Crazy Britain:They’re All Raising Me

"Hey! So what do we do now?!"

Seeing Guinevere seemingly trapped in a deep, unbreakable sleep, Mordred asked anxiously.

"...I don't know."

Unexpectedly, Hans Christian Andersen simply spread his hands and replied helplessly:

"My only method to deal with it was to use my Noble Phantasm to rapidly grant it form, then leave the rest to you combat-type Servants... but now she's gone and hidden inside this guy's dream. What do you want me to do?"

"You what?!"

Mordred immediately snapped. She grabbed Andersen by the collar and hoisted him into the air.

"You were the one who asked for our help, weren't you?! Jekyll ended up like this because he was trying to deal with your problem, and now you're telling me there's nothing we can do?!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Andersen flailed his arms in the air, trying to placate her. "It's not like I wanted this either! The current situation is totally outside of what I anticipated, and obviously I couldn't prepare a contingency in advance..."

Seeing Mordred about to blow up again, Andersen quickly added:

"But wait! Don't freak out just yet! It's not like we're completely out of options! There might still be a way!"

That made Mordred pause.

"Then spit it out!"

"Under normal circumstances, if she's hiding inside the guy's dream, we'd be completely helpless... But right now, aren't everyone's dreams connected together?"

"You mean, if we dive into the dream quickly, we can still find him, right?" Ritsuka Fujimaru's eyes lit up.

"Exactly." Andersen nodded. "And even though Nursery Rhyme doesn't have physical form yet and can't be touched, in the dream world—since no one's physical body is present anyway—it theoretically becomes much easier to deal with her..."

"...Ah," Fujimaru suddenly looked visibly relieved. "Well, in that case, it's totally fine."

"...Huh?" Mordred blinked. "What do you mean, totally fine? Aren't we allies? You trying to leave Jekyll to die?"

"Did you forget something?" Fujimaru shrugged. "Inside the dream, Jekyll still has his other personality... That guy is seriously powerful. We don't need to worry about him at all."

"Wait, hang on a sec—"

Mordred was about to argue back when suddenly a frightened scream from a little girl rang out beside them. Everyone turned in shock to see the fairy tale book that had just entered Guinevere's dream shoot out of his body again, as if in a panic, and make a beeline for the window.

"Oh?"

Andersen's eyes lit up immediately.

He had no idea what just happened, but since the opportunity presented itself, there was no way he was letting it go. He immediately raised the book and quill in his hands.

"To complete the draft is to declare the story's end!"

"Let me be the one to write your tale. I shall give you a name, grimoire—no, you are..."

"Marchen Meines Lebens — A Story Dedicated to Someone!"

With a rapid incantation, Andersen—still dangling in midair from Mordred's grip—flung his pen toward the fairy tale book hovering in the air.

Once airborne, the quill took on a life of its own. It expanded and began darting about, tracing glowing trails of blue mana midair. With a few deft strokes, the characters for "Nursery Rhyme" were drawn in light and landed directly on the floating book.

A dazzling burst of light followed, causing everyone to instinctively shield their eyes. When the light faded, the book had completely vanished.

In its place stood a petite, porcelain-skinned girl with white hair, dressed in a black Gothic Lolita dress.

At the moment, however, the little girl seemed absolutely terrified. She was curled up, clutching her head, trembling uncontrollably. Between sobs, she muttered:

"Monster... monster... so scary..."

Seeing this, Ritsuka blinked. After exchanging a glance with Mash, she ran over and gently reached out to pat Nursery Rhyme on the head.

"It's okay, it's okay. Don't be scared..."

Mash immediately followed close behind, shield in hand. If the little girl made any sudden moves, she'd leap in front of Ritsuka instantly.

When Ritsuka's hand touched the child's head, Nursery Rhyme flinched like a startled bunny and nearly leapt up. But when she looked up and saw Ritsuka's gentle, harmless smile, she visibly relaxed.

Though she still shuffled sideways to avoid the hand on her head, the hostility in her gaze faded. She didn't lash out.

Seeing that, Ritsuka didn't look disappointed. She simply withdrew her hand and asked gently:

"What's wrong? Why are you so scared? Is there anything I can do to help you?"

As long as the girl wasn't being aggressive, that was a good sign. It meant a potential peaceful solution—and the chance to recruit her as an ally.

Nursery Rhyme hesitated for a few seconds, but then cautiously pointed in the direction of Guinevere and whispered:

"Inside his dream... it's scary... a black monster, covered in blood, really big, really terrifying..."

...

"This is weird. Why was I sleeping on the floor...?"

When Guinevere slowly awoke, the first thing he saw was a tiny hand pointing vigorously in his direction. He looked over and saw Ritsuka calmly petting Nursery Rhyme's head, clearly working hard to build rapport.

Then he turned his head and saw Mordred crouching beside him, her eyes locked on his face with a particularly complex expression.

"What's with that look?" Guinevere asked, confused.

"You..."

Mordred's expression was indescribable.

"...Just how terrifying is your other personality? You scared that little girl out of her wits. And she's a Servant, mind you. I've never seen a Servant reduced to tears like that."

"Uh... really?"

Guinevere scratched his head awkwardly. As far as he remembered, he just closed his eyes for a second and woke up. He hadn't even had time to dream. How was he supposed to know what scared her?

Judging by Nursery Rhyme's reaction, it must've been Will she encountered in the dream... but was Will really that terrifying?

In his memories, Will was a bit standoffish, sure, but not scary. Maybe Nursery Rhyme happened to bump into him after he transformed and went full rampage mode?

But what kind of enemy would require Will to transform that quickly in the dream world?

Guinevere started to worry.

Just then, a message flashed before his eyes:

[Artoria]: Hey, Guinevere, that daughter Mordred picked up in London—the one you said is technically my granddaughter—can you remind me what she looks like?

[Artoria]: I think I might've found her.

Seeing that, Guinevere immediately perked up and sat upright, quickly typing a reply:

[Guinevere]: She's very short, with short gray-white hair. Wears a tattered black cloak, and underneath that a very skimpy leather outfit. Has stitch scars on her face and green eyes that kind of look cat-like.

At the same time, over at Scotland Yard, Artoria checked his response and nodded seriously.

[Artoria]: Yeah, that's her. I saw her at Scotland Yard.

"Hey, what's up with you? Why the sudden excitement?" Mordred narrowed her eyes at Guinevere. "Don't tell me scaring a little girl makes you that happy?"

"Shhh—"

Guinevere raised a finger to his lips and gestured for silence.

"Artoria might've found a lead on Jack."

That immediately made Mordred's expression turn serious too.

[Artoria]: ...Though her condition seems a little off.

[Guinevere]: Off? What do you mean?

Artoria glanced again at the vacant-eyed Jack in front of her, then responded:

[Artoria]: Her eyes look empty. Lifeless. She didn't even respond when I called her. It's like... she's been hypnotized or something.

[Guinevere]: Huh?

Guinevere frowned at the message.

[Guinevere]: Hypnotized? Can you try snapping her out of it?

"Well? What's happening?!" Mordred noticed Guinevere's increasingly tense expression and asked urgently.

[Artoria]: I'll try... Damn it, she's attacking!

"What?!"

Guinevere's heart clenched.

[Guinevere]: Can you handle her?!

[Artoria]: Don't worry. Who do you think I am?

Facing the young girl rushing at her with twin daggers, Artoria confidently raised her staff.

[Artoria]: ...Even if I'm not as amazing as my dream self, I'm no pushover either!

That...

Guinevere's train of thought stuttered slightly.

Her dream self being a Grand Saber and the overseer of the Holy Sword System was one thing... but in reality, wasn't she more like a magical Doraemon who pulled out weird tools to save the day?

[Guinevere]: Don't underestimate her, Artoria. Even if Jack's magical presence is weak for a Servant, her Noble Phantasm is still incredibly dangerous—especially to women.

[Artoria]: Crap, she's using her Noble Phantasm—she's so fast!

That message made Guinevere's chest tighten again.

[Guinevere]: Fall back! Try to stall! I'm heading to Scotland Yard right now!

With that, Guinevere jumped to his feet and bolted toward the exit.

But before he even got far, another update appeared in his view:

[Artoria]: It's fine, it's fine! I used my Noble Phantasm too! I learned how to deploy my dream self's defensive one—it blocked hers completely!

[Artoria]: See? I'm not weak, even if I'm not as good as Dream Me—

[Artoria]: No! Wait! There's more than one Servant here!

And then—

Her messages abruptly stopped.

[Guinevere]: Artoria?

Sensing something terribly wrong, Guinevere typed again:

[Guinevere]: Artoria, are you okay?

But no matter how many times he asked, no more replies came from Artoria.