To become a king and a magician

The moment the feet touched the ground, ripples spread out from the soles of the feet, and at the farthest point where the ripples spread, a figure was standing there.

With a sigh, Natsukawa Tora looked at the man: "Should I call this a recurring theme? I thought after so many years of getting along, you had completely calmed down... What are you planning to do this time, Aika?"

"Nothing, Tiger."

Sajou Aika smiled and shook her head.

"I just want to ask you for a favor."

"You need my help? By the way, you're not calling me 'vixen' anymore?"

In the ten years since they met, this seemed to be the first time that Aika Sajou had actually spoken Natsukawa Tora's name. In the past, she had always called him "fox spirit" or "fox spirit," and even if there were any differences, they were just various prefixes added before the name.

Why didn't they call it that this time?

"you......."

"My opinion of you has changed a little, after all, we've known each other for ten years... Or do you prefer me to call you a vixen?"

After a moment of surprise, Natsukawa Tora smiled and shrugged: "Whatever you like. I personally don't care about how you address me, but I'm really not used to you suddenly changing how you address me—so, what do you want me to do for you?"

"It's very simple, and it's something you've always wanted to do. It only takes a little effort for you."

Sajou Aika approached Natsukawa Torama, took his hand, and then pressed it against her chest: "It must have been twenty years ago, that's how long it's been. Twenty years ago, in the underground space of Tokyo, Prince... Saber killed me, killed me with a sword from behind."

"Can you do it this time?"

"Huh?"

What is she saying?

Natsukawa Torato couldn't quite understand Sajou Aika's meaning. This time, it was him who was in charge? What was he to do?

"Buzz—!"

Particles of light gathered in Natsukawa Torato's hand, and the Star Holy Sword appeared in his hand on its own initiative.

Sajō Aika couldn't help but laugh: "Looks like it's eager to try too. Well, let me just get straight to the point. I asked another version of myself to do something to your consciousness during the mana replenishment process—or rather, to set up a spell. To prevent you from realizing it, it was set up separately."

"The effect of this technique is to connect your consciousness to me after the Holy Grail War ends, and to trigger my abilities to a certain extent. Of course, the triggered abilities will only be about one-thousandth of what they are. You don't need to worry about it affecting the outside world, because it will be completely destroyed before it can affect the outside world."

"Destroyed by you."

Taking two steps back, Ayaka Sajou grasped the tip of the holy sword and plunged it into her own chest.

"You said you would kill me, so now it's your turn to keep your word."

“This time, I hope you can kill me head-on, my [Prince].”

"Aige, you—"

Natsukawa Torato wanted to ask something. This was so inexplicable. Suddenly, she wanted him to kill her or something. When did Sajou Aika become someone who wanted to die? Something was definitely wrong!

But before he could even ask, a torrent of black water suddenly surged forth from the spot where Sajou Aika's chest had been pierced by the holy sword! In the blink of an eye, it engulfed Natsukawa Torato, who was almost within reach!

"Ugh... Aika, what are you trying to do... Aika—!"

SSSS.King Arthur

1. Who is the woman in my dream?

Why do I often dream about a woman?

If you were to ask this question online, such as on a forum or Twitter, you would probably get a pair of sarcastic comments and replies.

From a general perspective, having such a dream is probably because you saw that woman before going to sleep; as the saying goes, what you think about during the day, you dream about at night.

But Natsukawa Torato doesn't think so.

Because he had never seen the woman in his dreams—the woman standing in front of him now.

【It's your turn now】

My turn? My turn for what?

You said before that you would do this.

What exactly did I say before?

Every time he dreams, it's the same. Whenever he dreams of the woman shrouded in light, he can hear her saying a bunch of nonsensical things to him. The key is that the conversation seems to be one-sided. No matter how he asks questions, the other person won't answer and will only repeat herself.

This time, you must keep the promise you made.

Please kill me, Tiger.

Here we go again, with that same phrase.

Upon hearing these words, a sharp, intense pain surged through Xia Chuanhu's mind!

"Ring ring ring!"

A frantic ringing came through my ears.

He jerked his eyes open, his vision instantly shifting from darkness to light. Sitting up in bed, he turned off the alarm on the bedside table and drew back the curtains. "I had that dream again... Who was it? That woman?"

Natsukawa Tora is 18 years old this year. Since he moved to Fuyuki City with his family ten years ago, this dream has accompanied him as he grew up. No matter when, as long as he falls asleep, he will definitely have this dream. And because of this dream, it has caused him a lot of trouble in his daily life.

For example, jumping up while dozing off in class and shouting "Who the hell are you?"—this kind of behavior that could make him a celebrity in the whole school is not uncommon. As a result, he got himself into a lot of trouble and was even taken to see a psychiatrist.

Although Natsukawa Torato himself felt that he should go and take a look.

"Get out of bed, it's time to go to school."

Scratching his head, and temporarily forgetting everything about that woman, Xia Chuanhu got out of bed and began his daily routine, which he had repeated countless times.

Although he moved to Fuyuki City with his parents, he actually lived alone in the Natsukawa family. His parents rarely came back—because they were both archaeologists and so-called Arthurian enthusiasts, spending eleven months of the year in Europe and only returning during the New Year.

They clearly didn't care about their son at all. Apart from sending back a fixed amount of living expenses every month, the only proof that they still knew he was their son was the occasional so-called relics of King Arthur they sent.

No, it should be called "warehouse manager".

The reason they moved to Fuyuki City was because a major event that supposedly involved King Arthur happened here ten years ago. The two idiot parents, whose minds were only on King Arthur, moved here immediately upon hearing about it. However, they hadn't lived here for long before they flew over to England because of an archaeological project.

And that departure lasted for ten years.

"Being a parent to this extent is truly something else, right? Curry Stick?"

Looking at the thing lying in the corner of his room, Xia Chuanhu walked over and gently touched it—it was sent back by Xia Chuanhu's parents a week ago, supposedly the holy sword and scabbard used by King Arthur, and they told him to keep it safe at all costs.

"They risked their lives... Who would want something like this?"

After kicking the Holy Sword, Natsukawa Tiger picked up his schoolbag and walked out of the room.

——————————————————————————————

Good morning, Tiger.

As he stepped out of his house, a woman's voice rang out in front of Natsukawa Tiger, just as usual.

Seeing the girl from next door appear in front of him, Natsukawa Tora's mood improved somewhat after his dream was interrupted: "Hmm, good morning, Aika."

Sajō Aika – the girl who lives next door [the Sajō family], and has known Natsukawa Tora since he moved in ten years ago; she's his childhood friend. Also, perhaps it's fate, but ever since Natsukawa Tora transferred to her class ten years ago, they've been classmates and even sat next to each other.

It was almost as if there was some kind of magnetic force between the two of them.

This resulted in them spending almost 24 hours a day together.

"Here you go, Tiger, this is today's breakfast."

As she spoke, Sajou Aika took a box out of her bag, which contained two sandwiches and a bottle of milk.

With his parents away from home for most of the year, and despite being skilled at it, he didn't want to wash the dishes afterwards—a large part of the reason why Natsukawa Tora was able to survive these ten years was because of his childhood friend, Sajou Aika.

She prepares three meals a day for him, except for dinner. For dinner, she takes Natsukawa Tora back to her house to eat together. Like Natsukawa Tora's parents, Sajo Aika's parents are both office workers who work overtime. Although they come back to stay at night, in reality, Sajo Aika, like Natsukawa Tora, can be said to live alone.

How should I put it... it's like two abandoned children coming together to help each other survive.

Even though most of the time it was Ayaka Sajo who took care of Torakawa.

"I'm really sorry to trouble you like this every day, Aigo. You must have gotten up really early today too, right?"

"If you feel bad about it, then please cook for me tonight. Besides, I didn't get up very early; I prepared it before going to bed last night, so I just need to heat it up this morning."

Sajo Aika laughed.

"Let me think about what Tiger should cook tonight. I'll have to cherish this opportunity to have you cook."

"What's there to cherish? Just tell me what you want to eat, and I'll make it for you."

"The Manchu Han Imperial Feast?"

"Uh... this is a bit too much for my wallet... besides, some of these ingredients might not be available, right? And can you even eat that much?" Natsukawa Tora shook his head awkwardly. "Let's choose something more realistic."

"I didn't say I had to eat it, just kidding."

With her hands behind her back, Ayaka Sajou walked forward while thinking carefully: "Then... omelet rice? And you should draw rose patterns on it with ketchup."

"Isn't that a bit too difficult? Can't you just write it down? Or draw a heart?"

"How about writing 'ILOVEYOU'?"

"Okay, at least it's easier than drawing roses."

Hearing that her request had been granted, Aika Sajou immediately hugged Torakawa's arm: "Then I'm starting to look forward to dinner tonight, Torakawa. I love you the most."

"Yes, yes, I like you the most too, Aige."

"That's so perfunctory... Please be serious."

"I'm very serious."

......

Behind a telephone pole not far from the two people.

As Sajou Aika and Natsukawa Tora walked intimately together towards the school, a figure behind them trembled slightly.

"They're so intimate, it seems the situation is getting out of control... Anyway, let's stick to the plan for now."

"I'm counting on you for support, Mary."

In the sunlight, a golden ahoge (cowlick) gleamed.