To become a king and a magician

"But where can we find a better sacred site?"

"Hmm..."

After thinking for a moment while touching her lips, Mary clapped her hands: "How about Glastonbury?"

9. Glastonbury

Five days later, on Saturday, Glastonbury.

Walking on the dirt road across the plain, looking out over the endless Somerset Plain, Natsukawa Tiger's vision was filled with green grass and some old stone buildings.

"So they still came..."

Natsukawa Tora wasn't too surprised that Merry suggested coming to Glastonbury.

In the world of magic, especially for necromancers, Glastonbury is a must-visit place. The best place to perform necromance is usually in a cemetery, especially one built on a spiritual vein. If the deceased had any lingering attachments in life, those attachments will turn into earthbound spirits, vengeful spirits, or even evil spirits after death, lingering on the ground and unable to be reborn. Therefore, performing necromances in a cemetery is much more convenient.

Of course, it doesn't necessarily have to be a real cemetery; just having the concept of a cemetery is enough. This conceptual association is a very important aspect of magic. Lower-level spirits lack consciousness, and they will linger wherever the concept of a cemetery exists.

Glastonbury, on the other hand, is like a "starter village" for necromancers. It is the famous tomb of King Arthur, and perhaps because of this, it is quite easy to summon spirits here.

Conversely, if you can't successfully use necromancy here, then you shouldn't continue being a necromancy practitioner.

If it were any other magician, they would certainly have chosen Glastonbury as the best option.

but.......

Natsukawa Tora looked at the monastery not far away.

Is that the place?

"Xia Chuan, what are you doing over there?"

Meili, who was walking ahead, suddenly turned around and asked, then, as if she understood something, gave a knowing smile: "Are you shy? Because you're about to meet 'him' in this world?"

"No, why would I be shy around a guy?" Natsukawa Tora rolled his eyes. "It's just... should I say I'm looking forward to it? Or maybe I don't want to see him? It's like a child who has been away from home for a long time because of a fight with their parents, finally wants to go home for the New Year, but keeps hesitating at the door and doesn't dare to go in."

"Your analogy is quite bizarre and detailed. Could it be that you ran away from home before?"

"You said it yourself, it's a metaphor."

With a slight sigh, Natsukawa Tora gazed at the monastery again, then tugged at his backpack: "Let's go, Merlin. We're already here, and there's no way we can avoid seeing that guy now."

"Perfect timing, I've been missing him a bit too."

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

The monastery was quite spacious, with bright sunlight shining directly onto the only wooden plank in the room.

HicjacetArthurusRexquondamRexquefuturus (The Eternal King Arthur rests here)

Looking at the epitaph, Natsukawa Tiger put down his backpack and sat down slowly on the grass, facing the rather simple tombstone.

"This is not his actual tombstone."

Standing behind him, Meryl also looked at the tombstone and said, "But for a long time, this place has been regarded as his final resting place. In terms of magic, this can also be considered his conceptual tombstone."

"..."

"Say whatever you want to say, even though he probably can't hear you."

What are you going to say?

Even so, Natsukawa Torato couldn't think of anything he wanted to say to him... no, it should be said that he had too much to say, so he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Looking at the silent Natsukawa Tora, Meryl sighed softly: "I'll wait for you outside."

"Um......"

He heard the sound of Mary's footsteps leaving behind him. Xia Chuanhu crossed his legs and reached out to try to touch the tombstone, but he immediately withdrew his hand. He pursed his lips and then sighed helplessly.

"How should I put it? In a situation like this... I guess it's best to—"

"It's been a long time, Arthur. Also, although it's a year late, it's mainly because you left first that I couldn't say it, but... anyway, thank you, Arthur. Thank you for giving me a second life."

"Honestly, there's so much I want to say to you. As much as the stars in the sky, but no matter what I say, you probably won't hear it..."

Even so, Natsukawa Torato still had one question for Arthur.

A year ago, after he died—

"Why did you save me, Arthur?"

This is a question that Natsukawa Tora has often pondered over the past year.

[Killing may require a reason, but saving lives does not]—He certainly didn't think Arthur would save him for such a simple reason, although it did seem like something he would do. But Natsukawa Tiger instinctively felt that Arthur must have had other reasons for giving him a second life.

Why did Arthur save himself? What did he want to do? And what should he do now that he had been given this life?

Natsukawa Torato wanted to know all of this.

But no one could answer him; he had to figure it out himself.

Why do I live? Why am I still alive? And how do I want to live?

Natsukawa Tora pondered this for a very long time, and finally, before receiving Kenneth's letter, he came to a conclusion.

“Arthur, you have saved me many times. You saved my life, so... I will use this life that you saved to save others in the future. Although I don’t know how far I can go, I will do my best to help others as far as my hands can reach.”

"I suppose this is what a 'knight' should be like, the 'Knight King'?"

At this point, Natsukawa Tiger couldn't help but chuckle.

"Speaking of which, I'm not even a knight, so I don't really have the right to talk about chivalry in front of you, do I? It's a good thing you can't hear me right now, otherwise... no, given your personality, you probably wouldn't laugh at me, would you?"

"But it doesn't matter. Even if you laugh at me, my thoughts and my decision to live in the future will not change."

Even if the Holy Grail War ends, life will continue. For the next few years, decades, or even a century, Natsukawa Tora will live for this cause.

Standing up from the grass, Natsukawa Tiger brushed the grass off his clothes.

"That's settled then, Arthur. I'll come see you again when I have time. I'm currently in Britain, and although I'm quite busy with my studies, I should be able to make time on weekends. Don't find me annoying then."

Goodbye, Saber.

He waved to the tombstone, then turned and walked away.

Unbeknownst to Xia Chuanhu, the very next instant he turned around, a figure he knew all too well appeared behind him like a projection, for a fleeting moment even shorter than the blink of an eye.

Goodbye, Master. May your future be filled with wonderful experiences.

10. Ghost: Holy crap, a ghost!

After waiting under the tree for half an hour, Meili finally saw Natsukawa Tora return.

"Did you say goodbye properly?"

"Hmm... I guess so. Putting aside his side, I just said what I wanted to say." Natsukawa Tora laughed. "Besides, saying goodbye... isn't really it. During my time at the Clock Tower, I'll probably come here from time to time. I always feel very at ease here."

"If I really have to say goodbye, it will probably be after I graduate from the Clock Tower."

Hearing these lighthearted words, Merry understood that Natsukawa Tora had truly bid farewell to the Holy Grail War of a year ago. Through his meeting with Arthur across time, he had stepped out of the past and shifted his focus from the past to the present and the future.

With a smile, Meryl said, "That's good. Now that we've finished catching up, let's get down to business."

"it is good."

Neither of them had forgotten why they had come to Glastonbury today. Seeing Arthur again was just a side thing; the main purpose was to complete the homework assigned by Webber—the basic experiment of spirit summoning.

"I asked Weber before I came. As long as I successfully summon the spirit, complete a small experiment using the spirit, and write a report on the results, I will have completed the assignment."

"Really? As an assignment for all basic courses, it's surprisingly easy."

The basic courses, to put it simply, are courses designed to lay a foundation for students. The scope of instruction includes general knowledge of magic, similar magic and infection magic, ley lines, and the study of the Great Source.

Strictly speaking, the actual practice of spirit summoning is not part of the overall basic course content, but the foundation of spirit summoning is considered to be within the scope of common knowledge. Weber's teaching philosophy advocates combining practice and theory, which is why this homework assignment was created.

If it were any other lecturer, they would probably just hand out a Q&A handout as homework.

After thinking for a moment about Weber's standards, Meryl continued, "Speaking of which, Natsukawa, do you know the most basic spirit summoning technique?"

"I've memorized the textbook-like phrases by rote, but I haven't actually put them into practice yet."

"OK~~~ After that, watch me demonstrate it once, and then you can use it on your own. I'll guide you from the side."

"it is good."

——————————————————————————————————

It can only be said that she is indeed a magician who is a candidate for Grand Rank Heroic Spirit. Although spirit summoning is not Merry's specialty, she can apply what she learns to other magics. In addition, with the passage of time, Merry's teaching is more efficient and even easier to understand than Waver's, in Natsukawa Torato's opinion.

Therefore, under Meryl's guidance, Natsukawa Torama only needed to practice the spirit summoning technique twice before he was able to summon spirits without further instruction.

This should have been a happy thing, but the problem is—

"Gan!"

Looking at the magic circle that had gone dark again, Natsukawa Tora curled his lip.

Seeing his expression, Meryl couldn't help but laugh and said, "Failed again? Same old story?"

"Yeah, same old story. The summoned spirit has run away again."

Natsukawa Tora replied with a hint of helplessness.

Yes, Natsukawa Tiger has indeed mastered the spirit summoning technique. He can activate it without any problem and successfully summon spirits. However, the problem is that the summoned spirits flee the moment they see Natsukawa Tiger!

The specific reason was clear to Natsukawa himself—his demonic eye.

Although low-level spirits don't have much intelligence, they still have instincts. Natsukawa Torama's Mystic Eyes are the ultimate killer for spirits. Servant-type spirits are fine, but low-level spirits will run as far away as possible, fearing that they will be gone if they are even glanced at.

Even with the Demon Eye Killing ability, to low-level spirits, Natsukawa Tora is no different from a super demon king.

“What I taught you was basic magic, and it only summoned low-level spirits… How about trying some advanced magic?” Meryl suggested. “If it’s a high-level spirit, maybe it won’t be scared away by you.”

"But I don't know advanced spirit summoning techniques."

"Then... shall we go somewhere else? Glastonbury is a nice place, but it's actually a geomantically auspicious place, so it's unlikely that any high-level spirits would exist here. How about we find a mass grave or an ancient battlefield or something? Oh right! Camlann Hill should be fine, right?"

Should we go to the Hill of Camlann to summon the spirits?

Natsukawa Tiger rolled his eyes: "Let's save our breath. I feel like if we go there to use the spirit summoning spell, we might summon something really terrible. Besides, it's just a simple spirit summoning homework assignment. There's no need to go to a place like that."

"But in that case, wouldn't your assignment be considered a failure?"