Unlimited Ambition

"..."

From the perspective of the Einzbern family, to achieve the so-called Third Law, the Holy Grail would require the combined power of all seven Servants. Therefore, in the end, I would still have to fight Kiritsugu Emiya—however, Kiritsugu Emiya has his own plans. He only needs the power of the other six Servants, so there is indeed a possibility of cooperation between us.

Seeing such a huge pie fall into his lap, even someone as calm as Kiritsugu Emiya couldn't help but swallow hard.

"So... what exactly is your plan?"

"Don't worry, the Holy Grail is very humane here. We just need to clean up Astrea a little. After that, with the consent of both parties, we can re-establish the contract."

“Then, I agree.” Kiritsugu Emiya nodded and said.

"Very good. Excellent."

I chuckled softly—then increased the pressure on my feet—and then, with a crack, there was a sound. The Knight King named Astraea had her neck broken, and thus returned to Valhalla…

"Excuse me, mortal named Emiya Kiritsugu, are you willing to become my Master, to fight alongside me in the Holy Grail War, and to achieve victory?"

"I am willing."

"Very good, the contract is established."

And so, after reorganization, the magicians and swordsmen were reunited, and the second loser of the Holy Grail War was decided.

She was an incredibly stupid person, a Heroic Spirit named Astrea.

At this moment, Irisviel, who had been looking on with a pained expression, felt waves of pain again.

"Alice?"

Her husband, Kiritsugu Emiya, quickly went over and took her hands in his.

"Someone else is here."

"That's what Irisviel said. At the same time, a magic mirror rose up, and in the image, there was Iskandar and his submissive Master."

"Hey! This is the Knight King's house, isn't it?! Come on, let's have a drink!"

The guy was holding up a huge five-liter bottle of red wine when he shouted that.

"If you're looking for Astrea, I'm sorry, old friend—she's just returned to Valhalla."

I walked slowly out of the castle and then said this.

Iskandar's smile froze, then he forced a bitter laugh...

Chapter Twenty: The Banquet of the Three Kings, One King Leaves Early...

"So, Iskandar, stop looking so gloomy. Even though you were a bit of a dummy in your past life, you still lived a pretty good life—except for that genius-level idiot, the Endless Sea—I've told you so many times that the Earth is round, the Earth is round. There's no such thing as an Endless Sea. And what did you do, you idiot, completely ignore me? Now you regret it, right? Feel ashamed, right? Feel like a fool, right? Hahahaha... Drink, drink."

Alexander Iskandar, the conqueror who looked miserable after I teased him, could only gulp down his wine in silence. His submissive Master, watching from beside him, was terrified.

"...Rider. Is this really alright? Sitting here drinking with the enemy?"

“I never expected it to be this guy… My original plan was to team up with Saber and Archer, so the three of us together might be able to stand up to him. But he beat me to it and killed Saber first… Damn it.”

Although Iskandar had managed to lower his voice, his hoarse voice, even when lowered by an octave, still sounded like he was shouting. It made me burst out laughing.

"Rider!" His submissive master, seemingly feeling humiliated, yelled at Iskandar again, as if complaining.

"Alright, alright, this is such a hassle." Iskandar scratched his fiery red hair, then slapped the weakling on the shoulder with his large, fan-like hand. He then said to me, "Well, since the alliance attempt has failed, let's just leave it at that. Today, let's talk about romance, not politics. How about that?"

“That suits me perfectly. Come to think of it, we haven’t had a proper chance to get together since the Holy Grail War began. I still remember the scene of us singing and admiring the moon amidst the vast desert of the Iranian plateau back then.”

"Hahahaha... It's rare to find someone with such a good memory." Iskandar quickly got into the mood and burst into laughter.

Immediately afterwards, our glasses clinked, and we both drank the red wine in our glasses at the same time.

The wine glasses were the cheap kind sold in supermarkets for 500 yen each, but true to the Conqueror King's extravagant style, they were large glasses that could almost hold 500 milliliters, and they were filled to the brim with wine. He looked like a nouveau riche.

"Vulgar and tasteless... After all these years, has your taste deteriorated to this level, Wright?!"

At that moment, a clear, cold voice suddenly rang out from the side. Immediately afterwards, Gilgamesh, clad in brilliant armor, appeared.

She glanced at the wine Iskandar had brought, then gave a soft snort and uttered those words.

"This guy..."

I glanced at Iskandar, waiting for his explanation.

"I ran into her on the way here, so I invited her over for a drink," Iskandar laughed, showing no sign of awkwardness whatsoever. It was as if the earlier claim of "making a secret pact with two other people to gang up on me" was completely unfounded.

Damn it. What are you trying to prove?!

At this point, seemingly noticing that my interest had waned slightly, Jill, for reasons I couldn't quite understand, said to me, "If you'd like, I can offer you some decent wine."

"Oh my, is it that legendary thing? It's been so long since I've had it."

I suddenly got carried away—and immediately found someone or something extremely offensive.

"So, my friend Iskandar, could you please smooth things over a bit?"

"Huh?! Um... I didn't get any?"

“…Jill, give him a little bit.”

I thought to myself, "I feel sorry for Alexander." So I said that to Jill.

"Are you ordering me around?" Unexpectedly, at this moment, Jill started to throw a little tantrum.

"No, no, no, I'm begging you, I'm begging you. Is this alright?"

"Hmph...that's more like it." Jill rolled her eyes. A small, exquisite white jade porcelain bottle appeared in her hand. She then tossed it to Iskandar.

"Okay, you can go."

The legendary king waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away flies, and said this.

"You—" Iskandar was, after all, a legendary conqueror, and he was naturally angry to be treated like this.

"Alright, alright, I guess I owe you a favor," I said to him.

“…Then so be it,” Iskandar said, as he unscrewed the cork and took a sip of the liquid.

"...Oh, this...this tastes really good."

Immediately afterwards, Iskandar praised him in this way.

"Well, anyway, let's hurry up and go."

I almost let it slip, and then I urged Iskandar to leave quickly.

"Is that so... Oh... Then I won't bother you any longer, ahahahaha..."

Iskandar, being a ruler of his time, quickly realized the unusual relationship between me and Jill. He laughed heartily, downed the remaining wine, flicked the reins, and drove his chariot away.

"Alright, now that the troublesome person is gone, it's time for adults..."

Behind me, the gorgeously dressed queen wrapped her arms around my neck, and then began to lick my neck like a small animal.

"Is that so? That's something to look forward to." So I turned around abruptly, hugged Jill tightly, and then took the bottle of wine she handed me.

"Hey me..."

So I opened the bottle, took a sip of the liquor, and kissed Jill's alluring lips...

At that moment, Irisviel drew the curtains. Although she was already a mother, this was the first time she had ever witnessed such a lewd scene. Her face flushed, her heart raced, and she felt slightly uncomfortable… well, you all know what that discomfort was.

Immediately afterward, Irisviel noticed the presence of another person beside her—someone she hadn't noticed before because this girl was rather inconspicuous. Thinking about this, Irisviel felt a little embarrassed… even though she was such a beautiful girl…

"Well, um... I'll go make some black tea... or would you like some wine?" Irisviel seemed a little flustered.

"Nothing is needed, plain water will do," Nagato Yuki replied casually.

"Huh? Is that so..." Irisviel thought to herself: Is this girl angry? No wonder, because her husband was doing *that* with another girl in front of her... If Kiritsugu dared to do that, I would definitely break his third leg...

"Achoo..."

At that moment, Kiritsugu Emiya, who was in Maiya's room taking care of his female assistant—simply taking care of his female assistant—suddenly sneezed loudly.

"If I were truly jealous of each and every one of them, I'd probably be furious by now." At this moment, Yuki seemed to see through Irisviel's subtext and said this.

"...Ah, ah, is that so?" Irisviel was incredibly embarrassed. When she looked for Nagato Yuki again, she found that she was gone.

"...Even though she says that, she must be very sad inside," Irisviel muttered to herself.

Meanwhile, atop the divine wheel of Iskandar, the Conqueror King, Waver Velvet, a weak and submissive mage from England and one of the participants in this Holy Grail War, complained to his Heroic Spirit with dissatisfaction.

"They said this was the right move, but we ended up being sent packing. What kind of Rider is this?!"

As a result, Iskandar flicked him hard on the forehead.

"Stop complaining, kid. That's how war is. Even with perfect plans and brilliant strategies, when it comes to actually fighting, you can't control fate or variables. Defeat is inevitable. Besides, we didn't come away empty-handed. At least we got a pretty good bottle of wine."

“—You drank it all!” Weber shouted.

“What? Kid, you want a drink too? If you want one, just say so. That woman might give you one too,” Iskandar said.

"Saying they'd give me a bottle... is more likely to get them to kill me," Weber complained.

"So, kid, you still need to keep training, hahaha..." King Iskandar laughed heartily.

Meanwhile, several kilometers away, inside the Tohsaka mansion.

“Master… shouldn’t we stop her?” Kirei Kotomine stood behind Tokiomi Tohsaka, looking at the destroyed crystal ball, and said this.

"Never mind... After all, these are things we can't interfere with." Tokiomi Tohsaka considered for a moment. While using Command Seals could indeed change the legendary Queen's mind, it would also severely damage his image in her eyes. This would make winning the upcoming war much more difficult.

"but……"

"No, no need to say anything more, Kirei." Tokiomi shook his head. "In comparison, let's send all the Assassins to kill Rider's Master. After all, among these contestants, this guy is the weakest. He's just a third-rate magician. Is that alright?"

“Of course, the Assassins have all been mobilized,” Kirei Kotomine replied.

However, reality is often quite different from imagination...

Chapter Twenty-One: The Assassins' Demise

Leaving aside the romantic escapades and enchanting life between me and Gilles, Iskandar, utterly dejected, ran off. Although he comforted his submissive Master, telling him it was utterly insignificant—however, the so-called King of Conquerors was still a man of honor. He possessed his own inner pride and dignity. To say he was completely unconcerned would be a lie…

Utterly dissatisfied, utterly dissatisfied—at this moment, Alexander Iskandar, the Conqueror, roared inwardly: "Damn it! You beasts who have no humanity when it comes to women!!"

Of course, on the surface, he still laughed heartily, seemingly without a care in the world.

"It seems that this Rider is indeed unreliable, and his Master is only a third-rate magician. Presumably, the Assassins should be able to handle them well."