The infinite sword system has been mastered, and you say this is the dragon clan?

Chapter 401 The Holy Grail Questions

Such a long and exaggerated promotional slogan...

"Lead singer, Elizabeth Bathory? I've never heard of that name before..."

The conditions for participating in the Sword Emperor's selection of consorts even specify that you need to buy one of her tickets?
Judging from the propaganda, it seems that not only those who voluntarily participated in the selection process, but also those personally recommended by the emperors of various countries, had to buy tickets.

Wow, this girl has quite the nerve.

The ticket seller, dressed in a nun's habit, chuckled. "This young lady probably doesn't know yet, but this is an idol specially chosen by His Majesty the Sword Emperor for the 'Consort Selection Ceremony'!"

"Rumor has it that His Majesty the Sword Emperor and his adopted sister Claudia have a very close relationship! He's also very supportive of her singing and performing aspirations. This Miss Elizabeth is Princess Claudia's closest friend, mentor, and musical confidante!"

"This time, His Majesty the Sword Emperor specially invited Miss Elizabeth to sing and entertain the concubine selection event, while also giving Princess a chance to showcase her singing talent! Wow, His Majesty treats Princess so well!"

The ticket seller spoke with a smug tone, raising her chin as if to say that a rich heiress like you with no connections is already incredibly lucky to hear such top-tier royal gossip.

"is it?"

Krimhild didn't care at all, thinking to himself that when he was a general under Emperor Caesar, he knew far more royal gossip than the few fancy secrets you'd ever read in your life.

She knew everything about Caesar, including his habit of eating when stressed, his fondness for beautiful women, and how many female Heroic Spirits he had pursued since his appearance in the mortal realm. After all, she herself had been pursued by Caesar, but as a married woman, she could never agree…

Ah, now she's participating in the imperial concubine selection and pursuing the Sword Emperor, even if it's just a means of revenge.

What an irony.

Perhaps other female heroic spirits will appear in this audition, gathering here with different purposes, and maybe they have also rejected Caesar's advances... Hopefully, Caesar won't be angry.

Seeing Krimshild staring blankly, the ticket seller thought her revelation wasn't sensational enough, so she added more:

"Hehe, but you probably don't know about other versions, Miss—I've heard there are a few rumors that His Majesty the Sword Emperor organized this event to provide Miss Elizabeth with a bigger stage for her performances!"

"In other words, His Majesty's real purpose is not to choose a consort, but to express his affection for Miss Elizabeth. That's the main purpose! Didn't expect that, did you!"

"I've heard that Miss Kiyohime, who often appears by His Majesty the Sword Emperor's side, is not just a simple maid or attendant. In addition, she and Miss Elizabeth often clash. Hehe, perhaps she and Miss Elizabeth are rivals!"

"And there's more! Even more unbelievable rumors say that the princess also harbors a forbidden love for His Majesty... Um, you absolutely mustn't tell anyone about this!"

Krimshild grew increasingly suspicious as she listened. "Your gossip is ridiculously abundant! And its credibility is ridiculously low!"
"In short, with such examples, do you think there won't be even more strong competitors? Maybe the entire selection process for the imperial concubine is just a formality, and the real candidates have already been secretly chosen from outside the selection process..."

She then looked at Krimschild with a serious expression and said solemnly, "And this young lady has already clearly identified several formidable rivals of Miss Elizabeth's caliber by her side. Under these circumstances, do you really still intend to participate? The competition in the harem has no glory or justice, only cruelty and ruthlessness."

Her words carried weight. It was as if she were not simply selling tickets, but rather wielding supreme power over the selection of the emperor's beautiful and charming concubines, waiting for those who wished to enter to seize their own vote and join the dazzling yet cruel battle for supremacy in the harem.

Why are you, a ticket seller, so dramatic?!
Krimshild was speechless.

She looked at the promotional poster for a while longer, noticing that it was decorated with roses and pink lines, and featured a lively and innocent-looking girl holding a microphone with a confident and radiant smile on her face.

Ah.

That was an expression Krimshild was certain she would never show. Ever since the death of her husband, she had become cold and insane, losing all her girlish innocence.

She came to hate her husband’s enemies, and also hated her heroic husband, Siegfried.

Siegfried always had a penchant for playing the hero of justice, readily sacrificing himself to help others and act as a messenger of righteousness, disregarding the safety of those around him. This time in the mortal realm was no different; upon hearing rumors of a calamity beast threatening the world, he blankly set off to capture the girl.

He ended up encountering the Sword Emperor and dying a meaningless death, leaving behind only himself tormented by berserk rage.

Will this teenage idol who sings on stage also experience a marital tragedy and descend into madness in the future, just like me?

I hope that sword emperor isn't a Siegfried-style righteous hero, otherwise I'll really hate him to the core.

Krimhild suddenly dropped her reminiscing expression, her pale and beautiful face regaining its coldness.

"Concert tickets, right? I've paid for them."

It's just a girls' concert. So what if she's connected to the Sword Emperor and sings badly? Just bear with it and it'll pass.

She stepped into the venue without hesitation.

Then, Krimshild sensed the presence of a large number of Servants, each of whom was a female Heroic Spirit who had come to compete for the position, just like her.

Strange? Isn't the proportion of Servants a bit too high?

Several of them were completely covered by cloaks, clearly to avoid others discovering their identities and making them appear even more suspicious than themselves.

Is this... meeting someone from the same profession?

Krimshild blinked in confusion, her gaze momentarily meeting that of a short man among the cloaked figures. The man's pupils shone with a menacing light, radiating pure dragon might!

evil……!
That's incredibly arrogant.

Krimshild, recalling the purpose of her visit, chose to remain silent for the time being. She decisively turned away, finding a secluded spot in the contestants' waiting area. Looking up, she saw, in the center of the stage, the stunningly beautiful and adorable Miss Elizabeth, just like in her promotional poster—

Hey! Come on, shine the spotlight over here!

The pink-clad dragon girl spoke excitedly in a loud voice, her voice carried throughout the spacious Roman-style circular hall thanks to the excellent sound recording equipment. She twisted the dragon tail that peeked out from under her skirt and raised her voice in excitement:
"What! Tickets sold out? Hehe, you must really want to hear me sing! Well then, I'll give you an impromptu performance to ignite the atmosphere~, Love Rhythm Like Dragon Scales~"

Miss Dragon Girl took a deep breath and then pointed it at the microphone.

The next second, Krimshild felt as if she had almost lost her hearing. "Laaaaa! Ahahahahaha!"

A tangible shockwave, amplified by a powerful loudspeaker, repeatedly reverberated throughout the wide hallway, carrying the dangerous magical energy of the dragon's roar!
What is this—a sonic attack—!?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Ahem, Your Majesty, you must be tired from your long journey. This is just a little entertainment that I specially ordered to be prepared. I hope you will not mind if the hospitality is not up to par."

Emiya listened to Elizabeth's passionate singing, but his expression remained unchanged, completely calm. He didn't even reveal his divine armor; only faint, invisible ripples appeared around his body.

Hmph, this is a triple barrier that blocks magic, slows down impacts, and prevents sonic vibrations—a product of Chaldea!

Magic tricks, kid!

"Sword Emperor, you...!"

In contrast, Trajan and Julius Caesar, who were also seated at the banquet, were in a much more uncomfortable situation.

Their eyes bulged out, and they desperately opened their mouths to cover their ears, trying to slow down the horrifying, distorted music from flooding their ears and minds.

Although the emperors were not seated in the center of the hall, they were located on a high platform with the best view and acoustics. Therefore, when Elizabeth's singing reached them, Caesar and Trajan didn't even have time to react.

Sword Emperor, you little brat, you actually tried to play dirty tricks on us!

Feeling dizzy and lightheaded, Caesar almost threw up the gooseberry pork knuckle, salmon, olive oil bread, jam, shortbread, honey, nuts, Wellington steak, grape leaf rolls, cinnamon... he had just eaten at the table. It was absolutely awful!
But you can't vomit, or you'll lose all face!
Trajan and Caesar, a robust middle-aged man and an obese young man, stared intently at each other.

They both secretly thought to themselves, "It would be best to make the other person vomit first! Whoever loses their composure more first will be the more embarrassed!"
As for Emiya, the two emperors couldn't be bothered to look at him. Was this guy a dog, playing such tricks at the banquet to torment everyone?
Of course, besides Emiya, there was another person who was unaffected: Nero, who was sitting next to him on his lap.

The girl didn't find Elizabeth's "Hell's Song" particularly awful; on the contrary, she became increasingly excited and delighted, feeling that the artistic achievement of the performance was unparalleled! Given time, Miss Elizabeth would surely grow into a pillar of the singing world, defeating all other singers and becoming invincible throughout the globe!
Perhaps only I, who debuted a little later, can rival him!

Thinking about this, Nero suddenly became worried, and a sense of mission regarding the art of singing arose spontaneously within him.

She saw Elizabeth as both a teammate and an artistic confidante, but also as her greatest rival. In her view, their encounter was like that of Mozart versus Beethoven, Paganini versus Liszt, a clash of titans, a collision of planets!

It wasn't until Emiya poked him that he came to his senses.

"My dear sister, someone is talking to you!"

"oh oh!"

Nero turned his eyes and saw Caesar's somewhat chubby face—which was slightly pale at the moment due to the torment of Elizabeth's singing.

Nero, the military genius and Rome's most famous dictator, had heard of him since childhood.

But in reality, it's hard to feel any goodwill upon first meeting him—why did Caesar become so obese?
"Is this the Sword Emperor's sworn sister, Little Claudia?"

Caesar seemed oblivious to Nero's disappointment, and simply said calmly, "My men apparently misunderstood the rumors and even went after you. Fortunately, you were unharmed, and the arrest warrant has been withdrawn. I hope you won't take it to heart. I've also prepared some gifts for your sister as a token of my apology..."

“It’s alright.” Nero was used to such social pleasantries and felt nothing special about them. She had countless such occasions of interaction and conflict with the Senate and various nobles. She was tired of it; she felt she was fundamentally unsuitable to be an emperor. Rather than this, she would rather pursue her own artistic path…

"..."

Caesar narrowed his eyes. When he learned that the girl called herself Claudia, he had secretly investigated her. The name belonged to the young daughter of Nero, the emperor who died last year in the current timeline, and her appearance happened to be after Nero's death.

He issued the arrest warrant on a whim, merely based on some premonition or curiosity. But judging from the girl's disdainful attitude towards the emperor, her identity is not simple. What is her connection to the deceased Nero...?
"cough."

Trajan pressed his temples; he could hardly stand the dragon girl's ear-piercing voice anymore. The Sword Emperor's scheme was truly vicious, making him and Caesar not want to stay here for even a moment longer, lest their ears be tortured by the incessantly echoing music of the venue.

"We've had enough of this small talk, Your Majesty Sword Emperor. Shouldn't we get down to business? The fact that you're forcing us to offer women as a sacrifice to make us come here means there must be something important to discuss."

“Indeed,” Emiya thought to himself, “I don’t think you’d believe me if I hadn’t intended to do it this way at first.”

Because it really was just Elizabeth and Nero who wanted to do a musical performance, he nodded in agreement, then Amor added something, and then BB stirred things up... everyone got involved, and that's how things turned out.

"So, what are your thoughts on the Holy Grail?"

As soon as Emiya finished speaking, Caesar and Trajan were instantly shocked, for neither of them were ordinary people.

As soon as Emiya said those words, and considering the current international situation, they realized something.

The big one is coming!
Next, it will probably be a struggle for ownership of the Holy Grail, right?
Through verbal and ideological clashes, the Sword Emperor sought to seize all of each other's Holy Grails. It seems that his actions were not only aimed at conquering his opponents physically and mentally, but also at winning them over through his ideology.

The two looked very serious, knowing that they were ultimately inferior in terms of hard power, but they could not lag behind in terms of "soft power" on a spiritual level!

"The Holy Grail is the thing that brings prosperity to the nation, peace and well-being to the people, abundance to the treasury, and order to all directions."

Trajan spoke first, emphasizing the Holy Grail's role in the reproduction and redistribution of resources, which he believed could bring prosperity and stability to the nation, befitting his title as the first of the Five Good Emperors of Rome.

Caesar shook his head. "The Holy Grail War, as the name suggests, is essentially a form of war. In this era, the Holy Grail has summoned so many heroic spirits, and the focus is ultimately on 'contesting.' If you want to rule the world on horseback, you must first conquer it on horseback!"

"Therefore, it is the proof of heroes throughout history conquering all directions and achieving great feats! It is the proof of heroism!"

"Ha... Looking at the heroes of the world today, only the Sword Emperor and I are worthy of the title!"

His gaze immediately became intense as he stared directly at Emiya.

What profound insights does the Sword Emperor have to offer? Bring them on quickly!
Emiya: "...?" I just wanted to say that there's something wrong with this Holy Grail, why are you all making such a fuss?
(End of this chapter)