Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki

"Gone?"

Suspecting she had misheard, Rin Tohsaka blinked, stunned. She thought her sworn sister and Merlin must be joking with her. But if his eyes could see, he would have noticed that Artoria, standing before him, was unnaturally pale. It wasn't due to any physical ailment, but purely from immense psychological pressure, which had caused the ahoge on her head to twist into a tangled mess.

"Y-yes, it's true. Although, at its root, it's all Merlin's fault, the sword was indeed lost by accident..."

Artoria fidgeted with her fingers, her voice lowered as if afraid others might hear. At this moment, she looked nothing like the awe-inspiring Knight King from the battlefield, but more like a little girl who had made a mistake.

In fact, she truly had made a huge mistake this time. Even her sworn brother Kay, upon learning of it, had almost been unable to stop himself from scolding her in front of everyone. But considering that news of the Sword in the Stone's disappearance would inevitably cause turmoil among the troops, Kay had forced himself to suppress his emotions. In the end, however, he was still too angry to even bother lecturing Artoria anymore.

"...But how exactly was it lost? Didn't you try to get it back, sister?"

Rin still found it hard to believe. He had only been away with Gawain for a few days on a special mission; how could something like this have happened in the meantime?

"Er, let me be the one to explain. Though it's a bit embarrassing to admit," Merlin said, his old face turning red for a rare moment. His expression was somewhat awkward, and Fou, on his shoulder, shook its head with a sigh, then leaped onto the boy's shoulder as if it didn't want to be embarrassed alongside him.

[And so, from your sworn sister and Merlin, you learned what had transpired.]

[It turned out that during the days you and Gawain were away on your mission, the main army led by your sworn sister happened to pass by a village and chose to set up camp nearby to rest.]

[However, that night, Merlin disappeared from the camp. In order to discuss countermeasures and avoid causing a stir among the troops, your sworn sister Artoria had no choice but to secretly leave the tent alone to search for him.]

[She ended up finding a drunk Merlin in the home of a beautiful farmer's wife from the village. The farmer's wife was in a state of disarray, weeping and wailing, which immediately made your sworn sister Artoria realize the situation was tricky.]

[Just as your sworn sister had feared, the farmer's wife threatened to spread the word that one of King Arthur's men had taken advantage of her, to let everyone know that King Arthur was a hypocrite and completely unworthy of Britain's trust.]

[Your sworn sister understood that the fault lay entirely with Merlin, and that the woman's threat was not entirely unjustified. But if she did so, the reputation that the name 'Arthur' had accumulated would likely plummet, leaving your sworn sister with a headache and at a loss for what to do.]

[Fortunately, the farmer's wife changed her mind at the last moment, saying that if your sworn sister was willing to let her touch the Sword in the Stone, she would agree to endure the humiliation for the sake of the greater good in the war against Vortigern.]

[Your sworn sister Artoria was somewhat confused and asked why. The farmer's wife replied:]

["I too am a part of Britain, and naturally, I do not wish for Vortigern to continue to ravage this country. But I have, after all, been insulted. The matter of my hand touching the Sword in the Stone will surely be etched in your memory, so you can always remember the mistake your subordinate made and proceed with caution from now on."]**

[Your sworn sister felt deeply guilty about this and, without further hesitation, took out the Sword in the Stone and handed it to the farmer's wife.]

[But what your sworn sister Artoria never expected was that the moment the farmer's wife took the sword, she let out a low, maniacal laugh and instantly changed her appearance, revealing the form of Morgan.]

[After tossing out the line, "Arthur, you fell for it!" she vanished from your sworn sister's sight, leaving behind only a single strand of hair.]

[Finally, in that moment, your sworn sister realized she had fallen into a trap.]

"...So, Merlin didn't recognize that person was Lady Morgan in disguise at the time?"

After hearing the gist of the situation, Rin didn't know what to say and couldn't help but ask in confusion.

"Er, that person's magic is, on the whole, no worse than mine. And she used a body-double spell to enhance the realism, and even a disguise. So..." Merlin scratched his cheek. Seeing the boy's innocent face looking at him, and Fou on his shoulder giving him a "keep talking, I'm listening" look, he finally bowed his head and apologized honestly. "Sorry, the truth is I was careless and preoccupied with drinking. I wasn't thinking much at all at the time."

"...Forget it. There's no use talking about this now. The question is, what do we do next?" Rin shook his head, a troubled look on his small face. If it were just something else that was lost, there would be no need to be so tense. But the Sword in the Stone was the symbol of the throne for the title "King Arthur." If news of its disappearance got out to the rest of the camp, the morale and confidence the soldiers had worked so hard to build would instantly collapse, and they would be greatly disappointed in his sworn sister.

"Sister, besides the few of us and Brother Kay, no one else knows about this right now, do they?"

"N-no..." Artoria nodded in shame. She didn't dare let anyone else find out. And this situation, where the older sister made a mistake and needed her younger brother to comfort her and even clean up her mess, made her feel too ashamed to even hold her head up as an older sister.

"In that case, is there still time to chase after it and get it back?" Rin asked, thinking it over seriously.

After a light cough, Merlin also adopted a serious tone. "Ahem, actually, the reason I had Lily call you over, Rin, was precisely for this matter. The loss of the Sword in the Stone is indeed very serious, but that sword isn't strictly necessary. Besides, you've been using it for so long, Lily, you must be getting tired of it. This is a good opportunity to get a new one."

Merlin casually threw in another excuse for himself, but faced with Artoria's glare—one that wanted to burst with anger but felt it had no right to—he quickly continued in a serious manner.

"But! The Sword in the Stone can fall into anyone's hands except for that woman, Morgan. Because we can't possibly predict what sort of insane things that woman might do with that sword."

"So, for the next period of time, I will take Lily to retrieve a new sword."

"And you, Rin, will try to act as an undercover agent, infiltrate that woman's camp, and get the Sword in the Stone..."

"—Get it back!"

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