An Unknown Fate

Chapter 35: Mission

"Lost?" 

Suspecting that he had misheard, Aozaki blinked as if stunned, thinking that his righteous sister and Merlin must be joking with him. 

But if his eyes could see, he would find that Artoria, who was standing in front of him at this moment, was a little pale. 

But it was not due to physical problems, purely due to the great psychological pressure, so that the ahoge on her head had long been twisted into a ball. 

"Yes, true. Although Merlin is to blame for the source, the sword was accidentally lost..."

Artoria tucked her fingers and lowered her voice, as if afraid that others would hear. 

At this moment, she is not at all like the awe-inspiring king of knights on the battlefield, but more like a little girl who has done something wrong. 

In fact, this time she did make a big mistake. 

Even her brother Kai almost couldn't help but scold her in front of everyone after learning about this. 

But considering that the sword in the stone was lost, if it was known, it would inevitably cause turmoil in the army, Kai forced himself to suppress his emotions, but in the end, he was too angry to preach to Artoria again. 

“...... But how did you get lost? Didn't you try to get it back, onee-chan? "

Rin Aozaki was still a little unbelievable, he was just a few days away from Gawain on a special mission, how could this happen during this period. 

"Well, let me explain this, although it is a little difficult to talk about." 

Merlin's rare old face blushed and looked a little embarrassed, and Fou, who was standing on his shoulder, shook her head with a sigh, and then jumped onto the boy's shoulder as if she didn't want to face with this wizard. 

[So, you learned what happened from your  sister and Merlin's mouth.] 】

[It turned out that during the days when you and Gawain were out on a mission, the army led by your  sister happened to pass through a village, so they chose to camp near there to rest. 】

[Only that night, Merlin disappeared from the barracks.] In order to discuss some countermeasures and avoid causing a commotion in the barracks, your sister Artoria sneaks out of the tent alone to look for Merlin. 】

[As a result, a drunken Merlin was found in the home of a beautiful peasant woman in that village, and the peasant woman was still disheveled and crying, which suddenly made your sister Artoria feel troublesome.] 】

[Sure enough, as your righteous sister expected, the peasant woman threatened to publicize the fact that King Arthur's men had humiliated her, so that everyone could understand that King Arthur was a hypocritical person who did not deserve Britain's trust at all.] 】

[Your sister understands that Merlin's fault lies with Merlin, and it is understandable that the other party really wants to do this.] But in this way, the reputation accumulated by Arthur's name may plummet, making your sister a little headache and helpless. 】

[But fortunately, the peasant woman finally changed her mind and said that if your sister is willing to let her touch the sword in the stone, she promises to endure this humiliation for the sake of the current crusade against Voltigern.] 】

Your sister Artoria was a little confused and asked the other party why, and the peasant woman replied. 】

"I am also part of Britain, and naturally I do not want Voltigon to continue to harm this country. But after all, I have been insulted, and the fact that my hand touched the sword in the stone will surely be remembered by you, and you can always remember this mistake made by your subordinates, and act cautiously from now on. "】

[Your sister felt guilty about this, so she took out the sword in the stone and handed it to the peasant woman without hesitation. 】

[What your sister Artoria didn't expect was that as soon as the peasant woman took the sword in the stone, she laughed maniacally, and immediately changed her appearance, revealing Morgan's posture. 】

[Before throwing down the sentence "Arthur, you are a fool!"] Then he disappeared from your righteous sister's eyes, leaving only a hair. 】

[Finally, at that moment, your  sister realized that she had hit the mark. 】

　　...... 

"So, didn't Merlin recognize that person in disguise at that time, Miss Morgan?" 

After hearing the general situation of the matter, Rin Aozaki didn't know what to say, and couldn't help but ask in confusion. 

"Well,her magic is generally no worse than mine, and she even used the double's technique to enhance realism, so..."

Merlin scratched his face, looking at the boy's innocent face on himself, and the look of "I continue to listen, you continue to explain" on the other person's shoulder, and finally bowed his head honestly and apologized. 

"Sorry, but I was actually carelessly drinking for a while, and I didn't think about it that much at the time." 

“...... Forget it, it's useless to say this now. The question is, what's next? "

Rin Aozaki shook his head, his brows furrowed slightly, and his small face was distressed. 

Know that if you just lose something else, you don't need to be nervous. 

But the sword in the stone is the symbol of the throne of the title "King Arthur", if the news of its loss is known by the rest of the barracks, the morale and confidence that the soldiers have built up will collapse in an instant, and they will be very disappointed in his righteous sister. 

"Sister, apart from a few of us, and Brother Kai, no one else should know about this now." 

"Hmm, um..." 

Artoria nodded in shame, after all, she did not dare to let anyone else know.

And this kind of sister makes a mistake, but still needs her brother to comfort, which also makes her feel that she is almost unable to lift her head as a sister. 

"In that case, is it too late to recover it now?" 

Rin Aozaki thought about it seriously, and Merlin coughed lightly, so was the right way. 

"Ahem, actually, I asked Lily to call Ian over for this matter. 

"The loss of the sword in the stone is indeed serious, but the sword is not a necessity. Anyway, after using it for so long, Lily, you should almost get tired of using it, just take advantage of this effort to change a new one. "

Merlin defended himself again, but in the face of Artoria's helpless and resentful eyes that wanted to be angry, but felt that he had no qualifications, he quickly continued seriously. 

"But! The sword in the stone can fall into anyone's hand, but it cannot fall into the hand of Morgan. Because we had no prediction that the woman would do something crazy with that sword. 

"So for the next time, I'll take Lily to get a new sword." 

"And Ian, you, just try to be an undercover agent, sneak into that woman's camp, and put the sword in the stone... 

"-Take it back!"