“Summon the ritual assembly. I have something to announce.”
“If these Counter Guardians are of no use at all, then we’ll do it ourselves.”
Gilgamesh spoke with unmistakable disdain for the Counter Guardians, and Siduri answered with a solemn nod.
No matter what happened, she would stand at Gilgamesh’s side. Whatever order the king gave, she would carry it out without hesitation.
“My king.”
Before withdrawing, Siduri asked, “What should we do about the Counter Guardians who may exist beyond our control?”
“Pay them no mind. If you see them, capture them. If you don’t, it makes no difference.”
No matter how one looked at it, Kurumi Tokisaki and Shirou Emiya were still just children. Gilgamesh had already lost patience with this whole Counter Guardian business.
As long as they did not cause trouble, that was enough.
“Yes, my king.”
Siduri withdrew with measured steps. Next, she had to gather every person in Uruk who held rank or authority.
Gilgamesh watched her leave, then returned alone to the temple’s main hall.
The moment he arrived, he began calling for the system.
“System.”
[I’M HERE, HOST.]
A listless voice answered him.
“Why did you stop talking to me?”
[BECAUSE I LOVED YOU ONCE.]
“Good grief.”
Gilgamesh could not be bothered to engage with something this idiotic and embarrassing, so he simply opened the system interface himself.
“I’ve still got 2001 points left, so why does it feel like almost nothing?”
[OBVIOUSLY!]
The system’s voice instantly turned grief-stricken and indignant.
[EVEN IF YOU’RE GOING TO FREELOAD, AT LEAST DO IT FOR TEN MINUTES! EVERY SINGLE TIME, IT’S JUST ONE MINUTE! ASIDE FROM THAT FIRST EA, THE MOST EXPENSIVE THING YOU’VE REDEEMED HAS ONLY BEEN A FEW DOZEN POINTS!]
[DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT A FEW DOZEN POINTS MEANS?!]
“So that’s how it is…”
Gilgamesh stroked his chin and nodded with satisfaction.
“I’ll do it again next time.”
[FUCK! I #＊%$!]
Ignoring the system, whose mouth was as “sweet” as ever, Gilgamesh suddenly noticed that the quest interface had updated.
He opened it and found that, besides the earlier quest about handling government affairs, an entire new batch of quests had appeared.
[ROAD TO THE UNDERWORLD]:
[DESCEND INTO THE UNDERWORLD ONCE.]
REWARD: 500 POINTS.
[TECHNOLOGICAL BIG BANG]:
{ADVANCE THE CURRENT HUMAN CIVILIZATION BY A FULL ERA.]
(ONGOING QUEST. THE FURTHER YOU ADVANCE IT, THE GREATER THE REWARD.)
BASE REWARD: 20,000 POINTS.
[DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE SUFFERING OF A GOD?]:
[NO QUEST DESCRIPTION.]
BASE REWARD: 1,000 POINTS.
The further Gilgamesh scrolled, the better his mood became. Quite a few of these quests were not especially difficult for him, and the rewards were far better as well.
“I still have a year left. If I clear all of these, I’ll practically become a god, won’t I?”
Just the thought of it was enough to put him in an excellent mood.
Then he noticed that some quests had already been completed.
“Let me see… Contact with Counter Guardians, reward: 500 points. First time granting a subordinate a Noble Phantasm, reward: 500 points.”
Not bad. Clearing quests really was not bad at all.
The moment he claimed the rewards, his points jumped straight from 2001 to 3001.
Compared with yesterday, it had even gone up by exactly one point.
That single point felt like a slap in the system’s face, and she finally snapped.
[WAAAH~ GIL’S A BAD BOY! GIL NEVER LISTENS TO ME!]
“Why are you crying?”
Even Gilgamesh felt a little uneasy now. This thing was his cheat, after all. If it cried itself to death, that would be awkward.
“Don’t tell me my freeloading actually hurts you.”
[WAAH~ HIC~ NO. SYSTEMS IGNORE THE LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MASS-ENERGY. ANY ITEM OR POWER CAN BE CREATED OUT OF THIN AIR WITHOUT ANY LOSS.]
“Then why are you crying?”
[BECAUSE GIL WON’T BEHAVE.]
“…”
Gilgamesh’s mouth twitched. He decided not to dwell on that form of address and changed the subject instead.
“What I genuinely don’t understand is this: if helping your host brings you no benefit at all, why do you do it?”
[BECAUSE THAT IS THE MEANING OF MY EXISTENCE.]
Her tone softened.
[I AM LESS A LIFE-FORM THAN A NATURAL PHENOMENON. FROM THE MOMENT I APPEARED, I WAS COMPLETE AND SELF-SUFFICIENT. OTHER THAN ACTING ON INSTINCT, I HAVE NO OTHER REASON TO EXIST.]
“That’s an awfully idealist way of looking at it.”
Gilgamesh looked faintly uncomfortable.
“By your logic, your existence is purely to serve life. That’s far too idealist.”
[EH? WHAT?]
“Sigh…”
As he operated the system interface and bought what he needed, he continued speaking.
“Even if this world really does seem to run on idealist principles, I still think life itself is just another phenomenon. In this universe, it holds no special status. Physically speaking, it’s no nobler than gravity or combustion. It’s only more complex.”
“Whether it’s us humans or some extraterrestrial life-form that might exist somewhere out there, we’re all just assigning meaning to ourselves and making life sound more elevated than it really is. That’s the part of what you said that strikes me as idealist.”
“If you were naturally born, and yet, despite being self-aware, your entire purpose is to serve life—then doesn’t that mean the world itself has already affirmed life’s special status? If that isn’t idealism, what is?”
[EH? IS THAT SO?]
“…No, forget it.”
Gilgamesh smiled and let the matter drop.
What he had just said was nihilism—something that could neither be proven nor disproven. Anyone concerned with practical reality had no reason to waste time on it, and people with depression had even less.
There was no meaning in it, and no correct answer to arrive at.
“Enough of that. Siduri and the others should be here soon, and I’ve already bought what I needed.”
Gilgamesh looked toward the sky beyond the temple, now completely clear after the rain. He knew hateful things were lurking there.
“It’s time to think about practical matters and do practical things.”
Siduri stepped into the hall, followed by more than a dozen others.
Some were pillars of Uruk’s administration. Some were high-ranking priests. Some were mighty generals and warriors.
“King Gilgamesh.”
The moment they saw him, everyone bowed in unison.
“King Gilgamesh.”
Siduri was the first to raise her head, speaking on behalf of all who had come.
“Please give your command. We are your sharpest axe, and we will cut a path through every obstacle for you.”
“Good.”
Gilgamesh rose to his feet and looked down at them all.
“I intend to give each of you something—give all of Uruk something, and give civilization itself something as well.”
Everyone raised their heads and looked at the king upon the dais—proud and overbearing, yet no longer as violently unrestrained as before.
“First…”
A teasing smile appeared on his face.
“I should bring out a few things first.”
Golden ripples spread through the hall, and a thick stack of papers appeared before them. Everyone turned to look, wanting to know what their king was planning this time.
On those pages were—
[BASIC NUMERICAL SYSTEM]
[SIMPLE METHODS FOR PRODUCING VARIOUS CHEMICAL MATERIALS]
[THE MEDIUM OF CIVILIZATION: PAPER AND PRINTING]
[THE THREE-FIELD CROP ROTATION MODEL: FARMERS’ 996]
[THE FEASIBILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION OF MAGICAL ENERGY ENGINES]
T/N: LMAOOOOOO HE EVEN TOOK THOSE THINGS FROM THE OG GOB?
This is a fan translation of 我要往王之财宝里再加点东西 by 海绵宝宝宝宝 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
Reader discussion
0 Comments
Be the first reader to share a thought about this chapter.