Gawain.
One of the Knights of the Round Table.
The perfect knight in ideals, and also the etymology of the white knight in shining armor—in a certain sense, someone who had a slight connection to Naoki.
In the original Sixth Singularity, he was the guardian of the Holy City's gate, bestowed with the blessing of Eternal Night by the Lion King, a formidable enemy who forced Naoki to shed tears and break stones.
But now—
"About six days ago, along with a few other Knights of the Round Table, I was summoned as a Servant by my lord. For the sake of my lord's current goal, and for the continuation of Humanity, we have been waiting here for your arrival from Chaldea." Gawain explained as he walked ahead of Naoki and Gray.
Gawain, who should have been an enemy, was now standing as a teammate. Even without the blessing of Eternal Night, Gawain remained a trustworthy knight—Naoki was very clear about this. Or rather, there wasn't a single untrustworthy person among the Knights of the Round Table.
Even if many had yet to appear, the Knights of the Round Table who had shown up were undoubtedly reliable.
Naoki smiled. "You've really worked hard coming here first to repair the Human Order all this time. I should have come earlier, but due to some past mistakes, Chaldea wasn't too confident about me acting alone… Sorry, I arrived a bit late."
"It's fine. Such a small matter doesn't warrant an apology. Acting cautiously is a good thing." Gawain smiled. "However, my lord mentioned before that there were supposed to be three people coming. Why are there only two?"
"Oh, this time it's just me and Gray. You're talking about Fujimaru and the others. For efficiency, Chaldea will be tackling two Singularities at the same time this time. Fujimaru is still in the final stages of preparation and will head to conquer the Seventh Singularity." Naoki explained.
"Also, may I know which Knights of the Round Table were summoned?"
"Besides me, Lancelot and Tristan were also summoned."
Only three Servants?
As if sensing Naoki's surprise, Gawain continued, "Originally, as long as it was a summons from my lord, anyone would surely respond. However, this time, for some unknown reason, only the three of us could manifest. The other comrades couldn't."
(Couldn't manifest?)
Gawain's explanation made Naoki frown.
Was there such a thing?
(If we're talking about Servants who couldn't manifest, the situations that come to mind are in the Lostbelt Great Qin and the Fairy Britain… But those were Lostbelt situations. This is still a Singularity—it shouldn't meet the conditions for being unable to manifest.)
(Is this related to the anomalies of this Singularity?)
Unable to be observed by Chaldea, the missing ring of light, Arthur who seemed to be manipulated, the mysterious Merry, the enigmatic dragon calamity, and now Servants who couldn't manifest—the situation in this Singularity was growing stranger by the minute.
In less than half an hour, Naoki's head was already filled with questions.
The amount of information was a bit overwhelming.
At that moment, Gawain, who was walking ahead, stopped. "We've arrived. This is where my lord is."
"This is the place?"
Naoki looked at the simple house in front of him.
From its location, the house was at the center of the city. It was likely chosen here to allow quick access to various parts of the city.
After knocking on the door, Gawain pushed it open and entered. Following him, Naoki and Gray immediately saw Artoria standing in front of a sand table, seemingly deep in thought.
The moment Naoki and Gray entered, Artoria looked up. Upon seeing them, she immediately smiled. "You've finally arrived, Master, and Gray too. I've been waiting for you for so long."
"We should've come the day before yesterday, but some things came up."
"Is that so? No matter what, it's enough that Master has come here. This will undoubtedly create a significant advantage for the battles ahead." Artoria said. "By the way, Sir Gawain, how's the situation with the dragon calamity?"
"Yes. Actually, when I arrived, the dragon calamity had already been dealt with by Lady Gray here. It was a very impressive strike."
Gray dealt with the dragon calamity?
"Hmm, I see. Continue patrolling, Sir Gawain. I have some matters to discuss with Master and Gray."
"As you command."
Gawain responded and quickly left the room.
Artoria gestured toward several chairs placed on the other side. "Master and Gray, please sit first. I'll explain the information I've gathered so far. Since I haven't been able to contact Merlin for a few days, I assume there's a lot of information you don't know yet, right?"
"Yes, that's true. For example, the dragon calamity you just mentioned." Naoki said. "Are those two-legged winged dragons that appear out of thin air the dragon calamity?"
"You could say they're the smallest form of the dragon calamity. While they're not a threat to us Servants, they're a real danger to the residents living here. Usually, the number of two-legged winged dragons that appear at once ranges from three to five. More or fewer than that is quite rare."
Artoria explained.
"However, since Gray dealt with the dragon calamity, I assume you both already know that those two-legged winged dragons aren't actual living creatures, right?"
Gray and Naoki nodded.
The two-legged winged dragon had turned into black mist and vanished after being killed by Gray. That was definitely not how a living creature dies.
"The dragon calamity is essentially a phenomenon of this Singularity. We suspect it's something natural, like wind or rain. Though it only started appearing half a year ago, right around the same time as the Incineration of the Human Order."
"According to the locals, all the changes began with a beam of light that suddenly appeared half a year ago. After that beam appeared, the White Dragon Nation emerged, and the dragon calamity appeared the next day."
Half a year ago.
A beam of light.
Naoki asked, "Could the place where that beam of light appeared be where the White Dragon Nation is?"
"Indeed." Artoria nodded. "I arrived here five days ago. At that time, I encountered a group of ordinary people being besieged by the dragon calamity. After saving them, I was brought to this side."
"After that, I discussed with the locals, made this place a temporary base, summoned Sir Gawain and the others, and built the city walls to counter the dragon calamity and the Knights of the Round Table."
Counter the Knights of the Round Table?
Naoki raised an eyebrow. "Are those the Knights of the Round Table that Merlin mentioned, guarding the White Dragon Nation?"
"Yes. I was also shocked when I first saw them. I didn't expect…" Artoria seemed to hesitate. After a brief pause, she continued, "I didn't expect the nobles from a parallel world to take the form of women."
[We are the Knights of the Round Table from a parallel world.]
That was the statement given by those Knights of the Round Table when Artoria first saw them. Though their gender was different, causing some discrepancies, through observation, Artoria was able to determine their true names.
"There are four Knights of the Round Table on the enemy's side: a female Sir Gawain, a female Sir Lancelot, a female Sir Tristan, and… the one we know as Mordred."
"Mordred is there too…"
Naoki wasn't surprised to hear Mordred's name mentioned by Artoria. Over the years, Mordred had always acted alongside Morgan. In the Fourth Singularity, she had even left a message saying she would wait for Naoki here.
(Come to think of it, Morgan is also in that White Dragon Nation… Could that Merry be her, disguised as Merry with Magecraft?)
After frowning and thinking for a moment, Naoki asked Artoria, "Is there any other information? Lia—or better yet, tell me everything you've learned since you arrived here, from start to finish."
"I think that'll answer some of my questions."