Fate: The Forged Arthur Pendragon

To get Suya fed, the Knights were forced into a feeding operation more arduous than actual warfare.

Their planned departure at 8 AM was clearly out the window, and judging by the current situation,

Their King seemed to be only half-full...

And at this moment,

On the wall of the Norman castle directly opposite the square.

Lucan grabbed Dagonet, who was hiding in the shadow of the wall, seemingly merging with his surroundings. It had taken Lucan half an hour to find him in this tiny area.

"You—"

The moment Dagonet saw Lucan, his face filled with terror. He thought Lucan had come to kill him and instinctively tried to flee.

However,

"Dagonet, what do you think?"

Lucan showed no intention of attacking. He just pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, drew one out, and tossed it over.

Dagonet caught the cigarette, stared at it blankly, then tucked it into his pouch as if it were a treasure.

"This is... a new type of cigarette from the Divinely Bestowed Tower in Jerusalem? Where did you get it?"

"One stick costs 1 gold pound."

Lucan saw that he was answering off-topic, turned his head, and looked at the lively scene in the square. He brushed his fingers across the small pouch on his lower back, flicking out a match.

The match spun wildly in mid-air, igniting out of nowhere.

"Hiss-whoosh."

Taking an epic drag that burned the cigarette down to the butt, Lucan held his breath, staring blankly into the distance, lost in thought.

Dagonet continued to play dumb, chuckling, "This is a good thing from the future. The lords savor every puff, you're so wasteful, Lord Lucan."

"Lord?" Lucan scoffed, repeating the honorific, but the action caused two plumes of smoke to shoot from his nostrils, making him look both trendy and rustic.

"You've already deemed yourself his subject?"

"Are you truly prepared to pledge loyalty to him?"

"Dagonet, you cowardly, faithless traitor who clings to life, the shame of knights, a jester-like fellow—"

"Since when did you harbor such ambition?"

In the solitude of just the two of them,

Dagonet surprisingly didn't refute these words. He merely sneered, looking at Lucan.

"Ambition?"

"Since when did we, who live like dogs, possess such a thing?"

"Fifteen years ago, after the Continental Descent event, after the Feast of the Seven Kings, King Uther chose to cooperate with the Mage King, using all of Britannia to support that tower—"

"Lucan, are we worthy?"

"The entire world suddenly became like this overnight,"

"Professionals are worse than dogs, Masters are everywhere, blood, conflict, war, bottom-level rebellion, and kings carve up territories. Countless people like you and me fight bloody battles for some so-called 'heroic' honor!"

"Are they truly heroes?"

"They are all flesh-eating ghouls!"

"And precisely at such a time, the God-fearing, all-saving, truth-and-goodness-preaching Church usurped royal power, forbade merchants and travelers. Priests grew fat and greasy, while the starving populace died off like grass, generation after generation."

"Everything, everything, everything—"

"All for that tower!"

"For such a vague, ethereal promise!"

Dagonet gritted his teeth, grinning, his tone laced with ultimate sarcasm, repeating the question from earlier:

"Lucan, are we worthy?"

Then, he stared at Lucan, exposing him with a mocking expression:

"Lucan—"

"You rat in the latrine, you con artist who swindles everywhere, you noble soul who never lets your spirit kneel before your so-called 'kings'."

"You suddenly came to my door not to kill me, but to talk about these irrelevant things?"

Lucan didn't speak, because if he did, the breath that comforted his throat and numbed his mind would dissipate.

"I say, Lucan—"

"It's clearly you who wants to become a 'hero'!"

"You came today not to kill me, and I'm happy about that. I already promised you I wouldn't reveal your secret, so please, stop chasing me from now on. It's been six years, unending!"

Lucan finally exhaled a long plume of smoke, looking at Dagonet with amusement.

"Your promise, a clown's promise?"

Dagonet emphasized, "I said, I am a knight."

Lucan sneered, "A knight who betrays his lord to survive."

"I said, I just want to live."

"I'm not like you, Lucan, you're a rat in the latrine, smelly and stubborn."

"While I am a rat that only wishes to live in a granary, eating until its brains are fat, its fur is shiny, and it's enormously huge."

"A rat doesn't deserve a master. A rat can only rely on instinct to dig holes everywhere, otherwise it becomes a pet."

"A pet that can be crushed at any moment."

Lucan narrowed his eyes, staring at Dagonet.

For a long time,

He calmly said,

"I can spare your life, but you must teach that kid Shadow Vanish."

Hearing this, Dagonet chuckled, his gaze involuntarily drifting towards the young man in the center of the square who was eating with gusto.

"Just this 'King,' a swordsman who just became an apprentice?"

"He probably doesn't even know how to swing a sword, does he?"

"You want an apprentice to learn a Crest Technique that even Masters can't master?"

Lucan shook his head, speaking of what he had witnessed:

"In two hours, that kid learned four combat techniques he had never encountered before."

The air suddenly went silent.

Dagonet thought he had heard a myth. He stood stunned for a long moment.

"What?"

Lucan said, "The combat technique patterns have already begun to grow within him, which is why he now requires a massive amount of heat. I can understand this at a glance, you know, I possess that specialty."

"And his identity is not so simple."

"His magic circuits are not human-shaped, or rather—"

"He is not human."

Dagonet was stunned. After a while, he started scratching his head.

Scratching furiously.

After scratching for a long time, feeling as if another brain had grown in his head, he finally fully grasped the immense information Lucan's words conveyed.

"Dagonet, this time, you have pledged loyalty to someone who might change everything,"

Lucan slightly opened his narrowed eyes, a sternness flashing in his golden pupils.

"And he might just be the kind of King you and I have dreamed of!"

"Just as recorded in the Anecdotes of the Fairy Kingdom,"

"Rat monsters typically live by overwhelming numbers and trickery. Once they lose the protection of their group, they immediately flee, becoming slaves or servants to another group, proliferating and growing in the most humble corners by constantly changing groups."

"And they wait—"

"They wait—"

"Until that day they see an egg."

"When they see that egg, they immediately abandon everything and pledge unconditional loyalty to it. They huddle together in a sea of fire, willing to burn their flesh and offer their lives to protect that egg."

"Because it is a dragon's egg."

Dagonet had never seen such a serious expression in Lucan's eyes. His heart tightened.

He immediately turned his head to look at Suya, who was feasting heartily in the center of the square.

"So, he's that egg?"

And when he saw the speed at which Suya was devouring food, he couldn't help but give a solemn salute.

"Hiss... such an appetite, truly a formidable start!"

But Lucan merely scoffed, staring at Suya, who was furiously eating, a smirk on his lips.

"No, the King has hatched!"

"Look—"

"A dragon has been born!"

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