With a soft thud.
The girl in white collapsed right in front of Ian and Boudica.
"..."
"..."
Ian and Boudica exchanged glances, both feeling a somewhat ominous thought.
Could she be... dead there?
While the night's offensive had indeed driven the black shadows away from Hadrian's Wall, it didn't mean they were harmless.
After all, the presence of magical energy could be felt even on the ground they passed over. If a person were genuinely touched by these black shadows, the consequences would surely be unimaginable.
"Seneca, I..."
Before Boudica could finish her sentence, Ian had already nodded.
"Mhm, I support you."
"Eh? You knew what I was going to say even before I said it?"
"You want to go see what's going on—I was thinking the exact same thing."
Ian's gaze fell on the girl lying motionless on the ground, continuing with his incredibly cold yet very rational words.
"Even if she's dead, her corpse still has research value."
"...That's right."
The two quickly reached an agreement, and the chariot began to move towards the girl's location.
The wheels slowly pressed two ruts into the ground. After an unknown number of turns, Ian and Boudica arrived beside her.
And the worry in both their hearts dissipated at this moment.
The girl wasn't dead; she was drunk.
The air around was filled with a strong smell of alcohol. Just a whiff was enough to make one's lips feel a little wet.
She actually passed out from being drunk?!
Ian felt speechless upon learning the truth.
To be able to drink to this state in a place like this, should she be called bold or timid?
"What should we do?" Boudica looked at the man beside her. "Should we take her back first?"
"...That's the only option. We can't just leave her here, can we?"
"Okay."
Boudica didn't question Ian's words. She jumped down from the chariot and walked toward the girl's location, preparing to move her back onto the chariot.
But it was at this moment that the unexpected happened.
Just as Boudica was about to reach her, the girl in white suddenly got up on her own.
Looking at the Queen of Britannia approaching her step by step, she showed obvious wariness.
"Who are you?!"
The girl in white pointed the dagger in her hand at Boudica.
"..."
The Queen of Britannia felt that the situation was a little off. She also instinctively drew her sword and pointed it at the girl.
It seemed a fight was inevitable.
Realizing this, Ian also jumped down from the chariot, then immediately shielded Boudica behind him, and spoke to the girl:
"I don't know who you are, but isn't it a bit rude to pull out a dagger immediately when facing a stranger you've just met?"
"And—"
Ian's eyes began to look serious.
He once again activated his Memory Projection ability, projecting an Excalibur (Sword of Promised Victory) for himself!
"If you truly intend to fight, you'll be one against two. I suggest you think very carefully."
"Seneca..."
Looking at Ian in front of her, Boudica felt a fire burning warmly in her heart.
After all, within Britannia's borders, it was generally only possible for her to protect others. An instance like this, where she was shielded behind someone, was a first!
Not to mention that the person doing this... was the goal of her affection!
She truly wanted to have a child with him!!!
The usually majestic Queen of Britannia now had the secret, delicate thoughts of a young girl.
"..."
The weapon Ian projected clearly made the girl in white wary.
However, her tone seemed to grow even more excited because of it.
"I see! The person behind you must be the tyrannical Nero!"
"Well, that's perfect—I'm here to kill her!"
Saying this, the girl in white actually charged directly, showing no fear of death whatsoever.
This spirit of facing death as if it were home would be difficult even for an average knight to achieve.
Ian prepared for the fight while secretly marveling at her.
However—
The actual result was much simpler than expected.
The girl in white did possess extraordinary courage, but her strength seemed completely unmatched by that courage.
Or rather... she wasn't very good at dealing with people like Ian.
If she were truly facing the Emperor, she might have been a little more formidable.
With just one exchange, Ian violently struck the dagger out of the girl's hand.
But even in this situation, the opponent still didn't want to give up and launched an attack bare-handed.
Having no choice, to ensure Boudica's safety, Ian immediately apprehended the girl, then used a reinforced rope projected by Memory Projection to tie both her hands and feet behind her back.
This was a perfect hog-tie restraint technique, executed fluidly without a single mistake.
As a result, the girl was unable to move. Even struggling to get up, she could only manage a humiliating, kneeling posture, while her head was forced to arch backward due to the pulling of her hair.
"Such, such skilled technique..." Boudica couldn't help but praise. "Even our most formidable warriors in Britannia couldn't do it this fast."
"When you play a lot of fetish games, you naturally get fast."
"What?" Boudica felt like she had heard something unbelievable.
"Nothing." Ian cleanly ended the topic. "Let's quickly figure out this person's identity. If we're too late, it'll be too late to go back."
"You're right."
With opinions quickly unified, Ian and Boudica stood before the girl.
But even with this humiliating restraint, the girl still looked unconvinced, even incredibly angry.
"Let me go! Let me take this tyrannical Emperor Nero's life with my own hands!"
Ian could feel that this tone was definitely not faked—the girl in front of him indeed held an inexplicable hatred for Nero.
But the question was, who exactly was she?
Even someone who once fiercely hated Nero, like Boudica, had already been placated by him.
How could there be another person who hated Nero more than she did?
"..."
Boudica looked at the girl gritting her teeth, and a subtle change in emotion appeared in her eyes—she seemed to have remembered something.
After a moment of hesitation, the Queen of Britannia personally reached out and unbound the girl who wanted to kill her.
As the girl looked on in astonishment and confusion, Boudica spoke gently:
"First, although I don't know why you would mistake me for Nero, I want to tell you that I am not her. You are definitely mistaken about something."
"Second, I want to correct the error in your words. Nero is not a tyrannical Emperor. Quite the opposite of what you think, she is actually a very good person."
"Finally, if you can, I hope you'll calm down for a moment and work with us to clarify things, okay?"
Though Boudica was ambitious, she genuinely acknowledged Nero.
And she was also a very gentle person, capable of communicating with someone who wanted to kill her with such a tone.
Ian couldn't help but feel a renewed appreciation for her good nature.
"..."
Boudica's sincere words genuinely touched the girl.
The alcohol-reeking girl was no longer as sharp as before. In its place was a much more subdued tone.
"You're not lying to me, are you? You... are really not the Roman Emperor?"
"I'm truly not." Boudica continued to explain patiently. "I am Boudica, the Queen of Britannia. That will never change!"
"..."
The girl didn't question any further. It seemed she believed Boudica's words.
Her gaze fell upon Ian on the side. In her eyes was a mixture of resentment for being defeated by him, but also admiration for his strength.
"Then this person is..."
"This..."
Introducing himself was easy enough, but Ian's identity was a little awkward for Boudica.
She didn't want to place him in an overly distant position, but she was also afraid that placing him in an overly intimate position would cause him to object.
But Ian very proactively took her hand at this moment, then spoke in a serious tone that brooked no argument:
"I am her fiancé, Ian Pendragon—if you cause any more trouble, I'll kill you!"
"Eh..."
Hearing the sudden title she had acquired, Boudica blushed, but she completely refrained from denying the man's words.
Fiancée...
Does that mean she could marry him along with the others?
That seemed like a very happy thing!
But speaking of which... did that mean she also had to become a concubine?
Boudica fell into strange, deep thought.
"..."
Hearing this, the girl looked at Ian, then at the happy-faced Boudica beside him. After a moment of silence, she apologized.
"I apologize. I was rash."
"I, Jing Ke, apologize to you."
"..."
The instant he heard this name, Ian felt a sense of familiarity.
Quickly, he remembered.
It was in the time before Lev had caused the big explosion. The entirety of Chaldea was executing its "Master Watch Program"—a plan where several Masters formed groups to protect each other.
At that time, he had seen this name in the documents provided by Hinako Akuta.
So—
She was actually a Servant?
Realizing this, Ian felt that the situation was a little off.
And this speculation was quickly confirmed.
Jing Ke continued, "Alas, I only came here to kill Nero... but now I can't even find her. It's frustrating!"
Hearing this, Ian first signaled Boudica to stop, then asked Jing Ke in return.
"Do you have some kind of grudge against her? Why must you kill her?"
"I have no personal grudge against her," Jing Ke stated her inner thought very bluntly. "But since I was summoned to this era, I must at least do something for the people being oppressed by the Emperor of this era, mustn't I?"
She was a Servant, indeed.
Ian realized that she might be the key to breaking the deadlock.
"Jing Ke, do you know who summoned you?"
"I don't know." Jing Ke shook her head very directly. "I only sense that the way she summoned me was a bit odd, even a bit heretical."
"But considering I could kill the tyrannical Emperor, such matters were irrelevant."
"..."
Jing Ke had a reason for saying this—she had once attempted to assassinate Qin Shi Huang but ultimately failed.
Now, having arrived in the Roman era, killing Nero might have become her way of making up for her regret.
Moreover...
Ian looked at the dagger lying next to Jing Ke.
If Jing Ke's appearance was for the purpose of assassinating Nero... then the wish of one person clearly fit this notion.
That was Agrippina, Nero's biological mother, the vicious woman who had repeatedly tried to murder her own daughter.
She was the most likely person to summon Jing Ke in this Singularity.
But—
Wasn't she long dead?
Wait.
Memories from his time living in Rome flashed through Ian's mind.
Lev was also here!!!
Although he didn't know how Lev had managed to resurrect Agrippina, since he had been to this era, he was the most likely person to have accomplished such a feat.
Thinking of this, Ian asked Jing Ke another question.
"Then why did you drink to this state—being drunk, don't you feel dizzy?"
This question was not asked idly.
How could Agrippina summon a drunken Servant? There had to be a reason for this.
"How could I be dizzy?"
Jing Ke gripped her dagger, looking very confident.
"For me, alcohol is the best courage-booster. No matter how much I drink, I can't get drunk!"
"Courage-booster?"
"Yes!"
Jing Ke looked toward where Boudica's chariot was parked, a look of recollection in her eyes.
"Last night, many strange black shadows appeared—they were attacking me at first, but after I finished drinking, they lost their hostility."
"And then... I met you two."
"..."
Everything connected at this moment.
These black shadows appearing outside Hadrian's Wall were likely connected to Agrippina as well.
The loss of hostility was probably due to the shadows identifying Jing Ke.
This venomous woman was truly ruthless... even after being resurrected, she still wanted to kill her own daughter.
However—
Ian looked at Jing Ke, realizing she might be the key to solving the problem.
He leaned toward Boudica beside him and whispered.
"Boudica, I need to discuss something with you."
"What is it?" the Queen quickly responded.
"I said... how about we don't go back yet and spend another night out here?"
"What?!"