Chapter 73: Volume 1: Chapter 74 - Pendragon
The clouds outside the porthole window continuously receded, and under the cerulean sky, the pale golden sunlight gave off a hazy feeling.
Inside the private jet, Mordred was lounging on a soft seat in an extremely unladylike posture, her long, fair, and firm legs propped up directly on the footrest in front of her. She looked at the longsword in her arms—its blade slender, its guard a cross-shape—and gently caressed the inscription on the blade, a nostalgic look on her pretty face.
"Durandal... Welcome back."
Carefully wrapping the holy sword in a Holy Shroud she had swiped from the Church and placing it aside, Mordred took out the Round Table fragment from her small backpack again and said triumphantly.
"See, I told you, the simplest method is often the most effective. Instead of wasting effort sneaking into those guys' lair, it's better to just blow it up directly. Saves time and energy."
—[Even so... if this matter wasn't handled properly, it could have very well escalated into an international incident, even implicating many people. You were once a king yourself, why not consider a more stable method?]
In a visual world that only the girl could see, a silver-haired, green-eyed, androgynous beautiful youth with a metal prosthetic limb materialized from the Round Table fragment like a spirit. He wore light court armor and, like a parent dealing with a naughty child, had a look of helpless headache on his handsome face.
"You said 'once'. That was ages ago. Besides, not a single civilian was affected this time, were they? You know, the times have changed, Bedivere. If we keep stubbornly adhering to that old code of chivalry of ours without changing, it's hard to get by in the modern era."
As if tired of the youth's lecturing, Mordred propped her chin on one hand and turned her face away, her eyes staring into space. She waved her hand, as if signaling for the spirit-form youth to quickly return to the Round Table fragment.
After all, in the past, she had indeed followed the rules, hoping to become a great knight admired by all, just like her "King Father." That was why she had chosen to inherit the throne after her "King Father's" faked death.
But later she discovered that while being king was awesome for a while, not being king was awesome forever.
After fulfilling her duties and peacefully governing Britain for nearly a hundred years, she had also begun to slowly let herself go.
And looking at the girl before him, who was letting his lectures go in one ear and out the other, Bedivere didn't know how everything had turned out like this.
In the past, the girl had been so well-behaved and cute, doted on by all the Knights of the Round Table.
Who would have known that after the girl's "King Father" and mother had both entered Avalon for some reason and no longer restrained her, the girl's personality would gradually become wild.
I apologize, my king, Lord En. It is all my fault for not educating Lady Mordred well...
Guilt and self-blame flashed through his heart. Bedivere's face was filled with apology as he couldn't help but recall everything he had experienced over the years...
Back then, after learning that "Lord En" should be alive in some future era, his king—Artoria—had wanted to immediately enter Avalon to slumber.
But at the dissuasion of the great magus Merlin, the king had regained some of her reason and did not just abandon Britain. Instead, to make everything seem more natural, after ruling Britain for several more decades and bringing prosperity to the land, she faked her death in a deliberately arranged battle and entered Avalon.
However, before entering Avalon, the king had left the throne of Britain to Mordred, who, for some unknown reason, had retained her girlish appearance even after several decades had passed.
And so, with the help of Merlin's illusion magic, just as in the past, Mordred inherited the throne in a male guise.
Although the people of Britain at the time were surprised that the heir to the throne was not the child of "King Arthur and Queen Guinevere," with the support of all the Round Table Knights, Merlin, and King Arthur's will, the succession ceremony proceeded without any incident.
After that, the girl, as the new king, quickly threw herself into the busy work of governing the country. Although her talent for governance was not as outstanding as King Arthur's, and there was even an incident where she searched for the Holy Grail to see "Lord En" sooner, with the assistance of the Round Table Knights, everything in Britain developed along a stable path.
Similarly, several years later, the girl's mother, Morgan, also entered Avalon to prepare for the future. And Merlin, to better observe everything, gradually disappeared from public view and entered that land unbound by time, only occasionally maintaining contact with the girl in the outside world.
Originally, everything should have slowly drawn to a close after the girl also entered Avalon to slumber. But surprisingly, no matter how many years passed, the girl's appearance and figure did not change at all, and the life force within her body did not weaken in the slightest, instead growing more and more vibrant.
According to conventional thinking, since the girl possessed a near-"immortal" unknown ability, she could have continued to rule Britain forever, becoming the eternal king.
But after understanding that she could not possibly never make a mistake, and not wanting to become a "god" that the people relied on, she used illusion magic to make herself appear to age step by step. After a century, the girl retired from the stage of Britain under the name of "dying of old age."
And the Round Table Knights, who should have passed away like ordinary people, found that after their natural lifespans had been exhausted, their spirits could actually attach themselves to the fragments of the Round Table that had been shattered in an accident in the past.
Of course, Bedivere knew very well that this could not be King Arthur's doing, nor was it Merlin's power. It could only be an ability unconsciously released by Mordred.
After all, the girl, like her father, possessed a certain incredible power.
As for what happened after that, it was even simpler.
With the blessing of an ability that prevented aging and made her not easily injured, the girl, with the advice of all the Round Table Knights, lurked in the shadows of history. While searching for her father, she secretly managed an organization she had formed for the convenience of her actions.
And so, imperceptibly, after crossing more than a millennium of history... a massive "family" named "Pendragon" stepped onto the present-day stage.
Sir Agravain, perhaps your suggestion to "make money first" back then wasn't such a good idea after all...
Looking at Mordred, who was like a rich, spoiled young lady, a trace of worry flashed in Bedivere's eyes.
He now only hoped that the girl's personality could be corrected.
Otherwise, when his king woke up, the girl would surely be disciplined.
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