At the same time, Archer sneezed inexplicably, and the uncontrollable droplets drew a flat arc and fell into the highball glass on the coffee table.
The goblet is filled with rose-red liquid, and the soft light shines through the crystal wall of the goblet, reflecting a psychedelic glow.
This is a fine red wine from the historic Château Latour in the Bordeaux region of France. It is also a treasure with a history of more than 20 years. It is normal for it to be sold at a high six-digit price at a large auction. It is the dream of countless red wine lovers.
However, Archer casually threw this fine wine into the trash can in the corner, along with the Baccarat wine glass, which was also from France, without any regret.
The Servant whose real name is Gilgamesh has the most treasures in the world and has a strong fortune that will entangle him throughout his life. This fortune has even been sublimated into the "Golden Rule" of the Heroic Spirit's skill level A. People with this skill can become rich even if they do nothing, and will never be trapped by money in their lives. To exaggerate, they will win in gambling, pick up money when they go out, and find treasures in pits.
He casually took out a new wine glass from the wine cabinet, poured himself half a glass of red wine, held up the glass and talked to himself.
"Why am I sneezing?"
For Servants who are incarnations of Heroic Spirits, there should be no concept of illness, unless the enemy has a Noble Phantasm that causes disease. However, none of the seven Servants who appeared this time have anything to do with disease, which makes Archer a little confused.
However, the heroic king praised in the oldest epic only hesitated for a while and then stopped thinking about it. Even if he was sick, he had enough elixirs in his treasure house. That was the origin of medicine and pharmacy, the nemesis of the concept of disease.
I, King Gilgamesh, am the strongest by right. The only one who can stand shoulder to shoulder with me is my dear friend Enkidu. The others are nothing more than opponents worthy of being defeated, such as the queen of the demon realm, or annoying bastards, such as that black mad dog.
With a creaky sound, the door opened inwards and a young man in black monastic robes walked into the room.
Seeing the Golden Servant leaning leisurely on the bench, the man's rigid expression showed a hint of surprise.
"Archer?"
Archer made no move to stand up, but simply shook his glass at the man standing at the door.
"Although there aren't many, the treasures here are more complete than Tokiomi's sake collection. What a bad disciple."
Tokiomi had only one official disciple, Kotomine Kirei in front of him. The owner of this room was not Archer, but Kirei.
Archer entered Kirei's room in such a grand manner, took over Kirei's room, and opened all of Kirei's wines one by one, tasting them one by one, and finally selected this rare bottle.
Others might find it surprising, but Kirei had a strange habit. Whenever he heard that there was top-quality wine somewhere, he would buy it without thinking twice. Although being an agent of the Church was hard, the treatment was very good, and Kirei's assets were no less than those of the average wealthy person.
Drinking is a profound world that seems endless the more you pay attention to quality. In this case, maybe there will be a taste that can fill the void in his heart. If such an encounter really happens, it would be nice to indulge in alcohol... This desperate believer once thought half seriously.
But so far, his dabbling in wine has never paid off, except for the increasing number of bottles of luxury brands. Of course, he never thought of using these wines to entertain guests, let alone an uninvited guest. Even if the other party praised his wine, he would not want to entertain such a person.
Since being summoned, this guy has been traveling around freely with his ability to act alone. He is not satisfied with maintaining his physical form, and recently he even changed into "casual clothes" and swaggered on the streets at night.
Kirei had heard Tokiomi talking to Gilgamesh with a slightly complaining tone several times before, but he never dreamed that he would actually come to his room.
"What on earth do you want?" Kirei asked patiently.
"Nothing, just interested in you."
Archer looked at Kirei meaningfully through the wine glass.
"What? Even obeying Tokiomi all the time can't satisfy your soul?"
"... Are you dissatisfied with the contract now, Gilgamesh?"
Kirei did not answer Archer's question, but simply asked him back with a cold face.
Even if the other party was the legendary Hero King, Kirei did not feel afraid at all. No matter what Tokiomi personally thought, a Servant was still the Master's servant after all. No matter who this Heroic Spirit was, as long as he was still Archer, he was just an existence inferior to Tokiomi. Compared with himself, who was Tokiomi's direct disciple, at most they were of the same generation, so there was no need to be overly humble to him.
Kirei's attitude did not make Archer feel dissatisfied. He just snorted coldly and tasted the wine in the glass.
"It was Tokiomi who summoned me. I am able to stay in this world because of Tokiomi's support. More importantly, he is treating me as a vassal. It is not impossible for me to respond to him."
After saying this unexpectedly polite sentence, Gilgamesh's unusually fiery red eyes revealed a look of annoyance.
"But to be honest, I didn't expect him to be such a boring person. There's nothing interesting about him at all."
"... I'm surprised a Servant would say something like that."
Kirei was helpless. His anger at Archer's extremely rude intrusion and his suspicion of the real reason for his visit had gradually faded. In this strange and relaxed atmosphere, Kirei almost acquiesced to Archer's presence in this room.
"Is Mr. Tokiomi really that boring?"
"This is so boring. You want to use the power of the universal wishing machine to reach the 'Root Vortex'? There is such a boring wish in the world."
The King of Heroes laughed, devaluing the lofty realm that all magi yearned for. But Kirei could understand his feelings.
"The desire for the 'root' is a desire unique to magicians, and is difficult for outsiders to understand."
"That being said, you seem to be an outsider, Kirei—and I heard that you were originally on the opposite side of those magi, wasn't that right?"
Archer seemed to have heard about Kirei's complicated position. This man seemed to be self-centered, but he was actually very well-informed.
Kirei crossed his arms and thought for a while. If he were not looking at it from the perspective of Tōsaka Tokiomi's disciple, but from the perspective of the agent of the Holy Church and the Eighth Mystery Society, what would Tokiomi's Holy Grail War actually mean
"... The journey of pursuing the 'root' is to transcend the 'outside of the world'. This kind of transcendence will not bring any changes to the world on the 'inside'. For the church that only focuses on the 'inside', the magician's exploration is meaningless and is just a boring attempt."
"I see. As long as I can enjoy this garden that belongs to me, my universe will be enough for me."
This sentence, which treats the entire world as his own property, is indeed the arrogance that only a hero king can have.
"I have no interest in areas that are not under my control, and I don't care about the 'root' or anything like that."
Kirei smiled bitterly. He had never expected that this Archer would be a completely opposite existence from a magus. No wonder a magus role model like Tōsaka Tokiomi would feel helpless against him.
"If the Holy Grail was simply a special device that existed to pursue the 'root', even if those magicians were bloodthirsty, the Cathedral would have left them alone. But unfortunately, the Holy Grail is 'omnipotent' and has infinite possibilities to change the 'inside' of the world. It can be said to be the supreme heresy, posing a threat to our faith. That's why the Cathedral chose Tōsaka Tokiomi. It is precisely because it is a dangerous heresy that cannot be ignored, if that power can be spent on something 'boring and meaningless', this is also the result we hope to see. - But in addition to this reason, my father seems to have some private feelings."
"Then do the magi other than Tokiomi pursue the Holy Grail for different reasons than Tokiomi?"
Kirei nodded in response to Archer's question.
"Master Tokiomi is not only a typical magician, but also an extreme rightist. There are not many people like him who thoroughly follow the right path of magicians. The others are probably pursuing some worldly rewards, prestige, desire, power... all of which are desires confined to the 'inside' of the world."
"Isn't that great? Every one of them is my favorite."
"You are the king who reigns supreme over all the mundane world, Gilgamesh."
Archer sneered and drank the wine in the glass in his hand, not seeming to take Kirei's criticism as an insult.
"Kirei, what about you? What is your wish for the Holy Grail? I heard that you were the first one to be qualified to participate in the war, but later lost it."
Gilgamesh's question was also Kirei's question, as well as Tokiomi and Risei's question.
"I... don't have any particular wish that I want to fulfill... maybe there's something wrong with the Holy Grail."
Kirei's answer was a little bewildered, and Archer's red eyes shone with a strange light.
"That's one explanation, but that's not your reason. You know, Kirei, the reason why Heroic Spirits become Heroic Spirits is not only because of their own merits, but also because of the faith of humans. The Holy Grail, which uses Heroic Spirits fighting each other as a summoning ritual, favors humans and excludes others."
"Are you saying that I'm not human? Gilgamesh!" Kirei's tone became harsh and cold.
"To be precise, you are not a complete human being. There is something in you that even I don't understand. Perhaps that is why you lost the favor of the Holy Grail. This is also what interests me."
Seeing Kirei's expression change drastically, Archer found it even more amusing.
"Just be confused and struggle, and let yourself be the one who sees the truth behind the fog."
Archer walked out of the room with a laugh full of joy, leaving Kirei alone in a daze.
"I'm... not fully human? Is there something missing?"
PS: Excluding people from outside is the setting of the Fuyuki City Holy Grail, and other Holy Grails and pseudo-Holy Grails do not seem to have such restrictions. (This restriction is actually just Mushi's response to fans' questions about whether Tsukihime and her group will appear on the Fate set, but since he said it, we should listen to it seriously.)