To become a king and a magician

This situation resulted in the underdevelopment of transportation in Britain. In addition, since fairies do not wander around, there was only one road between two relatively close cities.

And now, on the road between Camelot and Salisbury.

Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mash, Mordred, Gray, and Artoria were traveling towards Salisbury in a fairy carriage arranged by Natsukawa Torato.

Sitting by the window, looking out at the fairy kingdom, Fujimaru Ritsuka was filled with curiosity and a sense of novelty.

"So this is what it's like outside Camelot City..."

The sky was always the color of dusk, the grasslands stretched endlessly, and the mountains rose and fell in the distance... Compared to the Lostbelts he had visited before, Fujimaru Ritsuka felt that this British Lostbelt was the one that best captured the feeling of an "other world".

She really felt like she had entered a fantastical world.

There was even a sound of singing echoing in the air.

“You can’t tell it’s a world of despair at all,” Mashu remarked. “It’s more like a world full of hope and beauty, like something out of a fairy tale.”

"Well, that's certainly true on the surface."

Artoria laughed and said, "But this is just for show. After all, except for a very small number of fairies, all the fairies are very afraid of Father. Because they are afraid that Father will suddenly punish them, the fairies will act very obedient on the surface and keep Britain on the surface as a peaceful and beautiful place. That's what my sister told me."

In other words, is this peaceful and beautiful scene merely a figment of the fairies' imagination? Without Natsukawa Torata's tyranny, this world would be incredibly terrible and hopeless.

“My brother’s tyranny… I still find it hard to believe that he could become a tyrant.” Grey’s tone was somewhat melancholy. “He is usually a very easy person to get along with, and when I met him these past two days, I didn’t feel that he had changed in this respect.”

“It must be that Father is very good at distinguishing between the attitude required in private and public settings,” Artoria explained. “In fact, that’s how I see it. Although he’s ruthless when it comes to fairies, he’s actually a silly father who loves us quite a bit in private… He also talked to me a lot about things this time.”

Although she had run away from home once before, Natsukawa Torama and Morgan did not hinder Artoria's request to go out this time at all, which surprised her.

However, after that, the two of them acted like a pair of silly parents, pulling her aside and telling her a lot of things she needed to be careful about when she was out. They even gave her extra help overnight and taught her a few magic tricks that she might be able to use in the wild.

"Cast, do you and your brother get along well?"

“Eh? Hmm… I don’t think it should be called good.” Artoria thought for a moment and then said, “I can feel that he cares about me a lot, and he does his best in taking care of me. Even if I do something wrong, he usually doesn’t punish me too severely. He is a very good father, although sometimes he does things that scare me.”

"However, there has always been a sense of distance between us."

Sense of distance?

Artoria's statement surprised Gray and the others.

"Does that mean... my brother hasn't opened his heart to you?"

"Perhaps. I don't know if I'm the only one who feels this way, but when I lived in Camelot, I felt that my father was somewhat distant from everyone, as if he was hiding something very important from everyone, even if it was definitely not a bad thing."

Upon hearing this explanation, Grey and the others nodded in understanding, all showing expressions of empathy.

"We can understand that."

“My father has always been like this, doing things on his own without telling us, thinking he is doing it for our own good.”

"Actually, it's pretty much the same... The minister will explain later."

“My sworn brother can be quite decisive at times.”

Not to mention Fujimaru Ritsuka, who has only known Natsukawa Torata for about a year, everyone else has known him for ten years or even longer. Gray, who has been with him the longest, has known him for twenty years and has experienced his self-righteous acts of kindness firsthand.

Even if it is indeed a good thing, it can still make people feel uneasy or uncomfortable after they find out about it.

(As expected... everyone has a good relationship with their father...)

Artoria glanced at the group, then suddenly asked a question: "Speaking of which, there's something I've always been curious about—what kind of relationship do you all have with Father?"

"Uh?!"

A rather shocking question left everyone stunned.

Why are you suddenly asking this?

"Well... I'm just a little curious. Also, before I met everyone yesterday, I met two women in the hallway named Rei Sajou and Angelica. They said they were my... stepmothers?"

(Stepmother... in a way it seems right, but you're being way too blunt, Zero-chan!)

After a slight sigh, Gray explained, "Everyone's situation is different... I am my brother's sister, an adopted sister who was taken in by my brother in a small village in the Pan-Human History twenty years ago. Mordred is a Servant that my brother summoned in a parallel world."

“I’m like his subordinate to the minister,” Fujimaru Ritsuka said with a smile. “We work together in an organization called Chaldea in the Pan-Human History. Mash is the same, but she has an additional sisterly status, just like Gray.”

"Oh~~~~ What else?" Artoria pressed. "It can't be that simple, can it?"

"Uh... this..."

Grey's cheeks flushed slightly. To be honest, it was quite a challenge for her to talk about her relationship with her brother, as it was rather embarrassing.

but--

"And then there are the engaged couples," Mordred dropped the bombshell. "Except for Ritsuka and Mashu, all of us are Father's lovers and fiancées—the kind who are already on board and ready to buy tickets."

Artoria: "Huh?"

39. A warm welcome to Princess Lydia, the most adorable princess in all of Britain!

spouse?

lover?

fiancée?

The words that came out of Mordred's mouth caused a moment of chaos in Artoria's mind, as if several carriages were running rampant and trampling through her mind, making it a complete mess!

"Uh... eh... so that means..."

After struggling to process the situation in her mind, Artoria looked at Gray and Mordred with disbelief: "You two... are also my [stepmothers]?!"

"......"

"......"

This time, Artoria silenced the two of them.

After a long pause, Grey nodded with a wry smile: "In terms of relationships, I guess you could say that... But this really makes things quite chaotic, because my brother's identity is already complicated, and this makes it even more complicated."

If I had to pinpoint it, I'd say that Natsukawa Torato's relationship with the Round Table and even Britain is rather complicated.

He was once King Arthur, whom Mordred considered another father figure. He and Artoria were master and servant, and lovers. Now he's married to Morgan and has adopted this version of Artoria as his daughter...

(This entertainment industry is really messy.)

Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't help but think this.

"But... why did you become Father's fiancée, Grey? Aren't you two siblings?"

"Hmm! This... it's a rather complicated matter to explain, the cause and effect are a bit complicated... but in the end it was an accident."

Grey blushed as she explained.

There's no way I could possibly talk about what happened during the Seventh Singularity!

"About this, actually—"

"Snapped"

Seeing that Mordred was about to start spouting nonsense again, Grey, unusually assertive, slapped her across the mouth!

Mordred quickly covered her mouth, which had been slapped, and said, "What are you doing, Grey's mom...?"

"I'm sorry, but it was your fault just now, Xiao Mo. You need to be more careful about what you can and cannot say."

Grey cleared her throat again: "Ahem, anyway, that's how our relationship with our brother is. It's a bit complicated, but Caster, you just need to know the general idea. You don't need to delve too deeply into it."

"oh oh."

Artoria nodded, still somewhat bewildered. To be honest, she was quite curious, but it seemed Gray wasn't planning to continue—and her intuition told her that pressing further might reveal knowledge that was taboo to her.

(Let's leave it at that for now...)

Seeing that Artoria didn't press the matter, Gray breathed a slight sigh of relief. Even though she was now a mature adult, she was still not very good at this kind of thing.

(Ultimately, it's all my brother's fault; he's just too popular with women...sigh.)

If this matter can be resolved smoothly, Grey is determined to unite with everyone and properly discipline her brother who keeps chasing after women.

At this rate, the number of people in the household will probably keep increasing.

“Speaking of which… Caster, you seem very curious about our affairs, and I’m actually quite curious about yours as well.” Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly spoke up. “Before, on the Isle of Endless Realms, you said you had a reason to obtain the Holy Sword. So, are you out here now to find the Second Minister and inquire about the Holy Sword?”

"You could say that."

Artoria agreed.

"I must obtain the Holy Sword; only then can I... avoid dying."

"Dead?"

The four of them were taken aback when they heard what Artoria said.

Whether or not Artoria can obtain the Holy Sword is actually related to her survival.

"Cast, what's going on? You'll die if you don't get the Holy Sword?"

"Uh... I won't tell you about that for now. Besides, that's just an extreme case. In fact, I'm perfectly fine right now. I'm just a little anxious." Seeing everyone's tense expressions, Artoria quickly waved her hand to explain and comfort them, "I'll only die in extremely, extremely, extremely extreme situations, like accidentally eating a single uncooked grain of rice while eating a thousand bowls of rice."

The strange analogy immediately made the expressions of Fujimaru Ritsuka and the other three fall, but thanks to it, they also understood that Artoria's situation was not particularly dangerous. After all, she herself had used that analogy, which meant that such an extreme situation was really almost impossible to happen.

There's no need to worry, at least for now.

"Don't scare us, Caster."

"Hehe, sorry, I was just a little too hasty." Artoria smiled sheepishly and scratched her head.

Just then, the carriage, which had been moving forward, suddenly stopped.

The goblin horse's voice came from outside: "Distinguished guests, and Your Highness the Princess, Salisbury has arrived."

"Huh? That fast?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka was somewhat surprised: "We've only been gone for less than ten minutes, right? We'll be in Salisbury so quickly?"

"Because the main road has been enchanted by the supreme and powerful Elf King with a spatial distortion magic, running on it will make you ten times faster than normal. Moreover, I am carrying Her Highness the Princess this time, so it is only natural that we can run so fast at full speed."

"That's what Fairy Horse explained."

(Space distortion magic... Could it be that every road in Britain has this kind of magic?)

Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't help but think.

After stepping down from the carriage, Salisbury, their destination, immediately came into view.