"Mm, understood."
Lot and Morgan nodded casually.
Under normal circumstances, if the King of Knights came to pledge allegiance to him, Lot would have been overjoyed.
But now, at this critical moment, their conversation had been interrupted.
The fact that Lot didn't immediately slash the King of Knights with his sword was only because he had been a devoted Fate fan in his past life.
Kay, seeing Lot and Morgan's reaction, wasn't sure what was going on. But he knew one thing—he and Artoria had seemingly offended them.
Ah… maybe becoming a squire wouldn't be so bad after all, Kay thought to himself.
Lot addressed Kay and Artoria: "Next, I'll provide both of you with a full set of knight's armor and equipment. You must practice using them properly over the next few days. In a few days, I will personally knight you."
"Yes."
Kay and Artoria nodded in acknowledgment, their faces brimming with joy.
This is a meteoric rise!
And also, a meteoric rise straight to the stomach.
Knights were always guaranteed a full meal.
"Eat more food—maybe I can grow taller," Artoria, the only one among the four standing at just over 150 cm (even with her ahoge), thought to herself.
"Alright, go collect your armor first. I still have matters to discuss with Morgan, so you two should leave for now."
Seeing their excitement, Lot waved them off.
Kay and Artoria left in high spirits.
Only Morgan and Lot remained.
[Tch, these two really picked the worst time to show up. Well, the mood's completely ruined now. Might as well focus on business.]
Lot sulked internally.
Morgan, meanwhile, couldn't help but chuckle.
No need to eavesdrop this time—his face says it all.
"Come now, it's not that bad. Daytime is for handling administrative duties, after all."
Morgan gently took Lot's hand and, under his expectant gaze, placed it on a pristine white…
Document.
(Don't ask how this era's Britain had paper. As a transmigrator, wasn't papermaking a traditional skill?)
"Alright, let's get back to work."
Morgan said with enthusiasm.
Seeing her so motivated, Lot's desire to slack off grew even stronger.
[No, I absolutely have to find an excuse to sneak out and laze around!]
He thought with fierce determination.
Morgan simply watched quietly.
Go on, let's see what excuse you'll come up with.
"Morgan, there's still an issue with our earlier plan. I need to consult someone to refine it."
After a moment of thought, Lot spoke up.
"What issue?"
Morgan asked.
"It's about magecraft. What if enemy magi detect it in advance? So, I need to consult Merlin first."
"I'll leave the rest to you!"
With that, Lot bolted out like a gust of wind.
Morgan stood up and swung her small fists angrily a few times.
Your cunning in slacking off far surpasses your wisdom in everything else.
She sat back down.
"Horndog, you want to laze around? Fine. I'll handle all the administrative work myself. Sooner or later, I'll strip you of all your authority. Let's see how panicked you'll be then."
Morgan muttered through gritted teeth as she reviewed documents, her murderous aura practically materializing with each stroke of her quill.
Each stroke carried the force of a killing blow.
...
Though Lot had used Merlin as an excuse to Morgan, he wasn't entirely lying.
He really did intend to consult Merlin about the matter of magi.
He was genuinely worried about enemy magi interfering.
This was the Type-Moon world.
A little caution at all times was never a bad idea.
Playing it safe was always the right move.
Lot found Merlin just as the latter was holding a maid's hand.
"Hmm… it seems your luck has been rather poor lately…"
He said with a smile.
Ahem!
Lot stepped behind Merlin and coughed loudly.
"My, it seems I have business to attend to. Let's continue this another time."
Reluctantly, Merlin released the blushing maid's wrist. She hurried away, while Merlin turned to Lot with a slightly reproachful look.
"King Lot, your timing is most unfortunate."
If not for his deep understanding of the old fraud's true nature, Lot might have actually believed that expression.
He remained silent, refusing to engage with Merlin's theatrics.
When it came to shamelessness, he was no match for Merlin.
Merlin, utterly unbothered, smiled and said, "Very well, it seems His Majesty isn't fond of jokes. So, what brings you here?"
"You already know why I'm here, don't you?"
Lot pressed.
"I truly don't."
Merlin shook his head lightly. "I can see through many people, but your future is completely obscured to me. Everything about you appears as an impenetrable fog, even to my eyes."
"You're not joking?"
Lot frowned at him.
"Do I seem like the joking type?"
Merlin replied with a smile.
"Yes."
Lot answered solemnly.
"..."
Merlin scratched his cheek lightly. "Though I may appear that way at times, my words to you are entirely sincere. Regarding you, I truly cannot see anything."
Lot couldn't tell if he was being truthful.
With Merlin, who could say?
"Never mind. Let me explain why I'm here."
He proceeded to relay the entire plan he had discussed with Morgan earlier.
For now, Merlin was still trustworthy.
"Oh, you're worried about interference from magi? You needn't concern yourself with that."
Merlin waved it off casually.
"Why not?"
"Because, as I've said before, your presence alone renders all magical detection methods useless. Whether it's mind-reading or divination, anything targeting you will only see fog."
Merlin stated matter-of-factly.
"You're serious?"
"Absolutely."
Merlin nodded earnestly.
"If you don't believe me, I can bring in another magus to verify it for you."
"Hmm…"
Lot nodded slightly, deciding he would later find a magus to test this himself.
If it were truly impossible to read his mind or divine his actions, then he now had four unique traits:
Handsome.
An angler who never returns empty-handed.
Immune to magical detection.
As for the fourth trait…
Well, it was long and special.