Chapter 232
"You're acting suspicious!"
Ishtar looked at Xia Yu beside her and spoke in a certain tone.
"Hm? What's suspicious about me?" Xia Yu replied with a radiant smile.
"That annoying golden idiot just now..." Ishtar narrowed her eyes. "His attitude toward you was completely off!"
"Tell me, were you deliberately sent to my side by him?"
"Uh, weren't you the one who kidnapped me back yourself?" Xia Yu blinked.
"I'm starting to suspect you're a trap," Ishtar declared confidently. "You appearing there back then was obviously planned in advance, just waiting for me to step on it!"
"And those two weirdos too! They were strange as well!"
"They're actually friends of my friends," Xia Yu said seriously. "They're not weird people."
"And what's the point of saying all this?" She shot Ishtar a sidelong glance. "Can you really live without my cooking?"
"So this was your plan all along? How despicable," Ishtar said sorrowfully as she took a bite of fruit. "Using food to win me over?"
"Hmph, I'm the great Goddess Ishtar! How could I possibly be swayed by a few meals? You people are thinking far too optimistically!"
"Really? Then put down the Fruit Medley in your hand first," Xia Yu rolled her eyes.
"Why should I?" Ishtar said righteously. "Since this food was offered to me, it belongs to me now!"
"Then stop talking about being won over or traps," Xia Yu shrugged as she lifted the nearly finished roast duck before her. "Did you think stealing someone from Ereshkigal was too difficult, so you convinced yourself I belonged to Uruk instead? That way stealing me from Gilgamesh would feel easier?"
"Absolutely not!" Ishtar snapped angrily. "Who told you to appear inside Uruk's Ziggurat? Of course I'd overthink it!"
"Alright, alright. If that's the case, I'll prove it then." Xia Yu smiled. "I have no interest in that arrogant Gilgamesh. Even if he's become much more restrained as the Wise King, I've met him during his most foul-mouthed period."
"If you've ever spent time with that version of him, who could possibly stand that mouth of his? Satisfied now?"
"Exactly!" Ishtar brightened up immediately. "Other than Enkidu, who could tolerate that arrogant jerk Gilgamesh?"
"Right, not everyone is Enkidu, willing to put up with him." Xia Yu finished slicing the duck in her hands. "At least I'm not in the mood for it."
That was why, in Fuyuki City, knowing full well what Gilgamesh's personality was like, she chose to directly eliminate the unstable factor with force.
"Relax, relax." Xia Yu washed her hands, then patted Ishtar on the head. "I'm not going to abandon you and go looking for him, alright?"
"Wait, you didn't dry your hands!" Ishtar immediately screamed. "And there's oil on them! You actually dared touch a goddess's head directly!"
"There isn't!" Xia Yu innocently held out her hand. "Look, there's no oil at all!"
She'd directly used Tergeo just now. What oil could possibly remain on her hands?
Washing them was just a habit.
Ishtar muttered something on the side about disrespecting goddesses, but her eyes were already firmly glued to the sliced duck.
"Come on, time to eat." Xia Yu set all the dishes on the table. "By the way, are you going out every day searching for something? Need my help?"
"Hah? Nothing like that." Ishtar's body trembled slightly as she stubbornly denied it. "I'm just... just going around killing Demonic Beasts. As a goddess, protecting the people is only natural, right?"
"Really?" Xia Yu smiled knowingly. "Watching you leave early and come back late every day, wandering around everywhere, I thought you were searching for something."
"Your movement pattern doesn't look anything like a planned extermination of infiltrating Demonic Beasts."
Wasn't she just searching for her precious bull?
Speaking of which, the Bull of Heaven really was quite powerful. It even seemed to be the type where only one existed across all timelines. Apparently during a Holy Grail War in North America, Goddess Ishtar summoned the Bull of Heaven, and then the Ishtar here woke up one day to discover her bull had been stolen.
Only after the goddess over there finished using it did this Ishtar finally summon the Bull of Heaven during the event.
But the bull in her possession... was it an extra one, or the exact same one from the plot?
Xia Yu didn't know, but she had no intention of giving it back to Ishtar right now. She planned to string her along for a few more days first.
"You saw wrong!" Ishtar continued stubbornly. "I'm just... just sufficiently free-spirited. All goddesses are like this!"
"Fine then, you are a goddess after all." Xia Yu smiled brightly as she rested her chin on one hand and looked at Ishtar.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Ishtar felt uneasy under her gaze. "Your eyes are making me uncomfortable, you know?"
"Because you're pretty," Xia Yu praised her openly.
"Y-Y-You!" Ishtar's face instantly turned bright red. But the next moment, she reacted and looked at Xia Yu excitedly. "Does this mean you've finally abandoned that gloomy woman and chosen to become this goddess's attendant?"
"No." Xia Yu shook her head, her tone cruel. "Mainly because you two are sisters, so I think Ereshkigal probably looks a lot like you."
Without question, that statement stepped directly on a landmine.
"Heh, very good." Ishtar's expression instantly darkened as she viciously tore into a duck leg.
"You've really got guts!"
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Xia Yu asked innocently. "Didn't we already agree on this last night?"
As if!
The one online during the second half of last night had clearly been Ereshkigal.
But unfortunately for Ishtar, she didn't know that.
"W-Who agreed to anything with you?!" Recalling last night, Ishtar's face turned red again.
Mainly because when she woke up this morning, she discovered herself and the audacious woman before her sleeping while hugging each other.
At that moment, her brain practically exploded. She instantly summoned Maanna and shot straight into the sky.
Without caring that the young girl was still asleep, Ishtar fled her own temple in utter embarrassment and wandered aimlessly through Uruk.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. In the end, she decided to go vent her frustrations on that golden idiot by having a good fight with him.
And then she saw this woman again inside Uruk's Ziggurat.
So infuriating!
She viciously tore another bite from the duck leg while puffing up her cheeks and glaring at Xia Yu.
Meanwhile, Xia Yu was in an exceptionally good mood. Smiling, she took out her wine gourd and gulped down a large mouthful of alcohol.
Ereshkigal was really easy to deal with. Both sisters had such straightforward personalities.
Xia Yu was feeling wonderful.
Meanwhile, on the other side, someone was clearly in a very bad mood.
"Ishtar, that useless goddess!"
Gilgamesh said furiously, "It's only been a few days, and she already can't keep hold of the person anymore!"
"Sigh, you can't really blame Goddess Ishtar for that," Merlin stepped forward to speak fairly. "It's not that she intentionally doesn't want to. It's just that nobody can stop someone of that level."
"If she wants to leave the mountain, she leaves the mountain. Could Goddess Ishtar really stop her?"
"Wait a second!" Fujimaru Ritsuka widened her eyes and looked at Merlin. "From what you all are saying... Ishtar isn't actually an enemy?"
"Enemy? No, she's just a rather useless idiot," Gilgamesh commented mercilessly.
Siduri beside him revealed an awkward yet polite smile.
After all, the priests of Uruk worshipped Ishtar. On one side was the goddess of their faith, and on the other was the king protecting the city. Sigh... truly a tangled fate.
"But what you were saying earlier was basically asking Ishtar to keep an eye on Miss Kiana, wasn't it?" Fujimaru Ritsuka frowned. "That's what you meant, right?"
"While that is technically true," Merlin spread his hands helplessly, "the cause is a little different from what you're imagining."
"Ritsuka, this really isn't our fault. In the beginning, Ishtar herself kidnapped her and locked her up in the temple. That was entirely her own decision. We never tempted her at all!"
He spoke righteously, "A decision made by Ishtar herself can't count as us scheming against her!"
"More importantly, why are you all so afraid of Sister Kiana?" Mash asked in confusion. "She's obviously such an approachable person."
Though she did keep sticking close to Senpai.
"Exactly, exactly," Fujimaru Ritsuka echoed. "She even warned us earlier that you were using the Holy Grail to trick us."
"You really can't blame us for this." Merlin sighed helplessly. "Do you remember how she introduced herself when you first met?"
"I remember it being... Valkyrie and Herrscher, right?" Fujimaru Ritsuka recalled their recent meeting.
"Yes. The Valkyrie part aside..." Merlin shook his head. "But Herrscher..."
"Is there something wrong with that identity?" Mash asked.
"A huge problem." Gilgamesh sneered from the throne. "Herrschers are Enemies of Civilization. She said that herself."
"Uruk is already struggling greatly against the attacks of the Three Goddess Alliance," Siduri added. "If another opponent on par with the gods appeared..."
"What do mere gods count for?" Gilgamesh's expression darkened. "Her abilities... are not comparable to ordinary gods."
"Haven't you seen Beasts before?" Merlin added. "And that friend of yours who chopped down a Beast in ten minutes? Just imagine Miss Kiana as even more terrifying than that."
"So Miss Kiana is really that strong?" Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash exchanged glances, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
Obviously.
Gilgamesh snorted coldly. If she weren't terrifyingly powerful, would he be speaking so politely?
So what exactly was Human Order doing? At a time like this, with the Singularity on the brink of collapse, why weren't they sending a few Grand Class Servants over to work?
Gilgamesh couldn't understand it. He himself qualified for a Grand Class, but unfortunately, the version of himself in this Singularity wasn't dead yet. Since he wasn't a Heroic Spirit, where would a Grand Class Saint Graph come from?
Merlin beside him also qualified, but he'd bugged his way in here, so there was basically no hope.
As for Solomon... heh, expecting anything from him was pointless.
But the real reason was actually very simple.
Human Order naturally wouldn't send any new Grand Classes over. In fact, they could even save the Grand Class Saint Graph originally meant for the Old Man of the Mountain.
Because they'd rolled an overpowered ally from outside the world!
Since there was already a big shot capable of rivaling a Beast stationed here, why bother wasting effort? Even the existence of the Old Man of the Mountain had changed from an indispensable key piece into mere insurance.
And this person was very trustworthy. At least back in Fuyuki City, she'd handled things cleanly and decisively. The way she dealt with All the World's Evil had been highly satisfactory.
So don't even think about reinforcements. None were coming.
But the people inside the Singularity didn't know that.
"So we're just supposed to watch Miss Kiana get taken away?" Mash still sounded unwilling to accept it. Mainly because Kiana was Miss Firefly's friend, and this made her feel like she'd let the latter down...
"Mash, I told you already, didn't I?" Fujimaru Ritsuka sighed. This junior of hers was still too innocent.
"Perhaps the one who needs saving is someone else entirely. After all..." She spoke meaningfully, "hunters often appear in the form of prey."
"Goddess Ishtar may be powerful, but she probably can't actually threaten Miss Kiana, so stop worrying about it."
"Hmph. Since you're all helpless anyway, then get out and do your jobs." Gilgamesh waved his hand tiredly. "Go, go, go. I still have government affairs to handle."
"Understood." Siduri looked at the clay tablet in her hands. "Then let us first deal with the flooding of the Tigris River."
"Sigh, I had hoped the appearance of Miss Ishtar might change the king's thinking somewhat."
"Well, nothing can be done about that." Merlin looked toward Fujimaru Ritsuka. "Let's go find a place to stay first."
"King Gilgamesh probably isn't in the mood to deal with us today. We'll have to wait until tomorrow."
"Fools!" Gilgamesh scolded. "Uruk is facing an unprecedented crisis. This King has no time to accompany your Chaldea on some sightseeing trip."
"If you insist on serving This King no matter what... then go do honest work!"
And just like that, the two from Chaldea left the Ziggurat with a pile of assigned tasks.
"So we're basically being sent off to do odd jobs..." Fujimaru Ritsuka looked somewhat depressed.
"Please rest assured, we will provide for everyone's daily needs," Siduri said with a smile. "Apologies for not having time to introduce myself earlier."
She placed a hand over her chest and bowed politely.
"My name is Siduri. I'm in charge of the ritual grounds. If any of you need something, feel free to come find me."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Merlin led the group toward the Heroic Spirits' base.
"Though this is only my personal opinion," he rambled on, "if you truly wish for the king to listen to your request, it's best to first establish some achievements."
"Oho~~~ is that so?" Fujimaru Ritsuka shot him a sideways glance.
If you want us to work, just say so directly. Why go through so many twists and turns?
Compared to the simple-minded Mash, she was thinking a lot more deeply about things.
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T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me.
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