Crazy Britain:They’re All Raising Me

After mooching a truckload of rewards from Will, Guinevere's side was finally in a playable state again.

With a C-rank Strength, two D-rank stats, and no less than three Hunter Runes at his disposal, he now had the basic qualifications to engage a real Servant in a head-on fight.

It was like they always said: Rely on the mountain and the mountain falls, rely on people and they run—only yourself is reliable.

(Except, of course, when it comes to that classic Type-Moon scenario where you have to kill yourself.)

Moreover, thanks to the memory synchronization with his other self, Guinevere had gained a wealth of additional information. Aside from the intel Will had personally acquired, the fusion of memories from both perspectives also helped unlock new interpretations and insights.

Notably, in the intel Will had gathered from the London police, it was mentioned that after Guinevere's kidnapping, he completely vanished. No one—not even the cultists—knew the whereabouts of Henry Jekyll...

Thinking back, Guinevere realized that the first time he awoke in real-world London was precisely the same location where he had been swallowed by the black hole in the dream version of Itty. And the very moment he regained consciousness… he had already been inside a dream again.

Could it be... that ever since he was kidnapped, those cultists had used some ritual to forcefully plunge him into the dream—and he'd never truly woken up since?

Guinevere fell deep into thought.

Putting aside what exact role he played in their ritual, one thing was certain: the palace where he had first regained awareness in the dream realm had to be a place of significance. And that queen—Cassilda—must be at the very heart of the entire vortex.

In other words, if he were to re-enter the dream, the first place to investigate should be that palace—or perhaps it wouldn't even require diving back into the dream at all. Now that Will had access to his memories too, he might have already thought of this and be investigating the palace on his end.

Just as Guinevere was lost in contemplation, a hand suddenly smacked the back of his head with a loud thwack, nearly knocking him off balance.

"What are you spacing out for, huh? Did your brain rot in your sleep?" came a brash voice beside him.

Rubbing the back of his buzzing skull, Guinevere turned and saw the blonde knight standing behind the sofa. With a wry smile, he said:

"I was just thinking about something… And really, Mordred, even if I were still asleep, there's no need to wake me so violently, is there?"

"Oh, now that's a rare gentle tone. Looks like the one in charge right now must be Henry Jekyll," said Ritsuka Fujimaru, sitting up from her spot on the opposite sofa with a stretch.

Beside her, Mash was also waking up, rubbing her eyes groggily.

"Oh! Senpai, you're awake?" Hina Kaguyama, who had been standing by silently for some time, gave a small nod upon seeing Ritsuka stir. She then casually strolled to the other side of the room.

"Well then, as usual, I'll leave the negotiations here to you."

"Geez, Hina-chan, you're really not honest with yourself," Da Vinci's cheerful voice chimed in as her spiritron projection lit up midair. A long-haired woman, the embodiment of beauty, smiled down at them.

"You were worried sick just a moment ago when Ritsuka hadn't woken up yet!"

"Da Vinci!" Ritsuka instantly perked up. "So good to see you! I take it Dr. Roman's off shift?"

"Yup. Just like we agreed—he gets the first half, I get the second. Now it's Da Vinci time." She gave a playful wink, then turned to Guinevere and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Mr. Jekyll. Just as you said, Ritsuka woke up safe and sound. I'm sure she caused you no small amount of trouble in the dream, did she?"

"Er, honestly… I'm not entirely sure if I helped or not… Actually, maybe I did?" Guinevere frowned, unsure as he sorted through Will's memory stream.

"What does that even mean?" Mordred grumbled beside him. "Did you help or not? Can't you even tell what you did?"

"Well, there's actually not much to it…" Now that Ritsuka had outed him anyway, Guinevere decided to just lay it all out. "Let's just say… due to one of my reckless and immature experiments, my personality ended up split in two. One side leans toward good—that's me. The other, not so much. That guy's called Edward Hyde. And somehow, he ended up being possessed by another Servant."

After a brief pause, he continued:

"Most of the time, I'm the one controlling this body. But every now and then, he takes over instead… And judging by what Ritsuka just said, it sounds like she met him in the dream."

"That's correct," Ritsuka nodded. "Given that, would it be alright if I filled everyone in on what happened in the dream?"

Seeing no objections, she began recounting her experience:

"When I first entered the dream, I found myself right where I'd been before. Then…"

She suddenly paused, and her expression turned sheepish.

"Sorry, I think the dream's fading. Some of it's already fuzzy…"

"You were attacked by a monster, and Mash saved you," Guinevere chimed in helpfully.

Just like before, most of them couldn't remember the dream clearly. But thanks to the King in Yellow's anti-interference blessing, Guinevere retained everything with perfect clarity.

"Oh right, right!" Ritsuka nodded rapidly. "Then, after we got back, we found Mr. Jekyll's dead body… and while we were still mourning, he suddenly stood up again and turned into Mr. Hyde. Except he looked… kinda zombie-ish…"

"'Undead,' technically," Guinevere corrected. "Because I ran into the dream version of Bavanzi, and she had been corrupted into a Nightmare Incarnation. So she attacked me and—wait a sec."

Guinevere suddenly looked around.

"Where is Bavanzi?"

Unlike Artoria or the others who had seen parallel world memories during the pseudo-simulation replay, Guinevere had inherited Will's memory directly. That meant those recollections weren't like watching a third-person tape—they were his own memories now. After everything that had happened since then, he had actually forgotten that it was Bavanzi who first triggered the switch to his Hyde personality.

And unlike other dream incarnations, she hadn't disappeared—she was still physically here!

It didn't take him long to spot her, dozing on a small sofa in the corner. But no matter how much he called her name or shook her, Bavanzi wouldn't wake.

"Mr. Jekyll… is Bavanzi…"

"She's probably trapped in a nightmare."

Seeing the pained look on her face, Guinevere sighed and gently took her hand.

"Looks like this is the side effect of becoming a Nightmare Incarnation. Given the name, it makes sense that it would trap the corresponding Servant in a dream state."

"Oh…"

"Then why are you still holding her hand?" Mordred snapped, clearly irritated. "You've only just met her, haven't you? Are you some kind of Casanova—gotta comfort every pretty girl you see?"

"...Well, it wasn't exactly our first meeting." Guinevere hesitated for a second, then hastily spun a story in his mind. "I wasn't aware at the time, but due to my poor relationship with Hyde—we were practically enemies—he never shared anything about what happened on his end…"

"Oh! I know this!" Mash raised her hand. "In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, you two are mortal enemies!"

"Exactly," Guinevere nodded. "But thanks to the weirdness of this singularity, we've managed to form a temporary truce. He's even willing to share memories and power with me. Mostly due to that 'Lord of Blood' Servant, who seems to be close to both him and Bavanzi. They're both from Fairy Britain, after all."

"I see."

Hearing that, everyone seemed to accept the explanation without suspicion.

After all, dual-personality Servants were incredibly rare, and no one else really knew the rules. Which meant Guinevere could BS his way through pretty much anything.

"Got it." Ritsuka clenched her tiny fists. "Then, for Mr. Hyde's sake too, I'll do whatever I can to save Bavanzi!"

"Now, let me continue describing what we saw in the dream—"

.........

"—Wait, WHAT?! You saw my FATHER in the dream?!"

By the time Ritsuka recounted the part involving Artoria, Mordred had already leapt to her feet in shock.

"Please calm down, Miss Mordred," Mash said gently. "That wasn't the Artoria you know. She was a visitor from a parallel world—many things about her might differ from your King Arthur."

"She might not even know you," Guinevere added. "That alternate world may not even have a Mordred at all."

"Hold on," Mordred turned sharply toward him. "Come to think of it—you mentioned before that you knew my father… Are you saying you knew the parallel version too?"

"...Yes," Guinevere nodded after a pause.

"You knew and you didn't tell me?!"

She lunged, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him off the ground.

"I asked you specifically if you saw my father! Obviously I meant the real King Arthur from our world! Don't tell me you couldn't tell the difference?!"

"The fairy version of Arthur doesn't count! You think I'd ever acknowledge some knockoff as my father?!"

"M-Miss Mordred, please—calm down—!"

Ritsuka waved at Mash, worried that Mordred might punch Guinevere into paste.

But then—

Mordred hurled him back onto the sofa, took two steps, and dropkicked both couch and man straight into the wall.

The entire piece of furniture ricocheted off and fell back, pinning Guinevere underneath in a heap.

Without another word, Mordred turned, stomped over to the door, and kicked it clean off its hinges before storming out of the room.

"Uh…"

Everyone was left speechless at the chaos.

"Welp… this is a mess." Guinevere groaned, pushing the couch off himself. He let out a long sigh, then stood and dashed after her.

"Wait! Mordred! Let me explain—!"