"Hoo—"
Rin let out a long breath, finally having said everything she had wanted to tell Saber for two lifetimes.
If following the usual trope of a transmigator who knows the original work/canon, the King of Conquerors should have said these words, and then after Saber was deeply shaken, affirmed Saber's Path of Kingship to greatly boost Saber's favorability.
But Rin was not in the mood to do so, nor did she have the inclination. Her initial motive was not to flirt with girls. Compared to boosting Saber's favorability, Rin hoped Saber could realize earlier that the wish to change established history was wrong.
If the King of Conquerors had spoken, and it ended up being a debate between Paths of Kingship, Saber, though recognizing her error as King, would still cling to the wrong wish of changing history and continue on.
Anyone who paid close attention to the original work/canon would notice that the historical content Saber wished to change in the Fourth Holy Grail War and the Fifth Holy Grail War was different. In the Fourth Holy Grail War, Saber hoped to return to the past era to change the outcome of Britain's destruction; while in the Fifth Holy Grail War, she hoped to change the fact that she pulled out the Sword in the Stone, and instead choose the person who truly should have become King.
During the Fourth Holy Grail War, Saber only genuinely recognized her error as King, but she did not realize, nor did anyone tell her, how absurd the wish to change history was.
By telling her everything that needed to be told, Rin hoped Saber could sober up, as Saber in the Fourth Holy Grail War was truly unlikable. Throughout the entire original work/canon, whether it was her fighting style and philosophy, or her method of kingship and her wish, there was an air of immaturity, completely like a stubborn and unreasonable Little Girl.
Thinking this, Rin lowered her gaze to the wine glass in her hand, not wanting to see Saber's dazed expression, battling within herself at this moment. No matter what, she was her "first love" from a previous life.
Hmm?… Rin suddenly felt an unusual gaze fixed on her. Following the source of the gaze, she saw it was Gilgamesh.
Hey, hey, hey, what is Gilgamesh doing? Shouldn't he be enjoying Saber's distraught appearance with a "chilling" gaze and waking up? Then he would tease Saber for a bit to begin his journey of unrequited love later, so why is he staring at me?
Rin frowned as she watched Gilgamesh's gaze, which didn't seem like he had changed his target to tease her. Instead, he was scrutinizing Rin from head to toe, every single detail, as if appreciating a precious treasure and fearing he might miss something.
For some unknown reason, even though she didn't feel any malice in his gaze, it made Rin's twin-tails stand on end, giving her an inexplicable chill.
"Hey, Archer, why are you looking at me with such disgusting eyes?"
Rin looked at Gilgamesh's strange gaze with some indignation, complaining angrily.
But for some reason, Gilgamesh's temper was unusually good today.
"This King is merely determining which position in this King's treasury you should be placed."
"Then you don't need to bother, because I'll twist your head off and personally send you back to the Hall of Heroes."
"Hmph."
The King of Conquerors also wore a meaningful expression, as if his eyes were trying to convey something, and finally, he sighed with what seemed like regret.
"Berserker's Master, if you had been born in the same era as I, you would undoubtedly be an unparalleled monarch who established a powerful nation. If only we could have competed in military formations on the battlefield. It's just a pity…"
"The King of Conquerors is mistaken. My Berserker alone can contend with an army of thousands. As long as you can summon your army, we can naturally compete in military formations."
Upon hearing Rin's words, the King of Conquerors' eyes suddenly lit up.
"Precisely! I had overlooked that. This is truly excellent. Hmm?…"
Whether it was Saber, who had just been in a daze, or Gilgamesh, or even the King of Conquerors, their expressions suddenly changed in the next second. Rin also felt the strangeness in the air, but having been mentally prepared, she wasn't surprised. She just silently thought to herself:
"Here they come…"
In the courtyard illuminated by the moonlight, strange, pitch-black objects appeared. One after another, pale bone masks were embedded in what looked like sculptures of black ink blocks, appearing continuously in the courtyard.
Skull masks and black robes—no one present would fail to recognize what these were. The originally empty castle courtyard garden was gradually surrounded by this group of strange entities.
These were undoubtedly all Hassan, though their numbers were unusually high. They all wore masks and black robes, and their physiques varied: there were burly giants, slender individuals focused on agility, child-like short ones, and even female figures.
Seeing the enemies gradually approaching, Waver let out a near-scream and ran behind the King of Conquerors. Perhaps only by leaning against that tall, broad back could he find some sense of security. Irisviel also ran behind Saber in a panic and fear.
"What's going on?! Why are the Hassan appearing one after another… Aren't there only supposed to be one Servant per class?!"
Waver, unsettled, leaned against the King of Conquerors' back, his whole body trembling as he stammered, pointing at the suddenly appearing swarm of Hassan.
Looking at the Hassan, who were now all present, everyone's reactions were different:
Waver was panicked by the unexpected number of Hassan; Irisviel hid behind Saber, scared but not losing her composure due to her trust in Saber; Gilgamesh didn't even glance at them, choosing to ignore them directly; the King of Conquerors, unconcerned, continued to leisurely drink, as if the appearance of the Hassan was less important than his good wine; and Rin, meanwhile, was looking at the Hassan with a pitiful, sympathetic gaze… Yes, pity. Such a good Hassan was wasted like this.
Perhaps anyone who has watched F/Z would feel that Hassan in the Fourth Holy Grail War were just cannon fodder… Ah, he indeed was cannon fodder, but that wasn't because Hassan was weak, but because he followed a Master who didn't know how to play.
Hassan, like Berserker, is a Servant that can be actively chosen. Compared to Berserker's high consumption and difficulty to control, Hassan's magic consumption is undoubtedly the lowest. But you get what you pay for, so his abilities are also the lowest among all classes, and his noble phantasm is of the lowest grade. In a direct confrontation, he is undoubtedly the weakest.
However, the seven Throne of Heroes Servants have no inherent order in overall ability. Hassan himself should rely on deception, reconnaissance, traps, and even poisoning and mechanisms, not targeting other Servants directly, but using unconventional methods. He should use his noble phantasm, which is highly specific to the Hassan class, to assassinate the Masters of other teams.
But unfortunately, the Masters of the Hassan throughout history, as Maguss, did not understand the art of assassination. They could only blindly command Hassan to confront other Servants head-on. In the end, after three consecutive failures, they didn't reflect on their own mistakes and instead cursed Hassan as the weakest class. Indeed, those who call their teammates pigs are themselves pig teammates.
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