Time flew by unknowingly, and when he looked back, it was already dusk.
Just as Tohsaka Rin and King of Conquerors were heading towards their agreed-upon location, Tohsaka Rin, who had been engrossed in conversation, realized that the person behind them was not right.
"King of Conquerors, your little Master seems to be in an unusual state. He hasn't said a word since we left this morning."
"Hmm? It seems you're right."
King of Conquerors, realizing this, stopped in his tracks, and Tohsaka Rin also paused.
"You've been quiet all day, why haven't you said anything?"
King of Conquerors turned around and asked Waver Velvet with an innocent smile. In response, Waver Velvet, who had to look up at King of Conquerors due to the height difference, stubbornly turned his head away.
"For a Servant like you, winning the Holy Grail War would be a matter of course, wouldn't it...?"
To this, King of Conquerors, of course, responded directly and without modesty.
"Of course! I am King of Conquerors Iskandar! Even with that little girl Tohsaka Rin and her Berserker, it's absolutely no problem."
A conqueror who had swept through all battlefields in his life, always victorious in every fight, certainly had the right to say so.
"So, my existence is completely a burden, isn't it? This contract must displease you greatly, a Master who can't even provide magical energy for battle."
Tohsaka Rin watched Waver Velvet, who was wallowing in self-pity to King of Conquerors, and found it very interesting. She stood quietly by, a silent, beautiful girl. At this moment, there was no atmosphere of an impending decisive battle at all.
Waver Velvet suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh, spreading his hands.
"With an incompetent person like me as your Master, if she were your Master, the victory of this Holy Grail War would have been yours from the start, Rider. Then there would be no need to risk a life-or-death battle with strong enemies..."
Waver Velvet pointed at Tohsaka Rin, who was standing quietly aside, and spoke to King of Conquerors.
King of Conquerors heard this and suddenly clapped Waver Velvet's back, or rather, a backpack on Waver Velvet's back, which contained several books King of Conquerors might want to read at any time. King of Conquerors took out a world map from it.
"Kid, look, this is the enemy before me."
"..."
On an A2-sized surface, a map of the entire world was depicted. The "enemy" King of Conquerors referred to was this entire world.
"You might as well try to draw the two of us next to this enemy. Remember to draw us side-by-side for easy comparison."
"How..."
"You can't do it, can you?!"
King of Conquerors directly interrupted loudly:
"Compared to this formidable enemy, whether it's you, me, that little girl, or Berserker, we are all just extremely tiny dots! So what meaning does your comparison of height, strength, or weakness still have?!"
"This..."
King of Conquerors's fist heavily pounded the world map on his chest, the dull, solid sound making one's heart skip a beat.
"But it is precisely because of this that I feel my heart surging! Extremely weak? Extremely insignificant? This is exactly what I desire! My ambition is to transcend the entire world with a body more insignificant than dust! The roar in this chest is the heartbeat of I, the King of Conquerors!"
At this moment, anyone would be moved by the King of Conquerors' imposing aura, and in front of such a broad-minded King of Conquerors, everyone would have to sigh at their own insignificance, bowing down and longing for him.
"So, boy, this inferiority complex of yours, in my opinion, is the budding point of a great enterprise. No matter what, you deeply understand your own insignificance and weakness, but! Even so, you still ignorantly reached out your hand towards an unreachable height, initiated a challenge, and stepped into this war, didn't you?"
Waver Velvet, at this moment, lowered his head and murmured, whether out of embarrassment or longing:
"Ba, baka... How can you praise someone like that? You make me sound like a fool..."
"That's right, boy! You are an out-and-out, incorrigible fool!"
The King of Conquerors could tell at a glance that Waver Velvet had already emerged from his mental predicament, and happily put an arm around Waver Velvet's shoulder, pulling him close.
"Your desires have long since far exceeded your capabilities. 'Glory lies on the other shore, knowing it's unreachable yet still pursuing it'—this was the basic life principle of people in the era I galloped through."
"So that's why you, like a fool, marched eastward on your expedition?..."
"Precisely so. My ideal was to personally see Okeanos, the sea at the end of the world! However, in the end, that dream still did not come true."
"What!..."
"Okeanos is still my goal to this day. So, boy! You can certainly say that I, who has been dreaming the same dream for two thousand years, am also a great fool!"
The smile on the King of Conquerors' face was as innocent and pure as a big child. He put his arm around Waver Velvet's shoulder and said happily to Waver Velvet:
"So, precisely because of this, to be able to form a contract with a fool like you truly makes me extremely happy!"
Waver Velvet turned his face away, not daring to meet the King of Conquerors' simple smile, but his flickering gaze revealed the turbulent excitement in his heart.
"To contract with me, one must be someone who challenges the unreachable from their own insignificance! Lancer's Master won't do, Archer's Master won't do, not even that little girl will do. Boy, you are the only one in this Holy Grail War who can summon me as a Master!"
"I..."
At this moment, a delicate, fair little hand rested on Waver Velvet's other free shoulder. As Waver Velvet stood in a daze, Rin's smiling face filled his vision.
"Uh..."
"Waver Velvet, you must have been bullied quite a bit at the Clock Tower."
"Uh, mm..."
Waver Velvet had, in a fit of anger, decided to participate in the Holy Grail War precisely because he couldn't stand the noble scions who bullied him daily, hoping to prove his abilities through it.
"I should be more excellent and more talented than those who bullied you, right?"
"Mm."
Not just noble scions, even true noble family heads had been thoroughly crushed by Rin; such a thing was, of course, self-evident.
"Then let me acknowledge you, Waver Velvet. You are an excellent Magus!"
You are an excellent Magus! This was the first time Waver Velvet had ever heard such a compliment in his life, and it came from the mouth of one of the most authoritative people in the contemporary magical world!
"I... excellent?"
"Of course, only those who dare to take steps on the path they have chosen are qualified to be called excellent. Waver Velvet, don't treat this Holy Grail War as the biggest stage of your life. Perhaps you think such a miraculous magical ritual is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but in reality, it's nothing special. It has already occurred four times in less than 300 years."
Regarding Rin's attitude of not taking the Holy Grail seriously, Waver Velvet could only helplessly express his admiration. Only at this moment could Waver Velvet roughly understand why the King of Conquerors and Rin got along so well: because they both believed in themselves more than in miracles!
This unwavering confidence in being able to surpass miracles was probably the quality that he, Waver Velvet, lacked most.
"As long as you firmly follow your chosen path, one day you will also find a life path that you can be proud of. At that time, you will only have the path of battle left, and it won't be too late to define your own battlefield then. Keep it up."
As she finished speaking, the small hand on his shoulder suddenly turned Waver Velvet's head. While Waver Velvet was still in a daze and at a loss, a fleeting warm touch suddenly came from his forehead!
"Hahahaha... Let's go, King of Conquerors, let's finish our promised battle!"
"Yosh! That's exactly what I want. Let's go, boy, it's time to move out!"
Under the twilight sunset, a crimson figure laughing in the evening breeze was confident, beautiful, graceful, and picturesque, like a Valkyrie stepping out of a myth. Looking at the two equally magnificent figures walking ahead towards the battlefield again, Waver Velvet felt that as long as he followed in their footsteps, one day he would find his own victory!
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.