Chapter 965: They Have the Same Face
"Uh, Mr. Eiji said he was sent here by the King of Humans, and Mr. Grim confirmed it, but as for who the King of Humans is, I..."
"The King of Humans!"
While Mash and Little Da Vinci were still hesitating, Guda suddenly cried out.
"Senpai, do you know this person? There doesn't seem to be any data on this title in Chaldea's records... Could he be the first king of humanity from some mythology?"
"No, speaking of the King of Humans, it has to be him..."
Guda's expression became incredibly complicated.
It was only natural that Mash and Little Da Vinci didn't know. The being who held that title had only appeared in the Grand Temple of Time, and had perished in less than a few minutes.
That being said, it seemed he hadn't truly died!
"He saved us in the Atlantic Lostbelt, too. When I was on the verge of despair at Wodime's hands..."
"Don't tell me you're talking about...!"
Little Da Vinci and Mash's eyes widened in unison.
The two looked at each other for a moment, both wearing expressions of disbelief.
"I see. If it's him, then it makes sense that he could have detected the situation here..."
Little Da Vinci patted her head. Thoughts raced through her mind, making her feel as if her genius brain wasn't enough.
"It's understandable that the person he sent would be so powerful... Wait a minute, where did he send him from? Hasn't the Earth been bleached?"
Little Da Vinci suddenly realized a terrifying problem, and her expression turned frightening.
"That's right! Where did Mr. Eiji come from?"
Mash also came to her senses.
She hadn't thought about this question at all along the way!
It was true that Mr. Grim was sent by Odin, but he was a Servant! He could be summoned anywhere that didn't reject the Human Order, so his appearance here was perfectly reasonable!
But what about Eiji?
He was a genuine, living human being!
Now that the Earth of Proper Human History had been bleached, where did he come from?
"Something incredible might be happening..."
Little Da Vinci thought of the King of Humans' abilities and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
Bang, bang, bang!
Eiji knocked on the door of the next room.
"Come in!"
After opening the door, the one who appeared before him was Habby-nyan, who was leaning over a wooden table writing in her diary.
"It's you. What's up? Don't tell me you're here to borrow money from me again?"
Seeing that it was Eiji who had come in, Habby-nyan's expression became one of resignation.
"So stingy!"
Eiji shot her a disdainful look.
"But I'm not here to borrow money—Habby-nyan, let me ask you, is Castoria the reincarnation of Aesc?"
"You're really hung up on Aesc, aren't you!"
Habby-nyan was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Eiji with a mischievous expression.
"What's wrong? Did you fall for her just by hearing Grim tell her story?"
She laughed heartily.
"Stop messing around, I'm being serious!"
"Alright, alright, I'll be serious too!"
Habby-nyan chuckled a couple of times before her expression gradually sobered.
"To give you the conclusion, Castoria is not Aesc! There is no connection between her and Aesc whatsoever!"
"Is that so..."
Eiji was a little dejected.
"I thought that since she looks exactly like the king with the ahoge and was with Gudako, Caster must be the Child of Prophecy!"
After all, there was this line in Ainsel's prophecy.
—The chosen staff shall guide her, the traveler from a foreign land shall watch over her.
And Caster was holding a magic staff in her hand!
In this Fairy Kingdom, Eiji had never seen anyone other than the Queen with a magic staff!
If there were no surprises, "the traveler from a foreign land" should refer to Gudako and the other members of Chaldea. Eiji himself was a Majin, outside of fate, and even clairvoyance couldn't see his future trajectory, so it couldn't be him.
Add to that the name Artoria and the place name Britain.
Based on all these points, Eiji believed the probability of Caster being the Child of Prophecy was as high as ninety-nine percent!
"Caster is the Child of Prophecy. There's no doubt about that."
Habetrot's next words, however, left Eiji bewildered.
"What do you mean?"
"Caster and Aesc are two different fairies. It's as simple as that."
"Then why are you so certain that Caster is the Child of Prophecy?"
Eiji stared intently at Habetrot, not wanting to miss a single one of her subtle reactions.
"Whoa, you're really going to get to the bottom of this, aren't you?"
Habetrot was taken aback by his overly serious expression. She thought for a moment, seemingly choosing her words from within a range she felt was appropriate.
"Ermm... because Caster and Aesc look exactly alike?"
They look alike?
Aesc also has a Saberface?
Stunned by this unexpected piece of information, Eiji's mind went completely blank for a moment.
The first thing that came to his mind was the face of the Queen who ruled this Britain.
"Alright, alright, I already told you you'll find out sooner or later, yet you keep asking! I'm going to rest! A lady's room is no place for a man to barge into!"
While Eiji was still in a daze, Habetrot pushed and shoved him out of the room.
Eiji stood in the hallway for a long time.
He gave off a strange aura, one of being unable to move forward or backward.
...
On the second day of their arrival in Salisbury.
Eiji, Grim, Habetrot, Mash, Gudako, Little Da Vinci, Tristan, and Artoria Caster—all eight of them—gathered again in the second-floor room after finishing breakfast.
"Everyone's acquainted now, so I won't keep you in suspense! Everyone gathered here has the same goal: to defeat the Queen. Am I right?"
Little Da Vinci produced a blackboard from somewhere, put on a pair of glasses to accentuate her intellectual air, and, as the meeting's host, captured everyone's attention.
At her words, Gudako and the other members of Chaldea nodded without hesitation.
Caster let out a nervous little laugh, her ahoge bobbing, but said nothing, her expression somewhat timid.
Eiji nodded silently.
"I have a question!"
Just then, Habetrot suddenly raised her hand.
"Why do you want to defeat the Queen? What's your reason for doing so?"
"Oh, right, I haven't told Miss Habetrot about that yet!"
Mash came to her senses. Along the way, she had been so engrossed in listening to Grim and Habetrot's stories that she hadn't had a chance to explain their side of things.
"Allow me to explain! The reason we from Chaldea came to this Britain Lostbelt is to resolve a major crisis facing the Earth!"
"That great crisis was named the 'Collapse'!"
The British Lostbelt was a rather special Lostbelt.
When Chaldea observed it from the outside, they detected that the unique properties of the British Lostbelt were extremely weak. To put it in terms of rank, it was an E-!
Just like the previous Chinese Lostbelt, it was the type that would disappear on its own if left alone, because its properties were too weak.
The Lostbelt's rank refers to its degree of threat to Pan-Human History, and E- was the most harmless rank to Pan-Human History!