Chapter 90

(The next day.)

Shuna was positively glowing. Figuratively and almost quite literally. A seemingly yellow glow surrounded her body. It was no doubt part of her now-divine nature, or was it someone else's divinity? Only she knows. Shuna herself was enjoying the many celebrations in the town, but it was without Artoria. Some wondered where she was, but they all assumed that they might have been doing their own separate things. Once again, only Shuna knows.

/\\//\\//\

(Artoria and Shuna's house.)

'I need water. A lot of water. Or anything to help hydrate me.' That was the only thought going through Artoria's head as she lay down in bed.

/\\//\\//\

(Sometime later)

Masayuki. Also known as "The Chosen One" in an almost literal sense. Did he want all this? No. It was more trouble and drama than it was worth or that he wanted. Did he want to come to this town filled with monsters that were no doubt beyond his power? No to that as well. He had tried to come up with any excuse to not go, but someway, somehow, things just worked out. And now he's here on a quest to confront a demon lord. Or so said his companions and those around him.

There was a massive celebration happening in this town, and the focus was on confronting the demon lord? Even he knew how bad of an idea this was, but everyone said it was meant to be. Was Rimuru, the demon lord of this town, even the leader? There was also the one called Artoria. Why is everyone seemingly ignoring her?

Masayuki was walking through town with his companions when he bumped into someone due to not paying attention and being lost in his thoughts.

"Hey, you know who you just bumped into?" Masayuki's female companions shouted, clearly not knowing who she was talking to.

"Woah, hey, it's not that serious. It's just an accident!" Masayuki quickly defused the situation. He spent more time doing things like this instead of doing actual "hero stuff" many people thought he did.

"You know, for someone who is the chosen one and a hero, you don't really act like it or have the awareness one would expect of it."

"Huh?" Masayuki was a little confused. Normally, most people would immediately start apologizing and going a large rant about him being a hero and whatnot, but this person seemed different. He got a better look at this person. She had long, blonde hair, and green eyes, and was wearing what was clearly some semi-formal dress of military fashion. 

'Hold on a second. No. No way. Of all the people to just randomly walk into, it's her?!' That's right, he bumped into Artoria. 

"You're Artoria Pendragon, right?" Masayuki didn't know what to do. He a mix of surprise and some reverence. Like someone meeting an idol or someone famous. Starstruck. Is this what people who meet him feel like?

"Yup."

"As in, like, King Arthur?"

"Exactly. And you're Masayuki, 'The Chosen One'. You're not going to go astray and join some kind of dark side instead of destroying it, right?" Artoria looked at him with eyes that seemed serious.

Masayuki wasn't sure if she was actually being serious or if she was perhaps playing around with him"Uh, what do you mean?"

As if it didn't exist, the pressure he felt disappeared before Artoria chuckled a bit. "I guess alternate or parallel worlds do exist. That or you just don't get the reference. If it's the latter, then I do feel a little bad for you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"That's okay." Once again, Artoria looked at him seriously. She wasn't looking him up and down, she was staring at him as if she was thinking of something. "By the way, there's a fighting competition happening. You're going to join."

"Huh, I don't want to."

"Well, too bad, I wasn't giving you a choice. I'll expect you at the training ground in 1 hour."

"Huh?" Masayuki, yet again, didn't know what was happening. Was this because of his skill? It certainly didn't feel like it. It usually makes things go well, and he wasn't in the mood for training, let alone from Artoria. Only the monsters here know what her methods are like. And if they're good enough for monsters, they must be grueling.

"This is perfect Masayuki! You'll show your greatness as a hero to these monsters! That demon lord Rimuru won't know what to do!"

While Masayuki's companions were adding fuel to the fire, only Artoria knew why she was doing this. 'If I purposely lose to him when I'm fighting in the coliseum, no one will question it.'

/\\//\\//\

"Artoria Pendragon? Like King Arthur?"

"Yup, exactly like King Arthur."

"Wow! That's so cool! Do you have Excalibur? What about the knights of the round table?

Artoria encountered Rimuru's students and she was having a conversation with them. Even if it did sound a bit familiar to her already, she wasn't going to worry about that. Artoria decided to put on a show for the kids as she held her hands into fists in front of her and put them next to each other. And in a dramatic and magical scene, she slowly separated her hands as Excalibur slowly materialized in a dazzling display of magic as sparks flew around. The kid's eyes were sparkling as they saw her do this.

"That's so cool!" 

Chloe stayed…kind of calm. Her eyes widened as she Excalibur. But not the sword itself, but more of what was on the sword. Fairy inscriptions.

"This is Excalibur. As for the Knights of the Round Table, I don't have a group like that. Well, if you want to get technical, I guess I kind of do, or at least working towards it since I've personally knighted some people."

"Can we become knights too?"

"Maybe, but you'll have to work really hard. Speaking of, do you kids want to see me train some people?"

They all nodded eagerly. It seemed they were still young enough to be captivated by medieval fantasy and knights

"Alright, let's go."

A few minutes after leaving, Ramiris appeared where Artoria and the kids were. She looked around frantically trying to find what she felt. She felt fairy magic she never had before, It was something powerful, much more powerful than anything she'd experienced before. She didn't know how to describe it.

/\\//\\//\

(Training grounds)

Masayuki and his companions arrived at the training grounds. And they saw Artoria standing there waiting for them, as well as some kids.

"You're late."

"What? But we arrived on time."

"If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. And if you're late, don't even dream of showing up. Anyway, come on, we got some work to do. And it's going to be tougher since you were late."

"Hey! That's not fair! You can't do that! We're not going to do anything extra for you just because we didn't show up to your definition of 'on time'!"

Some other people who were training when they heard this, quickly sent them a prayer. Hakurou, who was instructing some people, even if it was shortened for the duration of the celebration, looked over and let out a small whistle. He had seen what Artoria would do to some of the trainees whenever she occasionally showed up on the training grounds. And it wasn't a pretty sight, but it did instill discipline into the trainees, so maybe it wasn't all too bad.

Artoria stayed unusually calm as she simply nodded. No yelling, or some physical punishment, which is what she would usually do. "You know, you're right, but I'll need to fic that attitude of yours. And don't worry, I'm not going to punish y'all in a physical manner. I just want y'all to write me a 20-paper essay, front and back, about the importance of leadership and respect, the effects and dangers of insubordination, and why training is important." Masayuki and his group grew pale as they heard her tell them their punishment. But maybe it wouldn't be so bad. They would have some time to write it. "Oh, and I expect it in two days." 

His female companion quickly started leaving but was stopped by Artoria as she yelled at her. "Where are you going?!"

"I need to write!"

"After you finish your training you will. And I expect you back here early in the morning…noon. I'll expect y'all back here at noon tomorrow."They didn't know why she changed it from morning to noon, but they'll take any time they can get their hands on.

'I thought my skill was supposed to make things easy.' Those were Masayuki's thoughts before he and his group started training.

\/\//\\//\

(3 hours later)

Masayuki and his group were on the ground, absolutely exhausted.

"Hmm, alright, I can work with this. That will be all for today." Artoria said as she saw them before looking at the kids. "So kids, what do you think?"

They stayed mostly quiet, not sure what to think of of they saw. But they all have similar thoughts. And that was that maybe, being knighted by Artoria in the future wouldn't be as fun as they thought it would be. Except for one. Kenya. "That was nothing, Ms. Pendragon! I'll go through your training one day and complete it! And then I'll be one of your knights! I'll be your strongest knight!"

"Excellent spirit you have there, Kenya!" Artoria turned to Masayuki and his group as they were still exhausted. "Y'all should take notes from Kenya here. Y'all could learn something about having that drive and motivation during training. Alright, go on now y'all. Go and have fun."

/\\//\\//\

(2 days later)

Masayuki, in spite of it all, finished his essay. Somehow. Even he himself didn't know how he did it. It felt like a blur. But he got it done, that's all that mattered. It was noon and he was back in the training grounds, essay in hand, as well as his companions.

"We have the essay you want, Ms. Pendragon,"

"That's good. Now, y'all are going to read it to me out loud. You'll each take turns while I train the others."

They just couldn't catch a break.