In every sense, tonight had been a rather restless night, yet it passed quietly.
When the sun rose again from the east, casting its glow over Faerie Britain, the giant tower on the grassland began to cast its shadow on the ground.
At this moment, Riezel also woke up, following his biological clock, but as soon as he did, he immediately fell into a state of confusion.
"Huuu... Huuu..."
Amidst the peaceful breathing sounds, Artoria was sleeping soundly, and judging by her expression, she seemed to be sleeping quite comfortably.
It was only natural.
Now, Artoria was lying in Riezel's arms, both of them squeezed together on the same sofa. Not only was she tightly clutching his clothes, but her face also occasionally rubbed against his chest, like a cat dozing off, using him as her cushion.
How could she not be comfortable?
Looking at this scene, Riezel remained silent for several seconds before closing his eyes and murmuring to himself.
"Let's organize the situation first..."
"From the looks of it, it's obvious I didn't end up at Artoria's place, and she's the one who ended up here with me."
"And not only did she squeeze onto the same sofa as me, but she's also holding onto my clothes like a little girl afraid of thunder..."
"Hmm... this can't be like the time with Lizbeth, where she wanted to protect me, but instead it's her wanting me to protect her, right?"
"In other words, she must've woken up in the middle of the night, feeling unsafe, and sleepily squeezed onto the sofa with me. Or maybe she had a nightmare and unconsciously came over."
Riezel calmly analyzed the situation.
"Still, what should I do now?"
"Pat her head? Or should I hug her instead?"
"No, neither."
"Based on the current situation, the best thing to do is run away before she wakes up and starts causing a scene."
As Riezel kept murmuring to himself, whether intentionally or not, he didn't seem to realize that the breathing rhythm of the fairy in his arms had changed.
Artoria, who had her face resting on his chest, stiffened all of a sudden, and before long, her face first turned red, then white, and finally pale.
When Riezel said, "Run away before she wakes up and starts causing a scene," she naturally could no longer pretend to be asleep.
"I'm not going to cause a scene the moment I wake up, okay?! And why is your first reaction to run away?!"
Artoria pushed herself up and shouted at Riezel in a mix of anger and frustration.
Riezel, on the other hand, wasn't surprised by Artoria's sudden outburst at all and just smiled.
"I was actually trying to wake you up. Look, the effect is pretty good."
Riezel patted Artoria's thigh as he spoke, signaling her to get up and stop pressing on him.
Artoria immediately jumped up, leaping off the sofa and running to the corner, where she crouched down again, just like she had last night, but this time, she hid her red face between her legs.
'Why?'
'Why did it turn out like this?'
'H-H-H-How did I end up sleeping on the same sofa as Riezel?!'
Artoria thought flusteredly, her heart a complete mess.
"What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
Riezel, who had propped himself up, glanced at Artoria and asked in wonder.
"No! I didn't have a nightmare!"
Reacting strongly, Artoria's voice unintentionally rose in pitch, as if Riezel had touched a sensitive spot.
"Then what's going on?" Riezel asked with a half-smile. "Could it be that Miss Artoria, now sixteen, is actually a fairy who's afraid to sleep alone and needs someone to accompany her to sleep?"
"No way!" Artoria, unsure whether she was embarrassed or angry, retorted in a flustered, almost furious tone. "I've always slept alone! I don't need anyone to sleep with me!"
"Hmm, then explain this." Riezel pointed at the faint saliva stains on his clothes, speaking casually. "Whose saliva is this?"
Artoria opened her mouth in surprise, her lips trembling, but she couldn't give a reasonable explanation.
She honestly had no idea how she had ended up on the sofa.
She only vaguely remembered dreaming about something familiar last night—something related to the storm of malice that formed this world, where she kept walking aimlessly like always.
However, as she walked, she seemed to see something she hadn't seen before—a sun shining brightly, capable of dispelling darkness and purifying evil.
She couldn't help but feel like that sun, rising in the storm, looked just like the one Riezel had shown when he protected her from the Fang Clan's fairies yesterday.
She had reached out toward that sun, eager to run into its light, hoping it would block the storm.
'Could it be... Is that why I ended up sleepily running to Riezel's side?'
When she thought of this possibility, Artoria's face flushed again, her cheeks burning.
"Looks like you have an idea now..." Riezel, noticing her odd behavior, raised an eyebrow. "So, what's going on?"
Hearing this, Artoria immediately shot him a glare and, clearly embarrassed, snapped.
"It's nothing! Stop asking about that, please! Now that I'm awake, let's get ready to leave!"
With that, she grabbed the Staff of Selection that had been resting in the corner last night and stomped out in an annoyed manner toward the exit.
"What an impulsive Child of Prophecy."
Riezel chuckled as he watched Artoria walk away, secretly unlocking the tower's double doors at the entrance, making them gradually open.
Because Create Fortress could only be controlled by its caster and no one else could enter or exit without the caster's permission, unless Riezel—the one who cast the magic—gave his consent, the fortress's doors would not open.
"Hmph!"
Artoria, who had walked up to the exit, seemed to have noticed this. Seeing the double doors slowly open, she deliberately scoffed at Riezel with a cold demeanor before walking out.
"Clean."
Riezel immediately cast a magic spell to clear the dirt from his body, skipping the steps of washing his face and brushing his teeth.
"Hey, walk slower."
Having finished cleaning himself, Riezel spoke up while catching up to Artoria.
"Hurry up!"
Artoria still looked upset, acting quite childish.
Just like that, the two of them walked out of the tower and onto the grassland outside.
*Rumble—!*
In the next moment, the tower behind them immediately seemed to have completed its mission, slowly sinking into the ground.
In no time, the fortress tower, which had stood on the grassland all night, was completely submerged underground, vanishing without a trace. Yet, the ground where the tower had stood showed no sign of damage or a hole, as though the fortress tower had never been there.
Such a phenomenon caused Artoria to marvel once again.
'Is this really something magecraft can do?'
Artoria thought to herself, once again wondering about it.
After canceling Create Fortress, Riezel then spoke up.
"You said we're leaving, but which direction should we go to find the nearest city?"
Riezel's question brought Artoria back to her senses.
She forced herself to stop thinking about that embarrassing matter and, after a moment of pretending to think seriously, finally responded.
"If you're sure Tintagel is in that direction, then we're probably not too far from the center."
Artoria then began to explain the general situation of Faerie Britain.
Faerie Britain was an island known as the British Isles, a fairy island floating on the sea. Its capital was Camelot, where the current queen of the Fairy Kingdom resided. In the eyes of some villagers from Tintagel, Camelot was likened to the city of evil.
Centered around Camelot, the Fairy Kingdom was divided into northern and southern regions.
Most fairies in the Fairy Kingdom lived in the south, with fewer fairies in the north.
Tintagel was neither in the south nor the north, but located on the western coast of the British Isles. If one walked east along the main road, they would eventually reach the central region, centered around Camelot.
Once in the center, traveling north would first lead to a city called Gloucester, and then to Camelot.
Heading south would bring one to Salisbury, a city known for its cathedral.
"If we're already in the center, then the nearest cities should be Salisbury or Gloucester."
Artoria continued explaining to Riezel.
"Gloucester is known as the city of fashion, with lots of luxurious shops. Most of the kingdom's most popular items can be found there."
"Salisbury is the largest city in the south and the most free-spirited place in the kingdom. It has a population of about 200,000 and is mainly inhabited by fairies from the Earth, Wind, and Fang clans, along with humans who've gained independence."
"Gloucester belongs to the head of the Wing Clan, while Salisbury belongs to the head of the Wind Clan. And by the way, every clan head has a city under their rule."
"It's up to you to decide which one you wanna go to."
After listening to Artoria's explanation, Riezel fell into deep thought.
From the original work's description of the Fairy Kingdom's power structure, he was pretty clear on it.
He knew that the highest ruler of Britain was the Queen, and below the Queen were the heads of the six clans, who also governed various cities.
Because the heads of the six clans each governed over a fairy clan and a city, they became the most powerful nobles under the Queen.
Meanwhile, Fairy Knights, who directly served the Queen, were sometimes granted nobility and lands. Even though they didn't always get along with the heads of the six clans, their rank was not much lower than that of the clan heads in terms of nobility and land.
Among the six clan heads, leaving aside the two from the north, the other four governed cities in the south.
The head of the Wind Clan governed Salisbury, home to a famous cathedral.
The head of the Earth Clan governed the port city of Norwich.
The head of the Wing Clan governed the city of fashion, Gloucester.
The head of the Fang Clan governed Oxford, known for its great restaurants.
Thinking at this point, Riezel glanced at Artoria, though it was subtle.
'If she wanna ring the Bells of Pilgrimage, she'll have to go to those four cities, right?'
He remembered that the prophecy from the Mirror Clan mentioned the six Bells of Pilgrimage were controlled by the heads of the six clans, each one in charge of a bell.
Except for one bell whose whereabouts were unknown, the other five were in Gloucester, Salisbury, Oxford, Norwich, and Orkney in the northern part of Britain.
In other words, if Artoria wanted to ring these five bells, she would have to face the clan heads who governed those cities sooner or later.
Even though this confrontation might not necessarily turn into a physical conflict, it wouldn't be easy for Artoria to ring them. At the very least, ringing the Bell of Pilgrimage in Oxford would be incredibly difficult.
Why?
It was because Oxford was under the control of the Fang Clan, whose leader, Woodwose, was the brutal fairy warrior who wanted to kill the Child of Prophecy.
If Artoria tried to ring the Bell of Pilgrimage in Oxford, it would almost certainly lead to a confrontation with Woodwose.
For this reason, if ringing the Bells of Pilgrimage was her goal, Oxford was off-limits for now—at least until Riezel could find a way to break through the divine protection surrounding Woodwose, as it would be impossible to go there otherwise.
Fortunately, Oxford wasn't on the list of cities they needed to visit this time.
Salisbury and Gloucester were the two options, so Riezel and Artoria only needed to choose one to visit.
"Where do you wanna go?" Riezel asked casually.
At this, Artoria surprisingly gave a very eager response.
"If possible, I'd rather go to Gloucester..." Artoria replied, both excited and troubled. "But in places like that, someone like me wouldn't be able to buy anything."
Gloucester was a city of fashion, and for a curious young girl, it was definitely more appealing.
Unfortunately, it wasn't really a place she should go right now—not because of the reason she mentioned, but for another more important one.
'If I remember correctly... isn't the head of the Wing Clan one of those who inherited strong A-Rei blood?'
Even though not to the extent of Woodwose, who had experienced a reversion to his ancestors, the head of the Wing Clan had also inherited a strong amount of A-Rei blood, which gave her a troublesome ability.
Riezel wasn't sure if that ability would affect him, but since he had planned to first understand the general situation of Faerie Britain before taking action, it was better not to go there for now.
With that in mind—
"We'll have to choose Salisbury." Riezel stated calmly.
Artoria had no objections.
"Mm, Salisbury is a very free city where humans often roam about, unlike in other cities where they are treated as slaves and exploited."
Artoria made this statement, probably considering Riezel's identity.
Riezel was, after all, a human.
If they walked around the streets casually and got into a conflict with the fairies there, it would become a troublesome situation.
Artoria didn't want to end up in a situation like yesterday, where Riezel stormed into the crowd of fairies, killing them left and right.
It would be too hard on her heart.
"Alright, it's decided."
Unlike Artoria, who could see through others' true feelings with her Fairy Eyes, Riezel didn't know what she was thinking in her heart, so he decided with a firm nod.
"Do you want to teleport like we did before, or should we fly there?"
As Artoria asked this, she looked ready to be carried or held, her expression showing she was mentally prepared.
It was only natural.
What had happened last night wasn't exactly something to be shy about anymore, so she had already resigned herself to the situation.
But this time, Artoria was mistaken.
"We ended up not knowing exactly where we were when we teleported last time. If we teleport again like before, who knows whether we'll reach our destination or end up in the enemy's base?"
Riezel shook his head.
"Flying is also an option, but that would be too noticeable. We could easily be spotted by the Queen's army nearby or the Fang Clan that was in Tintagel yesterday."
For this reason, Riezel decided to find another means of transport.
"Summon Monster 2nd."
Casting summoning magic, a magic circle began to spin in front of Riezel.
In the next moment, a magnificent white horse slowly appeared from the magic circle.
It was a horse with eight legs—an eight-legged horse known as Sleipnir.
In Norse mythology, Sleipnir was a divine beast, the warhorse ridden by the Norse chief god Odin, which gave it quite a reputation.
Even though the Sleipnir summoned by Riezel was just a monster, like the one from Norse mythology, it had eight legs, a larger build than a regular horse, and exceptional strength, endurance, and mobility.
In the world of Overlord, it was considered one of the best magical beasts that humans could tame, worth more than five regular warhorses.
In addition, the one Riezel summoned was a rare white variety of Sleipnir—one in several hundred.
"Create Greater Item."
After summoning a white Sleipnir, Riezel cast creation magic to create a massive carriage.
"All done."
After finishing these tasks, Riezel turned to a wide-eyed Artoria.
"We'll use this carriage."
Upon hearing this, Artoria fell silent, looking dazed.
Even though they both could use magecraft, the difference between them was just so vast, like heaven and earth.