To become a king and a magician

“I also get very frustrated if my subordinates can’t concentrate on their work. After all, it’s rare to find such a useful assistant as you. If you’re not in the right state of mind, your work efficiency will be very low.”

"So you should go see him. It's been two years since you last saw him, right? Consider it a vacation for you."

"Huh?!"

43. The Alleyway Alliance – does not exist.

In an open-air café in a modern magic science city.

"A trip to a parallel world?"

Rin Tohsaka, who was already twenty-three years old, looked at Ayaka Sajou opposite her with some surprise.

Since they are both magicians who studied under Lord El-Melloi II, and both have some dealings with the Jewel King, plus the connection with Natsukawa Torata, Ayaka Sajou and Rin Tohsaka actually have a pretty good relationship, as does Luvia.

During the two years that Natsukawa Tora was away, if Sajo Ayaka encountered trouble that she couldn't solve on her own, she would usually seek help from her two senior sisters and tell them about what had happened.

Now, upon hearing Ayaka Sajou say that she was going to a parallel world, Rin Tohsaka calmed down after a moment of surprise: "I see. So the mission Master gave you this time involves a parallel world?"

“There is some influence, but actually getting things done is secondary. According to him, it wouldn’t matter if I didn’t go.” Ayaka Sajo touched the handle of her coffee cup. “Actually… that parallel world seems to be the parallel world where Natsukawa is.”

"Natsukawa... Oh~~~ I see~~~~"

Rin Tohsaka immediately understood, and looked at Ayaka Sajou with a hint of teasing: "So this trip to the parallel world is indeed a trip, a honeymoon... no, that's not right, it should be called a pre-wedding honeymoon?"

"We're not married, Rin-senpai. Besides, we haven't seen each other for two years. He might have already forgotten about me."

"That's absolutely impossible."

Rin Tohsaka flicked Ayaka Sajou's forehead with a finger and laughed, "Natsukawa definitely won't forget you. He values ​​the people around him very much, especially someone like you who has been through life and death with him. I think the only way for him to forget you is to erase and reset his memories."

"Given his abilities, I can't even imagine his memories being completely erased. So Ayaka, don't worry, his absence isn't because he's forgotten you, but because he's genuinely too busy."

Is there a situation where Natsukawa Tora is so busy that he can't find the time to spare?

Ayaka Sajou pouted: "But with his abilities, what could possibly keep him busy for two years?"

"Well... all sorts of things, you know. He seems to have a strange constitution that keeps getting caught up in trouble. Maybe for the past two years, he's been dealing with one thing only to get embroiled in another?"

"It doesn't seem impossible."

That makes much more sense.

Ayaka Sajou's displeasure subsided somewhat, and seeing this change in her, Rin Tohsaka smiled and said, "Speaking of which, when are you planning to leave? Going to a parallel world... there must be quite a lot to prepare, right?"

"I'm leaving tomorrow. There's not much to prepare. Gemstone said that I only need to prepare clothes for two or three days. He'll prepare the rest for me beforehand, like my identity document from the parallel world."

"That's good. Remember to give my regards and Luvia's regards to Natsukawa."

"Ah."

——————————————————————————————————————

This is the world here.

Egypt, Atlas Mountains.

In the world of magicians, this is a rather special place, not in the sense of magic, but in the sense of organization.

The Atlas Institute, one of the three major organizations in the magic world along with the Clock Tower and the Wandering Sea, is located here.

To be precise, it is deep underground.

The Atlas Institute is also known in the magic world as the "Giant's Cellar." Its main body is built under the desert, and its internal roads are intricate and complex. It is the type that is more difficult to get out than to get in, because they are more afraid of people leaving the inside than people entering the outside.

Therefore, once you enter the Atlas Academy, it's practically impossible to leave. However, in reality, those aspiring to join the Atlas Academy don't even consider leaving.

For the magicians of the Atlas Academy, there are only two options: first, the seven contracts distributed at the academy's founding, for which the Atlas Academy is obligated to provide full assistance to anyone who visits with a contract; and second, the invitations for cooperation from the Holy Church and the Magic Association.

Just like this situation.

Shion Eltram Atlasia, a young magician considered the next headmistress of the Atlas Academy, who had been holed up in her workshop researching alchemy, has now been ordered to come outside the workshop after a long absence.

There are no rules in Atlas, only one commandment. However, that commandment is not one that requires people to obey orders. Therefore, Shion could actually stay out of the house and simply pretend she didn't hear the order.

Unfortunately, the person who gave her the order to come out was the current dean of the Atlas Academy, Tsbia Eltram Atlasia, who had left the academy many years ago and only returned a few years ago.

He is also Shion's adoptive father.

Since it was his instruction, Ziyuan had no choice but to obediently go see him, otherwise the door to her workshop would probably be forcibly opened.

In Tsbia's workshop—

"I'm here, Dean. Is there anything I can help you with? If not, could I go back to the workshop right away to continue the experiment I haven't finished yet? There's an important calculation I haven't completed."

Upon entering the workshop, Shion blurted out everything she wanted to say and prepared to walk away. However, before she could, Shion walked to Tsbia, who was sitting in the workshop.

Ziyuan paused for a moment, then sighed helplessly: "You used an ether beam to control me right from the start, Dean, do you really not want me to leave?"

"Well, it would be very troublesome for me if you left. Besides, you can continue with the calculations now, can't you? Don't tell me you can't do split thinking anymore."

"I just wanted to focus—I hadn't been back for so many years, and when I came back quietly, I went straight into the workshop. Now that I'm finally born, the first thing I say is to come here. Dean, you really are a bit willful."

“I don’t deny it, objectively speaking, that’s true,” Tsbia said with a smile. “Let’s get back to the point, Aster Eltram Atlasia, I have something I need you to do.”

"Hmm? What is it? Is it something you can't finish, Dean? Then I definitely can't finish it either, no chance, so I'll leave now—"

After controlling Shion's body to shut her up, Tsbia laughed and said, "It should be said that it was an unexpected event. If it weren't for the fact that I also have some connection with it, I wouldn't have wanted to get involved."

“Shion Eltram Atlasia, starting tomorrow you will be traveling to a city in Japan called Misaki City, and then there—”

“Kill [Tsbia Eltram Atlasia].

44. Misaki City, a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery

Misaki City is a city with some problems.

The residents of Misaki City are more or less aware of this.

Going back further, it can be traced back to nearly twenty years ago, when it was said that someone saw a golden wolf as tall as a person in Misaki City, as well as a moon that was unusually bright for some reason.

Then, about seven years ago, because the time was relatively recent and there were many people at the time, people still remember that fires and corpses of people whose blood had been drained would frequently occur in Misaki City, which was said to be inhabited by vampires.

And now, rumors like these are spreading again in Misaki City—that vampires that suck people's blood have recently appeared.

It seems to be a pattern that something always happens in Misaki City every now and then, but these rumors usually only circulate for a few days, at most a week or two, and then gradually disappear and no one mentions them anymore. When someone tries to investigate afterward, they find that it was all just empty talk and fantasy.

Urban legends—the essence of many rumors circulating in Misaki City—are largely like this.

......

The station in Misaki City.

Although the station was destroyed by fire ten years ago by one of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles, along with the surrounding commercial district, it has been rebuilt seven years later, maintaining its original size while adding a large number of fire-fighting facilities.

The series of fires caused by Flöf Arkhangel were subsequently attributed by the local authorities to a severe lack of firefighting equipment. To prevent a possible recurrence of the fires, Misaki City has now installed a significant number of firefighting devices.

In addition to dealing with fires, the intensity of nighttime patrols in Misaki City has also increased significantly. The vampire incident that occurred almost simultaneously with the fire seven years ago has left a considerable psychological scar on the Misaki City authorities. Since they cannot sit and prohibit people from going out after nightfall, they can only focus on patrols.

Although Misaki City remained peaceful for the next seven years without any incidents, many people felt as if they had punched thin air.

Now, dragging her suitcase out of the station and looking at the city that seemed so unfamiliar again, Aozaki Touko pushed up her glasses and said, "It really is changing so fast. The speed of development in modern society really makes me feel powerless and unable to keep up with the times."

"Orange, your adaptability to modern society surpasses that of 90% of magicians."

Following Aozaki Touko onto the street, Natsukawa Tora, who was also carrying a suitcase, said with a smile, "You know, there are still a lot of magicians in the Clock Tower who don't know how to use cell phones. In fact, only the Modern Magic Department and the Botany Department have wires and networks installed in the entire Clock Tower."

For those self-important magicians, asking them to use modern equipment is an insult; they prefer communication magic to cell phones.

This applies not only to older magicians but also to the new generation of magicians born into ancient families. The only two exceptions are the "problem students" in the modern magic department and the botanical students who started getting involved with modern media at a young age.

Of course, there are also a very small number of upper floors of the clock tower.

Aozaki Touko is not only skilled at using mobile phones, but also computers, and is quite proficient in using various things in modern society. In this respect, she has indeed surpassed most magicians.

"After all, dolls, in a sense, change with the times. What is the mainstream aesthetic of this era? What kind of dolls does this era need? If you can't keep up with the times and only make outdated antiques, you won't make any money at all."

Aozaki Touko shrugged: "More than that, what I didn't expect was that you actually came along. It's rare for me to want to spend some time alone with you, young man."

As she said this, Aozaki Touko looked towards a spot a little behind Natsukawa Torato, where Chiel, who had changed into the school uniform he used to wear when he infiltrated Misaki City, was carrying a schoolbag and looked like a student who had just finished school and had been asked by his family to pick him up.

"Since there are Dead Apostles in Misaki City, I can't just leave them alone."

"Even if they are no longer members of the Holy Church?"

"It's an occupational hazard, I can't change it."

Hiel has been a member of the Church of the Holy See for over a decade. In those years, she has dealt with a large number of Dead Apostles, and fighting and eliminating them has become second nature to her.

When he heard that Natsukawa Torato and Aozaki Touko were coming to Misaki City to face a special Dead Apostle, Chier volunteered to go with them.

“You’ve already left the Church, you don’t have to do this, Hiel.” Natsukawa Tora said with a wry smile, “Even though it’s all now, I still think it would be good for you to go back to London with Zero.”

"Don't worry, I won't get in your way."

Hiel smiled slightly: "I will deal with that special Dead Apostle in my own way. You all do your thing. I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, Hiel picked up her schoolbag and tried to leave first, but the next second Xia Chuanhu grabbed her by the collar and lifted her back like a chick: "What can you do by yourself? You're not a member of the Holy Church anymore, so you can't ask the church for help. You don't have a penny on you, and you'll have problems with food and shelter. Don't tell me you're going to sleep in the wilderness."

“I have experience of lurking in the sewers for a whole year, so surviving in a big city without a penny is not a problem.”

"I rescued you from the Holy Church just so you could do these things?" Xia Chuanhu slapped her head in annoyance. "Now just follow me and Orange without worry. There's no need to act alone like before. You need to learn to rely on others, Hiel—is this arrangement okay, Orange?"

"You've already made all the arrangements, what can I say?"

Aozaki Touko shrugged, indicating she didn't care: "How about we sort out the accommodation problem first? We can just find a hotel to drop off our luggage and then go out for dinner? I wonder if my favorite restaurant is still there after all these years."

"I'm fine with dinner, but there's no need to go to a hotel. If you need a place to stay, I have a better place than a hotel."

A better place than a hotel?

Aozaki Touko frowned: "Where?"

"You'll see when you come with me. I think you should be quite familiar with that place, Orange."

45. Shadow One Contestant, Arcueid

The place that Natsukawa Torato took Aozaki Touko and Ciel to was an apartment building near the private Misaki High School.

Looking at the apartment building in front of her and then at the surroundings, Aozaki Touko roughly understood why Natsukawa Torato wanted to live here. Although many years had passed and the surroundings had changed somewhat, the general characteristics were still evident.

This is the place where Natsukawa Torato, Arcueid, Grey, and Aozaki Aoko lived back then.