As Gray and Caules stepped back, Iskandar waved them over-enthusiastically, "Co, co, don't stand so far away. Let get a good look at Waver's students. You all seem quite spirited. And you, young lady over there—you seem to be the Master of my sister. Co closer... Wait a minute, why does your face look so familiar? It's almost like..."
"Her na is Gray. She's a descendant of the King of Knights," Waver chid in at the perfect mont.
"Ohhhh! A descendant of the King of Knights has beco your student? Another reason to celebrate! Looks like we absolutely must have a banquet now—Waver, do you have any wine?"
"Yes, Macedonian wine," Waver replied with a smile. Though he had grumbled and hesitated, truthfully, he had been preparing for this day for a long ti.
What unfolded next was exactly like the countless dreams Waver had had. The king took the wine bottle from his hands, twisted it open forcefully, lifted it high, and shouted with his booming voice.
"Let the feast begin! Alalalalalala—Cheers!"
However, there were so unexpected developnts, like Faker joining in.
"Your Majesty, we're on a battlefield. Please show so restraint."
"Don't say such joy-killing things on a day like today. Co, Waver, pour her a drink."
"Your Majesty!"
"Just one drink. This wine is delicious! I never imagined that after two thousand years, wine would evolve to beco this tasty. Compared to this, the barrel wine we had last ti was inferior. The King of Heroes wasn't wrong at all."
Iskandar took a wine glass from Waver and handed it to Faker.
"I rember, you used to love this type of sweet wine made from grapes."
"..."
Faker looked at the rose-colored liquid in front of her, then at Iskandar's expectant eyes. Finally, she gave up resisting, took the glass, and sipped it lightly.
The next second, her complexion changed—from her usual pale skin, a blush spread across her face, and the sharpness in her eyes softened with a hint of daze.
"It's delicious... I never thought that after two thousand years, wine would evolve to taste so good."
"Haha! I think I just said that exact line."
"Hey, overworked guy, why didn't you bring out this amazing wine earlier?"
Ignoring Iskandar's teasing, Faker turned to glare at Waver, who was holding the wine bottle with an innocent expression.
"I didn't know you liked wine."
Iskandar chid in, "Don't spoil the mood with such complaints when we're having so much fun. Want another glass?"
"I do~ Grumpy face, pour so."
"I have a na! Call by my na!"
"Hey, you all should join in as well. A king's banquet should be enjoyed by everyone."
"One glass each, no need to overdo it."
"Ohhhhhhhhh~~~"
"Gray, you should join us too... Gray? Gray? What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I just suddenly feel a bit nostalgic, though I'm not sure why."
"You're probably rembering the last banquet we had."
"Gray, cheers~~~!"
"Cheers~~~~~~~~~!"
The entire forest was instantly filled with a joyful atmosphere.
Imrsed in the festivities, no one noticed that the always sociable Add was unusually quiet this ti, not saying a single word from start to finish.
...
While the banquet was in full swing on one side, Gilgash was also enjoying a drink on the other.
In Tohsaka Tokiomi's old study, he drank from the stash of wine that belonged to the forr head.
"The sa dull taste, no originality. Tokiomi's taste in wine is as bad as ever."
"You should be grateful you even have sothing to drink, and yet you're still complaining," Rin grumbled from across the room, clearly annoyed.
"To have my royal palate judge it is an honor for both the wine and Tokiomi himself. It's been ten years, hasn't he acquired anything more interesting?"
"No. My father's health didn't allow him to drink anymore."
Hearing Rin's sigh, Gilgash's mood soured a bit as well.
"That's truly unfortunate... Speaking of wine, Tokiomi's student, a man nad Kotomine Kirei, had much better taste. He had far more treasures. Where is he now?"
"I don't know. Ever since he left here ten years ago, he never ca back. He's probably dead in so corner of the world."
Rin had never liked Kirei. As a child, he annoyed her, and now, she was upset that he, as a student, didn't even attend his teacher's funeral.
"No, that guy isn't the type to die so easily. He might not even be called Kotomine Kirei anymore."
"Not called Kotomine Kirei? Then what is he called?"
"Who knows? Maybe he's just called a monster now, lurking in the shadows of human history, denying human order itself."
Gilgash swirled the wine in his glass, a sly smile playing on his lips.
"Human order, human history... I have no idea what you're talking about."
"That's not sothing you need to concern yourself with. Just focus on the Holy Grail War in front of you. This war is different from the last one. Sothing strange has happened."
"Strange?"
Rin didn't quite understand.
"Do you still not realize? Tonight, we've already seen two Lancers and two Riders."
"Huh?"
Rin finally caught on.
Both Cu Chulainn and Scáthach were Lancers, and both Iskandar and Sakura's Servant were Riders. This didn't follow the usual rules of the Holy Grail War.
"What's going on?"
"It's likely that the Holy Grail itself has undergone so unknown change. But you don't need to worry. No matter what happens, our objectives remain the sa—defeat all our enemies."
"You don't need to tell that. I've always had that in mind!"
"By the way, you still have that jester's contact information, right?"
"I do, why?"
"Tell him that the King of Conquerors is also participating in this Holy Grail War. I'll be hosting the second Banquet of Kings. Have him prepare sothing."
As soon as she heard Shinji's na, Rin's defenses went up.
"Why him? Can't I prepare it? The Tohsaka family isn't inferior to the Matou family."
"Just go and do it."
Gilgash impatiently urged her.
"At least tell what you want him to prepare."
"There's no need for that. He'll understand once you tell him."
"This is ridiculous! You're my Servant! He's my enemy! Why are you scheming with the enemy?"
"What I'm doing is related to the war. You'll understand when the ti cos."
"Fine, I get it. But I'm going to find out what the two of you are plotting."
With Gilgash stubbornly refusing to explain, Rin had no choice but to pull out her phone and call Sakura—she didn't want to contact Shinji directly.
"Ring... ring... ring..."
The phone rang for what seed like forever without anyone picking up.
"Why is it taking so long? Could they be asleep already? That doesn't make sense..."
Just as she was about to complain, the call was finally answered.
Before Rin could say anything, she heard a series of harsh noises—like sothing heavy crashing and scraping against the floor.
Mixed within were short, hurried shouts and Shinji's frantic, broken voice.
"Sakura, take Irisviel and Illya... and those two vampires over there, get them out of here."
"Saber, fall back! Let Shishou handle this! She has a natural advantage against divine enemies. You, go nearby and see if you can find Berserker's Master. Bring them here if you can."
"Why is it still smashing things? Is it completely out of control now? Those Einzbern idiots! Ahhhhh, how am I supposed to explain this to Kiritsugu now that the house is ruined?!"
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