Iskandar lifted the bowl before him, tipped his head back, and took a deep gulp.
A little wine trickled from the corner of his mouth.
He set the bowl down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Good-"
The earthenware bowl landed back on the flagstones with a soft clink.
He looked around at everyone present.
Artoria sat opposite him, Mayuri a little farther off to one side, Waver huddled by the hedge, and Irisviel stood near the garden entrance.
Moonlight fell across the wine bowls, and the wine inside rippled.
"Legend has it that the Holy Grail will fall into the hands of someone worthy of it."
Iskandar lowered his voice a little. It was not as loud as on the battlefield, but it still carried considerable weight.
"And this struggle taking place in Fuyuki is a ritual to choose that person."
He reached out and touched the rim of his bowl, rubbing a finger over the coarse pottery.
"But if we could let the Holy Grail know in advance who is most qualified to possess it..."
The King of Conquerors grinned.
"Then there would be no need for us to keep fighting. As long as one among us can make the other Heroic Spirits yield through ability or will, the answer will come naturally."
Artoria sat opposite him and listened quietly to the end.
She did not answer immediately.
The King of Knights first reached for the earthenware bowl before her.
It was crudely made, a little uneven to the touch, and even the thickness of its rim varied.
It certainly could not compare to the silver cups in Camelot's palace.
But Artoria paid it little attention. Holding the bowl in both hands, she tipped her head back and drained it.
The wine hit hard.
It tasted strongly of grapes and was quite astringent, and her stomach soon warmed after she swallowed.
It was hardly refined, but it was strong enough.
Artoria set the empty bowl back on the flagstones.
"Is this how you wish to settle which of us is superior?"
Her voice remained steady.
"King of Conquerors."
Iskandar smiled.
"Precisely."
He lifted his bowl and took another drink, then set it down in front of him.
"Since we both call ourselves kings and neither will yield, conflict is naturally difficult to avoid. But what we are conducting now is not the Holy Grail War."
He wiped the wine off the bowl's rim with his thumb.
"It is a Holy Grail Dialogue."
His tone grew a little heavier as he spoke those words.
"Who is qualified to be this Holy Grail's king? Let us put that question over wine."
The moment he finished, the air in the middle of the garden changed.
Golden motes appeared out of nowhere and slowly gathered together.
First came a silhouette, then short, bright golden hair, a boy's face, crimson eyes, and a black-and-gold formal outfit.
The short jacket he had worn out that day was still open, the golden patterns beneath it gleaming in the moonlight.
Young Gilgamesh emerged from Spirit Form, his feet touching the flagstones almost soundlessly.
He looked first at the King of Conquerors, then at the King of Knights, glanced toward two distant corners, and finally rested his gaze on Mayuri.
The boy lifted his chin toward her in greeting.
Then a dissatisfied expression crossed his face.
"You two really aren't being very considerate."
His crimson eyes moved between Iskandar and Artoria.
"You started the banquet before I even arrived. You couldn't wait a little for me?"
He sounded genuinely a little unhappy, though there was more of that brazen certainty that there was nothing wrong with this king arriving late.
Iskandar laughed.
"You're here now, that's what matters!"
He produced another coarse earthenware bowl, filled it with a wooden ladle, and pushed it across the flagstones.
The bowl slid a short distance and stopped at Kid Gil's feet.
Kid Gil looked down at the red wine in the bowl, bent down, picked it up in one hand, and drained it without even sitting down.
After finishing it, he smacked his lips.
The distaste on his face was obvious.
"Too astringent. The tannins haven't been properly dealt with, either."
The boy wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
"The fruitiness barely passes, but the finish is too short. All that's left at the end is alcohol, without any complexity at all."
The smile on Iskandar's face froze for a moment.
He and Waver had visited three wine shops in Fuyuki City before buying this barrel.
Kid Gil paid no attention to the King of Conquerors' reaction.
A ring of golden ripples appeared beside his right hand.
A small section of the Gate of Babylon opened, only about the size of a washbasin.
But the moment something began to emerge, everyone in the garden turned to look.
The aroma of wine drifted out first.
It was nothing like the wine in Iskandar's barrel.
Its sweetness was clean and its fragrance rich, with notes of fruit and flowers, followed by oak barrels and vanilla, leaving a warmth as it finally settled.
This was wine brewed by the gods.
A golden wine jug floated out of the ripples, followed by three golden goblets.
The drinking set alone could have drawn a crowd for ages in a museum, never mind the wine inside.
The wine's fragrance spread throughout the courtyard.
By the hedge, Waver could not help swallowing when he smelled it.
Irisviel's eyes widened too.
The finest fragrance she had ever smelled was probably that of the roses blooming in June in the gardens of Einzbern Castle.
But beside this wine's aroma, those roses seemed ordinary.
Holding the golden jug, Kid Gil casually set two golden goblets before Artoria and Iskandar and kept one for himself.
"King of Conquerors, the wine you bought is far too low-grade."
The boy spoke as he poured wine into his own goblet.
Golden wine streamed from the spout, its color like amber or honey, forming a beautiful curved surface as it swirled into the goblet.
"Drink this instead. Only wine brewed by the gods is worthy of witnessing a contest of kingly ways between us three kings."
Iskandar stared at the golden goblet before him for two seconds.
The fragrance of the wine inside was unmistakable, instantly eclipsing the barrel of grape wine from earlier.
"Is that so?"
The King of Conquerors still sounded unconvinced.
"I thought the one I bought tasted quite good. According to the shopkeeper, it was among the very best wines available in Fuyuki City."
Despite his words, his hand had already reached out.
Iskandar picked up the golden jug and filled his own goblet.
The sound of the wine pouring into the goblet was clear, even sounding different from ordinary wine.
After filling his own, he filled the golden goblet before Artoria, then returned the jug to Kid Gil.
Then the King of Conquerors glanced toward Mayuri.
Mayuri sat at the edge of the flagstones, three or four meters away.
The earthenware bowl the King of Conquerors had pushed toward her earlier sat in front of her, its wine untouched.
That was because she was holding something else.
A stemmed glass.
Not a golden goblet from the Gate of Babylon, nor a crystal glass from Einzbern Castle.
Just an ordinary stemmed glass, the kind that looked like it could have come from a hundred-yen store.
She had swiped it from a kitchen cupboard in the Tohsaka Residence.
The glass was half full of dark brown liquid, with a little foam on its surface.
Cola.
Chilled cola.
Mayuri had put a two-liter bottle of cola in the refrigerator ahead of time and chilled it all afternoon. Poured out now, it was just right.
It was not cold enough to numb her mouth, and it still had plenty of fizz.
She took a sip.
Bubbles burst across the tip of her tongue, and caramel flavor slid down together with the chill. Her stomach felt better at once.
Mayuri narrowed her eyes.
Just as I thought.
Chilled cola tastes better than wine or tea.
Iskandar looked at her for two seconds, then turned his gaze away.
That look probably said: You're actually drinking soda at the Banquet of Three Kings... never mind, do as you please.
Kid Gil glanced at Mayuri too.
Crimson eyes met rose-red eyes.
Mayuri raised her stemmed glass and gave it a slight tilt toward him in a toast.
Kid Gil gave an amused snort and said nothing.