To become a king and a magician

"Yes, they were also surprised for a long time when they found out about this."

Even Meryl?

Something that can surprise even a Grand Magician for a long time must be an extraordinary event.

"I understand, Lancer, this is troublesome."

Appearing beside Aozaki Aoko, Scáthach gave a meaningful look to the [very serious] Merry, then smiled helplessly and engraved several runes on both Aozaki Aoko and Aozaki Touko.

"It's not Geass. It only takes effect within a few minutes. It can force you to calm down when your consciousness wavers. That's all."

"Then they will talk about things related to His Majesty the King."

Glug~~~~

The two swallowed hard. This was the first time they had ever seen Melly so serious. Just how shocking must it be?

"Actually... if His Majesty the King wins this Holy Grail War, I'll have to marry him, but I don't want to become a wife so soon, so I hope you can come and bother His Majesty the King and watch the show—"

Before she could finish speaking, a fist carrying magical light grazed past Mary's ear and smashed into the wall, leaving a small dent.

A few drops of cold sweat trickled down Mary's forehead.

"Um...you two...please calm down?"

“I’m calm. Lancer’s runes are working.” Aozaki Aoko pressed down hard on Merry’s shoulder. “So… the so-called influence is actually… your junior’s major life event?”

"Hmm... Oh, and by the way, I think it's about time His Majesty the King rebuilt the Knights of the Round Table. In my opinion, all of you are excellent candidates. Let's take this opportunity—whoa!"

Seeing the fist rapidly enlarging in her field of vision, Mary quickly snapped her fingers, and her entire body transformed into a shower of petals that drifted away.

Upon seeing this, Aozaki Aoko immediately curled her lip and said, "They run really fast!"

"So, we were completely fooled by her?" Aozaki Touko's face was also full of grimaces, and she tapped her arm with her fingers with a forced smile. "Well, well, you're quite the player, aren't you? You put on quite a show... Rider, next time you see her, don't be polite and just use your Noble Phantasm."

(Master, isn't that a bit...)

"Then use your beam to shoot her dead. Your armor has plenty of weaponry on it, doesn't it?"

(I see......)

Odysseus responded with a wry smile. Being of Greek descent, he considered himself accustomed to the fickleness and playful behavior of the gods, and had seen all sorts of women, but he had never seen anything like Meli's situation.

Because he didn't want to get married, he sent people to cause trouble and sabotage him, even trying to drag others down with him while he watched the show...

Fortunately, his wife Penelope was not that kind of woman.

“Besides, what does it mean to become a Knight of the Round Table…” Aozaki Aoko rubbed her fists. “I’m already considered a candidate for queen, so isn’t the Knight of the Round Table pushing me down?”

"Wait a minute, Aoko, what did you just say?"

Aozaki Touko grabbed her younger sister's shoulder.

"You just said you're already a candidate? I think I heard you right? Princess? [Guinevere]?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Aozaki Aoko turned around and slapped away Aozaki Touko's hand. However, before she could run away, Aozaki Touko grabbed her again and laughed, "Why are you running? I'm not going to eat you. It's been years since we last met. It's good for us sisters to catch up."

"Stop writing runes on my hand before you say that!"

"Then tell me first what you did to my disciple. Although it seems impossible, you two wouldn't...?"

"I've only replenished mana a few times."

Aozaki Touko began to consider whether or not to euthanize her younger sister.

(Hehehe, how interesting, a sisterly feud over a man? No matter how times change, this kind of conflict will never disappear.)

(This really reminds me of the Trojan War...)

Scáthach and Odysseus both sighed inwardly.

————————————————————————————————————

Meanwhile, inside the restaurant.

"Your Majesty, have you finished eating? I'm feeling a bit sleepy and want to go back to sleep."

"Huh? What happened so suddenly? By the way, where are Aoko and Touko-sensei?"

"They fell into the toilet."

"Aha?"

20. Grand Position Dating Group Offline Base

A few minutes later, inside the cafeteria.

When the Aozaki sisters returned, they were about to settle scores with a certain succubus, but instead found Ryougi Shiki sitting there guarding her spot.

"Shi, where are they?"

"The nightmare said she wanted to go back to sleep, so Xia Chuan took her and that Liya back with her. What happened?"

Wow! That's fast!

"It's all your fault, Aoko."

"Didn't you insist on dragging me to tell the truth?" Aozaki Aoko said irritably, her arms covered in bruises.

Seeing the two arguing as usual, Ryougi Shiki asked, "What happened? Do you need to see that dream demon?"

"Ah, about that..."

After organizing her thoughts, Aozaki Touko told Ryougi Shiki what Merry had said earlier, and just as she finished speaking—

"Clap!"

The steak knife was embedded entirely into the dining table.

The Mystic Eyes gleamed with an icy blue light, and Ryougi Shiki wore a chilling smile: "I see, so that's what you're planning. That succubus... don't let me see her a second time."

"Tell me if you're going to hit her."

Me too.

The fact that she could unite three women, whose relationship was initially somewhat strained, to face a common enemy is quite remarkable; in a way, she is a genius, even though the result was that she became the target of everyone's criticism.

The three of them had never intended to obtain the Holy Grail; they had only gathered here for Natsukawa Tora. Once they confirmed that Natsukawa Tora was alright, they did not actually plan to expend too much effort in the Holy Grail War.

But things are different now. Their goal is clear—to kill that scumbag, Mary!

"By the way, you two were also arguing when you came back. Did something happen between you two?" Ryougi Shiki suddenly changed the subject. Although the sisters' fights were commonplace, Ryougi Shiki was still somewhat interested in the reasons behind them.

"It's nothing, just normal."

"She and my disciple replenished their mana. By the way, replenishing mana means that. Come closer to my ear, and do this and that."

Aozaki Aoko, who had originally intended to let it go with a single sentence, suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable after Aozaki Touko's words, especially the way Ryougi Shiki was looking at her. She was still angry and hadn't closed her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception yet.

"Do you understand?" Aozaki Touko looked at Aozaki Aoko with great regret. "Shiki, you know that Tora is a good boy. How should I put it? He's good-looking, good at housework, his cooking is getting better and better, and he can fight. He seems like the perfect man to bring home, right? In the end, he ended up with an older single woman like Aoko. It just doesn't make sense."

"Do you think I'd let you off easy?"

Aozaki Aoko replied irritably.

"Indeed, Orange, you used to be better than me in every way, but now it's the other way around, right? It's obvious that I'm better in every aspect. If we're comparing, eleven out of ten people would say I'm prettier."

"Where do you get the confidence to say that?"

Aozaki Touko couldn't understand where her younger sister's blind confidence came from. Even if she had a young man to please her, that was all—

(Hmm, come to think of it, she does seem a bit more energetic than before, and her skin has improved. She seems even more like she was in high school... Pfft!)

With a pout, Aozaki Touko ate several pieces of grilled meat in large bites as if to vent her anger, but soon, an idea popped into her mind: "Aoko, I suddenly thought of something. Tora is still my disciple, and if you become his wife... shouldn't you call me 'teacher' or 'older sister'?"

"Should I knock you out right now and send you to dream? Even though it's nighttime, you're still awake." Aozaki Aoko rolled her eyes at her. "However, Shiki is surprisingly quiet. I thought you were going to stab me right away. Your eyes were really scary just now."

"Your marriage to Xia Chuan has nothing to do with me. Do you want me to congratulate you on your marriage?"

"No, I'm not married yet, and I don't plan to get married anytime soon..."

(That's true. Shiki has always acted indifferent to everything. If I talk to her about me and Natsukawa now, she probably won't feel much, since she only uses Natsukawa as a testing ground for her.)

If I had to put it in a way, it's similar to the feeling of being deskmates for a year only to find out next semester that you're not in the same class anymore.

"Well... just out of curiosity, is there anyone... um... someone you feel is a little special to you? Someone you care about more?"

"Xia Chuan?"

Ryougi Shiki answered somewhat uncertainly. It wasn't that her heart raced when Natsukawa Tora was mentioned, it was just that she had a deep impression of him, which was already quite remarkable for Ryougi Shiki.

......

While Aozaki Aoko and the others were discussing Natsukawa Torato, Natsukawa Torato himself was walking the streets of Shinto with Merry and Artoria.

"Phew, we should be close to here by now."

After confirming once again that the female demons had not followed, Melly breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Although she had anticipated this, Merry was still somewhat uncertain after it actually happened. After all, there were two Servants standing next to Aozaki Aoko and Aozaki Touko, one of whom was Scáthach, a god-slayer. If Aozaki Aoko got angry and sent Scáthach to hunt her down, she would probably end up with more than half her life.

(Oh dear, things have gone a little too far. But now that things have escalated like this, Lydia will probably get wind of it too. The tension is already so high before the game even starts; it's bound to turn into a very interesting situation.)

Looking at Natsukawa Tora walking beside her, Meryl smiled slightly: "It seems that Your Majesty will have to work twice as hard if you want to marry her."

"Huh? What did you say?"

"It's nothing, just talking to myself. Anyway, where should we go for a walk next?"

"Didn't you say you were sleepy and wanted to go back to sleep?"

“I’m not sleepy anymore,” Mary laughed. “Besides, I think it would be best if we moved to another place now.”

"Agreed, Master."

Artoria also spoke up, saying, "I sensed the presence of Servants in the crowd, even stronger than the previous two, and they're not far away."

If it weren't for the crowds on the street, Artoria would probably be fully armed and sword drawn by now.

As soon as the two finished speaking, Xia Chuanhu quickly spotted two familiar figures in the sea of ​​people. Even though they had changed into casual clothes, Xia Chuanhu still recognized their faces.

One was a blond young man wearing a black leather jacket.

One was a man with dark skin and white hair, wearing a long robe and a gentle face.