Chapter 13 A Theater with Zero Human Content
"I'll have you know, I am actually a fan of King Arthur."
Under the high ceiling of the opera house, the golden swordsman suddenly made a serious declaration.
'...Huh?'
Ayaka slapped a hand over her face. What is this guy even talking about?
"I highly esteem King Arthur's way of kingship! It was a path of governance filled with magnanimity and grace. Therefore—Ayaka's choice to spare you is a noble and correct act befitting the style of King Arthur. You should thank Ayaka for sparing your life!"
The beginning was normal, but then he took a sharp turn.
'You mean to say, because YOU are a fan of King Arthur, I'm the one who has to act like a king?
Then what are you here for? Do you not need to follow the kingly way?'
Ayaka tentatively stood on the same side as the person being lectured. On her other side, the nameless Assassin clicked her tongue in disdain.
Currently, Ayaka, the blonde Saber, and the nameless Assassin were sitting on the stage in the center of the theater, conducting a three-way peace talk.
If Ayaka and Richard were counted as one side, it was a two-way talk. Ayaka had been unwilling to let Richard kill the unconscious woman; the nameless Assassin had eventually drifted back to consciousness, and the situation had finally transformed into this current "chat time."
"Who is 'King Arthur'... no, wait, I think I've heard that name... It's the legend of a tall, burly knight who pulled a sword from a stone and became the king of a country, right? Isn't he also rumored to be the incarnation of a Red Dragon?"
Ayaka asked in confusion.
Supposedly, he led soldiers in heavy armor and tens of thousands of barded warhorses. Under overcast skies, tens of thousands of longswords and spears emitted a dull light as he became a legend who was both king and commander. He was even transformed from a Red Dragon, possessing dragon-like majesty in every movement.
"Does such a god-like person really exist... isn't it just a storybook character?"
"He exists! He absolutely exists! He might even be alive in this world right now, living somewhere full of majesty!"
Richard patted his chest with high spirits and proclaimed.
"Alright, I hope you get to meet him soon."
'May you soon encounter a leader-class figure with the majesty of a dragon. He probably looks like—a serious figure that others can recognize at a single glance.'
Respect, understanding, tolerance.
Ayaka sighed, turning her attention to the dazed Assassin on the other side, noticing that her expression was also a bit strange.
"Excuse me, what's wrong with you now?"
Everyone seemed to have something wrong with them.
In this massive opera house, Ayaka couldn't find a single human being besides herself.
The nameless Assassin immediately triggered a lament:
"It is nothing. It is simply the second time in a single day that I have been spared. I am ashamed of my own incompetence."
"Miss Assassin... may I call you that? The one who fought you before, the one who made you like this—was that a so-called Servant?"
If so, Ayaka truly began to feel a deep, practical sense of the cruelty of this "Holy Grail War."
Killing each other until blood splatters like this—is the "Holy Grail War" really such a brutal event?
However, the fanatic made a statement that left Ayaka stunned and even caused Richard to let out an unexpected sound of confusion.
"...No. If you are referring to that person, he was not. There was no aura of a Servant; he was an ordinary human. And... strictly speaking, I struck first. He is not to be blamed."
The nameless Assassin clutched her aching forehead.
'You mean to say, not only did you pick a fight, but you were beaten to the point of near-elimination by a single human?
Where did he come from, and is the Holy Grail War actually a tournament where people fight Servants?'
"No way?"
"Really? Even my companions are shocked!"
Richard suddenly leaned in, following her words with a nonsensical comment.
In truth, he was referring to the things mixed into his Saint Graph: the phantom shadows of knights who failed to die at the Battle of Camlann, the crossbowman who shot the Lionheart himself, a certain existence impersonating Ivanhoe, a single drop among the countless splashes of the Ladies of the Lake, the top-tier cavalryman of the era whom the Lionheart
could never defeat in his life, a chapter from epics like Robin Hood... Who could possibly understand all that!
Ayaka maintained an awkward yet polite smile as she watched these two people, both of whose mental states were concerning, gathered together chatting about everything under the sun.
'Everyone has their own troubles... haha, hahahaha.'
In short, it was as if the phantom images of a dragon and a tiger fighting were appearing behind these two non-humans.
"So, is the 'ailment' that left you at death's door cured now?"
Richard asked with a cheerful face, a statement that was purely sarcastic. The nameless Assassin sat up and retorted in silence:
"Saber, if it is only directed at me, this current level is within my range of tolerance. But if you insult the Prophets, I will engage you in mortal combat immediately."
"The Old Man of the Mountain (Hassan)? Heh, now that really is interesting!"
Richard laughed for a while, then suddenly looked to his side and pressed:
"This has nothing to do with Ayaka, right?"
"...My target does not include her."
After a moment of silence, Richard spoke: "So, what are your plans next? You don't seem to have the heart to keep fighting either."
"I am going to find a monster. He forced himself to become my Master; I clearly killed him, yet the magical connection has not been severed. This body is already 'unclean.' At the very least, before I end my own life, I must go and sever the source of that mana."
"A monster?"
"I thought I killed him. However, the man who defeated me told me that he was not killed. Perhaps that fellow is of the vampire species."
"Oh, I get that. Good luck."
Richard conversed with the nameless Assassin with a sense of over-familiarity.
"One more question. Even though other matters have been set aside, why do you still have such a look of resentment regarding this?" Richard chatted.
"No, the two cannot be conflated. Him alone I cannot accept. An enemy of Human Order should not exist in this world. Furthermore, the way he looks at me...
—It is disgusting."
"I see."
"Well then, where exactly is the disgust?"
What should have been a reply from one person was answered by two.
Ayaka confirmed that she was just listening, her soul almost departing to the heavens, and had not made a sound. Therefore, that ghostly voice belonged to no one present, but to another "attendee."
A white-haired man, appearing no older than twenty, covered his face with a theatrical lament, though the corners of his half-hidden mouth curled into a cruel arc.
Standing beneath the open theater doors, the thin morning sunlight illuminated him from behind, revealing the silhouette of this fourth party.
In short, this one had arrived too.
The Master who summoned Assassin, the one she had killed. A monster that should have been dead, yet was reborn on the spot with a different appearance.
The Dead Apostle, Jester Karture, had arrived.
In an instant, Ayaka felt the blood throughout her body rushing backward as if trying to flee from this man. Her vision, as if poisoned, produced a hallucination of pulsating blood behind him.
The man bared his fangs, curling his lips into a xeno-smile of contempt for Human Order.
The theater, where there was no one but Ayaka, was complete.
'Is Ayaka human? Yes, I believe I am human.'
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King Arthur: Currently enjoying lions, do not disturb.
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