The Infinite Dragon God Cannot Find Silence

"So it wasn't that easy after all..."

Ritsuka gritted her teeth, but she wasn't really surprised.

From the very beginning of the singularity, few powerful figures like them have been willing to directly help them. Even if they don't directly oppose Chaldea, they have to say some impressive but unclear things first, and only after they have accomplished something that makes the other party take them seriously will they be willing to take action.

This is also because these kinds of strange... Great people usually have their own set of values. If you can't change those values ​​or fit into them, you can't move them.

"Oh dear, it seems that King Orpheus isn't very interested in Chaldea these days... But that's normal, King Orpheus rarely shows any particular interest in anything, you know? To get her attention, you'd have to do something earth-shattering first. Maybe if you could behead the goddess of the north, you'd have a chance?"

Merlin casually sat down in a corner of the temple, completely lacking any decorum, and said indifferently, "It's none of my business."

"As expected of Merlin! This method is quite good, Ritsuka, go and give it a try!"

Roman's excited voice came through the communicator.

"...Doctor, please don't make things worse!"

Then, as expected, Mashu refuted it.

"Ahem, seriously, Ritsuka should really go and have a proper talk with King Orpheus. At least she needs to get to the bottom of the Holy Grail issue. Her reaction just now was only for a moment..."

"Oh, yes... that's right."

Ritsuka paused for a moment, and was about to speak when Orpheus, who was slowly walking back to the throne, waved her hand to stop her.

"I can hear you. Is this the Holy Grail you're talking about?" (Actually, I don't really understand what the doctor is saying, and it's not encrypted, so I always have to ask someone to repeat it to me...)

After sitting down, Orpheus flicked the golden ball at the top of his wand with his finger, and a wisp of magic escaped.

"It's happening again... the Holy Grail's reaction! I had considered this possibility, but she's already obtained the Holy Grail... If she's also a King of Heroes, their inherent characteristics wouldn't be too different, would they...?"

"But why is the Holy Grail shaped like a sphere!?"

Looking at the golden sphere, Ritsuka tilted her head and asked.

"Is it a sphere? Hmm... It's possible that the Holy Grail is contained within a vessel, or that the Holy Grail has been directly modified. Although it's difficult, it's still achievable with god-level magic. The purpose of doing this is to conceal the Holy Grail's fluctuations, right?"

After thinking for a moment, Roman made these guesses that were clearly outside the scope of a doctor's expertise.

"Well, after all, that's the purpose of the Three Goddesses Alliance... Of course, it's impossible to hand it over to you right now."

Orpheus gathered the overflowing magic from the Holy Grail and shook his head, looking at Ritsuka's sparkling eyes.

"That's true..."

Ritsuka lowered her head and sighed.

If it were that easy, then it wouldn't be fair to have fought so hard in the previous singularities.

However, Ritsuka quickly rallied.

"Since that's the case, then I'll defeat that Three Goddess Alliance and show you. Then you won't have anything to say, right? How about you obediently hand over the Holy Grail then?"

"senior!?"

With one hand clenched tightly, Ritsuka pointed her other finger at Orpheus and loudly proclaimed with great confidence.

"..."

"Hey! Did you hear me?!"

After waiting for a long time without receiving a response, Ritsuka realized that Orpheus's gaze was not on her at all, but rather on a spot some distance behind her.

Ritsuka subconsciously turned her head to look in the direction of her gaze, and what she saw was... a single ahoge (cowlick).

"Lily?"

"Ugh?"

Lily seemed confused and tilted her head in bewilderment.

"Is her name Lily?"

At this moment, Orpheus suddenly spoke up and asked a question.

"Ah... my name is Artoria Pendragon, but I'm just a half-baked knight. Just call me Lily."

"kindness……"

Orpheus nodded.

"You and Enki are very similar."

"Ugh?"

The sudden words made Lily even more confused.

Enkidu… at least she had seen the person who looked like Enkidu, and didn't think there was anything particularly similar between them…

"Ah, well, don't take it too seriously. King Orpheus said something similar to some people before... you know what? 'In the eyes of a lover, there's always another lover'?"

Merlin cheerfully interjected, raising a finger, only to be smashed by a gold brick that flew out from the golden ripples.

Sighing, Orpheus rubbed his forehead.

“Very well, Uruk is my city, and the matter of protecting Uruk is none of the business of outsiders, so…”

After a pause, Orpheus stared intently at Ritsuka.

"If you can prove you have sufficient strength, I will give you information about the Three Goddesses... If you can use this to find a way to deal with the true goddesses, then I will reward you... But..."

Orpheus narrowed his eyes, and his snake-like gaze sent chills down Ritsuka's spine.

"Thinking you can defeat the three goddesses... if it's not just the clown's joke, then it can only be described as arrogance. You are valuable beings, so don't let this mentality lead you to die in some corner."

"Is...is that so?"

Ritsuka was initially taken aback by the powerful aura, but then she flashed a bright smile.

"Thank you for reminding me, little Orpheus."

"Ah, oh..."

Orpheus was visibly taken aback for a moment, then nodded.

"Hidari, arrange accommodations for them."

"Yes."

Hiduri bowed slightly with a smile on his lips, then bowed again to the Chaldea group.

"Then, please follow me."

Orpheus breathed a slight sigh of relief as he watched the Chaldeans depart.

"King Orpheus isn't very good at communicating with people."

Merlin got up and looked at Orpheus with a smile.

"No... I should say that after getting used to the attitude of those in high positions, I'm not used to speaking to these assistants with an equal attitude, right? But Orpheus is a king after all... Shouldn't he have just treated those people with the attitude of a king? He's just bearing the responsibilities of a king, but has hardly ever exercised the power of a king. No... perhaps he doesn't even have a deep understanding of what it means to be a king. In that case, he's just a busybody doing the things of a king, isn't he?"

"Is that right?"

Orpheus tilted his head.

"However, my responsibility is only to prevent the extinction of humanity. I will not interfere in anything else. So, that is enough."

"That's true."

Merlin waved goodbye to Orpheus's rebuttal without comment and left the hall.

Chapter 73 Arrangements for Chaldea

"Well then, I will come again tomorrow morning. If you have any urgent questions, you can ask the soldiers stationed outside. Now, please get some rest."

Okay, thank you very much!

After bowing, Hiduri turned and left the hut where the Chaldean guests were temporarily staying.

After saying goodbye to Hiduri, Ritsuka finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew, I don't know why, but I feel like a lot of pressure has disappeared."

"Indeed, ever since I faced King Orpheus, I have had a sense of oppression, like being stared at by a snake. Although it lessened considerably after I left, it still lingered until just now."

Mashu and Lily nodded in agreement, with Lily even chiming in, her intuition giving her a far greater sense in this regard than the others.

"That's true. It's probably not that Queen Orpheus really wanted to monitor you... or rather, she wasn't that interested in you at all. But that high priest was indeed surrounded by Queen Orpheus's magic, probably something like a blessing? And a rather high-level one at that. As a secondary function, it could also help the one who bestowed the blessing to monitor their surroundings. The purpose wasn't to strengthen the one being blessed, but to put the utmost effort into protecting the safety of the one being blessed... To be honest, I never would have guessed that Queen Orpheus was such a gentle person."

"No, that's always been my opinion."

"Ugh?"

Ritsuka tapped her cheek, then held up a finger and said.

"I won't mention it before, but isn't it the same today? It reminds us to be careful."

"Is that how you interpret that sentence?!"

"Ah, I accidentally called her by her old name, but I don't think she'll mind."

Ritsuka shrugged and then looked around curiously at the house, which looked quite simple from the outside.

"This place... feels surprisingly understatedly luxurious."

Ritsuka touched the wall panel and asked curiously.

"Indeed... it's all constructed with materials that are quite advanced even by today's standards. While it may lack aesthetic appeal, the materials used for defense are exceptionally sturdy... By the way, I have some more important information to share!"

"Oh, little Orpheus is so gentle..."

Ritsuka's languid voice drifted out as she sank into the soft cushions that resembled a sofa.

"Senior, please be more serious..."

Mashu sighed softly, then looked at the image floating in mid-air.

It seems that due to the barrier, the source magic inside Uruk is quite stable, and there is no problem in achieving image-level communication.

"Doctor, is there anything strange?"

"Ah... It's important, but upon closer inspection, it's just a few strange things... This King Orpheus... Her existence seems to be closer to... no, it should be said that she has no human components at all, and is a life form that is extremely similar to a god."

"...Shen...Ming?"

Upon hearing this word, and considering Orpheus's current identity, a name involuntarily popped into everyone's mind.