Although the instrument was an ornate guitar, when its strings were plucked, it produced the melodious sound of a piano.
As the old saying went, the lingering notes curled through the air, unbroken as a thread. That gentle, beautiful tune rose slowly through the war-ravaged courtyard, weaving a wondrous illusion.
Was that lingering dream? King Arthur seemed to see her past self within it: after drawing the Sword of Selection, after the legend of invincibility, after the tragic betrayal at Camlann—a girl chasing the ideal kingdom of her dreams. She had borne an entire nation, yet been unable to guide one. Immersed in her perfect dream, she had neglected those around her, ultimately bringing about an ending regretted for all eternity—but was that dream, in which she wished for everyone to be happy, truly wrong?
The King of Conquerors heard it as well: the sound of Okeanos's tides, which he had sought his entire life without ever reaching. He had spent his whole life fighting and conquering, building an empire that spanned several continents, yet he had never been satisfied and never stopped, all because of that dream—that absurd dream of seeing the sea at the end of the world. Having descended into the modern age once more, he already knew the world was round and had no such end, yet the flames in his chest still burned on—Okeanos existed! It existed within that dream that embraced heaven and earth!
Seeing the expressions of the other two kings, the King of Heroes had originally intended to mock them, but ultimately held back. He had heard this piece long ago; Assassin called it "A Wedding in a Dream." Hmph, the one and only king needed no wedding, no love! No one could stand on equal footing with him, save that one—no, the feelings involved could not be clearly described by such shallow words as love or friendship. That was the King of Heroes' one and only existence, unbound by any established concept in this world! Though he himself could only briefly reunite with that person in dreams...
Irisviel saw every little moment she had spent with Kiritsugu: the first time she met someone from outside the Einzbern family, the first time she heard of the outside world, the first time she wanted to understand others, the first time she found love, the first time she held her daughter... For a tool created solely for the Holy Grail, all of it had been like a dream.
Weber seemed to recall his time studying at the Clock Tower. He did not possess a profound bloodline inheritance, but he held grand ideals in his heart and hoped his name would leave a heavy mark on the history of magecraft. To those stubborn people who rigidly observed tradition, that was probably nothing more than the laughable fantasy of a fool.
Long after the song ended, the listeners finally emerged from their reveries and looked at Jizi with complicated expressions.
She gave a slight bow. "I hope it was to your liking."
"Ah," Rider let out a long sigh, "when you said you were making a fool of yourself earlier, you were truly being far too modest. Come, you have earned this cup."
The red-haired giant took the ladle he had previously handed Jizi and filled a cup to the brim. If the first cup had merely been for appearances and to test Jizi's attitude, then this cup of wine personally bestowed upon her represented his genuine recognition of her, at least to some extent. After all, as a student of Aristotle, Alexander the Great had inherited his teacher's influence in artistic appreciation and greatly admired music.
Saber said nothing. She was probably still angry over Jizi luring Irisviel away, but even so, she raised her cup toward Jizi in acknowledgment.
"Far too weak!" Archer was the only one to voice dissatisfaction. "This is not music fit for a gathering of kings! Do you think we are holding some vulgar ball?"
"My deepest apologies. Please forgive me, Your Majesty." Jizi bowed in apparent panic and begged forgiveness, though no one knew what expression lay beneath that masked face.
"If you understand, then hurry up and change the song!"
Archer knew perfectly well that Jizi's act was pure perfunctory posturing, but he did not care. He merely urged her to play the next piece.
"Then please listen to music worthy of emperors!"
Dun dun dun dun dun— Five earthshaking heavy notes fell, as though "fate" were knocking at the door.
"Assassin, when exactly will your so-called 'arrangements' take effect?"
Kirei Kotomine's question appeared directly within Jizi's consciousness through their contractual connection.
"Please do not worry, Master. These Heroic Spirits who call themselves kings are in high spirits. The gathering will not end anytime soon." While answering Kirei through their mental link, Jizi's hands did not stop, continuing to provide accompaniment for the banquet.
"Besides, wouldn't listening to the philosophies of kings benefit you as well? Perhaps you might discover an ideal worth pursuing."
Having been turned against him by Jizi, Kirei Kotomine said no more. Yet he kept their mental connection open, listening in on the exchange between the kings through Jizi.
"...First, let us speak of the wishes each of us has placed upon the Holy Grail," Rider said, draining another cup of wine. "I will lead the way—I..."
At this point, the bold red-haired giant unexpectedly showed an embarrassed expression. He scratched his head and hesitated for a while before continuing.
"I want to obtain a physical body and become human!"
"What?!" Everyone was stunned by that unexpected answer, and Jizi cooperatively lowered the volume of the music.
"Could it be that you want to conquer this world again—ow!"
After flicking his overly excitable Master aside, Rider stroked the wine cup in his hand and spoke in a calm tone. "We Servants do not exist in this world. Once the Holy Grail War ends, we will disappear."
—The footsteps of "fate" entered a relatively gentle passage—
"I do not know what the rest of you think, but I cannot accept that..."
—As though strolling through a lovely mountain stream valley—
"I want a body, as the foundation for my 'conquest'!"
—Dark clouds drifted in from afar, and the gentle wind gradually became violent as "fate" gathered its strength—
"With a body, I will advance toward heaven and earth and carry out my conquests—that is my kingly path. But I have no body now. That will not do."
—The torrential rain arrived, accompanied by lightning and thunder, as nature's world-destroying might poured down without restraint—
"I will be reborn as a human and live once more!"
—But fate would not yield! Neither heaven nor earth, god nor man, had the power to restrain its struggle!
Dun dun dun dun dun! Five weighty notes struck every listener's heart alongside the King of Conquerors' final declaration. In that instant, they seemed to feel the spirit that had guided that king through a lifetime of war.
"Ahahahahaha!"
Just as everyone was immersed in Rider's imposing declaration, a discordant sound arose—it was Archer's arrogant laughter.
"I have decided, Rider. I will certainly kill you. You are worthy of being judged by this king's own hand."
"Oh." Faced with such provocation, Rider did not grow angry. Instead, he laughed as well. "You had best be careful saying such things yourself. Not only the Holy Grail, but your treasury will be stripped clean too. Letting the King of Conquerors drink such fine wine—you were truly careless."
The two kings were clearly voicing hostility, yet both wore joyous smiles. The magnanimity of kings truly was beyond ordinary people's understanding.
But there was still one king who had not smiled once since the banquet began.
"Speaking of which, Saber, do you have anything to share?"
The conversation turned toward the young girl whose face had darkened.
Saber felt no affinity for Rider's grandiose boasts or Archer's arrogant attitude. The only reasons she had maintained the peace were, first, because this was a banquet. One had organized it, and the other had supplied the fine wine; it would have been improper for her not to treat them courteously. Second was the piece Assassin had played earlier—while listening to that heavenly music, the expressions on the three kings' faces had strangely resembled one another. This allowed her to conclude that the other two must also be, or once have been, dream-chasers. Having found resonance with them in that regard, she could not easily lose her temper.
Still, what would these two kings, whose ambitions towered above the heavens, think if they heard her tragic wish, steeped in tears of regret?
—They would surely mock her, wouldn't they?
How could people like you, who lived within your own desires, understand the pain of being betrayed by those you trusted, of losing everything you wished to protect?
But she did not want to be laughed at by you...
Just as Saber hesitated over how to speak, a sudden change occurred!
Although the kings had expressed appreciation for Jizi's performance, they ultimately regarded her as nothing more than a minstrel. They casually rewarded her with wine, and that was all.
Because kings were proud. They might cheer and drink with the soldiers under their command, chat idly with old farmers at work, or grant a little charity to wandering beggars.
But minstrels were different.
They existed solely to please those above them. No matter how splendidly they were dressed up, it could not change their lowly status.
Beethoven and Mozart may indeed have possessed souls that surpassed mortal kings, but that occurred in the late Renaissance, in an age when social ideas had become more enlightened.
At least in the eras lived through by the King of Heroes, the King of Conquerors, and the Knight King, minstrels were merely tools capable of providing a little amusement.
Minor characters naturally did not warrant much attention—had Rider, who enjoyed inviting other Heroic Spirits to join him, not also failed to extend an olive branch to Jizi?
Jizi herself had no dissatisfaction with this situation. Rather, this was precisely what she had deliberately created.
When no one was paying attention to her, it became much easier to make small moves.
For example, though she was right nearby and no one noticed, Jizi secretly plucked out one of her own hairs—
"AAAAAAAAH! What is that?!"
The first to scream was Weber, because just then, a gigantic monster rose from behind the wall at his back.
Above its purple torso was a horned, savage-looking head. Its limbs resembled those of a human, but its terrifying claws had nothing in common with human hands. Its eyes radiated madness, and its teeth ground together continuously, as though it desperately wanted to bite something to pieces.
The monster easily shoved down the wall, then dropped onto all fours and charged toward the banquet's attendees.
"Assassin, what is that?"
"Hm? I do not know either, Master."
The culprit had hidden herself long before this. Now, as she watched the others frantically dodge, she fooled the priest who was also enjoying the spectacle.
"Was this not your plan? How could you possibly not know?"
"By heaven and earth, what I said at the time was that we would lure Caster's attention here, then use him to provoke these kings. As for what kind of monsters that lunatic would summon, how could I possibly know?"
"Caster's familiar?"
No, that was called an EVA, specifically Eva-01, and specifically its berserk version.
Jizi could materialize Gundams and other mecha, but she could not control them—so she merely had to think of it another way. As long as she materialized something that did not need controlling, it would be fine.
The Unicorn Gundam could be remotely controlled with the power of N.T.; Ryujinmaru possessed a certain degree of autonomy; Granzort likewise came with intelligent AI; not to mention AL aboard the Flame Magic Sword, who could even activate the λ-driver through will alone—but even if these machines could move without a pilot, Jizi would still need to devote part of her attention to issuing commands. At close range, that could easily expose something suspicious.
A berserk EVA, however, required no such concern. Once summoned, she did not need to care about the rest. It would attack everything within sight on its own. Besides, while EVA was a mecha, it also possessed carbon-based components, making it even easier to shift the blame onto Caster.
"Then I hope everyone has fun. Hehe."
Even though no one could see her, Jizi could imagine the smile on that stunning face inherited from Suigintou. It had to look incredibly smug.
PS 1. This is just my personal interpretation. In the original work, Saber's favorability toward Archer dropped very low after his appearance atop the streetlamp. While she did not exactly hate Rider, she definitely did not admire him much either. So when the banquet began, she found fault with everything, and her remarks were impulsive and irrational.
However, here she had not participated in the harbor battle and had even fought alongside Rider before. Combined with the buff from Jizi's music, her attitude would not be as bad as it was in the original work, so she would not be so impulsive.
PS 2. The parts about minstrels were something I made up based on my own dynasty's history. I am not sure whether the West was really like that. If there are any errors, historical fact takes priority, so please do not take it too seriously.
PS 3. Actually, I like Unit-02 and Asuka the most.
PS 4. The college entrance examination is tomorrow, and I have not revised at all... Sigh, fortunately, I took it years ago.
Before you continue