Let's recap what's happened up until this point, shall we?

  A bit before today, I talked to Sakura Matou.

  During our conversation, I said that older siblings should help their younger siblings. This was intentional.

  I wanted to pnt a seed to help rebuild the retionship between the Tohsaka sisters.

  What I didn't intend was for Sakura to tell this to Shinji.

  Because of that, he went to my house and confronted me.

  This ended with me revealing my identity as a Magus. While I would've preferred if nobody from the Matou household knew that, the gamble was well worth it.

  Because of my risk, I now have access to the Matou legacy. My part of the bargain even benefits me.

  Teaching someone a skill will force me to become more knowledgeable about the topic. Shinji is also pretty smart, so he might discover something I wouldn’t.

  Why is this all important? After dealing with Shinji, I let my guard down and forgot about other potential enemies.

  Case in point: the man, or, demigod, standing before me.

  "My apologies, your majesty. I had met with someone earlier today and thought you were him." I said, getting to one knee. No response. Am I forgetting something?

  "Please come in, my king. I will make some tea for you. While it won't compare to the drinks you had in Uruk, it would be rude for me to not show proper hospitality to a guest. Please take off your shoes when you enter."

  "Did you tell me what to do?" Gilgamesh asked.

  “Of course not; however, it is customary to take off your shoes when entering a house in Japan.” Silence flooded the room for a moment.

  “The Holy Grail informed me of such things; as to why these people do so is beyond me.” The Mesopotamian ruler relented, taking off his shoes with grace.

  I lead the king to the living room and scavenge for high-quality tea. Dread fills me as I realize we only have Sencha. It's stupidly popur throughout Japan and has a refreshing taste. I hoped to get something more premium, but I'll take it for something that can be prepared in under a minute.

  ‘Note to self: buy more tea.’ I think as I let the tea steam.

  "I hope it is to your liking, Your Majesty," I said while bowing and pcing the tea in front of Gilgamesh.

  The room is filled with an awkward silence until...

  "You've yet to say your name, mongrel."

  "Of course, my name is Emiya Shi-"

  "Not the boy's name, yours."

  "I beg your pardon; I don't know what you mean."

  "I already know that you are possessing that body and not its true owner. Now, don't make me repeat myself."

  I sighed. I didn't want things to come to this. It will be quite an uphill battle if I'm to recover from this situation.

  My hands are shaking. I tried to calm myself by taking a sip of tea, but my mind was scattered.

  I trembled at the realization. Is it because of fear? I've never been afraid; it should be impossible, yet here I am. Then a thought dawns on me that sends me further into hysteria: Is my life in danger here? If I screw up, could my head be the price to pay?

  It must be a remnant of Shirou's soul that makes me scared of the man sitting before me. If not taken away completely, one of my greatest tools has now been weakened. No matter what, I will win this.

  "My name is Alexander Periwinkle, and I am from another universe." I decred it honestly.

  "Interesting, does my kingdom exist where you are from?"

  "Of course, me and all sentient life exist on that pnet."

  "I assume my counterpart in your world has cimed his birthright as well."

  "Unfortunately, when you passed on in your epic, you were never resurrected. The Holy Grail Wars don't exist back there, and even if they did, I don't know if you even existed." Did I say something rude? I look back at Gilgamesh to see him in serious contemption.

  "Well, that's a shame for my world to never be graced with my presence." I inwardly sigh in relief.

  "So, why should I not kill you? Your rotting stench is a good enough reason for you to be disposed of." Just like that, dread fills my body at the thought of losing to the demigod.

  My hands are shaking again, and sweat is rolling down my face.

  What can I offer that Gilgamesh wants?

  "Entertainment," I said.

  "What can be entertaining about a cockroach's pathetic attempts to survive?"

  "Because it will not just survive, but live too."

  "Oh?"

  "The Fifth Holy Grail War will happen in ten years; I will win it."

  "Bold of you to take cim to something that is already mine."

  "What if I'm not after the Grail?" Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow at this.

  "What could you possibly hope to gain from that stupid war if not a wish?"

  "For starters, a Servant—someone from the past who is strong and well-known enough to become a legend—will be a useful asset, so long as we can work together."

  "So the only thing you want is a weapon that will do your dirty work for you?"

  "More like a partner that I can trust my back to."

  "You have high standards, mongrel."

  "To make sure your pns succeed, you can't accept anything less." The king sighed at my decration.

  "How drool. Tell me then, is this all you hope to gain from your impossible victory?"

  "This is more of an idea than a fully fleshed-out pn, but if I pull it off, I can force a powerful family into a rock and a hard pce."

  "Hah, I cannot believe you mongrels have degraded this much since my passing. Your pn to destroy the Grail so no one benefits is quite pitiful."

  "What if my pn wasn't to destroy the Grail?"

  "Oh?"

  "The Greater Grail only appears when only one Servant Master duo is left standing, correct?"

  "So you pn on keeping everyone alive?"

  "It's foolish, but I don't need everyone alive, just the Servants, and even then, not all of them."

  For what felt like millennia, I stood, waiting for a response from the king. Did I say something wrong? Did I effectively put my head in a guillotine? As I spiralled further, I couldn't help but notice in the corner of my eye the royal figure before me, cracking a grin.

  "HAHAHAHAHA!" Gilgamesh erupted with ughter. "It seems you won't be a total bore to me."

  A sigh escapes from my lips. I doubt the King of Heroes will ever stop wanting to kill me, but I think I can get pretty close.

  "If I remember correctly, you mentioned something about making a sword, yes?" Gilgamesh asked, pretending he didn't already know the answer.

  "My body's biological family has been bdesmiths since the 1500s, if not longer. The goal of the family is to create the ultimate sword." Once more, does the king of Uruk find me funny as he ughs at my expense?

  "How could they have tried to accomplish such a foolish goal when they know I exist?"

  "I don't think they knew your existence at the start, if not little about it." The king ughed harder.

  "Tell your future kin to give up their pursuit of the ultimate sword, because it already exists." A part of me was worried that he would pull out the world-destroying Noble Phantasm Ea, but then I remembered that only those worthy enough are graced with its presence, and I am in no way worthy enough.

  "Aside from its ability to cause mass destruction, it can't do much, and besides, doesn't Ea predate the term sword? That would mean it isn't a sword, right?" The room goes silent after that, and then...

  "HAHAHAHA! To undermine what it can do and then not acknowledge it as a bde so boldly! I would have executed you for insulting me so brazenly." Gilgamesh said it with a pyful tone.

  "Very well then; if you wish to continue this fruitless endeavour, then I will have to test your skills." With that, a golden portal manifests behind the king.

  As soon as my eyes y upon it, an arm siren pyed inside my head. Before the projectile is unched, I move my head to the side. I barely dodged it.

  Looking towards the thing that nearly took my ear off, I see a shortsword made of what I can only think is gold due to its lustre and shine. The bde is about four fists worth and can be welded in one hand in my adult body.

  "Trace On," I said as I touched the weapon. Everything about it is revealed to me: the material doesn't exist in this era; a skilled Urukian bcksmith made it, and it's tough and heavy but not brittle.

  "You dare use magecraft on my treasures? I have killed men for looking at them. Had I not already decided to commission you, you would be dead where you stand, pest."

  "My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty," I said, dropping to my hands and knees and bowing. "One of the few things I can do is analyze bdes. I merely wished to know of its make and material."

  "I care not of what your pitiful Magecraft can do, but it is good that you understand where your fault is."

  I pull the bde out of the wall and get into a stance, swinging downward once complete.

  "Pathetic. Entering your stance and completing your swing took four seconds. A child could do better."

  "This body is that of a child." A gre from Gilgamesh was all that was needed for me to be quiet.

  "Since you wish to proceed with your foolish endeavour, I shall attach a challenge to my commission. Swordsmen of this nd train with this thing called tatami mats, correct? Cut through one three times in four seconds without it falling."

  "You have two weeks. Fail to complete the tasks, and I will end your and every person's lives in this house."

  I feel my body prime itself for an attack, but I have to hold myself back.

  "It shall be done" is all I can muster. With that, the king leaves my house, and I contempte my situation.

  With the rest of my control, I sm my fist down on the table.

  (...)

  Weirdly, I am both progressing smoothly and struggling at the same time.

  Using a sword is second nature to me, no matter the variation or oddity.

  Unfortunately, that was with my original body, which carried years of experience and instinct.

  It won’t be as difficult as before since this is my second run of life.

  At least I figured out how to hold the bde. Since it's heavier than a standard short sword, I have to wield it as if it were a two-handed sword. The momentum I can build with the swings will be needed to complete the task within the time limit.

  Then there is the tatami mat-cutting. I've done it before; I even cut through seven in a row cleanly. Slicing it x number of times within a time limit is something I've never done before. I would instead use water droplets.

  The problem is setting it up funnily enough. Usually, the mats are stabbed on a wooden ptform that would be comfortable for an adult.

  Because of that, I ran into some complications. I could use the standard height and jump, but it would make the window even smaller.

  Having to create a holder because of my height made me feel, for the first time in my life, embarrassed. Maybe I could make it extend and shrink, so I only need to produce one. Stop getting sidetracked; your life is at stake.

  I get into my newly developed stance with Gilgamesh’s treasure, preparing to cut the mat.

  I’ve cut through it twice when gravity started to take hold of it. I ssh to the left and then to the right.

  None of it fell to the ground, but I needed to be faster. Once I can get three strikes, I will divert my attention to crafting the bde.

  Hopefully, that won’t be as time-consuming.

  (...)

  Nothing...

  Absolutely nothing.

  For the past week, I have made no true progress toward replicating the sword Gilgamesh gave me.

  The bde is simple on paper: a tough yet not brittle, short sword with a gold colour and two edges. It seems simple enough, right?

  Unfortunately, that couldn't be farther from the truth. I was pnning on mixing metals to get an alternative material, but I couldn't find a suitable alloy.

  The strength and weight were easy, but I started encountering problems when I tried to reduce the brittleness. It was quite durable, though I knew that the first Hero would have higher standards, so back to the drawing board I went.

  That wasn't even accounting for the gold coloration. Painting it on is obviously a no-go. A small saving grace was that someone in the Muramasa family made a special mixture that would make it infinitely more shiny when added to the metallic blend.

  If I keep making weapons for Gilgamesh, I must learn to make them myself.

  I should start experimenting with ceramic; I have had some luck with it.

  My thought process was interrupted by the opening of the trapdoor above me. I only showed the Muramasa forge to Shinji; knowing my luck, it's someone else entirely.

  “So this is where you are making the pathetic attempt at replicating one of my treasures,” the familiar voice of my client enters my workshop.

  I look to my right and see Gilgamesh with his standard smug grin.

  "It is the forge of the Muramasas', or rather, at least my father's."

  "At least your father?" The king repeated it with interest.

  "The memories of this body until a point are fuzzy. The records from the family archive will clear things up, but I haven't looked through them." I answered clearly, moving around to look at ceramics.

  Silence sits uncomfortably in the room. It now falls on me to continue the conversation, it seems.

  "Might I ask why you decided to grace me with your presence, Your Majesty?" I asked sincerely.

  “Is it not obvious? I wanted to see your progress on my commission.” He’s lying. I don't know what he's pying at, but I know it's bad.

  I walk to my most recent sword. It meets all the criteria, but it could be better.

  I gave the weapon to Gilgamesh, and I let him inspect it. Being of the Archer css and having eyes that could see the future, I doubt he would be a poor upraised.

  “Your attack speed.” I grab the true bde and enter a stance. Instead of my standard one, the bde hangs downward.

  Three attacks in four seconds, right? How about four for four?

  In quick succession, the bde rips through the air four times.

  Once I am finished, I look toward Gilgamesh. He is unimpressed by my strikes.

  "I don't need to improve much on my attack speed so I'll spend the rest of my time working on a better-"

  "Pathetic," Gilgamesh interrupted. "I waited all this time, expecting something matching all that bravado, only to be disappointed with this. While I shall admit that you have completed the task of properly attacking with this weapon, it is sloppy and unrefined.”

  He then picked up my copy of the sword. “And this mockery,” he scoffs, “while holding the qualities of my treasure, barely comes close to making any comparisons.”

  Holding my work in both hands, he shatters it. I knew he was strong, but seeing it in action shows the difference between us.

  “Kneel,” Gilgamesh commanded. I did.

  “I still have time; I promise I can-”

  “Silence.”

  “You have wasted enough of my time. Now be silent and accept your fate, scum.” The king now raised the bde high, ready for the final blow.

  ‘Accept my fate? I decide how my life will go. Then, now and forevermore!’

  “Trace On!” With a fsh of blue light, I Project the same sword. A loud cng rings out, followed by a crack.

  Gilgamesh is surprised by what I just did and is still pushing down the bde. It's his one arm against my two that are barely Reinforced.

  “You should be careful Your Majesty, if you keep this up, your treasure might break.” I made sure to counter with the ft of the bde. “Do you really want to kill me? I am your best chance at good entertainment until the fifth Grail War. Don't think that you are doing anyone a favour by killing me. The reason why I still live is because people wanted me, and those who didn't were culled.”

  …

  “HahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Gilgamesh erupted with ughter. “It seems that you are more interesting than I first thought. Very well, you have been spared for now.”

  The king heads to the dder. But then he turns back to me.

  "If I am to return here, you better have seating. And of good quality." With that, he disappeared from the forge without a trace.

  A moment passes before my body flops to the ground; all the stored tension is gone. I should refrain from threatening demigods for a while.