"The City of Kutha? The Tablet of Destinies? The King of Heroes really knows how to add extra tasks..."
Merlin headed to the forest, Ritsuka and Mash went to the Absolute Demonic Front, and Guinevere and the King of Knights were tasked with finding Ishtar.
For this mission, they waited a while until Siduri brought them Ishtar's specific location in a mountain range.
However, along with Siduri came a new task.
"The King says there's a fifty-fifty chance Ishtar is either in her Temple or in the City of Kutha. And in Kutha, it's highly likely we'll also find the Tablet of Destinies that Merlin is searching for."
At the gates of Uruk, Guinevere and the King of Knights stood silent for a moment, quietly listening as Siduri explained what the Tablet of Destinies was.
In short, it was the future the King of Heroes had seen and recorded before sealing his Clairvoyance. If they obtained it, he could more accurately identify the true forms of the Three Goddesses, see their weaknesses, and even glimpse further into the future.
As for why he didn't just look again—after all, he'd looked before but couldn't even remember to find his "diary"—that was simply the King's willfulness.
"Alright, we understand. We'll head to the City of Kutha first."
Still at the city gate, they continued listening to Siduri's intel on the City of Kutha, even though Guinevere and the King of Knights knew far more than Siduri about what lay within that city gripped by death.
Just as they knew, Siduri explained that since Ishtar's summoning and the area around Kutha falling under her influence, the city's people had fallen into an eternal slumber, with no visible external injuries on the deceased.
Furthermore, any ordinary soldier who entered the City of Kutha would rapidly wither and die. It was not a place ordinary soldiers could investigate.
"Alright, that's enough. We know that for now, only we can investigate it on our way."
After bidding farewell, with Siduri once again calling the King of Knights "King Arthur," the two walked back into the wilderness outside Uruk. Only then did they begin discussing whether to go to the Temple in the Mountains first or the death-shrouded City of Kutha.
"Guinevere..."
They had changed from casual clothes into armor, but unfortunately, since they both shared the Saber Class, neither could summon a horse.
Forced to walk, they could at least talk more and take in the wider scenery.
"Lia, let's go directly to the City of Kutha. If things go smoothly, we can make one trip and talk with both of them at the same time."
"Alright."
Their armor clanked, and their steel boots left a trail of footprints as they trod across the cracked, arid wilderness.
Like Ritsuka's trio on their "solo" mission, they moved too slowly, as if they were also fishing for something.
Ishtar, curious about them and noticing their direction of travel, took the initiative to descend before them. The goddess had been occasionally passing by, still searching the world for her lost oxen.
"Hey! You're the King of Knights and Queen of Camelot, right? And you—your gaze was on me from the forest when I first met the Chaldea Master, wasn't it?
Hey, tone it down! Your stare is giving me the creeps. Does this human body really make you that thirsty?"
As expected of a god. After descending from the sky on Maanna, her bow-shaped Boat of Heaven, she once again felt Guinevere's gaze and instinctively rubbed the goosebumps rising on her arm.
"Hey, are you listening to me!"
Crossing her arms, she instinctively landed on the ground, denying Guinevere another chance to look her up and down.
As she spoke, the King of Knights couldn't help but rub the bridge of her nose, too exasperated to even muster an angry retort.
Trying to make a lecherous fool control her eyes was less effective than just gouging them out.
But unfortunately, the King of Knights wouldn't do that.
She stepped back, leaving the negotiations and any potential battle to Guinevere. She decided that tonight, she would teach Guinevere a lesson with the vise, draining her of any excess energy to let her eyes wander.
"Lia, you don't have to be like this. After your warning, I was truly just admiring a beautiful body.
Miss Ishtar, you don't need to be afraid either. We're all girls here; nothing will happen between us."
At the first half of Guinevere's statement, Ishtar lowered her crossed arms and proudly placed her hands on her hips.
But at the second half, her smile turned to annoyance, her gaze darting back and forth between Guinevere and the King of Knights.
"Afraid? Hmph! Since you know my true name is Ishtar, you should also know I possess Mesopotamia's strongest Divine Beast—the Bull of Heaven!
I have a bull! Are you scared now?"
Due to the influence of Rin, her vessel, Ishtar's personality had truly taken on Rin's traits. Her tone of voice and choice of words all reminded Guinevere and the King of Knights of the Rin Tohsaka at the Clock Tower who insisted on calling them "Auntie."
"Yes, yes, you have a bull, we're so scared. But aren't you running all over the world because you lost your bull? How about this: we'll give you some clues if you listen to us properly first? Maybe we can start by sharing some roasted Magical Beast meat?"
Without the half-full Gate of Babylon provided by the King of Heroes, Guinevere had other ideas to make Ishtar listen. Helping her recover the Bull of Heaven was her current plan.
Besides, if they recovered the Bull of Heaven, they would gain a powerful ally for the future battle against the true Goddess Tiamat.
And reality unfolded just as Guinevere had envisioned. Upon hearing she had information about the Bull of Heaven, the useless goddess strode forward, completely ignoring Guinevere's increasingly brazen gaze.
Why don't you put on some more clothes? That way, my eyes won't be drawn to your meager body, and my Lia won't be glaring at me with such a serious expression.
Inhale, exhale. Taking a step back, Ishtar's gaze shifted from Guinevere to the King of Knights.
Her curiosity about the couple grew. The Knight was clearly the King, yet her temperament seemed far more girlish.
When her partner's eyes wandered, the King of Knights merely sulked.
Realizing this, Ishtar stopped talking to Guinevere. Now that she had a real lead on the Bull of Heaven, she was no longer in a hurry.
She bypassed the intensely staring Guinevere, plopped down beside the King of Knights, and leaned half her body against her.
In that instant, her thoughts blurred. When she came to, she had shifted from leaning to lying sideways with her head on the King of Knights' lap.
So, what did the body she was using want to do?
"Big Sister Lia, could you please clean my ears again?"
Ishtar was certain that no residual consciousness of the original owner remained in the body she used. Yet, she was also certain she was deeply influenced by the original owner, and the body's instincts were especially strong.
The moment she uttered those words, Guinevere froze, instinctively tugging at her grayish-white hair, a genuine pang of guilt rising within her.
At the same time, the King of Knights' anger vanished. Her serious expression melted into a smile, knowing Guinevere was now being punished by her own sense of shame.
With that single sentence, Ishtar had truly positioned herself as the couple's junior.
"Rin, if you want your ears cleaned, stop moving."
"Not Rin, it's Ishtar. Do you know the owner of this body?"
The daze had faded, but Ishtar found it difficult to rise from the King of Knights' lap pillow.
She felt the King of Knights' armor vanish, replaced by soft casual clothes, and the tenderness radiating from her made Ishtar reluctant to leave, unable to get up.