To become a king and a magician

Natsukawa Tora was taken aback—call Arcueid "older sister"?

"why?"

“Because Tiger is now considered an elf, and I, as an elf, am much older than you, so naturally you have to call me sister!” Arcueid puffed out her chest proudly. “Don’t be shy, Tiger, just say it.”

"I'm going back."

Natsukawa Tora took a step back, and a halo resembling a spatial displacement appeared behind him. Seeing this, Arcueid quickly grabbed him and pouted, "Why are you walking so fast? I have something important to tell you!"

"Call me sister?"

"This is certainly important too—no, it's really important!"

This is something Arcueid had told Natsukawa Torato on the phone before: "There's something very important I need to tell you. Come see me at the top of the New City Hall."

Having finally managed to keep Natsukawa Tora here, Arcueid glared at him angrily with her hands on her hips: "Seriously, Tora, it won't hurt if you just call me 'sister,' just call me that!"

"The problem is you don't have any of the qualities of an 'older sister' at all. If I had to say, you'd be... a younger sister?"

I'm older than you!

Arcueid puffed out her chest again—she wasn't referring to the size of her breasts, but rather her age, though this gesture made it hard for Natsukawa Torato not to think in that direction.

With a somewhat helpless sigh, Natsukawa Tora asked, "So, what's the important thing?"

"Regarding your battle with Solomon, I actually learned some things from Gaia." Arcueid adopted a serious expression. "Let me start with the conclusion, Tiger. Gaia wants me to stop your fight."

Gaia?

"Well, for Gaia, the battle between the two of you will not bring it any benefit. The loss of either of you would be enormous, so the Counter Force does not want you to start a war. Not only Gaia, but the other side is the same."

King Solomon was one of the seven crowned riders, one of the decisive weapons used to fight against the beasts.

Natsukawa Torato is a Holy Sword Wielder, an individual capable of saving the world when a great calamity strikes.

In terms of restraint, this is like two excellent employees preparing to physically eliminate each other because of a big project—a rather foolish internal waste.

Therefore, the restraining force is directly linked to Arcueid, the only one who could possibly stop the two—first, warn them, and if that doesn't work, stop them by force.

“That probably won’t work.” Natsukawa Tora shook his head. “I have my own ideas, and King Solomon and Marisbury also have their own ideas. The conflict of ideas cannot be resolved by a few words from outsiders.”

"I thought so too, so I was just saying that to you. Gaia does want me to take you both down if absolutely necessary, but—"

"I see, so that's how the inhibitory force is planned?"

On the other side of Arcueid, the figure of the Magic King appeared out of thin air, his gaze sweeping over the three people present before landing on Natsukawa Tora: "It seems that our struggle will have a profound impact on the future."

"—Did you call him here, Arcueid?"

"Since it concerns both of you, I called you both over."

Meeting King Solomon's gaze, Natsukawa Tiger smiled and asked, "So, what's your opinion? Do you want to fight? Or not?"

"My Master's mind is likely to stick to his guns. As for me... my opinion depends on your performance in two days." King Solomon stared at Natsukawa Torato and said, "Whether the battle between you and me needs to escalate to the point of killing each other will be decided by me in two days."

"I swear here and now that whatever the outcome may be, it will be an outcome that the inhibitory force can accept."

71. It's usually eerily quiet before a storm.

The next day, at the Tohsaka residence.

Although he had met Tokiomi Tohsaka several times, lived in Fuyuki City for a period of time, and had a good relationship with Rin Tohsaka in another world, Natsukawa Torara never visited the Tohsaka residence, no matter where he was.

The reason I came here is to construct an illusionary world. It's best to report this grand magic, which will affect the entire city of Fuyuki, to the Tohsaka family, the local governing family of Fuyuki, first.

And in the Tohsaka family's living room—

"I see. So you're planning to build a special barrier to prevent Fuyuki City from being destroyed? That's very thoughtful of you."

After listening to Natsukawa Torami's explanation, Tokiomi Tohsaka couldn't help but show his gratitude. To be honest, he hadn't been sleeping well for the past few days because of the Holy Grail War. Even though the Holy Grail War was held at night, the various anomalies that had occurred in the past two days made him unable to relax at all, and he was constantly worried about the possibility of the mystery being exposed.

Having such a method to avoid being exposed is a godsend for Tokiomi Tohsaka.

"If this barrier can be constructed, then we won't have to worry about the possibility of our secrets being exposed during this Holy Grail War. Thank you very much, Lord Natsukawa."

"No need to thank me. After all, I've been the one causing the most trouble lately... Consider this my way of cleaning up my own mess," Xia Chuanhu said with a wry smile. "I'm the one who should apologize for the trouble I've caused you these past few days."

"You flatter me."

As he said this, Tokiomi Tohsaka was also sizing up Torata Natsukawa. Even though they had only met a handful of times, Tokiomi Tohsaka believed he knew Torata Natsukawa somewhat; some of his old acquaintances at the Clock Tower had mentioned Torata Natsukawa's exploits there to him before.

There are both good and bad aspects.

Ten years have passed, and the ordinary person who was once caught up in the Holy Grail War is now able to defeat the king in a head-on confrontation—the scene of Natsukawa Tora defeating Gilgamesh in a head-on confrontation last night is probably known to any magician in Fuyuki City with some skills.

(Truly, the younger generation is formidable; this is what they mean by "the new generation surpasses the old.")

Tokiomi Tohsaka thought to himself.

And at that very moment—

“However, it still surprised me quite a bit that the Tohsaka family gave up on the Holy Grail War.” Natsukawa Torato suddenly changed the subject. “The Einzbern family has declined, and the Matou family has no heir. I thought you would feel that you had a very good chance of winning this time and participate. I didn’t expect you to give up and sell the relics of King Gilgamesh to Lydel.”

"I'd say I've lost my fighting spirit. I'm not as confident as I was ten years ago." Tokiomi Tohsaka gave a slight, bitter smile. "Ten years ago, in that Holy Grail War, to ensure victory, I started preparing much earlier. Even though there were some unexpected setbacks, I still achieved the final victory. But..."

“You destroyed the Holy Grail, didn’t you? I heard about it from Professor Kenneth and Weber.”

Is it Lord El-Melloi, and his rumored assistants in recent years?

Tokiomi Tohsaka nodded: "The moment the Holy Grail appeared, I realized that it was no longer the Holy Grail we needed, so I used the two Command Seals on my hand to ask the King to destroy it. Thinking back, what was destroyed at that time was also my persistence as a magus."

If it were a true magician, even if the Holy Grail were corrupted, they would still try to make a wish to see if they could reach the Root. After all, as long as they could reach the Root, they would accept whatever consequences might result.

But Tokiomi Tohsaka did not. Rather than his personal and family wishes, what Tokiomi Tohsaka thought at that moment was that the ominous Holy Grail must never exist in the world.

Of course, Tokiomi Tohsaka did not know at that time that the black mud in the Holy Grail had actually been completely squeezed dry by Ayaka Sajō. What he saw was just a little bit of leftover scraps, at most the amount of bread scraps left over from making a cake.

"For the next ten years, I devoted myself to teaching Rin. You should remember Rin, right? Many years ago, when you returned to Fuyuki City, you met her once during the New Year."

Natsukawa Tora nodded.

Let alone that time, they met almost every day in the other world. Natsukawa Torato practically watched Tohsaka Rin grow from a high school student to a mature woman after graduating from university—no, to say she was mature was a bit too much.

"Rin is currently studying at the Clock Tower. She should be able to graduate from the basic courses in another year or two. I've also made some arrangements with a few old friends in the Minerals Department. She will join the Minerals Department as soon as she graduates."

"You really think a lot about her. As far as I know, Mr. Kenneth dislikes this kind of backroom deal."

“That’s right, but Rin is an exception. Her talent is exceptional, not just in her circuits, but also in her magical attributes. Lord El-Melloi valued that as well.”

Rin Tohsaka's magical attributes are all five elements, which is much rarer than Torata Natsukawa's fire and wind, and Kenneth's water and wind. With sufficient resources and full training, she is definitely a promising talent.

"And what about your other child? The one I rescued from the Matou family..."

"As for Sakura, I didn't teach her any magic. Rin and I didn't talk to her much about magic either," Tokiomi Tohsaka replied. "I thought about it for a long time after the Holy Grail War ended. Sakura and Rin both have exceptional magical talent. Originally, I was thinking of sending Sakura to Finland, where there is a family with some connection to the Tohsaka family."

"However, after thinking it over, I didn't do that. Instead, I sent Sakura to Aoi's hometown, the Zenjo family."

Did they allow Sakura Tohsaka to return to a normal life?

It's hard to imagine that Tokiomi Tohsaka would make such a decision. Initially, he was determined to develop the talents of both his daughters and hope that they could both become excellent magicians. Unexpectedly, he would make such a decision that is so consistent with his role as a father.

"It seems we've strayed a bit from the topic, Lord Natsukawa. To get back to the main point, please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything regarding the construction of the barrier. The Tohsaka family will provide as much assistance as they can."

"No need for that, we have enough manpower here."

After saying that, Natsukawa Torama stood up: "Then I'll take my leave now. I'll come to visit again if I have the chance in the future, Mr. Tohsaka."

"It is an honor for the Tohsaka family. I will take it from you, Lord Natsukawa."

"No need, you have your own things to do."

As he said this, ripples of spatial displacement appeared around Xia Chuanhu, and he disappeared from the spot in the blink of an eye.

Tokiomi Tohsaka was stunned by what he saw.

(That's... spatial teleportation? Is it magic that has reached the second realm of magic?!)

He remembered that Natsukawa Tora should not be thirty years old this year, and he had only been involved in magic for ten years—he had only been involved in that magician's field for ten years?

“What a terrifying young man… I’ll talk to Rin about this later. Since we’re both under Lord El-Melloi, I just hope we can have more frequent interactions in the future.”

72. Mary began to tell a story.

The instant after leaving the Tohsaka family, Natsukawa Torata appeared at the top of the Fuyuki Bridge.

"Merry, I'm all set here—what are you doing?"

"Huh? Your Majesty... Waaaaah! My ice cream!"

Sitting on the edge, Mary was startled by the sound coming from behind, and almost dropped the box of ice cream in her hand. After hurriedly steadying the ice cream, Mary patted her chest: "Phew~~~ Luckily I caught it... Don't suddenly open a portal to scare me, Your Majesty, it's not good for your heart."

"You want me to go and build relationships with everyone one by one, and then you just sit here slacking off? That'll scare you to death."

"You scared them to death! Now no one will want to marry you."

Hopping onto Natsukawa Torata's back, Meryl said with a smile, "Well, anyway, you've worked hard. Here, give His Majesty a little treat, mua~~~"

"Can we get down to business first?"

Even though Merry kissed his cheek, Natsukawa Tiger remained unmoved, which was rare. He was happy that Merry was being so affectionate with him, but there were more important things to do than being all lovey-dovey with Merry.

Meili smiled and said, "Don't worry, the important matters have all been arranged. We'll leave the relationships to His Majesty the King, and Morgan and the others will handle all the work needed to set up the barrier—it'll be foolproof."

"And what about your own job?"

"I'm here to cheer you on! My head is about to explode!"

Quickly breaking free from Natsukawa Toramaru's merciless iron grip, Mary couldn't help but cover her head and squat down: "You've been so mean lately, Toramaru! You're always getting handsy with me. Could it be that your sadistic side has awakened?"

"It's just settling accounts. I have to repay you for what you did to me over the past ten years, bit by bit."

"Ugh~~~~ Men who hold grudges are really unlikable. I don't want to marry you anymore—unless you coax me!"

Is that so?

Xia Chuanhu pressed down on Meili's head with one hand, and lit a blazing fire with the other. Anyway, they were both "hong" (a homophone for "coaxing"), so there was really no difference between "hong" and "hong".

"I'm sorry, but they've become so arrogant that they won't dare to spare my life anymore."

"I told you to be serious, why are you still acting silly at a time like this?" Natsukawa Tora sighed helplessly, put away his flames, and pulled Merry into his arms, sitting down together at the edge of the bridge. "If you want to act silly, I'll do whatever you want after the Holy Grail War is over, but let's rest for a while now."

Meryl blinked, then smiled and leaned against his chest: "Humanity burns really bad... Judging from your tone, is this based on your experience in your original world?"

Only a few people, including Meryl, knew that Natsukawa Tora came from a real other world. His so-called knowledge from the Root was actually knowledge he obtained from his original world, just wrapped in the Root's shell.