Generally speaking, it would take at least three days to travel from the Nameless Forest in the southwestern part of Britain to the port city of Norwich.
This was because Norwich lay in the far east of southern Britain, standing opposite the Nameless Forest in the far west, separated by the greatest possible distance.
Traveling from the Nameless Forest to Norwich required passing through Salisbury and Oxford, and even approaching the area near the Great Pit.
Once reaching that area, not only would Moss appear more frequently, but magical beasts would also become much more common. More importantly, these beasts were far more ferocious than those elsewhere, so once they sensed anyone approaching, they would almost certainly launch an attack.
Many fairies believed this was due to the existence of the Great Pit.
Located at the center of Britain, the Great Pit stood as a vast hole, with Camelot built to its north, as if to oppose it.
It was said that the Great Pit was a place to throw away ominous things.
Things no longer needed, things that could not be used up, things that could not be broken, even things that got in the way—all these useless objects were said to be thrown in there.
It might have sounded like a place to discard non-burnable trash, but in reality, it was much more taboo than people imagined.
There were rumors that fairies who had offended the Queen, violated her will, or committed sins in Faerie Britain would also be thrown into the Great Pit for execution.
For that reason, the Great Pit was a forbidden place known to all in Faerie Britain, one that nobody wished to mention, making it even more feared by the fairies than the Nameless Forest.
Many fairies even thought that directly looking at the Great Pit would make someone extremely unlucky, which led some to believe that the reason fairies were cursed and turned into Moss was that they had approached the Pit while alive.
Of course, these were merely rumors and had never been proven true.
But one thing was certain—the closer one got to the Great Pit, the more frequently Moss would appear, and the higher the chance that powerful magical beasts would show up.
As a result, tales of fairies being attacked in that area often spread.
Morgan, for her part, took this very seriously.
She would send soldiers to patrol the area from time to time and regularly purge the Moss and magical beasts.
Even though this practice brought peace of mind to the fairies, it was like an unstable time bomb for Riezel’s group.
It was obvious that if they encountered the soldiers from Camelot, given Riezel and the others’ current status, they would definitely be arrested.
In short, on this journey, whatever they encountered, Riezel and the others would almost certainly have to fight.
Under these circumstances, the time required to reach Norwich would only increase. If too many battles and conflicts broke out along the way, it might take five or six days just to reach their destination.
Fortunately, once Riezel awoke, this situation was averted.
Riezel did two things.
First, he summoned a Sleipnir, making use of its remarkable strength and stamina to pull the carriage, which greatly increased their traveling speed.
Second, he used surveillance magic to monitor their surroundings in real time.
Whenever an enemy approached, he would either hide their trail with concealment magic, use a special barrier to drive away or avoid the enemy, or simply use teleportation magic to instantly move both carriages a considerable distance, completely evading all threats.
If not for the fact that Riezel had never been to Norwich and could not accurately judge the distance to the city, he could have just used ’Gate’ to send everyone straight to their destination, saving all the trouble of traveling.
Nevertheless, Riezel had greatly shortened the journey and improved their efficiency.
Thanks to this, after just a single day, they had already passed Salisbury and Oxford, crossed the area near the Great Pit, and had only a short distance left before reaching Norwich.
As nightfall came, Oberon announced to everyone.
"At this rate, if we travel for another three hours or so tomorrow morning, we should reach Norwich."
In other words, they could rest where they were tonight, set up camp, and not hurry to continue traveling.
After a whole day on the road, everyone was certainly tired, so everyone agreed at once and began looking for a place to set up camp and get some rest.
At this point, Riezel stepped forward again.
"Create Fortress."
With the activation of this 10th-Tier Magic, Riezel pressed a hand to the ground, sending magical energy surging outward.
*Rumble—*
In an instant, the earth trembled, and soon, a giant tower, dozens of meters high, rose from the ground before everyone’s stunned eyes.
"This... This..."
At that moment, everyone present, including Oberon, was left speechless in shock.
Meanwhile, Artoria, upon seeing their reactions, felt great satisfaction.
’I knew it. I wasn’t the only one who’d be surprised.’
Artoria was truly delighted.
As for the others, once they understood what Riezel had done, every single one of them expressed their amazement.
"Is this also magecraft?"
Mash was full of wonder.
"If this counts as magecraft, then it’s got to be at the level of a Noble Phantasm, right?"
Da Vinci spoke in amazement.
"Hey, if you’re going to make something to spend the night in, wouldn’t it be better to just build a palace?"
Oberon complained in his usual, ever-annoying tone.
"...If only someone could use this kind of magecraft back when we were marching and going off to battle, it would’ve made things so much easier."
Tristan remarked, remembering his time in Britain.
As for Ritsuka... he was still asleep.
"It’s just a little trick, nothing special." Riezel ignored everyone’s complicated expressions and said casually. "Come on, let’s go inside and rest."
With that, he led the group, all with mixed feelings, into the tower-shaped fortress.
Once inside the grand main hall, Riezel told everyone to choose any room they liked and not to stand on ceremony.
Oberon was the first to accept this offer.
"Since being summoned, I’ve never stayed in such a luxurious place. I’m truly unworthy of the name fairy king. I’ll take this room."
He picked a room in the farthest corner.
"Let’s go two by two, so we can look out for each other."
Da Vinci spoke to Mash and Tristan, who both nodded in agreement.
As a result, Mash and Da Vinci shared a room, while Tristan and Ritsuka shared another.
Only Artoria was left, caught in Riezel’s gaze.
"You’re not thinking of sleeping in the corner of the hall again, are you?"
Riezel spoke with half-closed eyes.
"N-N-N-No! Of course not!"
Artoria looked quite embarrassed as she retorted—not only did her face turn red, but she also started to stutter.
It was hard to tell whether she was ashamed in front of everyone or just remembering what had happened the last time she slept in the corner of the hall.
"I’ll take this room!"
In the end, Artoria did not refuse to stay in a room like last time and, just like Oberon, chose the room at the farthest corner.
"Then I’ll take this one."
Only then did Riezel feel at ease, picking the room next to Artoria’s at random, which, for some reason, made her let out a sigh of relief.
Just like that, everyone picked their rooms and settled in comfortably.
Maybe they really were tired, because it was not long before the steady sound of breathing could be heard from each room, letting everyone know they had already fallen asleep one after another.
Riezel had already told everyone that this fortress had strong defenses.
Even if someone tried to attack, they would not be able to break in for a while, so no one volunteered to keep watch.
Before going to bed, Riezel also took a comfortable bath, but just as he was about to go to bed, there was a knock at the door.
’...It gotta be that girl, right?’
He did not need to think about it—he already knew there was only one person who would come looking for him at this hour.
It was definitely Artoria.
Sure enough, when Riezel opened the door, the fairy girl who had set down her Staff of Selection appeared before him.
"Um... I’m not bothering you, am I?"
Artoria asked weakly, earning a roll of the eyes from Riezel.
"Come in already. You’ve got something you wanna discuss, right?"
Riezel gently tapped Artoria on the head.
"Sort of..."
Artoria looked so serious that Riezel, who thought she had come to talk about Chaldea, could not help feeling a bit surprised.
’Is she not here to talk about Chaldea?’
Riezel brought Artoria into the room as he wondered inwardly.
"Go ahead. What’s on your mind this time?"
Upon hearing Riezel’s question, Artoria seemed a little displeased.
"Don’t make it sound like I’m always full of worries, okay?"
Artoria protested quietly.
"Isn’t it true, though?" Riezel said bluntly. "You always think too much, especially after you rang the Bell of Pilgrimage and regained the memories of your self from Proper Human History."
On this point, Artoria did not deny it.
"Is it still hard for you to face Mash and Tristan?"
Riezel voiced what he had thought all this time.
From his perspective, Artoria had some reservations about Mash and Tristan, which made her hesitant to open up to the people from Chaldea.
After all, those two were both Knights of the Round Table, so it could not be helped.
"Just a little, that’s all..." Artoria admitted softly. "I know it’s not right. I mean, I’m not King Arthur, I’m not Artoria Pendragon. I should be more open with them."
"Since you know that, I won’t tease you about it anymore." Riezel shrugged with a smile. "But you don’t seem like you came here just for that, right? So, what’s on your mind this time?"
Artoria instantly fell silent.
Riezel did not rush her and simply waited quietly for her to speak.
After about two minutes of silence, Artoria finally raised her eyes and looked at Riezel.
"Do you think I should really go to Norwich?"
Why did Artoria ask this?
Simple.
"I’m... a bit worried about the Mirror Clan’s prophecy..."
Artoria’s quiet words made Riezel pause, then quickly understand.