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[FMMIKA] Chapter 192: Gotta Catch 'Em All
🕑 Added 2023-09-18 20:04:19 +0000 UTC"Take good care of Princess W."
Artorius instructed the maids in the dining room.
"Give her whatever she wants, as much as she desires. Understand?"
""Yes, Your Majesty.""
The maids replied sweetly.
These maids were not only the Einzberns that Artorius had brought from the future timeline but also those recently manufactured in the homunculus factory. They had developed a taste for the style of Einzbern maids, and his palace maids had mostly adopted this style.
Lately, the Einzbern ladies had been seen wearing various modified styles of maid outfits, ranging from sexy and glamorous to innocent and cute. Their numbers had been increasing.
The palace of Artorius required an adequate workforce. Apart from the usual cleaning and daily tasks, there was also a certain amount of security work, as well as assisting the higher-ups of the empire.
Whether it was Scathach, Morgan, or Vivian, they all enjoyed it. The three of them had tacitly agreed to change the template of the homunculus maids to one with silver hair and red eyes, resembling the appearance of Einzberns—or rather, Vivian.
In any case, the maids served W gently, giving her whatever she desired which made W delighted as if in heaven.
If there was one regret, it was that she couldn't eat together with Artorius.
Watching Artorius treat W like this, XX, who had also been released, couldn't help but feel jealous. Of course, the other Artoria Species felt the same way.
"Hey, Brother, you're not thinking of fattening up this 'father' and then slaughtering her, are you? Or is this going to be her last meal in her lifetime?" Mordred, watching W happily enjoying her meal, couldn't help but say sarcastically to Artorius.
After seeing so many 'Fathers' with bizarre appearances during this period, Mordred's fear of the Artoria Species had greatly diminished. If it weren't for the occasional beating by the real one, her tail would probably be raised to the sky by now and fight this W without hesitation.
This time, Artorius didn't bring many people along, as the matter they would discuss this time wasn't an 'empire affair' but rather a 'family affair'. Using the Imperial army for this was not only inappropriate but also unwinnable and pointless. If they suffered too many losses, he would cry uncontrollably.
"..."
Besides Mordred, Artorius only brought Artoria, along with Morgan, X, and XX, for a total of four women who all could be called Artoria Species.
Fighting the Artoria Species, using the Artoria Species was undoubtedly the best choice.
When Artorius said they would be fighting against the Artorias from another world and could go all out to beat those fellows, Mordred's happiness index skyrocketed.
Artoria, on the other hand, was feeling conflicted, lost, and uncertain about fighting her alternate self from a parallel world.
Fortunately, resolving Artoria's hesitation and uncertainty was a simple matter. All they needed to do was put her together with X.
It was as if they were looking at a small animal seeing itself in a mirror for the first time.
Although they had actually met in the past few days, Artoria had gradually accepted the idea of 'herself from a parallel world'.
However...
"I am the ultimate weapon against Saber!
"I am the Saber of all Sabers!"
"I will defeat all Sabers as well as Artoria Species!"
"..."
After just a few seconds of watching X, who was full of energy and happiness and casually saying foolish things, Artoria made up her mind.
She held the hilt of her sword tightly, very tightly.
"I understand you..." XX said gently as she patted Artoria on the shoulder. "Sometimes, just sometimes, when I look at this kid, it feels embarrassing... very, very embarrassing."
Even XX, who had the same easygoing demeanor, felt embarrassed when looking at X's behavior, let alone the serious Artoria.
"I get it..." Artoria said while looking seriously at Artorius. "I'll do my best to make sure every Artoria Species gets back to where they belong."
"Ohh! Another Saber hunter is born!" X exclaimed excitedly, loudly enough to make Artoria once again resist the urge to hit her parallel self.
"Fufufu~" On the other side, Morgan laughed cheerfully.
Although Morgan had reconciled with Artoria on the surface, she found it difficult to forgive her in her heart. Despite Artorius's presence, Morgan had to pretend to be obedient and well-behaved in public. But deep down, forgiving Artoria was challenging.
However, Morgan couldn't help but feel delighted at the prospect of openly and legitimately beating Artoria, thanks to Artorius's permission. Of course, the meaning of 'beating Artoria' here referred to the Artorias from the Servant Universe, not the real one.
Artorius mentioned the upcoming battle with the Artoria Species, a fair and square beating, with no consequences. This was what made Morgan so delighted, and her delight doubled when she saw the frustrated Artoria.
From this perspective, she truly resembled Mordred—like mother, like daughter.
'Mordred, Artoria, X, XX, and Morgan.'
Artorius looked around at his team and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"A thousand pieces of gold to buy a horse's bone. In any case, W is the first Artoria Species from that world to join us, not counting X and XX." Artorius answered Mordred's sarcastic question. {T/N: An idiom to describe a situation where someone spends an excessive amount of money on something that seems trivial or worthless.}
"Oh, I see."
Mordred responded and understood Artorius's intention, as she was the first girl to undergo Artorius's fixing.
"If you want to attract more Artoria Species with special privileges, those privileges won't seem so special anymore. I won't do something foolish like giving newcomers better privileges than the old-timers." Artorius said calmly without hesitation. "The newcomers will simply have the average privileges."
When Artorius mentioned 'Artoria Species', both X and XX remained calm. Morgan, on the other hand, couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Morgan!" Artoria, feeling embarrassed as usual, glared at her sister with resentment.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, my dear sister~" Morgan said, unapologetically. "But you know, 'Artoria' is really a peculiar species name. So I'm genuinely happy for you; you've become famous, my dear sister, fufufu~"
"In a strict sense, you're also an Artoria Species, Lady Morgan..." Artorius said before Artoria could lose her temper. "So, if the reputation of Artoria Species is poor, my dear aunt, you will be affected as well."
"That doesn't matter at all..." Morgan replied cheerfully. "I anticipated that already. But what's the big deal? After all, my dear sister is the most embarrassed one, isn't she? Fufufu~ and I believe no one will confuse us, right?"
"..."
Listening to Morgan's cheerful words, Artorius suddenly found himself loss for words, feeling that her argument made a strange kind of sense.
"Morgan le Fay!" Artoria stood up.
"Alright, alright! Can we settle our differences later after dealing with serious matters, okay?!"
Seeing that his mother was getting annoyed with his aunt, Artorius quickly separated them to prevent further domestic issues.
"Hmph!"
"Sure, whatever Artorius says goes~"
Artoria yielded with a snort, while Morgan complied with a joyful smile, prompting Artorius to loosen his grip on both of them.
On the other side, Mordred took it in stride, while X and XX wore expressions of surprise and exclaimed something like—"So, this is how I used to interact with my sister in this world. What a surprise."
In summary, this was the united and resolute Pendragons. Formed by the bonds of family and love, they were out to subdue the Artoria Species, to vanquish Sabers.
Artorius already knew who his opponent was. He knew who had been causing trouble recently. And he knew how he should proceed to achieve the best outcome.
He intended to bestow equal happiness upon his empire, his family, and his mothers. He had not made empty promises to XX.
Whether it was the evil Artoria or the good Artoria, the corrupted Artoria like a demon, or the divine Artoria like a goddess—since it involved Artoria Species, it had to be done, no matter how challenging.
All Artorias must be brought under his banner! He gotta catch 'em all!
"But speaking of that..." Mordred suddenly interjected. "Can the empire's finances handle recruiting hundreds of fathers? Are we not going to collapse due to a food crisis?"
"..."
After hearing Mordred's words, everyone became silent.
