"Hm??" Robert suddenly felt the connection between him and Saber glitch out.
"What's going on?" Lancer swung his spear, slicing a monster in half, then turned to look.
"For some reason… I can't feel my connection with Saber anymore!"
"Wow… so she failed already? Well, at least she hasn't been killed yet," Lancer muttered thoughtfully, then continued swinging his weapon at the monsters.
Even though this was a Holy Grail War where Servants were supposed to kill each other, the problem was that they now had a common enemy and needed to cooperate.
So, to put it simply, the situation wasn't looking too good.
"As expected, just three Servants aren't enough to do anything meaningful. Do we really have to invite that Berserker guy to join?" he sighed.
"Lancer, another Servant is heading this way," Archer said from the rooftop, watching someone approach.
"Hoh? Can you guess their class?"
"The class of that person is…" Archer observed the figure carefully.
The man was chewing on a red flower, with all kinds of weapons hanging from his waist — blades, chains, knives, and more.
He wore a red cloth on his head and clothing that exposed quite a lot of muscle, wearing a bells on his pants.
…And he was carrying a wooden boat on his shoulders, running at terrifying speed.
"…Probably Assassin?"
"What do you mean 'probably'?"
"Who is that?" Angra asked in confusion, pointing at the Servant he swore he had never seen before.
"That's a Servant from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I noticed there aren't many Servants from the Three Kingdoms on the Chinese side, so I brought him in," Vincent said, flipping open his history book.
"So who is he that you had to pick him?" Jalter asked.
"Gan Ning, a politician who also the Military general of the Wu Kingdom, he used to be a pirate."
…A politician who used to be a pirate? What the hell?
"Anyway, from what I know, as long as the person is famous enough, they'll be recorded on the Throne of Heroes, right? But I didn't see him in the encyclopedia of Servants from my grandpa, so I just threw him straight into this battle to observe him as well."
"And… he's a Rider?"
"Yea, Rider 3-star, Chaotic Neutral alignment."
Oh… Chaotic Neutral…
"Wait, why is he Chaotic Neutral?"
"Just watch and you'll understand," Vincent said, pointing at Gan Ning, who had just stopped.
The man looked around, then threw the wooden boat onto the ground.
"?" Archer, Angra, and Jalter looked confused.
Then he jumped onto the top of the boat, took a deep breath, and shouted:
"I'M GOING TO BECOME THE PIRATE KING!!!"
…Yeah, now I get why he's Chaotic Neutral.
Wait, wasn't this guy supposed to be a politician? Are you kidding me?
"Oh right, this guy is also the type who holds grudges for a long time."
"Huh? What kind of grudge?"
"Well… he once blindfolded himself and shot an arrow at a kid tied to the ship's mast because… the boy accidentally ruined the stove on his boat."
He's a politician…
"Hm hm!" Rider smiled, observing the monsters around him.
"These guys will make great crew members! Get over here!" Rider pulled out a chain and threw it toward the monsters.
Immediately, the monsters were wrapped up in chains and dragged toward Rider's wooden boat.
While the monsters were still confused, Rider walked over, inspected them carefully, and gave a thumbs-up.
"Good! Do any of you want to join the Orange Pirate Crew?"
For some reason, he was really fond of the color orange.
"Roahhh!!" One monster growled, clearly refusing.
"You don't accept? Fine then!"
Rider then dragged the monster into his private room and slammed the door shut.
Soon after, everyone heard the monster's painful groans, followed by the continuous sound of whipping.
"Alright! Who's next to disagree?" Rider stepped out, looking at the rest of them.
The group secretly peeked through the door and saw the dragged monster now tied up in full BDSM style, with a bunch of wooden sticks shoved straight into its ass.
"…"
The sound of clothing being put on rang out, and the monster put on an orange cloth over its head.
"Perfect! The Orange Pirate Crew is setting sail to find the One Piece!!" Rider stood at the top of the boat, raising a blade that was mainly orange and red forward.
"Raghhh!!!" The whole group of monsters roared along with Rider.
This guy is a politician…
"I just witnessed the birth of something I shouldn't have seen…" Archer was at a loss for words as she watched the Servant.
"Huh? Hey, young lady over there!" Rider turned to look at Archer.
Archer flinched, almost firing an arrow immediately.
"That big meat pillar over there is our common enemy, right?"
"…"
"Ok! Crew members! Hurry up and get over there, we're stealing this achievement!!"
I haven't even said anything yet?
Rider stood there, blade raised with a confident smile, while the group of monsters carried the wooden boat toward the giant pillar of flesh.
"…I guess we have a new ally?" Archer said, extremely confused.
"…But how is he going to get up there? That pillar is insanely tall," Lancer said.
Rider and his crew stopped and looked up at the pillar.
"Ragh ragh!" One monster went over to report.
"No problem! As long as you follow me, I won't treat you nicely!"
Did I mishear that?
"Everyone get on the boat! I'll make you all fly!"
As soon as they boarded, the ground suddenly felt soft and liquid-like.
Until the entire surrounding ground completely turned into water.
Robert blinked, as if what he was seeing was beyond ridiculous.
"Grand Line, full speed ahead!!!"
And another absurd thing happened — the wooden boat shot upward along the pillar, as if physics no longer applied to them.
"…We should probably cooperate with him. After all, the common enemy is still up there," Archer said bluntly.
"Sounds reasonable," Lancer agreed.
Both of them then dashed forward and jumped onto Rider's boat.
"Hm? Oh, it's you guys! If this were a normal Holy Grail War, I would have demanded to chop all of you up for boarding my ship without permission. But I'm feeling pretty chill today, so… Wanna join my pirate crew?" Rider walked over with a cheerful face and extended his hand for a handshake.
"Umm… No, I just want to cooperate to defeat the common enemy," Archer replied.
"Oh! That sounds exactly like the beginning of the Three Kingdoms! Are you two from Wei or Shu?"
"I don't know anything about those two kingdoms," Lancer answered.
"Oh!!! And you? You look like a man with great ambition and a true hero just like me!"
"Huh?" Both Lancer and Archer jumped and turned around.
Robert — the most ordinary human imaginable — had climbed up by clinging to Lancer's leg.
"…Didn't I say that in a Servant battle, you should let the Servants handle it?" Archer said, not knowing what else to say.
"…Saber is still up there. I know you three are very strong… but I'm still worried about my Saber!"
You just summoned her and you're already this attached?
"True hero! You're a real man! If you don't join my pirate crew, it would be such a waste!" Rider walked over and threw an arm around Robert's shoulder, making the guy flustered.
"Umm… thanks?"
"No problem, no problem! Even though I don't know who your Saber is, from the way you talk about her, she's probably a girl. And the fact that you refuse to abandon her even though she's stronger than you — that's the mark of a true man of honor!"
Then he pointed upward, eyes sparkling.
"The romance of us men… is to court women with all our hearts… Isn't that right, my boy?"
…What is wrong with this guy?
*****
Servant: Gan Ning
Class: Rider 3*
Attribute: Man
Alignment: Chaotic-Neutral
Passive Skill
Riding: A
Mad enchantment: D+
Stats
Strength: C+
Endurance: B
Agility: A
Mana: C
Luck: A
NP: B+