That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

“I know, but don’t you think it’s a bit of a waste that heroes from different eras are summoned by the Holy Grail only to fight each other?” Rider stroked his beard, lost in thought.

Weber's face darkened: "Rdier, I don't know what you're thinking. I advise you to give up on this idea. It's just a passing fancy anyway."

Rider patted Waver's shoulder hard: "Don't say that. The timing is just right. Masters shouldn't fight each other before we find Berserker."

"so what."

"banquet."

"what?"

Rider spread his arms wide and said with great pride, "Hahahaha, a banquet that can entertain heroes from different eras is unprecedented! Don't you think it's exciting!"

"Not at all! Rider!!! Didn't I just say that all Servants are enemies?!"

"Snapped!"

Rider flicked Waver's forehead hard with his finger, and the Servant's power knocked Waver to the ground.

"Fool! You can't become a hero with a mind like yours. An enemy is an enemy, and a hero is a hero. The way to conquer is to be able to genuinely praise the enemy's strengths, accept them, and then defeat them."

Webber lay on the ground, tears welling in his eyes, and said aggrievedly, "Ahhh! I understand, I'm just a little magician. I'm so sorry, I can't understand the king's thoughts."

"Let's go, let's go outside!"

"What?"

"Of course we're going to buy wine. How can a banquet be complete without wine? I really want to taste what the fine wines of this era taste like. There are quite a few on TV, like that beer and stuff."

"are you serious?"

"of course."

······

In the afternoon, Shinji Matou recovered the mana he had used up in the battle with Berserker.

Satisfied with the church's punishment, the overseer, Kotomine Rissho, promised Matou Shinji extra benefits: after the Berserker was defeated, Matou Shinji would receive a Command Seal as a reward, regardless of whether he contributed afterward.

Shinji Matou had no intention of searching for Berserker. It would be difficult for the familiar to find Ryunosuke Uryuu within a day. On the contrary, Assassin should be able to find Berserker by tomorrow with his top-notch intelligence gathering ability. Let the Church clean up the mess left by Kirei Kotomine.

What should we do tonight?

As Shinji Matou pondered his plans for the evening, a gush of water seeped from the fire sprinkler on the hotel ceiling and landed in front of him as he reported the intelligence he had gathered.

"Rider?" Shinji Matou muttered with a strange expression, "Does this guy want to hold a royal banquet tonight?"

The water elemental spirit reported Rider's movements to Matou Shinji: Iskandar, the Conqueror King, was strolling around town with his Master, searching for fine wine.

It seems that before the Berserker is found, the Church has explicitly forbidden Masters from killing each other, so today is indeed the best time to hold the King's Feast.

The Feast of the Three Kings may become the Feast of the Four Kings due to changes in the timeline.

Shinji Matou had absolutely no interest in the idea of ​​a king's qualifications, ideals, or attitudes. To modern people, these ideas seemed too narrow-minded and one-sided, giving off a somewhat childish and immature vibe.

Shinji Matou is a successor to socialism. As the saying goes, the emperor's throne rotates every year, and next year it might be my turn.

If a PhD in social history were present, he could probably talk the three kings into silence.

"I wonder if Saber will perform as poorly as before," Shinji Matou muttered to himself.

No, it's not that I'm not interested at all. If Archer shows up tonight, it will be the best time to eliminate him.

"It is necessary to pay a visit to the Queen of the Land of Shadows."

Shinji Matou didn't want to miss the opportunity. His familiar had already found the location of El-Melloi, the ruler of the Clock Tower: the Fuyuki Grand Hotel, the one that was blown up by Kiritsugu Emiya.

The El-Melloi family paid a heavy price for this; many of the magic equipment in Kenneth's magic workshop set up in the hotel were borrowed.

To put it simply, it's like a family that isn't particularly wealthy borrowing a Lamborghini to attend a banquet, only to have it involved in an accident on the way. Not only does the person die, but the family also goes bankrupt because of the compensation they have to pay for the Lamborghini.

Finally, this basket was taken down by Kenneth's student, Weber, who became El-Melloi II.

So far in this Holy Grail War, Shinji Matou has not seen Kenneth appear. If it weren't for the information he had gathered beforehand indicating that Kenneth was the Master of this Holy Grail War, he would have almost thought that Lacner's Master was someone else.

Shinji Matou arrived at the hotel where Kenneth was staying by car. Standing in the plaza outside, surrounded by people coming and going, he squinted and looked up at the entire hotel building. The silver light shining from the Mystic Eyes during the day was not particularly noticeable.

Having discerned the flow of magical energy, Shinji Matou's lips curled into a strange smile: "The barrier has 32 layers, three magical furnaces, traces of spatial distortion, and signs of spiritual activity. They are not Servants, but low-level undead or something similar."

Generally speaking, this is indeed an excellent magic workshop; even a magician of Shinji Matou's caliber would need most of a day to decipher it.

The mistake was that the entire magic workshop was located on one floor. No matter how sturdy the floor was, if the entire building was blown up, the magic workshop's defenses would be breached without a fight. Kenneth had not considered attacks from the sky or the ground at all.

"The way of thinking of a magician is too rigid."

Shinji Matou entered the hotel and said to the hotel receptionist, "Please inform Mr. Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald that Caster has something to discuss with the Queen."

Kenneth is a magician who adheres to aristocratic principles; visiting as a guest would save him a lot of trouble.

Chapter Fifty-Two: Persuasion.

It is necessary to keep the fact that the Greater Grail system has been corrupted from Lancer.

Lancer is not a hero; she prefers to play the role of a mentor to heroes. If everything were told to her, she would probably give up. Playing games is one thing, but solving a world crisis and depriving people of opportunities for growth in this era is quite another.

It is not easy to reach an agreement with Lancer's camp. If Lancer is a dual-wielding wielder, given his blind loyalty to his Master, he can be easily persuaded to cooperate with Kenneth. El-Melloi II once used a similar method to convince Kenneth to help him dismantle the Fourth Holy Grail War.

Shinji Matou didn't think the Queen of the Land of Shadows would be so easy to talk to.

The atmosphere in the hotel's luxurious suite was somber. As expected, Shinji Matou, visiting as a guest, was received by Lord El-Melloi of the Clock Tower.

He was wearing a dark blue uniform, with his hair slicked back, and had striking features—a typical Western face. Sitting upright on the sofa, he gave off an overly serious, rigid, and austere impression.

Despite his villainous appearance, Shinji Matou not only didn't dislike him, but even admired him.

interesting.

This is Shinji Matou's assessment of Kenneth. His true nature is completely opposite to his appearance. His overly self-satisfied personality makes him seem silly, and it's hard to imagine that he's the type to write cheesy love letters to his fiancée.

Kenneth wasn't entirely on the enemy's side, and Shinji Matou also hoped he would have a good ending, avoiding the tragedy of the original story.

"But since the Servant he summoned is the Queen of the Land of Shadows, he has at least avoided the fate of being a minotaur," Shinji Matou muttered to himself.

There was no one else in the suite, not even Lancer, let alone Kenneth's fiancée, Sora Nazele Sofiari. She must also be involved in this Holy Grail War, supplying Lancer with magical energy.

Kenneth wasn't surprised by Shinji Matou's childlike appearance. It wasn't unusual for strange Servants to participate in the Holy Grail War. He said in a sharp voice, "Caster, you should understand the significance of a mage's territory better than anyone else, yet you easily barged into my magic workshop. Could this be considered your invitation to a magic competition?"

To retract the foreword, complacency is indeed disgusting.

Shinji Matou pursed his lips and bowed slightly: "Lord El-Melloi, I have no intention of having a conflict with you. The purpose of my visit is to form an alliance."

Kenneth retorted angrily, "An alliance? Nonsense! If you want to form an alliance, have your Master do it, instead of sending your Servant to us."

"Lord El-Melloi, you are a first-level lecturer in the Clock Tower's Summoning Department. You may use your Master privileges to check my Servant attributes."

Shinji Matou was visiting as a guest, and Kenneth did not rashly use his Master's authority to check Shinji Matou's Servant attributes.

"Oh?"

Kenneth gave Matou Shinji a deep look, his expression changing: "What's going on? He's clearly human, yet he exudes the aura of a Servant. His body and the Servant's Spirit Origin are fused together, making him both Master and Servant."

"My name is Shinji Matou, the current head of the Matou family. I use a special method to summon beings through possession."

Kenneth was taken aback. He was skilled in spirit possession and knew the difficulty of summoning a spirit, especially a Servant. Even he didn't dare to try it easily, so he put away his contempt.

"The Matou family, one of the three great mage families that built the Holy Grail War, I see. In that case, they certainly have the right to negotiate with El-Melloi."

After a brief pause, Kenneth snorted softly, "Regarding this Holy Grail War, you can go down to the next floor and discuss it with that queen."

Shinji Matou raised an eyebrow: "Servants are Servants, you are the Master, shouldn't you be the one to decide the course of action?"

"Don't you understand? Since you know the identity of that queen, you know that even the Master can't control her. When we summoned her, we made a deal. The result is that I am only responsible for supplying magic for this Holy Grail War, and she will lead the war until the end of this Holy Grail War."

transaction?

Although Kenneth didn't explicitly state what the deal was, Shinji Matou could guess that Lancer had granted Kenneth valuable magical knowledge in exchange for his freedom in this Holy Grail War.

Kenneth's attitude towards the Holy Grail War was basically that it was an interesting magic competition held by a small Far Eastern country. He participated with the intention of gaining prestige, and in comparison, the magical knowledge imparted by Lancer was of higher value.

The primordial runes, near-magical miracles, could drive a magician mad with knowledge of just one rune.

After being informed of this, Kenneth immediately ordered him to leave and hurriedly returned to his magic workshop to conduct his research.

Shinji Matou wisely refrained from pestering him, which wasn't a bad thing. Lancer's dominant position meant that all she needed to do was persuade her to cooperate.

Shinji Matou has a lure that can attract her.

"As expected, magicians are all rich. They booked two floors of the hotel. I estimate it will cost at least several million yen for one night." Shinji Matou muttered to himself as he stepped off the elevator.

The elevator exudes an aura of magic. If the magic trap set up here were to be activated, everyone inside the elevator would be swept into another dimension.

"Ding~"

The elevator doors opened, revealing a cool and luxurious corridor with a soft red carpet and various artworks on both sides, including oil paintings, sculptures, and flower arrangements.

"Without the guidance of a familiar, we can't possibly search through all these rooms one by one." Shinji Matou pondered for a moment, then released his Servant's aura, but received no response.

"Sorry."

The Mystic Eyes activated, allowing the user to scan the interior of the building for the Servant's presence. The Servant made no attempt to conceal their tracks, and after several twists and turns, the user arrived at an indoor swimming pool.

What the hell!

The scene before him was truly beyond Shinji Matou's expectations.

The Queen of the Shadow Kingdom, dressed in a black bikini, lay on a beach chair. Her hair reached her waist, and her voluptuous figure perfectly embodied the golden ratio. Her flat stomach was devoid of any excess fat; any more or less would make her look too plump. Her legs were straight and long, and her beautiful curves could drive any master of human sculpting crazy.

Under the sunlight, her skin was as white and delicate as jade, making Shinji Matou want to take a bite.

The table next to it was also filled with drinks such as fruit juice and red wine, showing that it had completely integrated into modern life.

"She really did participate in the Holy Grail War with a playful attitude."

Although bikinis are said to be every man's romance, Shinji Matou, with his mature male soul, felt his interest greatly diminished; he found a transparent bodysuit more appealing to men.

A beauty deserves only Saint Quartz!

Chapter Fifty-Three: The Rich Woman

Shinji Matou stood at the entrance of the indoor swimming pool and went straight to the point: "Lancer, what do you think of my suggestion from that night?"

Lacner lay on the bench and replied lazily, "He's your target, so it's up to you to deal with him."

Shinji Matou shrugged: "What a joke. He's a Servant killer. If he gets serious, I'll just get annihilated in an instant."