Father.
Hearing Artoria address him thus—and knowing all present were his trusted confidants—Naoki, seated on the throne, withdrew the golden-white light he used to project authority and revealed his true form.
Just like two thousand four hundred years ago, even though he had relinquished his identity as the Bearer of the Star Holy Sword and discarded all his memories, Naoki's appearance remained unchanged. As an Elemental Spirit, natural physical change was impossible for him.
Thus, despite the passage of two thousand four hundred years, Naoki still looked like a teenager of seventeen or eighteen. Only a faint aura of maturity radiating from his brows truly conveyed the time he had lived through.
"Your tone sounds a bit tense."
Naoki gazed at Artoria.
"Are you wondering what punishment I'll give you, Lia?"
"Could Father possibly be planning to forgive me?"
That was impossible.
Artoria understood her father's character well. Though he was gentle with her most of the time, when she made a mistake, he became extremely strict.
It was Naoki in such moments that was the main reason Artoria called him that bastard.
"You know I'm not one to spoil you." Naoki said.
"Leaving the King's Castle without permission, ignoring my and Morgan's orders to return, clashing with Barghest who went to retrieve you, and setting foot on the Boundary Isle I forbade—Since punishing each separately would be too troublesome, this time I'll treat all four as one offense and punish you accordingly."
As he spoke, three doors—seemingly composed of countless silver prism blocks—appeared before Artoria.
Displacement Magecraft.
Since Artoria had been forced to learn this Magecraft too, she recognized it immediately.
"The punishment I'll give you is your mother's Garden."
Naoki announced Artoria's sentence.
"I've randomly selected three Gardens from all of them. Choose one you like and enter. You'll reflect alone inside for a week. Whatever you want to say, I'll listen carefully after you come out."
"Whether it's your thoughts on running away from home, or the people you met outside—even if you don't say it, I'll make you. Remember this well."
Listening to Naoki's words and seeing the three light doors before her, Artoria felt relieved.
Garden—that was one of the several Grand Magecrafts mastered by her adoptive mother, Morgan. It was a type of cursed artifact that could trap the target, such as Sweet Dream, Abyss, Disappointment, Innocent Person, and others. Frankly, it was a shield with various attributes.
When Artoria made mistakes as a child, or when she couldn't learn magic, Naoki and Morgan would use the Garden to punish her. It had been her special punishment since childhood.
(Punished this way means it's still within normal limits… Thank goodness.)
After randomly choosing one of the light doors, Artoria walked straight in.
The moment the light door vanished and Artoria was truly locked inside the Garden—
"Father~~~~~!"
As if freed from restraint, Baobhan Sith standing below leaped toward Naoki on the throne. But just before touching her father, a light door appeared before her, sending her back to her original position.
Seeing his overly eager adoptive daughter, Naoki sighed slightly: "Official business isn't finished yet. Be patient a little longer, Baobhan Sith. Alright, now let's discuss your reward, Barghest."
Naoki turned to the most loyal knight on the other side.
"Speak—what reward do you want? As long as I can grant it, anything is fine. I saw through Magecraft—you were pushed into the sea by Lia, right? Her mischief must've troubled you. As her father and your King, I must apologize in every way."
"No, please do not say such things, Your Majesty."
Barghest immediately knelt on one knee.
"Whatever Your Majesty commands, I, Gawain, will accomplish. The difficulties endured are nothing. Your Majesty need not apologize to me."
"Moreover, I am grateful to Your Majesty for being willing to give such a lenient punishment to Her Highness Princess Artoria."
"Which parent could bear to truly strike and scold their own child?" Naoki rubbed his forehead resignedly. "It was just running away from home once. Let's say she went out for fun. If she hadn't gone straight to Orkney, I wouldn't have sent you to bring her back."
Boundary Isle Orkney.
In this Britain, Artoria could go anywhere she wanted—except there.
"Barghest, did you see the Guardian?"
"Yes. As usual, the Guardian showed no abnormal behavior, but… this time, there were others besides the Guardian on the island."
Naoki frowned: "A red-haired girl, and a girl holding a large shield?"
"Truly astonishing, Your Majesty. Exactly so."
Orkney was outside the surveillance Magecraft's range. Naoki in Camelot should not know about Orkney. Yet now he accurately described Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash—Barghest's reverence for her King deepened.
There was nothing on the British Isles unknown to her King. The King was the omniscient and omnipotent Fairy King who knew everything.
"They've finally come, huh."
Propping his chin, Naoki recalled the extremely empty memories in his mind—like dry document reports.
Chaldea, Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mash Kyrielight… With their arrival, the now-calm Britain might stir again. Though easy to crush, using precious Mana on something as boring as that would be wasteful.
"Whatever, I'll tell Cnoc na Riabh to watch them later—Back to the main topic, Barghest. Since you have no request, I'll decide your reward myself."
"Your command."
"Let me think… By the way, Barghest, how long has it been since the last time? It should be a month, right?"
Naoki pondered for a moment.
"One arm of mine—how about a reward like that?"