Section 24 Node 4 Recollection Quest (2/3)

...This must be the movable partition my sisI heard about.

They said it could be used to alter the positions of Camelot's ramparts, and even some of its buildings.

Ohhh, that explains it! I THOUGHT things looked different from the last time we were here!

I see. Then I guess some of these large buildings are actually part of the ramparts.

In fact, now that I'm really looking, I can even see the rails on the ground. Even if they're only used to slide things horizontally, that's still impressive.

That means we won't be able to take the route to the castle as we have it on our map.

If they can move buildings around as they like, they can just as easily block off the entrance to the castle.

Oh! You're right. Of course they would do that.

Thank you, Mash. You've been a big help. If you hadn't said anything, I would have kept blindly searching for the entrance like an idiot.

N-not at all. I didn't do anything, really...

(I know I haven't had any time to talk to this Lostbelt version of Percival, but...)

(...he's nothing like I imagined. If anything, it feels like I'm talking to someone around my own age...)

So we can't trust our eyes to take us where we need to go, huh? In that case, it must be over there!

The strongest magical energy signal is over that way, so that must be where the throne is!

Understood. Étoile, get the word out to the other troops.

Tell them Camelot's terrain is malleable, so the maps may be unreliable.

So, you just want me to send an unencrypted message to anyone and everyone? No problem.

？！

It's a wind tidinga technique the Wind clan use to carry their voices over long distances.

The big problem is that other faeries can hear what you say too, so it's not good for secrecy.

I'd guess only the most powerful Wind clan faeries can use it to speak exclusively to specific individuals.

I see. So you can't use it for clandestine purposes, but it's perfect if you want to get the word out to lots of people at once.

I guess that means Cnoc na Riabh will hear it too, but that's okay. Right now, getting into the castle is our top priority.

Right. I'd like to settle things before the queen's knights have a chance to regroup.

？！

...! Altria!

Mash!?

So, that shield of yours is the Round Table. It seems Proper Human History mages are as lacking in fear as they are respect.

You have taken the gathering place of your greatest heroesthe symbol of all who have sworn to defend their countryand turned it into your personal weapon.

Not even I would think to go so far.

Or is it precisely because you are from Proper Human History that you have gone to such depraved lengths?

Perhaps you never cared what means you chose if it meant your survival in the end.

No way... How!? And in the middle of the city!?

？！

Of course I have come for you in my city. What cause could there be for me to wait until the rabble sullies my castle before crushing them?

Camelot's throne is the linchpin of my Britain. I would never let you stain it with blood.

Altria, the Child of Prophecy. Fujimaru, mage of Chaldea.

And...

You. The Servant who possesses the gallant Galahad's Spirit Origin.

Well done on completing your pilgrimage. On that, I commend you.

Once again, judgment has been passed on the six clans. Soon, all of Britain's faeries shall know salvation.

And yet...hmph. It is all I can do to be sick at the thought.

The Bells of Pilgrimage are a temporary salve at best.

The faeries are all too quick to forget about your hard work. They remember nothing of your struggle, your anger, your grief.

Surely you realized as much by the time you rang the second bell. And yet, you persisted in your pilgrimage.

You have taken what is right and proper from this lost Britain. I trust you are pleased with yourself?

...Of course not. Don't talk to me about "right and proper."

I was only born because you abandoned your duty.

If you'd just done your job like you were supposed to, she would never have had to become king.

I don't know what the clans' original sin was, and I don't care. I just want to fulfill my duty and be done with it.

Whatever struggles you went through as Aesc, or how the land of the fae first came about, none of that has anything to do with me!

I didn't stand a chance against you before, but things are different now! So come on, Morgan! Let's do this thing!

Afterwards... Well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I don't know what's right and what's not. I don't want to know anything about my destiny, either.

I can't do anything about Britain's future, or the outside world.

I don't have some noble cause, or grand ambition like you!

All I know is that I want to win! That's the only part of myself I believe in!

I see. So you still know nothing of your true identity, even after completing your pilgrimage.

Come, then, Child of Prophecy. I will put an end to your absurd destiny myself.

Altria. My archenemy in Proper Human History.

You will never go anywhere. You will never change anything.

I will show you mercy: I will change what you cannot.

Forget about going to the Site of Selection. It is time you went back to being the miserable village girl you once were.

...You have mortally wounded me. I have not been so gravely harmed since my battle with Mab.

I see now how you managed to excise so many Lostbelts.

Now I, too, go to the same fate as the other Lostbelt kings you defeated.

...Be that as it may, I must say this, young foreign mage.

The spells you wield in this isolated Lostbelt are so powerful as to defy belief.

Should you have the chance to do so in the future, I suggest you think back to where things began.

What is Chaldea? For what purpose was Rayshifting originally devised?

Huh?

Wha

Queen Morgan's Spirit Origin has...vanished... There's no mistaking it. We really

？！

Hang on! Sure, she was ridiculously powerful! Sure, we're way too worn out to fight anymore!

But she never actually told us anything! Not about Rhongomyniad, not the truth about the land of the fae!

She basically quitI mean, lost while she was ahead! We still have a ton of questions with no answers!

...Maybe so, but...

I don't think Queen Morgan would have told us anything even if we had lost.

She never did say more than she had to...

...Morgan... She was all alone, right to the end...

？！

Well... No, I guess not.

I mean, as wicked queens go, maybe she was a bit of a letdown? I don't know, I was steeling myself for her to do something way worse.

...Haha. Kind of a weird thing to think after we finally ended things without losing anyone...

Huh? D-did I?

I-I didn't realize. It's not like I meant anything by it. I mean, I definitely didn't respect her at all... Haha.

...Haha.

...Hahaha. Ha...

？！

...Excuse me? I'm not sure why you're all so glum, but the fact of the matter remains.

We defeated Queen Morgan. Isn't that cause for celebration right now?

I'll have a wind tiding sent to let the whole army know. That should put an end to the battle.

Y-yeah, okay.

It sucks for Cnoc na Riabh, but it looks like we were the ones to finally defeat Queen Mor

...Altria, you daft idiot!

Huh?

？！

You are indeed blessed in your companions, Altria. In that, and that alone, you and I are equal.

...But now, you have lost one.

Next... Another. The Servant who tried to take my head is gone as well.

Those with you here now shall be next, I think. You will do, Percival.

Ghh! That spell... So powerful! It came from the sky... No way... That's...

Did you truly believe defeating one of me would end this battle?

It seem, then, that I have been far too gentle in my rule over Faerie Britain. I should have taught you better.

Any capable mage should be able to create copies of herself, each with her own abilities.

Look to the sky. It is time you faced the reality of your situation.