To become a king and a magician

Natsukawa Torato was able to enroll because Kenneth El-Melloi, one of the twelve monarchs of the Clock Tower, extended a special invitation to him, allowing him to enroll directly.

And now, a month after graduating from high school.

After more than ten hours of air travel, Natsukawa Tora finally set foot on London soil.

Pulling my suitcase out of the airport, I stretched and yawned: "Mmm! That feels so good. My butt is numb from sitting on the plane for over ten hours. Oh right, I should have arrived by now, right? My person who's picking me up."

Natsukawa Tora muttered to himself as he looked towards the roadside. Before he came, Kenneth had told him that someone would be waiting for him at the airport to take him to the clock tower.

"what......"

"Yo..."

At a glance, Natsukawa Tora recognized the person Kenneth had arranged to pick up at the airport—Weber Velvet.

"You are... Rider's Master? You are... here to pick him up? I remember you weren't going to...."

A year ago, after the Holy Grail War ended, Natsukawa Tora and Waver were actually placed in the same hospital room. However, when Natsukawa Tora woke up, Waver was already about to leave.

After being discharged from the hospital, Natsukawa Tiger remembered that he did not plan to return to the Clock Tower immediately, but instead planned to first retrace Iskandar's eastern expedition route before going back.

He's back after only a year?

"Have you completed the eastern expedition?"

"Yeah, I came back half a year ago, though I was essentially brought back after being caught." With a wry smile, Weber opened the car door behind him. "Anyway, let's get in first. It's quite a distance from here to the clock tower, so we'll talk on the way."

————————————————————————

The airport was not close to the clock tower, so during this time, Weber briefly recounted his experiences over the past year to Natsukawa Tora, just as he had said before getting on the bus.

"After the Holy Grail War ended, I left Fuyuki City. Although I gained the king's approval and became his subject, I didn't really know much about him. So I started traveling in reverse, following the route he had taken to conquer the land."

Actually, there was another reason: he felt ashamed to return to the Clock Tower. After all, he had borrowed money from a classmate to go to Japan in exchange for promising to bring back interesting stories in order to participate in the Holy Grail War, but in the end, he still hadn't accomplished anything.

With all these factors combined, Weber decided to go on a trip.

After leaving Japan, he first went to India, then from India all the way to Persia, and then to Macedonia, seeing with his own eyes and feet all the landscapes that Iskandar had seen, and walking every inch of the land that Iskandar had once traversed.

"It was definitely not a fun trip. Thugs, thieves, robbers... honestly, every time I encountered them I felt like I was going to die there. After finally escaping, I would find out that I hadn't gotten my luggage back. It was really full of terrible memories."

Weber spoke with a wry smile, but there was no trace of complaint or dissatisfaction in his eyes. Being able to retrace the path of the Conqueror King's conquest meant he must have already obtained what he wanted.

"And then you came back?"

"No, I was brought back by Mr. Kenneth."

When this matter was mentioned, Weber sighed helplessly.

"My last stop was the ruins of Babylon in Iraq, the city founded by Gilgamesh and where Rider died. I wanted to make it the end of my journey. However, on my third day there, Professor Kenneth blocked my door, saying that because I hadn't been to class for a long time, I was at risk of not completing enough credits this semester, so he came to drag me back to class."

The monarch actually went out to personally arrest a student and bring him back to class.

Xia Chuanhu was stunned in surprise, then couldn't help but laugh, "Haha, really? That Mr. Kenneth actually cares about you that much? He traveled all the way to Iraq to find you? No way!"

"Right, you think it's outrageous too, right?"

It was a red light, so Webber simply slumped over the steering wheel.

"That's how I was dragged back to the Clock Tower half a year ago. Now I've managed to get a Level 3 Instructor's license, and I'm working as a substitute instructor in El-Melloi's classroom while also helping Professor Kenneth with some tasks."

"Assistant? You?"

"【Your magical talent and skill are indeed only third-rate, but every cloud has a silver lining. While your magical abilities are not outstanding, you also have another talent. Let me use this talent for you.】" He said this, whether it was looking down on me or praising me, and directly made me his assistant. In addition, he also shifted part of El-Melloi's debt onto me, saying that after all, I was partly responsible for El-Melloi's debt... Thanks to this, I've started to have some stomach aches lately.

Before participating in the Holy Grail War, in order to ensure the war went smoothly, Kenneth borrowed a lot of Mystic Codes and magical furnaces from other schools. Any one of them could have been sold for an astronomical price—but then Kiritsugu Emiya blew them all up.

As a result, the El-Melloi school has incurred a huge debt that will take an unknown number of years to pay off!

Patting Webber on the shoulder, Natsukawa Tiger laughed and said, "Keep it up, Webber. I believe Professor Kenneth is definitely looking out for you, Don'tmind."

"Since you put it that way... haha..."

Weber let out a long sigh.

2. Mr. Kenneth, you're so kind to me.

Inside the Clock Tower, the academic city of the Minerals Department, in the office of its monarch, Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald.

Natsukawa Tora and Kenneth sat facing each other on the sofas on either side of the coffee table.

“It’s been four months, Tiger,” Kenneth said first. “Although it’s not a very long time, it seems that you have changed quite a bit since the Holy Grail War.”

"Ah, you mean these few strands of blond hair? I suddenly felt like I wanted to be a delinquent for once."

Natsukawa Torara touched the golden bangs on his forehead. Because of the fusion with Arthur's spirit origin, Natsukawa Torara's whole being began to gradually resemble Arthur, which was specifically manifested in his physical characteristics. In a few years, his hair would probably turn completely golden, like Arthur's, as golden as sunlight.

Xia Chuanhu was a boy with delicate features, and with those few strands of blond hair, he was often approached by girls at school. Unfortunately, he really couldn't be attracted to ordinary-looking people.

"Let's get down to business, Professor Kenneth. Thank you so much for inviting me to study at the Clock Tower and for covering my tuition for the first semester."

"Hmph, my dignity and pride do not allow me to keep owing you a debt. Besides, your talent as a first-generation magician is outstanding, coupled with a gem-level magic eye comparable to a miracle of the divine realm. It would be a waste to leave such a talent in that small country in the Far East."

In fact, Kenneth's idea was to guide Natsukawa Tora into the school, binding him with a master-disciple relationship and gratitude for his recognition, so that he could later recruit him into the El-Melloi school. Excellent female magicians are the mothers who nurture even more excellent offspring, and this applies to male magicians as well. If Natsukawa Tora could marry into the Archibald family, it would definitely be beneficial to the family's development.

Paying Xia Chuanhu's tuition in advance was also to make Xia Chuanhu owe others a favor in return.

"I've already taken care of most of your enrollment procedures. The rest you need to do in person, so Weber will take you to complete them. It's still the holidays now, and the official start of the semester is next week, so make sure you're all ready before then."

"Ah."

"Furthermore, regarding the subjects... In theory, every student must first study the basic knowledge of all basic courses for five years, and only after accumulating enough credits can they transfer to other subjects. But I will not allow a prodigy like you to waste five years of your life."

The main reason is that Kenneth instinctively felt that Natsukawa Tora might grow to a point where he couldn't control her, just like Aozaki Touko who came out of the Creative Department before. As a student, she eventually surpassed all the teachers and reached the highest level of magician.

Even if Kenneth didn't think Natsukawa had the ability, he still hoped that he could control this talent steadily.

"Two years. I want you to graduate from all the basic courses, and then transfer to the mines—"

“Spirit Summoning Department, right?” Natsukawa Tiger interrupted Kenneth. “Oh, thank you so much, Professor Kenneth. I’m only your student in name, yet you’ve gone to such lengths for me, even planning my future. I’m truly grateful.”

Looking at Natsukawa Tora's hearty smile, Kenneth knew that the kid had seen through everything and was clearly going against him.

However, it doesn't really matter if he goes to the Spirit Summoning Department. After all, he's the son-in-law of the department's ruler, and even if Xia Chuanhu goes there, he'll still be under his control; the only difference is the degree of control. Besides, his Demon Eye can only be better utilized and developed in the Spirit Summoning Department.

"Hmph, it's good that you understand." Kenneth snorted coldly. "I'll put in a little talk with the Summoning Department. You should also get to know the people in the Summoning Department more often. With your Demon Eye, if things go well, you'll definitely be one of the candidates for the next monarch."

"I understand. Thank you for your suggestions and preparations. I appreciate your help."

"Stop with the flattery. Hurry up and finish what you need to do. I'll have Weber pick you up tonight. After all, I invited you to the Clock Tower, and I've prepared a dinner party for you tonight."

"Oh dear, I can't accept that—I will definitely go! Then please allow me to take my leave now, teacher."

Natsukawa Tora stood up, bowed to Kenneth, and walked out of the office.

In the hallway outside, Weber leaned against the wall, watching Natsukawa Tora walk out and close the door behind him: "You're really bold, daring to interrupt the teacher."

"I did the same thing a year ago in Fuyuki City. What's so bold about it?"

Natsukawa Tora shrugged.

“You’re the first person to dare interrupt Mr. Kenneth’s speech. I’m amazed you have the courage.” Weber sighed wearily. “Come with me. I’ll take you to complete the final enrollment procedures, and then I’ll take you to your place.”

"Is Professor Kenneth pushing everything outside of research onto you?"

"Yes. Oh dear, my stomach..."

To handle all the daily affairs of a monarch besides research, while also taking care of his studies, is this considered to have awakened to the true nature of overtime work more than a decade early?

————————————————————————————

The final enrollment procedures were minimal, simply registering Natsukawa Tora's information, including his magic circuits, magic attributes, and so on. After all, the Clock Tower was the headquarters of almost all existing magicians, and this level of registration was necessary for effective management.

However, some unexpected incidents occurred during the final stages of the procedures. Several magicians from noble families, upon seeing that Natsukawa was the first generation, habitually came to provoke and humiliate him. This was a common occurrence within the Clock Tower, and Natsukawa had no intention of arguing with these capitalist and feudal types.

He came here only to learn magic, and even after graduating from the Clock Tower, he wouldn't stay. He had no intention of getting to know the people here well or building good relationships with them.

"You might be in some trouble."

Looking at the noble magicians who were completely ignored by Xia Chuanhu, Weber lowered his voice and spoke.

“There are quite a few factions in the Clock Tower, and I roughly know what you’re thinking, but what you’re doing… never mind, I don’t think you’ll listen to anything I say.”

"You know my personality very well, don't you?" Natsukawa Tora chuckled. "So, where do we go now? All the paperwork's done, right? Do you need me to pick up a textbook or something?"

"There's no such thing as a textbook. If you want a book, just go to the library. Besides, a magician's learning is more about self-study than being taught by others. The Clock Tower won't teach you much."

"I see... So what's the itinerary for the rest of the trip?"

"I'll take you to where you're staying."

3. Lillian May

Kenneth's preparations for Natsukawa Tiger included not only the various procedures required for enrollment in the Clock Tower, but also a place for him to stay. With such meticulous attention to detail, Natsukawa Tiger was unsure of Kenneth's true feelings towards him. Magicians don't give without reason; since Kenneth was being so kind, he must have something in mind.

However, even if he knew, there was nothing Natsukawa Torato could do. To put it simply, he was back in the situation at the very beginning of the Holy Grail War, and what's worse, he had lost his advantage of foresight. No matter what happened in the future, he wouldn't be able to prepare in advance as he had during the Holy Grail War.

From now on, he can only take things one step at a time.

"We've arrived."

Just as Xia Chuanhu was thinking about the future, Weber's voice reached his ears as the car stopped.

Regaining his attention, after getting out of the car, what appeared before Xia Chuanhu was an apartment building that looked quite old. The exterior was covered with ivy, and the walls were patchy with red, white, and black marks, making it look as if the bricks had fallen off over the years.

Natsukawa had read magazines about the English countryside before, and the apartment in front of him was extremely similar to the country houses he had seen back then.

"Is this the apartment that Mr. Kenneth arranged for me?"

"To be precise, it's one of the student dormitories under the Clock Tower's name."

Weber replied with a smile, "Helping Natsukawa take his luggage out of the trunk."

“Although the magicians in the Clock Tower are almost all nobles and from prestigious families, there are always a few outliers, like you and me. In order to accommodate people like us, the Clock Tower will acquire some old apartments for us to live in, and this is one of them. I currently live here.”

You live here too?

Natsukawa Tora raised an eyebrow. Weber is now a full-fledged lecturer at the Clock Tower and Kenneth's assistant, yet he still lives in the student dormitory?

Seemingly noticing Xia Chuanhu's confusion, Weber shrugged: "I can't afford the lecturer's dormitory. After all, I'm in debt right now, and the rent there is very high. Compared to that, this place is so cheap it's practically free. However, the conditions here are only average."

"I don't have any requirements for housing conditions. Anyway, I sleep in rented rooms in Japan."

"That's good."