[Azure Silver] Altoris

Sensing the initiation of the spirit summoning ritual, a slumbering "king" opened his eyes.

That was a war fought for the Holy Grail, the omnipotent wish-granting machine.

Thus, the hero's projection followed the magically constructed passage to the location of the summoner who chanted incantations with words and forged contracts with flesh and blood.

However, something went wrong during the process.

In the passageway that should have contained only a wisp of consciousness, another being appeared.

The unexpected incident prevented the hero from pushing the other person away.

Souls that attain a "position" mostly possess noble qualities. Whether they achieve success for themselves or others, they are ultimately inscribed on a "seat" based on their great deeds.

Therefore, the hero's choice is not surprising.

Just before revealing his true form to the world, he—Artorius Pendragan—instinctively embraced the other in a protective gesture, separating them from the torrent of magic.

night.

The greenhouse of the Shatiao Mansion.

A cluster of delicate white flowers surrounded the fairy-like figure. The girl's ethereal eyes gazed at the summoning circle before her, which radiated a blinding light. A vast and inexhaustible stream of magic power flowed into her spirit core, bringing the hero who answered the call to this world.

Through the feedback from the contract, the girl learned that the other party was a Servant of the Saber class.

It was undoubtedly a stroke of luck, but for the girl, it was as natural as breathing or drinking water.

But as her heroic figure, bathed in the bright moonlight, gradually came into view, the ethereal eyes of the eldest daughter of Sajou reflected the face of the Silver Knight.

A gentle breeze lifted the servant's hood, revealing strands of golden hair, woven from sunlight, swaying in the wind. His handsome face was framed by resolute emerald eyes, reminiscent of the finest jade.

In that instant, all was silent.

The girl, Aika Sajou, stared blankly at the young king, who stood still, causing his armor to make a slight rustling sound, and silver threads cascaded down his chest and arms like a waterfall.

The blond king's gaze did not fall on the girl, but rather on the slender figure leaning against his chest.

"The Servant Morgan le Fay, a princess of Britain and sister of King Arthur, was summoned to the world via chain and shares the same spirit origin as Saber."

After he finished speaking, none of the three people present (including the speaker) had a chance to react.

After a brief moment of amazement, Aika Sajou's attention was diverted by the woman in Saber's arms, disrupting the fluttering of her heartbeat and mixing it with a subtle emotion.

When King Arthur—Artoria saw the child in his arms, a sense of astonishment and suspicion overwhelmed his thoughts, especially the declaration of "shared spiritual origin."

As for Morgan himself, he was momentarily stunned by the fact that his sister had become his brother.

The arms that embraced Morgan's slender waist were strong and powerful, pressing him firmly against his chest, causing Morgan to subconsciously raise his hand to touch the pale silver breastplate in front of him.

Bathed in the bright moonlight, the emerald green and cool blue gaze at each other, their reflections draped in a soft halo.

In that instant, no one spoke.

Until a nightingale-like voice broke the silence:

"Shall we find somewhere else to talk?"

Sajō Aika's suggestion drew the attention of the two Servants, and Artorius finally released the beauty in his arms, saying, "Alright."

Although an unexpected accident has occurred, the most important thing right now is to communicate properly with the Servants.

—Especially with elders present. Sajou Aika glanced at Morgan with her glassy eyes, pondering to herself.

"I'm Aika Sajou, Artoria and Morgan can just call me Aika!"

On the way to the reception room, Aika Sajou, who was leading the way, suddenly turned around and said as she backed away. Her skirt, which swayed with Yingqiao's steps, looked just like swaying flower petals, making the girl look like a graceful fairy.

As soon as the contract was established, Aika Sajou learned that she had summoned two Servants. Providing two portions of magic power was a piece of cake for her. Little did she know that she would fall in love with one of them at first sight, and the other happened to be a relative of the man.

Regarding this miraculous and passionate romance, and to avoid dying before it even began, Aika Sajo did not show any hostility towards Morgan.

"Saber... Even if I wanted to call myself that, there are two Sabers now, so I have to think about how to differentiate them."

Hearing Artoria's hesitation, Aika Sajou blurted out, "I want to call you Saber."

—My Saber belongs only to you, and will only ever be you.

Morgan, who had been quietly observing from the side, remained silent.

The Island Witch's silence made Artorius glance at her a few more times, "..."

Perhaps due to the influence of the shared spirit origin, they could sense each other's presence deep within their spirit cores. The wisp of snowflake-like, gentle, cool, and aloof aura lingered from their heart to their fingertips, making Artorius very uncomfortable.

Thinking of this, Artorius's expression darkened, while Sajō Aika, who was constantly observing King Arthur's expression, seemed to have misunderstood something. Sajō Aika first exclaimed "Ah!" and then quickly spoke:

"Servants need time to process information from the real world after they are summoned, right? You should rest first. I'll go and explain things to Father."

The important war council, which was supposed to be held on the first night, was easily canceled by the Master, who was concerned about King Arthur's condition, as if casually scattering clouds.

The fairy-like girl turned and led the two to a guest room on another floor.

Even though Artoria wanted to discuss future strategies or Spirit Origin-related status with Ayaka Sajou, considering Morgan's almost uncontrollable behavior and potential for recklessness, Artoria abandoned his original plan and decided to communicate with Morgan first, reach a consensus, and then report back to his Master.

Therefore, King Arthur readily followed behind Ayaka Sajou, answering the girl's seemingly disjointed questions one by one, while keeping an eye on Morgan, who was deep in thought.

Morgan, who was being secretly observed by King Arthur, discovered something.

—Her memory is incomplete.

Or rather, it's a mixture of memories from many different "selves".

The images that flash through my mind from time to time are disjointed and lack coherence in detail, like watching numerous derivative works of the same story at the same time.

The fairy kingdom built on curses and lies, and the British island that has lost its last shred of mystery—the former belongs to the "paradise fairy" herself, and the latter belongs to the "pan-human history" herself.

According to her memory, she experienced not only the destruction of a fairy kingdom, but also a mysterious disappearance.

Morgan speculated that the reason why this was only discovered now might be due to the relationship between the Servant Contract.

Since both parties to a contract must be "parties involved," Morgan, excluding "this self," finally became aware of her previous unusual memories.

Like tributaries that flow throughout a forest, different memories have countless developments, and so too do the gender differences of King Arthur.

Because all her memories were mixed together, she was quite accepting of the female King Arthur, and only slightly surprised by the male King Arthur.

only……

Which King Arthur is "himself"? Artoria, or Artoria?

Morgan has no memory of this.

Her last memory was of herself becoming someone's older sister.

This can be considered the "true" initial state of Morgan's life form.

Without a doubt, the only person capable of tampering with her memories, aside from a certain nightmare trapped in the tower of Paradise, is "Morgan le Fay".

Imbuing one's original self with memories of countless worlds in order to find a way out of a predicament is indeed Morgan le Fay's style.

Morgan did not feel offended or taken advantage of; it was simply a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Moreover, Morgan gained more magic techniques and inspiration from this. She was actually grateful to "herself" for the many clues provided, including what different choices would lead to, so that even if they couldn't solve the problem, at least she could be mentally prepared for the worst.

On the other hand, after seeing the "truth" of Aika Sajou through the fairy's eyes, Morgan realized that he and Aika Sajou were absolutely incompatible.

She had seen too many similar things in the land of the fairies and had suffered greatly from that "innocence".

Morgan originally planned to form an alliance with King Arthur → cooperate with each other to win → reverse his negative image in the process → overcome the crisis together and develop a deep friendship → take the opportunity to propose that King Arthur deal with the fairy kingdom's ■■ → everyone is happy!

She now needs to make some adjustments and preparations, otherwise the situation will definitely get out of control.

Once Morgan made up his mind, he was always full of energy and drive.

—The instant the thought flashed through his mind, a magic trick unfolded silently, unnoticed by anyone.

As the slender figure of the girl in the blue dress disappeared at the end of the corridor, Morgan turned to the young man beside him and said, "Artorius, I have something to discuss with you."

"I understand, please come in."

Altorlis, without changing his expression, pushed open the door to his room and gestured for Morgan to go first.

Looking back on Altoris's memories, even at the height of their conflict, he and Morgan maintained a respectful distance.

This means that Morgan would not confront him personally.

Morgan's methods were nothing more than sending assassins or meticulously planning to imprison him.

Furthermore, Morgan le Fay harbored a deep hatred for King Arthur, seemingly feeding on that unspeakable resentment, and therefore would not voluntarily appear before King Arthur.

Therefore, Altoris doesn't actually interact much with Morgan himself; he's more aware of Morgan's deep-seated killing intent behind his endless tricks.

This seems to be the first time we've had such a calm and peaceful exchange of glances and conversation.

Altorlis thought to himself.

The guest room at Sato's house is not large. When you open the door, you are directly facing a floor-to-ceiling window. To the right is a storage cabinet against the corner of the wall, and to the left is a bed and a set of tables and chairs against the floor-to-ceiling window.

In the unlit room, bright moonlight shone through large panes of glass, casting a hazy glow on the furniture and carpet.

"I'm sorry, we don't have any tea to offer."

"It's alright."

Artorius watched as the woman slowly walked to the window, her figure appearing ethereal in the moonlight, and couldn't help but scrutinize her with a hint of scrutiny.

"So, what is it that you want to say?"

Although they are currently on the same side, Morgan's tarnished past makes Altoris wary of him.

Even though Artorius's anti-magic abilities could handle most magical hints or attacks, he knew that if his opponent was Morgan, he would hardly be able to escape unscathed.

At the same time, Altoris also believed that Morgan possessed the means to control others on the premise of "preserving the life of the target," so he had to be careful with his words and actions every time he spoke with her.

Just as Artorius was speculating about Morgan's purpose, Morgan's murmured voice reached his ears:

"May I take a closer look at your face?"

"...?"

The blond king's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this, staring blankly at the beautiful face reflected in his emerald eyes, and at the woman's raised arm, as she parted her pink petals slightly:

"You are probably familiar with Vivian and the Island Witch, but as her older sister, this is the first time I'm speaking to you. Your voice and appearance are completely unfamiliar to me."

"..." The unexpected statement left King Arthur's mind blank for a moment.

"Artorius?"

Quickly regaining her composure, Artoria immediately became wary and sharply pointed out the suspicious points, "I was just about to ask you to explain what it means to be the older sister?"

Morgan, who was also questioned by a female King Arthur, calmly replied: "Simply put, depending on the summoner's affinity or the spell, the servant will respond to the summoning in different ways. For example, Lord Lancelot has a Saber side as well as a Berserker side."

"I, standing before you, am a member of the British royal family, and through marriage, I have become your elder sister. Is that explanation clear enough?"

"...I understand it in general."

What I can't understand is the part about "Sister Wang".

Compared to the British witch who plotted and schemed behind the scenes, Morgan in front of him gave Artorius a subtle sense of unfamiliarity.

—Are you really not just teasing me?

Given his years of experience being tormented by a certain female nightmare, Altoris could not immediately trust Morgan.

But how can one discern the lies of the Island Witch?

King Arthur never solved this problem.

At this moment, the only thing Altoris can rely on is the fact that he has not detected any malice in Morgan.

The woman in front of him looked like Morgan, but she was not the Morgan he remembered.

Altolis fell silent.

"Then, can you grant my request?"

When he met those clear, cold blue eyes that he had never looked at closely before, Artorius lowered his eyes, indicating his acquiescence.

Morgan then slowly approached King Arthur, her fair, jade-like hand gently touching the golden-haired king's cheek.

One of them hesitated for a moment, hidden in his lowered eyelashes and the soft moonlight.

A fingertip with a hint of rose color lingered between the handsome young man's brows and eyes, finally tracing the corner of his eye and causing a faint, ticklish sensation.

"Even though we don't share the same parents, and we're not even the same gender, our eye shapes seem to be somewhat similar." As he said this, the warmth that filled his chest made Morgan smile unconsciously.

Bathed in the bright moonlight.

That smile was so beautiful it seemed unreal.

Like branches that have survived the harsh winter and are ready to welcome spring, or buds that are about to bloom.

Artorius couldn't help but blurt out, "...Sister Wang seems a little different."