After hunting in the forest for quite some time, Arthur Pendragon and Artoria Pendragon finally solved the problem of food for the night.
While the fire crackled softly, the two sat beneath the large tree, silently waiting for the wild boar leg they had just hunted to slowly roast over the flames.
The warmth of the campfire illuminated the surroundings with a trembling orange glow, casting long shadows between the tree trunks, while the smell of the roasting meat began to spread through the cold night air.
"Your Runic magic seems much stronger than before," Arthur said as he watched Artoria skillfully use runes to ignite and maintain the flames.
The runic symbols formed precisely beneath her fingers, responding naturally to the flow of mana.
"Since I train every day," Artoria replied calmly, "I still have a long way to go compared to you, and it may take a long time before I reach your current level."
After all, Arthur had been studying Runic writing for five years longer than she had, which naturally created a huge difference in their proficiency when using it.
"It's fine. This isn't your specialty, so it's normal that you can't keep up with me in this area," Arthur said with a small smile. "Isn't your swordsmanship better than mine?"
"Your skill with the sword has improved much faster than my Runic magic," Artoria replied calmly without changing her expression.
"No, there's still a considerable gap between us, but I think my accuracy is very good," Arthur said with conviction.
"Humility is a virtue of a knight, Arthur." Artoria gave him a serious look.
Although her tone sounded rather mature, mentally she still seemed like a child.
"I'm only a knight apprentice," Arthur said with a shrug. "I'm not like you, who aspires to become the King of Knights."
Artoria remained silent for a moment, reflecting briefly. Then she turned back to Arthur and said:
"There is never anything wrong with being humble."
"Honesty is also a virtue of chivalry," Arthur said seriously. "I think my accuracy is very good, but if I said my accuracy was only average, wouldn't that be lying?"
The girl was completely stunned by such absurd reasoning.
Even though she knew Arthur's answer was clearly problematic, she simply couldn't find a logical way to refute it.
"It's ready," Arthur suddenly said.
The wild boar leg in front of the fire was now releasing a delicious aroma. Arthur had seasoned the meat beforehand, and at that moment it looked incredibly appetizing, releasing tempting steam that would make anyone involuntarily salivate.
Artoria casually wiped her mouth with her hand, averting her gaze from the roasted leg while trying to maintain her composure.
"We are here for rigorous training, so we shouldn't be enjoying ourselves like this… but considering that we may not have another chance like this for the next two months, then—"
Before Artoria could finish speaking, Arthur looked directly at her, grabbed the boar leg, and took a large bite under her fixed gaze.
At that exact moment, Arthur felt an absolutely terrifying wave of resentment approaching him.
Facing the sinister look Artoria gave him, Arthur magically produced another roasted boar leg and quickly said:
"Just kidding."
Just kidding… eating in front of a food lover… even if the other person was talking about chivalry, Arthur still felt extremely unsafe at that moment.
"What a wicked person." Artoria took the roasted boar leg from Arthur, cast another look at him, and her hostile expression softened slightly.
"You should already know that," Arthur said with a shrug, not caring about her words.
In truth, Arthur's personality had always been like this.
But unfortunately, whenever he encountered someone, it was either an older sister figure several generations older than him or his own master.
If he dared to behave so insolently in front of those two, he would probably have been pinned to the ground and rubbed into the dirt long ago.
However, when facing Artoria or Nessa, he could relax completely.
In fact, Arthur had acted quite boldly when facing Scáthach at the beginning, but he ended up being subjected to such brutal training afterward that he still carried certain psychological traumas because of it.
The same went for Morgan le Fay.
In fact, that woman was even more troublesome than his own master.
He had already been "manipulated" by her like that even without provoking her. If he tried flirting with her again, who knew what kind of terrible things might happen.
But…
Maybe he could try?
Suddenly, a bold idea appeared in Arthur's mind.
For example, if one day she invaded his bed again, as she had done the previous night, he could simply tell her that he was also a normal man—and that daring to flirt with a normal man would come with a price!
Hmm… that's right.
If she dared provoke him like that again, he would definitely teach her a lesson!
Arthur secretly made up his mind.
A cold wind began to blow from the distant forest, a chilling breeze that made the skin prickle.
Arthur's body trembled slightly as he turned to look at Artoria.
"Lily…"
"I know," Artoria said softly. "When it gets closer, we'll take care of each other."
"Leave it to me!" Arthur replied, tossing the boar bones to the ground and silently picking up the red spear beside him.
In the forest at night, the leaves rustled softly, and some distant creature let out a long, mournful howl.
Arthur closed his eyes, concentrating on the rustling wind and the movement of the grass around him.
Footsteps were approaching rapidly in the distance, moving toward them at high speed.
Then—
The sound suddenly disappeared.
Arthur opened his eyes, stunned.
"What happened?"
Artoria also opened her eyes, revealing a similarly confused expression.
She had clearly sensed some kind of creature approaching at high speed, yet in the very next moment the sound of its approach had simply vanished.
Even so, her intuition told her that the crisis had not yet passed.
"Take a step back—it's above us!"
Arthur suddenly grabbed Artoria's wrist and pulled her backward.
At that same instant, a massive creature crashed violently onto the ground.
—Premonition.
If they had still been standing in the same place as before, they would have been crushed by the impact and turned into a pile of minced flesh.
"What is that?" Artoria looked in surprise at the unidentified monster in front of them.
It looked like a ghost… but not exactly.
She had never seen a giant undead creature with a pair of wings before.
"It doesn't matter what it is for now. Find a way to lure it, and I'll kill it!" Arthur said firmly.
At that moment, there was no time to consider what kind of strange monster it was.
There were so many different kinds of monsters in that forest that it would be impossible for anyone to know the name of them all.
Artoria nodded slightly and looked at the red spear in Arthur's hand.
She knew the secret of that spear.
It was a weapon that, once it struck its target, almost always meant certain death.
"Leave it to me," Artoria said as she unsheathed her sword and stepped forward.
Arthur moved in from the side.
It wasn't that he wasn't worried about Artoria's situation, but she didn't like others worrying about her all the time.
That girl had a strong personality.
If he tried to protect her in every possible way, she would only feel like a burden—and that would make her deeply unhappy.
(End of Chapter)