Stand Your Ground

Gilgamesh gave Iskandar a proud smile. "I've decided, Rider. I'm going to kill you with my own hands."

Iskandar replied, "Haha! At this point, I suppose there's no need to remind you—I'd quite like to snatch every treasure from your vault. You'd better watch out."

Artoria suddenly said, "That is not the way of a king."

The two kings immediately looked at Artoria. Iskandar could roughly guess what Artoria wanted the Holy Grail for, but he was still curious about her views as a king. "Then tell us what is in your heart."

Artoria said, "My wish is to save my homeland. With the all-powerful wish-granting device, I want to change Britain's past fate. The retreat of the Age of Gods was inevitable, so as long as I made arrangements in advance and took Camelot away, Britain at that time would not have been destroyed. Those who died in the civil war could have survived."

Hearing that answer, Iskandar was somewhat disappointed. "King of Knights, when you say you want to change fate, do you mean you want to overturn history? Even after Lord Mo Li explained it to you so clearly—that the final result would not change much, only that more people would survive—you still insist on it?"

Gilgamesh gave Mo Li a strange look. It seemed that something interesting had happened before he arrived, and he had missed it.

Artoria said, "Yes. If the Holy Grail truly is omnipotent, then even a wish for a miracle that could not otherwise be achieved can surely be fulfilled."

Hearing this, Gilgamesh could not help laughing, as though he had heard something utterly ridiculous.

Iskandar said, "Um, Saber, let me confirm something. That country called Britain was destroyed in your era, wasn't it? It was destroyed under your rule, wasn't it?"

Artoria said, "That's right. That's why I cannot forgive myself. I clearly could have done better. I clearly could have asked Morgan to help, yet I did not. That is why I must change it all. I want to change that ending! Because it was my responsibility..."

Gilgamesh could no longer hold back his laughter.

Artoria asked irritably, "King of Heroes, what is so funny?"

Gilgamesh shook with laughter. "Someone who calls herself a king, and is called a king by others, actually says she has regrets? Hahaha! How could that not make me laugh?"

Artoria: "..."

"Saber." Iskandar drew her attention. When she looked over, he said, "Do you truly... wish to deny the deeds you wrote into history with your own hands? Just because you did not do well enough?"

Artoria frowned and replied as though it were only natural, "Yes. Why are you surprised? Why are you laughing? The homeland that gave me a sword and for which I devoted myself was destroyed. I grieve over that. What is there to laugh about?"

Gilgamesh could not help saying, "Hey, did you hear that, Rider? This little girl who calls herself the King of Knights is even talking about devoting herself to her homeland. Hahaha..."

By the end, Gilgamesh found it even more amusing.

Artoria asked unhappily, "Why exactly are you laughing? Since one is a king, one should naturally step forward and strive for the prosperity of the country one rules!"

"...You are wrong. Now I understand why Lord Mo Li said you were a king recognized by a sword, rather than someone who became king and then drew the sword. Once that sword that chose the king broke, Britain's ending was already decided. You were a chosen king, just like that sword." Iskandar sighed.

Artoria looked at Iskandar in surprise.

Looking at Artoria, Iskandar said, "It is not the king who devotes herself, but the nation and its people who devote themselves to the king. Your actions were merely those of a tool called 'king,' chosen by everyone else!"

Artoria said with distaste, "What did you say? Wouldn't that become the rule of a tyrant?"

"Exactly." Iskandar replied as if it were obvious. "We became heroes precisely because we were tyrants. But, King of Knights, if a king regrets his own rule and regrets his kingdom's ending, then he is merely a foolish ruler—worse even than a tyrant."

Artoria asked, "Iskandar, didn't your own legacy also come to an end? Wasn't the empire you built ultimately split into three? Are you saying you have no regrets whatsoever about that outcome?"

Without a moment's thought, Iskandar said, "None."

That answer left Artoria confused and unable to understand.

Iskandar said, "If that was the outcome brought about by my decisions and the lifelong struggle of the retainers who followed me, then its destruction was inevitable. I would mourn, and I would shed tears, but I would never regret it."

Artoria murmured, "How could you...?"

Iskandar emphasized, "Nor would I overturn it. Such foolish behavior would insult every person who built that era alongside me!"

The others watched the situation in the center. Some had complicated feelings, some were simply watching the show, and some were speechless. Most of them were not kings, so naturally they could not understand the clash between the three kings. They could only watch as the matter was settled.

Artoria pressed a hand to her chest. "Only soldiers take pride in destruction. How can we not protect the weak? Proper rule, proper governance—this is what it means to be a king!"

"Then..." Iskandar asked in return, "Are you, as king, a slave to righteousness?"

"That is fine." Artoria answered without hesitation. "A king should sacrifice herself for her ideals."

Hearing that answer, Iskandar raised his cup and took another sip. "That is not a way for a person to live."

Artoria retorted, "If one wishes to become king and rule a nation, one cannot hope to live like an ordinary person. Conqueror King, you who seek the Holy Grail merely to obtain a body cannot understand. You who became an overlord merely to satisfy endless desires cannot understand."

"A king without desires is worse than a vase! King of Knights!" Iskandar was somewhat angered. "You said just now that you would sacrifice yourself for your ideals. Then you must once have been a pure and incorruptible saint, possessing noble and inviolable grace, yes? But who would yearn for the thorny road of martyrdom? Who would dream of it?"

Iskandar said wistfully, "A king should be the one with the strongest desires, the heartiest laughter, and the fiercest anger—the one who reaches the utmost extremes of both purity and filth in humanity! It is precisely because of this that subjects envy their king and become captivated by him! That the flame of longing—I too wish to become king—is ignited in every person's heart!"

"O king who represents chivalry, the justice and ideals you upheld may indeed have saved the nation and its people. But surely you know what ultimately became of those people who were merely saved?"

"What are you saying..." Artoria's gaze wavered. As she tried to continue, Mo Li, standing to her left, suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to him in confusion.

Mo Li said, "Then, three kings, allow me to interject for the moment. As one who is about to rule the island beneath our feet, I suppose I can be considered a king as well."

Everyone looked at Mo Li. The spectators did not know what he intended to say, while the three kings looked forward to hearing it.

Mo Li lifted his cup, poured the last serving of King's Wine into it, and drained it in one gulp. After setting down the gleaming golden cup, he said, "In modern times, in Huaxia, less than a hundred years ago, no fewer than ten million people died one after another for ideals and dreams. No fewer than a hundred million died as a result. The specifics are too complicated to finish explaining even in days."

"But what I want to say is that if Artoria were in modern times, I would gladly welcome her to help me govern the land beneath my feet. She is not suited to being a king in ancient times. She is also different from most kings. Her understanding of kingship is better suited to modern times, and she could even integrate very well into this era."

Mo Li folded his arms, his gaze sweeping over Iskandar and Gilgamesh. "In this era, Huaxia has a saying: serve the people. And that is what we are doing. Artoria is suited to accepting Huaxia's ideals. As an ancient king, she was too noble—so noble that her subordinates could not accept it. It was not as though she never guided her people to do better."

"She drew that sword, and the people recognized her. She led them toward a better future as well; otherwise, she could never have built such a kingdom. But later, she could no longer continue guiding her people, and instead fell into the predicament of civil war. At that time, her noble character could not allow her to solve problems that required ordinary human nature to face. During the civil war, her subordinates fell into confusion, hardship, and conspiracies. Those were not problems the King of Knights, so noble that she would not touch schemes or intrigue, could solve. This was her personal flaw. No king is flawless, so she fell."

Artoria's actions were about serving the people, utterly incompatible with the ancient environment where kings made the people serve them. That was also why her subordinates rebelled against her. She really was too perfect. They had never seen such a good king before. With such a good king around, how were subordinates like them supposed to steal and cheat?

That was why they had to rebel against this perfect king!

Artoria was not suited to being an ancient king. She should have come to the modern age instead.

As for Iskandar's claim in the original work that when her subordinates were lost, Artoria failed to guide them, Mo Li utterly scoffed at it. It was downright laughable. Looking across Huaxia's history, how many founding veterans who helped a ruler establish a dynasty ever needed that ruler to guide them?

The Great Ming would ask, what the hell was that supposed to be? Was the ruler the biological parent of those founding veterans or something? Clearly, the ministers themselves were useless, yet they still wanted to blame the ruler for the problem?

Besides, which of Huaxia's dynasties did not have its founding generation fighting amongst themselves? Was Han Xin not impressive? He still ended up dead.

The Sima clan usurping the throne was an even more direct slap in the face, wasn't it? Subordinates needing their ruler to counsel them? What a joke!

Mo Li said, "Living in that era, her excessive purity did indeed make her difficult for people to accept. But that does not stop her from having done a good job. After all, she truly did achieve greatness. As for wanting to tear everything down and start over—if, in modern times... no, rather, during the time when tens of millions in Huaxia died one after another for their ideals and dreams, there had been such an opportunity, not one of our leaders would have refused it. And they did not covet anything from the people. As long as things could truly be made better, as long as more people could survive, then everything would have been worth it!"

"They cared more about the people than their own so-called status. Our leaders were even more so. The people and the nation were everything; the children of Huaxia were everything to Huaxia. If there had been a chance to start over and do things perfectly, they would never have hesitated in the slightest! You two probably have not seen Huaxia's modern history since coming to this world, have you? I personally recommend that you take a look."

Mo Li paused, then patted Artoria on the shoulder. "From the very beginning, your ways of kingship were different. Just because you do not agree with something does not mean it is unreasonable. Likewise, Conqueror King, King of Heroes, your ways of being kings are also things I cannot agree with. If I had to choose one of the three of you to help me, Artoria would be the more suitable choice."

"Mo Li..." Artoria looked at him with a complicated expression. So far, he was the only one who had stood on her side in the debate over kingship. Before, he had been reprimanding her, yet now he was defending her instead.

Mo Li smiled at Artoria. "Rest easy. You have me."