To become a king and a magician

【Okay, I understand】

I promise I'll go with you.

44. Merlin's Angry Count Laughs

Inside the base.

Arthur and his Round Table, Artoria and her Round Table, plus the Chaldea members led by Natsukawa Torato.

A dozen or so people are now gathered around an outdoor table, looking at the Vortigern egg that Xia Chuanhu brought back from the meteorite crater, which is now placed on the table.

"—That's basically the situation."

Xia Chuanhu briefly explained the situation between himself and Heidan.

After hearing Natsukawa Torato's account, the Knights of the Round Table on both sides were all astonished to varying degrees.

"That Vortigern actually... passed on his power to the next generation?" Arthur's face and eyes were filled with disbelief. "It's unbelievable that he would make such a decision."

"What's even more incredible than that is that he actually managed to leave behind an egg. Even if this was the result of a wish made to the Holy Grail, it's still utterly unbelievable."

Vortigern is a doomsday device created by the island of Britain to destroy itself, and by its very nature, it is impossible for a successor to emerge.

They probably took advantage of a loophole.

Roman's voice came from the communication device on Fujimaru Ritsuka's wrist.

[If the goal is to create another End Device, that's definitely impossible. But if the goal is to leave behind offspring, that's perfectly fine. Leaving offspring to pass on one's power to the next generation, and engraving one's long-held desire to destroy Britain into the spirit of one's descendants—similar to a magician's Grand Order.]

Crown designation.

The most sublime blood code in the world of magic. A commandment passed down from before the Common Era, held by families to the present day, requiring them to sacrifice themselves for that mission until the extinction of the clan—a pride that is almost like a curse, an absolute observance.

This is the meaning of crown designation.

If we consider the unborn Vortigern in the egg as the first generation of magicians, then everything passed down to her by the deceased first Vortigern is the Grand Order he bestowed.

"So, Master, what is the purpose of bringing this egg back?" Artoria asked, frowning.

"Of course, it's to discuss with you how to deal with this egg."

Xia Chuanhu tapped the black egg's shell, but since he didn't use any force this time, the black egg didn't cry.

"The root of this singularity, the Holy Grail, is currently inside this egg. Hmm... to put it bluntly, it's similar to the situation with Jeanne d'Arc Alter. The new generation of Vortigern is a life form that only exists based on the Holy Grail, and its existence is maintained by the Holy Grail, therefore—"

To resolve the singularity, the Holy Grail must be retrieved or destroyed. However, in the current situation, retrieving the Holy Grail requires breaking the egg first, a process that will inevitably harm Vortigern.

The same applies to destroying the Holy Grail.

"Although this eggshell is very hard, I think it should be easy to break with the Holy Sword. The question is—is that really a good idea?"

Natsukawa Tora's words plunged everyone present into silence.

To put it simply, it's what we call morality.

Although she was Vortigern's successor, Vortigern II was undoubtedly harmless in the current situation. In fact, judging from her words and actions, she did not respond to the obsession left by Vortigern at all, which was equivalent to an innocent life.

Taking out the Holy Grail means killing such an innocent and blameless life... This is not a decision that can be made lightly.

"By the way, I voted in favor."

Xia Chuanhu was the first to express his opinion.

"Even if she is harmless now, there is no guarantee that she will not be affected by Vortigern's obsession after she is fully born. Perhaps her spirit will be infected by Vortigern's obsession on her way out of the shell, which will definitely be another huge problem. It would be better to end it here now."

Take precautions before they happen.

After thinking for a while, Mordred and the two Gawain brothers also raised their hands.

“My opinion is the same as my father’s.”

"I also agree with Lord Natsukawa's point of view."

"Me too."

There were thirteen people present—four from Arthur, five from Artoria, and four from Chaldea (Hinako Akuta was not present).

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, everyone present knew that if a viewpoint was accepted by all seven, then that viewpoint would become the final decision.

After taking a deep breath, Fujimaru Ritsuka shook her head: "I object. Even if, as the minister says, Vortigern II might be influenced by her obsession, then all that's needed is for someone to guide her. She seems capable of engaging in dialogue."

Voodoo II's intelligence was no different from that of a child, and her personality had not been fully developed; she was still a blank slate. If we didn't want her to be corrupted, then we should paint her with the right colors before that happened.

This can be considered a solution.

"Furthermore, since the Holy Grail is inside her, taking her away from this singularity would also cause it to collapse, right? It's not necessarily necessary to remove the Holy Grail."

[Theoretically, it's feasible. Although it can't be brought back via spirit particle transfer, it's fine if Xia Chuan brings it back.]

Hearing Roman's words, Natsukawa Torato was taken aback: "I was just saying... I was going to smash it, and now you want me to take this egg back with me? And you're planning to put it in Chaldea?"

"At this stage, it's probably only possible to release it in our area."

“Avalon is also an option,” Artoria said. “Master, I think Fujimaru’s method is better. No matter how bad the future may be, it is still the future and not unchangeable. It wouldn’t hurt to try it now, would it?”

"Yeah, so when something goes wrong later, it's my turn to clean up the mess, right?"

It should have sounded like he was full of disdain and impatience, but Natsukawa Tora said it in a helpless tone, as if he was used to it, like a stupid father who finally gave in after his child had been coaxed and pleaded with him.

After sighing, Natsukawa Tora glanced at the people around him, who all seemed to think the latter option was better.

(This has made me, the two Gao Wenqings, and Mordred a bit uncomfortable... I've made a fool of myself and increased my workload as well. - tentative)

"So, that's it. Do you want to leave here with us, Black Egg?"

[Leave? Where to?]

"A place...full of interesting guys."

[An interesting place?]

"Well, there's a doctor with an ambiguous sexual orientation who loves strawberry cake, a genius who is clearly a man but transformed himself into a woman, a chain smoker who completely replaced his body with a doll... In short, there are all sorts of people."

Dr. Roman of Chaldea twitched his lips several times upon hearing the assessment of himself—his sexual orientation was clearly female! A virtual avatar and the person behind it are completely different entities!

Don't confuse virtual avatars (characters) with the people behind them (voice actors)!

After listening to Xia Chuanhu's description and remaining silent for a while, the black egg glowed slightly.

【I see】

I'll go with you.

45. Let's all go home.

As for the whereabouts of the black egg, it was ultimately decided to temporarily place it in Avalon, and then transfer it to Chaldea after the burning of humanity was completed.

The restoration of human order is nearing its end, and Chaldea doesn't have much time to deal with other matters. Therefore, the brainwashing of Black Egg... no, it should be called the whitewashing work, can only be addressed after everything is finished.

Now that the Holy Grail is confirmed to be retrieved, we need to begin preparations for the spirit particle transfer. It should be completed in about ten minutes. Until then, please prepare to leave the singularity.

After saying that, communication with Roman ended.

Ten minutes?

Fujimaru Ritsuka reflected on the events of the past two days: "I feel like... this singularity was probably the easiest one yet. It seems like Mashu, Akuta-senpai, and I didn't do anything before it was over."

Within this singularity, the three of them only helped repel the dragons during the dragon outbreak and the resurrection of Vortigern, and protected ordinary people; they didn't even experience a single intense battle.

While I don't say I enjoy fighting, the fact that the singularity issue was resolved so easily feels unreal.

“So you didn’t need to come at all,” Natsukawa Tiger laughed. “Because Artoria came first, we didn’t need to deliberately collect intelligence. In addition, I have enough strength, so I don’t need to seek help from friendly forces because I can’t defeat the enemy.”

"Well, the reason we were able to do this so easily is because Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table risked their lives to buy us time from the very beginning."

Natsukawa Tora looked at Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table on his side.

"Once this singularity ends, you'll all be back on the Throne of Heroes, right?"

Gawain, Lancelot, and Tristan all nodded.

"After all, we are Servants. Now that our mission in this singularity has ended, there is naturally no reason for us to stay."

"Being able to fight alongside our King again as a Servant makes this second life completely fulfilling for those of us who have long since died."

"I wouldn't say there's nothing, there are things I couldn't do in my lifetime that I can't do now... but actually, none of that matters anymore."

Although they had different ideas, the three Knights of the Round Table all spoke their minds with smiles.

Seeing his subordinates so relieved, Arthur smiled and said, "I will not return to the Throne of Heroes. I was already no longer on it. After leaving here, I will return to Avalon and fall into a deep sleep again, and this time I think it will be permanent, and I will never wake up again."

Arthur's mission as the wielder of the Holy Sword ended ten years ago. He fought in life and continued to fight in death. Ten years ago, he finally shed all his burdens and faced his true end. This time, he has awakened once more, only to save the world—an exception among exceptions.

From now on, Arthur Pendragon will truly fall into an eternal slumber.

and so--

"This is the last time we'll meet, Natsukawa... Well, there's a lot I want to say to you, but I think it's okay if I don't. You might have had problems before, but you definitely don't have any problems now."

Twenty years ago, Xia Chuanhu was a weakling who needed his protection; he was immature, irrational, and weak.

Ten years ago, Natsukawa Torato was a strongman who could fight and defeat him. Maturity and immaturity existed equally in him, as did rationality and emotion.

Now, he has grown to a level that even Arthur cannot catch up with.

"Well, since this is the last one, I'll ask you this: what are your thoughts on how my life has changed over the past twenty years, Master?"

Arthur's question made Natsukawa Tora think for a moment, then he smiled with a rather proud tone and expression: "Twenty very interesting years, at least I really enjoyed this kind of life. As for you, who changed my life, I can only express my gratitude."

"This is the last time we'll meet, and before we part ways, I'll say this to you."

"Thank you. It was so great to meet you in the Holy Grail War twenty years ago."

"From now on, this is truly goodbye, [Saber]."

This relationship between the two, which has continued for twenty years and continues to this day, will now truly end with Arthur's permanent departure.

On their time scale, they will never meet again until the very end of time.

Even so, they will always have each other in their memories.

They raised their fists simultaneously, and under the watchful eyes of the others, Natsukawa Tiger and Arthur bumped fists.

And after that—