Chapter 359

For example, high intelligence, strong research ability, and solid theoretical knowledge, etc.

Kayneth El- El-Melloi Archibald is a typical example of this.

From this director's past and his own tragic future, it is clear that what leads to tragedy is often not fate but your own character.

His reason for participating in the Holy Grail War wasn't because he had any compelling desires; his motivation was simply to prove himself further. Therefore, the Holy Grail was merely something for him to use to prove himself, and the Servant he summoned was nothing more than a tool to help him obtain the Holy Grail.

Moreover, this tool is not the tool I originally envisioned; in fact, this tool has a history of betraying his lord and tampering with his identity.

Then this kind of "tool" person is even less ideal!

Back in his luxurious room at the Fuyuki City Grand Hotel after returning from the dock, Kayneth couldn't help but grumble, "The Einzbern family... how did they manage to summon a real Goddess as Heroic Spirit to participate in the Holy Grail War?"

"How did they do that?" Kayneth asked, extremely unwilling. "The Holy Grail War summons gods..."

"That thing couldn't possibly be a real Goddess, could it?" He paced back and forth in the room, muttering to himself, looking very uneasy. "It's probably just something summoned using someone as a catalyst! A god being demoted to Servant is a violation of the rules of Heroic Spirit Summoning, isn't it?"

"My lord." At this moment Diarmuid seemed to be deliberately bringing up a sore spot, knelt before Kayneth and said, "Please do not question it, the Foreigner is indeed Goddess, there is no doubt about it."

Diarmuid, who was once given a beauty mark by the Goddess that allowed him to charm other women, knew the Goddess's power very well, and was absolutely certain that what Belldandy was displaying was the Goddess's power! There was no mistake! That Goddess was the real Goddess, so the Master's current thoughts seemed superfluous.

"Shut up!" Kayneth, who was completely at odds with Diarmuid, said angrily, "Do we need you to speak here?"

This Diarmuid really has a little trick up his sleeve every day to raise his blood pressure.

"Kayneth." Noticing Kayneth's less-than-friendly attitude towards Diarmuid, Sola stepped forward to take his side, saying, "Your attitude towards Lancer is a bit too harsh. The Holy Grail War requires mutual trust and cooperation between Master and Servant to win. Besides, I think Lancer's judgment is correct. You should listen to Lancer."

Kayneth, Sola's fiancée, had absolutely no temper with him.

Sola is right, at least on the surface. The Holy Grail War requires Master Servant trust each other, cooperate, and stand united against external threats in order to achieve victory.

Moreover, Lancer's judgment on this matter is almost entirely correct.

But why did Kayneth feel like he was being cuckolded the more he listened? Why did it seem like Sola wasn't saying those things to resolve the conflict between him and Lancer? It seemed like she was taking sides and favoring Lancer.

Is the bias towards Lancer?

Kayneth didn't intend to delve further into the question of whether he was wearing a hat or not; he suddenly had some thoughts similar to Golden Flash's.

Since the opponent is undoubtedly a true god, confronting a god head-on seems both futile and laughable. However, there's no doubt that the Goddess of Fate Belldandy, is an enemy that must be faced in the Holy Grail War. In that case, why not make her one of our own?

"Lancer." Thinking of this, Kayneth's expression softened. He didn't even care about this defeat, and asked the same question as the powerful Goddess, "I remember the Goddess's gaze towards you was quite subtle before we left, wasn't it? Your charm also has a strong effect on Goddess, right?"

"My lord?" Lancer was taken aback. He almost immediately guessed Kayneth's plan.

"My lord, I don't think this is the effect of charm." Lancer quickly explained, "That Goddess must have other plans and was not charmed."

At first, I wondered if even Goddess couldn't resist her allure, but now, upon reflection, I realize that Goddess wasn't simply bewitched by me; she must have had ulterior motives. Although I don't know what her plans are, if my Master intends to use my charm, she'll inevitably fall into Goddess trap!

"It doesn't matter!" Kayneth said. "I don't care whether your ability can charm the Goddess or not. If it can, then use it; if it can't, then think of another way."

Hearing his Master's words, Lancer breathed a slight sigh of relief; it seemed his Master had listened to his advice.

But before he could even catch his breath, Kayneth's next words left Lancer completely bewildered.

"Lancer," Kayneth said with a hint of mockery, standing in front of Lancer with his arms crossed, "Making Goddess your woman shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

Lancer was stunned.

Before Lancer could even retort, Kayneth declared, "You are favored by the Goddess, blessed by Goddess. The Goddess loves the warrior—what a beautiful thing!"

A wonderful thing? Historically speaking, marrying a Goddess is definitely not a wonderful thing. Basically, the only options for the outcome are death or passing away.

"My lord!" Lancer pleaded, "I will surely present the Holy Grail to you as proof of my loyalty, so..."

"Let's not talk about your loyalty," Kayneth said impatiently. "No matter how powerful you are, can you stand up to the Goddess? In this one duel alone, you didn't even have a chance to fight back before being easily defeated by the Goddess! I don't need your promises, nor do I need you to talk about victory here."

"If you believe you can defeat the Goddess, then go for it! I'll be here waiting for your good news."

"But if you don't have that ability, then I'd rather see you present the Holy Grail to me with the Goddess!"

Chapter Thirteen: Good News!

Questioning the lord's strategy and disobeying the lord's orders is not a good thing for Diarmuid.

However, the order given by his Master this time was really difficult for him to carry out. If it were a battlefield mission, even if he knew he was outmatched, even if he knew it was a suicide mission, even if he was deliberately sent to do such a mission because of his discord with his Master, Diarmuid would still feel it was an honor, and dying on the battlefield would be worthwhile.

However, the fact that his lord had assigned him such a task made Diarmuid feel an unspeakable humiliation!

He couldn't resist or question it, because realistically speaking, his lord's strategy might truly be the best course of action. But he genuinely had no way of carrying out this task!

"Oh? Lancer?"

Just as Lancer was wandering aimlessly through the streets, Li Pu appeared right in front of him.

"You're actually just wandering around here?" Li Pu said, quite surprised. "As Servant, shouldn't you be by your Master's side protecting Master safety?"

He said he could talk to Lancer, but that's not so easy to do. Fuyuki City is a metropolis with a population of over a million! Without a clear way to contact Lancer, finding him is really difficult, let alone finding Lancer's Master.

The plot gives this guy the idea that he lives in a big hotel and turns the entire hotel into his Magecraft workshop.

However, the plot doesn't give a very specific location; it only vaguely indicates that it should be a rather luxurious hotel.

They wanted to use this information to find someone, especially Lancer and not his Master.

This is actually quite difficult.

Li Pu hadn't expected to find him so quickly; she was just strolling around casually and happened to be looking for Lancer. Unexpectedly, she bumped into Lancer wandering the streets. It was truly a case of "searching high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly!"

"You seem to be quite unwelcoming to me." Li Pu noticed the complexity in Lancer's eyes.

"We're enemies, even if you're Goddess," Lancer said. "Aren't you afraid I'll suddenly attack you? At this close range, even Goddess might not be able to react in time."

"Oh? A surprise attack?" Li Pu said jokingly, "Of course. In the Holy Grail War, we are enemies. You can attack me in any way, with any weapon, at any time and place. From this perspective, there is no problem. After all, modern warfare is not like the era in which you lived, where there was no need to adhere to any kind of honorable conduct, and everything was based on the principle of eliminating the enemy. Use all available means."

"After all, even a bottle of laundry detergent can become a reason to attack another country." Li Pu shrugged indifferently and said, "If you attack me, I don't really care."

"But if you choose to ambush me at this time," Li Pu retorted, "Wouldn't that violate your honor and creed as a knight, the Radiant Visage Diarmuid?"

Li Pu had certainly investigated Diarmuid, from the legends surrounding him to his role Servant. Diarmuid essentially adhered to the fundamental principles of knighthood, the principles of that era. To put it nicely, he was a very principled person; to put it bluntly Diarmuid, he was basically inflexible.

However, it is precisely because of this that Diarmuid is recognized and supported by his comrades.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have come looking for this Diarmuid.

He was a very good and loyal dog.

Diarmuid didn't speak. He looked into Li Pu's eyes for a long time before saying, "It seems you weren't bewitched by me after all, which is why you came to me."

"Alluring?" Li Pu chuckled and said, "I don't like moles! In terms of relationships, you're not my type. So, alluring, that beauty mark at the corner of your eye isn't a plus for me, it's actually a minus."

Li Pu explained, "I prefer a fair and clean face."

Anyway, it's fortunate that it's Belldandy. If it were any other character, I might actually be charmed by her mole. After all, even Saber couldn't resist that charm. Other characters are even harder to say. If it were an ordinary character with weak abilities, like Mrs. Aleshkevich, I might actually be turned gay... huh? I should say turned gay... or straightened out... Ah! Whatever!

"I'm Goddess," Li Pu said confidently. "I won't be charmed by your little bit of allure."

The biggest advantage of the Goddess is her strong resistance to various debuffs; some of them can be completely negated. That's really quite good!

"But you seem to have something on your mind," Li Pu said, pretending to be a caring older sister. "And this is something that concerns me, isn't it?"

"You seem to know everything." Lancer sighed and said, "Goddess, I... my Master ... my Master wishes that..."

Lancer really couldn't bring himself to say that.

"Oh~" Li Pu said before Lancer could finish speaking, "No need to say more, I know what your Master's plans are. His plans are actually similar to those of the King of Conquerors and the King of Heroes. To put it nicely, we can call this turning enemies into friends."

Although I was really annoyed by the actions of those two, the King of Heroes and the King of Conquerors, upon closer reflection, neither of them are idiots. They must have had very good reasons for daring to do such things.

Especially the King of Conquerors, that guy looks like a roughneck but is actually quite shrewd. He's the kind of person who has the heart of a tiger but can also appreciate the delicate beauty of a rose.

"I can't really comment on his choice," Li Pu said. "But if we put ourselves in his shoes, I think the options weren't that many. Either he would directly attack the Master or defeat the Servant. But when the difference in strength is huge, he really has no choice but to use other means."

For example, turning someone else's Servant into your own Servant.

"I'm sorry," Lancer said apologetically, "This is the Master's order..."

"Since this is your Master's order, and you've told me so," Li Pu said. "Is there no problem?"

"I will apologize to my lord," Lancer said.

"Apologize?" Li Pu shook his head and said, "Lancer, let me tell you this. Your apology is useless. Your Master doesn't believe you. He doesn't understand you, and he doesn't want to understand you or your wishes either. Your fate and his fate are almost predetermined."

"To repeat your past tragedy!"

Some things are truly as if ordained by fate, with the seeds of tragedy sown from the very beginning.

However, even if it is fate, not everyone is willing to bear it.

"What did you say?" Lancer suddenly said, as if he was embarrassed and angry. "Are you trying to sow discord and alienate me from my Master? How could my Master be like what you say? Oh~ I know, you are the Goddess of Fate! You arranged such a fate for me and my Master and then told me, watching my Master and I stumble around in the fate you wove, unable to escape or break free from it."

Looking at Lancer Li Pu, who suddenly became a bit hysterical, he couldn't help but find it amusing; he had touched a nerve with the guy. He could also sense his Master's distrust of him.

However, due to his own principles and the fact that he had wronged his master, he desperately hoped that his Master would not be like that. This contradiction between ideals and reality caused him to explode after saying just a few words.

"No." Li Pu waited patiently for Lancer to finish speaking before saying, "Actually, you haven't really understood me, my duties as the Goddess of Fate."

"I do not predetermine a person's fate," Li Pu said. "I merely connect cause and effect. What determines the effect is the cause, and what determines the cause is each person's own personality. As the Goddess of Fate, I do not idly go to people, tell them their fate, and then watch them perish within their predetermined destiny."

"Our primary duty is admonition," Li Pu continued. "Eldest sister Urd governs the past; she tells the gods and humanity about the mistakes they made in that past. I govern the present, admonishing those who have made mistakes to correct them in time. And Sariel governs the future, guiding those people onto the truly correct path."

"Only in this way can we be called Goddess of Fate, not Goddess of injustice because we control the fate of others."

In the original setting, this is the Goddess of Fate; as for granting wishes and providing relief, those are merely secondary settings based on the original concept!

"Then what do you want from me?" Lancer said. "Do you want to tell me that my lord is not a ruler? That he is not someone I can follow? And then make me betray my lord?"

"I will never betray my lord."

"The Gordian Rose." Li Pu finally revealed his true purpose, saying, "If you are willing to offer me your Gordian Rose, I can grant your wish and try my best to arrange a better ending for you and your Master, or fulfill your wish again."

"My wish?" Lancer sneered. "My wish was fulfilled the moment I was summoned."

"Hehehe~" Li Pu chuckled, a laugh that sounded like mockery but wasn't quite.

"Of course I know," Li Pu said calmly. "Don't be so quick to deny this deal."

You will definitely make a different choice in the future.

Chapter Fourteen: Tokiomi's Pot

"Foreigner, Belldandy, one of the Three Goddesses."

In the basement of his own headquarters, Tokiomi did not show any particularly bad expression.

Calm, elegant, and courteous—these qualities always seemed to emanate from him as a traditional Magecraft.

He never showed any panic in the face of any situation. Even when facing a Goddess, he would remain calm and composed, saying, "I never expected that the Einzbern family would be able to summon a real Goddess to the Holy Grail War."

"This is something that has never happened before in any Holy Grail War," Tokiomi said calmly. "And they really dare to do this."

Summoning a deity to participate in the Holy Grail War isn't entirely impossible, but the price is enormous, the risk is immense, and more importantly, deities are different from Heroic Spirit. Even with such a significant investment and risk, there's no guarantee of success. This Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family unexpectedly summoned not only a deity but also, as planned, a powerful Heroic Spirit. If it were just Heroic Spirit, it wouldn't be so bad, but with the addition of that deity, the victor of this Holy Grail War is almost obvious.

"From the current perspective, it seems that the struggle for the Goddess has become the key to winning this Holy Grail War." A priest's voice came from the phonograph in front of Tokiomi.

"Yes, that's right," Tokiomi said. "If she is a true Goddess, then the Command Spell won't be very effective at binding her. If we can win the Goddess over to our side, we can guarantee victory in this war."

But this isn't an easy task. Judging from the current situation, Rider's chances of winning over the Goddess are quite high. Should he teach Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, how to woo a girl? Tokiomi couldn't be sure.

Although he was not the King of Heroes, since she was Goddess, he could not treat her like an ordinary human woman.

Status, position, and power—these things are easily obtained by any ordinary woman and can be used to get into bed. But for Goddess, all of these are ineffective. She doesn't care about Gilgamesh's status, nor does she care about his position or power.

It really is a headache.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing I need to report to you," the priest said. "Regarding the Caster, I've already sent Assassin to investigate. We've recently obtained some information about them; their reach has extended to the towns surrounding Fuyuki City, and they like to abduct children at night. They abducted fifteen children in just one night! From the investigation into their behavior, it seems they are using Magecraft with complete impunity, utterly disregarding the consequences."

"And they don't really care about the Holy Grail War," a priest said. "They're just doing things recklessly according to their own desires."

"Judging from the current situation, they seem to have become the perpetrators of a series of murders."

Tokiomi remained silent for the time being, as this Holy Grail War was fraught with too many variables. For example, there Goddess of Fate, who had participated in the Holy Grail War as Foreigner, and then there was his Master, who seemed completely indifferent to the Holy Grail War. All of these had exceeded his initial plans for the war.

"Mentally deranged Servant and Master who completely ignore them," Tokiomi said. "Why are these people participating in this Holy Grail War?"

"This cannot be left unattended," said another priest with narrow eyes. "They have seriously violated the rules of the Holy Grail War."

"Of course," Tokiomi said. "As the person in charge of the Secret Magecraft, I should bear this responsibility."

"But..." the priest said, "The problem is that only Servant can fight Servant, but I can't send Assassins to defeat Caster right now."