Chapter 76

Encouraged by his "brothers," Agravain frowned and said, "Then I'll speak."

Seeing Artoria nod slightly, Agravain said, "Although this Queen was personally chosen by the king, the tribal lords seem to be somewhat dissatisfied these past two days..."

This is only natural. Everything should be about matching social status. When King Arthur was choosing a queen, he should have given priority to the daughters of the feudal lords. Instead, he suddenly chose a "woman" of unknown origin as his Queen. No wonder his subordinates had objections.

Artoria did not answer, but merely glanced at the other knights.

No one spoke, but the meaning was already quite clear.

Agravain's words, to some extent, reflected their inner thoughts.

Artoria frowned slightly and said, "There's no need to bring this up again. I've made my decision; the matter of the Queen is settled."

The relaxed atmosphere suddenly became a little stiff. Artoria already disliked the matter of choosing an empress, and she had finally managed to resolve it, but now Agravain had objections. It's no wonder she was a little unhappy.

The group was strolling silently in the garden when suddenly a lovely chirping sound came from afar.

The knights all looked up at the same time.

It was a white, cat-like familiar that looked quite cute, and it was hopping and skipping towards them.

Gawain broke the silence, laughing, "This demon only befriends those qualified to become kings, and it especially favors Arthur. It won't even let anyone else touch it."

"After all, she's Merlin's familiar, so it's normal for her to have a bit of a personality." Lancelot nodded slightly.

The creature was cute, but he wasn't interested.

He prefers married women to cute pets.

A faint smile appeared on Artoria's face, her mood easing slightly, and she raised her hand slightly.

The white familiar ran over even more joyfully, making cute noises.

Finally, it reached Artoria and leaped at her.

Artoria opened her arms, intending to send this familiar flying into the heart of her enormous heart.

"Sometimes I can't tell if this kid is just lustful or simply in love with the king," Kai said with a helpless shake of his head and a smile, watching the scene unfold.

"Perhaps it just likes the aura of the strong or something."

"That's impossible. If it liked strong people, it would probably befriend Lancelot as well as the king, right?"

"Perhaps it can sense a person's character or something like that..." Agravain interjected.

"Are you implying that I have bad character?" Lancelot roared in anger.

"Last night I heard from the patrolling soldiers that Lord Lancelot went into a widow's house and didn't come out all night..." Agravain meaningfully.

"Ahem..." Lancelot coughed awkwardly, "Perhaps this familiar simply likes Arthur."

That damned Agravain, does he have to sabotage things to survive?

"The king's mood has clearly improved," Gawain suddenly whispered.

All the Knights of the Round Table were watching this scene as Artoria slowly stepped forward and opened her arms to welcome the white familiar.

But then, under the watchful eyes of the Knights of the Round Table, the white familiar leaped past Artoria without stopping, and ran straight toward a certain path.

The Knights of the Round Table exchanged glances, each seeing disbelief in the other's eyes.

"It didn't choose the king, but instead ran off to other places...?" Gawain said in surprise, "Where is it going?"

"Let's go and take a look," Kai immediately suggested.

Artoria turned around first and followed the white familiar, and the Knights of the Round Table followed suit. Soon, they heard the white familiar's cute cries from a corner.

When they reached the corner, they saw the white familiar that had already jumped into Lan Ze's arms. It snuggled affectionately against Lan Ze's chest and made cute noises.

"Queen...?" Gawain's eyes widened slightly, his gaze filled with disbelief and astonishment.

"It didn't go into the king's arms because the Queen was nearby...?" Lancelot muttered to himself, equally surprised.

This white familiar is usually only close to King Arthur, besides Merlin, but now it has chosen this "Queen" first, rather than King Arthur?

This is simply unbelievable.

... Could it be that this Queen harbors some secret?

This idea arose spontaneously in the minds of all the Knights of the Round Table, and their gazes toward Lan Ze became more respectful.

No wonder King Arthur chose her as his Queen; it seems the king knew something all along...

While the Knights of the Round Table were still lost in their own thoughts, Artoria was staring at Lan Ze with envy, jealousy, and hatred. Then, she glanced at the white familiar that was so intimately attached to Lan Ze.

She was about to step forward when she suddenly felt an extremely strange sensation in her heart.

Artoria slightly raised her hand, and the Holy Lance quietly materialized in her grasp.

The Holy Lance, which had given her no response until now, suddenly shone with a brilliance no less dazzling than the sun.

The Holy Lance reacted when it faced Lan Ze...?

Artoria's expression turned slightly more serious. She glanced at the Knights of the Round Table beside her, quietly sheathed her Holy Lance, and then whispered, "You all go back and get back to your work."

"I have something I'd like to ask him."

"Hmph hmph hmph..."

"Hmm hmm hmm..."

Ishtar sat on the sofa, humming a cheerful tune.

If any outsiders were to witness this scene, they would be utterly terrified by this Goddess of Heaven.

Because it's evening in Tokyo right now...

Imagine, late at night, a girl isn't sleeping, but instead sitting in the living room humming a lullaby... It's kind of creepy to think about.

But if you saw the girl's face, or even her smile, you probably wouldn't feel that creepy feeling anymore.

At this moment, Ishtar was sitting cross-legged on a soft sofa, her long, fair legs and slightly rounded breasts were on full display. Her smooth, black hair was naturally draped over her shoulders, with a strand falling down. The proportions of her neck and shoulders were just right, making people subconsciously ignore her slightly small breasts.

"I never imagined the modern world could be so rich and diverse," Ishtar sighed with a sense of wonder.

"Moreover, the Divine Messenger is also in the modern world... and he even brought his mother with him."

Ishtar awoke about two months ago, after the Singularity incident had been resolved and she was about to leave Uruk.

But at that moment, she saw a strange box with a circle and an X on it.

The Goddess of Heaven, who often fails at crucial moments, initially chose the "X" option, but the box did not react at all. Ishtar was very dissatisfied, so she frantically pressed the "X" button. Finally, in a fit of anger, she pressed the "○" button.

... and then he left Uruk.

At first, she was in a daze, until she woke up one time when Ereshkigal was asleep, and then she slowly figured out what had happened.

Unexpectedly, her Divine Messenger, along with her mother... were all in this world!

This is double the joy!!

But I've secretly eaten the Divine Messenger... I wonder if my mother will mind.

When Ishtar thought about this, she couldn't help but feel worried.

She was Goddess of Heaven, extremely arrogant, and never backed down when facing the gods.

Ishtar was not a benevolent deity, but she was not utterly wicked either. She was a goddess with both good and evil qualities. Although she considered herself great, she did not look down on humanity because of it.

This can be seen from their previous attitude towards Lan Ze.

Furthermore, thanks to Tiamat... it can be said that Ishtar's cruelty was completely suppressed.

And now, this Goddess of Heaven is both joyful and troubled by something.

--That Divine Messenger was the one she had chosen, but... her mother chose him instead.

So she gave the Divine Messenger to her mother... but last night, because of the Magic Potion, she secretly ate a bite of cake.

If Tiamat finds out...

Thinking of this, Ishtar's face showed a rare hint of worry. She sighed and muttered to herself, "I wonder what Mother would think if she knew..."

As she was thinking about these things, she suddenly heard a very light footstep beside her.

Ishtar turned her head slightly to look, and saw that Tiamat, with her blue hair, had entered the living room at some point.

The two exchanged a glance, Ishtar felt a chill run down her spine. She changed from her unrestrained cross-legged posture to a more demure one, placing her hands on her knees.

Ishtar regretted it a little. "I shouldn't have used Ereshkigal's body to wander around while Ereshkigal was resting..."

Then again, my mother probably doesn't know about last night... Why am I so nervous?

Ishtar remained calm and called out in a clear voice, "Mother... good evening."

Tiamat remained silent and sat down on the sofa nearby.

Then she said softly, "I chatted with Ereshkigal this morning."

"Huh?"

Ishtar blinked. "What?"

"She told me everything," Tiamat said.

Ishtar blinked.

Tiamat blinked too.

"What did she say...?" Ishtar asked tentatively.

"Last night, you bullied my child," Tiamat said.

Ishtar remained silent for a moment.

She silently turned around, lay down on the sofa, and buried her head in her hands.

Oh my god... what on earth did that idiot goddess say to my mother?!

He actually told his mother this so bluntly?!

After a frantic internal scream, Ishtar managed to calm herself down, sat up straight, and whispered, "I didn't hurt your child... Last night I only came out to check on the goddess because she had fallen into a deep sleep, and then..."

She wanted to tell him the truth, but she hadn't expected that Ereshkigal was with Lan Ze... but in the end, she didn't dare to say it.

"I'm sorry... but I was also affected by the Magic Potion yesterday, so there was nothing I could do." Ishtar was full of apology.

Tiamat nodded slightly and said "Aaa".

"You can't bully him again next time."

After Tiamat finished speaking, she got up and turned on the television.

"Huh?" Ishtar was taken aback.

This... isn't quite what I expected...

"Aren't you going to punish me, Mother...?" she asked tentatively, her eyes darting nervously towards Tiamat's figure.

Tiamat glanced back at Ishtar and said softly, "It's not your fault."

She had heard from Ereshkigal yesterday that the reason why things happened last night was purely because of that Magic Potion.

And that Magic Potion —she poured it into the fish soup herself...

Tiamat picked up the remote control and pressed a button.

Looking at the woman's calm face, Ishtar gently patted her chest and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, she looked up at the screen on the television, paused slightly, and asked, "What is this?"

"Live broadcast," Tiamat said.

Ishtar tilted her head and asked curiously, "What is a live stream?"

Tiamat didn't explain; she simply waited quietly for the television screen to display the image.

A moment later, what appeared on the screen was a magnificent building that looked somewhat European in style.

Then, the building seemed to be a camera continuously pulling down until finally, what came into view was a black-haired boy.

When Ishtar saw that face clearly, she narrowed her beautiful eyes and exclaimed in surprise, "Lan Ze?"

How did he end up inside that machine?