Einzbern Castle.
"Yo, Saber, you're here too? That really is unexpected."
With a loud crash, Iskandar smashed the castle's main doors open and strode straight in.
"My name's Koji. Let's drop the whole 'Saber' thing." Koji shrugged. He didn't really count as a proper Saber-class.
"Never heard of you, but whatever. Koji, are you planning to team up with Lancer?" Iskandar thought for a moment and confirmed to himself that he really had never heard this name before.
"Rider, barging into a person's home without the owner's permission—this is your so-called kingly demeanor?" Artoria stared at the gaping hole in the doorway, the corner of her mouth twitching.
This man really had no manners.
"Haha, I am the King of Conquerors. Kicking down the door is the proper way to enter." Iskandar laughed it off without a care.
"Come on, let's drink!"
He hefted an enormous oak barrel onto his shoulder. He was even dressed in modern casual clothes.
"You smashed in someone else's door just to come drink with my Master?" Artoria looked at Iskandar in disbelief.
The night he had just openly revealed his identity had already been ridiculous enough. She hadn't expected him to pull something even more outrageous.
Right now they were technically enemies, and he had run to the enemy's home to drink. No one else would do something like this.
She really couldn't tell whether his heart was just that big, or if his confidence was simply that overwhelming.
"Master, let's go out to the courtyard." Artoria rolled her shoulders. Since the other side had come over in ordinary clothes, she naturally would not attack. That was not in line with her knightly spirit.
Irisviel nodded blankly.
"Is this really the Holy Grail War?"
This was completely different from the death-matches she had heard about. Everywhere she looked, things felt off; it was hard to accept.
In the castle courtyard, they all sat directly on the ground. It was a bit simple and rough, but the scenery was decent and they could feel the natural breeze.
"Lancer, last time I forgot to ask: what wish do you want to use the Grail on?" Iskandar took a swig of red wine and asked with a grin.
"Me?"
Artoria froze for a moment. In truth, she didn't have any particularly urgent wish she wanted realized.
"Mongrels, you start a banquet of kings without inviting this king?"
A golden radiance flashed as Gilgamesh appeared, face full of lofty arrogance that looked down on everyone.
"And to call me here to drink, you prepare this cheap swill?"
With just one glance, Gilgamesh dismissed the wine Iskandar had brought. Once you had tasted better divine vintages, it was natural to despise inferior drinks.
"I've got something better. Want to try a cup?"
Koji took out a jar of Anemo God's Brew. The unremarkable clay jar was wreathed with a soft, free-spirited wind.
"Oh? Interesting. Is this wine brewed by some god?" Gilgamesh gave a light hum.
This time, he did not immediately condemn it as cheap trash.
However… the unfamiliar divine aura told him that this was not a god of this world.
"Wine made by a god?" Iskandar's interest doubled.
Koji poured them each a cup, and the gathered kings began to taste it. Iskandar praised it loudly:
"What a fine wine. You can feel the freedom of the wind in it. Truly a free god."
"Yes, it really is good." Artoria nodded slightly.
"In terms of quality, it's worthy of a place in my treasury." That was Gilgamesh's evaluation.
"Rider, I don't have any wish of my own. As long as my Master's wish is realized, that's enough." Artoria said calmly.
Iskandar nodded. That was a very standard answer.
"My wish is to obtain a physical body."
At that, both Gilgamesh and Artoria were a little surprised at Iskandar's wish.
"Hmph. For something like that, you won't get the chance. I'll simply kill you first." Gilgamesh snorted.
"If you can manage it, then by all means, try." Iskandar replied, unabashed.
"The Holy Grail is already polluted. Even if you have a wish you want fulfilled, it's best to give up on it." Koji said lazily.
"Polluted?"
Iskandar and the others all turned to look at Koji in shock.
Gilgamesh's eyes lit up as he revealed a mocking smile.
With the All-Knowing, All-Powerful Star in his possession, he could have used it from the very beginning. But because of his own arrogance and pursuit of amusement, he had chosen to impose limits on himself.
"The Grail is polluted?" Irisviel frowned. The family patriarch had never mentioned anything like this to her.
"Master, I noticed this long ago, but I didn't want it to weigh on you, so I didn't say anything." Artoria explained quietly.
"During the Third Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family violated the rules by summoning a Servant of the Avenger class. After he was defeated and absorbed by the Grail, because he had been branded in life as the embodiment of all the world's evils, the Grail's wish-granting mechanism twisted that concept and contaminated the entire Greater Holy Grail." Koji explained.
Swish, swish, swish—
Waver and the others all turned to stare at Irisviel in unison. Wasn't the Einzbern family… her family?
Irisviel fell silent.
She honestly didn't know anything about this. The patriarch had never told her.
"So you're saying the Grail can't be used anymore?" Iskandar asked.
"It's not that it's completely useless—just that the way it fulfills wishes becomes… extreme."
"For example, if you wished to put an end to war, the Grail would indeed stop it—but in a twisted way, like annihilating every army involved in the conflict."
"If you wished to save the world, it might erase humanity altogether." Koji said.
A Grail filled with black mud—if someone wished to become a billionaire, it might simply move all the money from the banks into their account.
"How warped." Iskandar scratched his head.
He wanted a physical body—who knew in what twisted way the Grail would grant that? Whatever it did, it was unlikely to be anything good.
"I don't know if what you say is true or not. I want to see it with my own eyes."
Listening to someone else and giving up on his ideals just like that—that was not his style.
If everything was really as Koji said, then he would give up.
"So that's why you're not taking part—you already knew there was something wrong with the Grail." Iskandar said, suddenly enlightened.
"I do know there's a problem with the Grail, but that has nothing to do with me refusing to participate." Koji shook his head.
"Whatever I want done, I can do it myself. I don't need three cups."
Gilgamesh seemed slightly amused and gave a faint smile. He, too, cared little for the cup itself; prideful as he was, he had already regarded the Holy Grail as his personal property.
"Being alive really is wonderful. You can enjoy all kinds of pleasures directly through your own body." Iskandar laughed.
"By the way, from which era do you hail as a hero? Or are you a hero of the future?" he asked.
"He's not someone from our world, is he?" Gilgamesh looked at Koji with interest.
Even though the protection wrapped around Koji hid his true nature from prying eyes, they could still feel the aura on him that clearly did not belong to this world.
"Of course not. Lumine and I are both travellers between worlds." Koji said.
Lumine nodded. She was almost starting to forget which world she had come from in the first place.
"The Holy Grail War really does drag out all sorts of things, huh."
They didn't fully understand what Koji meant, but that didn't stop everyone from being deeply shocked.
(End of Chapter)
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