I sat with my thoughts the whole night, returning to reality only after I noticed Artoria started her daily training just before the sun was to rise. I watched her swing her training sword, who knows how many times, her eyes always focused as if she was facing a real enemy. She trained like that for almost three hours before finally deciding to rest.
She then noticed me sitting on the tower and waved in greeting. She then quickly entered the castle, appearing by my side a few minutes later, hair still damp from washing off the dust. She sat next to me, looking at the city waking up.
-"Not going to train?"
-"Training can barely benefit me, my body can't grow through it, and my technique is mature enough to require real enemies to advance."-I shook my head.
-"Is something wrong with your body?"-She looked at my left arm.
-"It's not exactly 'wrong', more like frozen."
-"Well. I seem to be the same."-She looked down at her body that hadn't changed this past year.
-"But training for you has different meaning, am I right? It's your path of a knight and king: diligence and staying true to yourself."
She lowered her head after hearing my words.
-"Eno... Can I truly be called true to myself when I hide my true identity?"-She asked, then added silently.-"My true feelings?"
-"I don't know."-I shook my head.-"I'm also often hiding my face, not to mention my identity and origin."
My answer caused silence that lasted for an awkwardly long time.
-"Then how about making a deal?"-She suddenly asked.
-"What kind?"
-"When I'm ready to stand as Artoria, not Arthur, then you'll stand by my side, not hiding anything then, like me."-She extended her fist to me
-"Sure."-I bumped my fist with hers.
-"Breakfast?"
-"Ugh. Can I ask for something not British?"
-"You can try."
We started to ascend the tower, heading to the cafeteria.
After a quick, but definitely not small, meal, four of us gathered in the main room of the castle, waiting for important guests to arrive. Precisely on the agreed time, the doors opened, and Morgan walked in, with Scáthach and Agravain accompanying her. Both she and Scáthach had their eyes locked on me, observing me as if to see what changed after my disappearance.
-"Princess Morgan, Queen Scáthach."-Merlin greeted them.
-"Don't waste time for pleasantries, Merlin."-Morgan didn't hide her dislike for him.-"Good to see you alive Eno."
-"I'm not easy to kill."
-"We'll test that."-Scáthach smiled, but her eyes didn't hide the anger she felt.
-"Why did you call us?"-Morgan didn't waste time.
-"Few matters, but mostly about the upcoming court and the war that is about to happen."
-"Why should I follow you and listen to my dear little sister?"
-"Because if we were to fight, Britain would fall."-Artoria was direct.
-"Maybe."-Morgan never looked at her.-"What should I do, Eno?"
-"It's not my place to make decisions, but I hope we can stay united."
-"What if I were to demand the throne?"
-"I don't want to consider such a future."-I answered truthfully.
-"Sigh."-Morgan finally took her eyes off me, matching her sister's gaze.-"Sister, let's make a deal. I won't oppose you; I might even help you. In exchange, you'll give me two things."
-"What will those be?"
-"First, I'll be your Chancellor. All decisions will be made jointly by us."
-"What if we disagree on something?"
-"Then Eno will be the tiebreaker."
-"Agreeable. What else?"
-"Eno."
-"Eno is not a thing to exchange."
-"Don't interrupt me, sister. I want Eno to be given an official title as a Mage of the Court. He won't be just some other knight under you."
-"What about me?"-Merlin tried to speak up, but was ignored by the two sisters.
-"Eno would be able to utilize more of his abilities on the front line."-Artoria pushed back.
-"Abilities are one thing, recognition the other. I hope you don't want him to be some nameless knight who exists only to make you look better?"
-"I have no such desire."-She quickly denied it.-"I planned to appoint him as my Marshal, giving him oversight of the whole army."
-"Military positions won't give him recognitions of other nobles, only resentment. How about appointing him as the Chief Justiciar? This will allow him to act both in the military and in the court."
-"Good idea. Justiciar will make it easy for Eno to act."
I watched how the two of them quarreled, though I felt that they were on the same side of the argument.
-"Now that that's done, is there anything else?"
-"Yes."-I spoke up and explained what I talked about with Merlin yesterday.
After I finished, there was silence. Artoria was deep in thought, while Morgan looked at me as if meeting a kindred spirit. Even Scáthach stopped emanating her 'I'm angry' aura and thought seriously.
-"The plan is sound, but will you be able to turn people into Sankta?"-Morgan asked about logistics.
-"I'll need some preparations, but it's not impossible. Humans are quite malleable, adapting to many different powers without issues. Look at Merlin if you need an example. Law could mold Teekaz into Sankta; humans won't be a problem."
-"How will that change them?"-Artoria worried about her people.
-"Sankta, compared to humans, have two major differences. Longer lifespans and Empathy. Well, there are also changes in appearance, but that's rather obvious. If you want to feel Empathy, I can simulate it for you."
Merlin quickly disappeared, but others were interested, so I did just that. They soon sat on the chairs nearby, trying to control their emotions.
-"This is... Interesting, I guess."-Scáthach was least affected, but even she was thrown from her usual coldness.
But the most affected where Morgan and Artoria, both of them now looked at each other, a complex mix of emotions that were brought to the surface by the Empathy. Artoria could feel the care her sister had for her, but also the resentment caused by their father. Morgan, meanwhile, could feel the hope to have sisterly relationship with her, as well as the pain of the expectations and the fear of forgoing everything she was to become the 'perfect king'.
-"I always doubted the idyllic descriptions of Laterano, but after experiencing Empathy, I can understand how there can be no conflicts between Sankta."-Kay spoke after collecting himself.
-"It's not like there are no conflicts between Sankta. Just the punishments are absolute and much more severe, so people stay in line."
-"Either way, you had it hard, man."-He also understood the trouble of constantly feeling others' emotions.
-"Ugh. I won't oppose your idea, but we should implement it slowly, after we gain some leverage in the war."-Morgan finally spoke.
-"I also don't have any issue, but I hope to be first when the time comes."-Artoria spoke after calming her heart.
-"Are you sure?"
-"Yes. If my people are to be turned into Sankta, I'll be the first to set an example."
-"Right, on the subject of people, I have some people from Terra that came with me. I hope that won't be a problem."
-"Eh? Are they here?"-Artoria looked around.
-"No, they are in Azure Dream. Do you want to see them?"
-"Sure. I'd like to meet them."-Morgan narrowed her eyes.
-"What are they to you?"-Scáthach asked.
-"My subordinates, Knights and Priestesses. One of them should be counted as my lover."
My words made everyone look at me with surprise, but some eyes hid a dangerous glint in them. I quickly took everyone inside wanting to avoid the awkwardness that was about to happen.
Inside, everyone was quickly attracted by the ethereal atmosphere of this place, especially Merlin, who compared it to the place he was familiar with. Only Agravain ignored the surroundings, his eyes only on the fortress not far from us. He appraised it quickly, the light in his eyes growing with every second. I didn't take them for the scenic route, walking directly toward the fortress.
-"Can you tell me more about this fortress?"-Agravain asked as we approached the towering white walls.
-"There isn't much to it yet. It's a new building that I want to turn into my Mage tower. I have the blueprints if you are interested."
-"I definitely am."
-"Your Mage Tower?"-Morgan looked at it.-"Good idea. It looks like a solid foundation."
-"But runes alone won't be enough to construct such an enormous formation."-Scáthach started to consider the details.
-"I already worked on the formation of even greater size. Runes combined with magical circles, reinforced with Banshee writing Arts, managed to hold previously. But I decided to take it slow, create something far beyond my previous creations."
-"If you need assistance, just call me."
-"Thanks."
We entered inside, where many Sankta were moving around, keeping the place clean and working. Most of them were nuns from the Lateran Church, but Apostolic Knights were also present, guarding and patrolling the grounds. When we passed by them, nuns would kneel before me, some even starting to pray, while the Apostolic Knights would salute, taking their duty seriously.
Scáthach, Agravain, and Artoria seized up the Apostolic Knights, each focusing on different aspect. Agravain focused on their armor and equipment, already formulating plans on how to 'upgrade' his troops. Scáthach looked purely at their skills, visible from their posture and manners. In her eyes, they were solid Knights, but too dependent on their weapons.
Artoria thought purely about their professionalism and dedication. She admired the faith and regard they showed me, looking at my back while in thought. From her experience, she knew that while the faith was one thing, the respect they had for me was genuine. It was something only earned by years of hard work and proving oneself time after time.
We soon entered the central building, one inside the giant tree. This building was my residence and the core of my Magic Tower, a home I built for myself. It was big enough so that everyone close to me owned their own room here, together with training grounds, workshops for different purposes, a kitchen, and a pastry room.
When we entered the main room, Mostima and Cellinia were sitting there, playing a board game.
-"Oh, Eno?"-Mostima looked at me.-"Want to play?"
-"Maybe later. Any anomaly?"
-"Yup, it seems that the flow of time between Terra and this place is out of sync. I tried to poke around with Lock and Key, but couldn't do much."
-"Is it bad?"
-"Wouldn't call it that, just time here will pass much quicker than on Terra. But we'll need to resolve it if you want to establish a link as you did in Laterano."
-"I'll keep that in mind. Will that affect others?"
-"I already explained everything to Patrizion. He said that there won't be an issue, he'll adjust the times so that everything works smoothly."
-"If Uncle is on the top of it, then there won't be any problem."
-"Those are?"-Cellinia asked, looking at the group I brought with me.
-"Colleagues, guess. From this world."
Cellinia nodded, but her eyes never stopped watching them warily.
-"Then we need to thank you for taking care of our Holy Son."-Mostima rose up and bowed to them with courtesy.
-"It was he who helped us immensely."-Morgan quickly understood that she was facing someone close to me, most likely the lover I mentioned.-"Morgan le Fay, King Lot, and the Princess of Britain."
-"Mostima, saintes and Priestess to Holy Son of Laterano."-She returned the introduction, and looked at others.
-"Hello, I'm Merlin."-Merlin waved with a smile.
-"Agravain, knight under Princess Morgan."-Agravain saluted.
-"Kay, knight under King Arthur."
-"I'm Artoria Pendragon, King of Britain."-She introduced herself with her true name.
-"A King? Surprising."-Mostima looked at the quite petite girl before her.
-"My sister is indeed unsuspecting, but she is like a sleeping dragon, I assure you."-Morgan turned to Cellinia.-"And who would that lady be?"
-"Cellinia Texas. Knight of Holy Son."-She answered shortly.
-"Eno's Knight?"-Artoria looked at her, her eyes full of interest.
-"We have guests?"-Margaret spoke as she entered the room with Shining, Viviana, and Qingyan.
-"Yes, someone from this world, Eno's friends."-Mostima introduced them.
-"It's an honor to meet you, King Artoria. I'm Margaret, previously known as Radiant Knight, but now only Knight of Holy Son."
-"Qui'saršinnag, known as Shining, Knight of Holy Son."
-"Viviana, Knight of Holy Son.
-"Lin Qingyan."
They introduced themselves. Morgan was surprised by the different characteristics of each of them; her interest in Terra was growing. But she also was attracted by the magic surrounding them, feeling that while not traditional mages, each of them possessed techniques rivaling even seasoned magus.
But two other people were much more interested in my Knights than she was. Artoria and Scáthach were itching to move, interested in the strength of people under my command. My Knights also noticed that they themselves were interested in people I spoke of during our idle chats.
-"Ok, standing around like won't achieve anything. Eno, lead us to a training ground, we'll do the real introductions there."-Scáthach smiled.-"I'm Scáthach, by the way. You can consider me his training partner, or maybe even a teacher."
-"Scáthach? You are the owner of that spear."-Otto appeared next to us suddenly.
-"Oh?"-Scáthach looked at him.-"A soul? Not exactly."
-"I'll explain later."-I told her.
-"I'll wait for that then."-She smiled at me.-"You mean this spear?"
The blood red Gáe Bolg appeared in her hand.
-"Yes."-Otto took a closer look.-"It's indeed different from yours, Eno."
-"Your spear?"-Scáthach's smile turned more enthusiastic and dangerous.
I just sighed, starting my mental preparations for the beating that was about to happen. We quickly changed locations, moving to my personal training ground. Margaret and Artoria decided to spar first, using only their techniques, no magic or Arts. Both of them were experienced in combat and fought for quite some time, but in the end, Artoria's dragon's might proved superior to Margaret's Pegasi.
Next were Viviana and Cellinia, both challenging Artoria one after the other. Viviana's fight allowed Arts, and that gave her some advantage, but the dragon's innate magic resistance again decided the outcome. But Cellinia's fight was surprise to many, as she was able to overcome the previously undefeated dragon.
Her combat style was antithetical to traditional knightly etiquette, always aiming at someone's back and weak points. Due to that, she managed to throw Artoria out of her rhythm and started to push her back, until an opening finally appeared, giving Cellinia a chance to finish the fight. And Cellinia wasn't the one to waste an occasion, swiftly ending the spar.
After her defeat, Artoria looked at the quiet Lupo woman. Cellinia raised her eyebrow, not understanding what her gaze meant.
-"You are not a knight, right?"
-"I'm now."-Cellinia smiled.-"I was once the worst of the worst, but Eno allowed me to leave that past."
Artoria nodded in understanding and extended her hand to her.
-"It's an honor to meet someone like you."
-"Likewise."-Cellinia shook her hand, surprised that someone so noble and uptight could accept her calmly.
Looking at two of them, I thought that they had surprisingly similar fates, both thrust into positions neither wanted, but Cellinia chose to leave, watching her family burn to the ground, while Artoria chose to stay, even if the fire enveloping Britain was to char her.