The empress, who had already drunk quite a bit of wine, half-lay on the table in the courtyard, and casually swung her right hand holding the blue and white porcelain cup, totally unaware that this lazy posture was more intoxicating than a century-old wine.
Sitting opposite her, he enjoyed the beauty in front of him, her half-closed eyes showing admiration, pity, and relaxation, but no possessiveness. He grabbed the wine jar, poured a glass for himself and his partner, and picked up a piece of preserved egg and put it into his mouth.
"I say, assassin, do you regret making that promise with me?"
"You're still asking that now? Master, your suggestion is interesting. As long as you can withstand my poison, I have no hesitation in helping you."
"Even if I have no need for the Holy Grail?"
"But you still want to fight for the Holy Grail, don't you?"
Semiramis turned her head and looked at Shirou hazily.
Shirou nodded: "Because I promised someone to help him make a wish to save all mankind to the Holy Grail, even though I personally don't like this wish. Well, I have to be loyal to the person who entrusted me with the task. I have received the reward, so I can only do it to the end. What's more, there is the influence of the consciousness left by that guy, so saints are troublesome."
"Saint? Consciousness?"
"I can't tell you now. Wait a little longer."
Shirou didn't want to talk, and Semiramis didn't ask any more questions. Many things are like wine in a glass, the more mellow it is, the better it tastes:
"If that wish comes true, the new world—"
"—it would be boring, which is why I'm not telling you."
"I see. Interesting Holy Grail War, interesting Master, boring wish. This contradiction is also interesting. I am beginning to think that even if there is no agreement, it is not unacceptable to help you - if you can control your mouth."
"Forget it, I'll never change my mouth." Shirou smiled and raised his glass, "Cheers to the interesting Holy Grail War."
"cheers."
The two wine glasses clinked together and each drank up.
A gray dove landed between the two wine glasses and rubbed its little head against Semiramis's hand.
Semiramis raised her head, wiped away the drunkenness on her face, and looked at the familiar who came to deliver the message. She was both an assassin and a caster.
"Double Summon" - This is an extremely rare skill that can possess the special skills of both the assassin and caster classes.
Therefore, Red Assassin has a familiar that only a caster can have.
Semiramis, you were abandoned by your mother when you were born, and the pigeons raised you instead of your wet nurse. From then on, the pigeons became her eternal friends.
"There is a report. It seems that our berserker has just arrived at Tulifas. Archer and rider are also ready as reserves."
"Oh. Did the rider go there too?"
Archer went to track this matter, Shirou and Semiramis already knew about it. Now it seems that Rider has also joined in.
"He seems to be following Archer - never mind, it's that rider anyway, he probably wants to convince Archer from his hometown."
There was a slightly sinister tone in Semiramis' voice.
Shirou could sense the fatal incompatibility between the bold and unrestrained rider who looked down upon even the king, and the assassin who ruled the world as an empress in Assyria. If it were not the "Holy Grail War" but the "Holy Grail War", this would probably be the first combination to clash.
But now under my own integration, it is at most a verbal confrontation and will not have any impact on the overall situation.
Shaking the empty wine jar, Shirou thought for a moment and said, "From the results, you are right, but the relationship between these two people is far more than just being from the same hometown, at least for Rider."
"Is there some hidden story behind this?" Semiramis became interested. Gossip is also a kind of interest, especially gossip about people she doesn't like.
"Indeed, I can tell you, but promise me one thing - you can use it to tease Archer and Rider, but you can't say I said it."
"I agree."
"Archer was the companion of Rider's father. The two of them, along with other heroes whose names were recorded in mythology, had gone on various adventures together. If I remember correctly, Archer was the only woman in that adventure team, or at least the only famous woman. She was also the goddess in the hearts of most people in the adventure team, including Rider's father."
"Did something happen between Rider's father and Archer?" Semiramis guessed maliciously.
"I wish something had happened, that would have been fun. But unfortunately, nothing happened. Rider's mother is not someone you can easily mess with. If Rider's father had dared to mess around, he would have been finished. But although nothing happened, this youthful longing never faded throughout his life, and he even mentioned it to his child more than once. Think about it, when a father mentions a woman with longing and shyness, what impression will it leave on the child? Will it plant an inexplicable emotion?"
In some ways, Shirou is also quite humorous.
"I see." Semiramis nodded thoughtfully, "How do you know so much? Could it be that you have had a similar experience?"
"Uh..." Shirou paused, "How did you come up with this idea? I thought you were going to ask me if I was related to them."
"If it's relevant, they should have recognized you when they saw you. Don't change the subject."
"I really don't have that."
"Then how do you know so much about it?"
"I've seen it so many times."
Shirou sighed, and the depth revealed in that moment made Semiramis ignore the boy's appearance.
"I just look young, but I'm actually older than you."
"You don't act like that."
"Haha, you hate judging people by their appearance, but why doesn't it apply to me?"
"I don't judge people by appearance, but by performance - your appearance is roughly consistent with your age."
"That's because I adjusted myself to the state of mind of a 17-year-old. Being young is so good. Your state of mind now is not that of a dying person, right?"
Semiramis was silent. The advent of the heroic spirit was so magical that it could summon different sides of the same person at different times. Semiramis was now at the most beautiful and strongest age of her life.
After a long while, she said, "I'm curious about what you'll look like in ten years."
"It's not much different from now, except that I've grown taller and more mature, and I've gotten married and have kids, so I can't do many things the way I want."
"Are you married?"
A hint of surprise appeared on Semiramis's face, and soon a kind of charm that turned her life upside down was revealed.
"Master, how does your wife compare to me?"
Shirou answered decisively without hesitation: "They are all prettier than you."
"I don't believe it!" Semiramis was unconvinced. She actually had a very weird personality. She hated other people judging people by their appearance, and she also hated her beauty being ignored.
"Believe it or not, it's up to you - in my eyes, they are the most beautiful in the world, no, in the entire multiverse."
"Them? You have more than one wife?"
"yes."
"Hmph, it turns out that men are all fickle and greedy." Obviously, this answer angered Her Majesty the Empress again.
Just as Shirou was about to say something, another pigeon landed.
Semiramis put aside all distractions and listened to the pigeon's report.
"The person you asked me to pay attention to is finally here."
"It's the ruler."
Upon hearing this, Shirou immediately sat up straight, tapping the table rhythmically with his right hand, carefully thinking about various things.
"Yes. It has been confirmed that the guy has sneaked into Romania."
The network of pigeons covers the entire territory of Romania, and thanks to them, Shirou and she can monitor the overall situation without leaving home.
The moment Ruler appeared and infiltrated the Land of Decisive Battle (Romania), Semiramis's vanguard pigeons smelled the Servant's magical power that could not be completely hidden.
"what to do?"
"It's not impossible to ignore it, but you'll miss a good show."
"Good show?"
"You'll know soon enough. Let Lancer test him. It would be best if he can be killed, but it's basically impossible."
"If Rider were here, he could have allowed the two of them to unite." Semiramis said regretfully.
Among the seven servants on the red side, excluding Saber who is acting alone, there are six left. Among them, Lancer and Rider are exceptional Heroic Spirits compared to the other four. Rider's fame in Romania is even comparable to that of Vlad III.
Shirou shook his head. "Rider will not accept this mission. Even if it is the Master's order, 'I hate everything I hate no matter what';, he is just that kind of person. What ordinary people might call stubbornness is heroism in a hero."
Rider is not a rebellious hero like a berserker. But he is also a man far from a knight who serves the king. As long as he is not satisfied, he will openly ignore even the king's orders. He will take up arms again, all for revenge for his friends.
There is no way a man like that would accept the order to go with Lancer to kill Ruler.
"Lancer is different. He is a pure warrior, loyal to his master. As long as there is an order from his master, he will not even have the slightest thought of disobeying and will just act directly."
This comment made Semiramis figure out a lot of things.
"That's probably why you could have directly deprived Lancer of his Command Seals, but you didn't do it, and instead asked me to control him with poison."
"That's right - declare to the Red Lancer. Follow the Red Assassin's instructions and kill the Ruler. The release of the Noble Phantasm is up to you!"