Chapter 80: Pictland-8-

We arrived in Dál Riata.

And the king was dead, while the so-called heir had run off with his tail between his legs.

Truly living up to his name. How does a person end up named Runaway-dor?

I really had no idea what was going through that bastard Domangart's head. I could understand resisting, but to actually flee to another region entirely?

In Dál Riata's current state, it couldn't be easy to found a new country. And if it was anywhere nearby, I would chase him down anyway.

He had taken most of the people and ministers with him, but not everyone.

He left behind those with poor mobility, like children and the elderly.

Of course, he took most of the women too. Maybe because if he wanted to keep a country going, he needed both men and women.

And not every official had fled. Some had remained behind instead of following Domangart.

There was royalty left behind as well.

"H-Hello! I-I am Gauran mac Domangart!"

Just barely escaped?

Ahem. What is with these kids' names? Well, maybe it felt worse to me because I used to be Korean.

The royal left behind was Gauran, Domangart's second and youngest son.

They said he had taken his eldest son and heir, Comgal mac Domangart, with him.

The eldest had followed his father, while the second seemed to have chosen to carry on his grandfather's will. He didn't even look five yet, but he was remarkably composed.

Of course, the will of the ministers around him must have played a part too, but in the end, he had chosen not to follow his parents.

You saw cases like this from time to time in history.

A king fleeing, while an heir or royal remained in the homeland. There were way too many examples that came to mind.

Still, if there was any silver lining, he hadn't pulled a Dong Zhuo.

Maybe he had at least that much conscience left. That fat bastard had burned the capital and slaughtered the people because he wanted to buy time and didn't want to hand them over to anyone else.

"He's older than our Mordred, at least. Still just a child, though."

"Ugh..."

"Tell me, Gauran. Why did you stay here? You could have left with your father. Were you forced to remain simply because the ministers needed you?"

I asked in a slightly dignified voice, and Gauran clutched the hem of his clothes tightly, tears welling at the corners of his eyes.

At his side, the ministers looked worried and uneasy at the same time.

After swallowing hard, Gauran answered with difficulty.

"No..."

"Then what was your reason?"

"...Because as royalty, I couldn't leave the people behind..."

"...Even if that meant you might die?"

"Dying is... frightening. But even more than that... for the sake of those left behind, at least I had to stay... because I am royalty."

That wasn't something a five-year-old child should be saying. But it showed just how much potential he had.

I placed a hand on the frightened Gauran's head and gently stroked his hair.

"Yes. You're better than your father and brother, who ran away. If the king dies, the country may well be finished. But that is exactly why you must not flee and abandon the people. A king is the father of the nation, its pillar, and its protector, Gauran."

"Y-Yes!"

"I appoint you vassal king of Dál Riata."

"!!!"

"As for the ministers, see to it that you support this young vassal king well. Anyone who plays tricks or harms him, I will exterminate their entire clan."

I could see the makings of a king in him. At the very least, he was better than those cowards who had fled.

They had run away to preserve not the people, but their own little world. Gauran, on the other hand, had truly remained for the sake of the people.

Even if the end awaiting him was death, he had stayed to reassure the people who remained. To fulfill his duty as royalty.

This child had made a decision that even adults would struggle to make.

He's a pretty likable little brat. Though that doesn't mean he's son-in-law material.

If anyone wants to take my daughter, the bare minimum is being as strong as a Heroic Spirit. There's no way I'm handing her over to just anyone.

"We would never fail you!"

"From this day forward, we swear our loyalty!"

"Good, good. There is plenty to do here anyway, so conduct yourselves properly from now on."

If it were up to me, I'd immediately begin pursuit, but this place needed to be stabilized too. According to the ministers, he fled north, so it was probably Iceland.

As far as I knew, Iceland at this point was an uninhabited island. Was he planning to start a new household there? Or maybe Greenland?

Well, either way, I was going to Iceland eventually, if only for the cod.

Even now Britain had plenty of cod, but because of these damn Phantasmal Species, fishing around Britain wasn't easy, so most of it was done here in Pictland or in Ireland.

Which meant we needed to fish in Iceland, paradise of cod.

Sigh. What good is a land full of riches when those same riches have fucked the fishing industry to hell?

From here on, my goals were to conquer Fortriu, conquer the other Pictish kingdoms, and conquer Iceland.

But the problem was the two kingdoms in this same Pictland.

The human kingdoms, the other human kingdoms, weren't an issue. I could just swallow them up.

But not those two countries.

Because one was Garlot, where my half-sister lived, and the other involved my former brother-in-law and my nephew and niece, the Gawain siblings, who by the family tree were also technically my children.

Hm. Looking at it like this, the family tree really is fucked beyond belief.

Elaine. There were several Elaines in Arthurian legend, but the one with the least presence, the practically invisible Elaine, was my half-sister.

She's my sister, sure, but it's a deeply uncomfortable relationship. Why?

Because our father killed her father, then raped her mother and gave birth to me and Artoria.

Honestly, if she hated me, I'd have nothing to say in my defense.

And my relationship with my older sister Morgan was uncomfortable too, because unlike Artoria and me, she was Uther's child but otherwise a complete stranger to us.

Well, first things first, I needed to meet them.

For the record, Sister Elaine has two children.

One son and one daughter, and the daughter's name is Elaine too. That's confusing as hell.

So if the guy who becomes my niece's husband calls out her name during sex, would he go limp because it's his mother-in-law's name too?

People really put no thought into naming their kids.

And the biggest problem was Orkney. In the original legend, King Lot had been the leading figure of the alliance of kings who rebelled against King Arthur.

On top of that, because of my family ties to those two kingdoms, I had no justification for conquering them. And if I offered them vassalage, they probably wouldn't accept unless hell froze over.

I'd have to meet them and talk first, but I was already feeling overwhelmed.

That was something to think about later. For now, I needed to focus on the present.

First, I decided to go see that Stone of Destiny we'd taken as spoils. So I went to Artoria, and then...

"Aang..."

"...Who fed a rock to my child?"

"Ahaha, Mordred wanted to play with it. But I cleaned it thoroughly first!"

"...Well, kids that age do want to put everything in their mouths."

I came over and found the kid chewing on a rock. So that was the Stone of Destiny.

Here, it was nothing more than my kid's toy. Well, it's not like it had any special power anyway.

At best, it was only used to determine whether someone had the qualities of a king, so even among the Four Treasures, it was the lowest-ranked treasure.

Still, it wasn't good for Mordred to suck on a rock for too long, so just as I was about to take it away from her—

Beeeep!!!

Suddenly, the stone let out a sound and began glowing red.

"W-What the hell? What's wrong with this thing?!"

"Awu? Baya~!"

Mordred seemed amused by the noisy, glowing stone. She pulled it from her mouth, grabbed it in her hand, and shook it around. What was going on with this thing?

"Y-Your Majesty, it seems the princess possesses the qualities of a king."

One minister reported to me with wide, astonished eyes.

"Even in all the records of the past, there has never been a child chosen so young, so how..."

It was obvious everyone was flustered. Fair enough. I was flustered too.

In the original work, Mordred wasn't chosen by the [Sword of Selection], but instead she'd been chosen by the Stone of Selection.

Well, I guess it's fine. Instead of being chosen by the sword stuck in the stone, she got chosen by the stone itself.

"My daughter's birthday is coming up soon. Maybe I should give her Ireland as a present..."

"Brother... that is such a wonderful idea."

"How ridiculous. Ireland is far too much, so instead we should give her Excalibur, which the fairies of the lake have been keeping—"

"You're the most ridiculous one here, Morgan. Why are you siblings exactly alike?"

To think Merlin of all people would be the one to cut in on me. But what was I supposed to do? My daughter was simply too noble.

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