In order to celebrate the victory at Arlon Castle, Arthur, Lancelot, and Percival decided to hold a Knight Festival before their next operation, both to celebrate their victory and to honor the brave warriors who had fallen in the battle!
Honor be with them!
The traitor had yet to be found, yet they were still going to hold the Knight Festival…
Cyan stood at the back holding the demon blade, watching Arthur, Lancelot, and Percival on the platform as they raised their weapons and announced the decision. A suspicion formed in her mind.
Could it be that they're using the Knight Festival to lure the traitor into revealing themselves?
"Nishi, keep an eye on anyone suspicious."
After returning to the room, Cyan shared her suspicion with Nishi.
"Mm, leave it to me!"
Nishi patted her chest confidently. "This is my specialty, after all!"
Back when she worked under Sankuro, she had tracked plenty of rich foreigners.
"The blue-clothed ninja who attacked me might be inside the castle. He's disguised as a knight or soldier. Be careful."
Cyan poked the black widow spider hiding in her collar fur with her finger.
The black widow spider reluctantly crawled out of her nest. Her wine-red eyes showed a hint of dissatisfaction as she looked at Cyan.
"This time Nishi's mission might be dangerous. Go assist her."
"There's a reward."
Seeing the black widow spider's unhappy expression, Cyan added.
The black widow spider was small. With her abilities combined with Nishi's skills, even if they encountered an enemy they couldn't defeat, they could still escape.
"Really?"
The black widow spider looked at Cyan excitedly.
"Mm."
Cyan nodded.
"Alright! Let's go!"
The black widow spider jumped onto Nishi's shoulder and patted her cheek, urging her, "Hurry! Hurry!"
Ah… I should have let Master stab her with the sword back then…
Nishi covered her face with a regretful expression.
"Knock knock knock!"
A knocking sound rang out. Nishi quickly walked to the door and opened it, finding Asama Ai standing outside.
The moment the black widow spider saw Asama Ai, she darted onto Nishi's back at high speed.
"S-Sorry to disturb you…"
Asama Ai looked at Nishi and Cyan and spoke softly, a faint blush on her cheeks.
Does this count as entering a boy's room? No no no! What am I thinking?!
"Need something?"
Cyan sat up from the bed and looked at Asama Ai. A strand of hair had fallen across her face. Her hair had grown quite a bit since the Samurai Shodown Zero world, making her facial features appear softer. If it grew any longer, she might be mistaken for a girl.
"This… these are the recovery items Nishi left with me…"
Asama Ai walked to the table and placed the recovery items she had been keeping for Nishi on it.
She and Nishi had cooperated to kill many enemies, and they split the Survival Points and valuable items evenly. However, Nishi's inventory only had five slots, so she couldn't carry everything and had to leave the excess with Asama Ai for safekeeping.
"Thanks~!"
Nishi smiled and patted Asama Ai's shoulder. She was quite satisfied with this teammate.
"Mm."
Asama Ai smiled.
Cyan looked at the recovery items on the table, took out her short sword, and asked Asama Ai, "Do you want me to use Segmentation on these recovery items?"
"Can you?"
Asama Ai looked at Cyan excitedly.
"Mm. Don't blame me if it fails."
The success or failure of Segmentation wasn't something she could control, so Cyan made that clear.
"Then I'll trouble you."
Asama Ai took out the recovery items from her inventory. Her black-and-white eyes looked at Cyan expectantly.
Segmentation!
Cyan turned into a cold, emotionless segmentation machine and mercilessly cut into the recovery items with a series of indescribable operations, changing their forms.
Asama Ai had taken out four recovery items. One failed, but the other three succeeded — turning into a bucket of popcorn, a large bottle of cola, a whole roasted chicken, and a large plate of vegetable salad.
When Cyan used Segmentation on the large bottle of cola and it failed, the 2.5L bottle directly shrank into a 300ml small bottle.
The other three succeeded. The large bucket of popcorn was divided into four boxes of buttered popcorn, the whole roasted chicken was cut into three drumsticks, and the large plate of vegetable salad was split into four small plates.
[Creamy Popcorn]
[Type: Recovery Item]
[Function: Restores 15 HP.]
[Remark: Buttery popcorn — sweet and delicious.]
[Roasted Chicken Leg]
[Type: Recovery Item]
[Function: Restores 25 HP and 20 Mental Power.]
[Remark: Simply roasted chicken leg.]
[Vegetable Salad]
[Type: Recovery Item]
[Function: Restores 20 HP and 10 Mental Power.]
[Remark: Sweet and sour vegetable salad! A favorite among those trying to lose weight.]
Asama Ai held her cheeks with both hands, her pink lips slightly parted. She had thought succeeding with two would already be a win, but three recovery items had succeeded. Looking at the table full of recovery items, an indescribable sense of security welled up in her heart.
This feels like running out of recovery items during a dungeon raid in a game, only to suddenly find a mysterious shop selling them when you're at your wit's end!
"Cyan! Thank you!"
Asama Ai looked at Cyan gratefully. These recovery items were her lifeline.
"We're teammates. We help each other."
"Mm!"
Asama Ai was deeply moved by Cyan's words.
At night, while everyone in the castle was busy preparing for the Knight Festival, a soldier secretly slipped out of the castle. He carefully looked around in all directions. After confirming multiple times that no one had noticed him, he quickly ran toward the west side of the castle, as if he was in a hurry to meet someone.
He really took the bait…
Nishi, wearing a black cloak, emerged from the shadows and silently followed the soldier.
"Lord Phantom!"
"Speak. Why did you want to see me so urgently?"
An elegant swordsman wearing black clothes and with flowing hair stood on a tree branch, looking down at the soldier below. He lightly jumped down to the ground.
"Lord Phantom, Arthur and the others are planning to hold a Knight Festival. Also… it wasn't Arthur and the others who killed Lord Arlon. It was the outsiders."
"Oh? Outsiders?"
Phantom crossed his arms and thought for a moment before asking, "Scorn was also killed by outsiders. Do you know what their background is?"
"I don't know. They're cooperating with Arthur and the others, and they're enemies of Archduke Garibaldi."
The soldier shook his head. How could he possibly know the origins of those people? If Scorn hadn't attacked Lakota Village, those outsiders wouldn't have joined forces with Arthur and the others. He also didn't understand what Archduke Garibaldi was thinking — why didn't he investigate them before attacking?
The soldier inwardly complained about Archduke Garibaldi but didn't dare show it on his face.
If the man in front of him — a die-hard loyalist to Archduke Garibaldi — found out, he would probably kill him with one sword strike.
"I won't let them hold the Knight Festival as they wish. Lord Garibaldi wouldn't want to see their Knight Festival proceed normally either."
Phantom smiled coldly, a sinister glint flashing in his narrow eyes.
"Lord Phantom, what are your plans?"
The soldier looked at Phantom cautiously.
Phantom smiled and spoke in a seductive tone, "Bani, I have one more thing for you to do. If you succeed, Lord Garibaldi will reward you with money, status, and women. Everything you want will be yours…"
"Please tell me, Lord Phantom."
Bani swallowed hard, his heart beating faster. If it weren't for what Phantom had promised, he wouldn't have chosen to become a traitor, nor would he have gotten Roy drunk and killed him in Lakota Village.
"I want the Knight Festival to become their funeral."
Phantom revealed a sinister smile as he explained what he wanted Bani to do. The most important part of the Knight Festival was the flag. If the flag was stolen, the festival couldn't continue.
"At that time, Bani, you will take the flag to the location I designate. Understood?"
"Lord Phantom… isn't that too risky…?"
Cold sweat appeared on Bani's face. If he followed Phantom's instructions, there was a high chance he would die.
"Bani, you no longer have a way back. Your only choice is to cooperate with me. If the plan succeeds, you will get everything you want. Do you understand?"
Phantom gently patted Bani's cheek, his words carrying a hint of threat.
"Y-Yes, Lord Phantom… But those outsiders…" Bani hesitated as he looked at Phantom.
"Don't worry. Whether it's Arthur, Lancelot, Percival, or those outsiders — anyone who dares to defy Lord Garibaldi has only one path: death!"
Phantom spoke with absolute confidence. He was already prepared to completely eliminate these obstacles standing in the way of Archduke Garibaldi's grand ambitions.
After Bani and Phantom both left, Nishi didn't leave immediately. Instead, she quietly lay on the ground, using her black cloak to cover both herself and the black widow spider.
A while later, Phantom returned. His figure flickered as he ran, creating several afterimages. Two perfect copies of himself ran toward him from different directions and merged back into his body.
An illusion?
Phantom had just felt like he was being watched, so he pretended to leave, split off two clones, and hid to lure out anyone who might be hiding nearby. Or perhaps he was overthinking it. There was no way someone could hide right under his nose.
Phantom lingered for a moment before leaving again. Nishi didn't dare move. She was worried that this extremely cautious man might return once more. She lay still on the ground, gently holding the black widow spider and placing a finger to her lips to signal the little one to stay quiet.
Sure enough, just as Nishi expected, Phantom returned again.
After confirming that no one had overheard his conversation with Bani, Phantom finally left with peace of mind. Before the Knight Festival, he would be very busy. He needed to contact Barbas and Muramasa. With their help, whether it was the outsiders or Arthur, Lancelot, and Percival —
On the day of the Knight Festival, it would be their time to die!
( Capcom really knows how to play. The Arthurian era mixed with Onimusha… The Round Table Knights game itself has a fantasy worldview, so there's nothing much to complain about.)