After this little incident, spacial isolation was lifted, and the summoning circle got destroyed.
"The true name I told you isn't used here. In this world, I took the name Len Raito, so while I did tell you to call me as you see fit, I don't want others to know my true identity. If not for Gaia's request, I would continue studying magecraft and live a peaceful and quiet life of a normal human. In summary, don't use my true name in public, got it?" Saying so, he took down the remaining illusion boundary field.
Morgan only nodded in return. Today, her pride as a queen got crushed, but she didn't have any thoughts of revenge. On the contrary, her instincts were screaming to either join him and later take control over him or to submit completely on the spot. The latter she suppressed with all her remaining willpower.
"Don't freak out." Raito said so, put his hand on her shoulder, and they both disappeared from the clearing.
Morgan blinked in surprise when he touched her again, and when she opened her eyes, she was met with a completely different scenery. They were on a hill overlooking a city. Rows upon rows of tall buildings from such height looked like a stone jungle or a labyrinth for the fairy. A river in the distance divided the city in two, and a single bridge connected its halfs.
Before she could say anything, Raito added, "We are in Fuyuki City, Japan. The place of the Holy Grail War this time." Then he took his hand off her shoulder and continued, "Let's save the talk until we arrive at my place."
Once again, Morgan merely nodded.
'Is she plotting something, or did my skill affect her so much? I was just annoyed by a practically stranger ordering me to either serve or marry and wanted to test the effect my skill gets on humanoid races. How the hell it turned into subtle brainwashing?! I just hope that I am wrong, and she is the scheming type that is very good at getting into the head and making people doubt themselves. If so, I must be on guard against her.'
After a 5 minutes walk, they arrived at the bottom of a cliff, but Raito didn't stop. He walked right straight through it. For a moment, Morgan marveled at the level of this place. If not for her guide, she wouldn't even spare more than a glance in this direction as her senses nor her magic managed to pick up anything other than a rock solid cliff. When she was crossing to the other side, she could finally feel the magic at play. The rocks themselves were imbued with spacial magecraft and just stopped being there the moment she was about to make contact with them. Morgan made a mental note to ask how it was made.
Coming out on the other side of the barrier, the first thing that came into view was a large beautiful garden. It was worth mentioning that large amounts of land were allotted for tea plantations of different sorts. Then, a little far away stood a grand, luxurious with refined craftsmanship mansion. Overall, this place was giving off the feeling of a hidden paradise, especially with the density of magical energy around that was comparable to the Age of Gods.
Raito entered a gazebo in the middle of his garden and gestured for Morgan to take a seat. Afterward, he took out a pair of cups with saucers and a teapot. Debating for a moment, whether to go along with his whims or to make classic, he put black tea to brew.
"Now that we are in a calm and secure place, let's have the talk I promised."
"You are not a human, are you? That aura... The only one that came even close to yours was that of a God, of a king of beasts." Morgan inquired.
"It feels like an eternity passed since I was a normal human... In that Abyss, only a monster could survive, so I had to adapt. As for the aura... This world has an interesting habit of turning your life achievements or, more specifically, your reputation into skills. That was my 『Ruler of Monsters: EX』." The casual way he said all that didn't diminish the weight of his words.
By this time, Morgan already had the general picture. The man in front of her was not from the panhuman history, just like her. He generally preferred his peace but has joined this Holy Grail War on behalf of Gaia due to their alliance. In turn, this signified that something had gone incredibly wrong and the planet was in danger. Now, her improved status and overwhelming skills for a regular Servant didn't seem like an overkill.
"Who is the actual threat? Why do we have to deal with it? Isn't Counter Force a thing just for situations like this one?" Don't get her wrong. She was ready to face whatever came, but to do someone's else job was unbecoming for a queen like herself.
Instead of immediately replying, Raito picked up the teapot. "Tea?" Morgan took a look at it before nodding. Then he proceeded to pour two cups of tea, put teapot to the side, and only then continued with their chat.
"Counter Force has already failed, and Alaya is ready to discard this timeline anytime. The only thing preventing her from doing so is my presence. Our real enemy, as you noticed, is not anyone from Maters and Servants but an Outer God and its spawn.
I see you are confused. I shall tell you overlay of the situation we are in.
Imagine a columnar root system. The main root, going straight down, is the panhuman history. Side roots, branching out of it, are deviations from the canon history. In this example, Gaia is the soil, while Alaya is the growing plant.
Outer Gods, however, are pests that come from other soils that want to invade and eat all the roots. They are usually repelled by the defensive mechanism put in place, but in case it fails, there are two main ways to minimize the damage.
First things first, the bitten part can be discarded, cut off from the rest. The other method is to find outside help, a predator that will hunt them down. This is my role.
I have already dealt with a couple of them. This even has earned me a new class and an irritating nickname from Vivian."
Morgan found the explanation very interesting. In a way, it opened her eyes on the world she thought she knew. But the last sentence completely caught her off guard. "Vivian?"
In return, she got a somewhat dismissing reply. "Yeah, the Lady of the Lake, that lives in Avalon and loves white tea. Your counterpart, by the way."
While he might not see it as a big deal, for Morgan, his ability to come and go to the Inner Sea of the planet, Avalon specifically, and back to the human world was like a cherry on top that tipped the scale in her decision making of how to utilize this opportunity in favor of winning him over at all costs. Even if she couldn't dominate him by her strength or status, she could use other tactics. Her time was limited. He wasn't interested in her. And Fairy Queen had never done this before. All in all, odds were heavily stacked against her. Well, great difficulty promised her great reward, so it was worth a try.
'Tea is also great. He is a worthy man to be my husband. Even better that despite being a ruler, he shows no signs of acting like one. It means I will be able to take control over everything. Interesting, what are his origins?'
Morgan awakened her origins [Control] and [Rule] and embraced the behavior they brought upon her. So far, she could only guess his.
They were drinking the rest of the tea in silence lost in their thoughts, when Raito suddenly started speaking.
"I apologize for my outburst in response to your proposal. The way you worded it and the content were too alike to what a particularly annoying and nasty Outer God asked of me during our first encounter. Good thing that abomination doesn't exist anymore, but it left a lot of unpleasant memories. I overreacted. I am sorry." After saying so, he gulped down the remaining tea and stood up. "I see you are also done with yours, so I will be showing you around the mansion. I made it so big to accommodate all my wives and potential guests, but so far, it hadn't been in use. I hope you would like it."
Morgan stood up and complained inside her head a little. 'That his apology and mentioning of his wives ruined a lot of my possibilities. I no longer have leverage over him for that time, and as it turns out, I have competition. It's great that they are not here, but their sole existence is a huge setback for me... I have been here for what? an hour?, and I am already feel exhausted... I really need a good night sleep.'
While they were walking, Raito produced a map of the mansion's layout and gave it to Morgan. "For the first few days, it may be confusing, so this here will help you."
Then he proceeded to show her around and explain a few things that were strange for her. For example, why is there a whole room dedicated solely for manga and novels, or what for is there a gaming hall. The last stop was the master bedroom.
"I am not a fan of big beds, but this a necessity. Yue would never miss a chance to sleep on me, Shia is clingy, and Tio is the only one who knows about personal space, but she also prefers to feel my presence while sleeping, so I was left with no choice. You can sleep here if you want, I'll take the smaller double bed next door. Anyway, you are free to choose your sleeping place or roam the mansion. I am going to sleep. Good night." Saying so, he left the room.
Morgan once again took a look around master bedroom and found it to her liking. Nonetheless, after contemplating for a bit, she exited it and then walked into the room next door. There, Raito was already lying in bed on his right side, facing a wall. The moment she entered, he asked without looking, "You sure?". Expecting worse reaction, Morgan was surprised by his mild question, but since the chance was presenting itself, she replied immediately, "Yes, I am.". After a moment of silence, she heard, "Suit yourself.". Only then did she undress and slip under the blanket. Even though there wasn't any reaction from the white-haired man, Morgan was satisfied with the progress.
That night, they dreamed of each other's past, but other than that, nothing else happened.