The banquet was held next to the flower bed in the courtyard of the castle. The battle last night did not affect this place, and it did not look shabby for entertaining guests. At this time, no one cared about the cold outside.

The rider brought the wine bottle to the atrium, and the three Servants sat next to each other and confronted each other leisurely. Irisviel and Waver sat side by side, guessing the development of the situation, and realized that this meant a temporary truce, and they only had to be aside

Just watch it.

The rider smashed the lid of the barrel with his fist, and the rich aroma of red wine suddenly filled the air in the atrium.

"Although the shape is very strange, it is a drinking vessel unique to this country."

As Rider spoke, he proudly poured wine with a bamboo-handled spoon. Unfortunately, no one at the scene could point out his common sense mistake. Illya just stared at the bright red wine and ignored Rider's question.

The rider first drank the wine in the spoon in one gulp, and then spoke.

"Let's talk about little miss's question first! Little miss, are you the king?"

"...So be it..."

Ilia was stunned for a moment, raised her head and gave an ambiguous answer.

"The king is the king. What is 'maybe'?! Miss, you'd better give a clear answer. Otherwise I won't admit it!"

Obviously the Conqueror was not satisfied with this answer.

"ha……"

Seeing the King of Conqueror's expression that he was obviously ready to break the pot and ask the question, Illya smiled helplessly.

"Then let me explain it, although it may be a bit long."

Turning her gaze to the distant starry sky, Illya talked about her somewhat modified identity in a daze.

"The father of this body, Philos Alan Stein Trember, is a great alchemist who belongs to the Crusaders. He used this body as a sacrifice and frantically prepared to alchemize the god.

However, of course he failed, and even his soul was swallowed up by the alchemy array.

Of course, as a failure, this body is also on the verge of collapse.

Later, my soul fell into a deep sleep to maintain the existence of this body.

When I regained awareness of the outside world, I discovered that this body was actually enshrined by the Cross as a substitute for God."

With that said, Illya changed to a more comfortable sitting position. Everyone looked at her in surprise. They originally thought that what she was going to tell was the process of becoming a king, but they didn't expect that it would be her "formation" process, an alternative.

Formation.

"A thousand years, I have been enshrined like this for a thousand years.

They regard this body as a god, the god on whom their spirits rest.

The strong thoughts they prayed for have continuously penetrated into this body during this thousand years.

Those thoughts corrode this body, trying to turn this body into a god.

But it is impossible for this body to become a true god simply by relying on people's thoughts.

However, it is still possible to make this body a 'King' of a lower level than a 'God', a king who entrusts people's ideals.

This body has thus become a religious king."

Using pure magic power to condense a wine glass, Illya poured herself a glass of wine from the barrel and continued:

"They call this person 'god-holy-symbol', their spiritual 'holy king', the royal way forged by human faith. But it is just a formal symbol at best.

So let alone rights, I don’t even have freedom. That’s how I ended up like this..."

Listening to Ilia's somewhat self-deprecating summary, everyone fell into silence. None of them thought that the playful, noisy and alcoholic little girl in front of them was actually just a sacrifice, someone who was regarded as a "god"

, but it became a symbol of "king". This has to be said to be a very bad experience, compared with their experience of becoming king. Although they definitely misunderstood Illya because they regarded her as a real heroic spirit.

The fate he met.

"Well...it is indeed unlikely that the important secrets of this kind of Christianity will be known to outsiders, let alone spread to the world...Okay! Anyway! I admit it! Little Miss, you are a king!' Holy

King of Religion! That’s enough!”

The Conqueror King chose to break the dullness in front of him and changed the topic.

"Now let's talk about the theme this time! I heard that only qualified people can get the Holy Grail."

The serious tone calmed the surrounding atmosphere. This man actually spoke in such a tone, and I always felt that something was wrong.

"And the ceremony to select the qualified person is this war in Fuyuki... But if you just watch, there is no need to shed blood. We are both heroic spirits, and if we can recognize each other's abilities, then there will be no need for me.

Just tell me."

"..."

Saber took the spoon from Rider without hesitation and took a spoonful of wine as well.

Saber's slender body always makes people worry about whether she can really drink.

But looking at her generosity in drinking, she was not inferior to the giant rider. Rider gave a happy compliment when he saw this.

"So, first of all, you are going to compete with me to see who is stronger? Rider."

After taking a look at Ilia, who was still a little out of shape, the King of Knights directly challenged the King of Conquerors.

"Exactly, a real contest between each other in the name of 'King', but in this case it wouldn't be called a 'Holy Grail War', it would be better to call it a 'Holy Grail Question'... In the end, among the King of Knights, the King of Conquerors and the Saint King

, who can become the 'King of Holy Grails'? This is the perfect question to ask the wine glass."

The rider changed his serious tone and smiled mischievously. Then he spoke as if talking to himself.

"Ah, speaking of which, there is another person here who claims to be the 'King'!"

"…The joke ends here, bastard."

It seemed to be in response to Rider's unclear words.

A dazzling golden light flashed in front of everyone.

The sound and the light made Saber and Irisviel's bodies immediately stiffen. Illya, who came back to her senses, just glanced at it and paid no attention to it, just sipping on her own.

"Archer, why are you here..."

Saber asked sharply, but it was Rider who answered her calmly.

"Ah, when I saw him on the street, I asked him to drink together... But I was still late, Jin Guang. But unlike me, he walks on foot, so I can't blame him."

"I knew that since it was the king's party, how could there be one person missing!"

After hearing Rider's answer, Illya felt that this should be the case.

"However, I didn't expect that a person who doesn't take me seriously and calls him a 'king' without knowing how high the heaven and earth is would appear again today! And take back your statement that 'king' is one level lower than 'god'."

If so! How can those bastards compare with me!"

"Oh? 'God'? Are you talking about those narcissists who claim to be gods, but are eventually killed by what they regard as 'mere humans'?"

Hearing this, the armor-clad Archer looked at Ilia with interest with his ruby-like eyes. After getting a roll of his eyes from the other party, he didn't get angry. He just chuckled with no meaning, and then turned to look at her.

rider.

"It's a shame that you chose such a poor place to hold a banquet. You only have this taste. How can you apologize for making me come all the way?"

"Don't say that. Come on, have a drink first."

Ignoring Archer's somewhat strange attitude towards Illya just now, Rider smiled boldly and handed him the spoon full of wine.

I thought he would be irritated by Rider's attitude, but unexpectedly he simply took the spoon and drank the wine in one gulp.

Irisviel thought of the "challenge" Saber mentioned earlier.

In Irisviel's understanding, Archer, a golden heroic spirit whose true identity is unknown, calls himself the "King", so it is impossible for him to refuse the wine offered by Rider.

"...What kind of bad wine is this? You actually use this kind of wine to fight between kings?"

Archer said with a look of disgust.

"..."

Hearing this, Illya looked at the wine in the quilt, then at the shining golden archer, and thought speechlessly:

'Only this guy can treat a wine that has been brewed for more than a hundred years as rubbish...'

"Really? This is a high-priced item I bought from the high-end market here! It's a nice wine."

"You think so because you don't understand wine at all, you bastard!"

A whirlpool of empty space appeared around Archer, who sneered. This was a precursor to the strange phenomenon that could summon the Noble Phantasm. Weber and Irisviel only felt a chill in their bodies.

But... what appeared next to Archer tonight was not weapons, but a series of drinking utensils inlaid with dazzling gems. The heavy gold bottle was filled with colorless and clear liquid.

"Look, this is the 'wine of kings'."

"Oh, I'm so touched!"

"Oh! Oh! Excellent!!!"

Rider didn't pay attention to Archer's tone, and happily poured the new wine into three cups. Yes! It was three cups, because someone took away a gold bottle directly. That is, he was so excited to see such a beautiful wine that he ignored it

Illya of the King of Heroes.

Seeing this, Archer just raised his eyebrows, glanced at Ilia again with interest, and said nothing more.
To be continued...