"It's nothing... I just found it surprising that there seem to be quite a few body-possessing transmigrators," Merlin smiled faintly, then looked up toward the front of the hall and casually changed the subject.
"Oh, has the person been brought in?", Artoria followed his gaze and saw a gray-robed girl led into the hall by Agravain.
"Hoh! This child is actually quite special," At the sight of Gray's face, Merlin narrowed his eyes slightly, his tone full of surprise.
This girl named Gray did indeed resemble Morgan le Fay.
But, it was not just Morgan she resembled; she also looked a lot like a young Artoria.
Not only her face, but her magical circuit was very similar to the young Lily's.
As they spoke, Gray respectfully bowed toward Artoria's direction.
"She's a very polite child."
Merlin smiled softly, "Judging by your clothes... are you also from the Clock Tower?"
"Yes."
The girl answered, and instinctively glanced up. Her heart seemed to skip a beat.
At the far end of the dais, wearing a crown, the noble and beautiful Arthur sat quietly on the throne, and beside her stood a man in a mage's robe.
Though it was only a brief glance, a name immediately surfaced in Gray's mind.
'Merlin!'
The legendary quasi-Grand Caster, the court mage of Britain.
She had not expected, within a single day, to have seen two Round Table knights and Britain's Arthur... and now even Merlin had appeared.
At that moment her thoughts were tangled: part joy, part worry.
The joy was at seeing the Arthur who existed only in legend, and the worry was that she did not know what fate awaited her.
"Gray, right? Judging by your outfit, you must have come here as a body-possessor?", A majestic female voice came from the dais.
She looked down at the girl and asked slowly, "Have you ever seen Morgan le Fay?"
'Morgan le Fay?'
The girl was stunned for a moment, then her mind raced and she soon remembered the witch called the Lady of the Lake.
She shook her head gently, "I only just transmigrated to this world not long ago, and after that I was brought here, so I have not seen the person you mentioned."
Artoria glanced at Agravain as if asking for confirmation.
He pressed a hand to his chest and replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, I believe she is not lying. Both Gawain and I can vouch for this."
'So she only simply looks like the royal sister?'
Artoria asked again, "How many transmigrators are there in the Clock Tower?"
As she spoke, her gaze calmly fixed on the girl.
Under that calm and authoritative look from the dais, Gray's deer-like eyes flickered with panic. She lowered her head slightly and said, "Sorry, I, I don't really know... I just arrived."
"Do you know Reines?", Merlin suddenly asked with a smile.
Gray was taken aback for a moment. A few seconds later her expression shifted subtly, but she quickly covered it.
"Why do you suddenly mention her?"
Merlin smiled, "Because my clairvoyance just saw a girl, and from the way her companion addressed her, it sounded like Reines."
Gray's eyes flickered. She murmured to herself, "Reines also transmigrated?"
'And Merlin said Reines's "companion"... could Alvin have come as well?'
Gray had always been somewhat withdrawn in real life, with few friends.
When Alvin first greeted her in the past, Gray, who was a bit socially anxious, was resistant to him.
But as they got to know each other, she unconsciously let down her guard.
Now they could at least be considered fairly good friends.
'I wonder what he is doing now,' Gray's mind wandered through such thoughts when Merlin's voice sounded nearby.
He pressed a hand to his chest and said, "Your Majesty, why not leave this to me? I will handle these transmigrators properly."
Artoria glanced at Merlin with mild surprise, "How rare, you offering to help voluntarily."
Merlin, in Camelot, was famously lax and unreliable.
It was indeed rare for him to volunteer help.
For a moment, Artoria's eyes took on a deeper meaning.
"I stay in the Tower too long, I occasionally want to go out and take a walk... is that all right, Your Majesty?", Merlin smiled.
Artoria nodded silently.
Then she looked at the gray-robed girl below and said, "Gray, you should rest in the palace for now. After we confirm your identity, I will have someone escort you out of the palace."
Gray lifted her eyes and cautiously peeked at the golden-haired woman on the dais. She opened her mouth as if to speak further but held back.
She had heard the transmigrators captured recently were mostly held in interrogation rooms... staying in the palace was a kind of soft confinement, but still better than the cold interrogation cells.
"Agravain, escort her to rest."
Hearing Artoria's order, Agravain first bowed, then came to Gray's side and said in a low voice, "Come with me."
Merlin watched them leave with a smile, "Your Majesty, shall I head into the city then?"
When Artoria slightly nodded, Merlin gave an elegant bow, then turned and dissolved into countless pink petals, vanishing from the hall.
Artoria remained motionless in the throne hall.
Her assistant handed her a cup of warm tea.
She sipped it and looked thoughtful.
'The Merlin of old has rarely been so concerned about anything.'
'Also, his reaction while using the clairvoyant eye earlier has been odd...'
Artoria set the cup on the fine redwood table, then tilted her head toward the assistant.
"Prepare things."
"I'm going out of the palace for a while."
———
In Camelot Palace, in a small cramped room, a young man and woman sat facing each other.
Alvin stood and walked to the windowsill, looking out toward the palace.
The old European white buildings glowed warm gold in the sunlight, solemn and sacred.
It was now afternoon. People passed on the streets, and knights patrolled, inspecting transmigrators.
Behind him, the blonde girl blinked at Alvin. Though she did not speak, she clearly looked astonished.
"Who did you say you wanted to ask Arthur to listen to?"
After a long moment, the girl massaged her forehead and sighed wordlessly, "Alvin, am I dreaming or mishearing? Did you just say to have Merlin persuade Arthur?"
If she had not pinched her thigh hard enough to feel a sting, Reines might have thought she was hallucinating.
Merlin Ambrosius. That name meant "eternal."
He was the greatest mage in Arthurian legend, Arthur's teacher, a human-nightmare hybrid.
In legend, he witnessed Camelot's rise and fall. He was not only Britain's court mage but also the king's guide and prophet.
If such a person stepped in to persuade Arthur, that would surely be effective.
'But Merlin is a Camelot native. Why would he help an outsider like you?'
Although Alvin seemed unreliable back at the Clock Tower, Reines was surprised he could imagine something so far-fetched.
Sensing Reines's surprise, Alvin snapped out of his thoughts and asked, "What's up?"
Reines's mouth twitched, "Are you pretending to be dumb or serious? Merlin is Arthur's teacher. How could he possibly help us transmigrators?"
"And even if Merlin did try, Arthur might not listen. In the Arthurian legend, Arthur and Merlin had already broken ties in the end."
"Broken ties?", Alvin blinked, "Is that recorded in the Arthur legend?"
"You don't know?", Reines looked at him oddly, "At first Arthur respected his teacher greatly, but Merlin pushed the events leading to the White Dragon's death. In that battle, Arthur's lover, the Watchman, died in Merlin's arms."
For some reason Alvin suddenly went still for a long time, like a statue, lost in deep thought.
"Could the worldline have shifted?", he muttered with a teasing tone.
In Alvin's memory, the Arthur legend did not record a falling-out between Arthur and Merlin, 'Has the worldline changed?'
Because the story Reines described matched exactly the plot of the Type-Moon game Alvin played.
"You never go to the library, so how do you not know such important history?", Reines scolded, half exasperated, "How did you even pass last semester's history elective?"
Reines's words hardly registered with Alvin. He was fully lost in his own world.
If all this was not an illusion, then the game's plot clearly affected the worldline.
At that moment Alvin's eyes flickered, hard to tell if it was shock or something else.
"Alvin? Alvin?"
After a long silence, the girl waved her hand in front of him and brought him back.
"You okay?"
"Fine, I just remembered something."
Alvin smiled, "Don't worry. Arthur is probably wary of Merlin because of certain warnings. But on the whole she might still consider Merlin's reasonable suggestions."
'Take care of yourself, eat more, and... don't trust Merlin.'
Those were Alvin's three warnings before he died. From Reines's words, Artoria had clearly taken them to heart.
"You don't even know the Arthur legend. How can you be sure Arthur will listen to Merlin?"
Reines rolled her eyes, "Also... even if Arthur would listen, where are we supposed to find Merlin?"
The legendary great mage, a Grand Caster, is someone even Clock Tower elders treat with respect.
Not just Reines, even Alvin's proud uncle Kenneth would not dare be lax before Merlin.
If a Clock Tower lord had descended into Camelot and could stand toe to toe with the Round Table knights, that would be one thing.
But against Merlin, most transmigrators would lack the courage to confront him.
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