The King of Knights had departed for war, accompanied by a multitude of knights. With Guinevere temporarily overseeing Camelot's affairs, she found herself unexpectedly less busy.
For the time being, Camelot's operations could run on inertia alone. Unless a major crisis arose, officials at all levels only needed to report to her in such cases.
Thus, her daily routine remained unchanged: sword practice in the morning, followed by Magecraft lessons with Morgan in the afternoon.
"Lady Morgan, are you certain this Magecraft discipline is the most likely to meet my requirements?"
"That's right."
Guinevere had no desire to learn overly complex Magecraft disciplines, nor did she have the time. She wanted a simple, easily learned form of Magecraft that could enhance her own abilities.
To this end, Morgan presented her with two subjects to choose from. The first was Potionology, which primarily involved identifying, mixing, and brewing potions. In critical moments, one could simply consume these potions for immediate effects.
But if her sole purpose was to take potions, Guinevere could simply ask Morgan for them directly, making the extra effort unnecessary.
After eliminating Potionology, Morgan offered the second subject: Jewel Magecraft.
While she wasn't an expert in this field—possessing only a basic, superficial understanding—it was more than enough to satisfy Guinevere's needs.
As a major branch of Magecraft within Mineralogy, the greatest barrier to entry for Jewel Magecraft lay in the gemstones themselves.
"In Mineralogy research, minerals that have slumbered deep within the earth are most likely to develop natural spirits. Gemstones with inherent elemental properties are essentially simplified Magic Crests."
"Teacher, what are Nature Spirits?!"
"The explanation is too complex, and you don't need to know."
In Morgan's room, a ruby and a sapphire lay on the table between them. Morgan, her face cold, rebuked her unambitious disciple in a frosty tone.
"All you need to know is that to perform the most basic Jewel Magecraft, one doesn't even require a Magic Crest. You merely need to be able to store Mana within the gemstone.
Constantly infuse the gemstone with Mana to store it, and when you need to use it, simply throw the gemstone to detonate it. The gemstone's inherent magical properties will then harm your enemies.
See? It's quite simple, isn't it? If you can find gemstones naturally imbued with properties that enhance the user, you can easily achieve the self-enhancement you desire.
Given how few opponents could force you to enhance yourself with Magecraft, carrying a few such gemstones should suffice."
Morgan's face, unhidden by her veil, grew unexpectedly earnest as she spoke, genuinely considering Guinevere's future.
Gazing at that face, so like Artoria's, Guinevere couldn't help but feel a flutter of emotion. She found herself thinking about creating a new dish to reward Morgan.
Come to think of it, ever since their first battle outside Hamburgh, Guinevere had owed Morgan a considerable debt she hadn't repaid.
"Thank you, Sister," she said earnestly, even rising slightly to give a small bow. Guinevere had no intention of deliberately provoking Morgan's displeasure.
Yet her unusual behavior stunned Morgan. She rose and touched Guinevere's forehead, checking to ensure she hadn't been possessed by some evil spirit.
"Just a thank you?" Morgan asked.
"I'm already calling you 'Sister.' What more could I possibly say?" Guinevere replied, her small mouth slightly agape.
Morgan was once again taken aback by Guinevere's shamelessness. Yet faced with Guinevere's innocent expression, she couldn't bring herself to curse her. Instead, she grabbed the Ruby from the table and pressed it against Guinevere's face.
Yet the same problem persisted: in close combat, Morgan was no match for Guinevere.
Guinevere seized Morgan's wrist, her face icy as she gritted her teeth. Despite her earlier intention to avoid angering Morgan, she had done just that—again.
Releasing Morgan's hand and catching the Ruby, Guinevere sat down awkwardly and steered the conversation back to Jewel Magecraft.
Afterward, she massaged the root of her magic circuit, began channeling Mana into the Ruby, and focused on maintaining a stable flow.
Perhaps due to Guinevere's innate talent for spotting weaknesses, she immediately noticed when the Mana structure within the gemstone became unstable. By adjusting the Mana input, she quickly restored its stability.
With this ability, Guinevere successfully infused the first ruby with mana on her very first attempt.
She easily filled the subsequent rubies—the second, third, and so on.
"See, Sister? I'm a genius."
"Is that so? Then open the Mineralogy Fundamentals textbook I gave you. We'll start learning gem appraisal. To use Jewel Magecraft, you need to understand how to identify a gem's inherent properties and its naturally formed Magic Crests."
Initially, Morgan taught Guinevere with the intention of seeing her make a sour face. However, she meticulously covered every required topic.
"Guinevere, you already know the basic usage of Jewel Magecraft: infuse gems with mana, throw them, and detonate them. You must understand that you won't always have the chance to test a gem's effects in real combat. This knowledge is essential."
"But... could I also ask you to appraise these gemstones?"
Few Mages were fools. As soon as Guinevere spoke, Morgan understood she wanted to delegate this task to her. But was that her only motive?
Unlike potions, most of the Mages under Morgan's command were capable of appraising gemstones.
After helping her create a child with the King of Knights, Morgan became even more certain that Guinevere's true purpose in approaching her was to make her smile more often.
Otherwise, Guinevere could have gradually grown indifferent to her after achieving her goal.
Guinevere was the first person after the deaths of Morgan's parents who openly bullied her, asked for her help, and showed genuine concern for her.
Too bad she's with that foolish younger sister of mine.
"Guinevere, since my foolish sister is away these next few days, would you care to stay with me? I wouldn't mind confining our relationship to physical intimacy."
Though Morgan appeared young, she was still the mother of four children. While Guinevere had made her slightly more cheerful, the core of her personality remained unchanged.
Just like the Morgan of Proper Human History that the Lostbelt's Morgan knew, she was cruel, capricious, and never hesitated to use her own body as a weapon.
But at this moment, Morgan's words were aimed at shattering Guinevere's resolve.
She reveled in being cared for, but despised being treated like a pitiful wretch.
A faint smile curled her lips as she watched Guinevere flinch backward, nearly toppling her chair.
"How rare to find someone like you among the royalty of Great Britain—someone who actually refrains from causing chaos."
Her tone was gentle, almost wistful. Morgan drew her veil back across her face, regaining her initial aura of mystery.
But just as she prepared to continue her teasing, her expression suddenly turned grave.
"As you wished, I've erected a detection barrier covering the entire Camelot Royal City. Just now, a group of individuals brimming with potent Mana has breached it. Their destination... appears to be Canterbury Cathedral, under the Archbishop's jurisdiction. Wait—they've entered, and my perception is cut off. What do you plan to do?"
"Me? Naturally, I'll go hunting outside the city to prevent it from being ravaged!"
"You're... rather overconfident."
To be honest, Guinevere didn't want to be so confident, but the letters she'd sent to Gaul had been exceptionally effective—so effective, in fact, that she feared they would cause even greater trouble than the Holy Church's assault.
Lancelot, that fool, had disregarded her warnings and abandoned his wife, who was about to give birth, to return.