To become a king and a magician

The two groups are currently in a shopping mall with extremely high foot traffic, which is not a suitable place for a battle. If a battle were to break out, it would inevitably cause a huge commotion, which would violate the rules of the Holy Grail War.

"Whoo~~~~"

Taking a deep breath, Aozaki Aoko looked at her older sister and Ryougi Shiki: "Well then, how about we go inside and have dinner first? We can talk about everything after we eat. I won't have the energy to fight you guys on an empty stomach."

"It's rare that we agree."

Reaching a consensus was no easy task for the two sisters. Seeing that his master had put aside his hostility, Odysseus breathed a sigh of relief. He also did not want to start a war in this place, since his fighting style could easily cause huge destruction once a war broke out.

Just as the two groups of people entered the buffet restaurant—

"Lia, you've taken too much. Take less, it's not like you'll run out. You can finish one plate and then get another!"

“But Master, if we don’t get this now, we’ll have to wait a long time to get it next time.”

"You can go eat something else then; it's not good to take so much at once."

Upon hearing the conversation, the group almost immediately looked in the direction from which the sound came. In front of a seafood counter, two golden figures that looked like siblings instantly came into their view.

Natsukawa Torato and Artoria, the two Kings Arthurs, are currently holding two large platters already filled with food, debating whether or not to take some more.

Seemingly sensing the gaze from the doorway, the two turned to look at it.

"Aoko? Orange Teacher? Shiki?"

"What a coincidence, you're here for dinner too?"

Fuyuki City is actually quite small.

18. In reality, a chaotic scene could occur at any moment.

During the Holy Grail War, no matter how close the comrades were before, they become enemies once the war begins—generally speaking, this is the most reasonable way to think and the right way to act.

But for Xia Chuanhu and his group, there was no need to do so.

"I didn't expect to run into my junior here. What a coincidence."

Aozaki Aoko, who had naturally sat down next to Natsukawa Tora and shared the two seats next to him with Meryl, hooked her arm around his neck: "You came to Japan without telling me. Were you planning to give me a surprise?"

“I haven’t even asked you about coming back ahead of us. You came back without saying a word. You could have told us first.”

"There are some things to take care of here, but it's nothing serious. By the way, where are Grey and the others? It's quite rare to see you siblings separated."

"Guess what."

Seeing Natsukawa Tora start playing the riddle-solving game, Aozaki Aoko couldn't help but laugh: "Well, so you're starting to pull stunts now?"

“Likewise.” Natsukawa Tora said, glancing behind Aozaki Aoko. Although he couldn’t see her, he could feel a gaze watching him from there.

(Aoko's Servant is Scathach... It's quite unexpected that she's targeting her.)

There are only two reasons why Scáthach has her eye on him: either she sees his potential as a warrior, or he thinks he can kill her.

"You're practically already hers, you vixen. You're still got a lot of luck with women."

(You call this being popular with women? Well then, by that logic, you'd qualify too, wouldn't you?)

[Hmph, watch out or you'll be taken away by all those women around you later.]

Sajō Ayaka's sarcasm made Natsukawa Tora give a wry smile. On the other side, looking at her disciple and younger sister, who seemed to have a good, even intimate, relationship, Aozaki Touko frowned: "Tora, you and Aoko...when did you become so close?"

“Oh…right, teacher, you don’t know yet.” Natsukawa Tora said, putting another large piece of steak on Artoria’s plate. “I went to a parallel world five years ago, right? About half a year after I got there, I ran into some trouble. At that time, Meryl guessed that I might die in that incident, so she asked Aoko to come and help me.”

"Since we can't get in touch with either Her Highness the Princess or that nobleman, we can only turn to the third most reliable person, Aoko—come on, Lia, ah~~~~"

Seeing the meat being offered to her mouth, although Artoria felt it was somewhat impolite to be fed like this, she knew that not eating would be a waste, so she decisively took a bite.

(This feeling of being fed...it's so nice to see Leah as a little pet!)

"Hey, Tiger, this nightmare."

"Teacher, aren't you used to it yet?" Natsukawa Tora replied with a wry smile. "Well, Aoko has been living with me and Gray there ever since, and she only came back recently without telling us."

Did you live together there for four years?

Aozaki Touko's gaze towards Aozaki Aoko turned colder.

"Although I find it impossible... Aoko, you haven't done anything outrageous, have you?"

Why are you asking me?

"Because you're always thinking about flirting with crime, aren't you?"

"Orange, how dare you talk to me like that?" Aozaki Aoko glared at her older sister, annoyed. "Nothing out of line... If I had to say, it doesn't seem like there is. Besides, I was traveling every day over there, and the total time I spent with my junior was only about half a year."

This statement is half true and half false. The second half is true: Aozaki Aoko did not spend much time with Natsukawa Tora. She spent most of her time traveling. Every time she came back, she would stay for a week and then run away again, making people wonder if she was an ungrateful wildcat.

But the first half of the sentence is a complete lie.

For specific details, you can directly ask the biggest victim, Sajou Aika, the spirit behind her. Every time Aozaki Aoko comes back, she is the most upset. Later, whenever Aozaki Aoko comes back, she will consciously mute and block herself.

Hearing Aozaki Aoko say this, Aozaki Touko couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. If something had happened between her younger sister and her student, then there would be no way to describe the relationship. But thinking about it, her younger sister was already a thirty-year-old auntie, and with her carefree personality, who would be interested in her?

"By the way, Orange Teacher, how are Shiki, Angelica, and Pandora doing?" Natsukawa Torato suddenly asked, "Those two dolls who gave you the Matsu Relics."

“Pandora was killed by the form. Angelica is in my workshop. She herself is a doll, and I want to study her.”

Was Pandora really killed?

Xia Chuanhu pursed his lips. Although they had lived together for four years, Pandora... well, she had long lost all her emotions and had never spoken a word or interacted with anyone else. Apart from cooperating with Xia Chuanhu's research, she usually just sat in her room in a daze.

It's like a lifeless doll.

(Well, her wish was to be killed; that's probably the ending she's always been hoping for.)

"Teacher Orange, you didn't destroy Angelica, did you? I quite like her, so please go easy on her."

Aozaki Touko waved her hand: "Don't worry about that, you know my skills... Speaking of which, this is really a situation that's not funny at all."

"what do you mean?"

“The three of us are all Masters of the Holy Grail War, yet we are now sitting around a table eating, without feeling any tension of war at all.”

After Aozaki Touko said that, Natsukawa Torato and Aozaki Aoko realized this as well, and both gave a wry smile.

"I greeted you instinctively when I saw you, I really didn't expect that—speaking of the Holy Grail War, there's something I've always wanted to ask Aoko and Sensei. You two shouldn't be people who are interested in the Holy Grail, so why did you suddenly decide to participate in the Holy Grail War?"

Upon hearing this question, Melly, who was feeding Artoria, paused for a moment and quickly gave Aozaki Touko and Aozaki Aoko a look.

Seeing Mary's reaction, the sisters, who had originally intended to state the reason directly, paused.

(Don't you want to say it out loud?)

(Is this Meryl still trying to keep it a secret even now?)

"Huh? What's wrong with you two?" Seeing that the two didn't answer, Xia Chuanhu asked in confusion. Was it some kind of difficult question to answer?

Did you eat something that upset your stomach?

“No, that makes sense. As for the reason… I guess it’s because I’m bored?” Aozaki Touko laughed. “Garan no Dou has been open for a while now, and I wanted to find something else to do. I just happened to have Command Seal marks on the back of my hand, so I decided to come here and take a look.”

Did you join the Holy Grail War because you were bored?

"Teacher, you really have an absurd amount of free time. Where's Aoko?"

"Um... I'll go to the restroom first, and I'll tell you when I get back."

"Huh?"

As Aozaki Aoko got up to leave, before Natsukawa Torato could even show a hint of doubt, Aozaki Touko and Meryl also stood up one after the other.

"I'll go as well."

"I drank a little too much of that beverage just now."

The table, which was originally full of six people, was soon reduced to only three.

Xia Chuanhu sat there and blinked.

"Style... Do you girls like to go to the bathroom in groups?"

"I do not like."

"Master, I've finished eating. I'd like to get another one, no, ten more."

Artoria seems to be completely out of it.

19. The Holy Grail War

At the entrance to the restroom.

As soon as Merry finished washing her hands and came out, she saw the Aozaki sisters standing at the door.

"Were you two waiting for me?"

"I guess so. There are some things I want to ask you."

"She's wearing white panties today."

"I didn't ask you that!" Aozaki Aoko rolled her eyes. "It's about time you told us, Merry, what kind of huge impact will the outcome of this Holy Grail War have on your junior?"

This is also the question that Aozaki Touko wanted to ask.

Four years ago, Merry suddenly pulled them all into a dream and told them that the outcome of this Holy Grail War would affect Natsukawa Tora, and that it would be a very significant one. For the sake of their juniors/students, the two of them decided to participate in this Holy Grail War.

But judging from Xia Chuanhu's attitude, he seems unaware of this matter, and Mei Li's behavior just now also indicates that she is still keeping it from him.

"Why don't you tell Torato, Merry?" Aozaki Touko asked. "In the end, what will happen in this Holy Grail War?"

"Emmmm, I could tell you right now, but before that, I'd like you to swear an oath first, just to be on the safe side."

"Swear an oath? What oath?"

"I won't tell anyone else what they're about to say, because it concerns His Majesty the King, and I don't want him to be distracted before the final moment."

They exchanged a glance, both Aozaki Touko and Aozaki Aoko somewhat surprised that Meryl was so serious and so openly worried about Natsukawa Tora—either there was a trap or the situation was truly critical.

And considering that she went to the trouble of calling on all of them back then...

(The situation is probably really critical.)

"In addition, please make a vow that you will remain calm after hearing what I have to say. To ensure its effectiveness, it would be better if Aoko's servant appeared and made a time-limited vow, because that news is no different from the collapse of the sky and the earth, and I am afraid that you will not be able to bear it mentally."

Is it that serious?