Artoria: Keep a Cool Head!

"Yo, you're finally awake."

The moment Mordred opened her eyes, Naoki's voice rang out.

Sitting up from the ground, Mordred shook her head. "Master, I…"

"After you made the wish, you passed out." Naoki said. "What happened?"

"I think I had a dream." Mordred recalled the events. "It felt like I went back to the day of the king's selection."

"Back in a dream, huh?"

Naoki glanced at the Greater Holy Grail. "Hmm, this might be how the Grail grants wishes. While the Greater Holy Grail can fulfill any desire, its capacity should have limits. Sending you back 1,500 years to the day of the king's selection—time travel on that scale isn't very feasible."

"So the Grail used this method. I guess it might've read the world's memories, creating a dream so vivid it felt real. So, did you succeed in your dream?"

"No."

Surprisingly, Mordred answered bluntly. Though she failed to pull Caliburn and proved she lacked the qualifications to be king, she showed little disappointment or anger, as if she'd come to an understanding.

"Master, I met Father King back then. The Father King who hadn't yet pulled the sword, who hadn't yet become King." Mordred said, standing and leaning against a railing, gazing at the Greater Holy Grail. "Honestly, it's kind of hard to accept."

"Hard to accept… What do you mean?"

"Father King's demeanor. Even though she pulled Caliburn and could become the King everyone dreamed of, Father King back then… looked a bit scared. Shouldn't she have been happy?"

Despite becoming King, she was afraid. Despite being so afraid, she still pulled the sword.

What was Father King really thinking?

If it were Mordred, she'd have been ecstatic after pulling the sword. Others would likely feel the same.

"Maybe you and she had different mindsets."

After a brief pause, Naoki spoke.

"Mordred, you wanted to pull the sword to prove you could be King, to prove your Father King was wrong, right?"

"Yeah."

"Others who try to pull the sword also want to be King. I'm not sure if everyone's like that, but I'd guess most of them are after the power and status that come with being King."

"Probably."

"That's the difference between you all and Artoria. You all wanted to pull the sword, to become King, for personal gain. But Artoria was different—she didn't become King for herself."

"She became King solely because she wanted to save Britain, and at that time, only she could save Britain."

Artoria didn't want to be King.

But she was born to be King. Perhaps in the future, someone more suitable might emerge, but Britain couldn't wait that long.

"So she pulled the sword, even though she feared she might fail to save Britain, even though she feared she might not meet everyone's expectations. She still became King."

"I admire that kind of King Arthur—both your Father King and this one."

Naoki tapped his chest.

"But I think your Father King was, in a way, forced to become King."

Unlike previous narratives, Naoki now shared his personal thoughts.

"From birth, she never had her own choices, her own will. All her decisions were for Britain, all her desires were those of a King. As a human, as Artoria Pendragon, did she ever have a moment truly her own?"

There wasn't.

Artoria's entire life was bound to Britain. Even at death's door, her thoughts were only of Britain.

"Mordred, do you know what happened to your Father King in the end?"

"Didn't she die?"

Naoki shook his head. "She didn't die. On the brink of death, she deeply regretted her actions that led to Britain's downfall, feeling she shouldn't have been King, that someone more suitable should've taken the role. So she made a contract with the Counter Force, forever frozen at the moment before her death, forever stuck at Camlann Hill, waiting for the day she'd be summoned by the Holy Grail."

"Summoned by the Holy Grail… Does Father King want—"

"She, like you, also wanted to return to the day of the king's selection, to let it all play out again, to let someone more suitable become King."

*WHAM!*

Mordred smashed the railing.

Rage consumed her heart, mind, expression, and gaze.

"What the hell! King Arthur's out of her mind! To think like that! Regretting everything she ever did… The King Arthur I admired isn't a coward like that!"

King Arthur was the most perfect King!

No matter how much Mordred hated to admit it, she couldn't deny that truth! But for King Arthur to have such cowardly thoughts? To feel she was wrong, inadequate, and want to start over, handing it all to someone else?

"That's not my King!"

"If King Arthur really became such a coward, I'll kill her myself, for good!"

Mordred roared in fury.

Sensing the emotional shift within her, Naoki smiled. "That's a great mindset, but saying it like that? I don't mind, but this guy's feelings are pretty complicated. Who talks like that in front of their father, Sir Mordred?"

"Uh… You're not really Father King anyway, so deal with it!"

Is that something you just deal with?

"So how will you kill your Father King for good? Right now, she's just a Servant. Once the Holy Grail War ends, she'll return to the Throne of Heroes. Meeting your Father King again in another Holy Grail War is basically impossible."

"You're saying that, so you must have a solution, right? Honestly, Master, you're giving me vibes like a mix of Father King and that jerk Merlin."

"No way, that's just your imagination. Though Merlin and I are pretty close, when it comes to hating her, I'm on your side." Naoki laughed. "But you're right, I do have a way to let you meet King Arthur. In my parallel world, about five years from now, the Fifth Holy Grail War will happen. If nothing goes wrong, the Saber summoned will be your Father King."

"As long as you wish to the Holy Grail for a physical body, when I return, I can take you with me."

"What do you think?"

"What do you mean, 'what'? Doesn't the Holy Grail only grant one wish per person?"

"Who said that? Does the Holy Grail War's rules explicitly state the final winner can only have one wish? As far as I know, they don't."

"Master, you…"

Mordred paused, then burst into laughter, smacking Naoki's back hard. "You've got some guts, Master! Nice, nice, this is getting interesting. I like your style, Master! You and I are a perfect match!"

"Hey, Holy Grail! I've got a second wish—"