Faerie Britain, West Coast.
Here was already far from the thick, misty region where the Nameless Forest was located, which made the view here much broader.
The sound of waves echoed in bursts, pushing water toward the shore and crashing onto the beach.
The scenery here was pleasant as beautiful sights stretched for miles.
Unfortunately, there were no seagulls in Faerie Britain, nor was there a blue sky. Otherwise, these charming landscapes would have been even more delightful, and it would be perfectly normal for someone to linger here, unable to pull themselves away.
However, such peaceful and beautiful scenery was suddenly interrupted by a strange noise.
*BOOM!*
A spray of water suddenly burst in the sea, sending droplets scattering through the air and creating waves.
From within the exploding spray, a figure shot out of the sea and soared into the sky.
Clearly, the reason the surface of the sea had suddenly erupted was because this figure had burst out from underwater.
He was drenched from head to toe, and after breaking through the surface, he immediately wore a bitter expression.
’Seriously, these Faerie Britain ocean currents are really a mess. I got swept away in an instant—almost couldn’t find her.’
He was, of course, Riezel, who had dived into the sea to rescue someone from Chaldea.
Soaked from head to toe, Riezel was carrying someone in his arms as he flew toward the shore.
"Dry."
Before landing, Riezel cast magic, instantly drying his clothes.
After landing on the shore, Riezel set the person he was carrying down and used the same magic to remove any excess moisture from her as well. Only then did he finally have time to look over the person he had just saved.
It was a girl about the same age as Riezel, with a lovely figure and a slender frame.
She had slightly pink, shoulder-length hair, with bangs so long they covered one of her eyes, and she wore an outfit that was both somewhat provocative and resembled heavy armor.
However, the armor did not cover her entire body.
Her lower half was fully armored in a skirt, while her upper half was protected only at the torso, leaving her shoulders, arms, and thighs exposed to the air, but at least her hands and feet were equipped with armored gloves and boots.
Needless to say, this outfit was certainly eye-catching.
Nonetheless, the item the girl clutched tightly in her hands, unwilling to let go, was perhaps even more attention-grabbing than her appearance.
It was a massive cross-shaped shield, as large as an adult, big enough to completely hide a grown person behind it.
She gripped the shield with her slender hands, making one wonder if she could even use it or if she could even lift it.
’No wonder she sank so fast. Even carrying her was heavy... Turns out she’s not only armored up but also hauling a big ass shield.’
Riezel’s face showed a speechless expression.
’Wait, pink hair and a shield... Mash Kyrielight?’
Yes.
Mash Kyrielight was the girl’s name.
She was a member of Chaldea—a Demi-Servant who had fused with a Servant through experimentation and thus possessed the power of a Servant.
She was also the protagonist’s first contracted Servant in the original work, the one who accompanied them all the way, adventuring together through countless Singularities and five Lostbelts, finally arriving here as the original work’s female lead.
If Artoria was only the female lead of this Faerie Britain, then Mash was the female lead of the entire work, spanning multiple Singularities and Lostbelts—undoubtedly the true heroine.
’I actually saved her?’
As this thought flashed through Riezel’s mind, he realized now was not the time to think about such things, because the girl who had fallen into the sea appeared to have stopped breathing.
’Did she drown?’
Riezel’s expression changed.
He quickly crouched down, pressed his hand against Mash’s chest, and started pushing down hard.
"..."
Unfortunately, Mash had no response at all, looking like someone who had completely died—her face was utterly bloodless.
Riezel couldn’t care about anything else, so after a brief hesitation, he began to give Mash rescue breaths, yet she still did not respond.
It wasn’t just her breathing—even her heartbeat was gradually coming to a stop.
"Tch..."
Riezel clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Now that the situation had come to this, he had no choice but to use his last resort.
"Shockwave."
Suddenly, the hand pressing against Mash’s chest released a surge of force, striking her body.
"Ugh!"
Mash finally reacted as her body jerked violently, then she coughed up a large mouthful of water.
’It worked!’
Riezel felt his spirits lift and activated his magic again, sending out another shockwave.
"Ugh!"
*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*
Mash began to cough violently, and after a while, she managed to expel all the water from her stomach.
Thanks to this, although her face was still pale and completely bloodless, her heartbeat and breathing gradually returned to normal.
"Thank goodness..."
Riezel let out a breath of relief.
He had nearly resigned himself to the idea of using resurrection magic on Mash. If the female lead of the original work had died from drowning, that would’ve been a joke.
’I’d better heal her with some healing magic just in case.’
Seeing that Mash had no obvious injuries, Riezel relaxed a little and used ’Dia Fratel’ to restore her energy.
After finishing everything, Riezel stood up again and pressed his fingers to his temple.
"Message."
Riezel contacted Oberon once more, and before long, Oberon picked up.
[Where did you go? Artoria’s already here, but you’re nowhere to be found. She almost thought Morgan snatched you away again, y’know?]
Oberon’s half-complaint, half-joking tone made Riezel roll his eyes.
[How’s it going on your end?] Riezel got straight to the point. [Did you manage to save them?]
[I did, but they’re all in a coma and won’t wake up no matter what I do.] Oberon replied with a helpless sigh. [What about you? Did you save her?]
[Yeah.] Riezel answered simply. [Since you’ve saved them too, and Artoria’s already there, let’s meet up at the entrance to the Nameless Forest like we planned.]
[Alright, call me when you get there, and I’ll send Blanca to pick you up.] Oberon said in a relieved tone. [By the way, there are quite a few Moss around here. I don’t really want to tangle with them, so I’ll take Artoria and the others to find a safe place to hide for now. Sound good?]
[Do as you see fit.] Riezel replied expressionlessly. [It’s not like you could ever die at the hands of the Moss anyway, right?]
[You sure have a lot of faith in me.]
Oberon didn’t seem to catch the hint in Riezel’s words and spoke helplessly.
[Like I’ve always said, don’t count on me for combat. My fighting power’s probably weaker than even a fairy of the Wing Clan. If you’re looking for help, you’re better off relying on Artoria—she’s the real future talent.]
One should know that the Wing Clan was the complete opposite of the Fang Clan.
Fairies of the Fang Clan all had beastlike appearances and possessed great strength, so even without deliberate training, they were generally much stronger than fairies from other clans.
Meanwhile, the Wing Clan was different.
They were tiny, about the size of the little fairies in stories, with some even able to sit in the palm of a human hand—they were a naturally frail fairy clan.
Because of this, fairies of the Wing Clan tended to be very cautious.
Like Muryan, she rarely left her territory—even if Morgan herself gave an order, she would dare to openly defy it.
Of course, there were strong individuals among the Wing Clan as well.
Muryan herself had blood almost as pure as A-Rei, and while she couldn’t fully inherit the power like Gawain or Woodwose, she was still much more special than an ordinary fairy.
Unfortunately, those were rare exceptions.
Most of the Wing Clan were quite weak, which was why they were often looked down on by the Fang Clan, causing the two clans to be bitter rivals for generations.
Besides them, there was a similar rivalry between the Wind Clan and the Earth Clan.
Fairies of the Wind Clan were born beautiful and sharp-eared, much like the elves from legend, while the fairies of the Earth Clan were short and stocky by nature, resembling the dwarves from legend.
As everyone knew, elves and dwarves in legend rarely got along and often quarreled, which was also true in the world of Danmachi.
Maybe the best example was Riveria and Gareth, the top executives of the Loki Familia.
At first glance, they seemed to get along, but years ago, Riveria and Gareth argued whenever they met—ten small quarrels a day, a big fight every three days. Even now, they still bicker from time to time in private, though it was much better than before.
It was the same for the Wind Clan and the Earth Clan.
Even though Aurora and Spriggan had dealings with each other, and Aurora had invited many Earth Clan craftsmen from Norwich to help rebuild Salisbury, if it hadn’t been Aurora—the famously gentle lord—or if Salisbury hadn’t been the most open-minded city in Britain, standing against discrimination, the deal probably wouldn’t have happened at all.
Of course, the Fang Clan and Wing Clan’s relationship was just as bad, since the two clans had even gone to war in the past, causing heavy losses to the Wing Clan, and now, it was rare to see them out in the world.
If Oberon’s claim that his fighting power was weaker than the fairies of the Wing Clan was true, there really wasn’t much to look forward to.
However...
[Is that even possible? You’re known as a powerful fairy, right?]
Riezel immediately objected.
Leaving everything else aside, even in works like ’A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, Oberon was always depicted as someone with overwhelming power but also rather capricious.
In some stories, Oberon was even portrayed as a powerful fairy capable of granting others’ wishes.
Given that, just based on legends alone, there was no way Fairy King Oberon could possibly be weak, right?
Not to mention, Oberon’s origins were far from simple.
[...Are you really using those stories to talk about me?]
Oberon seemed to be scratching his head, looking troubled.
[It’s true, in all sorts of works, I’m portrayed as someone powerful, but you have to understand, a Heroic Spirit is basically a shadow from the past, born from people’s faith. Only when a Heroic Spirit has enough faith and legend in the human world can they actually become strong—otherwise, it’s a different story, right?]
[And whether it’s ’A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ or any other work, at the end of the day, they’re just literary pieces or stage plays. In terms of popularity, intensity of belief, or the strength of their legend, how could they possibly compare to something like the legend of King Arthur?]
[Anyway, I just don’t think there’s any way I could be more famous than King Arthur or the like.]
Oberon gave a reasonable explanation, but as for whether it was true, maybe only he himself knew.
[In any case, don’t expect me to fight. I’m only good at gathering information and that sort of thing.]
By this point, Oberon sounded a bit defeated.
[If you say so, I’ll just take your word for it.] Riezel didn’t say anything more and simply changed the subject. [Let’s do as you said. I’ll bring people over to meet up with you in a bit.]
[OK.] Oberon agreed readily. [I’ll take Artoria out of the Nameless Forest first. If we stay here any longer, I’m honestly worried something might happen to one of us.]
Riezel nodded and disconnected the Message connection.
"Mhm..."
As if on cue, the girl lying on the beach suddenly let out a soft moan, and her eyelids started to flutter.
"You awake?"
Riezel immediately turned his gaze toward Mash, and under his watch, she slowly opened her eyes.
===
At the same time, on the shore of the Nameless Forest.
"It’s disconnected."
Feeling the connection with Riezel had been cut, Oberon finally opened his eyes, only to see Artoria standing in front of him, looking displeased.
"...Are you two done talking?"
Artoria puffed up her cheeks, clearly sulking.
She couldn’t help it.
Riezel hadn’t contacted her and had instead reached out to the newly joined Oberon twice in a row, which made Artoria wonder if Riezel didn’t trust her abilities, making him choose to contact Oberon instead.
Such a fact left Artoria sulking, still mumbling to herself just a moment ago, looking like she wanted to prove herself but didn’t really know how.
"We’re done." Oberon, seemingly amused by Artoria’s little tantrum, gave a slight smile. "He’s already rescued the last person, so we can leave the Nameless Forest and wait for him outside."
"Alright then..." Artoria replied, still looking sulky. "If that’s the plan, let’s get moving."
After saying this, she turned and started heading toward where a few others were lying.
Oberon watched Artoria for a moment, falling briefly into thought.
A moment later, Oberon suddenly spoke, asking a question.
"Are you and Riezel Brynhart close?"
Hearing this, Artoria stopped in her tracks.