Artoria's King's Path

Tohsaka Estate.

Everyone had gathered inside. Fortunately, the Tohsaka Estate was large enough that it did not feel too crowded.

"Then let me recap. As far as we know, the Masters in this Holy Grail War include two Saber Masters—one is me, and the other is Emiya. As for Archer, that would be you, Rin. Lancer's Master was originally Bazett, but now it is Kirei Kotomine. Rider's Master is Sakura. The Masters and Servants of Caster, Assassin, and Berserker are still unknown.

Einzbern will definitely participate in this Holy Grail War, so perhaps only two Servants have yet to be summoned. Or perhaps they were hiding in the shadows and had not shown themselves."

As Yu Feng spoke, he actually already knew who the Servants in this Holy Grail War were. But to avoid people looking at him strangely, it was better to stick to what they currently knew.

Rin Tohsaka said helplessly, "Setting aside the strange fact that there are two Servants of the same class in one Holy Grail War, what I want to know is why all the Masters are people I know!"

"One Saber Master is my classmate! Rider's Master is my younger sister! Lancer's Master is that old priest! I just want to know who else there is that I don't know!"

Medea's Master was your teacher, too.

Yu Feng grumbled inwardly.

What a joke—six Masters in the Holy Grail War, and every single one of them was an acquaintance. The kind of acquaintance who could not possibly be any more familiar.

They could practically be eaten already. Hilarious.jpg

"You all talk. I want some peace and quiet."

Yu Feng promptly asked, "Who's Jingjing?"

Rin Tohsaka shot Yu Feng a vicious glare. "I said I want some quiet!"

With that, Rin Tohsaka returned to her room without looking back.

Seeing that, Sakura Matou timidly said, "It's getting late too, so I'll go to sleep first. Senior Yu, you should get some rest early too."

A gentle smile curved across Yu Feng's lips. "All right, Sakura. Go get some sleep."

Once Sakura had left, Yu Feng instantly reverted to his previous self.

Yu Feng: Why did he feel like some creepy uncle?

No, he did not. That was merely his illusion.

Emiya dematerialized and disappeared from the room.

Yu Feng, Artoria, and Little Mo all tacitly turned to look at the final person remaining in the room—Shirou Emiya.

Realizing that something was wrong, Shirou Emiya gave an awkward smile. "Then... I'll be heading back first."

With that, Shirou Emiya slipped away without hesitation, not even asking the many questions about the Holy Grail War that he had originally wanted to ask.

After Shirou Emiya left, only Yu Feng and the other two remained. The atmosphere immediately became awkward.

In the end, Artoria was the first to break the silence. "Feng, what you told me before..."

Before she could finish, Yu Feng hurriedly stopped her. "Stop! I don't know much about the Holy Grail War from ten years ago, because I haven't experienced it yet. It should have been the future me who was summoned there. Tell me what I said to you first, so I can understand better."

Upon hearing that, Artoria glanced at Little Mo. After hesitating for a while, she slowly said, "It went like this..."

Artoria roughly summarized the question Yu Feng had given her during the Fourth Holy Grail War.

It turned out that Yu Feng had given Artoria a question concerning the nation during the Fourth Holy Grail War.

Artoria did not reveal all the details, as though she did not wish to say everything.

As for the question Yu Feng had given Artoria, she had pondered it for a long time before arriving at what she believed was the right answer.

"I suppose I count as an unqualified king. My reason for wanting the Holy Grail is still the same as it was during the Fourth Holy Grail War, but I now have an answer to the question you gave me.

A king should bring prosperity to the people and should be revered by them.

That is my answer."

Yu Feng shook his head slightly. In his eyes, there was nothing wrong with Artoria's King's Path.

It was only that Artoria had gone wrong at the end. She had denied everything she had done in order to correct her mistakes.

That was not the mindset a king should possess.

There was nothing wrong with dedicating everything one had to the nation and its people.

But a king without desires was absolutely not a true king.

A king should shoulder everything for the people, clearly see what they needed, and make those needs into her own desires. A king herself should also have a desire, rather than being a king without wants or needs.

If a king had no desires or wants, then what was the difference between being a king and being a puppet?

There was no difference!

She would merely be a puppet with consciousness!

At the so-called Banquet of Kings, Iskandar had not agreed with Artoria's King's Path being wrong. Every king had her own King's Path.

But Iskandar's disagreement had also been right.

It could only be said that there were things that were right in Artoria's King's Path, but there were also things that were wrong.

After Britain fell, Artoria's King's Path had strayed from its original course.

Why was Artoria called the King of Knights?

It was because, before becoming a king, Artoria had been a knight.

And sometimes, Artoria viewed matters through the eyes of a knight rather than with the perspective of a king.

Moreover, she had been worthy of being followed and acknowledged by all the knights of Britain, which was why she was called the King of Knights.

During the age of Britain, Artoria had cast aside her heart as a woman in order to become a king.

But at the same time, she had become unable to understand people's hearts.

Note that this did not mean Artoria truly could not understand human hearts.

Rather, her perception of things had been constrained by old notions.

Otherwise, she would not have brought about what Lancelot did.

In the end, it had all been caused by the turmoil brought about by the claim that King Arthur "did not understand people's hearts."

But in truth, not everything about Artoria's King's Path had been wrong. At the very least, her actions had not been wrong.