To become a king and a magician

The Inner Sea of ​​Stars is a beautiful place, but this is not it. In fact, the place where Avalon is located is not the real Inner Sea of ​​Stars, but its border.

When Merlin left Artoria and wanted to enter the Starry Sea, which only innocent people could enter, he could be said to have deliberately fallen into a trap set by the Lake Fairy Vivian at its border and was imprisoned in this tower.

Merlin didn't really care about being locked up; he could leave at any time, and being locked up could be considered voluntary. But even though he was locked up, he felt that living in such a desolate place was not good, so he simply turned this place into a sea of ​​flowers.

The situation was similar for Mary in Avalon in the other world, except that it wasn't because of a romantic debt, but because of Vivian's personal grudge against her, which made her quite disliked there.

Perched on the edge, gazing into the distance, Aozaki Aoko asked, "So, now you can explain why we were all gathered here, right? And why we were specifically brought all the way to the Starry Sea? Everyone else seems to know, except for me, the last one to arrive, who knows nothing. Are there a few others who haven't come yet?"

The people gathered inside Avalonta now are almost all the women who are close to Natsukawa Tora.

Ayaka Sajou, Ciel, Lydel, Touko Aozaki, Aoko Aozaki, Artoria, Souji Okita, Mordred—plus Merry.

Everyone was there except for Morgan, Ryougi Shiki, and Atalanta.

"Don't worry about Miss Shiki and Ta-Miao. The reason we brought you all here is mainly because we were afraid you would be affected by what's going to happen next. But Miss Shiki will definitely be fine, so we don't need to worry about her. Morgan also has his own things to take care of, so you don't need to worry about him either."

"As for why I've gathered all of you here, there are two reasons."

Mary held up two fingers.

"One reason is what they just mentioned, to prevent you from being affected by what's going to happen next. You already knew about the burning of humanity, Aoko, and it's about time for it to happen. Here, no matter what happens on the surface of the world, we won't be affected."

"And another reason—this makes it easier to meet up with His Majesty the King later."

A convergence?

Aozaki Aoko rarely showed a surprised expression: "The rendezvous means... he will need our strength?"

"After all, we're going to truly save the world, and probably twice. The power of just one Holy Swordsman is definitely not enough," Meryl laughed. "Well, let's treat this place as a base from now on. We'll live here until the battle begins—you shouldn't have any objections, right? Me over here?"

When Merlin, who was suspended from the dome, heard Meryl ask this question, he immediately rolled his eyes.

You lot have already taken over his house, what good would his objections do? Besides, his king is still eyeing him from below, so he wouldn't dare to object.

Over the years, Artoria's allegiance has long since shifted to Natsukawa Tora's side, so there's no point in him saying anything now that he's a washed-up character.

(Afterwards, go find Romani and vent your frustrations, then give him a good scolding.)

——————————————————————————————————

Meanwhile, in Chaldea.

"Ah!"

Roman, who was working in the infirmary, suddenly sneezed violently.

"Ugh... Who's talking about me?"

Merlin?

"Hahaha, Natsukawa, you're kidding me, right? That was so disgusting it gave me goosebumps—and why are you here again?!"

Turning around to look at Xia Chuanhu, who was sitting cross-legged on the hospital bed, playing on his phone and drinking a beverage, Roman showed a strong sense of helplessness.

"Xia Chuan, as the operations director, you should have your own private room and office, right? Is it really necessary for you to come here to kill time whenever you have a spare moment?"

"I'm just worried you might die suddenly. Besides, I didn't come empty-handed. I always bring you a strawberry cake every time I come, don't I?" Xia Chuanhu pointed to the half-eaten strawberry cake next to Roman.

Roman gave a wry smile: "I'm very grateful for what you've done. It's kind of you to bake cakes for me every time. Besides, I won't suddenly die. If I were going to die suddenly, I would have died a long time ago."

"Yes, I know, and I won't let you die. If you die, I'll immediately put Avalon inside you."

"How much do you not want me to die!"

Even though the two had worked together for a long time and had known each other for ten years, Roman could understand Xia Chuanhu's slightly excessive concern for her, but she still couldn't quite accept it.

After taking another bite of cake to calm his nerves, Roman continued, "Besides, instead of slacking off here, Natsukawa, you should think about your other Master's matter. Did you get scolded by Director Olga Marie again at the meeting just now?"

"You really think she was yelling at me because I haven't given her the other person's name yet?"

"Otherwise what? Is it because you weren't there for her birthday celebration recently?"

"You already know that, don't you?" Natsukawa Tora sighed helplessly. "I can't manage my time here. Mary's birthday just happens to coincide with my return to Japan..."

Listening to Xia Chuanhu's conflicted words, Roman, having been through similar experiences in some ways, couldn't help but say earnestly, "Xia Chuan, if you continue like this, you'll die sooner or later, really."

"Thanks for your suggestion, [senior] -- By the way, I'm currently reading Magical Merry's blog. Should I leave her a message saying, 'Romani was a former Sea King'?"

"Stop it, you bastard!"

"Just kidding."

"You bastard..."

Roman gave Natsukawa Torata a listless glare and asked wearily, "So, what are you planning to do about the other Master? You've been dragging your feet on this for ages, haven't you? Even when people with a Spirit Transfer Adaptability of over 90 appeared, you said no—you don't really want to wait for someone with an Adaptability of 100 to appear, do you?"

Xia Chuanhu nodded: "We can't do it any other way."

"Could it really be possible? We haven't found a single magician in the entire Clock Tower with a compatibility score of 100, let alone an ordinary person..."

"Yes, and coincidentally, we just found it now."

Showing Roman the screen on his phone, Natsukawa Tiger laughed and said, "The results from Japan: a high school girl named Fujimaru Ritsuka from Kanbuko City has a 100% Spirit Transfer Adaptability."

3. Hello, Fujimaru Ritsuka

Fujimaru Ritsuka felt like she was dreaming.

She remembered that she had only seen a blood donation van in the square of Guanbuzi City and thought she would make a small contribution to the medical cause, but why did she end up in this place?

Where exactly is this place called Chaldea?

Sitting on a bench in a corridor of Chaldea, Fujimaru Ritsuka rested her chin on her hands, her face full of distress: "Ah... Am I dreaming, or have I actually been kidnapped?"

"I think it's neither, senpai."

Beside Fujimaru Ritsuka, a pink-haired girl with long hair that covered half of her eyes handed Fujimaru Ritsuka a drink while saying, "Here, senpai, this is a drink. Drinking it should alleviate your discomfort to some extent."

"Ah... thank you, Mashu."

Mashu, Mashu Kyrielight, that's the name of this pink-haired girl. Fujimaru Ritsuka met her a few minutes ago. After arriving at this mysterious organization called Chaldea, she immediately underwent what Mashu called a "spiritual particle infiltration" experiment, and ever since then, she's felt dizzy and disoriented.

If she hadn't run into Mashu on the way, who had somehow come looking for her, she probably would be sleeping in the hallway right now.

After gulping down the drink in the bottle, Fujimaru Ritsuka let out a very comfortable sigh: "Phew~~~ That feels much better."

"You drink water so generously, senpai." Mashu said with a hint of surprise, looking at Fujimaru Ritsuka's behavior. "Does senpai always drink water like this?"

"Huh? No way, this is... um, it's like after strenuous exercise, or when you're really thirsty, you really want to drink water, right? Mashu, didn't you know that?"

"Yes, I'm not in very good health. My doctor and brother both told me not to do strenuous exercise."

"Doctor? Brother?"

The names of the two people Mashu mentioned puzzled Fujimaru Ritsuka: "Mash, do you have an older brother?"

Mashu nodded: "Yes, I also have an older sister, but we're not related by blood. They've taken good care of me since I was little, so I consider them my older brother and sister. The doctor is my brother's friend and is the attending physician responsible for improving my physical condition."

"Are you very interested in them, senior?"

"No, I'm just a little curious. By the way, Mash, what kind of place is Chaldea exactly?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka finally asked the question that had been nagging at her.

Although she said goodbye to her family and came to this place called Chaldea after being persuaded and promised by the staff member, Fujimaru Ritsuka still had no idea what kind of place it was.

Could it really be a mysterious organization hidden in the inner workings of the world, just like those light novels she's read?

After pondering for a moment with her chin resting on her hand, Mash replied, "This question is a bit complicated because Chaldea has many functions and is responsible for various fields... That makes sense. At this point, I should be able to use my brother's words to explain it, right? This Chaldea is a—"

"Chaldea is an organization dedicated to saving the world."

Before Mashu could finish speaking, another gentle female voice came from not far away. Fujimaru Ritsuka looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young silver-haired woman who looked to be around twenty years old walking towards them not far down the corridor.

"Sister Grey."

The person walking over was Gray, who was now twenty-five years old. However, although she was twenty-five, Gray hadn't actually grown up much. Her appearance wouldn't change much under various circumstances.

"Huh? Sister? Mashu's?"

Upon hearing Mashu's address, Fujimaru Ritsuka was somewhat surprised. Although Mashu had stated that she was not related to her sister and brother by blood, this sister named Gray...

(She looks about my age!)

Fujimaru Ritsuka thought that older sister would be a woman nearing thirty.

"Grey, what brings you here?"

"Of course I'm here to see you. Something happened on my brother's end, and he's summoning us over—and who's this gentleman here?"

"I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka, nice to meet you, Mash's older sister," Fujimaru Ritsuka greeted immediately.

Upon hearing the name Fujimaru Ritsuka, Gray, who already knew some things from Natsukawa Torato, immediately showed a look of sudden realization: "Oh, so you're the one my brother has been waiting for... Nice to meet you, I'm Mashu's older sister, you can just call me Gray. Perfect timing, you can come along too."

"Hey? Coming together? Where are we going?"

"Control room."

--------------------------

The road to the control room is not far, and thanks to the elevator, it doesn't take too long to travel between the various areas of Chaldea.

While riding the elevator, Gray briefly explained the situation at Chaldea to Fujimaru Ritsuka, as well as what she would be doing in the control room.

In short, Chaldea is a research organization established by the United Nations and the Magic Association to continuously observe the Earth in order to ensure the future existence of humanity.

Calling it an "organization to save the world" wouldn't be a big problem.

They were now heading to the control room, the central area of ​​Chaldea, where the current director was about to convene an emergency meeting that supposedly concerned the future of humanity.

The director's name is Olga Marie Asmirette Animusfia, but she is usually called Olga Marie. She is the daughter of the previous director and has only taken over the operation of Chaldea from her father, who was the former director, in the last two years. She is a very strict person with everyone.

"A strict person? Ugh... I feel like I won't be able to handle them." Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression was a little unpleasant.

"Senior, are you not good at getting along with strict people?"

"Because my teacher was a very strict person. From elementary school to high school, I suffered a lot under his guidance."

As if recalling some unpleasant memories, Fujimaru Ritsuka clearly showed an expression as if she were having a nightmare.

Seeing this, Grey couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's alright. Although she's very strict, Miss Olga Marie is actually a very easy person to talk to. And she usually won't get angry when her brother is around. Fujimaru, you can relax a bit."

I'll try my best...

"Ding~~~~~"