To become a king and a magician

(I won't let you get in my way, Ruler.)

63. Forced sex!

Inside a hotel in Tulipas.

After setting up several surveillance spells at the location of the Greater Grail, Natsukawa Torama and Jeanne d'Arc returned to Tulipas and settled into a random hotel.

While it's true that the best option now that they've temporarily seized the Greater Grail is to hold onto it as their base, the problem is that there's nowhere to sleep around. The adults like Natsukawa Tora don't mind, but Gray can't. Even though Jeanne d'Arc said it was okay, Natsukawa Tora didn't want Gray to get cold.

So after symbolically setting up a few magic spells, the group arrived at Tulipas—anyway, our phantom thief Amakusa Shiro would also be coming in his Sky Garden, so setting up more defensive magic spells would be useless, it would be better to meet them head-on and just smash them into bankruptcy with a Moonfall spell.

(Ever since I gained Arcueid's power, it seems I've become increasingly reliant on Moonfall.)

Lying on the bed, Natsukawa Tora thought to himself, then raised his hand to look at the crimson moon mark on the back of his hand. Arcueid didn't say anything about his actions, and even seemed somewhat pleased. Perhaps for her, as long as it helped her, that was enough.

"Master."

Mordred's voice came from the sofa—because Mordred had gained a physical body, Natsukawa Tora, who used to sleep alone, now had to squeeze in with her. Next door were Gray and Karen, as well as Angelica, who didn't need to sleep.

"what?"

What do you plan to do after the Holy Grail War ends?

"Huh? Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"I'm just a little curious. Now that I have a body, I'll be living with you from now on, so you should at least know what will happen to me, right?"

Thinking about the days he'd spent being dumped here, Natsukawa Tora chuckled: "Well, it won't be anything serious. At most, I'll have you take Grey to school or pick her up from school. Do whatever you want, just don't cause me any trouble."

"What? I thought I was going to work."

“You can have it if you want, but your way of doing things will probably bring you a lot of trouble—by the way, how old are you this year?” Natsukawa Tiger suddenly asked.

Mordred is an artificial human who has only spent a few short years growing from a child to an adult. Although she looks like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl now, she should actually be much younger.

After seemingly pondering for a while with his chin in his hand, Mordred shrugged and said, "I forgot. I've been dead for so long, I've long forgotten my age. If I had to say, I'd say twenty!"

(Do you mean a twenty-year-old adult?)

With her personality, which is no different from that of a brat, you could believe Natsukawa Tora is only ten years old.

"Well, it's getting late, go to sleep, Mo. You're no longer a Servant. Now that you have a body, you need to rest well and pay attention to your physical condition, understand? Remember to cover yourself well with the blanket when you sleep, don't catch a cold, and be careful with your sleeping posture—"

"Yes, yes, I know, I know! Honestly, even the Empress Dowager isn't as nagging as you."

(No, what I just said wasn't me...)

After poking around in what seemed to be the area where Arthur's power was most active, Natsukawa Tora sighed helplessly, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

————————————————————————————————————————

Good evening, my dear King.

In the dreamlike floral landscape, with her legs propped up under the back of Natsukawa Torama's head, Meryl looked down at her king.

Xia Chuanhu reluctantly opened his eyes and looked at her: "I want to sleep."

"Yeah, they knew that's why they brought you here."

She deliberately didn't want Xia Chuanhu to sleep!

I want to hit you.

"Oh dear, are you really going to hit me?" Mary laughed. "It's alright, it's just a dream. Your body and mind will get plenty of rest, it won't tire you out too much. I'm very considerate, I definitely won't do anything bad to you. But..."

Leaning down, Meili gently pinched Xia Chuanhu's nose and pouted, "Even the best-tempered person would get angry at a scumbag like His Majesty who abandons his ex-lover after having a child."

"Mordred isn't my child, and besides, haven't you been the one refusing to bring me over lately?"

“That’s your fault, Your Majesty. Although I don’t object to you searching for Guinevere, it’s still not okay if the object is a doll.” Meryl looked a little conflicted. “Even I don’t want to lose to a doll.”

"Are you my mom, the one who's helping me find a wife?"

Getting up from Merry's lap, Natsukawa Tora pulled her into his arms: "So, what kind of 'Guinevere' do you want me to find?"

She naturally leaned against his chest, and then thought about it carefully.

"There are no specific requirements. I respect your choice."

“Then Angelica—”

“No way~” Meryl pointed her finger at Natsukawa Tora’s lips. “Alright, alright, let’s leave it at that about lovers. This is his territory, so at least here you should focus your attention on him.”

Didn't you bring it up first?

Xia Chuanhu discovered that there were quite a few people around him who would falsely accuse others.

But this is for the best.

Anyway, he couldn't get enough of Mary. In the end, he clearly realized that the only person he liked was her—although the degree of liking was the same as the degree of dislike.

"Is all the attention focused on you...?"

Leaning on Meryl's shoulder, Natsukawa Tiger inhaled the floral scent emanating from her.

"Haven't I always done this? You've been the one steering the conversation in a different direction all along, ever since that night."

That night, of course, refers to the night the two first met honestly.

Although the two of them acted no differently afterward, in reality, both of them must have been affected to some extent. Even for Merry, it was probably the first time in her thousand years of life that she had experienced such a thing.

"Merry, are you running away from me?"

“No, that’s not it.” Meryl turned her head slightly. “I just don’t want to get into trouble. When I was the court magician, I was already suspected by Lord Gawain and Lord Lancelot many times. And Her Highness the Princess, it would be troublesome to deal with it afterward.”

"So, you're planning to do the same now?"

"They're very clear about their own position. This kind of rendezvous in dreams is already the maximum they can go—of course, if Your Majesty wants to play husband and wife with me, that's fine too, but don't expect them to help you out if things get out of hand in the harem."

It's more accurate to say that she'll definitely stir things up when the time comes.

She loved watching Arthur get caught up in an emotional mess the most, second only to watching him head towards despair.

Natsukawa Tora knew exactly what Meryl was thinking. Her Arthur side was also conveying a sense of complaint and resentment to him. Even though she was his benefactor who raised him, it was impossible for Arthur not to have any issues with Meryl—Natsukawa Tora was experiencing what he had experienced before!

It's almost resonating with people psychologically now!

“Merry.”

Taking a deep breath, Xia Chuanhu decided not to give her a chance to pull him away. With a cunning woman like this who knew how to maintain appropriate distance, trying to force a fight would only result in getting beaten up. The most effective method was—

"Five years from now, when I get back, I'll drag you straight to the church to get married. You're not allowed to run away."

"Huh?"

Mary was stunned.

64. Meryl: Meeting!

"—In conclusion, they are probably being pressured into marriage."

After Natsukawa Torama proposed to her, Merry simply threw him back at him.

To be honest, Xia Chuanhu's actions were somewhat unexpected. Although she had considered the possibility of this happening, statistically speaking, it was something that could happen.

After all, that's Natsukawa Tora, the Natsukawa Tora who could pretend to be indifferent even when she offered him fanservice, the Natsukawa Tora who hadn't done anything out of line in the years they'd lived together, the Natsukawa Tora who could show absolutely no interest with such a beautiful girl by his side.

Logically speaking, shouldn't a herbivorous man like him never take the initiative to attack? This is why Meryl dares to play with fire in front of him so often, because she is certain that Natsukawa Torama will most likely not retaliate.

But how come it suddenly turned into a carnivore?!

"So, what are we going to do, you two? She's getting married!"

Inside the dark room of consciousness within Natsukawa Torato's body.

Seeing Merry crying and complaining over there, Ayaka Sajou's face turned completely dark!

What more could you want than to be proposed to by a prince? Even if she's just a vixen in the prince's guise, she's still been proposed to by a prince! What more could you possibly want than to complain—no, to brag?

Sajō Aika had already figured it out: this scumbag in front of her seemed to be asking them for help, but in reality, he was just showing off!

If she weren't currently unable to use her powers and was being watched by the naive and innocent second administrator, True Ancestor, she would definitely have started fighting with Meryl right away!

She also wants to be proposed to by the prince!

Unlike Ayaka Sajou, who was furious and powerless, Arcueid remained as innocent and carefree as ever: "Then let's get married! I think Natsukawa is a really good person. You'd be so happy marrying him, right? I even saw him start learning to cook for someone else."

That was probably for Ryougi Shiki's sake. Merry remembered that if Natsukawa Tora didn't cook well, he would be chased and attacked by the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

"To be honest, I'm actually quite curious as to why Tiger would fall for her."

"Beautiful inside and out?" Arcueid chuckled.

Sajō Aika gave a disdainful sneer, while Merry awkwardly curled the ends of her hair.

Beautiful inside and out—that's true for the beginning, but let's not get into the latter part. Even Mary is aware of this.

"It's probably because we've known each other for a long time that we've developed feelings for each other."

After hesitating for a while, Ayaka Sajou reluctantly said, "Although that guy values ​​appearance, he doesn't fall in love with someone at first sight. He only develops feelings for someone after spending a long time together, and even then, he often doesn't know whether he likes the other person or not."

"Although you have a terrible personality and have never had good intentions towards him, only thinking about toying with him, he has gradually fallen in love with you over the years of living together—appearance probably accounts for about 60% of the reason."

"The second half of the sentence is redundant."

However, after Sajou Aika said that, Merry probably understood.

"So that means if I become an ugly old woman, Tiger won't marry me?"

"Theoretically speaking, yes."

"But Melly, why don't you want to marry Natsukawa?" Arcueid asked, somewhat puzzled. "Natsukawa is a very good person."

This is the second time Arcueid has said this.

Meryl chuckled softly: "Well, the resistance isn't actually that strong, but marrying him would mean breaking my long-standing way of life. I'm a kind of navigator created by humans, and I never intended to join them. It's enough for me to just watch humanity reach its end."

The most direct example is the legend of King Arthur. When Arthur went on his expedition to Rome, Merry had already left Camelot because she had already seen Arthur's end and the conclusion, so she no longer needed to stay by his side.

To put it simply, it's similar to watching an anime series, and Meryl isn't the type of person who likes to watch it twice; watching it once is enough.

"I'm an observer of the human world. Although I occasionally get involved, like I have now and before, it's just to keep the story from getting too boring. If I were to combine it with a tiger, that would be too much interference."

"Hmm... I don't understand!"