Norwich, outside of the Vault Fortress.
Artoria, Mash, Da Vinci, and Oberon followed behind Riezel, walking out together in silence.
It was only then that Artoria could no longer hold back her words.
"What the hell is that guy thinking?"
With just this one sentence, it was clear to everyone how little Artoria thought of Spriggan.
Otherwise, she would not have simply called him ’that guy.’
Of course, the others felt the same way.
"He’s definitely plotting something shady."
Oberon made no effort to hide his disdain.
"I mean, he doesn’t plan on driving away the Calamity, and he doesn’t want us to get involved either. He’s basically telling everyone up front that he’s up to something." Da Vinci sighed helplessly. "Are all the clan heads in Faerie Britain like that?"
"Nope." Oberon replied bluntly. "There are plenty among them I can’t stand, but compared to that Spriggan guy, even Woodwose doesn’t seem so bad."
"What’s really going on?" Mash, probably the only one among them who hadn’t developed much of a dislike for Spriggan, just looked a bit confused. "I honestly didn’t sense much malice from that person, but at the same time, it feels like he’s up to no good. Am I just imagining things?"
"No, you’re not." Artoria shook her head. "At the very least, everything that guy said was true—that’s one thing we can be sure of."
In that sense, Spriggan could be considered a straightforward person.
From start to finish, he had not told a single lie and truly intended to use the Bell of Pilgrimage as a bargaining chip for those two conditions he mentioned.
Although Chaldea’s group did not know that Artoria possessed the Fairy Eyes that could see through lies, they trusted her judgment.
"Maybe we left a little too hastily..." Da Vinci glanced at Riezel. "We probably could have talked with him a bit more."
At this, Riezel gave an extremely concise reply.
"No need." Riezel responded calmly. "If all we want to do is ring the Bell of Pilgrimage, there’s no need to get his permission."
"No need for permission?"
Da Vinci and the others were immediately taken aback, except for Artoria, who suddenly widened her eyes.
"No way..." Artoria gazed at Riezel in surprise. "Are you thinking of doing it the same way as last time?"
Riezel did not answer, instead turning to Mash and the others.
"You all wait for us here."
Placing a hand on Artoria’s shoulder, Riezel spoke in the same calm tone.
"We’ll be right back."
As soon as these words dropped, Riezel activated teleportation magic.
"Wait—!"
Artoria tried to shout, but it was already too late.
*Swish!*
In the next moment, Riezel and Artoria vanished from where they stood, leaving no trace behind.
"Eh?"
"Wha..."
Mash and Da Vinci were both startled, at a complete loss.
"Oh crap..."
Oberon, just realizing what Riezel and Artoria intended, slapped a hand over his face.
"How did I forget what those two did last time at Salisbury when they rang the Bell of Pilgrimage?"
At this point, Oberon could already foresee it.
He could already imagine the chaos and trouble that would break out next.
===
Vault Fortress, Top Floor, Bell Tower.
Norwich’s bell tower was no different from the one in Salisbury’s Cathedral of the Ash Tree.
Perhaps because the structure had been standardized, the bell tower in Norwich’s Vault Fortress and the one in Salisbury’s Cathedral of the Ash Tree looked identical—even their size and arrangement were exactly the same.
Inside the bell hall, thick with an air of mystery, the heavy Bell of Pilgrimage stood in silence.
*Swish!*
Suddenly, two figures appeared in the bell hall, right in front of the Bell of Pilgrimage, breaking the silence.
"All right." Riezel removed his hand from Artoria’s shoulder. "You can go ring the Bell of Pilgrimage now."
"..."
Artoria fell silent, looking speechless.
’Why does this guy always do whatever he wants?!’
She honestly no longer wanted to speak.
She also felt weary.
"What’s wrong?" Riezel seemed unaware of Artoria’s exhaustion and asked calmly with raised eyebrows. "Is there something wrong?"
"...I’m honestly curious—what exactly is right about this?" Artoria asked back, sounding powerless. "Are you sure this isn’t wrong?"
"No, there’s nothing wrong with it." Riezel replied bluntly. "No matter what that clan head is planning or what schemes he might have, as long as we take the reward ourselves, there’s nothing he can do."
It was just how it was.
Riezel was not oblivious to whatever Spriggan was scheming, but he saw no reason to play along.
If Spriggan wanted to use the Bell of Pilgrimage as leverage to restrain them, then he would simply ring the Bell of Pilgrimage himself and be done with it.
Besides, this was nothing new to Riezel—if it weren’t, Salisbury wouldn’t have ended up half-ruined, still unrepaired to this day.
Even though Artoria could understand this, she still felt it was not the right thing to do.
"You know, that guy is not like Aurora. He might not have lied to us, but I’m certain he’s no good person." Artoria said, not without worry. "If we just ignore him and ring the Bell of Pilgrimage, that’s basically forcing the Earth Clan to stand against us."
According to what Oberon and Aurora had said, their goal for this trip was not only to ring the Bell of Pilgrimage but also to win Spriggan’s cooperation and have the Earth Clan join their side as helpers to overthrow Morgan.
It should be noted that their enemy was the witch who had once conquered all of Britain with brute force, with several Fairy Knights and many fairy soldiers under her command. Overthrowing her would require building up their own strength and rallying as many fairies as possible.
For that reason, coming to Norwich this time, their first goal was to ring the Bell of Pilgrimage, and the second was to persuade Spriggan to gain the Earth Clan as allies.
However, with Riezel being so forceful, while the first goal could be easily achieved, the second had almost no chance of success, which was why Artoria hesitated.
Riezel, however, showed not a hint of hesitation as his gaze fell on Artoria.
"I won’t say much, just one question." Riezel said bluntly. "Do you really think you can trust someone like that as an ally?"
Artoria was left speechless once again.
Noticing her speechlessness, Riezel continued.
"Don’t forget, even though Aurora and Oberon chose to help us, they aren’t completely trustworthy either."
Riezel analyzed coolly.
"Right now, the only ones we can truly trust are Chaldea—they’re the only ones who sincerely want to fight alongside us."
"And Spriggan? Just look at him. He doesn’t care about Norwich, or the Earth Clan fairies who follow him—he’s entirely self-serving."
"A guy like that, even if he really did join us, wouldn’t we always have to worry he’d stab us in the back?"
At least Aurora and Oberon had clear motives, so they could be trusted for now, at least until they achieved their goals—there was little risk of them causing trouble before then.
However, Spriggan was different.
If he ever saw an opportunity or a profit to be made, he would not hesitate to betray them, as evidenced by his occasional swearing of loyalty to Morgan, yet secretly disobeying her behind her back.
Even his personal guards were all fairies of the Fang Clan, not the Earth Clan under his command, showing that he did not trust the Earth Clan at all.
"If he could ignore his own people, there’s no way he’d care about us. He’d drop us the moment it suited him."
Riezel spoke quietly.
"Given all his plotting, I’m certain that guy is nothing like us."
"So why bother trying to recruit someone like him?"
"It’s pointless."
Upon hearing Riezel’s reasoning, Artoria could say nothing.
"Yeah, you’re right..." Artoria let out a tired sigh. "Someone like him... Not everyone can be an ally..."
In the end, Artoria gathered her thoughts and decided not to overthink it.
"So, are you still going to ring the Bell of Pilgrimage?"
Riezel smiled slightly and asked Artoria.
"I am!"
Artoria nodded firmly, took a few deep breaths, steeled herself, and walked toward the Bell of Pilgrimage.
Once she reached the Bell of Pilgrimage, Artoria closed her eyes, raised the Staff of Selection, and began to chant.
"Hymn of Paradise, Song of the Inner Sea."
Just as Artoria had in Salisbury, starlight began to shine from the Staff of Selection as she chanted.
"A being born for selection, judgment, and correction."
"O primal bone bell, guide the lost children home."
"Forgive their sins."
Artoria’s solemn and sacred chant echoed through the entire bell tower, making the starlight shine brighter and brighter.
*DONG—DONG—DONG—DONG—DONG—!*
Before long, a series of distant bell tolls rang out from the Bell of Pilgrimage, echoing in every direction.
*DONG—DONG—DONG—DONG—DONG—!*
It rang out beyond the Vault Fortress, beyond Norwich, and even beyond southern Britain, resonating throughout all of Faerie Britain.
Just like that time over a month ago, every fairy and human in Faerie Britain heard the bells echoing across the sky and land.
Everyone in Faerie Britain paused whatever they were doing, raised their heads, and looked in the direction of Norwich.
Of course, the bells reached Camelot as well, and the royal palace.
Morgan, seated upon the throne, slowly opened her eyes, then closed them again.
At some point, a staff-like black spear appeared in her hand.
From her, magical energy began to rise, resonating throughout the palace.