"Omnomnom…."
"My, you eat well…."
Waver Velvet was looking at me with a frown on his face.
"I can't eat as much as Saber, though."
"...."
"King of Conquerors. You acknowledge that the rightful ownership of the Holy Grail lies with another, yet you still intend to take it by force?"
"Hm? That's right. Isn't it only natural? This one's kingship is 『Conquest』… meaning it is always about taking and invading."
Saber asked again.
"For what reason would you go so far? What do you wish for from the Grail?"
Rider laughed heartily, almost as if embarrassed, drained his cup in one go, and then answered.
"A physical body."
It was an answer no one could have anticipated. Waver unintentionally let out a strange "Haa?" and pressed Rider further.
"Y-y-y-you! Don't tell me your wish wasn't for world conquer──Gyaaah!!"
In the end, he got a good thump on the forehead from Rider and was writhing in pain.
"London Star, sir?"
"Don't call me London Star!"
"Anyway, world conquest. But if you wished for it with the Grail, what would happen to the process? A world conquest that ends just by making a wish holds no interest for the King of Conquerors. He just wants to go on an adventure, you could say. To give an example, let's say you're playing a game. But then you use a cheat code called the Holy Grail and suddenly reach the stage where you defeat the final boss. Would that process be any fun?"
"Well, it wouldn't be..."
"That's why Rider chose a physical body."
"Ah…. So you mean, even if he fails to conquer the world, he wants to enjoy the *process* of conquest itself?"
"Yeah, I think that's the right answer. If you think about why Alexander set out to travel the world after crossing the sea, it proves he was a man with a strong spirit of adventure. Because he adventured until the very end. He wants to experience the journey of adventure itself. He's not the type who just wants to see the ending of the adventure."
Waver seemed to understand my words and nodded.
"Hey, Caster's kid. Honestly, adventure is part of it, but I went for the thrill of exploring unknown worlds, got it?"
Waver then shouted.
"That's what I just said!"
And, as always, a good thump on the forehead silenced his Master. Rider shrugged.
"Hmm, anyway, conquest is a dream you entrust to your future self. What I ask of the Grail is merely the first step towards that."
"Mongrel… To think you would challenge this king for such a trivial reason?"
Even Archer looked utterly astonished, but Rider's expression remained completely serious.
"Look here, even if we are manifested by magical energy, in the end, we are Servants. In this world, we are little more than miracles──you could say we're treated like something of a passing joke. Are you satisfied with that? This one is not. I wish to take root in this reborn world, as a single living life form."
"..."
"Why… are you so fixated on a physical body?"
"Because that is the very starting point of 『Conquest』."
Rider clenched his fist tightly, gazing intently at it as he spoke.
"With this single body of mine, I face the heavens and the earth. That is the entirety of the 'act' called conquest… To commence thus, to push forward, to achieve—that is my path of hegemony. But as I am now, I lack even that single body. This will not do. I cannot even begin. I must have a fleshly vessel, one that does not rely on anyone else, a body for Iskandar alone."
Upon hearing Rider's words, Archer laughed, looking at him with a sinister and terrifying glint in his eyes.
"I have decided. ──Rider, you shall be the first this king personally slays. The rest of you will follow."
Gilgamesh pointed at us as he spoke. Rider chuckled and replied.
"Hmph, seems there's no need to make a fresh vow. I too, mind you, intend to plunder not just the Grail, but that treasure vault of yours or whatever it is, so be prepared. Teaching a flavor like me to a Conqueror King of my caliber was far too presumptuous of you."
After that exchange, the two kings turned their attention to Artoria.
"Now, that aside, Saber. Come to think of it, we haven't heard the wish you hold within."
And Artoria spoke, as if having resolved herself.
"I wish for the salvation of my homeland. Wielding the Wish-Granting Vessel, I shall alter the fate of Britain's destruction."
Artoria's wish remained unchanged.
'To think she would label herself a sinner for that final outcome, which wouldn't have been strange even if it had happened before. But Artoria changed Britain, which was destined for ruin. However, bearing too much of the burden of that final outcome, she ended up harboring an erroneous wish.'
"Fou...."
The sound of Fou's cry could be heard, but Gilgamesh snorted with a look of utter disbelief.
And then Fou quietly slipped away into the flower garden. Artoria, seeming displeased, raised her voice.
"Archer, did you laugh at my wish?"
"Wait a moment, King of Knights. Surely I misheard? Did you just say you would 'change fate'? Do you mean to overturn the history of the past?"
Saber ignored the laughing Archer for a moment and responded to Rider's question.
"That is correct. Even if it is a wish that cannot be achieved even with a miracle, if the Holy Grail is truly almighty, then it must──"
Simultaneously, Archer and Rider stared at Artoria with looks of sheer incredulity.
"Hey, Saber? Let me confirm this… That Britain, or whatever it's called, perished, correct? During your era? It happened during your reign?"
"Yes! That is precisely why I cannot forgive myself!"
Feeling even agitation at Rider and Archer's reactions, Saber unintentionally raised her voice.
"That is why I regret it! I wish to change that outcome! Precisely because it is my duty…..."
That duty ended on the day she died. But even now, unable to let go of that attachment, she had made herself the King of Sinners and was struggling to change what she saw as a mistaken result.
The path she was on was erroneous from the start.
If Britain was to avoid a ruin it was ultimately fated to succumb to… there was no way other than becoming a Divine Spirit.
Her body might be immortal, but her spirit was not ageless. It would gradually crumble, to the point she wouldn't even recognize if this was the right path, and it was clear she would end in ruin, just like in Singularity 6.
"──To call oneself king──to be praised as king by all──and for such a one to say, 'I regret it'? Ha! How can one not laugh at that? A masterpiece! Saber, you are the ultimate jester!"
"Wait──wait a moment, King of Knights. You, of all things, deny the very actions you engraved upon history?"
"Of course I do. Why do you ask? Why do you laugh? The homeland to which I dedicated my very soul as king has been destroyed. Is it so laughable to mourn that?"
The response was another burst of roaring laughter from Archer.
"Hey, hey, did you hear that, Rider! This so-called King of Knights… of all things! Said she 'dedicated her soul to her homeland'! Saber, are you trying to kill me with laughter?!"
"What reason is there to laugh? Should a true king not desire the prosperity of the nation they govern with their very body and soul?!"
"No, you are wrong."
Rider spoke with a voice as steady as a rock.
"The king does not dedicate himself. It is the nation, its people, who dedicate their souls to the king. Never the reverse."
"What..."
Artoria, her fists clenched tightly, was trembling with visible frustration at having her wish denied by both Archer and Rider.
"──That is the rule of a tyrant! Rider, Archer, you are heretics who do not even qualify as kings!"
"Naturally. We are heroes precisely because we were tyrants."
In response to Saber's words, Rider spoke unwaveringly. One could see Saber's eyes shaking, as if she was wondering if *she* was the one in the wrong.
First, she was somewhat denied by me.
Second, she was denied and ridiculed by Archer.
Third, she was denied by the confident Rider.
"However, Saber. If there is a king who regrets their own reign, its outcome, then that king is merely a foolish ruler. Worse even than a tyrant."
"Iskandar, even you… you lost your successor, and the empire you built was torn asunder into four pieces. Are you saying you feel no regret for that outcome? That if you could start over, there might have been a path to save your homeland… Do you never think such thoughts?"
"No."
Rider answered immediately. His chest puffed out proudly, his voice unwavering—any fool could see he spoke nothing but the truth.
"If that ruin was the result reached by my decisions and the lives of my retainers who served me loyally, then that destruction is inevitable. I would grieve. I would shed tears. But I would never, ever regret it."
"How can──"
"And to think of erasing it! Such an atrocity would be an insult to all the humans who built that era alongside me!"
At the words 'all the humans who built that era,' Saber's expression was one of great shock, her eyes wide and shaking violently.
I had said something similar to her before.
Artoria had ultimately decided to ask her knights and wish upon the Grail, but now Rider's words seemed to shake her to her core.
"Only warriors speak of the splendor of destruction as honor. The common people do not wish for such a thing. Salvation is their prayer."
"Salvation by the king, you say?"
"I cannot comprehend it. Are you saying there is meaning in such a thing?"
"That is the very origin of what a true king is!"
It was Saber's turn to assert with force.
"Righteous control. A righteous reign. That is what all my subjects fervently desired."
And then I cut in.
"Saber. You're wrong. Righteous control, a righteous reign. That might be correct, but not all of your subjects desired that. Some feared their king was too perfect, others feared that control. It was no different from being forced into a 'righteous reign'…. Then, why didn't you execute Lancelot for raping your queen? Why didn't you execute Tristan, who ran away saying the king did not understand the human heart? Was that righteous? Or was it not?"
"Both Lancelot and Tristan among the Knights of the Round Table had achievements. To execute them so recklessly would be…"
"Artoria, you were not mistaken, but you tried to bear too much under the name of King of Knights. Britain was surrounded by enemies on all sides. I don't know exactly how many years you protected it, but you held on for roughly sixty years. And yet, you were not satisfied. Unable to lay down the mission of kingship, you ended up harboring an erroneous wish, surely because of that final battle. Defeated Mordred, surrounded by a mountain of corpses made of your own soldiers, suffering, thinking they all died because of you…"
"Enough! What do you know to speak like that!"
"You're right, I don't know much. Merlin, who ran away to Avalon. Lancelot, who committed adultery and tarnished the honor of the Round Table. Mordred, who committed treason… Galahad, who ascended with the Holy Grail."
And upon hearing those words, one could feel a sense as if Artoria's thread of reason had snapped.
".... I see. So it seems the problem was not with me, after all. The problem was with my knights, with the Round Table. Now that I think about it, when I remember how they were always causing one trouble after another… *Grinds teeth*."
Huh? This isn't what I meant? I brought it up to tell you it *wasn't* your fault. Inadvertently, the target of her venting has shifted to the Knights of the Round Table.
"Er… well…."
Rider looked at Saber with an expression that something had gone very wrong. Archer just laughed and let it slide.
"Uh…. And Britain's destruction was predetermined, right? Even if you make a wish, its ruin couldn't be avoided."
"...."
Artoria was silent.
Seeing Artoria's expression, which looked like she'd been hit with a massive reality check, I decided to stay silent.
Pat, pat.
"Mama will protect you."
I'm putting my faith in Tiamat alone. Praying that Artoria's anger wouldn't be directed at me, we had no choice but to quietly drink and eat the food.
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