Near the main road leading to the southern center, just outside the Nameless Forest.
In this remote corner, there was a cave that seemed to be home to a wild beast.
It was neither too big nor too small—about enough to house a rather large bear. If one could drive away whatever beast lived here, it would actually make for a pretty decent place to stay.
It was here that Artoria and Oberon brought the rest of Chaldea’s group to settle, and Riezel had been informed of this a few minutes earlier when he contacted Oberon using ’Message.’
Once Mash had finally accepted her current situation and was no longer looking so lost, Riezel stopped wasting time. He immediately used teleportation magic and brought her to this location in a single leap.
*Swish!*
With a faint swish, Riezel and Mash appeared in front of the cave.
"We’re here."
Riezel released his hand from Mash’s soft shoulder.
"Eh?"
Mash still hadn’t caught up, standing there in a daze, blinking in confusion.
All she felt was a blur before her eyes, and then the scenery in her field of vision had completely changed—she had no idea what had just happened.
Riezel paid no mind to Mash and walked toward the cave.
"W-Wait!"
Mash snapped out of it and hurried to follow.
One after the other, the two approached the cave, and when they were about ten meters away, they suddenly felt as if they had passed through some kind of invisible barrier.
"What... is this?"
Mash stopped in her tracks, glancing around in confusion.
Seeing this, Riezel explained.
"Probably a bounded field that my companion set up nearby."
Riezel was referring, of course, to Artoria.
As a magus, no matter how specialized one’s expertise, it was still possible to set up one or two magic barriers, which were known as bounded fields in this world, to deal with the outside world.
’It should just be an alarm-type barrier, right?’ Riezel thought to himself, thinking of Artoria. ’Well, that hopeless fairy magus couldn’t set up anything too advanced after all.’
Honestly, if Artoria managed to create a barrier that only had an alarm effect, that was already pretty impressive.
Just as Riezel was thinking this, a resentful voice reached his ears.
"...I get the feeling you’re thinking something bad about me, like calling me a hopeless fairy magus or something."
As these words sounded, a fairy girl slowly walked out of the cave.
"Well, considering how rushed things were, being able to set up a barrier that’s actually useful is already pretty good."
Another fairy appeared behind the fairy girl, stepping out of the cave with a broad smile and waving at Riezel.
As for Artoria in front, her face was nothing but full of resentment, which made Riezel smile, and also caused the still-glancing-around Mash to pull back her gaze, looking at the two ahead with a hint of curiosity.
Riezel led Mash forward to join them.
"Nothing unexpected happened, right?" Riezel asked just in case.
"Nope." Artoria puffed out her cheeks but still answered him honestly. "A few Moss and magical beasts passed by from time to time, but since we hid in the cave and Oberon sprinkled us with some weird powder, they didn’t find us."
Hearing this, Riezel raised an eyebrow and looked at Oberon.
"What do you mean, weird powder?" Oberon said with a deadpan look. "It’s a miracle item that can erase scents, okay? Just so you know, that stuff is really expensive around here. I went through a lot just to buy it in Gloucester!"
"Is that so?" Riezel nodded, acting like he understood, but then added coolly, "Don’t tell me you bought it on credit?"
Instantly, Oberon fell silent and turned away, showing he didn’t want to talk to Riezel, but no matter how you looked at him, he just seemed guilty.
"Seriously? You even borrowed money to buy this kind of stuff?" Artoria looked at Oberon in shock. "Is that why you owe so many people money—just to buy a bunch of weird stuff?"
Fairies didn’t need food, so there was no need for living expenses.
Oberon also had his own territory and place to live, so there were no lodging fees, either.
On top of that, Oberon was a Servant.
Servants could turn themselves into spiritual forms, becoming like ghosts to hide their forms and erase fatigue instead of sleeping, which meant Oberon didn’t need to worry about survival and could get by with zero cost.
By all accounts, Oberon shouldn’t have to borrow money just to get by, yet he had racked up debts in city after city throughout Faerie Britain, making people genuinely wonder where all his money had gone.
At this moment, both Riezel and Artoria turned their gazes on him, their eyes deep.
"Hey, what’s with those looks?!" Oberon instantly got riled up and shouted in exasperation. "Do I look like the kind of person who would just spend money recklessly, borrow cash from others for fun and pleasure, and end up drowning in debt?"
Riezel and Artoria both glanced at Oberon at the same time, then nodded in unison, giving their answer without saying a word.
"Oy, that’s slander!"
Oberon immediately protested.
"Sure, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Fairy King Oberon is willful and childish, but look at me—do I really seem like someone who doesn’t know what’s appropriate? I don’t borrow money just to waste it. Every cent went exactly where it should have."
"For example, this outfit I’m wearing."
Oberon pointed to the white, feather-like formal attire on his body.
"See, this is absolutely top-tier quality. You won’t find three of these in all of Faerie Britain. Wearing this kind of outfit, whether it’s at Salisbury’s cathedral or Gloucester’s auction house, the doormen take one look at me and immediately think I’m some high-status fairy. They wouldn’t dare stop me, so I can waltz into places most people can’t, conduct my investigations openly, and gather information that others have no clue about."
"And that powder from earlier—if you sprinkle it on yourself, even fairies with the sharpest sense of smell won’t catch our scent. Whether it’s for running away or just hiding, it’s a piece of cake."
"Plus, when I’m asking around for information, don’t I have to buy people a few drinks as thanks? And if I’m going to some high-class place, I even have to tip the doormen!"
"And then there are all the times I have to sponsor others. Every single thing here costs money!"
At this point, Oberon even got a little worked up.
"As a hardworking intelligence fairy, it’s already rare that I haven’t applied for any operational funds, and yet you’re accusing me of wasting money?"
"Unbelievable!"
"You’re just too much!"
Oberon’s loud complaining not only failed to gain any sympathy from the people around him but instead drew contemptuous looks from everyone present.
What he said wasn’t exactly wrong, and the situation really was like that, but why did it sound so suspicious coming out of Oberon’s mouth?
"You didn’t use the borrowed money to go to a brothel or something, did you?" Riezel asked bluntly.
However, the first person to react to this wasn’t Artoria or Oberon, but Mash, who was standing by Riezel’s side.
"A brothel?"
Mash looked at Oberon, her eyes full of surprise and shock, as if she were staring at someone caught in the act of doing something bad.
"What the—I did not!" Oberon yelled, turning red in the face. "I have a lover, okay!"
"An imaginary lover, huh? I get it." Artoria added, as if twisting the knife.
"...Can you not make it sound like I’ve been single for so long that I’ve started imagining I have a lover?!"
Oberon nearly collapsed on the spot.
Not wanting to let his reputation get dragged through the mud, His Majesty the Fairy King quickly changed the subject.
"Alright, this is the Chaldea member you rescued, right?"
Oberon awkwardly shifted the focus onto Mash.
"Uh, h-hello."
Mash, ever the honest one, immediately took the bait, bowing nervously and a bit stiffly to Artoria and Oberon.
"I’m Mash Kyrielight, nice to meet you."
As soon as she said this, not just Oberon but even Artoria looked a bit surprised.
"You know your name?" Artoria asked.
"So you haven’t lost your memory?" Oberon also seemed quite surprised.
Seeing their reaction, Riezel’s eyes flickered.
"If you’re asking that, does it mean you already know what condition the Chaldea people are in?"
At Riezel’s question, Artoria and Oberon both nodded.
"They’ve woken up?" Riezel understood and asked directly.
"Yeah, the three Chaldea members we rescued have all woken up." Oberon nodded, confirming Riezel’s guess.
Riezel immediately looked at Mash.
"Chaldea..."
Mash mumbled dreamily, as if realizing that the people Riezel and the others had just mentioned were her companions before she lost her memory.
"Let’s go. Let’s go inside and have a look."
At Riezel’s words, everyone nodded in turn and walked into the cave together.
===
Inside the not-so-spacious cave, the ground was covered with a thin layer of dry grass, serving as a makeshift bed.
On the grass bed, three people sat together, sometimes whispering to each other, sometimes falling silent and spacing out—it was obvious at a glance that they were not in a normal state.
Riezel was the first to enter and immediately saw the three of them.
They were dressed differently, each with a unique appearance, and in every sense of the word, each had a distinct personality.
Sitting on the left was a man dressed like a Bard, a harp resting at his side, his long, bright red hair striking, and his looks stunningly handsome, yet from start to finish, he kept his eyes closed.
More importantly, there was a melancholy air about this handsome man, his face full of sorrow, giving off the impression that he had experienced much in life. If one stayed by his side for long, it seemed likely his mood would rub off, making anyone nearby just as gloomy.
On the right sat a little girl who appeared to be only about thirteen or fourteen years old, looking several years younger than Artoria.
She wore a cute dress, had a small backpack on her back, and even wore a pair of roller skates on her feet. Her features were delicate and lovely—clearly a beauty in the making, with much promise for the future.
As for the person sitting in the middle, he was a young man about the same age as Riezel.
He wore a black combat suit, and although he was not exactly handsome, there was something about him that resembled a pretty boy. Even though his first impression was not striking and was quite ordinary, it was the kind of face that grew on you the more you looked at it.
However, the most eye-catching thing about him was the back of his right hand—it was a bright red mark that looked like a tattoo.
At this moment, these three, each with such a vivid and unique look, sitting together on the pile of grass, turned their eyes toward Riezel and the others at once as they came in.
In the next moment, two of the three looked confused, while the third simply stared blankly and frowned.
"You guys are...?"
Gazing at the newcomers, the melancholy man sitting on the left was the first to speak.
Even though he did not open his eyes, it was as if he could see Riezel and the others enter, and even noticed the unfamiliar faces, so he spoke up, sounding puzzled.
Compared to him, the other two showed their own reactions—one looked uneasy, and the other remained silent, quietly waiting for Riezel’s group to speak first.
"Looks like you all adjusted pretty well." Oberon stepped forward and smiled at the three. "Good, this way it’ll be easier to talk."
"Let me introduce the two on my side first." Oberon pointed at Riezel. "He is Riezel Brynhart, our companion. He just went out to rescue your companion, and he was also the one who arrived on the scene right away when something happened to you, so he was the one who saved all of you. If it wasn’t for him, you might really have died under those Moss’s curse, you know?"
After that, Oberon pointed to Mash.
"And this is your companion."
At these words, everyone fell into an odd silence.
Mash looked at the three sitting on the grass, and the three on the grass also looked back at her.
Just like that, the four of them looked at each other, exchanging awkward glances.
"They... don’t really know each other, huh..."
Artoria muttered softly, and the awkward atmosphere in the cave became even more uncomfortable.
"Sorry..." Mash was the first to apologize, lowering her eyes. "I don’t remember anything, so I honestly don’t know how I’m supposed to react."
As soon as she said this, the three sitting on the grass were all taken aback.
"You don’t remember anything either?"
Upon hearing Mash’s words, the boy in the middle spoke up, sounding surprised.
"Mm..." Mash nodded gently. "If Mr. Riezel hadn’t told me my name, I wouldn’t have even known that."
It was Artoria and Oberon’s turn to be surprised this time.
"You knew her name?"
Oberon turned to look at Riezel and asked in a surprised tone.
"Sort of."
Riezel gave a vague answer, then looked at the three sitting on the grass and suddenly smiled.
"I also know the names of all three of you. Want me to tell you?"