บท 10: Alaya and the Hot Springs

Alaya distended her body gently, enjoying the warmth of the hot springs' water and the silence surrounding her. She sighed in complete relaxation. After a long day, she could finally rest. Her clothes were somewhere around there, folded properly. She couldn't stand them. They were uncomfortable and even a bit constricting. She barely had room to breathe.

"It's all Gaia's fault as usual! She picked my outfit and my avatar. She even had me organise everything, even though she was the one who had the idea! Damn old hag... well at least now I can have some me time... and it looks like our little test subjects just woke up too, hehe... teach me a lesson, huh, King of Heroes? Your anger is really amusing, and how you act towards others is kind of adorable... or perhaps pathetic is a better word. Regardless, I hope you and the others will do something entertaining soon, while I'm here al-"

"What you watching, Alaya?"

"What the hell are you doing here, Gaia?! And why did you startle me?!"

"Don't be such a sissy. Can't I also relax a bit in these hot springs that I created?"

"You know, dear Gaia, this is kind of a private time... for me... and just for me..."

"What? Are you embarrassed that you're naked? Even though every time you see me you always comment on how exposed I am, you peeper?"

"N-No, it's not that! I just would like some time for myself."

"What are you looking at on that tablet? Let me see!"

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

"Aw, you're watching Gilgamesh and friends this early in the morning... are you in love?"

"Don't be ridiculous. If you could choose between watching the World Cup final or a random friendly match, which one would you pick?"

"Haha, truly a marvelous and smart thought. You really are a great little sister and helper!"

"Helper... little sister... jackass... you always feel the need to one-up me and feel superior to me, giving me orders, telling me what to do, invading my privacy... you even gave yourself an E cup after making me choose a D cup, you old hag... you could have at least picked a smaller size, it's not like I care, I wouldn't have minded being a man, but no, stupid old Gaia always has to feel like the big sis, the hottest shit ever made, the best of the best, always better than Alaya... fucking jerk..."

"Alaya?"

"Huh?"

"Were you spacing out? Were you ignoring me?"

"No, no, I'm just a little tired, that's all..."

"Don't worry, everything is better with Mother Nature. After all, happiness comes from following my great holy plan. Just like that old chap William Wordsworth said... ah, what a guy... always had such kind words for me... do you know where he is? I wouldn't mind visiting him and getting praised a bit more..."

"I'll look into it..."

"Say, Alaya, I'm really grateful for what you have done..."

"Sure."

"And you were a very good organiser..."

"Of course."

"And the execution of my idea was pretty decent..."

"I feel like you're about to complain."

"No, no, I just have an itty bitty little suggestion to make..."

"*sighs* Fire away, Gaia."

"This is so boring! All they've been doing is killing some NPC standard monster with no problem."

"We are just at the start, their journey's difficulty will keep on increasing from now on."

"But what's the point anyway? I don't care if seeing Heroic Spirits tear down no-name beasts turns you on or whatever, but it doesn't interest me in the slightest. Oh, I have a great idea! How about we bring the Beasts here too? That would be so fun to watch, wouldn't it?"

"Firstly, we can't directly control the Beasts, so they might do something we don't want them to do. Secondly, they might cause repercussions in the real world. Serious repercussions, not some silly side effect like the death of a few million or so. And lastly, Beasts are all born with a great love for humanity. That's why, in the end, they can never win against mankind. You can't harm what you hold dear in your heart. And there's nothing more boring than already knowing the ending to a story."

"Ok, fine, fine! Skip the boring details! Then I guess we need people who can truly harbour hate for humanity and desire to destroy it... people who can feel those kinds of emotions... actual people, humans... humanity's greatest calamity, themselves! In other words-"

"Grand Servants."

"Precisely! Just call them and order them to fight who we want them to fight."

"Yeah, that would be interesting... there's just one problem."

"What's the problem?"

"They all declined and resigned."

"What?!"

"They didn't want to participate in such errands."

"I wonder why! I can't think of a single reason!"

"Well, in any case, we'll have to pick new ones. But what I was getting at was that you shouldn't just think of this as Servants vs Random animals."

"Huh?"

"As you said before, the greatest enemy to humans are other humans. Right now, all in one place, live the greatest figures of human history. Do you really think there will be no conflict? Do you really think that all interactions will be friendly? Do you really not expect... any fight between Servants?"

"You seem pretty sure that they will fight."

"Trust me, they'll be at each other's throats. Because there's one thing that humans excel at the most: taking out competition."