Chapter 260
"That Treasury of Babylon... it's that one, isn't it?" Ishtar asked, trying hard to maintain her composure. "The one Gilgamesh built facing toward the future?"
"The one where as long as it can be completed, the treasure is inexhaustible, and he even said it would be equivalent to the total assets of humanity at that time..."
Faced with her questions, the few people below just looked at her with smiles.
"This talk is too suspicious; it's practically a fairy tale!" Ishtar still couldn't believe it. "Would that Gilgamesh be so kind?"
"Then how about twenty-five percent?" Fujimaru Ritsuka extended her hand, continuing to up the ante.
"Wait, you can keep raising the price like this?" Ishtar was stunned. "No, no, I am the goddess Ishtar. For payment conditions like this..."
She kept emphasizing in her heart that she had to be calm, she had to be elegant, and she couldn't let treasure turn her head.
"What a pity. Mash, let's pull the cart back," Fujimaru Ritsuka shook her head upon hearing this, sighing as she spoke.
"Yeah," Mash also said regretfully. "Then I'll take these back first."
"Stop, please don't do such a thing! I will die of heartbreak..." Ishtar watched Mash walk toward the cart, her entire being filled with immense heartache.
"Then..." Fujimaru Ritsuka turned back to look at her.
"You win, Fujimaru Ritsuka," Ishtar finally resigned herself to fate. "From now on, I am your companion."
"Goddess Ishtar," Fujimaru Ritsuka breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. "Then you're willing to fight for Uruk, right?"
"Just call me Ishtar," the latter came down from the sky, floating in front of Fujimaru Ritsuka while sitting on Maanna. "I have a feeling I'll be getting along with you all for a long time."
"That's really wonderful," Fujimaru Ritsuka finally set her mind at ease.
"Well then," Ishtar extended her foot toward Fujimaru Ritsuka. "First, kneel before me and kiss the instep of my foot."
With a face that took everything for granted, she said, "I am a Servant after all. We have to form a contract properly."
"Wait, wait, wait! That's not right!" Before Fujimaru Ritsuka could even react, Mash jumped out, blocking the space between the two of them. "N-No... you can't, rejected!"
"How can you do such a thing! There's no such method for forming a contract in the guide!"
Watching the farce before her, Ana sighed. Although it was a good thing they hadn't fought, still...
Is this Ishtar person... really reliable?
Of course, she wasn't worried about whether she would defect, but rather... how to put it...
"By the way, is my attendant in Uruk?" Ishtar naturally wouldn't force Fujimaru Ritsuka into the contract; she was just teasing her, wanting to reclaim a bit of face.
"She didn't even come home last night," she said resentfully. "It's been like this constantly ever since she met you guys!"
No, what's with this tone of a neglected wife from the inner chambers? Fujimaru Ritsuka's pupils quaked. If Ishtar's feelings for Big Sister Kiana were this deep... then... can we really learn Big Sister Kiana's true purpose from her mouth?
Fujimaru Ritsuka felt it was highly unlikely.
"Yo, what are you guys up to..." Speak of the devil. Everyone looked toward the sound and saw Kiana slowly descending from mid-air, arriving right in the midst of them, asking with a smile, "Why are there still so many treasures here?"
"Did you come to offer tribute to Ishtar?"
"Ah... this..." Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash turned their heads away guiltily.
Words like 'we came to dig at your wall' were things she could never bring herself to say.
"Hmm? Why do you look like you've done something to wrong me?" Xia Yu smiled as she arrived in front of Ritsuka, reaching out to tilt her face up. The two were face-to-face, skin-to-skin, their eyes locked.
"Come, look into my eyes and tell me, did you do something to wrong your Big Sister Kiana?"
"This... that..." Fujimaru Ritsuka forced a smile. Kiana's peerless beauty was right in front of her, and they were so close. Fujimaru Ritsuka, who already liked being physically close to girls, was now completely dizzy.
"Um, Senpai, she..." Mash watched, anxious in her heart. The two were so close; she was so afraid that one of them would just lean in and kiss the other!
"Ha, actually, there's nothing that can't be said," just then, Merlin, who had been watching the show, finally spoke up. "It's just that we hope to use the treasures in the Treasury of Babylon to hire the goddess Ishtar to defend Uruk with us."
"Oh, so that's how it is," Xia Yu nodded in realization upon hearing this, and then looked at Ishtar. "The price to invite a goddess surely isn't cheap, right?"
"Twenty-five percent, a full twenty-five percent of the ore-type treasures!" Ishtar said with stars in her eyes. "That's the Treasury of Babylon, built by Gilgamesh facing toward the future. In other words, it represents twenty-five percent of all humanity's Gems!"
"Is that so..." Hearing this, Xia Yu pondered for a moment, feeling that something wasn't quite right.
This was indeed a plot point from the original story, but this twenty-five percent...
"Um, Ishtar," she let go of Fujimaru Ritsuka and stepped forward to grab Ishtar's hand. "Come, I have something to say to you. Shall we find a quiet corner to have a good chat?"
"Hmm? Don't tell me you want a piece of the pie too?" Hearing this, Ishtar subconsciously protected the gems in her embrace, but she looked at her designated attendant in front of her, then grit her teeth.
"Fine, at most I'll give you half... no, ten percent! A full ten percent!"
She extended her foot toward Xia Yu. "As long as you agree to become my attendant, this ten percent of the treasures is yours!"
"Then why are you sticking out your foot?" Xia Yu was mystified.
"Naturally, it's for you to kiss the instep of my foot to swear your allegiance to me," Ishtar said as if it were a matter of course.
This... Xia Yu fell silent upon hearing this.
To be honest, if it were her own body, facing the Ishtar in front of her, if she didn't fracture that foot it would mean she hadn't eaten. After all, she was a launch player for both Arknights and FGO!
But using Kiana's appearance... it was really hard to make a move. Although that lecherous Tuna also liked girls, she probably only wanted to kiss Mei's foot.
Forget it, forget it.
She grabbed Ishtar's foot with one hand and dragged the floating goddess toward the interior of the Temple.
"Wait, what are you doing!" Ishtar immediately wanted to break free, but after Xia Yu turned around and gave her a stern look, she obediently shrunk her neck and stopped talking.
It wasn't until they entered the Temple that she let go of Ishtar's foot.
It had to be said, a goddess's little foot really was different, so tender and... cough, cough.
"Are you angry?" Ishtar asked cautiously. "Then I'm sorry, I just thought..."
"I'm not angry at you," Xia Yu rolled her eyes at her, then spoke to the surrounding air, "Merlin, if you dare use your Clairvoyance to peep, I'll drag your true body out from Avalon and use it to fill the Persian Gulf!"
Outside the Temple, Merlin shrunk his neck upon hearing this, silently withdrawing his Clairvoyance.
Don't dare look, don't dare look.
Only after finishing her threat did Xia Yu look at the cautious Ishtar beside her, reaching out to tap her forehead.
"Can you grow a brain," she said, exasperated by her lack of sense. "You believe whatever anyone says!"
"Huh?" Ishtar froze upon hearing this. "Are you saying... they lied to me?"
"How dare they deceive a goddess!" She immediately exploded. "Those naturally evil Chaldean brats, I'm going to..."
"Going where?" Xia Yu pressed her hand down on her shoulder, amused. "They're just following orders; they don't even know the inside story themselves."
"I'm saying, you've been tricked by Gilgamesh!"
"Hah? I knew that Gilgamesh was up to no good!" Ishtar gnashed her teeth and said, "I'm going to..."
"No, aren't you even going to doubt it a little?" Xia Yu was also somewhat speechless. "I just told you to grow a brain and not believe whatever anyone says. Did you not listen to a single word?"
"But you wouldn't lie to me," Ishtar looked at the Xia Yu in front of her.
Hearing this, Xia Yu rolled her eyes at her. "Oh, then who was it that called me a liar after finding out my strength before?"
"Then tell me, how did Gilgamesh trick me?" Ishtar began to change the subject.
"He promised you twenty-five percent of the gems in the treasury, right?" Xia Yu asked.
Ishtar nodded. "That's right, the Treasury of Babylon built facing toward the future!"
She had been coveting that treasury for a long time, but the Bull of Heaven wasn't by her side, so she lacked the confidence to take it by force.
"You said it yourself, that's the future," Xia Yu sighed, shaking her head as she said, "In the current Treasury of Babylon, there are only the treasures they accumulated themselves!"
"For it to truly become a treasury containing all the treasures of all humanity, Gilgamesh has to become a Heroic Spirit, and the Treasury of Babylon must turn into a legend to become his Noble Phantasm, written into the Throne of Heroes for it to be established, alright?"
Xia Yu looked speechlessly at the Ishtar who was completely blinded by treasure in front of her. "Then let me ask you, is the current Gilgamesh still alive?"
Ishtar also realized something was wrong. "He's still alive..."
"So how can a living Gilgamesh produce a treasury that can only be possessed after death, and give the treasures inside to you?"
"And when he becomes a Heroic Spirit after death... First, if you want these gems, you have to be tightly bound to his war chariot. After all, once Uruk is destroyed, Human History is finished. If Human History is gone, how can the Throne of Heroes even exist?"
"And even if you preserve Uruk, once Gilgamesh dies and becomes a Heroic Spirit, how are you going to demand it from him?"
Xia Yu tapped Ishtar's head, exasperated by her lack of sense. "Don't tell me you can drop by each other's places in the Throne of Heroes?"
"Of course that's impossible..." Ishtar said in a small voice.
Seeing this, Xia Yu continued, "And even if you are so lucky as to manifest in the Living World as Heroic Spirits at the same time, are you sure you'll still remember this transaction?"
She smiled very cruelly. "Don't forget, you are a Heroic Spirit right now. Not a single bit of your experiences here can be taken back to the Throne of Heroes! Setting aside whether the next manifested Ishtar will still be the you in front of me, just the fact that you won't even remember this transaction—how will you go and demand it from him then?"
Hearing this, Ishtar's fists clenched.
"So, Gilgamesh just gave me a blank check, right?" She balled up her fists. 'Very well, Gilgamesh, you have successfully infuriated me!'
Looking at her furious appearance, Xia Yu smiled in satisfaction.
When she watched the plot originally, she felt something was off. It seemed like Gilgamesh couldn't fulfill this twenty-five percent at all, right?
True, during the great battle in the Underworld, Gilgamesh successfully returned to Uruk as a Heroic Spirit to fight, but what time was that? They were already fighting the final boss.
By the time Tiamat was defeated, everyone went back to their respective homes to find their own mothers. Even if Gilgamesh truly possessed great credibility and gave this twenty-five percent to Ishtar, could she take it away?
Ishtar didn't have a relevant Noble Phantasm, and even if she took it back to the Throne of Heroes, she couldn't use it...
So Xia Yu had always felt that Gilgamesh was just pulling a fast one, playing Ishtar for a fool.
Facts proved that he was indeed playing Ishtar for a fool. In Ishtar's later Interlude, she went to Gilgamesh to ask for the treasures, but the latter brought out the contract from back then, which had a line of small text at the very bottom that couldn't be seen unless held up to the sun.
'This contract becomes invalid if not redeemed within half a month after Gilgamesh's death!'
Xia Yu narrowed her eyes.
'This Ishtar... I'm definitely snatching her!'
"Don't be in a hurry first," Xia Yu smiled as she pulled back Ishtar, who was impatient to go settle scores with Gilgamesh. "What he can't give you, I can give to you."
"Eh? What do you mean?" The latter turned her head in confusion, only to see a massive Golden Ripple rise up behind Xia Yu.
Then, countless gems of all varieties gushed out from within, directly piling the entire Temple completely full.
"What... does this mean..." All the rage in Ishtar's entire body was instantly washed away cleanly by this mountain-like pile of treasures.
"Isn't it just the Treasury of Babylon," Xia Yu said with a smile. "A wanderer like me doesn't have much of other things, but I've been to many places."
"Coincidentally, I've been to a city that fought a Holy Grail War. There, I met the most rebellious Gilgamesh, and then we started fighting after a single disagreement."
Xia Yu's smile grew increasingly unbridled. "Even more coincidentally, I also happen to have an ability to strip others of their Noble Phantasms. Seeing how his whole body was glittering and unpleasant to the eye, I snatched eighty percent of his treasury away."
She wrapped her arm around Ishtar's waist from behind, leaning close to her ear. "See, how stingy he is. Only twenty-five percent, and it's still unknown whether it can be redeemed. Even the deposit was only such a pitifully small cart."
"As for me, a full thirty percent of the gems are already piled up in your Temple right now. As long as you agree to stand on my side, then after everything is over, how about I add another thirty percent?"
"I promise you, no matter what you say I will promise you," Ishtar's eyes had already turned into the shape of gems. "Mine, it's all mine, completely mine!"
She wished she could just rush directly onto the mountain of gems to stretch her body to her heart's content, taking a thorough gem bath.
"Then my request is for you to agree to their request right now," Xia Yu whispered in her ear. "Go, go become their companion, fight alongside them, protect Uruk, and fulfill your mission as the city's guardian deity. Then, when they stand across from me, you only need to stand on my side."
"Rest assured, my goal does not conflict with Uruk. I won't ask you to destroy humanity, and I won't ask you to make a move against Uruk. See, aren't I considerate?"
"Mm, you are the most considerate attendant," Ishtar had already been completely driven out of her mind by this Temple full of gems.
Very good. Hearing this, Xia Yu nodded in satisfaction.
'Ritsuka, are you ready? Don't worry, I will definitely give you a chance—a chance to chant that famous scene of "I have been betrayed three times"!'
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