"Oh! At long last, I've found it!"
As the forest mist cleared and a majestic fortress revealed itself, King Clarice ran forward in a fit of excitement, forgetting even the stabbing pain of his broken ribs.
"There is no doubt! This is the lair of the fairy Maduan! Hold on, Lidoine! My dear friend Laris! Clarice has come to rescue you!!"
He pounded roughly on the castle gates, and before long, the heavy doors swung open to reveal a maid.
Neat in appearance yet exuding a chilling aura, she introduced herself as Linette.
"This is not the castle of some vulgar fairy who kidnaps other people's wives or friends. This is the stronghold of Lady Laodin, the true lord and fairy who rules these lands," Linette replied, her voice calm and firm.
"L-Laodin? Ah, my apologies. I've committed a grave discourtesy."
Clarice apologized hastily, yet he could not quite shake the suspicion from his eyes.
"However, I have heard that fairies are cunning creatures prone to lies. Even if it is rude, I must insist on searching the castle to ensure Maduan is truly not here!"
Linette remained silent for a moment, then opened the doors wide and ushered the party inside.
In the courtyard, dozens of armed soldiers and servants stood in formation, their expressions grim.
At the center stood a beautiful, dignified woman in a dress as black as the midnight sky—Laodin. She looked down at them with a frigid gaze.
The moment her brow furrowed slightly, the soldiers simultaneously leveled their spears at Kay's group.
"A trap!!"
Clarice urgently drew his broken sword, taking up a combat stance alongside Sir Sagremore.
However, Kay stepped in front of them, walking toward Laodin with a lazy, nonchalant stride.
"Hey there, madam. No need to be so hasty with the spears. By any chance, do you know a guy named Esclados? Big fellow, swings a ridiculously oversized greatsword?"
"...He is my husband," Laodin's voice sank, cold as a frozen lake.
"And I am the true mistress of the Barantong Well, which he guarded. You murderers who dared evaporate the well—the very lifeblood of this forest—and cruelly slay my husband... I shall take your heads and offer them upon his altar."
At Laodin's blood-boiling command, the soldiers prepared to surge forward.
But Kay didn't even blink; he simply clicked his tongue.
"Now, now, ma'am. Let's get the facts straight. Slay him? Let me correct you. I did beat your husband like a punching bag, smashed his armor, and knocked him unconscious, but I had absolutely no intention of killing him. I swear on my life, I didn't land the finishing blow."
"What nonsense...!"
"I'm serious! It wasn't me who dropped a bolt of scarlet lightning directly onto your husband's head and turned him into a charcoal briquette—it was your precious Barantong Well. The thing got pissed off and team-killed its own guardian. If anything, since I'm the one who evaporated that crazy spring, you could say we actually avenged your husband. Right?"
Stunned by Kay's brazen and mind-boggling logic, Laodin trembled, completely speechless.
"Uncle is telling the truth."
Just then, Gareth interjected, observing the scene with a fake, painted-on smile while holding Mordred in her arms.
"Uncle's strikes were not lethal. While Artoria X Alter can manipulate red lightning, she cannot call it down from the heavens. As a fairy possessing the Mystic Eye, surely you can tell he isn't lying?"
Faced with Gareth's chillingly dry delivery of the facts, Laodin's lips merely quivered.
She instinctively felt that the man before her had subdued her husband bare-handed, and she could feel the overwhelming magical pressure radiating from Artoria X and Artoria X Alter standing behind him.
She realized that if she attempted to use force now, her domain would simply be reduced to rubble. Victory was impossible.
"...Lower your weapons," Laodin commanded in a bitter tone.
As the soldiers lowered their spears, she suppressed her rage and forced an elegant smile.
"Maduan is not here, but you must be exhausted from wandering the deep forest. Please, recover your strength in my castle. I shall have the servants prepare meals and rooms for you."
As she turned away, Laodin cast a secretive glance toward Kay.
"And Sir Kay, was it? I have... matters to discuss with you in private. Please, come to my chambers."
A short while later, inside Laodin's lavish private room, lit only by the soft glow of candles.
Laodin, having daringly loosened the neckline of her dress to reveal her collarbones, approached Kay with a glass of wine and whispered in a sultry voice.
"Sir Kay. I was truly impressed by your overwhelming power. Though the well is gone, the ley lines of Brocéliande still hold immense value."
She placed a hand on Kay's broad chest, beginning her seduction.
"Furthermore, hidden deep in the northern reaches of this forest lies the Fountain of Youth. If your strength and my magic were combined, we could seize that fountain as well and enjoy eternal youth and power. What do you say? Would you like to become... my new husband?"
It was a brazen, sensual proposal—offering herself to the man who had thrashed her husband less than half a day after his death.
From a lord's perspective, it was a rational choice. Esclados, the guardian of both the well and the territory, was gone.
With the well vanished, she needed a new source of power, and Kay, the man who had defeated Esclados, was the perfect candidate.
It wasn't that she hadn't loved Esclados. She had. But power and her domain were far more important.
However, Kay brushed her seductive hand away as if swatting a fly and snorted.
"Ha, sorry, but I'll pass."
"...Oh? Am I not to your liking?"
"You're pretty, ma'am, but I can't stand women who are so fickle they latch onto another man the second their husband kicks the bucket. Besides... I've already got way too many women to look after."
Kay stretched his arms back, and Artoria X and Artoria X Alter, who had been peeking from behind the heavy curtains, grumbled as they stepped out. Kay deftly hooked them by their waists, pulling both sisters into a tight embrace.
"See? I've got these two clingy idiots glued to me front and back. You think I have time to fool around with you?"
"My? Big brother, 'clingy idiots glued front and back'? Are you judging us by our chest size now?" Artoria X pouted, lightly pinching Kay's chest.
"And you say you dislike women with 'fickle backsides.' Does that imply ours are heavy? I am curious if that is a figurative or literal observation." Artoria X Alter added, pushing up her glasses with a dissatisfied glare.
Leaving a stunned and rejected Laodin behind, Kay laughed as he walked out of the room with the two sisters tucked under his arms.
"Hey, since you two are light up top, you've gotta be heavy in the rear to keep the balance, right?"
"You...! Big brother, really!! You're being way too mean today!"
Just as Artoria X tried to wriggle out of his grip in a genuine huff, Kay's large, rough hand firmly squeezed her backside.
"Hieek?!"
Artoria X's face instantly turned tomato-red, her eyes shimmering with a mix of panic and anticipation.
"...Light? Not at all. Quite plump and heavy. I wonder why you're all built for easy childbirth? Maybe it's because you eat so well?"
As Artoria X floundered in embarrassment at the mischievous joke, Artoria X Alter quietly guided Kay's other hand toward her own backside.
"...Um, big brother. According to the universal law of fairness, shouldn't you measure my mass as well?"
"Good grief, you two are something else."
Kay chuckled and gave Artoria X Alter's backside a light squeeze as well.
"Perhaps it's because you had that red eel soup today, but your physical affection is much more daring than usual. Should we... look forward to tonight?" Artoria X looked up at him, cheeks flushed and eyes full of expectation.
"Well, if I have time. It's been a while—maybe the three of us should get a room and have some cozy time."
The three of them strolled down the corridor, radiating a thick, affectionate atmosphere.
Behind them, Gareth—still holding Mordred and silently watching the entire sequence—tilted her head in confusion.
...Uncle really loves women.
Gareth, wanting to be useful to her uncle, began to ponder deeply with blank eyes.
Should I also stick out my backside like them to make Uncle happy? Or... would he praise me more if I kidnapped some other pretty women and tossed them into his bed?
Sir Gareth's warped moral compass was learning from Kay's eccentric displays of affection in a grotesque direction, foretelling another disastrous future.
Beside her, Fou felt a gaze watching them from afar.
Unlike Merlin's observation, this was a remote sense powered by a different kind of mystery. When Fou turned around, the gaze vanished.
Meanwhile, in the deepest northern reaches of the forest, far from the walls of Randcuke Castle.
In a gloomy place where reality and illusion overlapped—the Valley of Despair, also known as the Valley of No Return.
There, Clarice's wife, Lidoine, and his comrade, Laris, lay unconscious and bound by magical chains, their faces etched with despair.
Before them, the fairy Maduan, her eyes shimmering with the green light of the forest, hovered in the air, fuming with annoyance.
"Damn it! Damn it all!! I can't believe that backwater king from Spain tracked me all the way to Brocéliande! I still need so much more time to use Lidoine as a sacrifice and create a garden where Laris and I can be together forever!"
As Maduan vented her frustrations, a quiet voice echoed from a corner of the cave.
"Don't make such a fuss, Maduan. This is simply because you are still inexperienced, isn't it?"
Stepping out of the darkness was a girl wearing a wide-brimmed witch's hat.
"Ah, my apologies. I just got carried away... The tasks you assigned are all complete, though the garden's completion has been delayed."
"Hehe, thank you, Maduan. I'll help you in return. After all, if you receive something, you must give something back, right?"
"Yes! Ah, no matter the form, you are always so beautiful. To have such a radiant teacher assist me... I, Maduan, am truly overjoyed!"
"Oh, please. We've known each other for a long time."
Her name was Tonerico.
========================
The website for reading paid chapters is available on my Patreon. The number of chapters on Patreon: 135
Link: patreon.com/UltraMagnus_T