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[Chat]:
[Excited]: what kind of king's reunion is tonight?
[Suspicious]: Max, be honest — did you rig the probability tables? How is Black side supposed to fight against this Red side lineup?
[Corn_Fan]: Corn is so cute!
[Theory]: could Waver in a dress increase Rider-class summon rates? it would explain a lot.
[Counter]: he's basically a Queen at this point. and our Conqueror is famously not picky about who he rides with.
[Observation]: interesting that it's mostly guys who love Conqueror. the girls seem less enthusiastic.
[Explaining]: it's the energy. the boldness. the grand ambition. but the appearance — that round face, the full beard — he looks like someone's uncle from back home.
[Regional_Solidarity]: he's a staple. beloved. if you know, you know.
[Moving_On]: okay okay we've appreciated enough. someone take him away before this gets worse.
[Tactical_Take]: Red side is doing flashy king moves and Black side doesn't even know what game they're playing right now.
[Honest_Assessment]: that's genuinely true and I feel bad about how true it is.
The screen shifted to Northern Star's channel.
On a flat stretch of open plain under a sky full of stars, sitting cross-legged on the ground as if he had nowhere particular to be and no particular schedule — Rider. Alexander the Great. The Conqueror.
Northern Star sat across from him, answering questions.
Conqueror had a lot of questions about the modern world, and he asked them with the same energy he applied to everything: full commitment, genuine curiosity, no filter. Northern Star fielded each one without hesitation, with the practiced fluency of someone who had played the same relationship-building route so many times he could navigate it from memory.
Which he essentially had.
Unlike what the chat had theorized — that running Waver's female costume increased Rider's drop rate — Northern Star had actually won a ranked match using Conqueror before. He'd brought a Holy Relic specifically for this summon. And yes, he'd selected Waver's female outfit image rather than a custom face, because he understood the assignment and he was not leaving favorable RNG on the table.
His collaborator had made that call reluctantly and from a distance.
Northern Star's channel ran as a two-person operation: one handled post-production, editing, and content organization. The other — Northern Star himself, the on-stream voice — handled everything the audience actually saw. The FA Chapter invitation had originally been intended for the post-production half of the duo, but after running the calculation on what "building favorability with Conqueror" might eventually require in terms of viewer-facing content, the post-production half had graciously stepped aside.
So it was Northern Star on screen. Northern Star who the fans called Corn.
And as Max checked in on the channel, something in the energy shifted — Conqueror seemed to register the attention from somewhere, or simply arrived at a conclusion he'd been building toward. He got to his feet, patted the grass off his clothes, and drew his sword in a motion that was simultaneously casual and absolute.
"I'd gladly keep talking." He looked at Northern Star with the directness of someone who meant everything he said. "There's so much more I want to understand about this era. About this world."
A beat.
"But first things first. A king without territory is not a king — he's just a man with opinions." The sword settled in his grip. "So — the conquest begins."
He looked at the structure visible on the horizon.
"Can I take that castle, boy?"
Northern Star didn't hesitate.
"Please. I'm begging you."
[Chat]:
[EXPEDITION]: EXPEDITION
[Corn_Aboard]: Corn has secured her position as loyal retainer. she is in the carriage. she is safe.
[Conqueror_Nature]: realistically he should be doing diplomatic rounds first — visiting all the Servants, extending olive branches, only fighting after everyone declines
[Why_He_Isn't]: the strategist talked him into it
Left to his own inclinations, Conqueror would have approached this Holy Grail War the way he approached most things: broadly, generously, with an eye toward recruitment rather than elimination. His Noble Phantasm, King's Army, was built around exactly that instinct — gathering heroes under his banner rather than cutting them down. In an ideal scenario, he'd have taken the ox cart across the entire Romania map, observed every Servant, identified which ones might answer his call, and only begun fighting after the diplomatic phase was complete.
The strategist had a counterargument.
If you want to host a banquet and recruit heroes, you need wine. If you want wine, you need a venue. If you want a venue, you need to hold territory first. Capture a city, establish a base, then extend the invitations — the conversation lands differently when you're speaking as a king with a castle behind him rather than as a man standing in a field.
Conqueror had considered this.
He was, among other things, genuinely persuadable by good logic.
The olive branch could come later. The territory came first.
[Chat]:
[EXPEDITION_AGAIN]: EXPEDITION!!
[Map_Analysis]: okay so quick geography — the five capture points are positioned like compass directions plus center. Castle is east (Black faction main base). Trifas City is west (opposite end). Mine and Fields are north and south. Plains City is dead center.
[Implications]: center means attackable from all four sides simultaneously
[Also_Implications]: center means you can support all four sides simultaneously
[Conqueror_Target]: he's going for Plains City
[Why_Plains]: Black side can't commit heavy forces there — it's too exposed. it might even be abandoned from the start. Conqueror could walk in without a fight. and if he does have to fight, King's Army works on basically everyone except Gilgamesh.
[Strategic_Summary]: if Red takes Plains City, they have the center of the map, high mobility, support range across all points. that's half the victory condition right there.
[Ominous]: "half the victory condition" assumes they can hold it
[More_Ominous]: Max is laughing
[What]: why is Max laughing
Northern Star settled into the carriage beside Conqueror as Vimana — no, wrong faction — as the ox cart rolled forward across the plain. The journey to Plains City from their current position was not short. The map was five times standard scale, and the cart moved at a cart's pace, which was dignified rather than fast.
Conqueror used the travel time to ask more questions.
Northern Star answered them all.
[Chat]:
[Cozy]: this is the most pleasant road trip content in the FA Chapter so far
[Conqueror_Questions]: he's asking about smartphones. Northern Star is explaining the internet. Conqueror's expression is exactly what you'd expect.
[King_Processing]: "so all knowledge is accessible to anyone at any time" — he just went quiet for thirty seconds
[Northern_Star]: Northern Star looks proud of himself for breaking the Conqueror's brain with Wikipedia
[Peaceful_Moment]: while elsewhere on the map people are getting decapitated and dancing for ancient kings
Max switched the camera feed to Plains City.
He saw who was commanding it.
He started laughing before he could say anything.
Conqueror was about to have his Waterloo.
[Chat]:
[MAX_LAUGHING]: why is Max laughing. MAX. WHO IS IN PLAINS CITY.
[Waiting]: the camera hasn't loaded yet
[Anticipating]: whatever it is it's going to be extremely good or extremely bad for someone
[Conqueror_Fan]: I am suddenly nervous for my king
[Max_Still_Laughing]: he hasn't stopped
[End of Chapter 164]
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