To become a king and a magician

He was the offspring of a purebred witch. After learning all the magic and spells from his mother, he blinded her and left her side to begin a life of murder. Due to his cruel methods, he could hardly survive in the underworld.

【Wolf Man】—That's how Beryl is called inside the Clock Tower.

Judging solely by combat prowess, Beryl is quite outstanding among magicians. However, if any magician saw him now, they certainly wouldn't associate him with his infamous reputation in the Clock Tower and the underworld.

Because the notorious killer is now standing on the side of his former enemy.

"Haaah...haaah...it's a ghost, it really is a ghost...where did such a ruthless woman come from..."

Unable to clean up the bloodstains left behind him, the battered Beryl staggered into the alley and slid weakly to the ground against the wall.

He was attacked ten minutes earlier.

As usual, after killing a few people in the dark side of London, he was planning to have a delicious breakfast, but on his way to the restaurant, a female magician who appeared out of nowhere suddenly attacked him.

Beryl knew he was a person with poor interpersonal relationships and had many enemies in the Clock Tower, so at first he just thought he had encountered an ordinary person seeking revenge.

But he soon realized he was wrong, and quite terribly wrong at that—the female magician who attacked him was so strong that she didn't seem like a magician at all!

Beryl knew the level of modern magicians; he had a general idea. But the female magician who attacked him was different; she was ridiculously strong!

"Morpheus Le John... I've never heard of that name before. Where did this old fogey come from? Have I ever had a grudge against her? Or was the person I killed before someone she knew?"

Neither.

Just as Beryl was pondering this, at the entrance of the alley, a figure draped in a white robe blocked the sunlight streaming in.

Leaning on a scepter, Morgan—who goes by the alias Morpheus le John—stared at Beryl, who was hidden in the shadows of the alley: “People who live on the dark side will subconsciously hide in the dark side when they are on the run, because they are more familiar with the dark than with the sunlight. Is that right, werewolf?”

"But you're not so lucky. This alley is a dead end, and there are no manhole covers ahead. You've walked into a dead end."

That's what he said, but Morgan was deliberately pushing him in this direction. There was no particular reason; he just wanted to play around with this person who had some connection to him.

Three weeks ago, Morgan, who lived with her daughter near Glastonbury, was surprised to receive a long-awaited visit from Meryl. Morgan was quite taken aback; this most reclusive woman in human history had actually come out of her apartment. At the time, she wondered if she was dreaming.

After visiting, Merry bluntly stated her purpose: Natsukawa Torama had obtained a roster from Chaldea, listing some magicians Marisbury had pre-selected to cooperate with him in the fight against the Incineration of Humanity. There was one magician Natsukawa Torama didn't particularly like, so he hoped Morgan could remove him from the list.

Mordred was quite enthusiastic about Meryl's request. The girl was very obedient now, showing no signs of being a rebellious knight. She would listen to Artoria and Natsukawa Tora 100% of what they said, even more so than her own mother.

Morgan was curious as to why Meryl wanted her help. In response, Meryl gave Morgan a memory—when she entered Natsukawa Torato's dreams every day to communicate with him, Meryl also glimpsed a part of the "Root Knowledge," which happened to contain information about the so-called "British Ghost Belt."

After reviewing this memory, you should understand why they came to ask you for a favor. So, that's it, I'm going home now. Don't tell the King I was here; this was my own initiative.

After Mary finished speaking, she left. After watching that memory, which clearly showed signs of being edited, Morgan finally understood why Mary had come to ask her for help.

(The root of the tragedy in a certain sense... it's true that it's okay to just resolve it like this, it would also save that child a problem—well, let's just assume that's how it is for now.)

With that thought in mind, Morgan pointed his scepter at the alley. All it would take was one magic cannon shot to wipe out Beryl and the entire alley.

However, just as Morgan was gathering his magic—

"laugh--!"

Beryl, who had just stood up in the alley and was trying to make a final struggle, was suddenly pierced through the chest from behind. A blade pierced his heart without warning and then split his body in two, with both pieces falling to the ground.

Behind Beryl, watching the pale blue figure emerge from the depths of the alley, Morgan sighed with regret: "I didn't expect you to steal it away. Was this the child's doing, Miss Guardian?"

"No, it's just my personal judgment."

Using his Mystic Code to remove the bloodstains from his body, Okita Souji sheathed his sword: "Besides, this is a better way to handle it. Your magic will cause a lot of noise, and even if this is an uninhabited area, it may attract a crowd."

“I see. If you kill him like this, his body won’t be discovered even if it rots completely, right?” Morgan laughed. “You’ve really thought this through. You’re a professional in the Shinsengumi.”

"..."

Ignoring the meaning behind Morgan's words, Okita Souji stared at her for a while before looking away: "Relay Ms. Meryl's words—if you want to do it, then do it. There will be someone here to clean up the mess for you. If you don't do it now, you'll be the last one."

A completely random sentence.

Morgan understood why Mary wanted Okita Souji to relay the message to her that way, and with a somewhat helpless smile, she replied, "Then you should reply to her like that too—I don't care what happens."

Group 72, disbanded.

One month after Beryl's death.

Antarctica, Chaldea.

Natsukawa and Grey revisited the polar observatory.

After meeting with Romani and Mashu, and leaving Grey with Mashu to take care of her, Natsukawa Torama went to see Maris Billy alone.

"It's been over a month since I last saw you, Lord Natsukawa. How have you been?"

In the area where guests were entertained, Marisbury gave Natsukawa Tora a very warm welcome.

"I hope my daughter hasn't caused you any trouble? I saw in the letter she sent that she wrote about what happened to the two of you on the Magic Eye Collection Train."

"We just encountered the ancestor of the Dead Apostles; nothing particularly serious happened."

Natsukawa Tora said it casually.

Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Marisbury couldn't help but sigh: "[Just]? Even the Animusfia family, who have lived deep in the mountains for a long time, have heard of the fame of Fuhailin Anashu. In the end, you think it's just an existence that is not worth mentioning."

"It's not fair to say that. Well... because I've seen too many outrageous and unbelievable things, so compared to that, encountering an ancestor isn't exactly a special thing."

Think back carefully to what Natsukawa Tora has experienced over the years—from the early days of the Beast's larvae and the Battle of Misaki City to the more recent Holy Grail War and the world's rebirth in a parallel world... Which of these things isn't something that leaves a deep impression?

In comparison, encountering just one ancestor is really not a particularly serious matter.

"More than that, Maris Billy, besides visiting Mash, there's something I'd like to discuss with you. Take a look at this."

Natsukawa Torama suddenly pulled out a document from behind him and placed it on the table. Maris Billy picked it up and looked through it, discovering that it was the list of Master candidates that he had given to Natsukawa Torama a month ago.

The document had not been altered in any way; apart from signs of being browsed, it looked brand new.

Is there a problem with this document?

"It's not that there's a problem with this document, but rather with the forty-eight Master candidates you want. I think... there's no need to select so many people."

"I'm probably enough on my own."

A person?

Marisbury pondered for a moment: "Does Lord Xia Chuan mean that you don't need our help during the process of restoring humanity, that you can handle it all on your own?"

That's roughly the idea.

The idea that Natsukawa Torama came up with after a long period of deliberation over the past month was to abandon the original Master candidates and let himself, Gray, and others solve the future problems.

As for the forty-eight Masters, Natsukawa Torara was unsure about the situation of the other Masters, but he intended to exclude the members of Group A and Fujimaru Ritsuka from the project. Although this might be somewhat subjective, he believed it would be better for them.

At least, they can continue to live well in the pan-human history.

Kirshtalia, Ophelia, and Myorenji Karasuro—aside from the already deceased Beryl, Natsukawa Torara does not wish for them to die one by one within the Lostbelt. Whether it's the burning of humanity or the freezing of humanity, as the Star Sword Wielder, he will do his utmost to resolve it.

Of course, Natsukawa Torama believed he had the ability to save them all. Now that Beryl was dead, Kirshtalia and Myorenji Kararou should be able to survive, and he would do his best to defeat the Flame Giant Surt. Even if something else unexpected happened, he figured it wouldn't be a problem with him there.

However, this is only an ideal situation. Xia Chuanhu himself does not know what will actually happen. There may really be situations that he cannot handle in time, leading to their deaths one after another. Rather than that, it would be better to disband Group A from the beginning and take full responsibility for it.

Anyway, this is what the Star Holy Sword Wielder does.

After a long silence and a focused gaze, Marisbury finally spoke, "May I ask your reasons? Lord Natsukawa, why do you want to take on everything yourself? I know you are powerful, but isn't this too much of a strain? What if something happens to you...?"

"I won't handle this alone, or I'll be punished by kneeling on a washboard when I get back." Natsukawa Tora gave a wry smile. "I'll bring a few people I trust, like Lia, like Aoko... Compared to the magicians you chose, we're undoubtedly more reliable, aren't we?"

Indeed, if she were a mage, she would be more reliable than any magician. Given the relationship between the Fifth Mage and Natsukawa Torato, it's not necessarily true that she would refuse to help.

"So what's your reason for doing this...?"

Even so, Marisbury still couldn't understand why Natsukawa Torato would do such a thing.

After a moment of contemplation, Natsukawa Tora spoke up: "Do you remember the knowledge of the Root that I obtained, which I told you about before?"

"I don't know if it's a coincidence or a chance, but I've seen a few people on this list in the knowledge of the root, such as your beloved disciple, the young master of the Wodim family—to put it bluntly, I witnessed their deaths in the knowledge I've gained, and I think it's a great pity that they died like that, so now I want to avoid that future in my own way."

Just take it as a whim of mine.

Was it a capricious act?

This is a very realistic self-evaluation.

Simply because of the knowledge he has gained, he believes that they are not suited for that kind of future, so he wants to make changes now in order to change their future—Natsukawa Torama's behavior can indeed be described as "willful".

With his hands supporting his chin, Maris Billy fell into deep thought, and then—

"Complete cancellation is probably impossible."

"The establishment of Chaldea cannot be separated from the support of the United Nations and the Mage's Association. Even if it's just to put their minds at ease, I can't entrust such an important task entirely to you. Lord Natsukawa may not care, but for us, it is still very necessary to negotiate with various forces and maintain trust."

"But you have a point. Forty-eight people does seem a bit too many now—what do you think about reducing it to two?"

three people?

Xia Chuanhu frowned: "Which two people?"

"You will choose one of them from this list, and for the other one, I will start the selection process for Master candidates from all over the world. I will then choose the one with the highest adaptability as the second person, how about that?"

One is pre-selected, while the other is chosen by the student?

"can."

73. Hinako-senpai, would you be interested in saving the world?

Akuta Hinako—or perhaps, Yu Ji.

She's feeling a little unhappy right now.

As a spirit similar to the True Ancestor, she deeply disliked and loathed humans. Therefore, throughout the thousands of years she lived, she had been constantly hiding and living in seclusion, always staying away from human settlements.

But now, she has been found.

Although she had been found before, this time it seemed like the people looking for her were specifically looking for her. They not only found out where she was, but also shamelessly conducted a thorough search, as if they were determined to dig her out of the corner!

Yu Ji couldn't understand who would want to see [Akuta Hinako] so much, since her identity as a spirit shouldn't have been exposed.

But despite not understanding, she was genuinely unhappy. If she could, she would blow up right now and send that person who was searching for her everywhere flying into the sky!

"But... what's wrong with that woman? Does she have a radar in her head?"

Hidden in a house, Yu Ji peered at the blonde girl outside the door. Her name seemed to be "Shatiao". For some reason, her search ability was extremely outrageous. No matter how she changed her hiding place, she could find her quickly.

In the past two weeks, she has been caught by her more than ten times, and each time she was just a little bit away from being caught.

You have to understand that over the past few thousand years, Yu Ji has been quite the expert at hiding. If she really wanted to hide, even hundreds of dogs wouldn't be able to find her. But that woman outside had a nose even sharper than a dog's! She was even forced to flee into this human settlement called a "city"!