"O Holy Grail, I make a wish here. Please choose a new king for Britain, a king who can surpass me and make this land truly prosperous!"
Artoria raised the Holy Grail as she made her wish.
At the same time, she glanced at Leon beside her.
Leon had already permitted this "disrespectful" behavior, and his expression clearly seemed to say:
"Go ahead. Use it however you want."
And then, in the very next second...
Accompanied by a dazzling golden radiance, the Holy Grail erupted with light.
Everyone present could clearly see the golden energy converging around Leon, forming a magnificent crown of light above his head.
The meaning was obvious.
At that moment, he was the one chosen by destiny.
At that moment, he was the chosen one.
The very wish-granting device itself had selected the best possible king.
For an era in which gods existed and walked among mortals, and where many of those present were beings close to divinity, that recognition carried a devastating impact.
Everyone looked at Leon with renewed intensity.
Alpha crossed her arms.
"That is the natural result."
Euphyllia nodded.
"Yes. Of course it would be."
C.C. shrugged.
"If it had chosen anyone else, I would probably conclude that this Holy Grail was fake."
Mordred raised her sword.
"Swear loyalty to my king!"
Not only them.
All of Britain seemed to be swept up in a wave of excitement.
People looked at Leon with astonishment, admiration, and a growing sense of surrender.
After all, Britain was known as the land of knights.
And what knight did not dream of serving a perfect king?
Many had already begun quietly considering whether they should swear loyalty to Leon in the future.
If they could serve under His Highness...
Then the future would be infinitely bright.
"The Holy Grail recognized him as the future king!"
"That's even more convincing than the Sword in the Stone!"
"Even the King of Knights has already yielded!"
"I'm going to try serving His Highness Leon as well!"
"Hahaha! And you think you're qualified?"
Countless knights looked at Leon with shining eyes.
Unfortunately for them...
They had no idea that the man's standards were absurdly high.
Leon simply had no interest in ordinary talent.
When the Holy Grail's light finally faded, Leon closed his fist.
He immediately noticed that his strength had increased.
The Holy Grail had truly granted something.
"Hmm... so that's how it works."
But honestly...
Leon didn't think it had made much of a difference.
"It seems the principle behind this enhancement is using the enormous amount of magical power stored within the Holy Grail to directly strengthen physical strength, speed, endurance, and magical capacity."
"But..."
For anyone else, it would have been a monstrous increase.
Becoming ten times stronger might have been entirely possible.
But for Leon...
It seemed rather useless.
After all...
The amount of magical power he possessed vastly exceeded what was stored inside the Holy Grail itself.
If this were compared to a game, it would be something like this:
An ordinary person possessed fewer than one hundred mana points.
The Holy Grail contained around ten million.
As for Leon...
He possessed at least one hundred million.
"The increase for me was about five percent?"
"Well... whatever. It's still an increase."
Leon shrugged.
At the same time, however, a new idea emerged in his mind.
After obtaining the Holy Grail, he, Aini, and Etta had thoroughly analyzed its structure.
For an ordinary person, such knowledge was completely useless.
After all, how could someone with fewer than one hundred mana points reproduce a structure containing ten million?
But Leon was different.
In fact...
He felt that, in the future, he might literally be able to manufacture new Holy Grails.
"Hmm..."
"Even if the increase is limited for me, if I can truly reproduce the Holy Grail in the future, I can use it to strengthen my subordinates."
On the other side.
Artoria stared at the Holy Grail's choice.
And at that moment, all of her remaining doubts disappeared.
When Leon turned his attention toward her, Artoria knelt without hesitation.
Holding Excalibur with both hands, she raised the sword toward him.
"Your Highness Leon."
"You have proven your worth."
"Therefore, I shall fulfill my promise."
"I offer my sword and acknowledge you as my king."
"Excellent." Leon smiled.
Then he accepted Excalibur from her hands.
Immediately afterward, he skillfully performed the knighthood ceremony.
Holding the Sword of Promised Victory, he placed the blade upon Artoria's shoulder.
"I accept your loyalty."
From that moment onward...
That girl was no longer a queen.
She was simply a knight.
And honestly, Leon believed there was no fate more suitable for Artoria.
Because she had never been someone destined to lead others.
Her nobility, her purity, her ability to honor promises and bear responsibility...
Everything about her pointed toward the path of an ideal knight.
Not someone wearing a crown.
At that moment, Britain officially changed hands.
The following day, the famous reporter Charlotte spread the news throughout the world through newspapers.
Most notably, one specific photograph.
The image of Artoria kneeling before Leon and swearing loyalty.
When the world saw that picture...
Everyone was shocked.
Leon's achievements had increased once again.
As for the Magic Kingdom...
Well.
They were already practically used to it.
Every few days, a new headline involving Leon would appear.
A minor achievement every two weeks.
An absurd achievement every month.
At first, everyone would get excited and discuss it for days.
Now?
Citizen A:
"As expected of His Highness."
Citizen B:
"Honestly? I'm not even surprised."
Citizen C:
"If I go fifteen days without hearing news about him, I start thinking something's wrong."
Citizen D:
"By the way, when is His Majesty going to abdicate?"
"Please stop making His Highness wait."
The current King of Palettia was probably the luckiest monarch in all of history.
Without doing practically anything.
His territory kept expanding.
The nation's wealth skyrocketed.
The kingdom's influence grew at an absurd rate.
The kings of neighboring countries were nearly dying of envy.
Look at his son.
Now look at mine.
I just want to shove him back into his mother's womb.
They wanted to live like that too.
They wanted to sit around while their territory doubled in size.
They wanted to watch their nation prosper on its own.
But in reality...
His Majesty Orphans, King of Palettia, felt that his life was extremely difficult.
Sometimes, he even doubted whether Leon was really his biological son.
"How did I manage to produce a monster like that?"
"I go a few days without hearing from him, and suddenly I discover he's conquered another country."
God knew how he had felt when he woke up one morning and discovered that his territory had expanded again.
For a moment, Orphans thought he was still dreaming.
The problem was that he was now living in an even more awkward situation.
Every day.
Without exception.
Someone would show up to suggest his abdication.
The nobles.
The ministers.
The generals.
The court officials.
Never in the kingdom's history had everyone been so united.
The message was essentially the same:
"Your Majesty, it's time."
"Please enjoy your retirement."
"Let His Highness ascend the throne."
"Just think. You'll go down in history as the father of the greatest emperor of all time."
"But don't delay too long..."
"Or perhaps we'll need to persuade you more forcefully."
Orphans:
"..."
The situation became even worse whenever the elderly ministers appeared.
Veteran Minister:
"Hurry up!"
"Quickly hand the throne over to His Highness!"
"I'm practically dying of old age!"
"At least let me live long enough to see him ascend the throne!"
"I want to earn a few historical achievements before I go!"
According to them, dying during Orphans' reign didn't mean much.
But dying after Leon's ascension...
That would be completely different.
After all, they would be able to proudly declare:
"We served the future Lord of the World."
And that...
Was a truly legendary accomplishment.
(End of Chapter)