Ritsuka couldn't help herself but to watch her rescuer with an inquiring gaze as he talked with Da Vinci who gave him a quick explanation about Chaldea and their missions.

As far as she knew, the young man in front of her was a normal human, however, he had just demonstrated a feat comparable to that of a servant in just an instant, which made her second-guess his identity. Even Nero, whom she had met during the second singularity, couldn't erase an entire army in a single attack.

"So basically you're telling me that in the distant future, in 2015, the entire world was burned to the ground because of a certain mage thought it would be great to disrupt history by creating divergences across the timeline, with one of them being our current time. Meanwhile, as for you all, you're a group of mages working against that big shot, traveling across time in order to fix the irregularities of history and save the world. Am I correct?"

[Yes, you understood correctly, which is rather good for us, especially since I only gave you a small overview of our organization and our missions... I wanted to ask earlier, but what is your companion doing?] Da Vinci asked as her hologram looked back to Merlin who stood behind her, her face being just behind her back, much to Ritsuka's confusion.

"Hey, Kay, look. I have boobs for eyes."

"Merlin, I'm having a serious discussion so, if you don't want me to poke your eyes, please be quiet for a moment."

"By poking my eyes, you mean you want to touch her nipples?" Merlin said with a teasing grin, causing Kay to let out a groan as he placed his palm over his eyes.

"Unlike you, I have zero interest in sexual harassment. Can I go back to my business now?"

"Like touching my breasts?" Merlin asked as she stood in front of Kay, crossing her arms under her chest, causing them to stand out. And then, as quick as thunder, Ritsuka widened her eyes when she saw Kay immediately slapped them, causing them to bounce and Merlin to moan out.

[OOOOHHHH!!!]

She couldn't help but to laugh awkwardly when she heard a loud yell of joy from the transmission.

"Sorry about that, so where were we?"

[We were talking about our current circumstance and while I would like to give you more details, I don't believe this is the right time and place for that. Is it possible for you all to relocate, at least to a peaceful area? It would reassure us a lot if our dear Ritsuka is in a safe place.]

"I don't mind, but before you accept your request, tell me. Do you really think I would believe everything you just told me? I may consider myself a fool or a madman, but even something like the destruction of the world or traveling back in time from the future seems a bit far-fetched to me." Kay asked as he narrowed his eyes at Da Vinci who had an awkward smile on her face.

[That's the part where I just hoped I was credible enough to believe our words at face-value, but I suppose I was the one who was naive.]

On her end, Ritsuka could understand his reaction. If she were in his place, she too would be wary of strangers claiming to be from the future whose mission was to save the world, especially in a period of war. But the fact that he didn't deny their claims right away might show that he could still be convinced if presented with some sort of proof.

"Hmm... Excuse me, can I say something?"

"You are... Ritsuka Fujimaru, was it?" Kay asked with a smile, causing her to nod as he didn't mispronounce her name. "Sure, what is it?"

"I know it's hard for you to believe our words but before I ask, do you understand the concepts of Heroic Spirits and Servants?"

"A little. From what your friend or superior told me, Heroic Spirits are spirits of heroes who achieved great deeds in life and are then summoned by a caster as their familiars, or as you call them, Servants, is it not?"

"Yes, the thing is that, among the Servants residing in Chaldea, your little sister, Artoria, is one of them. I'm sure that if you talk to her, it may erase the doubts in your mind." Ritsuka said, causing Kay to look at her with more suspicion than he did with Da Vinci as he frowned at her, his smile no longer on his face.

And before she could explain herself further, Da Vinci's hologram was replaced by Artoria who quickly spoke up in her defense.

[She's right, brother. You may find it hard to believe, but what they said are nothing but the pure truth.]

As he heard her words, Kay spent a few moments staring at the hologram before a small smile reappeared on his face.

"...You do look like her, just like two peas in a pod. Your voice and your eyes that look straight into mine, they're really the same." He then scratched his head and let out a deep sigh before he turned to them with an easy-going smile.

"Honestly, although I know I shouldn't do that as long as I haven't determined if you are potential danger to us, to my little sister who's waiting for me back home, but I'm really tempted to just trust you for now. Alright, I'll give you the benefit of doubt and listen to your guys."

[Thank you, brother, for your comprehension. I appreciate it.]

"Don't worry about it. It's the role of a big brother to trust his younger sister, even if she's a ghost."

"Are you sure we should trust them just like that?" Merlin asked as she neared close to Kay who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, to be honest, I originally wanted to ask her one of her most embarrassing childhood secrets so she could prove that she was the real deal, like the time she peed-"

[Alright, brother, I believe we talked enough for now. Can you escort Ritsuka to Carmanthen? We have a long discussion that awaits us.]

"Alright, that's indeed our little Artoria." Merlin said with a giggle before she waved her staff in the air, causing a large amount of pink flower petals to gather around them.

"This is..." She muttered before she felt a hand on her head, causing her to look up to see Kay give her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Merlin is just casting a spell that would teleport us back to our village. Just stay close to me just in case though, she's a big troublemaker so who knows what kind of pranks she may do if we're not too careful."

"Al...alright."

Without questioning his words, Ritsuka hurried herself and stood close to Kay, not wanting to end up in some kind of trouble. Even though she had met Merlin for the first time, she found it hard to disbelieve his words when she witnessed her prior actions.

"Thank you, King Arthur, for your support here." Mash said as she bowed her head to Artoria who just shook hers.

"It's nothing. I did say that I would help when it came to negotiation. But still, I'm glad that it went on without problems."

"Right." Da Vinci said with a nod. Although she was a little unhappy that it didn't go the way she had planned such as Kay admiring the beauty of the piece of art that is her body and instantly trusted her words, she was still happy with how they apparently ended up trusting them.

'At the very least, it was better than having that behemoth as our enemy.'

"In any case, that doesn't change the difference between those two and your memories. I have a feeling there are deeper reasons for this, but I don't want to rush to a conclusion without any concrete proof. So, for now, let's just continue to observe the situation. I'm counting on you to observe all the irregularities."

As Artoria nodded to Da Vinci who returned one of his own, they both turned their eyes to the monitor which displayed an image of Ritsuka arriving in Carmarthen with the natives.

"How nostalgic... It's just like in my memories."

"So, this is the king's hometown. The area is completely different from the previous one, the greenery is quite abundant here."

"It was as if the lands were blessed by the fairies."

"They are heading towards a house. My king, is it? Bedivere asked Artoria who nodded with a smile on her face, a warm and nostalgic gaze on her face.

"Yes, it's the house I grew up in."

"Hey, someone's leaving the house. Wait, isn't that a younger Father?!"

At Mordred's loud exclamation, everybody's focus was on the monitor which displayed Artoria who ran towards the group, a dog running by her side.

[Brother, you're finally back!] They saw her jump on Kay, hugging him closely with a bright smile on her face.

[I was worried when I heard from Father that you ran away somewhere with Merlin, where did you two go... Wait, who is that woman?] Artoria said staring down at Ritsuka with the same face Kay had shown when he was suspicious of their words a moment ago.

"It seems like our little king here is quite attached to her big brother to the point of imitating him, isn't she?" Da Vinci teased as she looked at Artoria with a grin, along with the Chaldea staff members and her knights who were all bewildered to see the legendary King of Knights behaving in such a spoiled manner.

As for the king herself, she was mortified by her younger self's behavior, kneeling on the ground with her hands trying to hide her blushing face.