In the fifth century, the country known as Britain was beset by internal and external troubles, deeply mired in continuous warfare.
Because of the gradual decline of the neighboring Roman Empire, Britain, which had been under its protection, also began to fall into turmoil.
Taking advantage of Britain losing its protection, surrounding countries grew ambitious and eyed it covetously.
Like hyenas smelling blood, they secretly coveted this nation of Britain, which was already showing signs of decline.
Britain was leaderless, and conflicts between the various tribes were constant.
Under these circumstances, only the reputation of Uther Pendragon was at its peak, and the various tribes sought to resist the common threat—those ambitious neighboring countries.
Regardless of their private thoughts, the tribes at least ostensibly elected King Uther as their leader, making him the supreme ruler of Britain.
This cooperation was extremely fragile; its core was like a mirage, ethereal and intangible.
Sure enough, before long, King Uther’s brother, Vortigern, blinded by greed and desiring to unify all of Britain under himself, colluded with foreign enemies and brought in the alien Saxons.
Because of his actions, Britain, which hadn’t known peace for long, was once again plunged into war.
King Uther was defeated and went missing in the battle against the Vile King; since then, his whereabouts have been unknown, and his life or death remains uncertain.
The Vile King reaped the fruits of victory; under his rule, Britain was once again plunged into a dark age, and combat had long since become a part of daily life.
The lives of the people became increasingly impoverished, the population plummeted every year, food supplies dwindled year by year, and everything kept getting worse.
Just then, the great mage Merlin, who had previously assisted King Uther, brought a glimmer of hope, offering new promise to this already riddled and broken Britain.
“Fate has already provided new guidance; a new king will bring rebirth.
Everything is as the prophecy states: the next ruler is the incarnation of the Red Dragon.
He will lead the Knights of the Round Table to defeat the enemy and recover the land.
You all need not be pessimistic; the dawn will eventually come.”
The great mage Merlin left this prophecy and then disappeared without a trace.
Ten years later, in a small town in southern Britain, on Christmas Day, nobles from all walks of life came to the town’s largest church to pray.
After the morning prayers and the first Mass, people suddenly discovered a massive square stone standing imposingly in the church courtyard, directly facing the altar.
The stone looked like marble.
In the center of the giant stone stood an anvil, about a foot high, with a sword drawn from its scabbard plunged into it.
Two lines of golden text were engraved on the blade:
[He who draws this sword from the stone is the rightful King of Britain by birth.]
Once this news broke, the whole country was in an uproar.
Overnight, valiant knights from all over the country who considered themselves qualified flocked to the town like a tidal wave, aiming to become the fated king.
Time flies like a white horse passing a crack; in the blink of an eye, sixteen years had passed since Itachi arrived in this world.
These sixteen years were neither long nor short.
But it was enough to subtly change a person.
“Humility, Integrity, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, Loyalty.”
Whenever anyone saw this young boy, these words would pop into their minds.
These were the qualities of a true knight; without a doubt, this handsome and refined youth was an excellent knight.
Yes, you read that right; what you see before you is indeed a young boy.
It’s just that the true inner self of this handsome young knight is actually a girl disguised as a boy.
Artoria Pendragon is the name Itachi bears in this life.
The lineage of the Red Dragon, her own background, and the great mage who taught her in her dreams—the existence named Merlin.
Even the most obtuse person would realize it, right?
Not to mention that her name when dressed as a man is Arthur Pendragon.
After all, she is the famous King Arthur; even Itachi from its previous life knew of her existence.
Drawing the sword in the stone and saving the nation in peril, she is the son of King Uther.
She is the legendary king of Britain, the most popular leader of the Knights of the Round Table in Celtic hero lore, and a near-mythical, legendary figure.
It’s just that the final ending of this legendary hero wasn’t very happy.
“I didn’t expect King Arthur to actually be a girl; you really can’t believe everything in the history books.”
Artoria half-squatted by the small river, looking down at her reflection on the water’s surface, and sighed with secret emotion.
Ever since she could understand the language here, she had been aware of her identity.
It’s actually quite laughable; when she first transmigrated, the serious-looking middle-aged man who appeared before her was not her father in this life at all.
That man was merely a knight who had undertaken the task of raising Artoria at the request of King Uther.
Her foster father, the biological father of Kay, who would become a famous Knight of the Round Table in the future, was a man named Ector.
The water clearly reflected Artoria’s image: the young girl had golden hair as bright as the sun, delicate features, pupils as clear as the purest emeralds, and a posture that appeared exceptionally upright due to her childhood knight training.
She didn’t deliberately disguise herself as a male; she simply tied up her hair and wore men’s clothing.
Despite having such an obviously feminine appearance, due to the sharp, heroic aura between her brows and that noble, sword-like temperament, it was as if she had been enchanted, and she was naturally treated as a male by those around her.
Artoria’s foster father was a knight, and her foster brother Kay was also a knight.
Daily exposure, combined with her yearning for knights and power from her previous life, meant that she had practiced swordsmanship diligently from a young age, never slacking off.
“Artoria.”
The call from nearby brought back her wandering thoughts.
Artoria stood up with a smile and turned to look at the man running toward her.
“Brother Kay.”
She responded, her clear eyes fixed on the young man with a long sword at his waist.
With short brown hair and blue eyes, this handsome young knight was named Kay.
He was the biological son of her foster father and a future member of King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table.
Kay moved quickly, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived at Artoria’s side: “Artoria, Father asked me to find you and bring you back; he said there are some things to announce.”
After saying this, he smiled again and said teasingly: “That said…
I don’t know what’s up with the old man, he’s got such a serious look on his face.
Did you cause trouble outside, deceive some young girl’s heart and body without taking responsibility, and now someone’s come looking for you?”
In his smile, the schadenfreude and the desire to watch the chaos unfold were practically overflowing.
“How could that be?”
Artoria sighed, looking slightly helpless: “Brother Kay, stop guessing wildly.
You were clearly talking about yourself just now.”
Yes, the knight named Kay had a wild and uninhibited personality.
In recent years, his favorite thing to do was to run to the nearby town and use sweet talk to tease the young girls who were just beginning to understand romance.
He would tease them and then run away, completely irresponsible.
Because of this, there were several times when those girls came to their house.
That period of time could be described as chaotic, and it made her foster father so angry that he beat Kay soundly with a wooden stick.
“Ahem…
why bring that up?”
Under Artoria’s smiling gaze, Kay turned his head away, feeling somewhat awkward, and stiffly changed the subject: “Let’s go quickly.
If we delay any longer, that old man is going to lose his temper again.”
After speaking, he turned to the side and walked toward their home first.
Artoria hurried to catch up with Kay, walking beside her foster brother and chatting with him.
“Brother Kay, I’ve made progress in my swordsmanship recently and feel I’ve had a slight breakthrough.
I wonder if you could spar with me tomorrow?”
“Of course.
It’s just a sword spar, and I’m quite free anyway.
However…”
Speaking of this, Kay looked at Artoria, his eyes full of emotion: “I didn’t expect your swordsmanship to improve so quickly.
If this continues, I won’t be your match much longer.”
This was true.
After all, as the child of King Uther, she was not conceived normally; her body was a combination of magic and alchemy.
Born as a king, Artoria carried the lineage and heart of the Red Dragon, possessed immense magical power within her, and had physical attributes far superior to ordinary people; her combat talent was even more outstanding.
Added to that was her training in swordsmanship and martial arts.
She was diligent every day, practicing constantly.
With talent combined with hard work—neither of which could be lacking—she was able to reach such a high level in just a few short years.
The two of them talked while walking, crossed a small hill, and soon arrived at their destination.
A burly old man with slightly graying hair stood in front of the door.
Seeing the old man, Kay smiled and strode quickly toward him: “Father, look!
I’ve brought Artoria back.”
This tone of showing off a treasure made the corner of Artoria’s mouth twitch uncontrollably.
“Rushing about, making such a fuss—what kind of behavior is that!”
Ector glared fiercely at his son and scolded him in a low voice.
Kay didn’t like hearing that.
His brow furrowed, and he opened his mouth, intending to argue with his father.
Seeing this, Artoria didn’t stop, but quickly stepped forward and called out, “Father.”
This prevented the argument that was about to break out between Kay and her foster father.
Ector narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze to his ‘foster child.’ He was well aware of what this ‘foster child’ was thinking.
Never mind, there was no need to argue with Kay at this time; after all, there were more important things to do today.
Ector’s eyebrows twitched.
Finally, he sighed, shook his head, and turned to walk into the house: “…Come inside first.
Dinner is ready.”
Kay pursed his lips in dissatisfaction, but in the end, he said nothing and followed Artoria into the house.
Inside, Kay and Artoria sat at the dining table one after the other.
The two looked at each other, both unsure of the situation.
The door creaked open, and servants carrying dishes placed the food on the table one by one.
Unlike the usual sumptuous meals, this one made Artoria frown.
The meal was eaten in complete silence.
Aside from the clinking of knives and forks and the sound of chewing, no one made a sound.
After the meal, it didn’t take long for the servants to clear away the leftovers.
Watching her foster father wave the servants away, Artoria finally seized the opportunity to ask about the doubts in her heart.
“Father, what exactly do you have to tell us?”
As soon as these words were spoken, Ector raised his eyes faintly and looked deeply at Artoria.
A low voice sounded, slightly hoarse.
Even though the voice wasn’t loud, every word could be heard clearly.
“Pack up tonight.
Tomorrow morning, you and Kay will go together to the town in the south to participate in the trial of drawing the sword in the stone.”
This was not a tone of discussion, but an order.
As a knight who had followed King Uther into battle on the fields of war, Ector possessed a natural dignity that made others afraid to act presumptuously.
Artoria’s body stiffened upon hearing this, and she stood frozen on the spot.
After a long while, she let out a long, heavy sigh.
She lowered her head and pursed her lips, her heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.
Sixteen years…
finally, this moment has come.