"Amuse me."
Siduri let out a sigh.
It had been a year since King Gilgamesh turned into a tyrant.
Her tyranny was reaching its zenith.
Today, again, she had summoned an innocent citizen and issued an unreasonable command.
"B… But, Your Majesty, with a brush such as this, I can do nothing."
"Hmph? Do you think I have commanded the impossible?"
Gilgamesh's crimson eyes grew a shade redder.
The citizen bowed his head low, as if he meant to burrow into the ground.
"Not at all!"
"Then be quick about it."
A heartless voice.
The fact that Gilgamesh had guided countless citizens to the underworld was so infamous that not a soul was unaware of it.
The citizen struck his head against the floor.
It was a pitiful gesture, a plea for survival.
"Please forgive me! To satisfy the King with such a tiny brush, without making any contact with your royal person, is utterly impossible!"
"How amusing. That is not what I wished to hear."
Gilgamesh raised her hand.
The prostrated citizen's body trembled uncontrollably.
The fear of death descended upon him.
"Mediocrity has no place in my Uruk."
Shimmering golden ripples. The citizen's fate was all but sealed.
An instant later, a sharp spearhead flew towards the citizen.
At that moment, Siduri stepped forward.
"King Gilgamesh."
"...…What is it, Siduri? Do you intend to interfere with my judgment?"
Thanks to that brief interruption, the citizen survived.
By a stroke of sheer luck, it ended with only one of his legs being severed.
Blood gushed out and a searing pain flared, but the citizen kept his mouth shut.
He was alive. That was more important than anything else.
Her mood soured, Gilgamesh turned towards Siduri.
A murderous aura emanated from her as she sat loftily upon the throne.
"Speak. It would be wise to answer carefully. Do not delude yourself into thinking I will spare you just because it is you."
"I would never think such a thing, King Gilgamesh."
Siduri bowed, showing her respect.
"It seems the people cannot keep up with the King's rule. Would you not consider granting them an opportunity to follow the King's vision?"
"Follow my vision? Of all the things I have heard, that is the most amusing. So delightful it could make my belly burst."
Contrary to her words, Gilgamesh's eyes grew increasingly sharp.
"Do not overstep your bounds, Siduri. You say I should care for the obsolete commoners? Consideration? Give them a chance? How absurd."
She rose from her throne.
Her brilliant golden hair, brighter than any other, scattered like flower petals.
Arrogant and beautiful.
Even the citizen with the severed leg stared at her, mesmerized.
"The lowly need only follow my will. To die by my hand is an honor beyond their station. Do you not understand, Siduri?"
"That is not it, King Gilgamesh."
"If you understand, then be silent. The only reason I let you live is to give those mongrels a slight chance."
Siduri asked what that chance was.
Gilgamesh scoffed.
"It is a chance to engrave this into the minds of all mongrels who would dare defy me: that they should know their place, and that servitude is their only salvation."
"…Who would dare defy the King?"
"There are some. Insolent mongrels."
Gilgamesh lowered her gaze slightly.
The citizen at her feet, thinking the King was glaring at him, trembled in fear.
He was so frightened he nearly lost control of his bladder, but she was not looking at him.
She was looking somewhere much farther. At the cedar-filled forest nestled in the mountain range.
"Everything in this world is mine. I am the one and only King. No one, and nothing, can escape my grasp."
Gilgamesh said in a resolute voice.
Only Siduri, who knew the true meaning behind those words, could pity her in her heart.
"Husband! What… What in the world happened?!"
"…I barely survived. If it weren't for Lady Siduri, I would already be dead."
"But with your leg like this…"
The wife, who had been waiting for her husband's return, shed tears upon seeing his severed leg.
"I'm just glad to be back alive. It means I can see you again."
"Oh, husband…"
The couple embraced each other tightly. They were a happy family, but their future was not bright.
Uruk was slowly declining under the King's excessive tyranny.
And yet, the nation itself was continuing to develop.
As a ruler, Gilgamesh had a clear vision, making the nation rich and powerful by creating innovative systems and cultural advancements.
Despite the opposition from numerous gods jealous of Uruk, it was solidifying its position as a great power.
The problem was that Gilgamesh ran the country according to her own whims.
Whenever new farming methods were developed to greatly increase the harvest, she would seize half of it for herself.
As a result, while the harvest had doubled, the amount that went back to the people was even less than before.
Furthermore, whenever she was bored, she would summon people to the palace, give them absurd orders, and kill them under all sorts of pretexts.
Gilgamesh reigned as if she were the sole king not only of Uruk but of the entire world, earning the hostility of all.
The image of the wise king she once was had vanished, leaving only a tyrant.
Everyone was praying for the tyrant to be gone.
The man who had just returned from the palace, his leg severed but his life spared, was no different.
"Still, I have to do business. …Hey there, miss! How about a bouquet of flowers?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not a woman."
"Oh, a handsome young man then. My apologies! You're quite the pretty one!"
"I'm not a man either. …I like the flowers, but I want to hear a different story."
A strange person.
It had been twenty years since he started selling flowers, but he had never seen a customer like this.
Long, flowing hair the color of light green grass.
An androgynous appearance and a long white robe that hid their figure.
They introduced themself as 'Enkidu'.
"I want to hear about King Gilgamesh."
"…I'm sorry, but I don't know anything. It would be the same if you asked anyone else."
The man tried to shoo them away.
No matter where in the world, Gilgamesh would find and take revenge on anyone who insulted her.
Let alone being caught bad-mouthing the king in the middle of Uruk?
You would be immediately beheaded, and the next day, your head would be displayed in the square.
The man, having seen this happen several times with his own eyes, didn't want to say a word.
However, Enkidu paid him no mind and mentioned the king's name.
"Gilgamesh's reputation seems to be quite bad. Of all the things I've heard since coming to Uruk, not a single one was favorable."
"The King has a world of her own… It's not our place to interfere. We can only wait for her whims to pass."
"A proper king values the lives of their people. That's what I was taught."
The man barely managed to suppress a bitter laugh.
"You must have come from some land of dreams."
"I came from the forest."
"Is that so? Well, a Sumerian wouldn't say such idealistic things."
Enkidu asked what he meant by that.
"Uruk is overwhelming. It devastated the surrounding nations in the Five-Year War and achieved incredible growth during that time. If you want to live a decent life, ironically, you have no choice but to enter this hell."
"Is it hard to live in other countries?"
"You can't live. Those places are slums that just happen to be called countries. Even the poorest neighborhood in Uruk eats better than they do."
The Five-Year War, waged by the war god Marduk, had propelled Uruk to a whole other level as a nation.
The king continues her tyranny?
So what? Do other countries have roads? Do they have clothes to wear?
The king kills people for fun when she's bored?
Better to have a random chance of dying than to starve to death for certain.
"We are trapped in Uruk. We'll die a slow death. I myself only barely survived today."
"So Gilgamesh really is the problem."
"H-Hey! If you say the King's name so casually…!"
A shadow fell over the flower shop.
On a golden airship that had appeared out of nowhere, the king was standing.
"Where is the mongrel who dares speak my name so freely?"
The man, afraid that his remaining leg would also be cut off, prostrated himself flat on the ground.
But Enkidu simply looked up at her with an innocent expression.
"I will give you three seconds. A chance to prostrate yourself before me and show your respect."
"Why should I?"
Gilgamesh frowned. But she soon relaxed her expression and sighed.
"…Still just a foolish beast, are you? I had thought you'd become somewhat useful. A weapon is nothing more than a weapon, I suppose."
"I may be a weapon, but you are not even a king. You have neither the support of your citizens nor the love of anyone."
Enkidu and Gilgamesh unleashed their auras.
Their overwhelming presences clashed.
"Between the two of us, who is the useless one?"
"You truly court death, mongrel…!"
Gilgamesh bared her teeth in a savage smile.
Enkidu, not to be outdone, returned a gentle smile.
A battle that would cause the world to die and be reborn seven times had begun.