To become a king and a magician

Natsukawa Tora suddenly wanted to ask Kotomine Risei about the details of what happened back then.

He loves watching women fight.

"Mr. Xia Chuan."

Kotomine Risei's voice pulled Natsukawa Tora back to reality.

"In this Holy Grail War, you are the only ordinary person. If possible, please summon your Servant as soon as possible to ensure your safety. Also, if your Servant is destroyed, please come to the Church immediately. The Church will protect Masters who have lost Servants in the Holy Grail War. Please remember this."

"Okay, I'll remember that."

After a pause, Natsukawa Torato asked again, "Um, could you reveal the specific time of the Holy Grail War? And who are the other participants besides me, so I can be mentally prepared?"

"..."

Seemingly hesitant about whether to tell Natsukawa Toramaru, Kotomine Rissho remained silent for a while before sighing: "Once all the participants have arrived in Fuyuki City, the Holy Grail War will officially begin. At that time, I will summon all the Masters to the church to listen to the rules, and I will also send Kirei to inform you."

"As for the contestants, it won't hurt to tell you."

"The Einzbern, Matou, and Tohsaka families are the three founding families of the Holy Grail War, each with a fixed spot. The Einzbern family has hired the mage assassin Kiritsugu Emiya, the Tohsaka family has the younger brother of the current head of the family, Tokiomi, and the Matou family is yet to be confirmed, but they will definitely be there."

"The remaining four are you, my son, and the last two are magicians from the Clock Tower in London—after all this talk, you've never heard of these people before, have you? Anyway, as an ordinary person, just try your best to survive."

(Emiya Kiritsugu, Tokiomi Tohsaka, Kirei Kotomine, Kenneth... these four should remain the same, and the Queen will also remain the same if the timeline doesn't change. That leaves Matou.)

Thinking of this, Natsukawa Tora smiled and bowed to Kotomine Risei: "Thank you very much for your information and instructions, Father Kotomine. I will keep them in mind. Farewell."

"Okay. Kirei, give this to little friend Xia Chuan."

"No, no need. I think... I'll do something myself, so I won't trouble Mr. Kotomine."

5. Old bug biss

Natsukawa Tora is currently at Fuyuki Central Park.

He casually found a chair, sat down, and stared at the flock of pigeons in the distance for a long time. Finally, Natsukawa Tora sighed heavily, "Haaah~~~~~ It really won't work. Going to the Matou family or something..."

After leaving the Fuyuki Church, Natsukawa Torara headed to the Matou family—no, to be precise, he planned to go to the Matou family. Just like every transmigrator who longs to change a tragedy, even though Natsukawa Torara knew his powerlessness, if something could be changed, he would try his best to change it.

The tragedy of the Matou family is one example.

Sakura Tohsaka and Kariya Matou. These two can be said to be the two most tragic figures in the Fourth Holy Grail War. The former was adopted into the Matou family and renamed Sakura Matou. Her body was modified from the inside out (literally) by that old insect Zouken Matou using disgusting insect manipulation techniques, and she was tortured for an unknown amount of time in a basement full of insects.

For decades afterward, until the start of the Fifth Holy Grail War, Matou Sakura lived a life devoid of any light.

The same applies to Matou Kariya.

Having once escaped Zouken Matou's control, he returned to the Matou family in order to save Sakura from her suffering. After being tortured and transformed by the Crest Worms for a year, he was completely transformed into a non-human demon and his mind went mad. The only motivation that kept him alive was to save Sakura and her mother Aoi, and to take revenge on Tokiomi Tohsaka.

But he never knew until his death that Sakura had already been trapped in the insect pit long before he returned to the Matou family, and everything he had done was in vain.

Natsukawa Tora desperately wanted to change this tragedy.

But he couldn't do it.

"If I were to rely on myself, I wouldn't even be able to break through the Matou family's magic barrier, let alone face Zouken Matou head-on later. I would definitely die."

Zouken Matou is a great magician who has lived for hundreds of years. Even though his soul has decayed, his magic skills are still there. It would be easy for an ordinary person to deal with him.

Of course, conversely, using Arthur's power to deal with Matou Zouken would be a piece of cake. Mystery loses its meaning in the face of higher mystery. As a Servant, Arthur's mystery level far exceeds that of magic. It would be quite easy for him to single-handedly rescue Matou Sakura and Matou Kariya and destroy the Matou family.

But this will create several problems.

First, it might reveal that he has already summoned a Servant. At this stage, everyone is like hunters in a dark forest, and no one will make the first move, as that would directly cause them to lose the initiative in the subsequent war. The worst-case scenario is that Arthur's true name will be revealed.

Secondly, because of his involvement, Kariya Matou might not participate in the Holy Grail War, and his corrupted father-in-law wouldn't appear, leaving no one to draw Gilgamesh's hatred. Furthermore, due to Kariya Matou's withdrawal, there aren't enough Masters, and the Holy Grail might just pick some troublesome character from some obscure corner to fill the gap.

Finally, that's his own problem.

"Because I have no magic, or rather, very little magic, Arthur can only draw magic from food, so his combat power is not stable."

Arthur had already explained this when he was summoned: in normal times, things would be fine, but once war broke out, Arthur's need for magic would skyrocket. Natsukawa Torato certainly couldn't afford that amount of magic; in that case, he would have to sacrifice his life force as a substitute.

In other words, if Natsukawa Tora wants Arthur to unleash his full potential, he'll have to spend a fortune, and a lot of money at that! It's even possible that Arthur might die on the spot if he were to use his Noble Phantasm. That's what Arthur said.

So initially, Natsukawa Torato thought that he would try to resolve the Matou family's affairs on his own without relying on Arthur.

However, after just one close encounter with the Matou family, Natsukawa Torara knew he was truly incapable.

(Just standing a distance from that house made my legs tremble and my whole body go cold. I felt like someone was watching me from behind... If I continued forward, no, if I stopped, I would definitely be under the old bug's gaze by now.)

Xia Chuanhu has no cheat codes or special abilities, so he can't do anything.

"Let's go back."

Kirei Kotomine said the church had already arranged for him to take the morning off, so instead of sighing and complaining here, he might as well go home and find Arthur. Surely the upright and kind King of Knights wouldn't refuse a request to save someone.

--------------------------

[Go home and find Arthur to fight the Matou family dungeon]

Natsukawa Tora is right to think that way.

But when he saw the blond, handsome man in uniform standing at the entrance of a family restaurant, greeting customers, Natsukawa Tiger rubbed his eyes several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things or had mistaken the man for someone else, and then rushed forward in three steps at a time.

"Arthur, you idiot, what are you doing here?!"

Xia Chuanhu grabbed Arthur by the collar and shouted in a hoarse voice.

"I told you never, ever to come out! But why are you here working as a waiter?!"

"Ah...Ma——"

"Wait a minute, why are you yelling at Mr. Arthur?"

Before Arthur could speak, several female customers surrounding him pushed Natsukawa Tiger away with unpleasant expressions.

"He cut in line right away and yelled at people. Doesn't he have any manners? -- Are you alright, Mr. Arthur? Did this guy's spittle get on your face? Let me wipe it for you."

(These women!)

Seeing Natsukawa Tora's darkened face as he was kept outside, Arthur knew he had truly angered Master this time. He hurriedly said to the female customers, "I'm sorry, ladies, he really is an acquaintance of mine. I have some things to discuss with him. Please come in and dine. —Manager, four guests!"

"Alright, this way please!"

After somewhat forcefully escorting the several budding female guests into the restaurant, Arthur pulled Natsukawa Tiger into a small alley across from the restaurant.

With his arms crossed and a displeased look on his face, Xia Chuanhu leaned against the wall and asked irritably, "Tell me, what happened? I told you a thousand times not to run away! You've been having a great time out there, haven't you? How can you face Princess Guinevere?"

"I'm so sorry, Master! And please rest assured, Guinevere is very magnanimous and won't be jealous over something like this. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to attend the Round Table Knights' meeting."

"Hmph!" Natsukawa Torato curled his lip. "Then why did you run out to work as a waiter? To experience life? And it seems like you've been doing it for quite a while now?"

“I mainly wanted to share some of the pressure with you, Master,” Arthur replied earnestly. “Master, you go to school during the day and then go straight to work after school, sometimes even working until late at night. You’re already struggling to make ends meet on your own, and now with me on the side, you’re not even getting enough to eat.”

"So I was thinking of ways to help you lighten your burden, Master, for example, by covering some of the household expenses, or by going out to find a job to increase your income... I'm sorry, I've disobeyed Master's order not to let me go out. I will resign after I finish my part-time job today."

Arthur's explanation silenced Natsukawa Tora.

It wasn't that he didn't know what to say, but he was somewhat surprised by Arthur's actions and thoughts. Would a Servant really go out to work to alleviate the pressure of life? Or would a Heroic Spirit put down their dignity to work for someone else?

Look how long Saber has been freeloading at Emiya's house.

“Arthur… how much do you look down on me?” Natsukawa Tora sighed. “It’s tiring to feed two people, but I haven’t fallen to the point where I need your help. You’re making it sound like I’m in a terrible state and about to collapse. Don’t underestimate me, you bastard.”

"Um, I'm sorry, Master."

"But still, thank you anyway (in a low voice)."

"Huh? Master, what did you say?"

"I didn't say anything! You don't need to quit this job! Keep going, I'm happy to have someone relieved of their burden!"

Seeing his Master turn his head away, Arthur couldn't help but smile: "Yes."

"Oh right, I almost forgot the important thing, what time do you get off work?"

"Eight o'clock in the evening."

“Then… come with me somewhere tonight, Arthur.” After hesitating for a moment, Natsukawa Tora still grasped Arthur’s hand. “I need your strength to help me with something, Arthur.”

6. Probably the last of my daily life.

After having lunch at the family restaurant where Arthur worked, Natsukawa Tiger went to school.

"Ah... The food at this family restaurant is really good. How long has it been since I've had anything other than bread and rice balls? I wish I could eat hot rice every day."

Two weeks ago, Xia Chuanhu could still afford to buy groceries and cook for himself at the supermarket, since he was alone. But with the arrival of King Arthur, Xia Chuanhu simply didn't have the financial means to feed the king's stomach. Besides, he had eaten all his savings on the very night he summoned Arthur...

The reason we were able to have lunch at the family restaurant was thanks to Arthur; the cost of the meal was deducted from Arthur's salary. Natsukawa Tora initially refused, but Arthur said it was punishment for him going out without permission.

"Xia Chuan, you've finally come to school."

A boy walked over and started talking to Natsukawa Tiger.

"Someone came to ask for leave for you this morning, saying there was an emergency. Did something happen at your home?"

"Ah, it's nothing, it's nothing serious, thank you for your concern, Liu Dong."

Ryudou, whose full name is Ryudou Reikan, is the only son of Ryudou-ji Temple, a famous temple in Fuyuki City, and the next abbot. He is a classmate and class president of Natsukawa Tora, and also serves as the student council president.

He placed the bag he was carrying on Natsukawa Tiger's table and said with a smile, "Here, this is for you."

"What?"

Upon opening the bag, I saw it was a bento box containing rice balls.

"Is this a gift for me?"

"Yeah, didn't you complain about not being able to afford food the other day? I noticed you looked a bit off during PE class yesterday. You haven't been eating well these past few days, have you?"

"Did you eat... two pieces of bread last night?"

Liu Dongling frowned: "Are you practicing asceticism? How can we, at our age, only eat two pieces of bread for dinner? And I haven't seen you eat lunch lately either."

"I don't usually make bento boxes. If I buy them at a convenience store... well, I'll ask the manager when I go back to work if they can give me the ones that are about to expire."

"Natsukawa, is your life a bit miserable?" Ryudou Reikon sighed deeply. "Anyway, if you don't mind, please accept these rice balls. If you ever have a real hard time in the future, just come to the temple and find me, and I will help you."

"No, no, I'm not that down on my luck. If I fight with all my might, I can still survive. — I'll shamelessly accept the rice ball. I'll return the favor next time. Thanks, Ryu-dong."

Looking at Natsukawa Tora's somewhat forced smile, Ryudou Reikan sighed again: "Forget about the return gift, just be sure you can come back to the student council to help out again."

"Please help me... I might not be available today."