Tiamat, I'm going to find a girlfriend!

On the day of their triumphant return, atop the city walls, Artoria announced this to Ian with the same fervor as on their wedding day.

Those bright eyes held both the pride of a triumphant return and the confidence to lead Britain toward the future.

"Don't you remember now?"

"That's not what I meant!"

Bagst held the wine glass in his hand.

"Your Majesty, everyone knows that Your Majesty is going to do something earth-shattering, but what exactly it is, we still don't know anything about it, do we?"

"Don't you think this is a bit unusual?"

"..."

"Yes..."

Upon hearing Bagst's words, Melyuchina immediately realized that something was amiss.

"Although everything has been announced, it feels like nothing has actually been said to us."

"Right, you think so too!"

Bagst looked around and, after noticing that everyone was discussing it enthusiastically, she continued.

"I suspect that Wang might be doing something that's not something we should know about!"

"..."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Melyuchina rejected the possibility almost without hesitation.

However, when she realized that everyone's attention was drawn to her remarks, the petite knight immediately became embarrassed.

"It's okay, you guys keep drinking and dancing, just pretend I got a little excited!"

"..."

Although it felt somewhat strange, once I realized that it was after drinking, the occasional excitement wasn't so hard to accept.

Seeing that the atmosphere had calmed down, Melyuchina and Bagst resumed their previous conversation.

"You don't need to think about such things!"

"Even if Wang really has made a decision, he would definitely not hide it from us."

"So, you don't need to worry about these things!"

"..."

Bagst was somewhat taken aback by Melyuchina's reaction.

After a long while, she finally spoke:

"How did you know?"

"You seem quite confident—did Ian give you some inside information?"

"Or……"

Bagst downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, then looked puzzled.

Is there any other relationship between you and him that I don't know about?

"Is that right?"

"..."

Of course, Melyuchina couldn't possibly tell the truth.

She couldn't possibly say that during her wedding dress session last time, Ian even made her moan and groan inside the house.

After all, no matter how you look at it, it feels a bit disrespectful to Bagst.

"No, that's not true. I'm just trusting him!"

"Hey big guy, think about it!"

"You should know what kind of person Ian is, right? If he can tell me something, he can definitely tell you something too, can't he?"

"That's right."

Bagst did not seem to doubt Melyuchina's words.

"Forget it, let's not worry about that!"

Bagst slammed his glass down and then said with great gusto.

"There's still so much to do!"

"me!"

"You absolutely have to do your best!"

The meeting in the tavern ended in a rather ingenious way.

but--

Bagst's words did indeed confuse Melyuchina.

She was right.

Although the information about the "tree" was made public, Artoria did not actually reveal all of her next plans, otherwise the discussion would not have been so intense.

Although he no longer doubted that Artoria would be wary of him, and knew that Morgan would help Artoria on many occasions.

But Meliuchina still had some concerns.

What exactly are we supposed to do?

correct.

Go ask Ian.

Given my relationship with him, obtaining some intelligence shouldn't be difficult.

As Meiliuqina thought this, she completely denied the excitement she felt at finally having a reason to see Ian.

This isn't about going to see him just to see him.

It was genuine; I went to see him because of something important!

Just do it.

Following Bagst's example, Melyuchina also put her wine glass on the table.

Then, she strode out the door.

"I'm here, Ian."

Having said that——

Finding Ian is not an easy task.

The reason is simple:

He was the core figure who made outstanding contributions in the war against Vortigern, and it could even be said that without him, the knights of Camelot would have suffered even greater losses.

Ian's current status can be said to be only slightly lower than Artoria's.

It might take some time to find him.

Fortunately, Melyuchina found Ian's trail in no time.

To be precise, I learned of his whereabouts from someone else.

However, this answer also seemed a little sad to her.

Because everyone who saw Ian's trail told Melyuchina the same thing—that he was heading to none other than Artoria's room.

Even without being explicitly told, Meiliuqina knew what those words meant.

That was naturally Artoria's "recruitment".

He's her husband, so it's not surprising that he would do something like this.

But even so—

If things were based on my previous relationship with Artoria, I might still be able to do something by going over there now.

With a feeling that was hard to describe as either wishful thinking or something else, Meliuchina avoided the gaze of others and walked step by step toward Artoria's room.

only……

When she arrived at the door of that room, what she saw was an unexpected scene.

Because it wasn't Artoria or Morgan there.

But...

Bavanshi?!

145. Bavanshi, what are you doing!

Whether it's Artoria or Morgan.

Meliuchina wouldn't be too surprised to see any one of them at this time.

But only——

When she saw that the other person was Bavanshi, Meliuchina felt a jolt in her heart.

If I remember correctly, she used to call Morgan "Mother" repeatedly.

just now……

Why did I see her in front of Artoria's room?

Meiliuqina covered her head, unable to understand the cause and effect relationship no matter what she did.

But there was one thing she was very clear about.

That is, it is very necessary to find out exactly what happened.

should……

It shouldn't have been discovered, right?

With this mindset, Meliuchina moved a little closer.

And that seems to be the case.

Bawanshi chatted with Ian for a while by the door, then laughed.

His appearance did indeed bear some resemblance to Morgan.

Then, Melyuchina saw her point into the room, and her meaning seemed quite clear—

"There's no one here right now, let's go in together."

What is this for? !

What on earth is going to do?!

Countless images flashed through Meliuchina's mind.

No, we have to figure this out!

Trying to conceal her presence, after watching Bavanshi and Ian go inside together, Meiliuqina tiptoed to the door like a kitten.

I don't know whether to call it lucky or unlucky.

Upon arriving at the door, Melyuchina discovered something.

That was the room door, which was always tightly closed, but now a small crack had appeared.

As luck would have it, this tiny gap provided a perfect view of where Bavansh and Morgan were.

Wait a moment.

Meiliuqina hesitated for a moment.

She felt as if she had seen this scene before.

correct.