Aozaki Touko's beautiful eyes flickered. After appraising Alvin for a moment, she suddenly said, "You're serious? You really think you can persuade Morgan?"
Alvin nodded earnestly, "If nothing goes wrong, she probably won't refuse."
The Clock Tower was not as weak as people imagined, and Morgan was an expert at brewing potions. If you could offer her something tempting, cooperation would naturally not be out of the question.
Aozaki Touko pondered for a moment, then made up her mind and nodded slightly, "In that case, I'll go to the Department of Law and Politics now."
Matters of the Tower's size and protocol were generally handled by the Department of Law and Politics. After Morgan rose to power, the Clock Tower had already prepared for the worst.
But if it could be avoided, no one wanted to make an enemy of Ancient Britain.
———
In the blink of an eye, a day passed without them noticing.
During this short day, leaders of various forces had met and negotiated. The Clock Tower alone had held four meetings yesterday and this morning.
Each faction reached different conclusions. Some thought they should rise up and resist. Others believed they should hide and wait.
Under Aozaki Touko's guidance, the Clock Tower decided to try a plan that seemed almost like a fantasy, cooperate with Morgan.
Remember, that witch was an extremely unreasonable and dangerous existence. Before this, no one had seriously considered cooperating with Morgan.
Even Aozaki Touko only settled on this plan after repeated meetings.
After the meeting ended, Aozaki Touko returned to her workshop, lay on the soft sofa, stared at the ceiling, and murmured, "Now it's up to you, Alvin."
Although she remained somewhat skeptical of Alvin's words, since the boy was so confident, she might as well trust him once.
That evening, the magi sat in their rooms and quietly watched the deep blue countdown before them.
"30 seconds" remained before returning to Britain.
Alvin was also in his room, silently watching the countdown.
When the timer clicked down to "1," he closed his eyes slightly.
In an instant, a gentle white light wrapped him.
In the present world it was already sunset, but in Ancient Britain it was still a leisurely afternoon.
Sunlight streamed through the window, slightly dazzling, and Alvin frowned.
Then he slowly opened his eyes.
The bedchamber was empty.
No wonder. Morgan had said a while ago she was going to brew a potion.
What that potion was for, he had no idea.
As Alvin thought these messy things and prepared to step out for a breath of air, he suddenly caught the flash of a golden ahoge by the window with the corner of his eye.
He froze for a moment, then recognized the owner of that ahoge.
"Little Mo?"
At the sound of the boy's voice, the ahoge stood up like an antenna.
Mordred poked her head in and stared at him from the window.
'What does Little Mo want?', A hint of doubt flashed across Alvin's eyes.
"Little Mo? What are you skulking around for?"
Seeing the ahoge identical to Artoria's, Alvin immediately recognized the girl outside the window.
Mordred leapt in through the window.
For convenience she hadn't worn heavy armor today. Instead she was dressed like a modern hot young woman.
Short shorts hugged her perky hips, a simple T-shirt accented her upright chest, her round white long legs were in a pair of combat boots. Her golden mid-length hair was tied up with a headband, the ends swaying as she moved.
In original Britain such outfits would never happen, but as more transmigrators from the present arrived, some modern customs and even clothing began to influence Britain's people.
According to the existing information, a transmigrator who "brought" items could bring any item on them into Britain after crossing. Soul-transmigrators needed to put items somewhere on their body, like in the mouth. Not convenient, but Alvin never doubted human ingenuity. If they wanted to, they would find a way.
But Alvin wasn't thinking about those things just now. He was focused on this girl sneaking into the bedchamber.
'Why would Little Mo come here?'
Sensing the boy's puzzled gaze, Mordred hesitated a little, then glanced at Alvin.
Finally she said in an almost resigned way, "I saw Morgan go to the workshop a moment ago, so I thought I'd come check on you."
For this rebellious knight, those words already expressed goodwill.
No wonder Mordred felt awkward.
This rebellious knight carried both Red Dragon and White Dragon blood, and she was also connected to Morgan to some extent.
Yet in the past Morgan and King Arthur had both treated Mordred coldly.
By contrast, Alvin, who had only recently appeared, cared more about her. Plus he was already interested in Alvin's matters. Even though Morgan didn't want anyone near Alvin, Mordred still snuck into the bedchamber.
"I'm fine. Aren't you afraid Morgan will find you?", Alvin asked.
Mordred paused, then answered calmly, "What is there to fear—"
Alvin instinctively looked toward Mordred's back and said in surprise, "Morgan?"
Whoosh!
In an instant the girl, like a cat, slipped behind Alvin.
After a while, feeling the room's quiet, she poked her head out and surveyed the empty room, then secretly relaxed.
Then her look toward the boy turned a little annoyed.
"Sorry, I just wanted to test whether what you said was true."
Alvin grinned, saw Mordred's displeased face, and reached out to lightly stroke her smooth hair.
Like calming a ruffled cat, at first she looked unhappy, but as she felt the warmth of his palm, her expression relaxed and she even closed her eyes in contentment.
But quickly, as if remembering something, she pushed Alvin's hand away and covered her head, "Don't touch me casually!"
Alvin was taken aback, looked at his suspended hand, then at Mordred's displeased face, and reluctantly withdrew his hand.
"Sorry, I thought in our relationship that would be okay. I'll be careful next time."
Although he didn't sound especially down, Mordred suddenly panicked.
"That's not what I meant, it's just—", Her voice shrank.
Mordred had hit too many walls with Morgan and Artoria in the past.
She should have grown up like an ordinary girl, but the hatred between the two sisters doomed Mordred to be the sacrifice trapped between them.
She dared not love and didn't want others close, like a hedgehog rejecting anyone who tried to approach with its spines. That was Mordred.
But Alvin seemed different from those two.
At least since meeting Alvin, Mordred hadn't seen any disdain or disgust from him.
Still, she needed time to accept him bit by bit.
"I know what you mean, Little Mo."
Just as Mordred's thoughts were in chaos, a hand suddenly touched her cheek.
She instinctively looked up and saw the boy smiling with incomparable gentleness, his gaze sincere.
"You can come see me whenever you want from now on, though it's better when Morgan isn't around."
Mordred froze, then hesitated, "Don't you find me annoying?"
"Annoying?", Alvin asked in surprise.
"No, it's just that Morgan always told me not to disturb her experiments, and the King thought I would interfere with his affairs if I was around," Mordred said reflexively.
"I don't know about others, but I don't find you annoying. And it's normal for someone your age to be lively," Alvin said with a smile.
For a moment Mordred seemed stunned.
Then, as if testing something, she stepped closer to Alvin.
She stared into his eyes, and slowly brought both hands toward his neck.
She was very careful. If Alvin showed even a hint of disgust, she would immediately stop.
But Alvin kept looking at her calmly until the girl slowly hugged him.
At that moment the rebellious knight closed her eyes, as if savoring a warmth she had never imagined before.
'Little Mo really is starved for affection,' Alvin thought, then put his arms around her.
After an unknown amount of time, Mordred finally reluctantly let go.
Two blushes rose on her cheeks. She looked shy.
"I-I'll go back now. I'll come visit you again another time."
Without giving Alvin a chance to speak, she leapt out the window and left like she was fleeing.
'Quiet when arriving, chaotic when leaving… truly fitting for Little Mo.'
The tomboy being shy like that was unexpected. Recalling the scene, Alvin smiled and turned his gaze away.
After finishing the tea on the table, he left the bedchamber and headed straight to Morgan le Fay's workshop.
The last time the magi crossed together. This time after returning, some transmigrators had decided to resist to the death.
While he wasn't overly worried about Morgan's side, Alvin hoped to avoid unnecessary casualties.
To do that, cooperation between the sides had to be pushed forward quickly.
———
After leaving, Alvin crossed the garden and several squares, and soon arrived at a secluded palace.
Silver knights patrolled the palace. They were special automatons made by Morgan.
But unlike last time, these silver knights showed no inclination to attack when they detected Alvin.
He walked into the palace and soon reached the workshop deep inside, where he found the cold, alluring beauty.
She wore a deep blue dress with intricate patterns. Her platinum hair flowed like a waterfall, framing a proud, aloof beauty.
Morgan had her back to Alvin and seemed not to notice him. She was mixing a potion at the table.
"Why did you come to see me?"
Outside she carried that queenly coldness most of the time. Alvin, used to it, smiled and said, "I had nothing to do, so I went out to clear my head. I happened to pass by and thought I'd stop in."
"Am I disturbing you?"
Morgan shook her head slightly, "If you are, I will tell you directly."
"Did the transmigrators return to the present world once?"
Before Alvin could speak, Morgan asked.
Alvin was startled, "How did you know?"
"Half an hour ago, word came from outside the royal city that peasant uprisings occurred to varying degrees in the territories of King Vulcan, King Marco, and two other great nobles."
Morgan's voice was always soft, but her words had no warmth, "The transmigrators were originally scattered. No matter how you look at it, these uprisings were certainly planned. I suppose they discussed it after returning to the present world?"
[T/N: I have started doing another fanfic— "Frieren: A Journey of the Demon King". It is a quite relaxing and humorous read, give it a go. Have a great read~]