Fate: The Forged Arthur Pendragon

Dagonet.

This was the Clown Knight from the legends of the Knights of the Round Table, dubbed "Clown" because his wild shouts and antics during a tournament appearance made King Arthur laugh uncontrollably.

In King Arthur's legends, he believed himself to be a brave warrior and insisted on acting as such.

However, in reality, he would flee at the slightest rustle of leaves or provocation from others. He often beat his own shield, making it seem as if he was always fighting, presenting all his victories to the King and the other knights.

Now, this amusing figure from the Knights of the Round Table appeared before Suya.

Suya recognized him upon closer inspection—

Wasn't this the mustached knight who, earlier in the day, had suggested 'Ector' lead the cavalry to charge the King of Conquerors and reclaim King Uther's body?

Suya remembered him because his two powerfully upturned mustaches, curled into semicircles, were simply too striking.

Only,

Why hadn't either Merlin, the mage, or Lucan, the stronger master thief, noticed him hiding outside all this time?

Knight, why are you better at stealth than a thief?!

At this moment, after a round of bewilderment, Lucan was the first to regain his composure, staring at Dagonet with furious surprise. He blurted out,

"How are you here?!"

"Why shouldn't I be here!"

Dagonet turned his head, sneering at him, and harshly revealed,

"You wanted to kill us, those loyal to the King! You wanted the esteemed King to lose his crown, and even for the noble King to become your puppet!"

"But you couldn't do it alone, so you tried to deceive Miss Mage with your mouth full of lies and honeyed words, hoping for her help, right, thief?"

"Only, the weakling you thought I was, the clown you've always ignored, felt your killing intent from the very beginning, and recognized from the start that you were absolutely not the upright Sir Ector!"

"Therefore—"

At this point, Dagonet turned, looking at Suya with a righteous expression and tear-filled eyes.

"My King, your most loyal knight Dagonet has been guarding your side from the very beginning!"

Hearing this, Merlin felt like nothing was quite right, yet still adopted a look of sudden realization, glaring furiously at Lucan and raising five slender fingers.

"What! Lucan, how dare you lie to me?!"

"If this isn't worth this much, I'll eliminate you for my King right now!"

Lucan gritted his teeth, angrily pulled out his last five banknotes from his wallet, and slapped them into Merlin's hand. Then he glared back at Dagonet, rebuking,

"You're full of it, you coward!"

"You ran away with me because you were afraid of death! You squatted here beforehand to listen in because you were afraid of death! You have none of your so-called chivalry for the King or for Britannia!"

"Do you dare deny it? Do you dare speak it?"

"Do those knights outside know you're here? Did you organize those knights to protect the King? You just wanted to run away alone again, just like you abandoned Sir Ector!"

Dagonet, hit by this barrage of truth-bombs, trembled as he clung to Suya's leg, unable to utter a single rebuttal.

Indeed, this was the true Dagonet.

He believed Lucan's lies because he was afraid of death.

He deliberately brought up charging the King's chariot in front of Lucan, Suya, and Merlin because he was afraid of death, forcing Lucan to expose Suya's identity, transforming him from a knight "loyal to the King's chariot, Ector" to a knight of a "new king whose succession was paramount," thereby forcing the knight order to retreat.

He suspected Lucan might intend to kill them, which is why he had secretly positioned himself there to listen in.

Dagonet couldn't refute any of it. He could only cling tightly to Suya's leg, as if it were his last straw of salvation.

And then,

Lucan's demeanor changed. In front of everyone, he smoothly turned and half-knelt before Suya, speaking obsequiously,

"My King, I did not recognize you at first. Please forgive my disrespect."

"I retract all my disrespectful words. Since you are the true King, then you must never abandon your knights, and I, Lucan, as the knight who first supported and protected you, swear that I will assist you in ascending the throne, even if it costs me my life!"

Suya subconsciously wanted to reach out, but glancing at Lucan, he saw no motion of pulling out cash, so he straightened his face and remained silent.

Lucan secretly clicked his tongue, staring at the scarlet dragon crest on the back of Suya's hand, racking his brain but unable to figure out what was going on.

Could it be that he really was the King?

But this didn't make sense. If he was the King, then why was his relationship with Ector so distant as Ector's adopted son? If he was the King, why would Merlin refuse to bear him children?

At this moment, Dagonet sensed that Suya didn't seem to intend to punish him. He immediately turned his head and scoffed at Lucan, who was kneeling on the other side.

"You scoundrel, you wanted to kill the King's knights! You're finished!"

A vein throbbed on Lucan's forehead, and he cursed, "You coward, shut up! I'm also the King's knight; you have no right to speak here!"

"Pfft! You thief, pretending to be a knight! Have you ever sworn an oath to the King?"

"Ha!? I @#@￥#@#"

Inside the stone room, which was gradually devolving into a chaotic marketplace,

Two Knights of the Round Table cursed at each other like shrewish women. Merlin, acting as the royal court mage, not only didn't stop the chaos but instead fanned the flames, speaking for whoever paid her.

And Suya, as the false king, could only watch all of this in a daze, observing the Knights of the Round Table who had gathered around him for the first time.

A murderer, a con artist, a bandit, a deserter...

Is this my Round Table? What a collection of talents!

Suya couldn't help but laugh.

He didn't stop any of this, or rather, he didn't want to stop any of this.

He found it lively and quite amusing.

More importantly, he wasn't the true King of Britannia, nor did he have any intention of taking on all the responsibilities.

This troop, which looked more like a circus than a knightly order, made him, who had suddenly arrived in this world alone, feel a sense of belonging.

Even if this joy would only last until they reached the capital.

Although Lucan was full of lies, as a fellow con artist, Suya could discern some crucial information from his mixture of truth and falsehoods, such as—

Sir Ector was dead.

King Uther was dead.

Archmage Merlin was dead.

All three of these most important guides for Arthur Pendragon's ascension to kingship were gone, severing Suya's possibility of rightful succession.

On the other hand, theoretically, at least in this place, no one could discern the authenticity of Suya, who possessed the royal magic crest.

And a lie, if unchallenged, becomes the truth!

Perhaps only three people, according to the records of Arthurian legend, could distinguish Suya's true identity:

The Archbishop of Canterbury,

Sir Ector's biological son, Arthur Pendragon's elder foster brother, Kay,

And the King's half-sister, Morgan le Fay.

Morgan le Fay, the woman who had won all of Merlin's possessions, this woman who might be able to discern Suya as a fake, was in the capital.

And Suya was not planning to go to the capital.

He looked at the boisterous room and suddenly let out a loud shout:

"Stop!"

The three, who had been in a chaotic huddle, simultaneously froze. Lucan and Dagonet looked at Suya cautiously, while Merlin met his gaze with an amused expression, her eyes narrowed into crescent moons, as if saying, "You've really got something!"

Suya looked at the two kneeling figures, pondered for a moment,

Then decisively commanded,

"Lord Lucan, Lord Dagonet—let bygones be bygones. I believe in your loyalty now!"

"Now, go fetch me a map!"