A Person in Type-Moon, Possessing a Hero Simulator Chapter 4

"That guy wasn't a question of whether he was strong or not. He was more like..."

Whenever Gawain recalled his battle with Fujimaru Kyoya, it felt as sickening as eating shit.

Blinding with blood, throwing lime, poisoned flying daggers, attacking below the belt... He used every despicable trick with effortless skill, weaving them into his unceasing swordplay.

That flowing swordplay was like a whirlpool that swallowed Gawain whole. If that had been all, Gawain could still have broken free with his overwhelming strength. But combined with those filthy tricks, it had nearly disgusted him to death.

Even now, his hands were still numb—the poison Fujimaru Kyoya had used was taking effect.

"Next time, I definitely won't lose."

"Next time, I might not make it in time to save you."

Agravain did not dwell on this so-called "next time." The question was how to salvage this defeat.

King Arthur's whereabouts were unknown. Vortigern had already been difficult enough to deal with, and now there was another Blade of Vortigern...

"We have to get rid of him before he becomes a serious threat."

"Get rid of him? You're not even his match."

Gawain knew his younger brother had plenty of schemes, but was Fujimaru Kyoya really someone easy to provoke? Agravain's strength was still inferior to Fujimaru Kyoya's, and that would inevitably affect his calculations.

"Hmph~ He may be strong enough, but what about his parents?"

A faint smile tugged at Agravain's gloomy face. Clearly, like Fujimaru Kyoya, he bore the name of a knight but had never truly considered himself one deep down.

[Though you are a knight, you have not abandoned your training with various weapons. You have attained a certain level of proficiency in sneak attacks, bricks, flying daggers, lime... and awakened the talent "Knights Never Fight Unarmed."]

[Talent "Knights Never Fight Unarmed" awakened: Grants the weapon in your hand the properties of your Noble Phantasm for use.]

Good lord, was this telling me to put my faith in Gatling Bodhisattva?

Fujimaru Kyoya looked over his current status panel. During this time, not only had he unlocked a whole host of talents, but his original attributes had improved as well.

Name: Lloyd

Gender: Male

Strength: A

Endurance: A+

Agility: A+

Mana: A

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: A++

Magic Resistance: A

The Twilight of the Age of Gods manifests upon your body. Magecraft from after the Age of Gods finds it difficult to inflict effective damage upon you.

Riding: A

Exceptional riding skill. Whether ancient or modern means of transportation, you can learn to operate them without instruction. Unable to ride Fantasy Species of the demonic beast or holy beast rank.

Instinct: A

The ability to instantly determine the best course of action in battle, even reaching a realm akin to "foreseeing the future."

Divine Ancestral Regression: A+

The final resurgence at the end of an era. You possess incredibly powerful physical abilities, while both the quality and quantity of your mana circuits have reached the level of heroes from the Age of Gods.

Arch-Nemesis: You regard the boy named Artorius as your arch-nemesis. Your attributes increase when fighting him.

Mana Burst (Water): A

The technique of releasing mana outside the body to control flowing water. The sharpness of high-speed water exceeds everyone's imagination.

Charisma: A

The ability to lead an army. Under the rule of your laws and violence, your army will grow stronger.

Blade of Vortigern: A+

The strongest knight under Vile King Vortigern. You are the enemy of all Britons and gain a special attack bonus against enemies of the Britain faction.

Knights Never Fight Unarmed: A++

Grants the weapon in your hand the properties of your Noble Phantasm for use.

Running Water Never Stagnates, a Door Hinge Never Rusts: A++

Anti-Personnel Noble Phantasm. Your sword moves flow unceasingly like water; until either you or your enemy is defeated, your sword will never stop.

Some attributes had risen by an entire rank, while others had gained a "+" afterward. Fujimaru Kyoya had tested it before, and his conclusion was that it allowed him to erupt with power exceeding that rank for a short period of time.

Fujimaru Kyoya had originally thought one "+" was already absurd enough, but then he saw two "+" signs beside his Noble Phantasm. Could there be three "+" signs later on?

Unfortunately, Fujimaru Kyoya had no time to continue thinking about it. Terrible news reached his ears.

"My parents were captured?"

Fujimaru Kyoya had been summoned to Vortigern's great hall. This news made him frown slightly. In truth, he had long prepared himself for this day. When he joined Vortigern's faction, he had secretly gone back once, intending to bring his parents over.

But beyond cursing him as a Traitor and expressing their disappointment, they had nothing more to say.

That was understandable. After all, they had placed great hopes on Fujimaru Kyoya since he was young, counting on this child to drive back Vortigern someday. Yet now, he had directly defected to the enemy.

The fact that neither of them had dropped dead on the spot was proof enough of their good health.

Fujimaru Kyoya had also spoken of the Divine Era Decline, but they had dismissed it outright as "bewitching nonsense meant to mislead the masses."

"What are you going to do?"

Vortigern looked at Fujimaru Kyoya with great interest. If he remained in this camp, his parents would be in danger. But if he defected, his parents would still die once the Divine Era fully declined.

Of course, he could pray that his parents' lifespans would come to an end before the Divine Era declined completely.

"I've already made my decision. Leave it to me."

Fujimaru Kyoya would naturally not disregard his parents' lives, but rashly surrendering would be no different from walking into a trap. That was not a suitable choice either.

Abandoning his parents or allowing himself to be captured—neither was Fujimaru Kyoya's choice. He would not walk the road others had arranged for him.

"I look forward to your choice, Lloyd."

Vortigern still could not fully trust Fujimaru Kyoya, but Agravain's actions had thoroughly pushed him toward Vortigern.

After this matter was settled, Vortigern would be able to judge whether Fujimaru Kyoya deserved his complete trust. More importantly, he could use this incident to assess Fujimaru Kyoya's methods.

One's stance was certainly important, but one's methods were also key to whether they could shoulder great responsibility.

"Before that, I need you to do me a favor."

"Let's hear it."

"Spread the news that Agravain captured my parents. I want as many people as possible to know."

Fujimaru Kyoya did not know Agravain's character, but he understood Artorius's nature well. A Gentleman Deceives with Method.

Knight, do not blame me for being despicable.

It Said They Could Go.jpg

Capturing an enemy general's parents as leverage was a method despised by the Knights, even if they were fighting the Vile King.

Of course, that was merely lofty rhetoric. In private, the Knights all praised Agravain.

"As expected of Agravain. He easily accomplished what we could not."

Humans were emotional creatures, especially generals commanding an army. If he would not even save his parents, how could he maintain his prestige among the troops? Thus, many had already prepared themselves to wait for Fujimaru Kyoya to switch sides, remove his armor, and surrender with proper ceremony.

Unfortunately, these people still seemed to have overestimated Fujimaru Kyoya's bottom line.

"What? Say that again."

Inside the command tent, Agravain could hardly believe his ears. Was this messenger slipping up, or had his mind gone blank? How could he possibly say something like that?

"Lord Lloyd said that if you want to kill things like parents, then kill them. Anything that gets in the way of his climb is nothing but dead weight. If you kill them, His Majesty Vortigern will trust Lord Lloyd even more. Hurry up and kill them."

Silence.

In truth, everyone knew Blade of Vortigern would not submit so easily. But to abandon his own parents so decisively made them all feel the depth of his ruthlessness.

If even his parents meant nothing to this dutiful son, what else could be used to threaten him?

Everyone looked toward Agravain, waiting to see how the mastermind behind this plan would proceed.

"Lloyd is merely putting on a brave front. If I flay your parents alive before both armies, we shall see how Lloyd handles himself then."

"Hehe~ Your Excellency and Lord Lloyd share the same thoughts. In fact, Lord Lloyd even offered a better suggestion."

The messenger gave an ominous laugh, as though every one of Agravain's reactions had been predicted by Fujimaru Kyoya before he set out.

"Lord Lloyd said that if you intend to flay those two alive, then place a large pot before the two armies. Boil those two old things and eat them. When the time comes, you can even share a portion with Lord Lloyd."

The messenger's words immediately turned many commanders in the tent pale. To humans of this age, eating their own kind was still far too great a violation of their moral limits.

At that moment, everyone, including Agravain, understood that Blade of Vortigern truly intended to walk this dark road to the very end.

"They are merely stubborn words. Then I shall grant his wish. Bring me a pot."

Agravain had now met his match. He had not expected someone to be his equal in competing over who had the lower bottom line. Since that was the case, he would break through that bottom line and truly stop being human for once.

He did not believe that a man Gawain had described as possessing pure courage would truly be someone indifferent to his parents' lives or deaths.

"Lord Agravain truly is straightforward. How about I watch from the side? Once those two old things have been boiled, I'll take a portion back for Lord Lloyd to taste."

The messenger continued fanning the flames from the side, seemingly wishing more than anyone that Agravain would kill Fujimaru Kyoya's parents and completely sever any thought Fujimaru Kyoya might have of betraying Vortigern.

"Stop. This is not the conduct of a Knight."

A magnificent longsword shot into the command tent, accompanied by a young man's rebuke. The fury in his voice was completely undisguised.

Most of the Knights in the tent had long since made names for themselves and possessed considerable strength. They had intended to reprimand this ill-mannered junior and have the soldiers seize him, but the moment they saw that sword, they all fell silent.

Because written upon that sword were the words: "Whoever draws this sword shall be King of Britain."

King Arthur had arrived.

"Agravain, release Lloyd's parents at once. If we resort to such despicable methods, do we truly have the right to condemn Vortigern for his injustice?"

The moment Artorius entered the command tent, he began issuing orders to his nephew.

Artorius had originally planned to continue honing himself in the neighboring kingdoms, but he soon heard that Fujimaru Kyoya's parents had been kidnapped. He immediately came here to put a stop to this absurd farce.

It was not because of any personal friendship with Fujimaru Kyoya, but because such actions violated the spirit of knighthood. If one resorted to despicable means simply because the enemy had done so, then even if they won in the end, all they would achieve was the birth of another despicable person.

"Tch~ How boring."

Seeing that King Arthur had arrived, the envoy left in utter boredom. As he departed the military tent, Merlin's voice reached Artorius's ears as well.

"Lily, that person..."

"I know."

Artorius understood that Fujimaru Kyoya could not truly abandon his parents. Though he did not know why Fujimaru Kyoya had allied himself with Vortigern, his appearance here was the best proof.

He was not beyond saving.

"Merlin, keep an eye on him. Once I finish dealing with things here, I'll head over immediately."

Artorius knew that this was a rare chance for the other party to be alone, so he absolutely could not let it slip away. If meeting and having a proper talk yielded no results, then... force would have to do.

"Did they find me?"

Fujimaru Kyoya walked across the wilderness, shedding his illusory disguise. The previously inconspicuous envoy was none other than the now-renowned Lloyd.

Infiltrating an enemy camp alone was not as romantic as imagined. Fujimaru Kyoya understood that if his identity were exposed, Agravain would become even more determined to use his parents to threaten him. Thus, this was merely a safeguard; the one who could truly save his parents was King Arthur.

Fujimaru Kyoya found a patch of shade beneath a tree to rest. He was waiting for someone—someone who had done him a great favor.

The illusion Vortigern had bestowed upon him was indeed lifelike, but it could never deceive Merlin, a master of illusions. The instant Artorius arrived at the military tent, Fujimaru Kyoya had prepared himself for battle.

Now that the other party had spared him, he intended to give them a chance as well.