Chapter 020

"He seriously assembled this in the short time you've been gone?" asked Mordred, staring wide-eyed at the fur-lined crop Leon had presented her, courtesy of Wilfred. The interior was rough and itchy since it hadn't been treated or tanned, but the design and stitchwork were top-rate.

"He said he could repair your previous top as well, but he'll need to find a material to replace the elastic band," replied Leon. "Either way, we should look into addressing the clothing shortage as soon as possible. I hadn't thought about it because I was focused on other things, but except for Shouichi, everyone has basically been wearing the same outfits they were summoned in..."

"Hmmm...I'm tempted to say we can leave things to Wilfred, but if he's half as skilled as you claim, our group would be better served by allowing him to focus on his Alchemical research..." conceded Mordred, squeezing into her new crop top before asking, "Think of any solutions...?"

Nodding in affirmation, not that Mordred could see it, Leon explained, "As eager as I am to acquire a body, I think we should focus on expanding our base, growing our forces, and increasing our strength. There are facilities for tailors, dressmakers, and cobblers among the buildings I have access to, but even if they don't come with someone to operate them, collecting a thousand crystal fragments between six people isn't too difficult. And as more people join our ranks, it should become even easier."

"A wise decision," said Mordred. "It also gives me time to form and train a proper expedition squad, so I'm all for it."

"Then, as I've already checked on the others, want to stay here and farm for a bit?" asked Leon. "Most of the rooms within had around ten enemies, so it's an excellent source of fragments. If we repeat the room with those brown snakes, I remember their card being pretty useful."

"Didn't you mention that cards had a drop rate of one-in-ten-thousand...?" asked Mordred.

"Hey, if nothing else, we should be able to acquire plenty of those White Herbs," said Leon. "I had Wil take a look at one, and he confirmed it had potent medicinal properties. He'll need to experiment, but said he should have no problem turning them into healing potions."

"That man's value grows by the day," remarked Mordred, wearing a look of stupefied wonder.

"Yeah. With the exception of those with cheat-like abilities, he's probably the best Alchemist we could have asked for," affirmed Leon. "He also hails from a city where alchemy was the main occupation, so if he's able to use the summoning chamber, most of the people he's familiar with would have at least basic alchemical proficiency."

"That would undoubtedly be a boon, but don't go too overboard," advised Mordred. "Wilfred seems genuinely trustworthy, but you can never know a person fully. The people he summons will likely be used to doing things a certain way, and if they become the majority, they could form a faction or pressure you into meeting their demands. It would be better to have more people in your direct service before permitting Wilfred and others to make use of the summoning chamber."

"You mean, like a Knight Corps...?" asked Leon.

Shaking her head, Mordred explained, "More than that, you need servants and attendants to reinforce your standing. You might not care about such things, but the size and conduct of a person's entourage is a reflection of their status and authority. Make no mistake. I enjoy having you fawn over and adulate me, but bathing, dressing, and especially 'servicing' others is not behavior befitting a Lord. To be perfectly honest, it makes me see you as more of an animal than someone worthy of respect..."

'Well, that was fucking blunt...' thought Leon. In truth, he could see where Mordred was coming from, but while he thought he was being a romantic, she ostensibly viewed his actions as those of a simp.

"Anyway..." added Mordred. "It's typical for a Knight to have around ten men or women-at-arms forming their escort and the core of their military unit. Each of those would have upwards of two personal attendants or an Esquire to see to their horses and equipment. Moving up the ladder, even the lowest-ranking Lord would have between 12-15 Knights forming their personal guard and retinue, equating to an escort of around three to five hundred men, women, and children."

"Children...?" parroted Leon.

"Before becoming a proper Esquire, young boys and girls would start out as Apprentices or Pages," explained Mordred. "The starting age for both was between six and eight years old, so there would typically be around thirty to fifty children within a company to perform tasks such as tending animals, disposing of waste, and ensuring people's more 'delicate' regions were clean and free of infection..."

"..."

Though he was tempted to ask if Mordred was referring to having Pages wipe and clean people's asses, Leon genuinely didn't want to know. One thing he 'did' know was that he would never allow such a practice to take place under his rule. Some things 'deserved' to disappear into the annals of history...

Raising her right brow, Mordred asked, "What's wrong? Don't tell me I said something that offended you...?"

"Just forget it," said Leon. "As for expanding my entourage, I'm not against it. The only issue is that a conventional summoning is completely random. And, even if I did summon someone with a service background, they may not wish to serve."

"You're forgetting that you're the one with the power and authority," said Mordred. "If their experiences are like mine and the others, then any you summon will have 'agreed' to be transported here. It's fine to afford them some degree of freedom, but if they're not willing to contribute or perform the duties expected of them, we're under no obligation to fend or provide for them. Besides, you're the future Lord of this land and control who can and can't enter the Tower. That alone will cause certain kinds of people to flock in droves. Just be sure that when you choose your Queen, she isn't sleeping with your most trusted Knight behind your back..."

Understanding that Mordred was referring to Lancelot's illicit relationship with Guinevere, Leon felt slightly sorry for everyone involved. He couldn't recall the specifics, but he remembered the situation being pretty fucked up, resulting in many, many deaths...

"Aren't you my most trusted Knight...?" asked Leon, causing Mordred to blink in surprise, seemingly not expecting such a question.

"Hmmm..."

Recrossing her arms, Mordred ostensibly fell into deep thought as she furrowed her brows and looked downward with unfocused eyes and a slight grimace. Leon was tempted to ask her if he had said something wrong but decided to remain patient, waiting nearly a full minute for Mordred to respond, "I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I'm not suited for such a position. I will serve you dutifully in the pursuit of my wish, but you should never place your trust in me. I won't get into it with you, but since you were able to view our lives as if we were characters in a story, I'm sure you understand why..."

Since Mordred had broached the subject of her own accord, Leon took the initiative to state, "I also understand your reasons and what led you down that path. Not the full context, sure, but enough. So, no matter what you say, I'm going to trust you, Mordred. That's my choice, and if it comes back to bite me, I'll probably have done something to deserve it."

Furrowing her brows and scowling, Mordred looked like she wanted to bite Leon's head off but remained silent, tapping the index finger of her right hand against her left bicep.

"Poyo...?"

Sensing the tense atmosphere, the miniature Poring, sleeping atop a nearby stone, absorbing light as nourishment, opened its shimmering black eyes and stared at Mordred quizzically.

Following a loud, clearly exasperated sigh, Mordred stared at Leon with half-lidded eyes and remarked, "You make me wish you had a head so I could crack it open to see what's wrong with you..."

"Sure, but, before that..."

Approaching Mordred, Leon wrapped his nonexistent hands around her. Instead of groping her, however, he held her tenderly with his left hand and guided her head to his shoulder with his right. Her body tensed, as it usually did when he first touched her, but it was only for a brief moment as she returned his embrace and asked, "Before that, what...?"

"I didn't think that far..." replied Leon, putting more strength into his arms as he whispered, "I just wanted to hold you..."

"..."

Closing her eyes and exhaling another, fainter sigh, Mordred considered separating from Leon, but if she were being completely honest, she liked being held. Her mother, Morgan, had never once hugged her, so while the gesture wasn't unfamiliar to her, she had never experienced the care Leon seemed to have for her. It was actually kind of painful, in a way. But, more than anything, it was comforting...

"Once you regain your body, I'm going to ride you like a horse..." Mordred whispered, much like a threat. In truth, it wasn't much different, but Leon didn't mind a bit of roughhousing, a dry chuckle emanating from his throat as he replied, "I've been looking forward to it since the moment we met..."

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Though they failed to acquire a card, Leon's and Mordred's misadventures in the Hidden Temple weren't wasted as they managed to acquire dozens of White Herbs and an ostensibly rare drop, a one-handed katana called a Tsurugi. Mordred wasn't particularly fond of it, feeling it was too light and doubting its effectiveness against armed opponents, but when Wil saw it, his eyes lit up like a child on Christmas since the materials used to make it were fairly rare and could be repurposed to upgrade his tools. Before that, however, he and everyone but Souma made their way to the summoning chamber to make use of the Red Summoning Crystal they had refined by combining a thousand Thousand-Grain Crstyal Fragments, more than half of which were obtained by Mordred.

"When you're ready," said Leon, prompting Wil to return a nod before he stepped forward, placing the Red Summoning Crystal atop a waist-high stone platform in front of the larger, slowly rotating crystal.

Seeing a notification appearing before him, invisible to everyone else's eyes, Wil smiled and said, "It's asking me to confirm whether I would like to use the crystal. One thing of note is that it has the characters for 'God-Catching Alchemy Meister' within brackets."

"Then, if you're still willing, go ahead and confirm the summoning," said Leon, cautioning, "Just don't get your hopes up. Red is the lowest grade and growth tier, so I doubt any of your close allies will appear. From what I remember, they were all pretty exceptional."

"Hey, didn't you say that Shou and I were Red-grade summons...?" asked Souma. "Are you saying we're not exceptional?"

"The two of you are undoubtedly talented, but even if you combined your efforts, you wouldn't be able to match Mordred, Wil, and Presea in terms of combat potential," answered Leon.

"I'm proceeding," said Wil, drawing everyone's attention back to him as he confirmed the summoning. Like Leon, he eagerly anticipated a light show, but while he was disappointed by the absence of dramatic effect, a smile broader than the horizon adorned his face when he realized who, or, more accurately, what was summoned.

"Did it fail...?" asked Mordred, standing with her arms crossed and raising her right brow as she and everyone but Leon and Wil were confounded by the oozing pile of mud that had appeared. They then tensed and became alert when it began to rise, forming a sagging face with a large mouth, but while they could only see a monster, tears began swelling in the corners of Wil's eyes as he knelt down and spread his arms, embracing the muddy and somewhat pungent monstrosity as he tenderly whispered, "Thank you for once again answering my call...Aht..."

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