To become a king and a magician

Scratching his head in exasperation, Xia Chuanhu came up to her and put his hand behind her, saying, "Stand back for a moment, I'll handle things here."

"Eh? You do it... no, this is Tokyo, I'll do it—"

"You should stop your legs from trembling first."

Only after Natsukawa Torato said that did Sajou Ayaka realize that her legs were trembling uncontrollably—she was afraid, terrified by the terrifying aura emanating from the black knight.

"Well......"

"Father!"

A furious roar abruptly interrupted Ayaka Sajou's thoughts, and a strong gust of wind suddenly charged forward along with it!

will die!

—Just as this thought entered Ayaka Sajou's mind, a fist slammed into her heart and eyes!

"Thump—!"

A heavy punch landed directly on the black knight's head! The force of the instantaneous punch sent him flying again! But this time, Natsukawa Tiger didn't let him fly away. Instead, he grabbed its ankle, crushed it, and slammed it into the ground!

"boom!"

The ground trembled slightly.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!"

Then, grabbing one of the black knight's feet, as if he hadn't had enough, Natsukawa Tiger smashed it back and forth eight times, shattering its armor completely!

The ground trembled several times in succession. The slight tremors made Ayaka Sajou forget her fear for a moment. The black knight she was so afraid of was being beaten so easily by Natsukawa Torato!

Am I dreaming?

I don't think so.

"Fine, get the hell out of here!"

After smashing his arm until it ached, Natsukawa Tora threw the Black Knight into the air and punched it in the head as it fell!

Like shattered glass, the black knight was instantly shattered into countless fragments by this punch!

Withdrawing his hand, shaking his slightly sore shoulders, and turning back to look at Ayaka Sajou, Natsukawa Torama smiled and said, "Alright, it's settled. Are you alright, Ms. Ayaka Sajou?"

"You...I..."

Having witnessed such a shocking scene, Ayaka Sajou's mind is still somewhat clouded. A monster of that magnitude was so easily defeated by one person, without even using magic, relying solely on physical ability...

"You...Mr. Xia Chuan, who exactly are you...?"

“Ah, people often ask me that, classic replay? To be honest, I’m getting used to it.” Natsukawa Tora chuckled. “Anyway, let’s find somewhere else to talk. We both probably have things we want to ask each other, right? And you probably need somewhere to calm down right now.”

"I...I understand."

102. Temporarily residing at Sajou's house

A few minutes later, in the living room of the Sato family's house.

Because magic is a secret that cannot be revealed to the general public, Ayaka Sajou chose to bring Torama Natsukawa back to her home to avoid him overhearing. Although Torama Natsukawa suggested that a private room in a restaurant would be fine, Ayaka Sajou refused.

Home is a better place for her to calm down, and with the Sajou family's barrier around, she would feel more at ease if she encountered that kind of enemy again.

She brewed a cup of black tea for herself and Natsukawa Torakasa, and sat down opposite him: "I'm sorry, we rarely have guests at home, so we only have black tea."

"It's ok."

Natsukawa Tora waved his hand, while scanning the Sajou family's house. Whether it was because he had lived alone for years or because the house hadn't been cleaned in a while, the whole place felt very desolate and eerily empty.

"Miss Sajou Ayaka, have you always lived alone?"

“Yes, my father and sister passed away eight years ago, and my mother passed away shortly after I was born. I have always lived alone... Actually, you are the first guest in this house in the past eight years.”

Apart from Ayaka Sajou, has no one else stepped into this house in the past eight years?

No wonder it's so deserted.

After taking a sip of black tea to calm herself down, Ayaka Sajo bowed to Torata Natsukawa and said, "First of all, please allow me to express my gratitude to you, Mr. Natsukawa. I appreciate your protection of me in the park just now."

"It was just a small favor. Although it was an unexpected situation for me, it wasn't something I couldn't handle."

"What...what exactly is that?" Ayaka Sajou couldn't help but ask. "I received a call from the church saying that there were paranormal phenomena in that area, so I went there, but that thing was more like a paranormal phenomenon..."

“That’s the shadow of a Servant,” Natsukawa Torato explained. “Miss Sajō Ayaka, you know what a Servant is, right? They’re like clones of Heroic Spirits who have left their mark on human history and mythology.”

Ayaka Sajou nodded: "I have heard some things about the subspecies Holy Grail Wars that have been happening frequently in recent years. My father seemed to have collected relics and wanted to participate, but he gave up in the end."

"Good to know. What we just encountered was the shadow of a Servant, or at least that's what it is. Monsters formed from the residual magic power of a Servant after leaving the mortal world, either naturally or artificially distorted, possess some of the Servant's abilities. Although their individual combat strength isn't strong, a top-tier mage could probably defeat two or three if they were prepared."

Even a top-tier magician can only defeat two or three?

Ayaka Sajo subconsciously recalled what had just happened—meaning that Natsukawa Torama's power far surpassed that of a first-rate magician? Come to think of it, he was rumored to be a magician capable of bringing down the moon; it's no exaggeration to say that he had already transcended the realm of magicians, right?

"Um... Mr. Natsukawa, why did you come back?" Ayaka Sajou asked another question that had been on her mind. "Weren't you going back to Fuyuki City?"

"This is what I wanted to tell you."

Natsukawa Torato said seriously, "It seems that Tokyo is currently being affected by a huge magical phenomenon. No matter what method I use to leave, I will eventually return to the station—you know, a Möbius strip? It's similar to that situation."

"You can't leave Tokyo, is that right?"

"That's right. There's also the issue of time. Although it's past midnight, the date hasn't changed."

"Huh?"

Ayaka Sajou quickly took out her phone to check—just as Natsukawa Torato had said, the date hadn't changed; it was still yesterday.

"Could...could it be that the phone is broken?"

"Are all the clocks in the city broken?" Natsukawa Torato asked with a smile. "Of course, we don't yet know whether this applies to the whole of Tokyo or just to me—as the only magician in Tokyo, do you have any clues?"

After frowning and pondering for a while, Ayaka Sajou finally shook her head: "It's been a long time since any magicians have come to Tokyo, at least on the surface. I also practice the Black Magic system, so I can't do this kind of thing."

"Is that so... In other words, there might be magicians operating in the shadows in Tokyo, right?"

The absence of open magicians doesn't mean there aren't some in secret. Add to that the paranormal phenomena that have evolved from urban legends, and it's clear this isn't something that would happen naturally and continuously in a short period; someone must be orchestrating it from behind the scenes.

"Then I'll go to the church and ask when it's light."

"Thank you for your trouble. I'll investigate in my own way, since it concerns when I can leave here." Xia Chuanhu said as he stood up. "Well then, it's getting late, you should get some rest. I won't disturb you any longer. By the way, I wonder if we can still find an empty hotel at this hour."

Even if you could find one, you'd probably have to look along Lovers' Street, as there aren't many hotels still open close to 1 a.m.

Watching Natsukawa Torama leave, Sajo Ayaka pursed her lips, then suddenly said, "Um... if you don't mind, I have many empty rooms in my house, you can stay there."

"Huh?"

This time, it was Natsukawa Torato's turn to be surprised.

Settle down?

"May I?"

“As you said, it’s hard to find a place to stay at this time of year, so I can’t just leave you sleeping on the streets. Besides, as a magician of the Sajō family, I have an obligation to manage visiting magicians, just like I did with you before.”

Hearing Ayaka Sajou's explanation, Natsukawa Tora blinked, then couldn't help but laugh twice: "Haha, you're really bold, Ayaka Sajou. How can you let a stranger you've only known for two days move into your house like this? Aren't you afraid I'm a bad person?"

"You don't look like a bad person."

It was just a gut feeling, but Ayaka Sajou felt that Natsukawa Torato wouldn't do anything to harm her. Strangely enough, even though it was only the second day since she met him, Ayaka Sajou instinctively felt that he was someone she could trust.

Natsukawa Torara was taken aback by Sajou Ayaka's words once again, then turned his head slightly away: "Alright, alright, I'll thank you for your trust and accept your kindness. I'll be troubling you during my stay in Tokyo... Which room should I stay in?"

“It’s my father’s, right? It’s right next to my room. I’ll take you there.” Ayaka Sajou got up and walked towards the second floor. As she reached the top of the stairs, she suddenly turned around. “Oh, right… I forgot to mention, nice to meet you, Mr. Natsukawa.”

"Just call me Natsukawa, Ms. Sajou Ayaka."

"Hmm... then please call me Sajou. It's a bit... embarrassing to keep calling me Sajou Ayaka-san."

"Okay, nice to meet you, Sajo."

103. Aozaki Aoko, launch!

In a parallel world, in London, England, at the entrance to the apartment where Natsukawa Tora once lived.

Looking at the address in her hand, Aozaki Aoko, carrying her suitcase, nodded: "Looks like this is it... Suddenly they said they had something very urgent to discuss with us, what is it? That girl named Meryl."

Two days ago, Aozaki Aoko, who was exploring the African savanna, suddenly had a dream. She dreamt of a nightmare demon named Merry, who said that she had something very urgent to discuss with her, a magician, and that it was related to Natsukawa Tora. She hoped that Merry could go to London, England as soon as possible.

Aozaki Aoko originally didn't intend to pay attention to this somewhat strange invitation. It was the same when she suddenly asked them if they wanted to participate in the Holy Grail War. Aozaki Aoko's intuition told her that nine and a half out of ten things that Merry said couldn't be trusted.

So, Aozaki Aoko didn't want to come at first, but shortly after, the old man with the gems, who was also a magician like her, came to her door and asked her to come to England.

Leaving aside Meryl, even that old man with the jewels was alarmed...

(Could it be that my junior really encountered some great danger in a parallel world?)

Given his abilities, Aozaki Aoko really couldn't imagine what would happen to him. After all, even she wouldn't dare to fight him head-on without using magic, let alone now that he has the power of the True Ancestor Princess... If something really happens to him, it might not be the destruction of the world.

(If that were to happen, things would be really troublesome...)

Therefore, out of concern for her junior, Aozaki Aoko still came to England.

She knocked on the door, and before Aozaki Aoko could speak, the door opened, and Merry, wearing a white shirt, greeted her with a smile: "Welcome, welcome, Ms. Aozaki Aoko, it's an honor to meet you."

"You are......"

“Merry.”

It's her, the nightmare demon who dragged her into her dreams multiple times, and the woman with a close relationship with her junior.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time. Come in, I've prepared some top-quality snacks."

"Didn't you say there was something extremely urgent?" Aozaki Aoko asked. "You still have time to chat and have snacks?"

“Girls can only chat about things while eating snacks, a serious atmosphere is not suitable for us at all,” Melly laughed. “Besides, although it is an emergency, it has already happened, and we can’t stop it now, we can only help as much as we can.”

Aozaki Aoko frowned: "Help? Help whom?"

"My king, who is always causing trouble, and your one and only adorable junior."

There are too many prefixes.

With a helpless sigh, Aozaki Aoko followed Meryl into the apartment's living room. Just as she had said, a pot of floral tea and a number of high-end-looking pastries were already prepared on the coffee table. For some reason, the room was filled with the fragrance of flowers, giving the feeling of being in the afternoon tea time of some noble young lady.

An uneasy feeling spread throughout Aozaki Aoko's body.