"The title of the world's oldest poisoner is not just for show, is it? How can you order me, Semiramis, around?"
—That was what Assassin declared when Shirou summoned him.
Shirou smiled and repeated his answer: "No, no, I don't intend to order you around, I just want to exchange with you."
Hearing these familiar words, Semiramis picked up the blue and white porcelain cup in front of him and drank the wine in the cup. The warm and mellow wine flowed along his throat all the way to his stomach, and after being decomposed, it rushed straight to his forehead with the blood.
While being slightly tipsy, the once powerful empress seemed to have returned to a few days ago when she had just come into the world.
The magic light gradually dissipated, and spirit particles emerged from the spirit veins, transforming the information in the quantum state into entities according to the records in the quantum fixed band.
As her slender figure wrapped in a black dress appeared, Semiramis knew that she had come into this world again.
Before I could say anything, I heard an excited voice.
"Pointy ears, wearing this black dress, holding this nail in his hand - it should be Semiramis, good, the summoning is successful."
Although it was a bit noisy, the summoner was not bad since he was able to confirm my identity through the features, so I won't bother with him. The empress thought so in a good mood, but the man's next words shattered her good mood.
"Tsk tsk, she is indeed the one that the king tried so hard to snatch away. She is really beautiful."
To others, this was just a compliment or an unintentional remark, which was a bit frivolous but not a big deal. But to Semiramis, it was a violation of her biggest taboo.
Indeed, Semiramis became the queen of Assyria because King Ninos was attracted by her beauty and took her into the palace. But this process ignored Semiramis's wishes. If fate could be repeated, she would not want to meet King Ninos at all, let alone enter the palace, even if she lived an ordinary life and had no chance of the highest position.
Because of this incident, she doesn't like others to judge people by their appearance, and she doesn't allow others to mention this incident that changed her destiny.
When she was alive, she had killed anyone who violated this taboo in different ways. Now that she has become a Heroic Spirit, she has gained a new power, and can easily control or even kill others in another way.
"Uh, why don't you say anything? Don't servants usually have lines when they appear?" The handsome boy in front of him scratched his head with a puzzled look on his face. "By the way, where does this fragrance come from? Do Heroic Spirits use perfume?"
"Because you are going to die soon, I am not in the habit of talking to the dead. This is not perfume, but my poison!"
Semiramis spoke coldly. At this moment, she no longer had any emotions towards her summoner. Everything would disappear with the boy's death.
However, a puppet without a master is a bit troublesome, and she must find the next puppet as soon as possible, an obedient puppet. Since she was kidnapped by King Ninos, she has lost trust in humans. This concept has not changed after she went through court struggles and became the empress. In her opinion, all humans must be "heartless servants" and be at her mercy.
The boy wanted to say something, but he couldn't, because her poison had penetrated his skin and seeped into his whole body, and there was no cure.
In a few seconds, he would be poisoned to death. Semiramis was so sure of this, this was the power she guessed after becoming a Heroic Spirit, and it was also her Noble Phantasm, and it was impossible for humans to block her poison.
Semiramis counted the seconds, waiting for the boy to fall.
1—The young man’s face turned livid.
2—The boy began to scratch his throat.
3—The boy was convulsing all over.
Four—The boy stopped moving.
Five - The boy did not fall down as Semiramis expected, but remained standing, and his complexion quickly returned to normal.
By the time Semiramis counted to 6, the boy had already begun patting his chest and sighing.
"Oh, the oldest poisoner is indeed worthy of his reputation. He poisoned me without saying anything, and the poison is so strong. Fortunately, it was me. If it was someone else, I might have died."
"You—are not poisoned?" Semiramis couldn't help but frown.
"Yes, I would not feel so bad if I was not poisoned. But unfortunately, the poison you used this time was not strong enough to kill me. How about you try again?"
This young man in black monastic robes was also a weirdo. He was poisoned as soon as they met, but he was not angry at all and even asked her to try again.
Let’s try it, Semiramis snorted, and the poisonous fragrance that had not yet completely dissipated suddenly became strong, and even a strange color was added to the air.
However, this time, the boy did not react at all, as if the poison did not exist at all.
"I forgot to mention that the poison I used once is useless to me. Remember to use a different kind next time."
The empress, who was once again provoked by the boy, raised her eyebrows and was about to change the poison, but she heard the boy continue: "It's about time to stop. I didn't mean to offend you once, and you poisoned me once. We are even. Poisoning again is a bit too much. If you want to poison again, you can. If one poison doesn't kill me, help me once."
"You want to order me around in this way?"
The empress was stunned at first, but soon she felt a different kind of anger, and mixed with that anger was a strange feeling.
It has been many years since anyone has talked to me like this. Ten years, twenty years
"The title of the world's oldest poisoner is not just for show, is it? How can you order me, Semiramis, around?"
The emotions in his heart did not affect Semiramis's answer, which is a necessary quality for a ruler.
"No, no, I don't intend to order you around. I just want to make an equal exchange with you. Have you ever poisoned a person so many times in your life? Don't you think it's interesting? It's acceptable to pay a little price for such an interesting thing." The young man smiled, not looking like a clergyman at all.
But it is undeniable that Semiramis was really moved. As the boy said, it was indeed a novel experience for the oldest poisoner to poison the same person multiple times, and Semiramis had a special preference for novel and interesting things.
"If you offend me as you just did—"
The boy continued: "—Please feel free to do it. If you kill me, it will be my bad luck. If you can't kill me, it will be all over. This is also a kind of equal exchange."
"You are such a weirdo."
"Thanks for the compliment. In a sense, you are also a weirdo."
This time, Semiramis was not angry. She was not a weirdo and would not be tempted by such a strange proposal.
The boy asked, "What about the equivalent exchange?"
"I agree - Servant Assassin, real name is Semiramis, please give me your advice, interesting puppet (master)!"