To become a king and a magician

Sajou Aika smiled and said, "Yes, Torato is going to show the new transfer students around the school. I'll go upstairs and wait for him."

"The transfer student... oh, is that the one?"

A student by the window suddenly looked out and said...

"You're all blonde, just like you, and quite pretty... But this direction, is it towards the back of the teaching building? Is that where we go to get familiar with the school?"

"Behind the teaching building?"

Sajō Aika walked to the window with some doubt and looked down. Just as the students next to her had said, she could see Natsukawa Tora and Artoria walking together towards the back of the teaching building.

Wasn't the purpose of going there to familiarize myself with the school?

Generally, you'd go to places like the cafeteria and infirmary, right? Is there anything worth exploring behind the teaching building? Are you suggesting I check out the parking shed? While you can get there from the back, wouldn't it be faster from the stadium side?

"It must have been Pendragon who requested it. Maybe she just wanted to go over there and take a look?"

Shaking her head, Aika Sajou walked up to the rooftop with a smile.

"I'm going to the rooftop now. See you all later."

"Well, goodbye, Sajou-kun."

4. Who is the person suffering from chuunibyou (middle school syndrome)?

Behind the teaching building is a very open space. Usually, no one comes here. Only when some students want to confess to someone they like will they invite someone to come here.

Normally, this is just a quiet open space.

"So? What exactly is it you want to tell me, Pendragon?"

"I asked Natsukawa Tiger with some curiosity."

Stopping and turning around, Artoria looked at Natsukawa Torato: "There's no need to use such formal terms here, Master. Just call me Lia as usual."

"The same as usual?" Natsukawa Tora frowned. "We...know each other before?"

"Eh? Master, have you forgotten?"

"Forgot what?"

Looking at Natsukawa Torama's puzzled expression, Artoria couldn't help but wonder—she had initially thought that Natsukawa Torama was pretending not to recognize her because Sajō Ayaka and others were present, but now it seemed... he had lost his memory?

But didn't Sajou Rei say that her consciousness had simply fallen into a deep sleep?

Meanwhile, Natsukawa Tora's situation was similar to Artoria's.

Artoria Pendragon—he had felt a strange familiarity with the name since just now, but he couldn't remember where he had met her before, or even that he had any memory of her.

A silence began to spread between the two.

After gazing at Natsukawa Torato and pondering for a moment, Artoria sighed softly: "I understand. It seems you really don't remember me. Then let me introduce myself again. I am Artoria Pendragon, the knight entrusted by your parents to protect you. We met a few times ten years ago. I thought you would still remember me, but it seems you have forgotten."

"Aha?"

Like a computer with high latency, after standing there stunned for a while, Xia Chuanhu covered his head and quickly took several steps back: "Wait a minute, let me sort this out... were you sent by my parents?"

"Yes."

"Protect me?"

Artoria nodded.

"But I haven't encountered any danger at all."

“If you wait until you encounter danger to come, it will be too late. In fact, there are already some crises lurking around you, Master. I came here to protect you from those crises.”

"A lurking crisis... Did you copy this setting from some novel?"

Natsukawa Tora's sudden words surprised Artoria.

Novel? Setting?

"what is that?"

"Huh? No, you're not? I thought you were just having chuunibyou, fantasizing about some huge world crisis and that I was the one who could save the world, so you had to protect me... or something like that. Turns out you're not?"

"......"

For a moment, Artoria didn't know how to answer, and in her mind, bursts of laughter kept echoing.

[I can't take it anymore, I can't believe Tiger was like this back in his school days... Was he just a latent chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) sufferer?]

Saving the world... in a way, that's not wrong.

[My brother looked like this ten years ago...]

Through magic connected to her consciousness, Artoria could clearly hear the voices of several people in the real world.

(Please be serious, this concerns the Master's safety—Merry, what should we do in a situation like this?)

[That's true. To be honest, even the current king wouldn't believe it. Anyway, let's just tell you part of the story for now, and we'll talk about the rest when the crisis arrives. After all, it'll be soon—right, Zero?]

[Yes, judging from Lia's time, the first time will happen tonight. However, Lia, you can't use any of your power there, so remember to stay with your master so you can fight.]

(I see.)

Shall we start by telling part of the truth?

Artoria paused for a moment before saying, "I'm not a chuunibyou, Master. The crisis does exist, or to put it simply... [a monster]."

"Is this a copy of Ultraman?" Natsukawa Tora rubbed his forehead. "Pendragon, if possible, could we go and familiarize ourselves with the school first? Also, your level of chuunibyou is so low. The chuunibyou people I know even come up with their own original settings."

“This isn’t chuunibyou, Master—I know this is something you can’t believe, but you’ll understand tonight anyway.”

"tonight?"

"Wei Yuanchuan, a [monster] will appear over there tonight."

Does it also contain prophecies?

Xia Chuanhu's lips twitched: "Pendragon, aren't you adding a bit too many settings for yourself? A knight, an Ultraman, a prophet, are there too many settings for you to remember?"

I still don't believe it.

Artoria sighed helplessly, "That's all I have to say. I'll tell you the rest after we defeat the monster tonight, Master. I'll take my leave now."

"Ah, wait a minute, don't we need to familiarize ourselves with the school?"

"Please don't worry, I've already memorized the layout of the school on the way here. Natsukawa, why don't you go have lunch with Sajou? It's not proper for a gentleman to keep a lady waiting."

"Wasn't it because you were going to bring me here?"

Natsukawa Tora pursed his lips and turned to leave when Artoria's voice came again: "By the way, about Sajou-san... I'd like to hear your opinion of her, Natsukawa-san. What kind of person is she? Especially to you."

"What kind of person is Ai Ge to me?"

Stopping in his tracks, Natsukawa Tora stood there for a while, thinking: "It's really hard to say. If I had to say... the person who makes me feel at ease when they're around is probably this."

"Is that so? I understand."

Watching Natsukawa Tora depart, Artoria connected her consciousness to a communication magic spell.

(That's how it was our first meeting, Mary...)

[Zero, can you explain why His Majesty the King made that comment about little Aika?]

[I don't know how the other me was created. Maybe it replaced the impression Grey had in the master's mind?]

[Despicable! This tactic is utterly despicable!]

[However, the setting over there seems to be that the master and the other me are childhood sweethearts for ten years, so it's not surprising that I have such thoughts.]

Using such methods to forcibly increase favorability is simply cheating!

(.......)

Artoria silently cut off the communication and sighed softly—it seemed that she couldn't count on them for the time being.

"Anyway, I'll make some preparations for tonight's battle first."

5. Who is the person secretly watching?

The school rooftop.

When Natsukawa Tora pushed open the door, the first thing he saw was Sajou Aika sitting on the ground not far away, looking up at the sky.

Seemingly hearing the door open, Aika Sajou turned her gaze to the doorway and waved to Torakawa: "Is it over already, Torakawa?"

"It's less like the end and more like she said a bunch of nonsensical things to me and then ran off on her own." Natsukawa Tiger sat down next to her. "You probably saw it too, right? She took me to the back of the teaching building. I thought she was going to tell me something important, but it seems like she's just a chuunibyou."

"Chuunibyou?"

"They say I'm a knight sent by my parents to protect me, and that there might be a monster tonight... There are just too many miscellaneous settings, and the composition is very complicated."

"I don't know much about this... To put it simply, nothing happened between you and Pendragon?"

"Huh? What happened? What's going on?"

Xia Chuanhu, who had just taken a bite of rice, asked frankly.

Sajou Aika shook her head slightly: "No, I was just talking to myself... But you just said I saw it? Did you spot me, Torato, when I saw you upstairs earlier?"

"Ah."

"How did you find out? I didn't see you look up."

“At that time, I felt a sense of security down there, which was enough for me to tell whether you were watching me or not,” Natsukawa Tiger said with a smile. “I told you this morning, having you by my side gives me a sense of security.”

Is that all?

Watching Natsukawa Torama begin to devour his lunch, Sajou Aika remained silent for a moment before suddenly laughing: "Heh, what's the big deal? Am I that important to Torama?"

"Without you, I wouldn't even have food to eat. What else could it be but important?"

"I sometimes get up early and cook for myself."

"I'm lazy. And washing the dishes and pots afterwards is such a hassle, it's so convenient to have you here."

The reason was quite straightforward and simple, and also very much in Natsukawa Torato's style: his childhood friend usually lacked enthusiasm for doing things, something Sajo Aika knew, and her suggestion that he cook for himself was just a casual remark.

After all, if Natsukawa Tora suddenly started cooking for herself, she would really be at a loss.

Part of my sense of self-worth has vanished—that's roughly the feeling.