Naoki opened his eyes again around noon the next day.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch… my neck is stiff… ah… ouch, ouch, ouch…"
Holding his neck, Naoki groaned as he got out of bed. In Japan, he slept on a soft bed, and in London, he also slept on a soft bed. But last night, he slept on a hard wooden plank bed. The sudden change left Naoki completely unable to adjust, and coupled with sleeping in an unfamiliar place, he couldn't sleep well all night.
As a result, his neck was stiff, and now it hurt terribly.
"I should've learned healing Magecraft from Waver. I wonder if it would work for a stiff neck... By the way, is that breakfast?"
Naoki spoke while looking at the food on the table.
Porridge cooked with grains, along with thinly sliced bread—it was as simple as dinner. After all, this was a small village almost isolated from the outside world.
Holding his neck, Naoki walked to the table and sat down.
"After breakfast, I'll take a walk around the village. If my magic circuits activate, I'll immediately sense which areas have abnormal Mana, then investigate the energy flow in those areas... By the way, does this place have a basement?"
Although it's not absolute, and energy flows don't exist in this world in a physical form, in most cases, energy flows are located "underground." That's why most Magus, when building their workshops, choose to build them underground to be closer to the energy flow.
If he wanted to investigate the energy flow, going directly to the basement would be the most straightforward method.
But this Blackmore Cemetery... Naoki could only hope that some of the residents here had basements.
*KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*
Just as Naoki was thinking that, there was a sudden knock at the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's... me. I was sent by my teacher to be your tour guide and show you around the village..."
The voice from outside was soft and sweet, likely belonging to a child who wasn't very old.
But a tour guide?
'Could it be...'
Frowning, Naoki held his neck, stood up, and opened the door. A small figure appeared before him.
It was a little girl wearing a black robe, with a few strands of silver hair peeking out from under her hood. Her age was just as Naoki had imagined—not very old, perhaps even very young, not even reaching his waist. Her entire body was wrapped in the robe.
Maybe only five or six years old?
She raised her emerald-green eyes, looking at Naoki with a hint of fear. "You... hello... good morning. I'm Gray... my teacher asked me to show you around the village..."
'Gray... I thought so...'
Although he had suspected it, suspecting and seeing it in person were two different things. Besides, Naoki wasn't entirely sure if the situation here would unfold as he knew it.
From what he knew, in 1994—last year—during the Fourth Holy Grail War, after Artoria was summoned, the appearance of the little girl before him would change to resemble Artoria almost exactly. As a result, she would be revered by everyone in the village as a saint who could bring King Arthur back to life. And not long after that, she would be chosen by Bersac as the next gravekeeper.
That's what was supposed to happen in the original timeline.
But now things were different. In last year's Holy Grail War, it wasn't Artoria who was summoned, but Arthur. So, in theory, Gray's appearance shouldn't have changed; she should only retain about fifty or sixty percent resemblance to Arthur.
However—
'Has she still changed like this? Also, the teacher she mentioned... Has she already been chosen by Bersac as the next gravekeeper?'
Meaning, the situation here hasn't changed despite the different Holy Grail War.
No, in a sense, the Holy Grail War wasn't actually different. Even though Artoria wasn't summoned, Morgan was.
The reason Gray's appearance changed was because her body resonated with the summoned Artoria. And in last year's Holy Grail War, Morgan, who shared the same blood as Artoria, appeared, along with another King Arthur from a different world. From a magical perspective, the situation where both existed in this world could almost be considered as Artoria appearing.
Although this is a somewhat forced explanation, like saying peaches and apples are both fruits, so peaches and apples are considered the same. But this is also the only explanation Naoki could think of.
"Gray...? Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Natsukawa Naoki."
"F-first time meeting you." Gray quickly nodded. "Um, am I interrupting?"
"No, I was just having breakfast. By the way, you're here to be my tour guide, right? Wait for me to finish breakfast first. Don't just stand there, come in and sit down."
"Okay... thank you..."
Gray had just lifted her foot to follow Naoki into the hunting lodge when an untimely voice suddenly rang out—
"Aaaa—! Wait a minute, stupid Gray!"
Unlike Gray, this voice sounded very cheerful.
Hearing the voice, Gray quickly pulled something out from under her robe. "Add, we're in front of a guest. Lower your voice."
It was a cage shaped like a birdcage, inside of which was an object with special patterns and lines, like a magical cube.
Add.
That's what Gray called it.
"Aaaa, of course I know I should be quiet, but I can't stay calm in front of this person! I feel something very familiar from him, almost like I'm dreaming!"
"Something familiar to you?"
Gray frowned. "Haven't you never left this village? Besides, you also said that before I woke you up, you were always asleep... Could it be that Mister Natsukawa is someone you know?"
"Not him! Although his face is somewhat similar, what feels familiar and makes me sick isn't him, but something he has. Ah~ I'm dying, bad memories are coming back."
Add stared at Naoki.
"Hey, kid, you've got something related to that Incubus, don't you? You've got something related to that Incubus who deserves to die even if he's killed a hundred times, don't you?"