He instinctively looked up around him and muttered softly, "Could he also be inside the palace?"
"Agravain, hurry up or the sun will be down!", Gawain's voice suddenly came from behind.
Agravain calmly put away the letter and the special magical craft item, turned, and followed.
———
After leaving the palace, and after more than half an hour of long travel, the two soon rode into the bustling Camelot royal city with an escort.
Ancient white European buildings rose tall. Seventy-two armored knights stood behind Agravain and Gawain.
In the royal city many townspeople stepped aside and watched the two with curious eyes.
Among those people, a small portion looked at them with hatred, as if they wanted to stage a play of fortunes reversing overnight.
Those people, of course, were the transmigrators from the modern world.
Transmigrators who had appeared in the Camelot Empire were magi in the real world and often held respectable positions in their families, so they naturally had pride.
Yet upon arrival they were immediately issued orders by King Arthur to be arrested, then forced to hide like rats. That feeling was not pleasant.
"These natives from the Age of Gods are really arrogant. Aren't they afraid of the transmigrators striking back later?"
In the crowd, a man wearing a black robe looked at the passing Round Table knights and lowered his voice, his tone full of displeasure.
"If you do not want to be caught, you better say less, Uncle," a blond girl beside him said, also lowering her voice and sounding resigned.
At this moment Reines felt helpless and despairing, thinking, 'How do I always run into useless allies?'
The two talking in the crowd were Reines and one of the Clock Tower's lords, Kayneth.
Not long after leaving Alvin, Reines had followed Merlin's instructions, found Kayneth, and pulled him away.
Along the way Kayneth wore a look of "I want to beat them up."
For a golden child who had never suffered injustice, being chased around immediately upon arrival was indeed unpleasant.
"Our urgent task now is to find Gray as soon as possible. Then find a way to contact King Arthur," Reines continued.
The one who issued the arrest orders was King Arthur, and one reason for that order was that some transmigrators were secretly causing trouble, making the King develop a very bad impression of transmigrators as a whole.
But that could not be helped. To Camelot, transmigrators were a collective. If some did bad things, the whole group would be labeled.
"I wonder how Alvin is doing," Reines sighed again.
It had already been more than four hours since King Arthur met Alvin today.
Four hours does not sound long, but for transmigrators every minute in Camelot could be torture.
After all, they had to avoid Camelot's arrests.
"Alvin? Hmph! With his talent, do you really think King Arthur would listen to his persuasion?"
Mentioning that useless disciple, Kayneth snorted coldly, "Reines, I told you before to avoid him more. You still did not listen?"
"Alvin is a good person. You just want me to avoid him because he is your disciple, right?"
Reines said calmly, "But rest assured, when he is with me he has never mentioned anything about you."
Kayneth frowned slightly and said earnestly, "He did not get close to you just to be friends."
From hindsight, Kayneth could see some of the small details of the conversations between Alvin and Reines. Alvin had talent in magicraft and was one of the smarter pupils he had taught.
But, Alvin had not used that intelligence properly.
That guy got close to his sister obviously because he liked her looks.
Reines, inexperienced in the world, did not notice, but Kayneth saw it all clearly.
Reines did not care much. She watched the dispersing crowd and said, "Teachings can wait until we return home. We cannot stay here long. We must find a way to rendezvous with the others."
The city gates were heavily guarded. If Gray was still inside the royal city, they would be able to find her.
Reines's circle of friends was not large. Gray was one of them. If possible she wanted to protect her few friends.
How was Alvin right now?
Was he, like the other transmigrators, trembling in the interrogation chamber?
Thinking this, the noble girl sighed and said, "Why did King Arthur have to take him?"
They left the noisy place as they spoke.
A while later Kayneth fell silent, only glancing back with his eyes and then returning his gaze without change.
His eyelids drooped as if thinking.
"What are you thinking?", Reines asked.
Kayneth slowly said, "I am thinking the same thing as you."
"Camelot is publicly arresting transmigrators, and is ruthless toward soul-transferring magi."
"Reines, if King Arthur really took Alvin."
"Why would she do that?"
From the moment Reines explained roughly what had happened on the way, Kayneth had been pondering one thing.
'What exactly does King Arthur intend?'
'Mass arrests of transmigrators are understandable. To Camelot they are a species invasion that destroys balance.'
'Letting my sister go was odd, but understandable. After all she is King Arthur, the Knight King.'
'A person of such noble status would not bother to personally arrest a noble girl.'
'But, why did she take Alvin?'
'Just because Alvin is a "body-worn" transmigrator?'
'Or does Alvin carry some secret King Arthur wants?'
Kayneth did not dislike Alvin as a pupil. Among his students he rather liked him.
After all, Alvin once taught him how to please his fiancee.
Although Kayneth spoke with disdain, when it came to his fiancee he followed Alvin's methods. It had worked. His and his fiancee's relationship improved.
Magical talent, laziness, a bit of cleverness, and handsome like Kayneth in his youth, this was Kayneth's impression of Alvin.
Besides that, Alvin's hobbies seemed to be just playing games.
'Such a seemingly ordinary kid, would King Arthur take him away?'
'Impossible to believe.'
'Perhaps the court mage of Britain are treating Alvin as a chess piece and are arranging things behind the scenes?'
Thinking this, Kayneth slowed his steps.
The dark alley was deserted, dusk approaching, and the alley smelled damp and a bit foul.
"What's wrong—"
Reines started to ask but stopped midword.
Cold mercury began to flow under Kayneth's feet and soon covered most of the alley.
Moon Spirit marrow, the El-Melloi family's supreme craft item, a top-tier craft only recognized for a family among the twelve lords.
This Moon Spirit marrow was the craft Kayneth had created before age twenty-five and it was his trump card.
Undoubtedly Kayneth was a genius born with extraordinary magical talent. He never knew frustration.
Even in the Age of Gods Camelot, Kayneth, the Clock Tower's lord of mineral sciences, remained composed, even before Round Table knights.
As he entered the deep alley he stopped.
Then he turned and looked at the empty alley. A proud, dangerous voice slowly sounded.
"Like a mouse hiding in the dark, you sneaked along and led me into the alley on purpose. You have a lot of confidence, Clock Tower lord."
Reines's heart skipped. She turned to look back.
The last rays of sunset faded. Transmigrators were about to face their first night.
As the sun sank, the alley grew utterly dark.
Kayneth folded his hands behind his back and the mercury at his feet drifted, both offensive and defensive.
He watched quietly ahead as if waiting.
Reines tightened and stared into the black alley.
"Whoa!"
At some point a low female voice sounded.
Then the sound of high heels on the ground.
A woman in a gray cloak stepped out of the alley and said softly, "You knew I was following you but still deliberately led me into this alley. Seems you are confident in yourself, Clock Tower lord."
Her dark eyes glanced lightly at the mercury under Kayneth's feet.
"A magical craft using mercury filled with stored mana to record various action patterns and operate them?"
"Looks like it uses the magus's own magical imprint as an operating method?"
Kayneth narrowed his eyes and slowly said, "You know quite a bit about magics."
"My interest lies more in potions. As for magics, I have some skill," the woman said, then looked quietly at the blond girl behind Kayneth.
"I only plan to ask a few questions. If you leave obediently now, answer them, then I can let you go."
Her arrogant, self-evident words stabbed Kayneth's pride.
The mercury at his feet, a puddle motioning, rose and hovered behind him ready to act.
"I do not know who you are, but you faced me without any guard, you really underestimate me, Age of God's magus!"
Kayneth gave a cold smile and snapped his fingers.
In an instant his mercury turned into bullets that whistled out.
Before the bullets touched the woman, an armored girl fell from the sky and blocked them.
She used a greatsword to stop the many mercury bullets.
'Another knight,' Kayneth narrowed his eyes.
He was confident in his power, but protecting Reines while facing two opponents could be troublesome.
However—
"Stand down, Gareth."
Next came the woman's calm, unhurried voice.
"It's been a long time since I moved. Let me see what modern magic is like."
She slowly lifted her head, the gray cloak fluttering in the dim light.
Her seductive, breathtakingly beautiful face came into view.
Morgan le Fay.
[T/N: New novel is up—🔥I Became a Character in Honkai: Star Rail🔥. Enjoy~]
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