To become a king and a magician

Why are you here?

"That witch's subordinate?"

......

Listening to the questions hurled at her by the soldiers, Fujimaru Ritsuka felt like she was hearing gibberish. Beside her, Akuta Hinako was equally embarrassed. Even as a True Ancestor who had lived for thousands of years, her homeland had always been China. Being fluent in Chinese, Japanese, and English was already a feat; expecting her to speak French was asking too much, especially since she had never been to France!

As the only one of the three who had even a little knowledge of French, Mashu quickly organized her thoughts and replied, "Hello, we are lost travelers. We want to ask about the current situation."

"..."

Upon hearing Mashu's words, the French soldiers' tense expressions instantly turned aggressive!

"Ilssontanglais! (They are British!)"

"Attrapez-les! (Grab them!)"

"Mash, why are you speaking English?!"

Seeing the soldiers suddenly raise their weapons and surround them, Fujimaru Ritsuka quickly hid behind Mashu. Mashu, belatedly realizing her mistake, said, "I'm sorry, senpai. I was taught that English is the international language, so I subconsciously answered in English without considering the current situation..."

It was the Hundred Years' War between England and France. In other words, it was a time when England and France were fighting fiercely, and the hatred between the soldiers of the two countries was absolutely at its peak. If you were to speak English in England, that would be fine, but speaking English in France... well, what's the difference between that and speaking French in England?

That's a blatant taunt.

Therefore, although it is not visible, the attitude of these French soldiers towards Fujimaru Ritsuka and his companions has undoubtedly changed from neutral to hostile.

Seeing this, Hinako Akuta, who had been feeling embarrassed, immediately perked up: "So, we have to take them all down first?"

“Miss Jie? Uh... I think so. If possible, I would like to ask them to calm down first, and then I will communicate with them properly in French.”

"Okay, you two step aside, I'll take over."

Seeing that Hinako Akuta had already started moving her arms and legs, Mashu and Ritsuka Fujimaru obediently moved back a bit. Ritsuka Fujimaru even reminded her, "Akuta-senpai, please don't use too much force. Go easy on them. They should just be ordinary people."

"Do you need to tell me this kind of thing?"

......

A few minutes later.

"Even though I held back, I still managed to beat them all into immobility. Considering Akuta-senpai's strength, it was definitely a case of holding back."

Natsukawa Tora, who reconnected with Fujimaru Ritsuka via the communication device, sounded somewhat helpless.

Well, this was an oversight on our part; we neglected the language issue. Da Vinci, Orange, and I will try to make you a translation-specific Mystic Code.

"Huh? Don't we need to learn?" Fujimaru Ritsuka was a little surprised. She had thought she would have to go back and start learning from scratch.

[Fujimaru, if you're so eager to learn, I can teach you from scratch. However, considering the tight schedule, you'll probably only get about an hour of sleep a day. Is that alright?]

"I think Mystic Code is pretty good too!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka immediately backed down and chose the simpler and more convenient path.

"Really? That's a shame. I was hoping to recommend my old method to you. I remember when I first came to the Clock Tower to study, my English was terrible. It was all thanks to Meryl's intensive tutoring that I managed to improve. Back then, I didn't get a single second of sleep."

Can't I sleep for even a second?!

The overly harsh description made Fujimaru Ritsuka tremble several times: "Captain... I'm really begging you for the Mystic Code."

Okay, okay, I'll make them for you. Also, do you want Akuta-senpai and Mashu?

“Thank you, but I don’t need it, brother.” Mashu shook her head. “I think my current language skills are sufficient to handle the situation.”

"Then I'll have one too. Although I don't want to talk and communicate with humans, it's still pretty frustrating not being able to understand what others are saying."

It seems like Hinako Akuta is going to get it.

"So it's Fujimaru and Akuta-senpai's two. Okay, I'll go tell Da Vinci and Touko later. I think three days should be enough—now, let's get down to business. What's the current situation at the singularity? Those soldiers have already told you, right?"

Mashu nodded. "Yes, let me explain. According to the information I got from those soldiers, this singularity..."

39. Jeanne Alter's world's cutest fan club was destroyed by our company.

— France is now almost entirely occupied.

These are the words spoken by those soldiers.

According to the original history, by 1431, Charles VII of France should have signed a truce with Philip III, who had defected to England. Although this could not eliminate all friction, large-scale battles would certainly not occur for the time being.

But in reality...

"Charles VII is now dead."

Mashu's tone was somewhat heavy.

Charles VII, who was supposed to sign an armistice with Britain, had died not long ago at this time of the singularity, a fact now known throughout France. The culprit behind this was someone the French people could never have imagined.

"Joan of Arc, the witch".

Joan of Arc, who had long been burned at the stake and died in front of everyone, has now reappeared in the world as a witch, and just like she did when she was executed, she burned Charles VII alive in the flames.

Furthermore, after that, Joan of Arc used Paris as her base to launch a war against all of France, dragging France, which had just ended a brief period of peace, back into the flames of war in just a few days.

The outcome of the war was also quite one-sided. In just a few days since the war began, almost the entire territory of France had fallen. Apart from a few major cities that were still putting up resistance, there was no safe place in the country. The English army had long since fled back to their home country.

To be honest, this was quite shocking news, at least for Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others. Even Fujimaru Ritsuka, who didn't know much about French history, had heard of Joan of Arc.

Originally just a village girl, she received a divine revelation at the age of seventeen and left her hometown to join the army. Until she was captured in a small conflict in Compiègne at the age of nineteen, she led the French army to a glorious victory that had never been achieved before, ultimately enabling Charles VII, who had the right to inherit the throne, to be crowned and laying the foundation for France's victory.

In later history, Joan of Arc was recorded as a national hero of France, a saint of Catholicism, the most famous saint in the world, and a historical figure known worldwide.

But such a person is slandered as a witch in this era.

This is not an incomprehensible situation, Fujimaru.

Roman's voice came through the communication device.

In ancient times, it was common practice to vilify enemy leaders to boost the morale of one's own soldiers or demoralize the enemy. In modern terms, this means fabricating baseless accusations to deliberately smear someone. Moreover, the primary origin of the slander against Joan of Arc was England. As an enemy nation, it was perfectly normal for them to smear Joan of Arc for repeatedly thwarting their own tactical objectives.

However, more concerning to me than historical events is the resurrection of Joan of Arc—this is likely the root cause of this singularity.

The dead cannot be brought back to life; this has been a universally acknowledged fact since the end of the Age of Gods. In the Age of Gods, however, there was still a slight possibility that the souls of those who died and went to the underworld could be retrieved, since the underworld in the Age of Gods truly existed underground.

However, in 1431, the Age of Gods had long since passed. Even through magic or sorcery, the dead could never be resurrected, and Joan of Arc was no exception. Therefore, the resurrected Joan of Arc was undoubtedly the biggest anomaly of the singularity.

"So, all we need to do is put that witch Joan of Arc back into her coffin, right?"

Hinako Akuta, who never liked beating around the bush, said bluntly, "Then let's stop dawdling here and hurry up to our base in Paris and wipe them out in one fell swoop."

"To wipe them out in one fell swoop... does that mean to go straight and destroy the enemy's base?"

"Well, to be specific, I'll go to Paris alone and self-destruct a few times. I think that'll end this singularity."

Fujimaru Ritsuka: "..."

Mashu: "..."

Chaldea: [...]

It can only be said that Hinako Akuta's words and tactics are quite straightforward and irrefutable. After all, her self-destruction really has that power, and if it doesn't work once, she can do it several more times.

Inside Chaldea, Roman, unsure how to respond, looked pleadingly at Natsukawa Torato, who was slacking off to the side: "Natsukawa, Akuta wants to go straight to Paris to become a suicide bomber. What do you think?"

"Let her go," Natsukawa Torama said casually, taking a sip of his cola. "Anyway, Akuta-senpai can do it, right?"

Did you hear that? Since Xia Chuan said so, I'm leaving now!

"No, no, no, no, no! Jie, wait a minute! You're being too reckless! How can you just jump straight to the heart of the enemy like that! And Xia Chuan, you need to be serious too. Even if you're there to back you up, you can't be this relaxed!"

Roman quickly called out to Hinako Akuta, who was preparing to go alone to take the head of the witch Joan of Arc.

"Besides, didn't the soldiers just say that the enemy in the singularity isn't just the resurrected witch Joan of Arc, but also a [dragon]!"

Dragon.

This is indeed what the soldiers were talking about earlier.

The main reason why Joan of Arc was able to conquer almost all of France in a short period of time was her invincible army—the Dragon Legion composed of countless dragons.

"Even if you, Akuta, are capable of self-destruction, you'll still be held back by countless fantasy species, right? Those are enemies that you can't defeat simply by self-destructing."

“Then let’s self-destruct a few more times.” Hinako Akuta said quite firmly, “Besides, judging from the description, the dragons that attacked the town were only at the level of bipedal wyverns, with a lifespan of only a few hundred years at most. They could not possibly be my match.”

If the power of magic comes from the accumulation of knowledge, then the power of fantasy species comes from the accumulation of a long lifespan. Because of their incredibly long history, fantasy species generally possess powerful magic, and their very existence is shrouded in mystery.

Fantasy species with a lifespan of over a hundred years are already beyond the reach of humans, and those with a lifespan of over a thousand years are even more beyond the reach of magicians. Their inherent mystery can be considered magic. The most concrete example is Orange's golden wolf familiar, Beo.

Dragons are among the pinnacle of fantasy species. Even the low-level wyverns have a history of at least a hundred years. In modern times, they would be capable of wiping out the entire Clock Tower except for the Jewel King.

Unfortunately, Hinako Akuta is a spirit that has existed since the distant past, with a history that can be traced back to the Chinese pantheon. She is simply no match for the likes of wyverns.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade Hinako Akuta, and with Natsukawa Tora watching the show from the sidelines, Roman gritted his teeth and took out his phone.

"Magic Merry! Urgent help needed! There's a self-destruct maniac here who's about to blow up the headquarters! How can we stop her?!"

[Just leave it alone, it'll revive eventually, right? Besides, it's really stress-relieving this way, I recommend Roman, you should try it too~~~]

40. Aozaki Aoko, whose hopes were destined to be dashed.

In the end, Hinako Akuta was persuaded to give up by Roman's persistent persuasion.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Hinako's abilities, but rather that they had only just arrived at the singularity and knew almost nothing about the enemy's situation. To recklessly launch a suicide attack like this was not a wise move. At least they should wait until they had gathered a certain amount of intelligence before making a decision.

Hinako Akuta was somewhat dissatisfied with Roman's cautious thinking, but she reluctantly accepted it. Mashu and Ritsuka Fujimaru also breathed a sigh of relief. Having such a self-destructive senior really made the two of them unsure how to get along.

"So, if we don't go straight for the enemy's headquarters, where do we go now?" Akuta asked. "If we want to gather intelligence, we need to find a town first, right? Or should we follow the direction those soldiers went?"

“You can think of it this way. Didn’t those soldiers say that there are still a few scattered cities in France resisting Joan of Arc’s attack? You can go there now.”

The basic information about the singularity has been obtained from the soldiers. Now, all that remains is information about Joan of Arc's side. In order to repair the singularity, Fujimaru Ritsuka and her companions will inevitably have to confront Joan of Arc's forces. Before that happens, to avoid any information gaps that could put them at a disadvantage, it is necessary to gather all sorts of intelligence about the enemy.

Although, according to Natsukawa Torama and Akuta Hinako's idea, simply sending Akuta Ultra Bomb Hinako to bomb Paris would be enough to solve the problem.

“The cities still resisting Joan of Arc’s attack… I think it’s Lyon and Paris, right?” Fujimaru Ritsuka thought for a moment and said, “But in which direction are Lyon and Paris exactly? We don’t have a map.”

Don't worry about that, we can give you directions.

Roman's voice came through the communication device.

[That's what I'm saying, but I'm only giving directions by comparing your location's coordinates with a modern map. Let me see... You're currently located near Domrémy, which is quite a distance from both Paris and Lyon. You won't be able to get there today at least.]

"Let's go to a nearby town first, rest there, and then officially begin our journey tomorrow. Maybe we can even get a map of this era there, senior."