After careful consideration, Guinevere decided to set aside his plan to ally with Norcenlai—for now. It wasn't merely because Artoria's suggestion of a "Handsome Stratagem" seemed implausible—though that did factor in heavily—but more because an alliance with Norcenlai wasn't urgent at this moment.
The Round Table forces couldn't yet handle a monster like Woodworth, but there was no pressing need to. Much like the Lu Bu encounter at Tiger Pass in the game, Woodworth wasn't a required target—one could simply bypass him and strike directly at Dong Zhuo to win.
And Artoria's true task was to ring the Six Prophetic Bells, not to vie for continental domination against rival lords.
[After forging an alliance with Bogarde, you withdrew your army from Sheffield.]
[You began to investigate the whereabouts of the Six Prophetic Bells.]
[You discovered four of the bells: one in Oxford, guarded by Tooth-Clan chief Woodworth; one in Gloucester, under Feather-Clan lord Mourien; one in Salisbury, held by Wind-Clan leader Aurora; and one in Norwich, overseen by Earth-Clan chieftain Spriggan.]
With the exception of Norcenlai's realm, each clan chief personally protected one of the bells.
[You dispatched envoys to Gloucester, Salisbury, and Norwich to negotiate bell-ringing.]
[Gloucester's Mourien responded that the Prophetic Bells themselves symbolize each clan's stance—once sounded, all Britain would heed their call. Since the Round Table's weight still fell short of her standards, she would not overtly support you.]
[Salisbury's Aurora confessed she wished to help, but insisted Artoria—"the Child of Prophecy"—prove her worth. If Artoria could resolve Norwich's blight, Aurora would open Salisbury's Bell Hall.]
[Spriggan of Norwich demanded a fee of five hundred million Morg pounds for the temporary rights to strike Norwich's bell.]
"Five hundred million Morg pounds?" you fumed. "They've got to be kidding!" That sum equaled the Round Table's entire revenue over years—a truly audacious demand. You began to consider storming Norwich alongside Bogarde, then seizing the bell by force.
But Gloucester and Salisbury posed different challenges. Mourien, a true ancestral fae with a potent domain, had honed her territory for centuries—attacking her city would be suicide. Aurora, by contrast, seemed less formidable; in the player community she was derided as brainless, more pitiful than Yuan Shu, a mere "Aurora Adou" whose strength was average—surely Percival could take her. Yet any aggression against Salisbury would provoke Lancelot, who—according to legend—loved Aurora deeply and whose prowess was universally acknowledged as the fae's greatest.
Having been mauled by Woodworth, you had no desire to test Lancelot's strength.
Oxford's bell could wait; you'd snatch it when Woodworth next wandered too far from home. After all, the best tactics sometimes meant simply switching fields when stuck.
[In Queen's Calendar 2018, June, you received full authority from Percival and became de facto governor of Londonium. Under your capable management, the city flourished anew, and the Round Table's strength surged.]
[Although overall prowess rose, you were occupied with governance and could not train; your personal attributes did not improve that month.]
[During a casual chat, Percival revealed the Round Table had another hidden backer—unreachable, yet searching for the fifth Prophetic Bell.]
[In Queen's Calendar 2018, July, a fae named Gawain arrived seeking to join the Round Table. She quickly distinguished herself, catching both your and Percival's attention.]
Her portrait appeared on your screen: a spirited young woman with boyish short hair, hefting a massive lance almost too large for her frame. She gazed at Percival and you with hopeful admiration.
[For some reason, the moment you first saw her, you felt an unexpected fondness.]
Indeed, her slightly rounded, fair face struck you as irresistibly endearing. You nodded in agreement.
"Gawain… that name sounds familiar—was she in the original roster?" you wondered. After long thought, you recalled she was a two-star bronze card in the game. Yet when you opened her profile in the simulator, her rarity was marked SR, with a faint golden glow around her frame. Though paler than your own avatar's gold sheen, it still marked her as a valuable card.
"Hmm… in the game, rarity hinged on player popularity or game balance. In this simulator, rarity seems based solely on battlefield might," you mused.
Regardless, a gold card warranted investment. Until now, the only gold card you'd encountered in your army was Percival himself—Gawain's status alone spoke volumes of her talent.
[You resolved to focus on training the fae Gawain.]
[Industrious and ambitious, she thrived under yours and Percival's tutelage, swiftly becoming a capable, independent warrior and a notable asset to the Round Table.]
[In Queen's Calendar 2018, August, the blight over Norwich grew more intense—seemingly at its breaking point.]
[Next month, disaster would strike Norwich—a fixed story event that would spawn random encounters within a one-unit radius. Players were advised to prepare.]
Reading this warning, you frowned in alarm. You had assumed Norwich's curse followed a stable pattern each run and so had not hurried to boost your stats; this earlier onset caught you off guard. You wondered if, with your current values and the Round Table's forces, you could survive the coming catastrophe.
[As you plotted your defenses, Gawain approached you one day: she had dreamed you'd perish battling the blight.]
[You received an ominous premonition.]