Chapter 190: X and X
Because X's situation was a bit more dangerous than XX's, Artorius decided to spend more time with X.
This was also because X's mental age was still that of a child. Kids have an advantage in this regard, don't they?
"Artorius~"
Even though X's stomach was still growling—a bowl of chicken noodle soup couldn't possibly fill her stomach. But as long as there was love of Artorius, it was okay.
Lying in Artorius's embrace, X wore an infatuated expression, making him feel a bit happy.
Indeed, his charm was as amazing as ever, and his title of the ultimate weapon against the Artoria Species wasn't unwarranted. Even though they had been together for a while now, X was still completely infatuated as before.
===
At the same time, at the entrance of the Palace of Orleans.
"I'm back!"
Ignoring the surprised looks from everyone around, a certain person, or rather a girl, greeted everyone with a cheerful smile.
"Where's Artorius?" She cheerfully inquired one of the Einzbern maids nearby.
The maid widened her eyes, unsure of how to respond.
"What's the matter? Don't know, huh? Well, I'll ask someone else then."
Seeing the maid's silence, the girl swaggered into the palace. At the same time, the maid who was asked by the girl hurried off in another direction, apparently preparing to deliver a message.
Later on...
"Scathach!"
Although they weren't very close, the girl was quite outgoing. Shortly after entering the palace, she ran into Scathach and asked with a cheerful tone.
"Where's Artorius?"
"..."
Scathach raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at the girl with a playful expression.
"What's wrong? You don't know too?" The girl said disappointedly.
"No, I do..." Scathach finally said, handing her a magical map. "He's in the dungeon."
In the next moment, a map formed with magecraft was in the girl's hands.
"The dungeon... got it, thanks!"
The girl was seemingly puzzled about why Artorius would be in the dungeon, but this curiosity only lasted a moment before turning into her usual carefree attitude.
"Well, whatever."
With that, the girl continued confidently and happily with her slightly foolish grin intact, following the map Scathach gave her and heading toward the dungeon. She hummed a song along the way.
"Ten little Sabers, went out to dine, one choked and then there were nine~"
In a very cheerful tone, she sang this somewhat terrifying nursery rhyme, revealing the depth of her animosity towards Sabers.
"Hmm..."
At the same time, Scathach, behind her, watched the girl's back with a playful expression.
'It seems fun...' Scathach thought cheerfully.
At the same time, the girl continued forward, politely or rather casually greeting anyone she met on the way.
'What's going on? Why does everyone look so surprised when they see me?'
This made the girl feel puzzled.
But being naturally optimistic, she didn't dwell on it too much. She just brushed it off.
'Well, whatever.' The girl thought to herself. 'Let them be surprised then. It's probably because I've defeated so many Saber Artoria Species that they're surprised.'
With this blindly optimistic and somewhat silly thought, she continued humming her song and made her way to the dungeon entrance, where she pushed open the dungeon door.
"Artorius!—Huh?"
This time, it was the girl's turn to be surprised and puzzled.
"Um, Artorius isn't here?" The girl looked at XX and asked.
Still looking a bit dazed, XX pointed to the adjacent cell with her chin. So, the girl took a polite step back.
"Sorry to disturb..."
The girl closed the door to the cell of XX and opened the one next to it.
And then she froze completely.
"I'm back—"
In the next second, the girl saw Artorius, her dearest son, holding a girl who looked exactly like her in stature, appearance, and even attire, complete with a baseball cap.
'It's an Evil Artoria Species! She's also impersonating me!'
The girl—or rather, X, thought this way while drawing her sword. "Quickly, let go of Artorius! You, scoundrel!"
Even though in reality, it was Artorius who held the other person, X instinctively ignored this fact. This showed how much she loved Artorius.
"Artorius?!"
At the same time. In the rapidly rotating mind of Artorius, he wondered why another X had appeared, while the X in Artorius's embrace was trembling with fear and exclaimed, "Artorius, there's an Evil Artoria Species disguised as me!"
Unlike the sword-wielding X that just came, the X in Artorius's embrace seemed very scared and feeble. Probably because she had no means of self-defense, she could only rely on pleading with him for help.
"Don't worry." Artorius protected X behind him. "With me here, you'll be fine."
"Artorius, what are you saying?!" The sword-wielding X, watching Artorius protect the other X, shouted in frustration. "That person is the evil one! Move out of the way so I can cut her down!"
"X, calm down." Artorius said solemnly.
"Calm down?! What are you saying?! She's an Evil Artoria Species pretending to be me!"
Clearly, this X had no intention of calming down. She kept shouting and acting very arrogant as if she hadn't undergone Artorius's punishment or, rather, Artorius's fixing.
"Artorius, please protect me!"
On the other hand, the X in his embrace who had accepted his fixing appeared as a vulnerable girl. She hid behind him and pleaded.
"Argh, dammit!"
Unable to bear it any longer, the sword-wielding X charged forward, intent on bypassing Artorius to strike down the vulnerable X. Of course, he wouldn't allow her to do that.
It was like an eagle catching a chick. The sword-wielding X circled around him but couldn't land a blow on the vulnerable X.
Before she lost her patience and started screaming in frustration, Artorius stepped forward and grabbed her sword, then knocked her on the head.
"Ouch..."
The sword-wielding X looked very aggrieved as she gazed at Artorius, almost on the verge of tears. Her expression was akin to that of a pet cat that had bitten a hamster and brought its corpse to its owner to show off but got scolded instead.
"Calm down..." Seeing her in this state Artorius spoke gently.
"What? She's clearly fake, but you're protecting her!" The sword-wielding X replied with an annoyed tone.
As Artorius contemplated what to say to comfort the sword-wielding X, the vulnerable X couldn't hold back either and called out, "You're the fake one!"
"..." Artorius was at a loss for words.
"How dare you?!" Holding her sword, X hesitated for a moment, then became even angrier. "You deceived my son by taking my form and now dare to accuse me of your wrongdoing! You're fake!"
"Same to you! You're fake! Your entire family is fake!"
"Gahhh! Artorius, move aside and let me kill her!"
As vulnerable X taunted the sword-wielding X, whom Artorius had just calmed down, the latter became agitated once more. She wrestled in his arms, trying to break free and launch an attack on the vulnerable X behind him.
"Come if you dare! Artorius will protect me!"
Even though her combat power at the moment was currently at zero, the vulnerable X believed Artorius wouldn't let her down, so she maintained her confident attitude.
"Let go of me, Artorius!"
"Protect me, Artorius!"
"Both of you, shut up!"
After giving the two arguing girls a good knock on the head, making them clutch their heads and whine, Artorius took a deep breath. He looked at one, then the other.
Artorius's expression was as if conveying—"What the fuck happened?"
Asking the X duo was useless. Because in this situation, neither of them would provide him with the right answer. He had to make his own judgment about which one was real.
The key question was that Artorius couldn't make that judgment.
"..."
"..."
After Artorius scolded them and made sure they couldn't harm each other, the X duo calmed down. They fell silent, but that didn't mean they had made up.
The X duo exchanged angry glances across Artorius as if trying to kill each other with their gazes.
Seeing them like this, Artorius instinctively wanted to stop them, but he thought better of it and remained silent. Understanding the current situation was more important than stopping their bickering.
'From their aura, scent, feeling, magical energy, personality, appearance, and everything else, these two are X. I can't tell them apart... they also seem to be an Artoria Species.'
Artorius began to contemplate.
'But can Artoria Species be so similar?'
Artorius recalled the Artoria Species he had encountered before. Mordred, Artoria, X, Ex, XX, and Omega were all distinct and easily recognizable Artoria Species.
This distinction wasn't just about their appearance but also their personalities and subtle habitual gestures.
Perhaps, for ordinary people, they might all look the same, with the same face. Only when they spoke or made choices could you barely tell them apart.
But Artorius was an Artoria Species expert, and he believed he understood them better than anyone else.
He could confidently say—"No one knows Artoria Species better than me."
So, besides the previous options, Artorius could also judge based on magical energy and very subtle differences.
For example, XX's chest was slightly larger than that of a typical Artoria Species but not as big as the Lancer Artoria. Or X's 'ahoge' was a bit stiffer than those of a regular Artoria Species.
These were the small traits of the Artoria Species, things that only someone deeply familiar with and fond of the Artoria Species would notice.
Clearly, Artorius Pendragon was an Artoria Species expert. His love for Artoria Species was as intense and pure as Professor Oak's for Pokemon.
Artorius firmly believed that even if he had hundreds of Artorias under his command, he could remember the names, codenames, and all the information about each of them. This love-based memory would surpass even Caesar's or Napoleon's.
However...
Unfortunately, this supreme confidence was shattered by the appearance of two X.
According to Artorius's Artoria Species sensory radar, first, they were both Artoria Species; second, they were both Mysterious Heroine, and third, they were both X.
According to common sense, this was impossible.
This immediately shook Artorius's belief, his belief that he was the world's number one Artoria Species expert.
He couldn't tell them apart.
What should he do?
One of these X duo had to be a counterfeit. But which one, and how could he distinguish? Who was the real X?
Artorius thought of an ancient legend. Two women fought over a child, and a judge ruled that whoever could pull the child to their side would be recognized as the mother. The biological mother, out of love for her child, couldn't bear to use force, so the other woman won.
Could he adopt this approach and let the two X compete for him? Whoever tried harder would prove themselves as the real X?
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