Marry Merlin?
Artoria felt she might have misheard, her heart pounding rapidly for a moment.
"That… Master, are you sure you didn't misspeak? You want to marry Merlin? That… you're both men—I'm not against homosexuality, there were some cases back then too, but…"
"Haha, Lia, you've got it all wrong."
Merry laughed as she leaped into Artoria's arms. "The King loves me."
"You—"
Seeing Merry jump into her embrace, Artoria was momentarily stunned, her eyes widening. Though she had noticed Merry's presence earlier, she hadn't paid close attention. But now, she realized something was off.
If her gender were changed, the beautiful girl before her looked exactly like Merlin!
"I'm Merlin, but not the one from here—I'm from another parallel world. My gender is different from the one here." Merry said with a laugh. "By the way, your Master also has the power of another you from a parallel world, a sort of Half-Servant."
"Is that true, Master?"
"Yeah, you should be able to sense it a little, right?" Naoki pointed at himself and Artoria. "Besides four years ago, ten years ago I also participated in a Holy Grail War. Back then, I summoned a male version of you from a parallel world, and for certain reasons, I ended up becoming a Demi-Servant."
The power of the red dragon—Artoria had sensed it when she was summoned, but due to Mordred's presence, she hadn't examined it closely. To think, the source was her Master himself.
"So, Master wants to marry Merlin… uh…"
"Just call me Merry, everyone does." Merry said with a smile. "That's right, the King does want to marry me. It's just that this isn't a wish that requires the Holy Grail to fulfill. I only said I'd accept him if he won the Holy Grail War to the end, so there's a need to obtain the Grail."
"The end result is the same as obtaining the Grail, isn't it?"
"Exactly. What needs to be done isn't any different. Defeat all enemies and keep winning until the end."
Seeing Naoki say this with such confidence, Merry unhesitatingly doused him with cold water. "When you fight Aoko, Touko, Riddel, and Shiki later, don't mess around. Especially with Aoko—don't go easy just because she's number two."
"If I mess around, they'll hunt me down…"
"The other participants—does Master know them all?"
Naoki nodded. "Basically, I know them all. Honestly, I was shocked when I found out—turns out they're all acquaintances… I'm numb to it now. It doesn't even feel like a fight for the Holy Grail anymore."
Most of the Masters in a single Holy Grail War being acquaintances—and from Naoki and Merry's words, it seemed they were close friends.
Artoria couldn't help but give a wry smile. "It's indeed an awkward situation. But it's fine— I'll be the one fighting, so Master doesn't need to get involved. The Holy Grail War itself is a battle between Servants. Just leave everything to me."
Hearing Artoria's confident declaration, several people in the room simultaneously turned away—Saber, in terms of combat strength, you might not even be better than your Master.
"Oh, by the way, there's a kid you need to meet, Lia."
As if suddenly remembering something, Merry ran to Gray's side and pushed her forward toward Artoria. "This is Gray."
"H-Hello, King Arthur. I'm Gray." Gray said nervously to Artoria.
Seeing Gray's face, identical to her own and Mordred's, Artoria was once again shocked and incredulous. No two leaves in the world are exactly alike, and no two people should have identical appearances—unless through plastic surgery, but Gray's condition clearly wasn't that.
"Master, this girl's appearance…"
"She's my adopted younger sister, born in a village near Blackmore Cemetery. That village, long ago, received orders from a certain Magus and has been acting toward a specific purpose."
"A Magus? A purpose?" Artoria suddenly had a bad feeling.
"That Magus's name was Morgan le Fay, your older sister." Naoki's words left Artoria momentarily speechless. "Her purpose was to resurrect King Arthur."
Older sister?
Resurrect her?
Morgan gave orders to resurrect her?
How could that be?!
"Of course, resurrecting someone isn't easy. Body, soul, and spirit—all three must be present. Gray was the body meant to house the spirit and soul. She's the only successful vessel for King Arthur in thousands of years. With your summoning, her body should now be no different from yours."
"P-Please wait a moment, Master!" Artoria interrupted, her face full of shock. "A vessel to resurrect me… Was this really my sister's doing? Morgan wanted to resurrect me?"
"Who knows? She never explicitly said she wanted to resurrect you—by the way, ten years ago in that Holy Grail War, Morgan was summoned as a Caster, and like Mordred, she also gained a physical body. She's also a participant in this Holy Grail War."
This revelation hit Artoria like a nuclear bomb.
Memories of Morgan flooded her mind, none of them pleasant. Though they were sisters, there was little affection between them. Due to matters of the throne, their relationship was often adversarial.
"Morgan…"
"Has your fighting spirit taken a hit, Saber?" Naoki asked. "I figured it's better to tell you now so you can prepare mentally, rather than you being shocked when Morgan appears on the battlefield."
"No… I understand Master's intent. It's the right choice. If I encountered her on the battlefield, I'd likely waver for a moment. I'm very grateful you warned me now."
Artoria looked at Gray. "I'm sorry, Miss Gray. Because of me and my sister, you've had to bear an unnecessary fate. Though an apology can't erase this, please allow me to offer my sincere regret."
"Ah… Please don't say that, Miss Saber. I… I don't feel resentful toward you or Miss Morgan." Gray hurriedly helped Artoria, who had bowed in apology, to stand. "I may have been dissatisfied before—hated this face, even—but now, I'm actually grateful."
"Grateful?"
"Yes. Because of this face, and this body that's now no different from yours, I can follow in Big Brother's footsteps and help him better." Gray said with a happy smile. "Being able to help Big Brother and stay by his side—that's what makes me happiest."
"So now, I want to thank you, Miss Saber, for giving me the strength to move forward with Big Brother."
"…"
The room fell silent for a moment. Then, Merry grabbed an apple and hurled it at Naoki.
"Ow—Merry, what was that for?!"
"Nothing, just felt like hitting the King for fun."