"Sorry, you failed. Please insert coin."
"Sorry, you failed. Please insert coin..." x999
With the claw machine's merciless prompt sounds, everyone present watched as the tokens in the blue box beside Mordred disappeared one after another.
One failure, two failures, three failures.
Normally, for a claw machine, the success rate is quite low, but it usually has a threshold.
Twenty times, thirty times, fifty times, even a hundred times… regardless of how unlucky you are, it should at least give you some hope, a hope that you can get a plushie.
However, this principle seemed completely different when applied to Mordred. Around Mordred, it felt like the entire arcade was conspiring against her… she truly couldn't get a single plushie.
"Damn it, what's going on?"
Having practically conquered the entire arcade earlier today, feeling like a victorious general, Mordred now looked like a frost-bitten eggplant, utterly dejected.
"Mordred, let me try."
Seeing Mordred's failure, Ryuya hadn't intervened in her game initially.
He was just like the bystanders around, quietly watching Mordred fail.
After Mordred had consumed a vast number of tokens, Ryuya decided to step in.
"Master? You do it, you do it."
Surprisingly, Mordred felt no resentment whatsoever about Ryuya helping her. She obediently stepped aside.
Clink.
As the token entered the claw machine, Ryuya operated the mechanical arm.
"Master, left, a bit more to the left."
"Right, yes, right there! Grab it! Charge!"
Glaring ferociously at the plushie she had struggled with for so long, Mordred didn't physically help at all, but her sense of participation was full marks.
And Ryuya, living up to her expectations, successfully grabbed the plushie.
"Yes! Master, you're so cool!"
Seeing Ryuya get the plushie, Mordred secretly clapped and cheered.
"Mordred, which other plushie do you like?"
There were many claw machines with a wide variety of plushies. Planning to help Mordred get a few more, Ryuya asked.
"Get more? No need, this is enough."
Looking at the little lion plushie Ryuya handed her, Mordred's mood somehow became subtly complex.
Suddenly losing interest in the other plushies, she just held the one Ryuya gave her, not saying a word.
"This is enough?"
Noticing Mordred seemed a bit distracted, Ryuya didn't think much of it. He and Mordred put all the other prizes into his spatial bag, except for the little lion plushie, which Mordred didn't give to him.
"Master, this is my thing. I want to hold it myself."
Even though she had won so many things in the arcade herself, she had a special fondness for the little lion plushie Ryuya got for her. Mordred spoke while glaring at Ryuya, putting on a fierce expression.
"Mordred."
"I won't listen, I won't listen, I won't listen!"
In the afternoon, after having lunch with Mordred, Ryuya prepared to come clean with her.
Back at the hotel, he began to tell her about her father.
But the moment he just mentioned the beginning, Mordred, like a cat with its fur bristling, immediately jumped up, declaring she wouldn't listen.
"Master, I don't mind anything else you say, but only, only when it comes to the Sun-Crowned King, don't talk to me about it."
Her golden hair had returned to its messy state, mirroring its owner's mood. Her previously neat appearance instantly reverted to that of a wild child. Mordred pulled Ryuya's hand.
"Master, let's go out and play some more."
"Mordred, although I'd like to keep playing with you, I have other matters to attend to."
Looking at Mordred 'acting coquettishly' with him, Ryuya sighed. At this point, he felt that directly revealing his identity to Mordred shouldn't be a problem.
Therefore...
"Mordred... Morgan, Artoria, Merlin, Vivian should have told you about me."
"They should also have told you that if you ever came to Snowfield City, you should look for the Einzberns, right?"
Back during the Fourth Holy Grail War in Snowfield City, he had spoken at length with Female Gil, Artoria, Merlin, and the others. Ryuya had anticipated then that the Life Simulation System would likely bring his other lovers to Snowfield City for the next war.
He specifically instructed Female Gil and the others to tell Mordred, Vivian, Tiamat, etc., about the Einzberns in Snowfield City after returning to their worlds.
Frankly, if Ryuya hadn't now attained the power of a Star God, his words back then would have been very useful.
It could have avoided a lot of trouble.
Now, having reached the level of a Star God, even if just the initial stage, Ryuya could sense all combat powers below the level of Planetary Singularity...
Planetary Singularities who don't hide their presence can be sensed by Ryuya, but if they hide, it's harder for him to find.
Crimson Moon and Hope don't hide, so Ryuya can sense them.
Already aware of the presences of Crimson Moon and others at the Einzbern Castle, he could roughly guess why Mordred didn't want to go there.
It boiled down to being too scared to move forward.
"Master, how do you know Aunt Vivian and Mother and the others?"
Hearing Ryuya mention the Einzberns and names like Vivian, just as Ryuya guessed, Mordred did know she was supposed to go to the Einzbern Castle after arriving in Snowfield City.
But she was truly afraid, afraid of meeting her father, afraid of meeting that father she didn't know how to describe in her heart.
That's why, after meeting a Master like Ryuya whom she felt an innate strong favorability towards, Mordred played along with him, primarily because she was escaping.
Suddenly hearing Ryuya utter these key words, a possibility surfaced in Mordred's heart.
But she didn't want to acknowledge it.
"Mordred, you should understand what I mean."
"I won't listen! Master, don't say it!"
"Just as you think, I know these things. And the reason you feel so familiar with me is actually just one reason."
"Master, please don't say anymore! I don't want to believe this!"
Biting her lower lip tightly, still holding the lion plushie Ryuya got for her this morning, a moment that should have been her happiest, Mordred now felt the plushie's smiling face was mocking her.
Mocking her ignorance.
Mocking her delusions.
Mocking her hopes.
And... mocking her love.
"Mordred."
Looking at the crouching Mordred, Ryuya knew that stopping now was pointless. Let his daughter be angry if she wanted… he still needed to take her back to the Einzbern Castle.
So...
"I am your father, Mordred Pendragon."
"My name is Ryuya, and I am also the Sun-Crowned King... Isben Pendragon!"
Finally, under Mordred's rejecting gaze, Ryuya spoke that name.
The name Mordred would never forget.