To become a king and a magician

Aozaki Touko had been here a few times before, so she could tell the difference.

"Tiger, you're not thinking that the place you lived in all those years ago is still preserved for you, are you?"

"It should be gone by now. Even if I didn't cancel the lease back then and Arcueid was the one who rented the apartment, I think it should be possible to move in now."

As he spoke, Xia Chuanhu led the two into the apartment building, took the elevator directly to the sixth floor, and walked all the way to the innermost door.

The door wasn't locked. Xia Chuanhu simply pushed it open, and he could see some of the situation inside from the entrance—there was no one inside, and the lights weren't on, so it didn't look like anyone lived there. But judging from the water stains in the sink, someone must have used it recently.

Xia Chuanhu put his luggage on the ground: "Let's put everything here for now, then tidy up our rooms and then we'll go have dinner."

"No...is this alright? Tiger, are we just going to move in like this?"

"Wouldn't this be considered trespassing?"

Both Aozaki Touko and Hiel showed some concern. It wasn't that they thought what they were doing was wrong, but Natsukawa Torato's behavior was indeed inappropriate.

Seeing their attitude, Natsukawa Tora smiled slightly: "It's alright. Arcueid has already rented this room. I've also spoken with Arcueid, so it's fine for us to stay here."

"You contacted that True Ancestor?" Aozaki Touko frowned. "That's not right. You didn't make any phone calls on the way here, and shouldn't that princess still be holed up in her castle? How did you contact her?"

"This... well, it's a bit abstract to say, but I'd say it's a certain degree of telepathy."

Natsukawa Tora pointed to his chest: "Like Arcueid, I am an elf, the terminal of the planet itself. In addition, her power existed in my body for several years before, so there is a very faint connection between us. It's like how blood-related twins sometimes sense the other's situation."

“On my way here, I vaguely sensed what was going on with Arcueid. It seems she woke up a couple of days ago and moved in. She rented this apartment for our sake. So it’s fine for her to move in right away.”

Upon hearing his explanation, both Aozaki Touko and Hiel showed expressions of disbelief.

Telepathy?

Is it possible for elves to have this kind of relationship? Even if it's because Arcueid's power once existed within Natsukawa Torato, it's still a bit unreasonable. More importantly, how could these two confirm each other's actions with such a weak telepathic connection?

Aren't you two a little too in sync?

"Let me think... wasn't my old room here?"

Just as Aozaki Touko and Hiel were sighing, Natsukawa Torato was also searching for his room based on his memories, but those were memories from seven years ago, so they were indeed somewhat blurry.

————————————————————————————

parallel world.

It's also in Misaki City.

Dragging her suitcase, Ayaka Sajou appeared in front of the station at dusk. She sighed softly, "Parallel world travel... I thought the old man with the gem would take me there directly, but I didn't expect to have to wait here..."

According to Ayaka Sajou's idea, for her to go to the parallel world, either the Jewel King would use its second magic to send her there, or her two senior sisters would use the Ruby and Sapphire Mystic Codes to open a passage to the parallel world.

But to her utter surprise, what the Jewel Elder meant by sending her to a parallel world was that she should come to Misaki City and wait to be taken there by Tatari.

Because of some problems with the axis of the two worlds, when Tatali—the Night of Wallachia—appears, the two worlds will temporarily overlap until the Night of Wallachia ends.

During that time, whenever Ayaka Sajou was in Misaki City, she would travel to the parallel world with him. However, this usually did not directly interfere with the other world; this world was like a reflection in water to the other world, and vice versa.

It is impossible to touch the other side.

However, Ayaka Sajou is different. Before coming here, the Jewel King gave her a Mystic Code. As long as she wears this Mystic Code, limited to the time when Tartarus appears, she can exist on both sides at the same time and control her own body and [Reflection] simultaneously.

"You've taken the time to make this kind of formal attire, but couldn't you just send me over there?"

Looking at the ceremonial dress that had been made into a talisman in her hand, Ayaka Sajou sighed helplessly. She was still thinking of going to see what the differences were between the parallel world and this place.

Of course, more importantly... she wanted to know what the world Natsukawa Torato lived in was like.

Now it's all gone to waste.

However, there was some good news. Upon learning that she was coming to Japan, Luvia, one of Ayaka Sajou's two senior sisters, immediately used the Edelfeld family's wealth to prepare a top-of-the-line hotel for her in Misaki City, with all expenses to be paid by the Edelfeld family.

Luvia has always been very generous to her own people, and Ayaka Sajou has always been grateful for her support in various ways.

(I must thank her properly when I get back to the clock tower.)

With this in mind, Ayaka Sajou took out her phone, opened the map, and began searching for the location of the hotel that Luvia had mentioned.

And at that very moment—

"despair......"

Amidst the cacophony of the crowd, a particularly abrupt voice reached Ayaka Sajou's ears. The voice wasn't loud, but for some reason, it was exceptionally distinctive. Even with all sorts of noises around her, Ayaka Sajou could hear it immediately.

That was the sound of someone's shoes hitting the ground, and it was very close.

It's right in front of me.

Ayaka Sajou looked up and ahead, and at that moment, she saw someone she never expected to appear.

Good evening, Ayaka.

A person with the appearance of a blonde girl smiled at Ayaka Sajou.

With difficulty, Ayaka Sajou managed to utter the words, her hands clenching tightly involuntarily.

"Sister...it's impossible..."

46. ​​Arcueid under the moon

As it turns out, even after many years, some businesses will not close down. Even if there aren't many customers, it's enough for regular customers as long as they can still dine in the same place. This is the reason why some old businesses will continue to operate.

The restaurant that Aozaki Touko took Natsukawa Tora and Hiel to was this very place. It was an old shop that Aozaki Touko had discovered seven years ago. It was hidden on a rather inconspicuous shopping street and was the first place that the local residents would go to when they went out to eat.

Of course, since the original chef and manager is getting old, the restaurant is now run by his son, and the store has been renovated. Fortunately, the taste remains the same.

"How's the food? I picked a good restaurant, didn't I?"

At 7:30 p.m., as they walked out of the shopping street, Aozaki Touko asked the two with a smug look on her face. She was quite confident in her judgment.

Hiel nodded: "Yes, it tastes very good, especially the curry rice. If I weren't already full, I would like to have another bowl."

As a curry fanatic, Hiel only eats curry bread for breakfast, and for dinner just now she ordered curry rice as usual, and even ordered three servings. For her appetite, this was already a bit too much, and as a result, she is now feeling a little uncomfortable in her stomach.

"You're emphasizing that the curry rice is delicious because that's all you eat, right, Hiel? The other dishes are pretty good too."

Standing next to her, Natsukawa Tiger said with a smile, "The only downside is that the portion is a bit small; it's not very filling."

Hearing him say that, Aozaki Touko and Hiel both rolled their eyes at him—this guy didn't even consider how big his appetite was; he could eat his way through a buffet to the point of kicking people out. If no one stopped him, he probably could really eat the whole restaurant up.

An ordinary restaurant couldn't handle his appetite.

Fortunately, Xia Chuanhu was self-aware and consciously controlled his eating speed at the table, so he was not blacklisted by the restaurant, although he only ate about 40% full.

"I'm thinking of getting something else to eat, do you want to come along?"

"I'll pass on that. I'm planning to catch up with some old friends, and also see Beo," Aozaki Touko said with a smile. "It's a rare opportunity to come back, so I should reminisce a bit. What about you, Hield?"

"I'm going to investigate the Dead Apostles."

Hiel's expression was serious: "Although the church will not provide me with assistance now, I can still investigate the whereabouts of the Dead Apostles on my own. If I find anything, I will contact you immediately."

Having returned the Seventh Holy Scripture, Chier's only weapon is the Black Key. Although there are quite a few of them, their power is definitely insufficient to deal with the Ancestor. Chier does not intend to fight alone until he is fully prepared.

Anyway, there's another unusual Pokémon here.

After confirming each other's upcoming plans, Aozaki Touko and Ciel left in different directions, and after watching the two disappear from his sight, Natsukawa Torama also looked away.

"So, where should we go for dinner next? Ideally, we should find a decent restaurant where I can have a big meal."

Xia Chuanhu is currently about 40% full. He feels that eating until he is 80% full should be enough, since he shouldn't eat too much at night, otherwise it will be difficult to digest.

However, just as he was thinking this and taking the first step—

"Click..."

A sound like armor rubbing against each other suddenly rang out in the sea of ​​people. Because it was so easily recognizable, Natsukawa Tiger could hear it very clearly.

Did someone wear armor out in the street? Cosplay?

(No, wait a minute, this feeling is...)

The belated intelligence startled Xia Chuanhu, who froze on the spot, his gaze instantly following the direction from which the armored figure had come. Even though they were about two hundred meters apart, with a large number of pedestrians in between, Xia Chuanhu's eyes still caught a fleeting glimpse of a figure through the gaps in the crowd.

"Arthur?"

The figure that shouldn't have been there filled Natsukawa Tora's tone with doubt and surprise.

——————————————————————————————————

Inside a factory in a corner of Misaki City.

Sitting atop the erected steel frame, gazing at the bustling city center in the distance, Arcueid scratched his head in frustration: "Ugh... Tiger, so slow. I've been waiting for him here for an hour. Even if he's slow, he should have found me by now, right?"

This factory was a pretty good spot for moon viewing that Arcueid found. Although the surrounding environment wasn't great, the view was the best. After all, with rapid development these days, there are so many neon lights in the city that the moonlight is being obscured by artificial light.

It's much better here.

Arcueid missed meeting Natsukawa Torato during the last Holy Grail War due to certain events. Now that she can finally focus on her work without being distracted, Arcueid is eager to see Natsukawa Torato again.

Based on what she knew, it seemed that the best time for a man and a woman to meet was under the moon, and she even said something like, "The moonlight is so beautiful."

Arcueid didn't quite understand these strange human rules, but she thought Natsukawa Torato would probably like them.

What frustrated Arcueid was that Natsukawa Tora hadn't arrived yet. According to their telepathic connection, he should have been here quickly, but Arcueid had been waiting for an hour, and there wasn't even a glimpse of him, let alone him.

"Seriously, where did you run off to? You idiot tiger, is there something more important than meeting me? Could it be that you're with those two women?"

Arcueid knew that Natsukawa Tora had come with Aozaki Touko and Siel. After thinking it over, the only possibility that Natsukawa Tora wouldn't come to see her was that he was entangled with those two women.

Natsukawa Tora is someone who is easily entangled with women, a fact that even Arcueid knows all too well; there's practically not a single second he's without a woman by his side.

"That's true. It's understandable that Tiger would be too busy in this situation. Anyway, we're already living in the same apartment. We can always meet up with him later. It seems like watching the moon through the room's window is quite nice, isn't it?"

"Now..."

Looking at the bloodied corpses that had appeared out of nowhere on the steel frame from a 45-degree angle behind him, Arcueid sighed impatiently.

"You're so clueless! I really love this place."

"Have you figured out how you're going to pay the price for my sudden appearance as a lowly, livestock-like [subordinate]?"

47. Dancing in a minefield!

That wasn't Arthur.

The Arthur I knew had been defeated by my own hands two years ago and had fallen into a deep sleep in Avalon, never to awaken again.