To become a king and a magician

41. Borrow your fiancé for a bit.

Looking at Sajou Rei, who was forcing a smile and exuding an ominous aura, Natsukawa Torato, who should have been the master, now felt an unprecedented sense of crisis. If he didn't explain things clearly, he felt that he might not see the sun rise tomorrow!

In every sense of the word.

"Lingyi, Aika, please let me explain. I didn't mean anything bad—"

"Yes, we know that Master did not mean it, but how many times have you done this 'unintentionally'? Miss Hiel's incident only happened yesterday, and it's not even been a day yet, and you're already like a hungry wolf, unable to resist going out to hunt for food? You could have done it anytime you wanted if you had just told us."

If another completely unrelated person were present, they would definitely feel sorry for Sajou Rei – a pitiful maid cruelly abandoned by her beloved master, her pitiful appearance would probably evoke the [hearts] of a lot of compassionate people.

"Or perhaps you, Master, actually enjoy this special kind of play? In that case, I can also set up a personality like that to evoke your protective instincts—"

"Who would be interested in that!"

Natsukawa Torara quickly interrupted Sajou Rei's self-talk. Although he knew she was most likely joking, he had no doubt that if she continued, she might actually modify her own personality—temporarily sealing it away and creating a virtual one for surface management. She was perfectly capable of doing that.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong between me and Chengzi. It's just that Chengzi is going to a rather dangerous place in a few days and wanted me to go with her. I agreed, which is why I said those things!"

"Is it true, Miss Touko?" Sajou Rei looked at Aozaki Touko, who had been watching the show with a smile. "You haven't contacted Master even once in two years, and yet you immediately ask Master for a favor... Forgive my bluntness, but aren't you underestimating Master a bit?"

"You really are loyal to him, but your thinking is quite dark. Of course, I can understand it."

At this point, Aozaki Touko reached out and hooked her arm around Natsukawa Tora's neck, pulling him onto her body and patting his shoulder hard: "But you can rest assured, I would never have any ulterior motives towards my stupid disciple. Or you can think of it this way—besides the boy, I don't think there would be anyone else suitable to be my bodyguard."

"This is my trust in him. Can you accept that?"

trust.

Magicians can deceive anyone, and Aozaki Touko is no exception. She can deceive anyone as long as it's for her own benefit, but she has absolutely no intention of deceiving her apprentice.

—At least trusting him isn't a lie.

Blue eyes stared at Aozaki Touko, as if trying to discern something amiss from her. After a long while, Sajou Rei sighed softly, bowed, and apologized to Aozaki Touko: "Please allow me to apologize for my previous rudeness, Miss Touko. I shouldn't have doubted your attitude towards the master."

"It's alright, it's alright. After all, it's you. It's not surprising that you would do something like this." Aozaki Touko waved her hand. "More importantly—as you just heard, I'm planning to go back to my hometown. There might be some things that happen there, so I'll have to take the boy with me."

"So, please lend me your dear fiancé for a while."

Her fiancé, Sajō Rei, could clearly feel that the Sajō Aika within her body showed a happy expression when she heard those words. Was her other self really that easy to please? Just that made her happy.

Although she was indeed very happy, at least in terms of her expression, Sajou Rei managed it very well; she was just a little blushing.

“As long as Master is alright, we are fine too. So, would you like me or Miss Grey to accompany you this time, Master?”

"Hey? Kid, do you need someone to accompany you when you go out?"

Natsukawa Tora shook his head: "It's just a habit. Every time I go out, either Gray or Rei accompanies me. But this time, I'll just go to Misaki City alone with Touko."

“Is that so? I understand. I will pass it on to Miss Gray later. But Master, since you want to act alone this time, please remember one thing.” Leaning close to Natsukawa Torata, Sajou Rei earnestly instructed, “Please, please don’t act recklessly just because no one is watching you. Please be a little more understanding of the people who are going to great lengths to maintain their secrecy and mystery. After all, the city is not like the wilderness we are in now.”

"Please limit the use of imaginary materialization to small and medium scales, and the use of summoning magic should not exceed the castle level. The use of the Holy Sword is strictly prohibited, and also—"

"Don't make me sound like a walking natural disaster, okay? I have that kind of common sense." Xia Chuanhu couldn't help but retort.

Upon hearing this rebuttal, Sajou Rei sighed, "Yes, Master does indeed possess these common sense principles, but it's not the first or second time that Master has abandoned these principles once or twice when entering battle. This time, please keep your combat power within the limits of what you're capable of."

"I...I'll try my best. Besides, I haven't really messed around that many times, have I?"

Haven't you ever acted recklessly a few times?

If Aozaki Touko remembers correctly, two years ago he seemed to have summoned a giant robot directly in Fuyuki City. In another parallel world, he was said to frequently manifest the moon as a deterrent—speaking of Moonfall, he just brought it out again yesterday, right?

Is this what you call not having acted recklessly more than a few times?

Patting Natsukawa Tora on the shoulder, Aozaki Touko said earnestly, "Young man, how should I put it... considering that Misaki City is Aoko's hometown, be a little more careful when you go there next time. You don't want Aoko to go back to find a ruin, do you?"

Natsukawa Torato: "......."

Honestly, this was the first time Natsukawa Tora had ever felt so distrusted.

——————————————————————————————

At the same time, somewhere in Japan.

Standing amidst the bustling crowd, feeling the fresh air of the present world that she hadn't breathed in two years, the pure white vampire princess bathed in moonlight, feeling a sense of ease and joy from the bottom of her heart.

"However... it seems we came out a little too early, maybe three or four days early?"

Because she felt she could see him again, she couldn't quite contain her emotions. As a weapon, she shouldn't have such feelings, but now she felt it wasn't so bad.

"Well then, before Tiger and He arrive, I'll do some things on my own first. The last few times I've only been out for a few days, I haven't had a chance to properly experience modern society. Let me think... Anyway, my first stop will be..."

Arcueid turned and looked in a certain direction, then smiled gently.

"Hmm, let's go to the apartment where I used to live with Tiger. If we're going to stay somewhere, we'll definitely have to go to that place first."

42. The first heroine, come on!

Inside a classroom in the clock tower.

As the bell rang, Lord El-Melloi II, who was standing on the podium, stopped his lecture: "Well then, that concludes today's lesson. The homework is to use the knowledge I have taught you today to build a simple barrier. This should not be a problem for you."

"Yes! Big Ben☆London Star teacher!"

"Flatter, shut up!"

One sentence stopped the blond boy at the front of the class from fooling around. Lord El-Melloi II looked at the blond girl sitting in the corner of the classroom who had already started packing her bag: "Also, Sajou, you don't need to do your homework this time. There are other assignments for you. Go to the office after class."

Sajou Ayaka nodded calmly upon hearing her teacher's words, then picked up her schoolbag and left the classroom first.

As she walked away, some whispers rippled through the classroom.

"It's really the same as always, Sato, always the first one to leave after class."

"I've never seen her socialize much... Was she always like this?"

"It wasn't like that two years ago. Well, her situation was quite complicated."

"Could it be that she has a boyfriend—uhhhhh!"

A student had barely uttered half a sentence when two other people next to him covered his mouth. They nervously looked around several times before letting go, their faces showing relief, followed by a somewhat helpless glare at the person who had spoken.

"I'm telling you, you can't just say things like that, or you might get arrested by the law enforcement department later."

"Huh? Why?"

"It's normal that you don't know since you only joined this year, but you must have heard about how the clock tower was almost demolished a couple of years ago, right?"

The man nodded: "Is this related to sand strips?"

"That was done by the big shot behind Sha Tiao. It seems that she has long been taken as a lover by some very powerful person, who takes good care of her in every way, not even giving face to the monarch."

"Wow~~~~ That's really amazing. No wonder Saya is so pretty but doesn't have any suitors."

"After all, nobody wants to be suddenly eliminated."

.......

In the corridor outside the classroom.

Hearing the conversation transmitted through the wind fairy, Ayaka Sajou sighed helplessly.

The rumors are getting stranger and stranger. It wasn't this strange just two years ago. Magicians were all avoiding her for fear of being hit on the moon by Natsukawa Tora. But now, it's turned out like this in just two years.

"Who is his lover... that idiot who doesn't come back even once every two years?"

Thinking of the person she hadn't seen for almost two years, Ayaka Sajou felt a pang of unease. He had promised to come back when he had time before leaving, but he hadn't returned even once, leaving her, who had been waiting expectantly, feeling like a fool.

Even if something really serious is happening over there, surely they can't spare even a little bit of free time for two years?

They've probably forgotten about her.

If she could, Ayaka Sajou really wanted to give him a good beating the next time they met. Even though she couldn't beat him at all, she should be able to hit him a couple of times now.

It's important to know that during these two years, because of Natsukawa Tora's departure, some of the things that Gemstone Elder had asked him to deal with that threatened world security fell to her. The old man even had the audacity to say that it was to "enhance your femininity to make you more competitive."

Fighting against dark organizations, dealing with vicious artificial life forms, rescuing imprisoned precious magicians... what kind of "feminine charm" can these experiences enhance? They're more likely to enhance combat power.

Oh, and also wilderness survival skills and foreign language skills.

Whenever there is a mission, the old man with the jewels will have a middleman notify Ayaka Sajou—yes, Lord El-Melloi II.

The office he mentioned when class ended was not his office, but rather the office of the Jeweler.

That was a room that only a handful of people in the entire clock tower were qualified to enter, and Ayaka Sajou was one of them, even though she didn't really want to come here.

Arriving at the familiar office door with practiced ease, she knocked twice and pushed it open. Standing in the dimly lit room, Ayaka Sajou looked at the old man sitting behind the desk and asked, "Is there any matter you need me to handle this time, Lord Jewel Lord?"

"Yes, the location is in your hometown, Japan. A place called Misaki City."

Without turning around, Jewel King, with his back to Ayaka Sajou, spoke while flipping through the book in his hand.

Misaki City.

Ayaka Sajou vaguely remembered the place name; it was a city somewhat similar to Tokyo. However, she hadn't been back to Japan for many years, so she didn't know what the current situation in Misaki City was like.

"What happened in Misaki City?"

"Tatali, or rather, the Night of Wallachia, one of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles, will probably appear there in a day or two. Although it will disappear on its own if left unattended, this time the situation is a bit special."

As he spoke, Gemstone closed the book in his hand: "This night in Wallachia will not only happen in this world."

Does this mean that parallel worlds will also be affected?

"There are some problems with the axis of the world. The problems themselves are not very big and can be repaired. It just takes time. However, during the period when the Night of Wallachia appears, the repairs cannot be completed no matter what."

That does indeed present some troublesome circumstances.

It's alright in this world, but if parallel worlds are also affected, the consequences are unimaginable.

"I understand. I'll go to Misaki City tomorrow."

“You don’t need to be in such a hurry. I called you here not just to have you deal with this matter—to put it bluntly, it doesn’t matter whether you go or not. Even without you, Tatali shouldn’t be able to cause any trouble.”

"Huh?" Ayaka Sajou was taken aback.

What does this mean? Why did the Gemstone Elder call her here?

"The parallel world that was affected is actually quite special... It's the parallel world that kid lives in. You understand now, right?"

That kid—only that person would be called that by the Gemstone Elder.

For a fleeting moment, Ayaka Sajou's face lit up with surprise, but she quickly regained her composure: "Natsukawa... so? You said this was for—"