One day, two days, three days passed...
Guinevere and the others spent their time hunting to help the villagers. During this period, Guinevere also conducted special training for Mash, Ritsuka, and Bedivere.
Whether it was Bedivere's swordsmanship or Galahad's combat techniques, Guinevere knew far more than either of them.
"Miss Ruler, the Bedivere from your world... was he really as strong as you say?"
"He was thrashed by me in the training grounds every so often for over a decade. How could he not get stronger? Besides, he was Lia's—ahem—this body's Personal Knight. He understood shame all too well!"
Bedivere could now withstand one more sword strike than he could during their first spar. Though his progress over these three days was small, it was not insignificant.
As for Mash, after learning Galahad's True Name, her base stats and inherent Skills had changed. But the most significant transformation was to her Noble Phantasm.
Her instinctively deployed Pseudo-Noble Phantasm had transformed directly into Lord Camelot: Now is a Castle of Distant Ideals, a true Noble Phantasm whose True Name could be invoked.
As for its power and usage, Guinevere could teach Mash everything from scratch. After all, she had used this "dining table" herself—it had originally been hers.
Clang!
After defeating Bedivere, Guinevere struck Mash's shield with her sword, producing a sharp ring. Just as she was about to move, Mash had already anticipated her direction.
When the second, more powerful strike landed, the clang was even louder. Mash's iron boots sank several inches into the ground, but she held firm.
Then came the third and fourth strikes. With each passing day, Mash mastered the new combat techniques emerging within her, making her defense increasingly flawless—truly worthy of being called Lancelot's "daughter."
Of course, achieving flawless defense with a sword and achieving it with a massive shield were two entirely different levels of difficulty.
But the problem was that Mash wasn't limited to defense. If Guinevere wasn't careful, she'd get smacked by the back of Mash's shield.
Clang!
Another thunderous crash echoed across the wasteland. This time, it was Guinevere who was forced back slightly, needing to reset her stance.
Accumulating power while enduring, Mash would unleash a devastating counterattack the moment an opportunity presented itself.
"Not bad. You've taken my teachings to heart."
Probing, searching for openings, then striking for victory—this was Guinevere's original combat style in her past life. In her eyes, Mash, as a shield-bearer, was even better suited for it than she had been. After all, with such a massive shield, Mash could more easily weather the observation and searching phase.
"However, your combat experience is still lacking, and your observation skills need more training. I've already revealed three openings, and you only attacked on the third."
"Miss Ruler, that's not it," Mash replied. "I noticed the first two openings as well. I just wasn't sure if they were traps."
"I already told you, we haven't reached that stage in our lessons yet. But if you truly did notice them... then... very good."
Sheathing her sword, Guinevere smiled. She had witnessed the progress of both Bedivere and Mash, and she couldn't be anything but satisfied, especially with Mash's rapid improvement.
She felt that if the current Mash faced the Sphinx again, she might lack the offensive power to kill it, but she would never lose again. In fact, she could probably knock the Sphinx into the sky like a shooting star.
And speaking of shooting stars...
Whether hunting or training, Guinevere and the others were making quite a stir. Every morning, under the guise of physical training, they would first run ten kilometers away from East Village.
"As expected of a Great Hero."
Just as Guinevere finished speaking, an arrow with a cloth message tied to it descended from the sky, embedding itself in the ground right before them.
The Great Hero Arash. Whenever something happened in East Village, he would notify them with an arrow-message. A distance of ten kilometers was as simple as drinking water for him.
In his legend, the arrow he fired at the cost of his life crossed 2,500 kilometers—a true intercontinental missile.
"Ruler, what does Arash's arrow-message say?"
It had been three days. Hassan of the Cursed Arm was busy with village affairs, Da Vinci-chan continued building houses, and Hassan of Intoxicated Smoke had vanished after saying he was going to find the First Hassan.
Only Hundred Faces had agreed to Guinevere's request. He had dispersed his numerous selves as widely as possible, tasked with scouting New Camelot City's movements and searching for any potential rogue servants.
"It's news from Hundred Faces."
"A rogue servant?"
"No, it's about Mordred. For the past two days, she's been lingering on the outskirts of the Sun King's desert, constantly killing attacking Sphinxes."
"Huh?"
It wasn't just Ritsuka who was confused; Guinevere was puzzled as well.
The Mordred of this world had been summoned by the Lion King. Even if the Lion King disliked her and had exiled her for committing arson in the Holy City, she shouldn't have been left to wander alone.
Indeed, in the arrow-message relayed by Arash, he had specifically noted that Mordred was not accompanied by any other Round Table Knights or Enforcement Knights.
Hundred Faces had even suggested that this was the perfect opportunity to eliminate Mordred.
"Ruler, if Mordred is alone, could it be that she has betrayed the Lion King and is seeking you out? She is the Knight of Rebellion, after all."
Guinevere still didn't know that this Mordred was her daughter. If she had, she wouldn't be speculating at all.
But because she didn't know, she had to consider the possibility that this was a feint—a tactic to lure the tiger from its mountain.
"We've been making such a commotion here every day, yet the knights of New Camelot still haven't attacked. Does that mean they're afraid? If so, what if they immediately launch an assault the moment we leave?"
Ritsuka couldn't answer Guinevere's questions, but Guinevere couldn't completely ignore the possibility Ritsuka had raised.
She glanced at Mash, then at Ritsuka's Command Spells, now fully restored to three seals. She made her decision: she would go meet Mordred.
She didn't know what was wrong with her. The mere thought of ignoring Mordred or having Hundred Faces invite her over filled her with a faint unease, as if her Ruler Class granted her access to some unseen divine revelation.
Of course, she knew that a Servant's full capabilities weren't always listed on their status sheet. Many abilities rooted in legend were simply omitted to avoid redundancy.
For example, her Lia, blessed by the Faeries, could walk on water, yet this ability wasn't mentioned on her status sheet.
"Bedivere, Mash, Ritsuka, you all stay here," she instructed. "If anything unexpected happens while I'm looking for Mordred, Ritsuka, use a Command Spell to recall me immediately."
"Wait, Ruler! Could this be a trap aimed at you?"
"Hah," Guinevere scoffed with a confident smile. "Then I'd like to see what kind of trap it is. Even if I were to face Lancelot, Gawain, Agravain, and Mordred all at once, and even if I couldn't defeat them, they would never be able to capture me as long as I chose to retreat."
After speaking, she didn't waste another minute.