Reines was completely stunned.
As a student of the Clock Tower and the younger sister of Kayneth, this noble girl had attended many high-society gatherings and t nurous top-tier magi in the industry.
However—
In the short period of less than half a day, she had experienced transmigration, encountered the legendary Flower Mage rlin... and now, even King Arthur had appeared before her.
Was this good luck or bad luck...?
Reines couldn't tell either, but at this mont, the mont she laid eyes on the King, her brain short-circuited entirely.
Her usually sharp and bright eyes now seed hollow and her mind blank.
Her lips parted slightly, but no words ca out for a long ti.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of stunned silence, she managed to squeeze out a hoarse whisper:
"King... Arthur?"
That noble, breathtakingly beautiful face, the crown and cloak symbolizing kingship, and the faint but unmistakable aura of authority—there was no doubt. This could only be the legendary King Arthur!
"Have you t before?"
The woman's calm yet commanding voice rang out, indirectly confirming her identity.
And at that mont, Reines completely panicked.
"I—I've read about you in ancient texts at the library! And with your attire, I just... I just..."
Her brain had turned into a ss, her words stumbling and jumbling together. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't string together a coherent sentence.
If eting rlin had only left her in a daze of unreality, then Artoria's appearance had utterly shattered her composure.
In just one day, she had:
1. Transmigrated to another world.
2. Been "hunted" by the Knights of the Round Table.
3. t rlin.
4. And now, co face-to-face with the legendary King Arthur.
Reines felt like her experiences in this single day could fill a short autobiography.
Artoria tilted her head slightly, her saintly blue eyes quietly observing the golden-haired girl's flustered expression.
The afternoon sunlight stread through the window, casting a warm glow over her face, making her appear almost divine at first glance.
Then, she spoke.
"Am I... frightening?"
Hearing the woman's voice, Reines finally snapped out of her daze.
Get a hold of yourself, Reines! You're a genius of the El-lloi family, the elite of the elite. Such a loss of composure is not behavior befitting a noble.
Not to ntion, right now, you're representing the image of the transmigrators…
She took a subtle deep breath, steadying herself with ntal reassurances.
The agitation in her heart gradually settled down as she placed a hand on her chest and perford a flawless noble's curtsey.
"My apologies for my earlier rudeness, King Arthur."
"It is an honor to et you. I am Reines El-lloi Archisorte. You may simply call Reines."
Artoria's expression remained impassive as she spoke.
"It's fine. As I said, I'm not here for you."
Reines was slightly taken aback, then a small alarm rang in her mind.
When she first saw King Arthur, she had lost her composure, to the point she overlooked sothing extrely important
Just what kind of existence was the woman before her? She was the one who had slain the evil white dragon, wielded age-of-gods-level magecraft, and commanded the Knights of the Round Table—King Arthur herself.
As the ruler of the Calot Empire, she should logically be managing national affairs from within the royal palace… so why was this King Arthur here?
So why was King Arthur here?
"I'm looking for soone."
As if reading her thoughts, Artoria's lodic voice cut through the silence.
From start to finish, her tone bore no emotional fluctuations.
Ever since the day she killed the White Dragon with her own hands, the girl nad "Artoria" had thoroughly sealed away her heart.
What remained in this world now was less "Artoria," and more… a shell.
The shell of "King Arthur."
"Who... are you looking for?" Reines asked cautiously.
At the sa ti, a nervous flutter rose in her chest.
King Arthur was the Calot Empire's strongest force. For her to co in person, the target must be soone even she deed worthy of attention.
'...Had a Lord from the Clock Tower really descended?'
'Or was it a magus from another era?'
"You should have seen him. He's called rlin."
At that mont, Artoria looked up toward the staircase and murmured, "He should be in that room, right?"
rlin was an emotionless nightmare, who had never taken the initiative to involve himself in any of the Calot Empire's affairs.
Yet this ti, not only did rlin offer to help assess how many transmigrators were in Calot, he even personally volunteered to capture them.
Of all people in this world, none knew rlin better than Artoria.
She knew very well that he never took the initiative to help with anything without reason.
Not to ntion, while Calot had indeed seen an increase in transmigrators, it wasn't yet to the point of losing control.
Just what had those clairvoyant eyes of his seen, to make that usually carefree trickster act personally?
Was it her elder sister?
Or... was there sothing in that room that had caught his interest?
Artoria's eyes glinted as she began walking step by step toward the stairway.
*This is bad.*
Reines sensed danger imdiately and was just about to move forward to stop her.
After all, just as few monts ago, they had just been considering using rlin to negotiate with King Arthur, perhaps to get her to gradually accept the existence of transmigrators.
But who would've thought that so soon after, the very person they were trying to reach out to had co knocking herself?
However, before she could speak, Artoria casually cast a glance behind her.
Almost the mont her gaze t those dignified, beautiful eyes, Reines felt a bone-deep chill crawl silently up her spine.
It was as if she had been frozen in place by so sort of spell.
Just from that eye contact alone, her body was subject to so kind of pressure—an overwhelming sense of dread slowly seeped from deep within.
At one point, cold sweat drenched her back.
Her entire body was paralyzed,
She couldn't move. Couldn't speak.
All she could do was watch helplessly as Artoria walked step by step toward the door at the end of the staircase…
..
.
At the sa ti.
Downstairs, neither rlin nor Alvin had any idea what was currently happening above.
Or rather, Alvin didn't have the mind to care about anything else at the mont.
Ever since rlin brought up the dangerous topic of the "basent," Alvin had indeed started to panic a little.
And it was quite understandable.
When playing the ga, all he had to worry about was speedrunning, unlocking hidden achievents, and maxing out the heroine's affection… But in reality, he had a lot more to think about.
Although Alvin was quite proud of himself, after all, he knew Artoria quite well,
But, according to rlin and Agravain, Lily's personality had changed quite a bit… so, no one could say for sure how she would react upon seeing Alvin now.
Question: What happens when the affection level maxes out?
…Even Alvin himself didn't know the answer to that.
But one thing was certain, it probably wouldn't be anything good.
Seeing the distracted look on the boy's face, rlin couldn't help but smile with pleasure.
Ah… this feeling is just too good.
From rlin's perspective, Alvin rarely faced much trouble in the past, in fact, back then, even rlin himself had suffered a few setbacks because of him.
To now witness the other party flustered and panicking… just watching it was already imnsely satisfying.
After all, the reason rlin had hidden news of Alvin's return, and even ca here in secret, was all so he could enjoy this mont up close… and consu it as ntal nourishnt.
"Is there anything else I can help with?"
rlin soon asked with a smile.
"The order to capture transmigrators ca directly from the King herself. No one can stop it… If you really want to stop her, find a ti to et her yourself."
"…Assuming you're ntally prepared."
"You should know, she's always held a grudge over your death," rlin added.
Despite having no human emotions, Alvin could clearly hear the joking in rlin's tone.
"Your personality is really worm-tier awful, rlin."
Looking at the ever-smiling rlin, Alvin said flatly, "I'll return to the royal palace eventually, but not now… I need to be ntally prepared first."
After all, returning to the palace ant publicly announcing his return to the upper echelons of Calot.
At that point… the entire imperial leadership would probably be shaken to its core.
Until he found Morgan le Fay and confird what would happen once that countdown before him ended, Alvin had no plans to cause that kind of upheaval just yet.
"By the way, aren't you worried about getting punished later for hiding my return?" Alvin suddenly asked.
"Who do you think I am, Alvin?'
rlin gave a calm smile.
"The title 'Mage of Flowers' isn't just for show, you know."
When it ca down to it, he was her teacher, after all.
Hiding sothing from her eyes? That was child's play.
Alvin couldn't be bothered to entertain rlin's self-praise, and continued, "There is actually sothing I need your help with."
"Given our relationship, just say whatever's on your mind." rlin smiled slightly. "As long as it's not too troubleso, I'll help."
"Just a few questions." Alvin looked at him and said, "Since you ca to find , that ans you've already used your Clairvoyance, right?
So—aside from and Reines, how many transmigrators from the Clock Tower are there in total?"
rlin paused in thought, then said,
"I don't know the exact number, but in the royal capital there are probably around two to three hundred."
Two or three hundred… It didn't sound like a huge number, but considering how many students the Clock Tower had in total, that many transmigrators was already quite a lot.
"Any from other factions?" Alvin asked again.
"Yes, but I'm not sure where they're from specifically."
rlin recalled what he'd seen earlier using Clairvoyance. "There was a man using gemstone-based magecraft.
I've only seen that kind of magic once before, from a very formidable magus."
If rlin considered soone "formidable," then they really had to be powerful… so Alvin couldn't help but ask, "Who was it?"
"You probably wouldn't know him. His na is Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg—also known as the originator of gemstone magecraft."
rlin smiled. "That transmigrator using gemstone magic is probably his descendant or sothing."
Alvin froze for a mont.
After digesting rlin's words, his expression quickly turned a little strange.
Back in the days before he was transmigrated into the Type-Moon world, the na "Zelretch" only ant one thing to Alvin: 80 NP.
Yes—this old man nad Kischur had a much more familiar nickna in Alvin's previous life: "Gem Grandpa."
Although he didn't know much about him, Alvin still had a general idea that this guy was incredibly powerful.
But as for the more detailed information about Gem Grandpa, he honestly had no clue.
And the man rlin ntioned, the one who used gemstone magecraft, a possible descendant of Zelretch…
…Could it be Tokiomi Tohsaka?
Could it be that the Calot Empire had transmigrators from other ti periods as well?
Alvin's eyes flickered, and soon, an intrigued expression surfaced on his face.
If it really wasn't just the Clock Tower… and there were transmigrators from other eras too… then things just got a whole lot more interesting.
"Any other questions? If not, I've got to go."rlin's voice pulled Alvin back to the present.
"The King doesn't exactly trust right now—if I stay away from the palace too long, she might start getting suspicious."
"Do you have any news on Morgan's side?" Alvin asked an rlin couldn't help but show a helpless expression on his face. "Clairvoyance isn't all-powerful, you know. You're well aware of how skilled she is in magecraft… If she really wants to hide, no one can find her."
Morgan le Fay.
The true heir to the title of "Sovereign of the Isle" in Britain, and the dark half of the Lady of the Lake.
In all of Calot, no one could match her when it ca to magical expertise,
Morgan le Fay stood at the very pinnacle.
Seeing Alvin fall into silence, rlin grinned. "You don't have to rush, really. Maybe once she hears about your return, she'll co find you herself."
"Hmm… though, knowing that woman's awful personality, and considering how you betrayed her for Lily back then… I wonder what she'll do when she sees you again."
Alvin rolled his eyes. "If you're not going to comfort , just shut up and get lost already."
Seeing how Alvin seed increasingly stressed out, the smile on rlin's face only grew wider.
Now this—this was an amusing scene.
Coming out of the palace was clearly the right decision…
Thinking along those lines, rlin waved a hand. "Well, I'll be off then. Catch you later."
With that, he turned and headed toward the door.
But just as his hand landed on the doorknob, his expression suddenly changed, as if he'd sensed sothing—
Soone was outside the door!
"What's wrong? Don't tell you actually plan on staying for a cup of tea before leaving?"
Alvin glanced suspiciously at rlin, who stood frozen at the door, and was just about to speak again—
When suddenly, a cold and lodious voice burst through both of their minds like a thunderclap, leaving their thoughts in utter disarray, their minds blanking out in an instant.
"Not going to invite in for tea, rlin?"
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