Like a little bird gently pecking at his face, the girl's lips trembled ever so slightly—so bashful; yet within that tremble lay... I can't keep inventing this.
After all, everything above was purely Guinevere's imagination.
He was on the other side of the screen—how could he know what Artoria's kiss was truly like?
All he could see was Artoria, her face flushed with a mix of anger and embarrassment, unable to conceal the glistening shine at the corners of her eyes. It was incredibly adorable.
As for the exact sensation... judging from his own stunned expression in the simulation, his face already bright red, this kiss must have tasted quite wonderful.
How envious.
Guinevere reached over to the nightstand, groped around until he found a long, stick-shaped cookie, and slowly placed it between his teeth. After biting off a small piece, he held the rest of the cookie as if it were a cigarette and exhaled a long breath of air scented with cookie crumbs.
"I'm so sad. I'm really so sad..."
Guinevere lifted his head to gaze at the sky, now beginning to lighten toward dawn, tears streaming down his face.
"In this world, there really is no Pocky. It's truly lamentable."
"If Miss Texas from the Ark had somehow crossed over here, she would probably die of grief from having no Pocky to eat."
Meanwhile, in reality, Guinevere let out a sigh of despair; but in the simulation, after Artoria withdrew her flushed face, she sincerely straightened Guinevere's collar, which she had just messed up.
Finally, she shot Lancelot, who wasn't far away, a glare full of possessive intent.
To be honest, when it came to wifely diligence, Artoria still couldn't compare to Fairy Lancelot.
Guinevere switched his view to look at himself from the front, checked his collar, and thought to himself.
On the other side, seeing Artoria's actions, Lancelot only gave a gentle smile, unconcerned.
"Talking with all of you truly made me very happy. Although I wish I could chat more, time no longer permits."
"Now I must set off for Manchester, to prevent Bagust from moving any further."
With that, Lancelot suddenly produced a mask from somewhere and gently fitted it on—though obviously not the one used during the battle against Guinevere; that mask had already been destroyed.
"Manchester? Bagust? What's going on? Why are you going to stop Bagust from moving?" Artoria asked, confused.
"Oh? You still don't know?"
Lancelot turned to glance at Artoria.
"She suddenly went berserk and killed every fairy in Manchester, then transformed into a gigantic black dog, carrying out indiscriminate slaughter. She has now been identified as the Great Calamity. If we leave her be, she'll probably destroy all of Britain."
"Eh?" Artoria froze; her original hostility toward Lancelot temporarily vanished in the face of this shocking news.
"But how could this be? It's not yet time, right? Why would Bagust do this now\...?"
"Because she learned some truths she shouldn't have—something along those lines," Lancelot said calmly. Finally, she walked to Artoria's side, leaned in, and whispered in her ear:
"Obviously, you're not the only special one."
Artoria's eyes suddenly widened.
"Then, at the very least, I hope that this time, as the Child of Prophecy, you will shoulder your responsibilities properly. Don't be so irresponsible like last time."
"By the way, in the real world, I'll figure something out about Bagust too. Both versions of me are already on the way to Manchester, so just start anew from zero without worry."
—
Patting Artoria gently on the shoulder, Lancelot stepped back again, and her voice returned to its normal volume:
"Next, I will delay Bagust for about two months. In that time, you must fulfill the prophecy and complete your mission. I will use my sword to carve out a path for you."
"After all, if Britain is destroyed by calamity, my beloved—whose whereabouts remain unknown—will surely be affected as well."
"Well then, goodbye, Guinevere. If there's a chance, let's spar together again, shall we?"
After leaving these parting words, a surge of azure magic exploded from Lancelot's back. The enormous mana caused a roaring gale as Lancelot's body transformed into a streaking meteor, soaring into the sky and quickly disappearing beyond the horizon.
"She left so fast. I have to admit, that mobility is enviable," Oberon remarked, watching the meteor fade into the sky.
"Mm... she's gone." Guinevere nodded, feeling a sense of emptiness.
Just then, he felt a hand suddenly gripping his arm with force.
"She's gone, yet you seem so forlorn?"
As if a top predator was radiating intense killing intent from behind, sweat began to bead on Guinevere's forehead.
"I'm... I'm okay. I just think she's something of an interesting character."
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Guinevere spoke awkwardly.
"But, Artoria, you seem to really dislike Lancelot, don't you?"
"It's not that I hate her that much. It's just seeing that smirking face of hers makes me angry... so many expressions, changing her look with every word! So pretentious! As if no one else can do it—I can too! o(▼皿▼メ;)o?╬??д??╬?(╬￣皿￣)(╬◣д◢)!"
Guinevere: ┐('～\`;)┌
Looking at the murderous expression on Artoria's face, Guinevere ultimately dared not utter another word.
"Enough. In any case, the troublesome one is gone. Let's set out for Norwich next... Hmph! I will fulfill the Child of Prophecy role properly, so she won't underestimate me again... Ah, come to think of it, shouldn't we first go find Muirenn and give her clock a good knock?"
Just as Artoria was planning this, Oberon appeared behind her with a bright smile, one hand resting lightly on her shoulder.
"Before that, it seems we still have unfinished business to discuss. For example, that 98 million Mo-pounds—where it should go. Wouldn't you agree, Artoria?"
"Th-this... this..."
Now it was Artoria's turn to break out in a sweat.
Luckily, she had already prepared a line of reasoning about where that 98 million had gone:
"Actually! I didn't squander those 98 million Mo-pounds at all. Think about it—all this is magic-infused currency. And in Merlin's magic, there happens to be an incredibly wondrous transmutation spell that can convert this magic-infused currency straight into power... So, I just used Merlin's magic to turn all that money into Guinevere's strength!"
"Ah?" Guinevere was momentarily stunned, then nodded along. "If you put it that way, I do feel my physical abilities suddenly strengthened a lot..."
However, as he spoke, he cautiously glanced at Oberon, only to see Oberon's expression rapidly darken.
"A!r!t!o!r!i!a! At a time like this, you still dare to tell such lies, huh?!"
"Do you really treat Merlin's magic as a universal excuse, you jerk?!"
"If I don't beat you senseless for three days, heads will roll?! Even now, you're thinking of lies to fool me?!"
Oberon was practically roaring by now.
"No, wait, Oberon, calm down!"
Seeing Oberon raise even a feather duster in rage, Guinevere hurried to intervene, while Artoria had already been frightened into fleeing, clutching her head.
As she dodged Oberon's feather duster, Artoria wailed, clutching her head:
"Why was I seen through?!"