fate was predetermined. Artoria hoped that fate could be changed for the better, and could lean more towards a better outcome.

"However, after hearing what the Master and Lord Mordred said, I no longer have any hope for this wish."

"Huh? Why?"

"Lord Mordred's wish and my wish are actually similar, both of us want to go back to the past, but since Lord Mordred's wish cannot be truly fulfilled, I'm afraid my wish cannot be fulfilled either."

Logically speaking, that's true. Moreover, the Greater Grail in Romania has accumulated far more magical power than the Greater Grail in Fuyuki, being almost a hundred years old. If even that couldn't grant a wish, then the Greater Grail in Fuyuki would be even less likely to do so.

"However, Master, rest assured, I will not lose my will to fight because of this. In the upcoming Holy Grail War, I will do my utmost to bring back victory for you. I swear to you in the name of a knight."

unexpected.

Artoria's attitude completely stunned Mordred. Although he knew his father was such a noble knight, something was wrong. Shouldn't his father be mentally unstable and possessed? If she figured it out so easily...

(How can I hit my father?!)

"Xiao Mo, it's written all over your face." Xia Chuanhu poked her cheek with a wry smile. "But Artoria, is this really okay? Giving up so easily..."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Of course, I'm not saying I'm giving up now. I'll decide for myself whether the Holy Grail can grant my wish. If it really can't, then I'll have to give up and wait for the next Holy Grail War that can grant my wish."

Artoria smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I haven't asked Master what your wish is yet. Since you're participating in the war, you must have a wish you want to fulfill. If you can, could you tell me? I will do my best to help you achieve your wish."

"Oh, my wish is to marry Merlin."

"......"

Eh?

13. Artoria: I want to go back.

Marry Merlin?

Artoria felt like she might have misheard, and her heart pounded several times.

"Um... Master, are you sure you didn't misspoke? You're going to marry Merlin? Um... you're both men—I'm not against same-sex relationships; in fact, there have been some in the past, but..."

"Haha, Lia, you've misunderstood."

Melie laughed and pounced on Artoria: "His Majesty the King likes me."

"You are--"

Artoria stared in surprise at Meryl, who was clinging to her. Although she had noticed her presence from the beginning, she hadn't paid much attention to it at the time. But now, she realized something was amiss.

If you switch the genders, this beautiful girl looks exactly like Merlin!

“He’s Merlin, but not from this world. He’s from another parallel world, and his gender is different,” Merlin said with a smile. “By the way, your Master also has the power of another version of you from a parallel world, so you’re a half-Servant.”

"Really? Master."

“Well, you should be able to sense it to some extent, right?” Natsukawa Tora pointed to himself and Artoria. “Besides the one four years ago, I also participated in a Holy Grail War ten years ago. That time, I summoned you from a parallel world who was male, and you ended up becoming a half-Servant for some reason.”

Artoria sensed the power of the red dragon when she summoned it, but because of Mordred's presence, she didn't investigate it further. She never expected that its source was actually her own Master.

"So, Master, you want to... uh..."

“Just call me Meli, that’s what everyone calls me,” Meli said with a smile. “That’s right, His Majesty the King wants to marry me. But it’s not a wish that needs the Holy Grail to fulfill. It’s just that I said I would agree if he won the Holy Grail War, so there’s a need for the Holy Grail.”

"In terms of the outcome, it's no different from obtaining the Holy Grail, is it?"

"That's right, the task remains the same: defeat all the enemies and win until the very end."

Seeing Natsukawa Torama confidently utter those words, Meryl bluntly poured cold water on his enthusiasm: "Then when you fight Aoko, Touko, Lydeer, and Shiki later, don't hold back. Especially with Aoko, don't treat her differently just because she's number two."

"If I let them get away with it, they'll probably hunt me down..."

"Do you know all the other participants, Master?"

Xia Chuanhu nodded: "I know almost everyone. To be honest, I was stunned when I found out. They were all acquaintances... I was stunned. I didn't even feel like they were there to steal the cups."

Most of the Masters in a Holy Grail War are acquaintances, and judging from the words of Natsukawa Torato and Merry, they seem to be good friends.

Artoria couldn't help but smile wryly: "It is indeed a bit awkward, but it's okay. I'm the one fighting, Master. You don't need to take action. The Holy Grail War is a battle between Servants, so leave it all to me."

Upon hearing Artoria's confident statement, the others present all turned their heads away—Saber, in terms of combat power, you might not even be as good as your Master.

"Oh right, speaking of which, there's a child that you should meet, Lia."

As if suddenly remembering something, Merry jogged over to Gray and pushed her in front of Artoria: "This is Gray."

“Hello, King Arthur, I am Grey,” Grey said timidly to Artoria.

Looking at Gray's face, which was exactly the same as hers and Mordred's, Artoria was once again surprised and incredulous. No two leaves are the same, and no two people can look exactly alike, unless they have plastic surgery, but Gray's case was clearly not one of those.

"Master, what does this child look like..."

"She is my adopted sister, born in a village near the Blackmore Cemetery. It is a village that received instructions from a witch in the distant past and has been acting for a certain purpose ever since."

"A witch? What is her purpose?" Artoria suddenly had a bad feeling.

"The witch's name is Morgan le Fay, your queen. Her goal is to resurrect King Arthur." Natsukawa Tora's words left Artoria momentarily speechless.

Sister Wang?

Resurrect yourself?

Did Morgan give the order to resurrect himself?

How can this be? !

"Of course, resurrecting a person is not easy. Body, soul, and spirit are all indispensable. Gray is the body used to carry the spirit and soul, the only successful vessel for King Arthur in thousands of years. With your presence in this world, Gray's body should now be no different from yours."

"Wait, Master!" Artoria interrupted, her face filled with shock. "The vessel that resurrected me... Did my sister really make this? Morgan wants to resurrect me?"

"Who knows? She herself has never expressed any intention to resurrect you—by the way, in the Holy Grail War ten years ago, Morgan was the one who manifested as Caster, and like Mordred, she also obtained a body. She is also one of the participants in this Holy Grail War."

These words struck Artoria's heart like a nuclear bomb.

Memories of Morgan from the past flooded back, and they were by no means pleasant memories. Although they were sisters, there was little affection between them, and because of the throne, they were more often at odds with each other.

"That Morgan..."

"Has your fighting spirit been dampened, Saber?" Natsukawa Torato asked. "I was thinking that rather than being scared by Morgan's appearance in the battle later, I'd rather tell you now so you can be mentally prepared."

"No... I understand Master's thoughts. It is the right choice. If we really meet on the battlefield, I think I will inevitably be shaken for a moment. I am very grateful that you reminded me at this time."

Artoria looked at Gray: "I'm sorry, Miss Gray, because of the Queen and me, you have been burdened with an unnecessary fate. Although this is not something that can be forgiven with just an apology, please allow me to express my sincere apologies."

"Ah...please don't say that, Miss Saber. I...I didn't have any complaints about you or Miss Morgan." Grey quickly helped Artoria, who was bowing her head in apology, up. "I might have had complaints before, and even hated my own face, but now I'm actually quite glad."

"Thankful?"

“Yes, because of this face, and even because of this body that is now indistinguishable from yours, I have been able to keep up with my brother and help him better.” Grey revealed a happy smile. “Being able to help my brother and being with him all the time is the happiest thing for me.”

"So, now, I want to thank you, Miss Saber. Thank you for giving me the strength to move forward with my brother."

......

The people in the room fell silent. Then, Mei picked up an apple and threw it hard at Xia Chuanhu.

"Ouch—Merry, what are you doing!"

"It's nothing, I just suddenly felt like hitting His Majesty the King."

14. Master, I adore you!

For Artoria, this appearance in the world was undoubtedly full of surprises and astonishment.

Mordred, Morgan, Merry, Gray... plus her Master, there are just too many things related to her, to an abnormal degree, that makes her wonder if her being summoned was some kind of destiny.

Of course, having a good Master is a good thing. If you encounter a Master who doesn't get along with you in any way, that would be a terrible situation. However, as things stand, Artoria feels that she and Natsukawa Torato get along quite well.

"Oh, right, Saber, you can keep this."

After briefly meeting with Rei Sajou and Atalanta, Natsukawa Torama tossed something to Artoria.