Shinji Matou At Your Service

Chapter 406: When Artoria Meets Jeanne

When Artoria saw Jeanne, Jeanne also saw Artoria.

It must be said that Jeanne's timing was quite fortunate.

Had she arrived a dozen minutes earlier, she would have seen Astolfo returning after escorting Sieg.

Had she arrived a few minutes later, Artoria would have already left. With the isolation provided by the "Hades Cloak," even the Ruler would find it difficult to detect her.

The moment Artoria saw Jeanne's face, she was stunned.

That hair—

That face shape—

Those ears—

Those eyebrows—

That nose—

And that mouth—

Why do they look so familiar?

It felt like looking into a mirror—wait, isn't this my face?

Who is she? How can she look exactly like me?

It's no wonder Artoria was so shocked. Even an ordinary person would be startled to see someone who looks very similar to them on the street, let alone someone with Artoria's unique experiences.

She vividly remembered that her sister Morgan had used magecraft to give birth to the taboo child Mordred, who looked exactly like her. Although she was certain that the girl in front of her was not Mordred, her first thought upon seeing that face was—could this be another one of her sister's tricks?

One must understand that Morgan was both a "Lady of the Lake" and a great magus on par with Merlin. As long as she was alive, it wouldn't be surprising for her to pull off some strange magic. Unfortunately, when King Arthur "died," Morgan was still alive and well.

Of course, if Artoria could break the dimensional barrier and meet a guy named Takeuchi Takashi, she wouldn't be so surprised. What's the big deal about one lookalike? Characters with the same face could form a team, or even fight in a Holy Grail War.

Unfortunately, Artoria didn't know Takeuchi Takashi, so she fell into confusion, standing there blankly, her eyes unfocused as she watched Jeanne approach.

"Are you the Black Lancer?"

"..."

"Black Lancer?"

"..."

It's worth noting that at this moment, Artoria had already switched to her armored state, so only she could see Jeanne's face, while Jeanne couldn't see hers.

"Black Lancer?"

Jeanne asked for the third time, and Artoria finally snapped out of her daze with an "Ah," responding, "Servant, Ruler?"

"Yes." Jeanne nodded, then asked with some concern, "Are you alright?"

"Nothing," Artoria responded reflexively, then realized something was off and asked, "Why are you asking me if something's wrong?"

"Yeah, did something happen?" Jeanne was a bit puzzled by the situation.

"You'll know soon enough." Artoria took a deep breath to calm herself, then removed her full-face helmet.

This time, it was Jeanne's turn to be stunned.

However, her reaction was much smaller compared to Artoria's. This was mainly because the current Artoria was in her more mature form, resembling an older sister, and thus appeared much more mature than Jeanne. There were still some differences in their appearances. Additionally, Jeanne didn't have Artoria's unique experiences, so for her, the resemblance was merely surprising, not confusing.

"You startled me. I didn't expect us to look so similar. If I lived a few more years, I might look more like you."

"And you are—?"

"Servant·Ruler, Jeanne d'Arc. Please take care of me, King of Knights of Britain."

"Saint Jeanne!"

The name awakened long-buried memories in Artoria. Back then, she had not yet let go of her obsessions. A mad Caster had called her Jeanne, and the Queen of the Shadow Land had also said she resembled Jeanne.

"So it's you. If it's you, then it's not surprising. Indeed, apart from the eyes, our faces are almost identical."

Artoria wasn't surprised, but Jeanne found Artoria's calm attitude rather strange.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because someone mistook me for you in another Holy Grail War."

Perhaps it was an initial positive impression, or perhaps it was the sense of shared nobility, but Artoria did not hide the truth.

"Who was it?"

"Gilles de Rais, he should be your comrade."

"Gilles!"

Jeanne's pupils contracted. He was her most steadfast supporter and ally. This bond remained unbroken until death.

Countless memories surged to the forefront of her mind: the oaths sworn under the banner of the fleur-de-lis, the bloody battles on the front lines, and the shared laughter after the liberation of Orléans.

All these thoughts eventually turned into a single sigh.

"Is he... alright?"

Artoria hesitated for a moment, then finally shook her head. "Not well. He went mad, stubbornly mistaking me for you. Although we look very similar, there are many differences. If someone were familiar with you, they couldn't possibly mistake us. Moreover—"

"Moreover what?"

"Moreover, after being summoned to the present world, he committed many crimes and ultimately tried to summon a monster to destroy an entire city."

"Gilles, Gilles he—"

The color drained from Jeanne's face instantly. Although she already knew Gilles de Rais's fate and the crimes he committed through the knowledge granted by the Holy Grail, hearing it from Artoria made it all the more real.

She felt pained by this, yet she accepted it as a fact. However, when she heard that he had been summoned to the present world and still had not changed, her heart wavered—Gilles, are you still fixated on my death?

Artoria silently watched the girl in front of her. She could understand these feelings; if Lancelot or Gawain had turned out this way, she would have reacted similarly.

All she could do was wait, wait for Jeanne to come to terms with it herself.

She believed this girl, who was so similar to her, would find her way out. Because their resemblance extended beyond appearance to their spirits.

After an unknown amount of time, Jeanne lifted her head, her voice hoarse as she asked, "What happened to Gilles in the end?"

"He died, under my holy sword." Artoria's expression was calm, showing no concern that she had personally killed Jeanne's comrade.

"I see." Jeanne's voice was very soft. When she looked up again, her eyes had regained their clarity. "Thank you, King of Knights, thank you for stopping him for me."

"No need to thank me; if it were you, you would have done the same."

"Yes."

This trust lifted Jeanne's spirits significantly, and a faint smile appeared on her face. Only then did she realize the oddity in their conversation.

"Wait, how do you have memories of another Holy Grail War?"

Heroic Spirits are beings detached from the timeline, capable of being summoned in any era, past, or future. However, only the "world" itself can summon the original Heroic Spirits, while humans can only summon Servant incarnations of these spirits.

The information (soul) that constitutes a Servant returns to the original spirit upon the Servant's death. The original spirit can then understand the Servant's actions as if reading a book, but this record is not inherited by newly summoned Servants.

In other words, Servants do not retain memories of their previous summonings.

Yet Artoria had these memories, which naturally surprised Jeanne—could it be due to the Command Spell?

Before Jeanne could ponder further, Artoria proudly declared:

"Because I am special."

P.S.: Yes, I'm taller than you, and my chest is bigger too.

P.S.2: Uh, don't take the Noble Phantasm animation of Lancer Artoria seriously. At least, there hasn't been any other evidence found that Dun Stallion can fly—if you insist on explaining the Noble Phantasm, it could be said that the Invisible Air blew it up.