Chapter 62: Artoria Elements

Everything is ready; next we should consider setting off.

After all, it was decided earlier that even if we still couldn't summon Melusine, today we would head out to ring the bell no matter what.

As a result, in the end we got……

If it weren't for the fact that there was still a Fujimaru Ritsuka, and new problems and plans were dragged in, Onyx's bell would probably have already rung across the Fairy Kingdom this morning; it absolutely wouldn't have been delayed until noon now without us setting off.

Of course, before that, we still need to let everyone get to know each other.

"This one is Index; she is the team's Knowledge Consultant, my magecraft teacher, and also my partner; she has helped me a great deal……"

"This one is Melusine; she is my younger sister, but she is a bit shy around strangers, don't mind it; it'll be fine once you all get familiar with each other……"

Bringing Fujimaru Ritsuka and the newly recruited staff back into the team, Xia Zhi also formally began the introduction process, introducing everyone to each other. When introducing the little nun, he very decisively employed praise and implication, unobtrusively emphasizing her importance.

Index is extremely, extremely important, so we have to frequently farm her mood value.

But there is technique to how to farm mood; blindly showering all kinds of flattery counts as awkward farming, and if done badly it will only have the opposite effect.

Like the current occasion, when introducing her to others, affirming her importance to her face, just a few simple sentences, and the effect will be very good…… look at that silver-haired little nun nodding repeatedly, just short of putting her hands on her hips and getting all smug.

This is also unavoidable; after all, people subconsciously pursue a sense of security——

In this world that has already undergone drastic change, even with the reason of phase change to explain it, however with her keenness and intelligence, she may have already perceived something……

However, as long as we can make her feel at ease, then none of this will be a problem.

Xia Zhi has a very precise grasp of this point, so whenever there is an opportunity, he will try his best to keep Index's mood value maintained at a relatively high state…… anyway it's just coaxing a loli, how hard can this be.

As for when it came to Melusine, he also very seriously observed Master Lady's expression.

"They are both such cute little sisters……"

Fujimaru Ritsuka displayed a gentle smile like an older sister; although she herself is still very young, this state is always relative; when the opposite side is two silver-haired lolis, she naturally becomes the older sister.

——Judging by the looks of it, she indeed hasn't met Fairy Knight Lancelot.

——Otherwise, she wouldn't have had zero reaction at all.

Xia Zhi made this judgment; by the way, he also used the secret technique of headpats on Melusine, who was somewhat nervous and had stepped forward to grab his hem; the silver-haired little loli slightly narrowed her eyes, looking like she was enjoying it very much as she rubbed her petted head.

Come to think of it, does this count as petting a dragon?

A strange thought flashed through the youth's mind; after soothing the silver-haired little loli a few words, he led Fujimaru Ritsuka and Medusa through the camp, arriving at the other side that was separated off, and continued introducing them.

"This is Alice; you two already met this morning, so I won't say more……"

"This one is……"

"Ah! It's Artoria! You're here too?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka widened her eyes, interrupting Xia Zhi's introduction, because she surprisingly discovered a familiar figure in the camp; after a brief moment of stunned surprise, her whole person became excited from excitement.

"Huh? Y-you are……"

Artoria was just about to greet her; hearing this, she also couldn't quite react in time; she focused her gaze on this Chaldea Master before her, but searched her memory and found no intersection; she couldn't recall ever having met the other party.

"……"

"……"

"You two…… know each other?"

Xia Zhi looked at the two of them; he naturally knew what was going on, but at this moment he had to pretend not to know.

"Sorry, I don't remember meeting you." Artoria gently shook her head, gradually sorting out her thoughts and roughly understanding; even if it was a record of another summoning, she should have an impression. But she doesn't; it can only be this world's record.

"That's only natural; we've had many intersections with Artoria……"

Fujimaru Ritsuka gave another answer, then seemed to think of something, and hesitantly added: "Uh, perhaps it should be said, we've had intersections with many Artorias?"

Because of repeated intersections, Artoria really has become her acquaintance.

When Chaldea's Master Lady discovered this familiar Servant figure in the team, an indescribable sense of intimacy welled up, even instantly deepening her sense of belonging to and recognition of the team.

"……"

"……"

A subtle silence spread through the air.

"Wait, I have a question; are there many Artorias?" The youth took the lead in breaking the silence, sharply grasping the core of the problem.

"Master, those words are truly impolite!" The swordswoman's mouth corners twitched slightly; catching sight of Alice's strange gaze, she immediately rebutted seriously: "What do you mean I have many copies; whether it's this phrasing or this unit of measurement, both are too impolite!"

"Sorry sorry, but what I said is all true……" Fujimaru Ritsuka scratched her head embarrassedly, hurriedly explaining, "The earliest time I met Artoria was in Singularity F, that was Fuyuki City which experienced the Holy Grail War……"

In an instant.

The three people present exchanged a glance; this really is quite a coincidence.

But that damned place Fuyuki City is that popular; even changing the world line, it still can't escape the fate of being afflicted?

However, the Master from Chaldea did not perceive this scene; she just wholeheartedly narrated her experiences of forming bonds with many Artorias——

Just as her narration depicted, the first encounter was in that Fuyuki City in the original Singularity F; only at that time the one encountered was the other side of the Knight King, cold and ruthless, eroded by the Holy Grail's curse——Alter Artoria.

With overwhelming power she swept through the Holy Grail War, defeating all opponents including Heracles, standing alone guarding the Great Holy Grail.

After an arduous battle, they finally defeated the blackened Knight King, but at the moment Alter Artoria disappeared, they obtained a prophetic line: This is merely the beginning of the "Grand Order".

Since then.

Fujimaru Ritsuka's party seemed to have fulfilled this prophecy, embarking on an ultimate trial, exhausting human history until the journey to the Other Shore.

And in the spacetime intersections outside Singularity F, Fujimaru Ritsuka also had the experience of re-encountering that blackened Knight King; in that Subspecies Singularity of Shinjuku, she received the wholehearted assistance of the other party and the blackened Jeanne.

Besides that, there was also in the Fourth Singularity, manifesting wielding the Holy Lance, also an Alter black lance version of Artoria;

And also in the Sixth Singularity, also wielding the Holy Lance ruling the land, yet the completely deified Goddess Rhongomyniad……

"……"

"……"

"There are actually this many different Sabers……"

The silver-haired, red-eyed princess covered her mouth in surprise, "Even encountering the same Servant once is a very low probability event, let alone repeatedly encountering different forms of the same Servant…… could it be possible that beyond this, there are actually even more…… even more……"

She didn't continue speaking, instead carefully glancing at Artoria beside her, whose expression didn't seem quite right.

"What 'diffusion-type million King Arthurs'..."

Xia Zhi complained, then pinched his chin and fell into thought, "But it probably won't happen, right? Could there really be a separate category of 'Artoria Servants'? No matter how I think about it, that's too inexplicable..."

After a slight pause, he thought of those duplicate portraits in his collected Spirit Origin Portraits, and felt he should perhaps be more rigorous: "But strictly speaking, it's indeed impossible to exclude the possibility of variants existing..."

"..."

"..."

As the subject being evaluated, the swordswoman girl's mouth twitched. What's a variant?

This Knight King took a deep breath and spoke seriously: "No need for 'strictly speaking,' I feel it's completely possible to exclude such a possibility..."

——"What are you discussing?"

Just then, a voice as pleasant as a flowing stream arrived.

Vivian walked back from outside the camp, with the Age of Gods witch from Greece following behind her.

"..."

"..."

"Ah, another Miss Artoria? Could it really be as Xia Zhi said?" Fujimaru Ritsuka was astonished, looking at the two sisters who looked like they were copied from the same mold, suddenly feeling that someone's words just now made a lot of sense.

"... What did he say?"

Vivian frowned slightly, originally wanting to directly deny the opposite girl's speculation, but hearing this, her attention immediately shifted.

"It's just a bit of expanded discussion about how many Artorias there are..." Xia Zhi explained, and unsurprisingly saw Medea's eyes shine brightly. This witch seemed to have inexplicably become a king chef.

"This is too absurd, such a thing fundamentally cannot exist..." Vivian refuted without thinking. For her, just imagining multiple Artorias existing already made her feel deeply troubled.

Even just one is already enough to be infuriating!

"Not necessarily. After all, Servants are originally copies of Heroic Spirit main bodies, so theoretically there naturally exist many different forms..."

Xia Zhi felt it was still worth discussing: "Moreover, judging by the nature of Heroic Spirits, even people who don't actually exist can be born if they gather belief, established solely by fiction..."

"So-called belief is actually just popularity, right? If in different parallel worlds, Artoria's popularity is high, many people like her, then even debuting as an idol is possible, and many variants appearing is understandable too..."

"With that face of hers, how could anyone like her!" Vivian felt displeased, decisively starting to slander her lifelong enemy's looks.

You two really are sisters...

Clearly, when emotions reached their peak, neither had noticed that those sharp words actually mapped themselves to some extent.

Xia Zhi felt a bit helpless about this, and chose to respond meaningfully: "I quite like her."

"Eh—"

The swordswoman girl beside him was furious with indignation, about to retort, but caught off guard by these words, she froze for a moment, her cheeks instantly flushing red, as if not knowing what to say.

Although she almost instantly understood that Master's words were actually directed at Morgan, she still couldn't help finding such a direct expression hard to accept.

"You—!!" Vivian first subconsciously widened her eyes, looking at him in disbelief, then immediately reacted, but at the same time, she also captured Artoria's red-faced scene.

In an instant, she felt embarrassed while also unable to suppress a surge of resentment — what does this have to do with you!

These two sisters are really twisted enough...

Watching the two stare at each other with wide eyes, Xia Zhi suddenly had an inexplicable thought.

If I achieve immortality in the future, I must specially create a universe, a universe full of Servants, then let Artoria drive the proliferation of "Artoria elements" inside, and let the disapproving Vivian go stop all this...

Probably no matter how long the years, these two wouldn't be bored, likely able to tirelessly keep battling inside forever...

Perhaps it would even form that universe's eternal unchanging theme —

Simply put, the eternal struggle between the Artoria faction and the anti-Artoria faction...

(Chapter End)