I'm Shenji, what are you doing?

Hearing Shenji's answer, Mordred felt as if she was struck by lightning and stood stunned on the spot. She even forgot that Shenji called her an idiot.

"You, how did you know?"

Well, this is tantamount to admitting that I was right. As expected, the Knights of the Round Table are a group of royal chef knights, and the twelve people in the first sequence are all hopeless cooks.

Shen Er complained in his mind and said casually: "Because I am also a king chef, and I have met other king chefs, so I can better understand your thoughts."

"Wang Chef, what do you mean?"

"The so-called chef means someone who likes him, and the king chef means someone who likes the king - in a certain circle that studies the legend of King Arthur, your Knights of the Round Table are called the Knights of the King Chef."

"How is it possible that King Chef likes something? I don't know about those guys, but I am a rebellious knight. I hate King Arthur the most."

Mordred deliberately gritted her teeth, but everyone could tell she was lying from her stiff expression and trembling voice.

Her master, Lion Jie Jieli, covered his face with his hands to show that he couldn't bear to look at her.

Shenji couldn't stand it either, so he chose not to look and turned to look at Arturia, although the latter's expression was no better than Mordred's.

She always thought that Mordred hated her and hated her, but now - King Arthur's natural brain could no longer understand the current situation and entered a downtime mode.

"I said, Arturia, even Mordred said this, why don't you express your opinion?"

"She, she, I, I-" Arturia hesitated, and finally said nothing.

"I can't do anything to you either. Fiore, prepare a room for them later and let them have a good talk."

"No, no need, we have nothing to talk about, um, no. I have something else to do later, so I have to leave first. Master, please leave quickly."

With that said, Mordred grabbed Lion Zed's arm and started to walk out.

Before he took two steps, he heard Shenji say.

"Is this really a good way to escape?"

"I, I didn't escape." Mordred's eyes dodge.

"Okay, I think so for now, but I want to remind you one thing - after I finish the surgery for Fiore, I will go to Amakusa Shirou Tokisada for a decisive battle, and Arturia will be my servant. The Observer of Inhibition will definitely go with me. No one knows what the outcome of this trip will be. It is also hard to say whether Arturia will answer the call in the future. Maybe this will be the last time you meet. You really don’t want to speak clearly?”

"I..." Mordred wavered.

Seeing this, Shenji leaned closer to Mordred's ear and added more fire.

"Artoria is no longer the king now, and there is no need to suppress her emotions, understand? It's hard to say who will be King Arthur's heir, but I don't think she will deny the fact that Artoria is the child. . Don’t you want to be like other children and throw yourself into her arms and act like a baby?”

Mordred's face instantly turned red: "I, I don't want to."

"Really don't want to?"

"In no mood."

"Can you say that again?"

"I...I promise to talk to her, okay?"

"Okay, that's it. Remember, be frank and don't hide anything, if you don't want to regret it."

"It's so annoying to be so long-winded." Mordred muttered in a low voice, but did not refute.

"Thank you, Matou Shinji." Shishi Jie thanked his servant.

"I just don't want to have any regrets."

For Arturia, for Mordred, and for myself as the royal chef.

"I really want to say thank you, so just make a deal with me."

"What deal?"

"I know you have a precious specimen in your hand. I need you to use that thing to help make three serums. In return, I will help you remove the curse on your body."

"How do you know everything? You shouldn't have any ability to predict the future."

The specimen that Shinji mentioned was the Hydra larvae that Shishijie obtained from Belferbon, the head of the Department of Summoning. Only the two people involved knew about this, so Shishijie was so surprised.

"If I could predict the future, how could it be so miserable?"

"That's right. I agree to the deal, but I need a day."

"Okay, once you make the serum, I will help you lift the curse."

"No, it doesn't matter what the curse is."

Shishi Jie's choice obviously exceeded Shen Er's expectations.

"Eh? Why? If I remember correctly, this curse will make you..."

"I'm well aware of the effects of the curse."

"Then you still..."

"This is the price I should pay, and it is also the price the Lion Tribulation family should pay."

"I respect your choice, but if you do this, the reward will be——"

"No payment is required."

The eyes hidden behind the sunglasses glanced at Mordred, and the anxiety on the girl's face made Lion Jie smile a little more.

"Unless you can resurrect the dead, in that case, I am willing to increase the price no matter how much you ask me."

"I don't have that ability." Shen Er smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Even the Great Holy Grail can only save the soul that has not dissipated. Once it dissipates, it will be completely hopeless."

"It's true. Resurrection of the dead is just wishful thinking after all."

Shishi Jie took out a cigar and lit it silently, but did not put it to his lips. He just watched the wisps of smoke change quietly. Scenes of long-lasting, almost moldy scenes once again appeared in his mind, and there was one that would never fade away. cute face.

In the island country in the far east, the place where a group of people who call themselves Shishijie moved to is a cold land that is covered with rain or snow almost all year round. There are only a few sunny days in summer, and most days are covered in a large dark gray cloud.

It's a desolate place, as if just surviving would take all your energy.

Even though he is a magician, he still needs food in order to survive. This is especially true for magicians who have fallen into dilapidated situations. Therefore, they must start by trying to win the trust of the indigenous people with boring curses that are hardly magic.

"It's not too late, it's not too late, it's not too late."

It's too late, you're already done. You have no choice but to reach the end, the seal begins to decline, and the strength drops to less than 10% of its heyday. As generations change, the magic circuit becomes weaker and weaker, and it won't be long before they become ordinary people who simply "know magic".

Insult (clam) humiliation, insult (clam) humiliation, humiliation. For a magician, this is an outcome that must be avoided at all costs. It was not that he died in the challenge of understanding the abyss, nor was he killed in a miserable magic battle. It was just the worst ending of simply becoming a meaningless existence.

No, that's not possible, that's absolutely not possible, don't, don't, don't.

He was acting like a child, desperately seeking help from the magicians he knew. They had clearly received so much favor from me in their heyday, but now they showed ridicule and contempt towards themselves without exception.

"What a pitiful clan. You are finished."

"How do you want us to help someone whose magic circuit is about to die?"

"Although it is a very sad thing, this is also the fate of a magician. No matter how many letters you send, your wish will not come true."

"In the end, the person who fulfilled their wish was not a familiar magician. They ended up entering into some kind of magical contract with an existence of unknown origin that resembled an evil spirit.

"Well, although I can guarantee your prosperity-"

"That guy" said with a cheerful smile.

"But, this is just an advance. You are destined to cut off everything in an instant in the future, right?"

Even so, it didn't matter, the clan made a decision. Until that time comes, definitely try to conquer this magic. There are many other methods that can be used. Even if you can't do it yourself, you can still continue it to your children and grandchildren. One day in the future——

There may also be prejudice and contempt for the spells in the borderlands. Their techniques are very primitive and crude, which is far from their aesthetic values.

But on the other hand, the technique is so simple and strong that it can be described as beautiful. How superficial I am. Their clan began to inherit knowledge, warn against the curse, and order their descendants to respond as quickly as possible.

The prosperous time is as beautiful as a dream. The thesis was acknowledged, and the Clock Tower received the lion's tribulation with undisguised surprise. Although I don’t know how it was done, it’s really good. Welcome—

Then, the fall also happened in the blink of an eye.

It wasn't like rolling down a slope, but rather the feeling of being pushed off a cliff. A tragic end? There is no such thing. This is a situation that we have long been aware of - but it is like a sudden disaster for our descendants.

The Lion Tribulation is the beginning of the end. He has the most outstanding talent among the Lion Kai clan so far, surpassing his father, and is the pride of the clan who has reached the deeper secrets of magic.

As soon as he reached the age of childbearing, he was forced to take a wife. The clan who have never forgotten the curse always want to confirm as quickly as possible whether they can give birth to children normally.

Then, the clan finally understood the fact that "it has begun".

"No. Jie Li does not have the power to give birth to children. Since there is no abnormality in the body, there is no doubt that this is the result of the curse. How could this happen? Is it finally going to start?"

First, they used various methods to try to see if they could have children. Various drugs were used, rituals were held, all available connections were used, and huge sums of money were invested in magicians who were good at healing techniques to help with diagnosis and examination.

In the end, all attempts yielded dismal results. A child can be born, even if it is only for a moment, but the child is indeed born. But no matter how many times he repeated it, he still died quickly. Children are constantly being born, dying, and disappearing.

He and his wife soon decided to divorce. She declared with cold eyes:

"You are really an amazing magician. Because you can even use it to play with your own children."

What she said was indeed right, Jie Li thought. Every child dies the moment he is born - the responsibility lies with himself. No matter what he did, he still died one after another - it was like killing them himself.

But at this time, the wife's clan finally realized that the Lion Tribulation clan was facing decline, so they quickly decided to withdraw.

Jie Li and her wife are the best pair from a magic point of view. Therefore, the clan always adheres to the idea that the child must be born between the two of them. But that's it. They can only decide to adopt other people's children.

The Lion Tribulation clan has no way out. All in all, no matter what, the lion Jie Jieli must be allowed to inherit the magic mark to other children in some way. It doesn't matter if it's not his biological son but his adopted son.

Even in this situation, they still haven't truly understood the true nature of the "curse". The contract they made should be "to give up magic at the moment Shishi Jiejieli is born."

The very act of giving birth to a magician's child was impossible.

Without realizing this, they went to great lengths to discover a girl from a distant relative who was highly adaptable. When they arranged to meet for the first time, Jieli knew the fact that she was afraid of him and felt extremely frustrated.

In order to further improve his adaptability with the girl, Jieli lived with her.

"This way, I can become a magician like Onii-sama. I'm really happy——"

She said with a smile. She was a frail, smart and well-behaved girl. Every time it rains or snows, her condition worsens. When she heard that the body could become healthy as long as the seal was transplanted, the girl also laughed happily. However, it is still necessary to maintain an unhealthy state before transplantation. Because there was no other way, Jieli read to her who was bedridden to relieve her boredom.

"After becoming a magician, you will no longer read to me. This is really a pity——"

As she spoke, she lowered her head in frustration. Jie Li whispered to her, "As long as you recover, you can read whatever book you want to read by yourself." Seeing the way she puffed up her face and said, "That's not what I meant," Jie Li finally realized that she actually wanted him to read it to her.

If there is really nothing I can do to you, then I will keep reading until you get tired of it. After hearing what Jie Li said, the girl finally regained her smile.

Whether before or after——

Jie Li has never experienced such a stable period of time in his life.

That kind of life,

And one day, like magic, it disappeared without a trace.

The body that had turned purple was sent for cremation. Following local customs, and more importantly out of fear of contaminating the land, the bodies were finally burned. There weren't any tears, nor could there be any.

The person who has always turned a blind eye to the possibility that "this kind of thing might happen" is undoubtedly Shizi Jie himself.

Because I have the expectation in my heart that "maybe I can succeed." Because my father and other people in my family said there was nothing wrong with me, I had the hope that "maybe everything will be fine."

These reasons are all just lies. It is simply impossible to hold anyone responsible for this matter.

Because Shishi Jiejieli wanted to be her father, it was his dream that crushed the girl miserably.

That is the truth and there is no other reason at all. Whether it was tears or apology, they were all out of reach.

Lion Jie Jieli silently accepted everything about the curse. He looked through the books, thinking as if he was going crazy, and in the end - he finally decided to accept this end.

The rest of life is just an act of throwing away life. Even if you are a necromancer, the modern battlefield is still too dangerous.

Not a magician, but close to a magician—no, it can be said to be exactly the same. But to him, none of this mattered. It was as if a man who realized that his death was imminent was deliberately wasting the assets he had accumulated so far.

I don’t know whether to say it’s because the thief is lucky, or because he has always resisted actively choosing death.

Lion Jie Jieli still barely survived half of them. As for the other half, they had already died together with the girl the moment she died.

Whenever he bleeds or falls to the ground on the battlefield, he will recall it.

"When you wake up next time, you can call Father——"

Ah, I committed the sin of "wanting a girl to call myself that". It was very painful, very uncomfortable, very hard, but it would be much easier to die - then he clasped his hands, spit out a mouthful of blood and stood up.

With the passage of time, the soft shell has become as tough as steel, and the hand writing the paper has also been engraved with countless scars.

Loot corpses, process them, compile rituals, earn money, and then waste it freely.

I am guilty.

Just because you are guilty, you have to live. No way to atone for this sin has yet been found.

At least you have to experience the feeling that is almost like death.

Then to the present, Shijie Jieli encounters the Holy Grail. It was like fate that I met the Holy Grail.

It is impossible to resurrect the dead - this is what my knowledge as a magician tells me.

The possibility is almost zero - this is what I have declared to myself through the experience of countless battlefields.

But even so, maybe there will be some new discoveries. With a semi-self-destruction mentality, suppressing the hope that was beginning to grow—the man reached out to the Holy Grail.

This is the only reason why men seek the Holy Grail.

This is an extremely ordinary and uninteresting story that can be found in countless similar stories in the world as long as the situation settings are changed.

However, there is nothing false about this enthusiasm.

It was so insignificant that even I probably didn't realize the dignity of being a magician, and it was also a means of atonement that I found with great difficulty. In the deepest part of his instinct, he understood this clearly.

That's where Shili Jiejie Li is about to die.

But now, this last extravagant hope has been shattered, and he has lost everything in a real sense.

The man did not feel depressed, because when the dream was broken, he, like his partner, finally understood his true desire.

All he wanted was the girl with a slender and weak smile on her face. If the child could live and smile to him, that alone would be satisfying.

He was living a half-dead life just because he wanted to get her back. But her resurrection is absolutely impossible and an irreversible fact.

It is precisely because of this that I am so reluctant to give up and live a wandering life.

This is fine, cut off all hope, just bear it all, and slowly move towards the end of life.

Before that happens, though, there are some things you can do. As the master of that worrying guy, I went crazy for this fool who didn't even understand his wishes correctly.

When the cigar burned out, Shizi Jie made a decision.

At least, you can't let that guy fall into the same irreversible situation as yourself.