I, Guinevere, am going to crush you, you curry stick, today!

The air flowed in silence, and the child with half a tooth pouted, crying in another sense...

P.S.: Two singles, three Kiritsugu, one Archer and two Archers... Damn Emiya family!

Qingbai, who still tries his best to write even after the ship sinks, is a cautionary tale of bad luck!

By the way, yesterday's recommendation votes finally dropped below 300, reaching 292, successfully achieving the lowest number since the book started with an update. The same goes for favorites, but the recommendation votes only increased by 30 in one day... It seems that there really is no need to add extra chapters this month.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Young Girl

The downpour continued unabated, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. Even under the shade of a large, leafy tree, the two were still soaked to the bone. But compared to the glimpse of the scene they had been anticipating all the way here, Guinevere's attention was entirely elsewhere. She pulled her cloak tighter around herself—to keep the icy rain from seeping into her clothes—and stood beside Artoria, watching her seemingly communicating with the air.

Oh, the idea of ​​communicating with the air might lead some uninformed people to think that Artoria's brain was fried by the rain, or that she finally created her own air friend after a long period of loneliness. For the sake of the reputation of a certain future Knight King, Guinevere felt that she needed to correct her inner monologue.

To be precise, the person Artoria was talking to was not air, nor was it a "little friend" or "little buddy." Although she couldn't see it, according to Artoria's description, the other person should be a girl who was about five or six years old and dressed in rags.

Just as only she could see the enormous bone bird before, Guinevere neither heard the crying nor saw the young girl standing before Artoria, seemingly talking and doing something. To be honest, this feeling wasn't pleasant; it was as if a distance had grown between them, but there was nothing she could do about it.

I think I've become a bit sentimental lately...

Suppressing a deep-seated annoyance, Guinevere began to try to sketch out a rough outline of the girl. Since Artoria had just given a brief description of the girl's appearance and clothing, it wasn't too difficult to imagine it:

A head of messy, dull purple hair.

The eyes were bright red, as if flowing with blood.

She was emaciated, barely clothed, wearing only a tattered garment whose original color was indistinguishable. It seemed not to belong to her, being several sizes too large, with the hem dragging on the ground. More importantly, the girl's body—including her clothes—was covered in spots of blood, some dried and dark red, others still congealed as if freshly applied.

Finally, he added, "I'm missing half a tooth."

Did you knock it over by eating something hard?

Guinevere tilted her head, quite puzzled. But more than the appearance of a young girl, she was concerned about something else. With a slight thought, the wind mark on the back of her hand quietly appeared, and at the same time, through that mysterious connection, she once again sensed that aura that seemed to be another Nine Witch mark.

"really……"

She sighed, her gaze falling on Artoria, where the purple-haired, red-eyed girl should have been. Apart from the pouring rain, there was nothing else in her field of vision, but the Nine Witches' aura was clearly there.

So close at hand—

……

And on the other side.

"Sister, you're bad..."

With a pout, her hoarse voice echoed through the wind and rain. But upon closer inspection, one could still discern a hint of girlish innocence within that hoarseness. Artoria half-squatted down, reached out and brushed aside the long purple hair that obscured the other's features, carefully examining the missing canine tooth: "Don't worry."

"No...it won't fall?" The little girl seemed relieved.

"It will fall."

"Cough, cough cough cough cough!" He had barely managed to catch his breath when Artoria's reply made him choke again: "Then, you still want me to... not worry!"

"At least you only lost one tooth."

Just moments before, when the little girl opened her mouth to bite, Artoria had indeed felt the threat of death. However, what puzzled Artoria was that even in that instant, she hadn't sensed any murderous intent or hostility from the other girl. It was precisely because of this that, after using magic to strengthen her skin and knock out half of the little girl's tooth, she didn't immediately retaliate. Instead, she tried to see if there was any possibility of communication.

If the other party intended to kill her, or if they were forced to fight each other due to their positions or other reasons, she would not hesitate to draw her sword. But the person in front of her was only a thin child of five or six years old, and did not seem to really want to take her life. After her initial attack failed, the child cried pitifully, as if she had done something terribly wrong.

What's even stranger is that the child stood in the rain, yet there wasn't a single drop of water on her body, as if the rainwater simply passed right through her... For a moment, Artoria remembered Merlin's mention of ghosts, those intangible beings that seemed to achieve a similar effect. But no matter how she looked at it, the child's entire body was solid from head to toe, without any of the transparent and illusory signs that ghosts would inevitably possess.

Unfortunately, Fina couldn't see the child for some reason; otherwise, she could have thought of a solution. Artoria looked at the still-crying little girl. With her innate, excellent intuition, she could sense others' emotions to some extent—joy, sorrow, worries, and so on—but…

"What's your name?"

After a moment's thought, Artoria finally uttered this simple question.

The girl was taken aback: "Name...?" She spoke haltingly, whether due to a physical problem or because she wasn't used to speaking like this, the bloodstains on her teeth were particularly glaring: "I know... everything has a name, and I have one too, but... I've never used it. So... I need to think about it."

"Sure, take your time thinking about it."

After that, there was a moment of silence. Suddenly, the rain all around stopped. As if sensing something, Artoria turned her head and saw Guinevere also approaching, shaking a large cloth in her hand twice before unfolding it and covering the two of them. Large raindrops pattered against the cloth: "Is Ete alright in this heavy rain?"

"Hmm..." After a moment's hesitation, Artoria shook her head: "It should be fine. It's smart; it knows to find a place to shelter from the rain."

"Hearing you praise it so much, I almost thought this horse had become a spirit."

"Become a spirit?"

"It means turning into a spirit... a monster."

“That’s impossible. Aite is just an ordinary horse; neither of her parents has any demon blood.” As she corrected her, for some reason, Guinevere let out a soft sigh.

"That's just cultural difference. Never mind, you and that...that..." Unable to find a good pronoun, she simply gestured forward with her lip: "How's the communication going?"

“Fenna, that’s very rude,” Artoria cautioned. Guinevere nodded dismissively. “So, what’s wrong? Hello, little girl, can you see me—”

She waved ahead as she spoke. But the little girl seemed lost in thought, biting her finger and not responding. Guinevere waited a moment, then turned to look at her: "Did she say anything?"

"No."

"How rude." As if just to say this, Guinevere wrinkled her nose and made a face at the little girl. Just then, the girl looked up and glanced in their direction. Guinevere's face was still up when Artoria, feeling helpless, was about to speak when she suddenly noticed something and froze.

The little girl stammered, "I remember now. My name is Ni... Ni... Nimiao. And you, sister, what's your name? Why are you... all alone here?"

In those blood-red eyes, there was no rain, no Guinevere; the only thing present was Artoria's solitary figure...

P.S.: Theoretically, there is one more chapter.

Chapter Forty: Inside and Outside the Woods

"The girl said her name was...Nimia?"

Amidst torrential rain, lightning, and thunder, the two walked out of the woods. This time, without any markers to guide them, the responsibility of leading the way naturally fell to Artoria. Worried about the old horse left outside, she walked faster than usual. Guinevere jogged along, barely keeping up, but didn't bother to find any shelter from the wind and rain.

They walked while exchanging information at a rapid pace. Hearing the name from Artoria, Guinevere couldn't help but pause, and the former didn't miss her reaction: "Yes, what, Fina, you've heard of this name?"

"I've heard of her more than once!" Guinevere blurted out, deeply impressed by the name Nemü. "I've even placed several orders for her... but I've never actually received anything!"

"What?"

"Oh, ah, it's nothing, it's nothing. I mean, I have indeed heard this name before. Where did I hear it..." She tried hard to banish the content of a certain mobile game from her mind. Since Nemia appeared in that game, it meant that this character—most likely—was from the Arthurian legend. But because of her initial impression, no matter how Guinevere tried to recall, all that surfaced were the tragedies caused by her obsession with gacha pulls. Luck couldn't save her, and spending money couldn't change her fate—a lifetime of bitter tears...

You can't really blame her for this.

Fifteen years have passed. It's not easy to recall the origins and background of a character from a mobile game in a short time! Not to mention that she never even got to draw this girl in the first place!

Heaven knows how those time-traveling protagonists with photographic memories are brainy. She still remembers a web novel she read in her previous life that took her to the early Tang Dynasty. Several years had passed in the book, but the protagonist could still recite the entire Romance of the Three Kingdoms fluently without missing a single word... Normal people wouldn't bother memorizing such a massive text if they didn't time travel.

Anyway... if anyone's to blame, it's that God didn't give me a cheat code when I transmigrated.

It's definitely not because I'm too stupid.

Absolutely not!

……

Fina was lost in her own thoughts again.

Without needing to ask directly, just noticing her shifting expressions out of the corner of her eye, Artoria sighed softly to herself. She had tried to correct the other's habit of getting lost in thought regardless of the situation, but unfortunately, Fina brushed her off twice out of three times. The last time, not only did she fail to bring the other back to reality, she also got caught up in Fina's ramblings.

At first, it didn't seem like much, but the more she heard it, the more she felt something was off. No matter how magical Scotland was, the scenes Fina described were just too unbelievable, yet her tone and expression didn't seem like she was lying...

This is currently a minor but persistent question in Artoria's mind. Occasionally, she might speculate that the hometown Fina speaks of isn't actually Scotland, but another, more wondrous place, perhaps even more in line with the common definition of paradise than the legendary Avalon—after all, according to Merlin, Avalon only has an endless supply of apples and other fruits, while Fina's hometown boasts countless delicacies, enough to last a lifetime.

Isn't this the paradise that everyone dreams of... at least it's what she dreams of!

“Ah…ah…Tori…”

The gentle call in her ear pulled Artoria back from her wandering thoughts. When the girl asked her questions, she didn't use the alias Artos, but instead used her real name. There were various considerations behind this, but the most important was that the girl called her "sister" instead of "brother" upon meeting her—and even more thankfully, not "uncle"—meaning that her male disguise hadn't served any purpose in concealing her identity.

When I casually asked her about it, the little girl named Nimiao answered without hesitation: "Because...it smells so good! It seems so delicious...so, it's the older sister!"

Artoria didn't quite understand at first when she thought of describing a girl as "delicious," but then she remembered that her adoptive brother had once said something similar to a girl in a neighboring town, such as "You're so cute that I want to eat you right here." Although she didn't understand what Kai meant by "eat," judging from how the girl blushed with embarrassment at the time, it probably wasn't a bad thing to say—of course, given Kai's character, it probably wasn't a good thing to say either.

At this point, Nimiao probably meant something similar.

It can't possibly be... delicious in the literal sense, right?

"I'm here."

The young girl was being carried on her back, a posture that might look odd to an outsider, but with the blue cloth provided by Fina covering it, it simply resembled carrying a basket. Frankly, Artoria had initially thought the cloth might be like rainwater, unable to touch Nemia, but it turned out she was overthinking it. Come to think of it, if Nemia were truly incapable of touching solid objects like a ghost, she wouldn't have broken half a tooth earlier…

At this time, for someone to appear in the depths of this eerie forest, and for the Nine Witches' aura that Fina sensed to be very likely related to them, it can be said that Nimue's whole being is strange and she is clearly not an ordinary child. But even so, it is not right to just leave a child of a few years old alone in the forest.

Not to mention the heavy rain, if they encountered wild beasts, or if monsters like the bone birds that Fina was dealing with appeared, Nemia would surely die. Therefore, after consulting Fina, Artoria decided to take this strange girl with her for the time being, until she found out her origins or found someone willing to take her in.

"I...I'm so thirsty." Her slightly hurried breath landed on her neck, but offered no warmth, only the icy chill of rain. Nimiao murmured, her small mouth slightly open, as if she might bite down at any moment, but ultimately she didn't dare to. Humans are always good at learning from experience; she didn't want to lose her last good tooth...

He stopped walking and asked, "Would you like some water?"

"water?"

Isn't there something even better to drink than water? Recalling the rabbit blood he'd recently consumed, he couldn't help but swallow hard: "I want to drink, drink..."

Just as that word was about to be uttered.

"Can't--"

The voice appeared again. For about three hundred days since I woke up, I would occasionally hear that voice, the voice of an adult woman: "Give up your current thoughts, only then can you stay by her side, until—"

"...drink sweet water."

She uttered only one sentence, and the voice vanished without a trace, just as it had appeared. Nimiao tilted her head, twirled the words on her tongue, and then changed her words.

"Sweet water..."

Remembering that Fina still had some wine left, Artoria replied, "Just bear with it a little longer. Once we leave this forest, I'll give you some sweet water..."

"understood."

After saying that, the girl couldn't help but feel confused again.

The meat was too tough to chew, and the older sister's name was too long for her to remember immediately. It seemed to be something like Atori, so she'd just call her Atori for now. Atori seemed to have said she wanted to leave this forest? She knew what leaving meant, but leaving this place… Could there be somewhere else besides this forest? She did remember that voice saying that the world was incredibly vast; even if you didn't eat or sleep and just kept walking and walking for hundreds of hundred days, you still wouldn't finish exploring it—it was that big…

She couldn't really imagine what it would be like. But... such a big place, she should be able to meet lots and lots of new friends.

Through the hazy rain, a pair of faintly visible scarlet eyes rippled with tiny waves.

Nimiao nestled on the back of "Sister Who Can't Bite" and laughed happily...

*******

At the same time, the rapid sound of hooves galloped in from beyond the heavy rain. As they drew closer, several men wearing cloaks and light armor could be seen, one in front and the rest following closely behind. Amidst the rumbling thunder, the man rode swiftly, his body trembling slightly. A series of spurts of blood from his abdomen briefly brightened the colors of the storm, but both the scalding blood and the stench of blood were washed away by the rain.

"I'm back! Is anyone home? I'm back—"

Even though he shouted, his injuries were already severe, and he had been fighting the enemy for a long time while dragging his wounded body. He had lost too much blood, and his consciousness was beginning to blur. Even with all his strength, the volume of his shouts was still not loud, and his tone was trembling uncontrollably. In such harsh conditions, they could not carry very far.

He gritted his teeth, raised his short dagger, and plunged it into the horse's body once more. The horse let out a long neigh and suddenly sped up, but it still couldn't shake off the pursuers behind it. The chaotic sound of hooves pressed in, and the distance that had been widened was gradually closed again, like the footsteps of death, slow but firm, brooking no disobedience.

It seems I'm going to die here...

At that moment, a realization dawned on him. He tugged on the reins, consciously slowing his horse. But to the pursuers behind, this slowdown looked more like the horse had finally reached its limit and was about to collapse and die on the spot. They exchanged glances, both seeing joy in their comrades' eyes. This credit was theirs—

Without prior arrangement, the group simultaneously quickened their pace, and the previously close distance between them began to loosen. The next instant, the rider and horse in front abruptly turned around, facing them, the knight gripping a long spear tightly in his hand!

"Oops..."

He only managed to utter half a cry of alarm before the man at the front passed the turning knight and was pierced through the chest, his entire body suspended in the air. With a forceful swing, the spear snapped in two with a crack, the spearhead carrying the still-breathing body whistling as it hurtled towards the other closest pursuer.

In the chaos, it was too late to dodge. With a mournful cry, both man and horse were thrown backward and crashed to the ground. A bolt of lightning and a deafening thunderclap suddenly exploded on the small battlefield. In the bright, daylight-like vision, the lower half of the second man's body was pinned under the horse. He was struggling to get out, but the knight pursed his lips tightly, raised his hand, and half of a short spear, like a shooting star, pierced through his back and pinned him to the ground!

The rider pulled on the reins, turned around, and scanned his surroundings. There were still two enemies. One held a spear in his right hand and a shield in his left, urging his horse to approach. The other dismounted a little further away, now holding a bow and arrows.

To dare to shoot an arrow in this weather must require considerable confidence. Who could it be...? The rain is pouring down, obscuring the opponent's face, but several well-known figures flash through my mind. The one wielding the spear is probably no ordinary person either, but—so what!

With a whoosh, he drew his longsword. Before his opponent could get close, he spurred his horse and charged forward. The first clash saw the sword cleave the spear; the second, the back of the sword deflected the shield; the third—

A hand was raised high, clenched into a fist. Until now, this hand had been pressed against the wound in his abdomen. Now, the entire arm was stained crimson with blood. Because the shield had been smashed open, the man's head and body were exposed. He wore a helmet, revealing only his eyes, which were filled with terror. He took a deep breath: "You thought you were going to kill me! How laughable—"

With a furious punch, water splashed everywhere. For a moment, he saw his fist strike the other man's helmet with perfect clarity. The enormous impact first dented and deformed the helmet, then the man's skin, flesh, bones, and blood. Under this punch, all organs were deforming and bursting. The air contracted for a moment, and then the figure was thrown backward, crashing into a large tree as thick as a bowl by the roadside!

"boom--"

In the midst of the torrential rain, it was impossible to tell whether it was thunder or the knight's roar. The archer, who was about to shoot an arrow, was also startled by the loud noise. His hand trembled, and although the arrow was released, it went out of bounds, passing the knight and flying towards the distant woods.

The sound was like thunder:

"I am—"

"King Arthur!"

P.S.: Actually, there really is one more chapter.