"You're saying this is a Lion King from another possibility, and these are her Knights? And their goal is to eliminate the one in New Camelot City?
"And these three are from Chaldea? Their mission is to repair the distortion in the Human Order?"
As a Hassan, the man blocking the mountain pass wore the same black bodysuit and white skull mask. But as the Hassan known for his Cursed Arm, his right arm was abnormally large, wrapped in thick, dark bandages as if sealing something within.
Upon their first meeting, he learned of the situation from Hundred Faces and Hassan of Intoxicated Smoke. Yet, his immediate reaction was suspicion, and he chose to test them with force.
"The match is decided, Lord Cursed Arm. I understand how you feel, but please concede for now.
"Regardless, they did save Hundred Faces, Hassan of Intoxicated Smoke, and the hundreds of people here. If they were enemies, with their power, they wouldn't have needed to put on an act after finding this place."
Guinevere had been the one to fight Cursed Arm. With just three strikes, she had brought the tip of her sword to his eyes.
Afterward, a man appeared to mediate. He carried what looked like an ordinary mahogany bow, and his face, build, and attire were all "unremarkable."
But the moment Guinevere saw his heartwarming smile and the cyan Persian armor he wore, his name surfaced in her mind.
Just as she remembered, the great hero had truly appeared.
Cursed Arm's subsequent response confirmed her thoughts.
"You are... Lord Arash? Ugh... Guh... But..."
"Lord Cursed Arm, please be more honest. Didn't we receive the news yesterday? When you heard that a high-ranking Round Table Knight had been killed and hundreds of refugees rescued, weren't you dancing with joy, shouting that nothing could be more satisfying?
"The very reason we're here now is because you couldn't wait to come and greet them yourself, isn't it?"
"Ah, Lord Arash... That's... That's..."
After all, it had been a long time. What Guinevere could recall was the general plot progression of this Singularity and roughly which Servants were involved.
She had long forgotten the specific personalities of some Servants.
Watching Arash's teasing and Hassan of the Cursed Arm's tsundere-like behavior—acting tough but secretly caring—she was still surprised to find that Hassan was a tsundere.
Tilting her head, she pictured the dark-skinned man blushing furiously beneath his white skull mask. Guinevere couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Alright, Lord Hassan, and you, Lord Arash. We can sort things out between us later, but shouldn't we escort the refugees to your East Village first?"
"Speaking of which, can you truly afford to feed so many people?"
The entire journey here had been through barren wilderness. As far as the eye could see, there wasn't a single patch of green. This Singularity had long since become incapable of growing crops.
"King Arthur? King of Knights? Or perhaps..."
"Just call me Ruler."
"Then, Ruler, Your Grace, I ask that you witness the answer to your question with your own eyes once we reach the village."
Hassan was still too reserved to express his gratitude directly, so Arash answered for him. But even after Arash spoke, Hassan didn't deny it.
With Hassan of the Cursed Arm now guiding them, the group's pace quickened considerably. Once they reached a specific location, the other Hundred Faces who had been scouting the perimeter returned, their mission complete.
"Impressive. To perfectly conceal a village of this size without a bounded field..."
Da Vinci-chan was the most curious about the village. With her enthusiastic personality, she had already latched onto Hassan, peppering him with questions.
And tsunderes, by nature, struggle most against beautiful 'women' who cling to them no matter how much they're pushed away.
"So, your solution for the food shortage is for you to constantly go out hunting, to the point where your Spirit Origin is in disarray?"
"Well, in this era, at least there's an endless supply of monsters, right?"
The Old Man of the Mountain's villages were numerous but small. The arrival of two hundred refugees would strain their already meager resources even further. As the refugees had said, their chances of survival here were even slimmer than trying to reach New Camelot City.
But now that she had arrived and witnessed the plight of this mountain village, Guinevere instinctively began devising solutions.
She had misremembered some details earlier, thinking the Servant with the Noble Phantasm of an endless rice bag had already joined the East Village.
But now, after reviewing her memories again, she remembered that the Servant had apparently been captured by Agravain and was imprisoned somewhere with Hassan of Serenity.
At the same time, she also recalled another Servant who made it hard for her to keep a straight face: a gender-bent version of the Servant known as Sanzang.
No, wait—in the FGO universe, Sanzang was originally a girl.
Outside the mud-brick houses, Guinevere watched as the original residents clutched their food tightly, with only a few willing to share their dried tentacles. After a long moment of thought, she finally let out a deep sigh.
She knew there were certain things she, as an outsider, needed to take charge of immediately.
"Arash, Your Grace, you don't want conflict between the new refugees and the original residents, do you? Please, use your influence to persuade the residents to share enough food for one meal. Bedivere, would you mind taking on a difficult task?"
"Miss Ruler, are we going hunting?"
"Yes. You, me, Mash, and Ritsuka—the four of us will go. As for Da Vinci-chan, since she's not suited for combat, she can stay here and help build shelters."
As she spoke, Arash was already moving. Given his reputation and the fact that he had hunted most of the residents' food himself, he successfully completed his task.
After taking Bedivere to find Mash and Ritsuka, Guinevere was surprised to discover they had gone outside the village, drawing a massive summoning circle under the 'observation' of Hundred Faces and Hassan of Intoxicated Smoke.
"Any luck, Ritsuka? Can you summon a new Servant?"
"No, Dr. Romani. The ley lines here are nearly depleted. I don't think we can summon any new Servants in this era."
Upon arriving in a new Singularity, setting up a Magic Circle, and summoning new Servants—this was the routine Chaldea's team had grown accustomed to.
But now, it seemed this era could no longer support more Servants.
Faced with this reality, Ritsuka first looked disappointed, then threw herself into Mash's arms. After taking a deep breath, she forced herself to rally her spirits.
Watching them from a distance, Guinevere couldn't help but chuckle. She, too, wanted to resolve this situation quickly so she could rush into Lia's embrace.
With that thought, she raised her right fist to her lips and licked it lightly.
Some stars had dimmed, and some rituals had lost their meaning, but Guinevere found satisfaction in this act, psychologically replenishing her "Lia elements."
"Mash, Ritsuka, we have three tasks ahead of us. First, and most urgent, is to gather as much food as possible for the people of the East Village. Second, we need to increase our combat strength—for example, by helping Mash get used to more of Galahad's power."
"Third, we need to gain the help of more Servants—such as the First Hassan, or the 'wild' Servants currently scattered throughout this Singularity.
"As for the wild Servants, Your Grace, Hundred Faces, could I ask you to search for them?"