Arthur and Artoria quickly arrived at their destination, but they did not jump down from the rooftop.
At that moment, several puppets clad in silver armor were patrolling the area in front of the palace. It was easy to deduce that these were puppets created by Morgan when she had nothing better to do.
Not all of the knights were puppets, but at least the ones they were seeing now had clearly been made by Morgan.
"How do we get in?" Artoria turned to look at Arthur.
"If we enter directly, will those knights stop us?" Arthur suddenly asked after a moment of thought.
As soon as he finished speaking, he realized Artoria was looking at him as if he were an idiot.
"I was just joking," Arthur said. "You said earlier that if I brought you here, I'd be able to see your sister. Does that mean you have some kind of free pass?"
Artoria shook her head.
"Then how were you planning to get me inside?" Arthur asked, intrigued.
Artoria looked at him. "My elder sister has already noticed us. We just need to wait for her."
"And if she doesn't come out? Are we just going to stand here in the rain?" Arthur asked.
Artoria fell silent.
It seemed she hadn't really thought that far ahead. Observing her expression, Arthur more or less understood what she meant.
Noticing Arthur's gaze, Artoria simply pressed her lips together and lowered her head slightly. "Compared to my elder sister, I really don't know anything…"
It had always been like this. Morgan knew everything. Although Artoria had learned most things from her adoptive brother and her father, she often messed things up because she didn't know how to be flexible.
Compared to Morgan, she was very weak.
"It's fine." Arthur patted Artoria on the shoulder to comfort her. "Not everyone can know everything."
Artoria was silent for a moment. "Thank you, but if you're trying to comfort someone, I think you should be a little gentler."
"Let's talk about that next time," Arthur said, getting straight to the point. "We need to figure out how to get into the palace now. I have an idea we can try."
"What method?" Artoria asked, looking up.
"We sneak in."
"How do you plan to sneak in?" Artoria frowned, confusion visible in her eyes beneath the hood.
The palace was heavily guarded, and the only way inside was through the main gate. However, there were several guards stationed there, making it impossible to infiltrate unless they were all taken out.
Yet Arthur had said they would sneak in… Did that mean he knew of another route?
As Artoria pondered this, she saw Arthur smile.
"I have my own way."
---xXx---
Artoria raised her sword and struck a knight at the castle gate on the neck with the hilt. Of course, since it was a blunt strike, the knight did not collapse instantly, but just as she was about to draw her sword again, Arthur raised his hand and chanted a spell, freezing the knight in place.
"Why are you standing there? Let's go!" Arthur turned to Artoria and said.
"Ah… um…" Artoria snapped out of it, raised her sword, and struck another knight.
A few minutes later—
"To be honest, I don't think this counts as stealth…" Artoria said, looking at the several immobilized knights in front of her.
"The people in the palace haven't noticed that we took them down, so we managed to sneak in," Arthur explained. "Besides, Morgan probably already knows we're coming and is likely watching the show from somewhere right now."
"All right, let's go in quickly. These knights won't stay restrained for long." Without giving Artoria time to respond, Arthur urged her on.
"Why do you know magic that can bind people?" Artoria couldn't help asking as she entered the castle with Arthur.
"Is that strange?"
"Mm…" Artoria nodded slightly. "I always thought you were a lancer."
During that time, Arthur had always used a spear when training with her, and his spear technique was truly excellent. But now, seeing him use magic to restrain others genuinely surprised her.
"I am a lancer, but I also know a bit of magic," Arthur said, making a small gesture with his thumb and index finger slightly apart.
Scáthach had once said that Arthur possessed extremely high magical talent. That wasn't a lie meant to encourage him, but a genuine assessment based on the immense magical power she had sensed emanating from him.
However, for some reason, much of that magic was being restrained by something. That was why Scáthach had decided to take Arthur as her disciple the moment she saw him, years ago.
A good opportunity should not be wasted—that was Scáthach's belief.
"All right, enough small talk. Let's infiltrate the palace now." Without giving Artoria more time to think, Arthur interrupted her and leapt onto the rooftop.
Artoria jumped as well. In truth, she would never have been able to do this before, but the runes were truly amazing. The power contained within those characters was beyond her comprehension. One could easily imagine how powerful she would become if she were to fully master them in the future.
"Why aren't you moving?" Artoria asked when she saw Arthur still standing there.
"Look over there." Arthur tilted his head and pointed toward an open area not far away.
Artoria followed his gaze.
Raindrops struck the ground, making the entire world seem shrouded in mist. Even so, Artoria could clearly see a beautiful woman standing in that hazy space. Her face was covered by a veil, yet she possessed an indescribable charm—enough to imagine just how captivating she would be if she removed it.
"Sister?" Artoria couldn't help calling out.
"Come," said Morgan Le Fay, raising her head and fixing her gaze on Arthur. "Luckily, you didn't make me wait any longer. Otherwise, I would have gone to the Land of Shadows to kidnap you in two days, Arthur."
She seemed to be joking, yet at the same time not entirely joking. That was what made Morgan so enigmatic—and beautiful. Sometimes she said things that sounded like jokes, and sometimes she truly was joking… but other times, she actually acted on those jokes.
Hearing this, Artoria looked at Arthur beside her with a slightly strange expression.
Arthur had previously told her that he and Morgan had only met once, but now it seemed it had been more than a simple meeting…
Despite her thoughts, Artoria jumped down from the rooftop, landing firmly on the wet ground. She looked at Morgan Le Fay and said, "Sister."
"It's been a long time, Artoria." Morgan's voice was gentle, as though it carried a magical power that soothed people.
Arthur watched the two sisters reunite, then jumped down as well. But whether because of the rain or some other reason, his foot slipped and he nearly fell into an awkward split. Fortunately, he regained his balance just in time and avoided embarrassing himself.
Almost simultaneously, a caretaker passed by, slipped in the same way, and performed a magnificent split on the ground.
Both girls turned their gazes toward Arthur. Morgan almost burst out laughing, but to maintain her image in front of her sister, she suppressed it and looked at Arthur with a composed expression.
"Let's go to my palace first," Morgan said calmly, though there was a hint of amusement in her eyes.
(End of the chapter)