"Mordred, are they still fighting?"
Twenty-four hours had passed. The "clanging of steel" below New Camelot City had grown so steady it almost sounded rhythmic.
A closer look at the supposedly exhausted combatants would reveal smiles on both their faces, clearly lost in the thrill of battle.
On the city walls, Mordred was the only knight who had remained to watch the entire duel, reminiscing about the days she had trained under Guinevere.
Just then, Lancelot brought her lunch. After a quick glance to confirm the dishes were decent, she nodded to him and leaped directly off the wall.
A heavy thud echoed as dust billowed into the air, causing Guinevere and Gawain to momentarily halt their battle and turn to look.
In their eyes, the short Mordred, clad in armor and wearing a horned helmet, slowly approached, carrying a lunch basket.
As Mordred drew closer, her heart pounded faster, the urge to throw herself into her "Queen Mother's" arms becoming almost unbearable.
But she was a big kid now; acting like a spoiled child would be too embarrassing. Besides, she hadn't figured out how to tell her story. She felt she had disappointed her Father and Queen Mother, yet she couldn't bear to see the actual disappointment on their faces.
Courage, fear, and a whirlwind of other emotions...
When she was close enough, Mordred managed to steady herself. She looked at Guinevere, whose expression was just as complex, and said, "Other Father, let's eat first. You can fight again after you've eaten."
At that moment, Guinevere didn't yet know that the Mordred before her was her child. She sheathed her sword, took the lunch basket, and for a moment, didn't know how to respond.
So, she simply handed the basket to the equally hungry Gawain and, to Mordred's astonishment, pulled her into a tight embrace.
"I'm sorry, Mordred."
Guinevere's arms tightened around Mordred, their armor scraping together with a harsh kzzzt sound.
Just as Mordred felt she had failed to live up to expectations, Guinevere and her Lia also harbored deep remorse toward her.
Leaving the kingdom in her hands was one thing—that had been Mordred's own wish.
But after she took the throne and led the kingdom into a golden age, Guinevere and Lia had begun traveling the world. By the time they returned to Great Britain in their old age, everything was already over.
"Mordred, we're the ones who wronged you."
Golden strands of hair brushed against Mordred's neck, and Guinevere unexpectedly felt the urge to cry.
As she struggled to hold back, tears welled up in the corners of the eyes of this body she was using—the body that had originally belonged to Lia.
A few seconds later, Guinevere realized what was happening. Having found some release for her emotions, she quickly let go of Mordred, turned away, and wiped the tears that had already streamed down her face.
"Sorry, I lost my composure. This Camelot isn't like the one in Great Britain... the wind and sand are too strong here."
In her past life, Mordred had never seen Guinevere cry. Hearing her apologize for the third time, she felt an overwhelming impulse to remove her helmet right then and there and confess that she was the one who should be sorry.
But it was noon, and they were outside New Camelot City—hardly the right place for a mother and daughter to reconcile.
Gawain and Lancelot saw Guinevere's expression, and their hearts churned with an indescribable mix of emotions.
"Miss Ruler, why don't you join us? Please, stop talking about destroying your other self."
"That's impossible."
Wiping away her tears, Guinevere felt her spirits lift. She bounced on the spot, preparing herself for a combined assault from Gawain and Mordred.
Though she could tell Mordred had no will to fight. Her back was turned, and her shoulders trembled as if she were genuinely sobbing.
"Um, are you okay? I understand your Father never held you, but you don't need to be this emotional about it, do you?"
The moment Guinevere finished speaking, Mordred spun around. Guinevere felt a fierce glare pierce her.
Then, without another word, Mordred turned and headed back to the city. But her heart was now set on helping Guinevere.
For now, however, her blessing was more of a hindrance.
"Miss Ruler, you should eat first. These are rations Mash and the others brought from Chaldea."
Outside the city gates, Gawain was already eating. Bedivere, who had taken a nap in a tent and was now wide awake, was handing her the food.
Hearing Bedivere mention Chaldea and seeing his awkward expression, Guinevere turned around. She saw that the three from Chaldea had indeed arrived and were cooking with the refugees who had gathered nearby.
Some refugees came because they were unaware of the Holy Selection; others came despite knowing about it. Outside New Camelot, life in the other regions of this Singularity—aside from the desert ruled by the Sun King—was growing harder by the day.
Even for a one-in-a-thousand chance, many were willing to gamble on being the lucky ones.
Guinevere turned away, not taking the food Bedivere offered. Instead, she suggested, "If you have a moment, why don't you try talking to Gawain? Ask him if he's still meant to be the executioner."
Before Guinevere could even reach the Chaldea trio, a fierce argument erupted between Gawain and Bedivere.
Though Bedivere knew he was no match, he drew his sword on Gawain, who had barely taken two bites of his meal.
The clash of steel rang out. Bedivere was quickly forced onto the defensive, but fortunately, Gawain's guilt held him back. He couldn't bring himself to strike a killing blow.
"Hey," Guinevere called out to the Chaldea members. "How did you all get here so fast?"
"The Sun King provided us with a massive amount of materials, and Da Vinci-chan built us a vehicle," Mash explained. "Speaking of which, aren't you their king too? Didn't a single one of them want to follow you?"
Mash had lived in Chaldea since her creation. As an artificial human, she didn't quite grasp the nuances of human social etiquette and often spoke with a blunt, unintentionally sharp tongue.
See? Guinevere was stunned speechless by her words, overcome with the urge to pull Mash over her knee and spank her soundly.
And so, Guinevere actually did it. She ambushed Mash, pinning her down and delivering a firm slap to the unarmored curve of her backside. Leaving a clear handprint, Guinevere felt instantly refreshed.
"What are you looking at?" she declared, turning to the orange-haired girl. "Even if Mash doesn't know the true name of the Servant she's channeling, she should at least know she's borrowing the power of a Knight of Camelot, right? As the King of Camelot, what's wrong with me punishing a knight who spoke disrespectfully to her king? If you're so bothered, orange-haired girl, you can go ahead and slap Mash's butt yourself!"
After fighting for twenty-four hours straight, Guinevere's muscles still ached as she sat down. Her body's endurance stat wasn't high; she had pushed through mainly by losing herself in the battle, becoming oblivious to fatigue.
Gawain, without the cover of night, was invulnerable. Guinevere could suppress him with her sword skills, but in a normal state, she couldn't truly defeat him.
The reason she hadn't unleashed her Second Noble Phantasm? That was Guinevere's personal indulgence. Having finally reunited with them—even if they weren't the versions from her world—she couldn't bear to fight them to the death right after meeting them again.
They still had some time.
"Whoa, you actually went and slapped Mash's butt?"
Shortly after Guinevere sat down, the girl named Ritsuka sprang into action. She lunged at Mash, trying to cover Guinevere's handprint with her own.
They had arrived too late. They hadn't witnessed the aftermath of yesterday's Holy Selection—the fields of corpses already cleared away by the Enforcement Knights. If they had, they certainly wouldn't be in the mood for such antics.
But judging by the sky, today's Holy Selection was fast approaching.
"Hey, listen up," Guinevere said, her tone suddenly serious. "I need your help. I'm planning a surprise attack on the Lion King."
If it could be written on her status sheet, Guinevere would undoubtedly have a special attack bonus against the Round Table Knights. But she wasn't arrogant enough to charge the Lion King head-on with just Bedivere while Gawain and the others were watching.
Now, with Mash and Da Vinci-chan—two more 'Servants'—on their side, Guinevere felt they might just have a chance.