Chapter 3 The Lady of the Lake

"Where am I?" I couldn't help but ask myself. Since I was in some dark corridor.

I remember falling asleep in the carriage, which is strange, since I didn't want to sleep.

Is this some kind of magic? Did that guy do it? No, I don't think so, it's something else…

"System?" and of course, there was silence in response.

So, I walked along this corridor until I came across a door. Opening it, I caught my breath.

A beautiful sight appeared before me, a castle made of white marble, surrounded by beautiful gardens, and it stood on the shore of a lake.

Camelot…

No, this is not the Camelot I think of, maybe…

I immediately thought that I wanted to be in the castle, and in a second I was in it.

Yes, most likely this is my mental landscape!

I looked around, and apparently I was in the throne room, where many portraits of Arturia hung, in shining armor.

After which, I went to the next room, and felt a note of sadness in my mind.

There was a round table, empty...

I could start to worry, all the characters are starting to strongly influence me, but this was not so, they will never change my mentality, nor my personality, but will simply complement it.

"There is someone here." - I did not pay attention to this, but on the table, several books were laid out, unfolded.

Approaching which...

I saw a woman in armor, sleeping with a book in her hands... Arturia.

As if sensing me, she opened her eyes and quickly jumped up.

"Arturia?" I asked the woman

"Um… hi, I…" I immediately shook my head.

"You're not Arturia, who are you?"

"Well, I… I think I was the one your weapon absorbed…"

I felt my eyebrow involuntarily rise.

"Aren't you supposed to be a guy!" I asked her.

"Well… when I thought my death was near, I heard… a strange voice that asked if I wanted to live!"

"And of course you agreed!" I stated the obvious.

She nodded and continued.

"Yes, but… there was a condition… I will forever remain a girl, nothing can change me!" she replied, blushing and lowering her head.

"And are you okay with that?"

"Well, you know, if you want to live, it doesn't matter whether you're a guy or a girl!"

"Okay, but why do you look like this?"

"Well, I can take multiple forms!" she said, and now instead of Arturia, Ayako stood in front of me, followed by Akame.

In the end, she returned in Arturia's form again.

"I see, you can take the forms of the characters I knocked out, but only the female ones!"

"Like gacha?" she asked, tilting her head

"Yeah, think of it as a gacha system!" I said and walked up to her, quite close.

Damn, Arturia has always been tall, or am I too short? I can barely reach her chest!

She felt rather awkward from the closeness, but she still kept her eyes on my ears.

"And what should I call you? I can't call you Arturia, since you're not her!" I asked the girl.

"Arturia?"

"Yes, your current form, Artoria Pendragon, and the sword hanging on your belt is Excalibur... and anyway, how can you have it, is it a copy or…" I said, summoning my weapon and changing it to Excalibur.

"No, your weapon is only 10% of my power!" I felt a clear difference in power.

"Change yourself to other forms!" I told her.

She did so, the result was the same, the weapon she receives when turning into a character has only 10% of my power, but I can adjust this value, which I tried, and the maximum I got was 50% of my power. But, it was still a significant increase.

"Oh um…"

"Fran, my name is Fran!" I said to the girl.

"Yes, Fran, you said Artoria Pendragon, and Excalibur to boot! Was the King of Knights a woman? Oh, and call me Sakura, that's the name I'd like to have if I ever became a girl like now!"

"So you fantasized about being a girl?" I couldn't suppress my amusement because of her flushed face.

"And to answer your question, in the multiverse, there are many variations of King Arthur, so why wouldn't he be a woman in some? You know, even Merlin, who should look like an old man, has the appearance of a young, beautiful girl in some universes..." - after those last words, I couldn't help but shudder.

Arturia, the character that fell to me, was just from such a universe where there was Proto Merlin, who really liked to joke (make fun of) Arturia, which was transmitted to me, her fears of being pranked...

"Okay, then this castle..." - she fell silent, looking around the room.

"Yes, you could call it Camelot, but this mental landscape of mine, I think of all the characters, only Arturia has had a strong influence on me so far, hence this mental landscape, it's possible that it will change in the future!"

"I see…"-she answered and we sank into an awkward silence, but I knew that we needed to talk about…

"Aren't you mad at me?"-I asked

"Um, no! Should I be?"

"Well, you know, I kind of fed you to my weapon!"

"What, no, I'm not angry or mad at you because of this! Even though I became a girl, it's better than being a sword, and besides, I'm in a beautiful place where I can improve as a knight!" she exclaimed and showed me the book she was reading.

The book was about knights and their formation.

I just shook my head and smiled at her words.

"Oh, well, plus, I'm more than sure that I'll be able to go out into the outside world!" she said.

"Well, I think so too, as soon as we get to the city, we'll try to do it!"

"Well, you're a cat girl, eh…"

"Sorry, but I already have a betrothed! And you're clearly not her!" I told her.

She blushed and waved her hands.

"I didn't mean that, I'm not a lolicon!"

"Yes, yes, I believed it!" I answered her, remembering the anime.

But nevertheless, this little joke made me smile, now I have someone I can rely on.

And who would have thought that the main character, now the main heroine, would stay with me, not as a sword, but something like the consciousness of my weapon.

This can be very helpful in future worlds, where I, as a 12-year-old girl, can do little by law.

"But why did you choose this particular appearance?" I asked her.

"Because of the height! The other two appearances are quite short, this one is at least taller!" I felt a vein start to bulge in me,

Quiet Fran, she didn't mean to offend you…

"Stop, if this is your mental landscape, then who is that girl in the lake!" I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Which girl?"

"Well, I saw her in the lake, I thought she was a mermaid!" - after her words, I immediately teleported to the shore of the lake.

And the first thing that greeted me was a beautiful girl who smiled when she saw me.

"Greetings to you, the heir of Excalibur!" - she told me in a charming voice.

"I didn't…" - I wanted to deny it, because she was wrong.

"No, you are the heir of Excalibur! You are Fran Pendragon, even if you only have knowledge, one of the variations of the King of Knights!"

"But, this is my mental…

"You don't need to think about how I was able to appear here, I exist outside of time and space!"

"But, why did you appear here!"

"Because of you! You are the first Excalibur wielder whose fate is not predetermined, and besides, I can sense Excalibur, it has only ever accepted the King of Knights as its wielder! And imagine my surprise when it found you worthy, and even allowed itself to be stroked!

"This is…"

"You don't need to think about it too much, child, I just wanted to see who Excalibur found worthy! And besides, this dimension of yours is the most peaceful, of all the worlds in which my lake is located!"

"That is, I don't have to do anything, like slay a dragon or drive out evil, or…"

I couldn't finish the list, so I heard her enchanting laughter.

"No, just live your life, such as not a single King of Knights can live!"

"It's time for me child, but this isn't goodbye, this lake serves as a bridge where you can contact me if you need advice!" she said and dove into the water.

I teleported back to Sakura.

"Fran, where are you going, you disappeared so suddenly?"

"I met the Lady of the Lake!" I answered briefly.

"Oh, I see… Wait, what!?" she screamed.

"Don't ask, I don't really know either, well, she kind of acknowledged me as the King of Knights, and now I'm Fran Pendragon, the heir to Excalibur!"

"Your life is such a mess!" she said to me with a sigh.

"I know!" I simply answered.

Then, I felt a pull and looked at Sakura.

"I think I'm waking up, see you on the other side!" I said, and the next moment I opened my eyes, and I was still in the same carriage.

[Integration… Subject "Sakura"… Subject "Sakura", integrated into the weapon's consciousness… Did you want to summon her?]

"Later!" I said, and looked at the city that was visible in the distance.

My first fantasy city…