Sometimes… it just feels helpless.
Guinevere felt his blood pressure rise a little.
Not long ago, he had been chatting with Knocknarea about how criminals should always pay the price for their wrongdoings. Then he came back… only to find his two idiot teammates caught red-handed stealing.
"Guinevere…"
Looking at Artoria with teary eyes full of pity, and Barwangie silently bowing her head like a child being scolded, Guinevere sighed heavily and decided to at least talk to them a bit.
But before that, he needed to get a clearer picture of the situation.
"So, what exactly were they trying to steal?"
"I'm curious too," Knocknarea said, arms crossed and brows furrowed. "What do I have that Artoria needs to steal? With the relationship between us, if she wants something, she could just ask. Why sneak around?"
"My lady, they attempted to steal the latest batch of Pal Balls produced by the Pal Ball assembly line factory brought in by Lady Murien."
Aiken answered seriously.
"Pal Balls?" Knocknarea blinked in confusion.
"That's strange. Weren't the blueprints for the Pal Ball factory with them? I've been wanting those for a while. If I had them, I could expand mass production quickly. But Artoria never gave them to me, so I've had to rely on the prototype Murien brought… They need Pal Balls? Don't they know it's only a matter of time before they can just make more?"
Knocknarea sank into thought.
But after scrutinizing the two of them a bit longer, she suddenly realized something:
"I see. You must have a special reason—something urgent—why you had to get the Pal Balls today, no matter what."
"And considering that Pal Balls have the ability to capture people… were you planning to steal them and use them to secretly capture Guinevere while we were out of the city?"
Guinevere's face darkened instantly.
Especially seeing how both Artoria and Barwangie were suddenly avoiding eye contact and pretending to be very Zen. Thinking back to what Artoria blurted out a few days ago—"It won't be long before you're no longer under Knocknarea's control"—Guinevere was pretty sure this wasn't a misunderstanding.
Those two idiots really were trying to pull something like this.
And if that wasn't enough, Aiken added,
"It wasn't just theft. After being caught, they even tried to use force to resist arrest. If the guards on duty hadn't been some of the most skilled warriors in Lady Knocknarea's army, they might have actually escaped."
"You flatter us, Lord Aiken."
"We were merely fulfilling our duty," said two northern fairies who stood beside them like statues—strikingly similar to Diarmuid and Fionn.
Seriously, what's wrong with these two?
Guinevere nearly choked on his own breath.
Either get caught and surrender quietly, or don't get caught at all! But to resist arrest and still get caught—what even is that? Were they collecting crimes like achievements?
"Guinevere, what do you say?" Knocknarea turned to him. "How should I deal with these two criminals?"
"…Bury them."
Guinevere replied coldly.
Beyond help. Beyond saving. Farewell. Please find someone else.jpg
"Nooo, Guinevere—!"
The two, still bound tight, screamed in unison.
"Hmm… maybe not that far…"
Knocknarea thought for a moment and then said,
"How about this: if Artoria hands over the Pal Ball factory blueprints, I'll pretend nothing ever happened."
"No way! Not a chance!" Artoria jumped up.
And Barwangie too was indignant:
"Yeah! I spent my entire fortune and that cursed New Darlington to win that blueprint in an auction—I'm not giving it up!"
"Don't think I don't know Murien only took one billion Morpounds from you in the end. As for New Darlington, that hot potato? Murien didn't even dare to accept it."
Knocknarea exposed the lie flatly.
"But if you're really unwilling to hand them over, that's fine too. I'll just send you both to Lancelot's prison fortress."
Their faces turned pale instantly.
"You might as well kill us outright."
"Nothing I can do," Knocknarea shrugged. "You won't pay restitution, and you won't accept punishment—what am I supposed to do?"
"…Enough, Artoria," Guinevere suddenly said. "Give her the blueprints. That factory is more useful in Knocknarea's hands anyway."
[Under your persuasion, Artoria finally surrendered the Pal Ball factory blueprints. As promised, Knocknarea released them.]
[Afterward, you had no energy left to scold them. You simply walked away.]
[That night, you tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.]
Thinking about Knocknarea's diligent governance… and then thinking about his own teammates, Guinevere found sleep hopeless.
..........................................…
"...This is bad."
Elsewhere, just after being released, Artoria spoke heavily to Barwangie:
"Guinevere might've been brainwashed by Knocknarea. Worse—he might've already been captured by her with a Pal Ball while they were out today."
"He used to be totally on our side! But this time, he outright took Knocknarea's side! Something's not right!"
"Ah?! Then what do we do?!" Barwangie panicked.
"At this point, only Pal Balls can fight Pal Balls," Artoria said seriously. "If Knocknarea has made her move, we've got to use Pal Balls to get Guinevere back."
"But didn't she already confiscate the factory blueprints?" Barwangie asked. "Are we gonna try to steal her Pal Balls now?"
"No no no," Artoria shook her head. "Who do you think I am? I stared at that blueprint every day while building the factory—I've memorized everything. Even without the blueprint, I can still build it!"
"That's amazing?!" Barwangie jumped with excitement. "Artoria! You're a genius!"
Good thing Guinevere wasn't around to hear this. If he had known what was going on in their room right now… he might never sleep again.
..........................................…
[Early the next morning, before you returned to the MagVirt factory to continue designing the MagVirt Type-III, Knocknarea once again invited you—this time to the military camp to inspect the soldiers' training.]
[You accompanied Knocknarea and watched Edinburgh's soldiers perform military drills. You noted that aside from the enhanced combat ability granted by the MagVirt rifles, the soldiers' personal combat skills were also excellent.]
[Though none were on the level of a super-warrior like Woodworth, the overall quality of troops was even higher than that of the Fang Clan—renowned for its martial prowess.]
[Later, during the internal duels, after witnessing several top-notch battles, your own fighting spirit ignited, and you asked to step into the ring to spar with the northern fairy elites.]
[Knocknarea agreed and allowed you to participate under the title of Vanguard Officer of the Northern Queen's Army.]
[Due to the prestige of the Vanguard position, many proud warriors seeking to prove themselves challenged you. You accepted every one of them without hesitation.]
[When selecting weapons, after a moment of consideration, you decided to forgo your usual flying shield and instead picked a longsword and a spear from the weapon rack.]
The flying shield technique was undeniably powerful—especially when combined with the shield Artoria had crafted, it was comparable to a Noble Phantasm.
But for that very reason, Guinevere chose not to use it.
No matter how effective the flying shield was, it only gave a surprise advantage in battle. Against an opponent already on guard, its impact diminished.
In such cases, the true decider of victory was pure martial skill.
It was precisely because of his overreliance on the flying shield that Guinevere's development in real combat techniques had stagnated—leading to his one-sided defeat against Lancelot.
Now, with the rare opportunity to face numerous strong opponents in the Northern Queen's army, it was the perfect chance to hone his skills.
As for the weapon choice—using both sword and spear—well, the sword needed no explanation. The spear, as the king of all weapons and the primary killing tool in battlefield formations, was vital. If Guinevere was to serve as Knocknarea's Vanguard Officer, mastering the spear would be invaluable. Not to mention, he had masters like Xiahoud Finn and Xiahoud Muto in the army to practice with.
Of course, if we're talking about his original reason…
Who wouldn't want to be the next Zhao Zilong charging through Changban, sword and spear in hand, breaking through enemy lines seven times?
And beyond that—there was something else, a certain theory of his…
[Upon entering the arena, you faced off against numerous Northern Army champions, wielding the spear as your primary weapon.]
[To raise the intensity of the fight and maximize combat effectiveness, you did something the audience never expected the moment you stepped on stage.]
"First of all, I didn't intend to target anyone in particular,"
Guinevere shouted loudly the moment he stepped onto the arena.
"I just want to say—every single one of you here is trash!"
"If you've got a problem with that, then come and fight me!"