"Oh? You finally made it?"
By the time Ophis arrived at Einzbern Castle, the King of Conquerors and the King of Knights were already seated on the ground, drinking.
"You invited her as well, King of Conquerors?"
Saber frowned, wary, as Ophis appeared. Rider only laughed loudly, scooped a ladleful from the wooden barrel beside him, and thrust it toward Ophis.
"Yeah, I ran into her on the way and invited her along. You're late, little girl—but you came on foot, so it can't be helped. Still, that earns you a penalty cup! Here!"
Ophis took the ladle and sampled a sip, her brows tightening slightly.
Ophis rarely indulged in material pleasures and had little awareness of it herself, but she couldn't deny it either: in the beginning, Enkidu had spoiled her so thoroughly that it became habit. Everything she used—what she ate, what she drank—had always been the finest.
Drinking something this… "low-grade" was genuinely unfamiliar.
"Oh? You don't look satisfied, little girl. And yet this is the best wine you can buy around here. Don't tell me you're used to something even more extravagant? You don't look the type."
Iskandar caught the tiny reaction with sharp eyes and spoke with a wry sort of helplessness.
Ophis tilted her head, thought for a moment, then produced a bottle and cups from the Gate of Babylon and set them on the ground before sitting down as well.
"Ohh! Now this is something!"
The fragrance that burst out in an instant made the King of Conquerors' eyes light up. He immediately began pouring.
"Mmm… a truly rare and peerless wine."
After a sip, he couldn't help voicing his praise. Even Saber, at his side, showed a flicker of surprise and admiration.
"Ophis—so you are the King of Heroes of Babylonia… A king who dares declare her name openly, just like us. This wine suits your kingly spirit. It ought to be held in the finest goblet—though alas, the Holy Grail is not a drinking cup, and the two cannot be treated as one."
He drank again, and the great mood the wine stirred in him seemed to swell to its peak.
"So then, little girl—what wish have you entrusted to the Holy Grail? That is something we must clarify first."
"That question has no meaning to me."
Ophis held her cup, eyes half-lidded.
"Oh?"
"If we trace a concept back to its origin, most Noble Phantasms in this world were, at the beginning, mine… but that is of no consequence. Since they have fallen into the world beyond my hand, then let you fight over them as you please. The Holy Grail is nothing more than something meaningless to me."
"Mmm…"
Iskandar swirled his cup.
"So you believe it is yours, and yet you don't intend to stop others from taking it—because the Holy Grail has no meaning to you?"
"Correct."
Ophis nodded lightly.
"If it is not something meaningful, then retrieving it also holds no meaning. Therefore, there is no necessity for me to actively reclaim it."
"Then you are a king who seeks meaning in all things?"
Iskandar's brows drew together slightly.
"No. Not that I seek meaning before I act, but that I act only when I know there is meaning… at least, the me of the past was like that."
"In that case, I cannot acknowledge you as a king."
Setting down his cup, the King of Conquerors spoke with gravity.
"A king is one who follows her own desires. If you must look before you leap every time you act, that is no way for a king."
"It makes no difference. Even if you do not regard me as a king, it does not change the fact that I am the King of Uruk. Besides, I possess almost no desire that belongs to me."
Ophis responded to Iskandar's denial with perfect calm.
It wasn't that she was truly without desire, but her wish had nothing to do with humanity as a collective, nor was it something achievable in the short term. Ophis had never pursued it with urgency.
As for another's disapproval—it held no meaning to her.
"Oh? If you have no desires, then why did you rule Uruk as a king? As a king, did you have no reason at all?"
Genuinely perplexed, the King of Conquerors asked.
Beside him, Artoria listened intently.
In truth, she didn't agree with Iskandar—after all, she too had been a king without desire.
But she wasn't truly devoid of desire. She had merely strangled those desires with her own hands. And so she also wanted to know: what kind of kingship did this King of Heroes—who likewise "had no desire"—walk?
"That question also has no meaning. I was meant to be king from the start. It is as self-evident as the sun rising in the east—there is no 'reason' for why I became king."
Ophis answered coolly. Whether it was Gilgamesh, or she who inherited Gilgamesh's fate, the road of kingship had long been fixed. Acceptance or rejection could not change it.
"I see. 'A king chosen by the gods,' then? From my perspective, that is a rather pitiful kingship. And yet—you ultimately betrayed the gods. Was your reason for doing so also nothing more than 'meaning'? In the end, what do you base your judgment of meaning on?"
Ophis watched the ripples in the cup, then closed her eyes, tranquil.
"The gods, in order to guide humanity and stabilize the world, created a device born from the concept of the 'All-Knowing, All-Powerful Serpent'—the primordial god. An observer and arbiter who holds the principles of heaven and earth. That is the mission I, as the omniscient and omnipotent king, was given. From the beginning, my gaze upon humanity was required to be set at a higher plane; such is the duty that comes with a fate-bound birth."
After a brief pause, Ophis continued.
"I like humans. At first, that was merely a promise—something that could only ever remain on the surface. Yet humanity revealed its radiance. And so I love humans—not some individual, nor humanity's creations or patterns, but humanity as a collective in itself."
Ophis paused again, while Iskandar and Artoria listened in silence.
"Even so, I am, in the end, only an existence meant to guide humanity at the beginning. Once humanity no longer requires guidance, I, as king, will hand the stage over for humanity to perform by its own hand. But I am also humanity's observer and arbiter. If humanity produces an error it cannot correct with its own power, then I will intervene to set it in order. And if it comes to that point… I will erase everything that is in error, even if what that includes is most—perhaps nearly all—of humanity."
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T/N: SPEAK YOUR TRUTH QUEEN
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