Crazy Britain:They’re All Raising Me

"Anyway, now that we're here, Fairy Lancelot shouldn't be able to find us," Bavanzi said as she stepped out of the Water Mirror. She turned to the others, placing her hands on her hips with a smug grin. "Well? Pretty impressive, right?"

"Indeed, quite impressive," Oberon nodded, rubbing his chin. "Fairy Lancelot would never expect us to teleport straight from near New Darlington to Londinium."

"But... is it really okay to be here?" Guinevere asked. "Isn't Percival Fairy Lancelot's younger brother? And we're being hunted by her right now."

"You don't need to worry about that," Oberon replied with a smile. "To be honest, I'm the secret sponsor behind the Round Table Army. That's why I insisted we come to Londinium."

"Percival might be Lancelot's brother, but he doesn't blindly follow her. Before Queen Morgan went missing, the Round Table Army was seen as rebels by the Queen's forces. Percival and Fairy Lancelot were even enemies at that time. He has a strong sense of justice—he wouldn't go against us just for her sake."

Hearing that, Guinevere recalled the previous simulations. That did seem to be the case.

"Still, you guys wait here for a bit. We popped in so suddenly, I should give Percival a heads-up before we go in."

As he spoke, Oberon gave a "poof" and transformed into a chibi version of himself, then leapt onto Blanca and zoomed off, disappearing from sight, leaving the others exchanging glances.

"So... should we just rest here for a bit?" Guinevere said casually.

"Yeah... but Guinevere," Artoria suddenly spoke, her eyes locked on him with a serious expression. "...I have a question for you."

"Huh? What is it?" Guinevere blinked in surprise, but seeing Artoria's unusually serious face, he suddenly felt uneasy.

"What kind of girls do you like?"

"Huh?"

Artoria felt it was necessary to ask this question.

From what she knew of Guinevere, he was actually a pretty loyal guy—once he established a relationship with a girl, he'd keep a respectful distance from others.

But... judging from the simulations, he was a full-blown flirt.

Sure, each simulation he was faithful to one girl... but it was always a different one.

That's suspicious.

In his heart, he only had one person—but that one person could be any of them. And aside from the final winner, the others wouldn't even get a taste of the soup.

So in this love competition, there could only be one victor.

And Artoria couldn't allow that victor to be anyone but herself.

She had to strike decisively! Find out his type and win him over—cut off the chances of those other scheming girls trying to steal him!

But the question totally caught Guinevere off guard.

He blinked at Artoria, then glanced at Bavanzi, who had sneakily perked up her ears. His head began to ache.

What is this? A new type of deathtrap?

Guinevere stayed silent.

"Why do you look so troubled?" Bavanzi asked, puzzled by his silence. "Is it that hard to answer?"

Though both she and Artoria were genuinely curious when they asked, to Guinevere it felt like a loaded question.

"Um..."

Sweating under their combined gaze, Guinevere tried to think.

He couldn't mention a trait one of them had that the other didn't, or he'd offend someone. But picking something neither of them had... would be worse.

And Artoria and Bavanzi? Their personalities weren't completely opposite, but the difference was vast. He couldn't think of any overlap.

In the end, he hesitantly replied, "Uh... someone pretty?"

Seeing their surprised expressions, Guinevere scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I mean, I'm a simple guy. If I'm going to have a girlfriend, of course I'd want a beautiful one."

As top-tier waifu material, both Artoria and Bavanzi were undeniably beautiful.

"Ah..."

But no sooner had he said it than Artoria looked down, her voice faint.

"I see... so a plain-looking, useless fairy like me has no chance..."

Crap, he forgot she had zero confidence in her looks.

Seeing how quickly her mood sank, Guinevere quickly tried to console her.

"No, no, Artoria, what are you saying? You're super pretty, okay? Don't listen to those tasteless fairies—you're really beautiful!"

"Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better?" she asked, still unsure.

"Of course not! I swear, I mean it with all my heart—cross my heart!" Guinevere promised with conviction.

As Artoria's expression slowly brightened, Bavanzi suddenly chimed in:

"What about me?"

She pointed to herself.

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Of course you are!" Guinevere nodded. "Honestly, I don't think I'm even qualified to judge. Who in the Fairy Kingdom would dare say you're not beautiful?"

"That's true\~" Bavanzi said cheerfully, nodding. "Then... who do you think is prettier, me or Artoria?"

Upon hearing that, Artoria lifted her head, eyes fixed on Guinevere, waiting for his answer.

"Uh..."

Sweat began to bead on Guinevere's forehead.

Now this... this was a real deathtrap.

"Well, I think..." he started, wiping sweat and trying to say they were equally pretty, but Artoria interrupted:

"You're not going to say we're equally pretty just to dodge the question, are you? That'd be so sneaky. That wouldn't be your honest answer."

...Can't you two just kill me already?

Guinevere seriously considered smashing his head into the ground.

Who's prettier—Artoria or Bavanzi? Easy to answer if only one asked. But both at once? Torture.

Just as he was ready to throw himself on the floor, a commotion in the distance caught his ear—on the far side of the hill, someone was fighting.

Sensing his salvation, Guinevere leapt to his feet.

"Wait! Someone's under attack—it sounds like a monster! Let's go help!"

With that, he charged off like a man fleeing death.

Artoria and Bavanzi exchanged a glance, then followed with helpless sighs.

By the time they arrived, the battle was over. A girl in armor was just pulling her lance from a monster's corpse. Seeing them, she blinked in surprise.

"Sir Guinevere? And... Miss Artoria and Miss Bavanzi?"

"Huh?"

"You... know us?" Artoria and Bavanzi exchanged looks.

"Ah..." The girl paused, then scratched her head sheepishly. "Is it too late to say I don't?"

Guinevere couldn't help but chuckle.

The girl who had rescued them was none other than Gareth.

He already knew Gareth had a simulator, but didn't expect her to out herself right away.

"Uh... well..." Gareth scratched her head, then smacked her forehead like she had an idea. "Right! I'm from the Clan of the Mirror, so I foresaw this meeting! That's it!"

She then turned to Artoria, eyes shining.

"Prophecy Child Artoria, I've waited a long time to meet you. May I join your team and fight by your side?"

Artoria smiled and descended the hill, reaching out her hand.

"Of course. Welcome, Gareth. To be honest, I have a tiny bit of foresight myself. I've been looking forward to this too."

With that, they both smiled at each other—words were no longer necessary.

They'd been allies many times in the simulator. By now, aside from Guinevere, they all knew each other's true identities as players. Covering for each other came naturally.

Later, as Artoria and Gareth continued catching up, Oberon returned with Percival.

From there, everything went much like the earlier simulation when Guinevere had brought Artoria to join the Round Table Army—except with Oberon's endorsement, they skipped the identity verification part, and the residents of Londinium gave Artoria and her group a warm welcome.

That very night, the people held a celebration for Artoria, gathering around her with excitement and endless questions.

Seeing this, Guinevere couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic.

He remembered back in the second simulation, when he first brought Artoria here. She wasn't quite like this then.

At the time, though she enjoyed the crowd's enthusiasm, she was still a bit flustered. But now, she handled it all with grace and poise.

A true Prophecy Child indeed.

But it wasn't just Artoria who had changed.

Taking a deep breath, Guinevere turned and walked boldly toward Percival.

"Percival, I have a favor to ask. I hope you'll accept."

"Please, ask anything," Percival replied sincerely. "If it's within my power, I'll do my best."

"It's not anything too complicated... would you fight me?"

As he spoke, Guinevere reached into the air and summoned the projection of Vick's spear.

"I've been looking forward to the chance to face a strong warrior like you in a proper battle."

—He was no longer the coward he once was.