To become a king and a magician

How dare you say that?

Even so, at this moment, Natsukawa Tiger couldn't muster the desire to argue with her. It was rare for Meryl to speak to him so humbly, and to be honest, his mind, heart, and eyes were completely occupied by her.

"If you want me to spend time with you alone, why don't you just say so directly? Why are you being so secretive?"

"Hmm... there will definitely be someone trying to sabotage it, like Ai Ge or something, Ai Ge or something... and that's not their style."

She was so frank just a moment ago, but now she's being stubborn. Fortunately, Natsukawa Tora has some experience dealing with stubborn people like this. He took Meryl's hand and pressed their foreheads together.

"Then let's just say that's what I want to do now."

"Let this be a substitute for proposing to you at the end of the Holy Grail War. Spend some time alone with me, Merry."

Just this once.

Before the burning of human reason

1. Some past events

London, the magical city.

To maintain the mystery of the magic, it appears to blend seamlessly into the city of London, but in reality, it uses various magical techniques to hide the city, centered around the clock tower, within the city of London—that's roughly the kind of place it is.

This place is home to most of the magicians in the Western magic world. Nine out of ten people who are interested in studying magic will come here to learn.

The Clock Tower is divided into twelve disciplines, eleven of which have existed since the Clock Tower was built and have continued to develop for thousands of years. The twelfth discipline is the Modern Magic Discipline, which was only recognized nearly a hundred years ago and remains without a monarch to this day.

In addition, there are a number of related departments such as the Seal Investigation Bureau, the Secret Ritual Judgment Bureau, and the Secret Remains Dissection Bureau—the Clock Tower is roughly structured in this way.

And now, in the academic city of mineralogy, one of the twelve disciplines—

"Haa...haa...haa..."

A young girl wearing a red coat was running quickly down the road, carrying a handbag full of things in one hand and a rather large suitcase in the other, as if she was in a hurry to get somewhere.

In fact it is.

"Oh no! I asked Mr. Velvet too many questions after class, which made me miss the bus—I definitely won't be able to get to the new apartment on time! I was supposed to be there before 6:30!"

Velvet—in this academic city of minerals, any magician should have heard of his name, more or less.

His full name is Waver Velvet. Ten years ago, he was just an unknown nobody who liked to dream big. But after participating in the Holy Grail War ten years ago and surviving, he returned with Lord El-Melloi and quickly showed a rather special talent under the Lord's command. Although his level as a magician was only third-rate, he had a magical talent for educating others.

During the years he served as a teacher in the El-Melloi classroom, some students who were previously considered problem children actually achieved high magical ranks, including not only priests but also priests, and some even had the potential to reach the color rank.

Furthermore, Weber Velvet's teaching did not only cover mineralogy; he also touched upon other disciplines to some extent, albeit at a basic level, but with some unique insights.

Thanks to this, El-Melloi classroom courses have become the most attended courses in the Clock Tower in recent years, and Webber Velvet, the teacher, has been the most highly regarded teacher in the Clock Tower for several consecutive years.

The girl was one of the many students who came to attend the class because of its reputation. She had just graduated from the basic course last year. Although she had learned more than the basic course level due to family reasons, she had diligently completed the five-year basic course in order to consolidate her basic knowledge. She transferred to the minerals course only half a year ago.

However, due to some family matters in Japan, the girl actually returned to Japan shortly after transferring to the Minerals Department, and only returned these past two days. Weber Velvet's class was the first Minerals Department class she attended.

Right now, she is on her way to her apartment. The Clock Tower assigns apartments during the entire basic course and also after students transfer to other courses. However, living there is quite expensive. The girl's family is not particularly wealthy, so to save money, she specifically found an apartment in the academic city that is quite inexpensive.

Today was the day she was supposed to move in, but because Weber Velvet's lectures were so effective, she couldn't help but ask several questions that had been bothering her for a while after class, so now she couldn't take a car to the apartment and had to walk there.

However... perhaps because of the low price, compared to the student apartments located in the academic city and only a few minutes away from the classroom, the apartment the girl rented was almost on the edge of the academic city, almost outside of it. It was an extremely remote place, and if you didn't take a car and relied on running, it would take at least several tens of minutes.

Running for several tens of minutes straight is an enormous amount of exercise for a young girl, and she already feels like she can't keep going anymore.

"Haaah...haaah...this is really the end for me...I hope the apartment management will raise my rent?"

Leaning against a telephone pole, panting heavily, the girl glanced at her watch. In just two or three minutes, she would be past the agreed time, and there was no way she would make it in time.

Will she not even have a place to sleep tonight?

"Um... is there anything I can help you with?"

Just then, a soft-sounding voice came from beside her ear. The girl turned her head and saw a blonde girl bending over and looking at her, holding a bag of bread and groceries. She looked like she had just come from the supermarket. Standing next to her was a girl who looked almost exactly like her, but with cherry blossom-colored hair.

Are they twins? It's quite rare to see twins with different hair colors. They both look like they're only fifteen or sixteen years old.

Shaking her head, the girl smiled wryly, "Well... because I didn't manage my time well, I'm a little late to the new apartment. I had agreed with the landlord that I would go to the apartment around this time."

"A new apartment?"

"This point?"

The two, who looked like twins, exchanged a glance, as if they both remembered something. Then the one with cherry blossom hair asked, "Could you be the Tohsaka-san that Miss Merry mentioned was going to be moving in today?"

"Eh? I... I'm Tohsaka Rin... Do you two know me?"

The blonde girl shook her head: "No, it's just that I heard from Meryl that you were going to move in, and I guessed it after a little speculation. Since we've met here, why don't you come back with us? We live there too."

Are there any other tenants over there?

"Rather than being tenants, it's more like our home. Oh, and I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Artoria, Artoria Pendragon, an Englishwoman. Nice to meet you."

“I am Okita Souji... Well, it's okay if you think of me as the same person you know from history. Although we look alike, we are not twins. I am Japanese, just like you. Nice to meet you.”

"Ah... um... please, please guide me."

2. The condition of this villa is too much like C97.

Villa Camelot.

This is the apartment where Artoria and the others currently live, and it's also the apartment that Rin Tohsaka plans to move into in the future.

And now, in the living room of this apartment.

"I'm so sorry! I'm late because of my poor time management!"

Rin Tohsaka, sitting opposite the apartment's landlady, Meryl, bowed her head earnestly in apology.

Merry waved her hand dismissively: "It's okay, it's okay, it's just a matter of ten minutes to eat. For someone like me who has so much free time, it's nothing. Don't worry about it too much, Ms. Tohsaka."

"Besides, people probably already guessed that you would be late, so if they were prepared, they naturally wouldn't have any complaints. So just relax."

He seems to be a very easy-going landlord.

Although she had felt this way when she last came to see the room, seeing that Merry didn't react at all to her lateness, Rin Tohsaka finally felt relieved. Even though she had lived alone in London for several years, she was still somewhat unfamiliar with the place, and foreigners often encounter all sorts of problems here... It was truly wonderful to have such an easy-going landlady.

"Oh right, that... Ms. Okita and Ms. Pendragon."

Rin Tohsaka looked at the two people sitting not far away: "I really want to thank you both today. If it weren't for you two helping me find my way, I probably wouldn't have gotten here until much, much later. Thank you."

"There's no need to be so polite, Ms. Tohsaka. If you're going to be living here from now on, it means we're family. Family members don't need to be so formal. Helping each other is perfectly normal."

"That's right, mmm..."

"Lia, why don't you finish your food before you talk?" Meryl said with a smile. "So, would you like to see your room, Miss Tohsaka? Although your luggage was delivered this morning, it's still in your room because we didn't know your decorating preferences. There's still some time before dinner, so would you like to tidy it up now?"

"Okay, I'll go now."

Rin Tohsaka immediately stood up, and Merry followed suit: "Let me help you. I'll also tell you about some things in our apartment. Of course, not rules, as there aren't as many rules as in a student dormitory, but there are some things I need to explain to you."

"I understand."

Rin Tohsaka was well aware of this; frankly, she was now living under someone else's roof, and she had to abide by their rules to some extent.

————————————————————————————

When Rin Tohsaka came to see the rooms last time, she had already set her sights on one room, which was the second room on the left side of the second floor, near the stairs.

Just as Meryl said, her belongings, which she had moved out of the dormitory of the entire basic science department, were still in her room. They were mostly clothes, quilts, and sheets, plus some magic tools in her suitcase. That was all her worldly possessions.

“Speaking of which, Miss Meryl, you didn’t mention that there were other tenants here when I came last time.”

While making the bed, Rin Tohsaka casually asked, "Besides Ms. Pendragon, Ms. Okita, and me, are there any other tenants here?"

“Ah, they’re not tenants, they’re the actual residents here.” As she spoke, Merry helped Rin Tohsaka hang her clothes in the closet. “Renting them out as student apartments is just a part-time job. This villa is our home, and you’re the only tenant, Ms. Tohsaka.”

"Besides Lia and Souji, there are actually four other people living here, including me. You'll probably see the other three in a little while, and I think... you should know those three, Miss Tohsaka."

"I know him?"

Rin Tohsaka frowned slightly: "Uh...could it be someone from inside the Clock Tower?"

"You could say that one of them was the Clock Tower's teacher, and the other two were his assistants and attendants."

A teacher?

I hope it wasn't a teacher who knew her. By the way, "him"? Oh, that person was actually a man.

(Why do I have a bad feeling about being a man in this apartment building with so many women?)

After making the bed and taking the comforter and duvet cover out of her luggage, Rin Tohsaka said, "Miss Merry, could you help me? It's a bit troublesome for me to put this comforter on by myself."

"Okay."

Clutching one corner of the blanket she had already put on, Merry sat on the edge of the bed watching Rin Tohsaka putting on the other corner: "Speaking of which... how has your father been lately?"

"Eh? Father? Miss Meryl, do you know my father?"

"You could say that. I spent some time in Fuyuki City two years ago, and I caused your father some trouble back then."

For example, the moonset, the Gundam battle, and the great demon battle... If it weren't for Merry's illusion, Tokiomi Tohsaka would probably have had his blood pressure skyrocket and kicked the bucket watching the Holy Grail War two years ago, right? That was a war that could have destroyed the entire Fuyuki City more than twice over.

(Oh, it's someone my father knows... I'll call my father and ask later.)

"My father is still in good health and is still conducting magic research. However, recently he has gradually shifted his focus to the management of the Tohsaka family, saying that he wants to pave the way for me to become the head of the family. I went back before to deal with some real estate issues."

"He's doing these things, he's really becoming less and less like a magician, but I think a lot of people will be happy with this change in him."

As a magician, Tokiomi Tohsaka's transformation was undoubtedly unacceptable, but what led to this change was his concern for his daughter and his responsibilities as a father.

Compared to personal and familial aspirations, devoting more energy to the upbringing of the next generation can be considered a noble act—this is how King Gilgamesh evaluated it, and to be praised by that king was undoubtedly the highest form of praise for Tokiomi Tohsaka.

After putting on the blanket and taking out some magic tools from her suitcase and placing them on the table, Rin Tohsaka breathed a slight sigh of relief: "That's about it. There are also some daily necessities... I don't have class tomorrow, so I can go buy them. By the way, Miss Merry, what time is the bathing here?"

"Anytime is fine. There aren't many rules here, just don't bump into other people. If I had to say, breakfast and dinner times are relatively fixed, usually at 7:30 and 6:30."

As Meryl's voice fell—

"Hey! Meryl! Come down for dinner!"

A man's voice suddenly came from below.

Mary smiled gently: "Looks like you're back. Let's go down for dinner then, and I'll also introduce you to the other three people you haven't met yet."