To become a king and a magician

"That won't work."

Ayaka Sajou shook her head slightly: "I'm the one who was taken care of by Natsukawa, so there's no reason for you, my sister, to repay him for me. Besides, I'll probably be living here for a long time from now on, so I can't let Natsukawa take care of me for nothing. As for being a maid... well, I'll just treat it as a part-time job."

"Working part-time... Ayaka has really changed compared to before. She wouldn't have said this before. But... are you going to stay here for a long time? Ayaka, don't you plan to go back to that world?"

"I originally wanted to go back, but now I'm not so keen on it anymore."

After thinking for a moment, Ayaka Sajou looked at her older sister: "I guess I didn't want to go back after seeing you, sister... Hey, sister, you and Natsukawa, aren't you...?"

She didn't finish her sentence, but judging from her slightly flushed cheeks, Sajou Rei knew what her younger sister wanted to say.

With a smile, Sajou Rei picked up a comb: "Sister, let me dress you up while I talk to you. First, let me comb your hair; look how messy it is."

"Because I was on the plane two hours ago."

While combing Ayaka Sajou's hair, Rei Sajou also began to talk about her relationship with Torato Natsukawa.

"My relationship with my master... and Tiger is the same as what you think, Ayaka. To outsiders, we could be considered lovers. I love him, and he loves me in every sense of the word. Although I didn't follow him because I liked him at first."

"Huh? At first?" Ayaka Sajou asked, somewhat puzzled. "Sister... did you only fall for Natsukawa later?"

Sajou Rei nodded: "It was after I officially came into contact with him. After I first entered this body and met him, I did have the idea of ​​repaying him, not only because he took good care of you, but also because I myself had received his help."

Six years ago, in that underground cavern, Rei Sajou, who had always tried to understand Ayaka Sajou based on her own ideas, was denied by her younger sister for the first time. She did indeed love Ayaka Sajou, but her love was too heavy and intense, which prevented her from understanding Ayaka Sajou's feelings and she never really cared about her thoughts. She just did what she thought was right.

If it weren't for Natsukawa Torato's intervention, and his support that led Ayaka Sajou to disobey her sister's wishes for the first time, things would probably have turned out very badly.

In this sense, Sajou Rei received help from Natsukawa Torato, though it was only in her own perception that she received help.

"Besides, the body I'm using now originally belonged to him, so I've actually taken over his body. That's why I willingly became his follower and provided him with help—but not long after that, I fell in love with him."

The catalyst was the Holy Grail War two years prior.

The day after the Holy Grail War began, due to the schemes of Merry and Morgan, Natsukawa Torato was once in a life-threatening situation. The Servant power that supported his survival was drained, his magic power was extremely scarce, and his body was so weak that he was completely unable to move.

Upon learning of this, Sajou Rei felt not only deeply angry, but also thought that "Natsukawa Torato's time is probably over."

The participants in that Holy Grail War were all top-tier Servants or first-rate Servants, not to mention Grand Servants like King Solomon. Natsukawa Torato, who had lost almost all of his power, could not possibly have survived under those circumstances.

At the time, Sajou Rei genuinely thought that way. After all, if Arcueid's power hadn't been keeping Natsukawa Tora alive, he would have been dead long ago.

To her surprise, Natsukawa Tora, who should have been unable to move a single finger, stood up again and defeated his former friend who had gone berserk through his own strength.

Even when betrayed by the person he trusted most, even when his enemy was his most important friend, he still accepted it all with the utmost humility and overcame it with his own strength.

The power Scáthach gave Natsukawa Torama was merely enough to make him move again; it wouldn't amplify his fighting ability, at most restoring him to the level of an average person.

However, he ultimately won.

Because they are the same person, Sajou Aika's feelings for Arthur are actually shared by Sajou Rei. And when she saw Natsukawa Tora defeat Arthur head-on through magic, Sajou Rei superimposed the figures of Arthur and Natsukawa Tora together.

No, it should be said that it was replaced.

Replace 【Sajō Aika】 with 【Sajō Rei】 and 【Arthur Pendragon】 with 【Natsukawa Tora】.

"It was around that time that you fell in love with Xia Chuan, sister."

"Well, after that, things just spiraled out of control. I used the excuse of replenishing my magic to ask him for a kiss, and we got intimate on the sofa... Because he's a bit oblivious in some ways, he never noticed anything was wrong with me."

Thinking back to when Natsukawa Tora completely trusted her words and actions back then, Sajou Rei felt a surge of joy. It was truly wonderful to have such a wooden master, who could bring them closer together so quickly and effortlessly.

"Then, in the last two years, I've made a little effort to develop our relationship into one where we're both followers and lovers. We occasionally play role-playing games like this to experience something new—'Come on, get up, it's time to change your clothes.'"

"it is good."

Listening to her older sister recount the development of her relationship with Natsukawa Tora, Sajou Ayaka also discerned some patterns. It seemed that in the course of their relationship... it was always her older sister who took the initiative?

"Sister, has Xia Chuan never made a move on you even once?"

"Normally, no. It's frustrating to admit, but he basically leaves all the initiative to that succubus. However, he won't refuse my advances either—Ayaka, if you're going to make a move on him in the future, you should keep that in mind."

"Huh? Me...me?"

Ayaka Sajou panicked immediately: "I...I can't, and Natsukawa isn't yours anymore...and I don't have those kinds of feelings for him..."

"But you like him, right?" Sajou Rei didn't care about her sister's attempts to hide it and threw away her fig leaf. "If you like him, you should make your move sooner rather than later. If you keep dragging your feet, someone else might just beat you to it."

"So do your best, Ayaka. If you don't understand anything, feel free to ask me, your older sister—that's all."

As if encouraging her, Rei patted Ayaka Sajō's back firmly while tying the last ribbon on her head.

70. The Rest of My Life

When Ayaka Sajou arrived downstairs, there weren't many people left in the restaurant. Gray and the others who had been gathered there earlier had all left, leaving only Natsukawa Tora sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed as if he were asleep.

"Is she asleep?"

Ayaka Sajou sat down next to him, and whether this action startled him or not, Natsukawa Torato suddenly opened his eyes and stared at Ayaka Sajou, who had just sat down.

"Ayaka? You've changed your clothes?"

"Ah... um, I just changed it, my sister helped me change it."

The maid outfit that Ayaka Sajou is wearing now is the same as the one worn by Rei Sajou, but unlike Rei's, it hasn't been modified. Ayaka Sajou's outfit hasn't been changed at all; it's just a very ordinary maid uniform.

Fiddled with her clothes, Ayaka Sajou asked shyly, "Um... what do you think? Does it look... bad to be your maid?"

First her own sister, then that Miss Merry just now—having been defeated twice in a row, Ayaka Sajou really has very little confidence in herself now.

After a moment of silence, Natsukawa Tora said, "No, it looks pretty good, it has a refreshing feel to it. Well, Rei's maid outfit is also very pretty, but that's probably just my preconceived notion. I always feel that she has a more alluring side. Ayaka, this is your first time wearing a maid outfit, and that innocent feeling is quite nice. I like it."

"Ugh...yes, is that so...I'm glad you like it."

Being praised so directly by Natsukawa Torama caused Ayaka Sajou's cheeks to flush red to her ears. Unlike Rei Sajou, who was known for her high offense and low defense, Ayaka Sajou was usually low in both offense and defense, only switching to high offense and high defense when pushed to a certain point. Clearly, she hadn't been pushed to that level. Therefore, she had no strength to adapt to Natsukawa Torama's direct attack.

"Then, just like Miss Meryl said before, from today onwards I will be your personal maid. Natsukawa, if you... if you need anything, just let me know..."

After pausing for a moment, Ayaka Sajo tried her best to imitate the behavior of maids as she knew them, and spoke to Torato Natsukawa.

Seeing her half-baked, half-hearted maid-like behavior, Natsukawa Tora couldn't help but chuckle softly: "Ayaka, you... there's no need to be so reserved. I'm not some grumpy young master, you don't need to be like this."

"Uh... but my sister told me..."

"You don't need to worry about Lingyi. She's just too invested—of course, I like her that way too, but you don't need to follow your sister's example, especially now."

"Y-yes, that's true." Ayaka Sajo patted her chest. Because she hadn't seen her older sister for a long time, and was new to the place and unfamiliar with everyone, Ayaka Sajo became a little shy again.

After regaining her composure, Ayaka Sajou looked at Torata Natsukawa and said, "From now on, I'll be your maid, Natsukawa. But I'll be very immature, so I might not do a very good job."

"I don't care. I already have enough people taking care of me. If there are any more, I'll really be spoiled."

With Gray, Zero, and Merry who occasionally reverts to her old ways, and Lydel who wants to defend her public status, the four of them are basically taking care of Natsukawa Tora as if he were a cripple.

"But speaking of which, Ayaka, are you planning to stay here for a long time? Don't you need to go back to the parallel world?"

Natsukawa Tora raised another question.

The main reason why Ayaka Sajou came to London with Torama Natsukawa was to find the Jewel Elder so that he could send her back to the parallel world after she had accidentally wandered into this world. However, Ayaka Sajou's actions did not seem to indicate that she was planning to go back.

Sajou Rei nodded under Natsukawa Torami's gaze: "Yeah, I don't plan to go back there for now... I feel like if I go back, there will be a few more people I don't recognize around you when I come back next time, Natsukawa. I'll feel like I've been left behind and can't catch up with you."

You're overthinking it.

"Maybe so, but at least for now, I still want to stay here."

As she spoke, Ayaka Sajou shifted her position, moving slightly closer to Torato Natsukawa.

Hearing Ayaka Sajou's confession, Natsukawa Tora sighed helplessly. He subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch her hair, but he quickly realized that Ayaka Sajou was not Gray, so he could only awkwardly withdraw his hand.

"If that's what you think, then so be it. It doesn't matter how long you stay here. I can arrange for someone to take care of your identification and everything else."

"Yes, thank you, Natsukawa." After saying that, Ayaka Sajou paused, "By the way, where are Gray and the others? They're all gone?"

“Merry went back to sleep, as did Hiel. Everyone else has their own work to do. Lia and Souji are currently covering for me at the Clock Tower. I'll go back to class tomorrow. As for Gray, she went to wake Tohsaka up.”

Tohsaka?

(Is this Rin-senpai from this area? I remember the era here is earlier than mine, which means Rin-senpai is still studying at the Clock Tower.)

Recalling what had just happened, Ayaka Sajou suddenly said, "So, besides you, Natsukawa, there are no other men in this apartment building?"

"Yes what's the matter?"

"It's nothing, I was just thinking that you're really popular with women, Natsukawa... Are they all your lovers?"

"......"

After a long silence, Natsukawa Torama's expression turned somewhat strange: "Uh, why would you ask that, Ayaka?"

"Because my sister said you're seeing multiple people at the same time, and that besides this apartment, you also have a lover in Japan, right? So I was wondering if everyone in this apartment might be...."

"No, no! Absolutely not! Don't talk nonsense! Putting everything else aside, Grey really isn't her!"

"..."

"Don't look so disbelieving!"

(How could I possibly believe that?)

Faced with Natsukawa Torato's explanation, Sajo Ayaka did not intend to believe a single word. Moreover, in her opinion, Gray was definitely the real one—she had already noticed it in the parallel world. Sometimes Gray's gaze towards her brother was a little strange, and now this pure brother-sister relationship must have already changed.

The only thing left to completely change is a single opportunity.

(However, since that's the case, then my chance... well, I should have one too, but not right now.)

For now, Ayaka Sajou still wants to maintain this relationship.

"Xia Chuan."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"From now on... no, it will probably be 'For the rest of my life, please take care of me'."

71. Here you go, Beryl, your lunchbox.

Just as Ayaka Sajou was subtly expressing her feelings to Torato Natsukawa in her apartment, in a small alley in London...

A person covered in blood is fleeing in a disheveled state.

He was a man wearing a black suit and red trousers, and glasses. If it weren't for the injuries he was carrying, he would have been mistaken for an elegant gentleman at first glance.

But now, people who see him only avoid him. After all, blood is flowing from the large and small wounds on his body, leaving obvious traces on the road behind him. His once decent clothes are now tattered, as if they have been cut by a sharp knife.

The man's name is Beryl, Beryl Gat, a botanical magician who doesn't have a good reputation—although most magicians are notorious, Beryl is quite an exception.