On this land, Gilgamesh was recognized as a tyrant.
He had no reverence for the gods and held the power of life and death over his subjects. Seated upon the throne, he freely judged the fate of the people and casually stripped his ministers of their property and lives.
But when all was said and done, Gilgamesh was merely a tyrant, not a foolish king.
Nor was he an incompetent one.
As the man who ruled this nation, he had never abandoned its governance. It was only because he was excessively self-centered and willful that he often made decisions that seemed utterly absurd to ordinary people, and the methods he used to govern the country were cruel and overbearing.
Yet precisely because he was such an intensely self-centered king, Gilgamesh placed even greater importance on the safety of the nation.
The nation belonged to the king.
He could dispose of it as he pleased, but he would never allow outsiders to meddle in it, much less permit foreign things to invade and harm it!
"Those beasts who dare invade my territory will learn that what the king possesses cannot be trampled upon at will!"
Gilgamesh rose to his feet and, beneath Siduri's gaze, made a swift and decisive choice.
He would personally travel to the western border and resolve the problem there.
What neither of them noticed, however, was that—
Rovi, who sat carelessly on the steps beside them without the slightest concern for decorum, had already begun to scheme.
At that very moment, Rovi stood up.
"Wait!" As he rose, he looked toward Gilgamesh and Siduri before the throne, brushing the dust and soot from his linen robe.
"I'll go," Rovi said. "You're the king. A king should not act rashly."
His thoughts were simple.
Since his plan to have Gilgamesh and the gods kill him had failed, he might as well settle for the next best thing.
He would leave Uruk Royal City.
He would head for the dangerous borderlands.
He knew of the western Monster Forest as well. Vast numbers of monsters had lurked there year-round. It was dangerous and terrifying, one of Uruk's greatest threats.
Although heavily armed troops guarded the surrounding area and kept ordinary people away, monster outbreaks still occurred from time to time.
But if Rovi volunteered and traveled there with Gilgamesh's commission, the Uruk soldiers stationed there would have no way to stop him from approaching.
Then—
He could give himself a tragic ending. Whether he died in an accident or became trapped by enemies, it would be enough to enter the annals of history and become a legend.
But Siduri naturally could not agree. "Priest Rovi, I'm afraid you..."
She wanted to say that Rovi did not possess the strength for such a task, but her words abruptly stopped halfway through.
Several brilliant golden ripples suddenly appeared around Rovi. Sword and blade Noble Phantasms emerged from them, scattering crystalline trails of light through the air.
The authority to use the Treasury of Babylon, which Gilgamesh had granted him.
Siduri was astonished.
Gilgamesh, on the other hand, burst into laughter once more.
"Ha ha ha ha! For a mere barking stray to become so proficient in using my treasures so quickly, you have indeed surprised me somewhat."
Then he added, "Very good! In that case, take my Noble Phantasms and go display my magnificent radiance to those foolish creatures!"
"Speak like a normal person!" Rovi rolled his eyes, utterly unceremonious.
"I am the sole king of heaven and earth. Naturally, my words should be those of a king. How could the language of mere mortals restrain me?" Gilgamesh sneered. "You, on the other hand, should know when to stop that disgusting barking of yours, like filth and dung!"
Here they go again... Watching the two bicker like children once more, Siduri sighed silently.
She suddenly felt that she might have to learn to adapt to this kind of atmosphere in the future.
Still, seeing how skillfully Rovi wielded the Treasury of Babylon, the young aide knew that the Noble Phantasms within it alone gave him more than enough qualifications to set out in the king's place and suppress the monster uprising.
"I'm done wasting words on you." Rovi looked beyond the palace. The azure sky was nearing dusk, and the setting sun cast its fading light across the city, as though reflecting the crimson of autumn maples covering the mountains.
He shook his head, offered no farewell, and stepped down the stairs toward the palace gates.
"Hmph." Gilgamesh gave a disdainful laugh, his crimson eyes reflecting the slender yet resolute figure beneath the linen robe.
"Since you are setting out in place of the great me, then even a filthy stray must shine brilliantly—those beasts in the west have spent all year gnawing away in the gutters. I have no wish to see my envoy covered in mud."
"That would harm my image!"
"You should worry about yourself instead—you can't even speak properly." Rovi paused and glanced back at him, shaking his head before striding forward as though he felt no further attachment.
Of course, he could tell that Gilgamesh was concerned for him.
Though he did not understand why the other man treated him this way, Rovi knew that Gilgamesh sincerely acknowledged him.
Though he was bent on seeking death, Rovi was still only human.
Naturally, he could not help being moved.
Then again—
"A grown man speaking so coyly is really disgusting."
"..."
Listening to the words drifting in from outside, Siduri wisely chose to see nothing, hear nothing, and think nothing.
"Ha ha ha ha! Likewise, likewise!" Gilgamesh laughed freely. "Likewise, likewise!"
From childhood until now, no one had ever dared offend him so, yet left him unable to feel anger from the bottom of his heart.
"Like me, you are one who disrespects the gods. Let me see whether you possess the qualifications to stand beside me and become my friend!"
The king's deep voice echoed through the great hall of the palace. Upon the throne atop the towering steps, the resplendent king bathed in golden light waved a hand.
Rovi, already outside, paused. Before him lay Uruk's streets, gradually quieting beneath the dusk. Trees swayed before doorways, old yellow dogs leaned against gates on the verge of sleep, travelers returned home from distant journeys, and strong men chosen for corvée labor bade farewell to their parents.
These densely packed earthen and stone buildings, this orderly and well-planned city, this enormous human settlement inhabited by hundreds of thousands—such a thing could only have existed in this prehistoric civilization of mankind, in a world where gods existed.
But this scale was already the limit.
For the gods did not permit humanity to unify, as that would hasten the disappearance of the traces of the gods' existence in reality.
In the beginning, the gods' existence had undoubtedly been a help to humanity.
But by now, they had gradually become a restriction as well.
But that had nothing to do with him.
At least for now, he had no desire to interfere in such matters. He only wanted to die.
Rovi raised his eyes and immediately spotted a single bright star falling from the sky.
A shooting star... Nice.
He thought to himself.
May my life be like that shooting star as well—after carving my name into human history, may it vanish in an instant...
Wait.
"If I remember correctly, in the Mythic Age, a shooting star represents something from the heavens descending into the mortal world, right?"
"Other than Ishtar in her Possession State—"
"What has come this time?"
Rovi keenly grasped the crucial point.
Before you continue