At that moment, a young man's voice suddenly came from beside him.
"You look a little pale. Are you alright?", Immediately after came the young man's concerned tone.
Tohsaka Tokiomi's senses jolted and he turned instinctively.
When he caught sight of the black-robed young man standing before him, the tension in his nerves slowly eased.
'Judging from the way he is dressed, this young man must also be a traverser, right?'
The magecraft circuits of god-era magi are completely different from those of modern magi, and Tokiomi could not sense that terrifying god-era mana on this young man.
From that alone he could tell the young man was either an ordinary person or a modern magus.
Relaxing slightly, Tokiomi frowned and asked, "What do you mean by 'someone I know'? Do you know me?"
"And… why do you look so pale?"
Even Tokiomi himself felt a bit speechless. The young man had just said Tokiomi looked ill, yet now that he looked, the young man's face was even paler.
"We're both traversers, aren't we? That makes us acquaintances, doesn't it?", the young man said with a smile.
Tokiomi fell silent.
The remark wasn't wrong. Like seeing someone from your hometown in a foreign land, it did create a certain familiarity.
Still, the young man was a little too casual. Tokiomi asked, "What is your name?"
"Alvin," The young man smiled.
The one who had just left King Marco's manor and appeared in the tavern was Alvin.
He had ridden back toward the royal city in a carriage planning to return to the palace when he saw the scene earlier.
The towering golden pillar, and the terrifying mana that signaled the holy sword had been drawn.
"I don't know what kind of enemy King Artoria met to force her to draw the holy sword," Tokiomi said in a low voice.
He wasn't so much worried about Artoria as he was unsettled that he still hadn't figured out why he had been brought to this world, hadn't settled in, and already witnessed such an epochal battle.
If it spread and he got caught up in it... It would be one thing if only he was harmed, but he still had to take care of his wife and the two children.
"In the Camelot Empire, few can force Artoria to draw the holy sword. The Round Table knights are loyal to her; only Merlin or she herself could make her use it," Alvin said.
"Her?", Tokiomi's thoughts stirred and he asked, "So you guessed who's fighting Artoria?"
"Who else," Alvin sighed lightly, "Besides Merlin, only Morgan makes sense."
When Morgan's indexing magecraft caused the 'return of the Age of Gods' last night, Alvin had already felt uneasy.
He had only just crossed to Camelot and hadn't yet prepared to face Artoria. He had hoped for a little more buffer time.
But obviously Artoria was sharper than he expected.
When he entered the royal city and sensed the holy sword's fluctuations, he was already stunned.
He planned to find somewhere to sit and come up with a plan, but instead ran into someone from his previous life he recognized at once. Tohsaka Tokiomi.
Although he knew traversers came from different eras and regions, he hadn't expected to meet a familiar face so soon.
Alvin sighed inwardly.
Creak!
At that moment the tavern door was suddenly pushed open.
A man in armor with a sullen face strode in.
Tokiomi's body tightened; he glanced over and was startled, "Agravain..."
Agravain the Iron Knight, a member of the Round Table and the one who had captured the most traversers recently.
'He has patrolled the city yesterday; why is he here again today?'
The tavern contained other traversers as well, and when they saw the Iron Knight, they tensed instinctively.
The noise in the tavern seemed to drop noticeably.
Agravain's gaze swept the room, then fixed on Tokiomi's position.
Tokiomi's face changed; he quietly produced two gemstones in the palm of the hand hidden behind him.
But soon he noticed Agravain was not looking at him; he was staring at the black-robed young man beside him.
'Is he here for him?', Tokiomi silently retracted the gems and thought.
"Tokiomi," Alvin had already risen. He straightened his black robe, glanced at the man, and said, "Be careful with your good disciple when you go back."
'Disciple?'
Tokiomi froze and frowned, "What do you mean?"
But Alvin said no more. He left the tavern accompanied by Agravain.
Tokiomi watched the black-robed young man depart, mulling over the words he had just heard, and frowned.
'That boy actually knows I have a disciple?'
'Is he also from Fuyuki?'
'But someone I have never met trying to drive a wedge between me and Kirei, is this preparation for some future Holy Grail War?'
'Or—'
Tokiomi's thoughts stalled.
'Wait a moment!'
'Alvin?'
Tokiomi suddenly paused, vaguely remembering something. He looked up toward the figure that had already disappeared from the tavern and murmured, "The Watchman, Alvin?"
———
Alvin and Agravain walked in silence along the road toward the palace.
After a long while, Agravain broke the silence.
"Sorry."
"I told you, even without you, she'd have noticed eventually."
Alvin feigned lightness with a smile, "In the end, this is something I had to face sooner or later. No need to worry too much."
He changed the subject, "How did you locate me?"
"When you entered the city gate someone reported it," Agravain said, "After something this big happened, I wanted to tell you as soon as possible, but it looks like I didn't need to."
He glanced toward the palace with a worried look.
Although he had expected trouble when Morgan and Artoria met, Agravain hadn't imagined the queen would draw the holy sword at once.
Modern traversers' arrival brought many variables. If the queen and Morgan fought to mutual ruin, it could destabilize the empire.
"Don't worry."
Reading Agravain's worry, Alvin soon smiled gently.
"I'll stop them."
"Can you?", Agravain asked instinctively.
"Yes."
The triumphant declaration after his return came from the young man's mouth, full of certainty and confidence.
———
In the Camelot palace the ground seemed to tremble. Golden sword light shot straight to the sky.
Around the holy sword layers of golden radiance rolled like tides.
It was a sacred light formed of condensed mana, scorching and dazzling.
Morgan lifted her face toward the holy sword's light. Her black veil fluttered; faintly the noble, beautiful face beneath showed.
"The holy sword? Apart from a White Dragon at its peak, I don't think anyone can face this blade head-on, right?", Morgan murmured, then extended her right hand.
"Indeed, it's a troublesome weapon. But it's not without counters."
A staff nearly twice Morgan's size quietly condensed in her palm.
God-era dense mana silently gathered within Morgan's staff.
When Mordred saw this, her pupils widened. As if realizing something, her heart leapt so fiercely it was almost uncontrollable.
To bring the true Age of Gods down and use that staff to open a special attack domain against the Round Table and the fey... this was Morgan le Fay's unique authority.
Artoria was both the king and the King of Knights.
In a sense, the domain Morgan would unleash would be Artoria's greatest nemesis.
Only, if she went that far, not only the Round Table but even Merlin, who loafed about in the Tower, would not be able to remain idle.
In the Age of Gods, the power of magecraft ties directly to mana.
Morgan's earlier spell would not have affected Camelot, but the authority she now prepared to use would turn a large area into a true Age of Gods.
Then it would truly get out of control.
Gareth also realized this. She looked at Morgan hesitantly and seemed about to say something.
"You both step back."
But Morgan's voice spoke first.
Though a smile still lingered on her face, the arrogance and cold in her voice felt like they could freeze a person.
Gareth swallowed instinctively. Mordred, who had been about to speak, forced the words back down.
"Lily, do you think I came to the palace just for him, or only out of jealousy for what you have?"
True aether wildly gathered in the staff in Morgan's hand.
Dense mana formed at her feet and slowly spread outward.
In that moment Morgan seemed to become a deity. Her robes billowed; her beautiful eyes gleamed as if stamped with stars.
Artoria silently stared at the woman before her.
"What truly chills me is that nothing changed after the White Dragon battle."
Morgan said softly, "Even though nine of the twelve great noble families fell, the remaining nobles still crave power and treasure like before."
"They still slander him. The name 'Watchman' has become a dirty word in the empire. He did much in the past, but it seems he left no legacy, because no one ever cleared his name."
"I'm glad he returned, but I don't want that tragedy to repeat."
Looking at the holy sword slowly descending toward her, Morgan's expression remained calm.
"You can give him only companionship, but if it were me, I would clear his name. Not as a knight in the dark, but return to Britain as a hero."
"So I will replace you and become Empress of Britain."
Morgan raised her head. As the holy sword's scorching light threatened to consume her, she lifted her right hand.
She snapped her fingers with elegance.
The Age of Gods domain unfolded at that very moment.
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