To become a king and a magician

“If Mashu says that… Akuta-senpai, you—”

"I don't care, whether it's the wilderness or the city, it's up to you."

Hinako Akuta casually waved her hand. She could actually sleep in the wild without any problem, after all, she was an elf. Moreover, compared to the modern world hundreds of years later, this singularity in the past made Hinako Akuta more satisfied, at least the air smelled much more comfortable.

After surveying the surroundings, Roman's voice rang out again.

[Nearby you—roughly to the east—you should be able to see a fortress if you keep going that way. Why don't you head there first?]

"Yes, we understand."

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

Aoko Aozaki woke up slowly from her bed, rubbed her eyes, went to the window, opened it, and stretched lazily at the sky outside.

"Hmm~~~~~ Hmm! What a beautiful day! It's so good that there aren't any wyverns in the sky today."

Aozaki Aoko has been in this singularity for about a week now, and in that week, she has really grown tired of the bipedal wyverns that could appear in the sky at any time to launch an attack.

It's not that she couldn't beat them. Although they were fantasy species, Aozaki Aoko could handle even the ancient monster Beo, which was at the level of two thousand years old. Facing these bipedal dragons was a piece of cake. But as simple as it was, having to fight them more than ten times a day was really exhausting.

Being able to wake up peacefully in bed like this in the morning is a rare occurrence for Aozaki Aoko this week.

For the past few days, I've been reluctantly waking up amidst noise and cries for help.

Besides dealing with the flying dragon, Aozaki Aoko also learned some things about this singularity during this week.

First, there's the town, or rather the fortress, where she is located. It's called Vaucouleur, a fortress in the relatively rural part of France. During the Hundred Years' War between England and France, it wasn't a place where wars frequently broke out. Moreover, after the armistice was signed, there was a period of peace here.

But not long ago, the fortress was attacked, and dragons descended from the sky, wreaking havoc on everything around it.

Aozaki Aoko arrived here at that time. She had just arrived at the singularity and was looking for someone to ask for directions when she encountered Vokuler being attacked by a group of dragons. Based on her principle of chivalry, she decisively took action and drove all the dragons away.

After that, Aozaki Aoko was regarded by the soldiers and residents of the fortress as a savior sent from heaven. They welcomed her into the fortress with utmost respect, and she learned about the situation of this singularity from these people.

The resurrected Joan of Arc, the renewed war, and the hordes of dragons ravaging France...

Over the years, Aozaki Aoko has traveled all over the world and has seen her share of great things, but she has never seen hundreds or thousands of Fantasy Species flying around in the sky like this before. You have to know that all the Fantasy Species migrated into the Star Inner Sea after the end of the Age of Gods, and there are very few left in the world.

After learning about this situation, Aozaki Aoko stayed in Vokule – partly because she was entrusted by the local residents and soldiers to provide them with food and lodging in exchange for sheltering them and driving away the dragons. On the other hand, she was also waiting for someone there.

Since the human reasoning fire had already occurred, her man would definitely not sit idly by. He would come to this singularity sooner or later, so Aozaki Aoko simply stayed here and waited for Natsukawa Torato to arrive.

As for why she was waiting here... Merlin said that Aozaki Aoko was giving him some trust for now, and if it turned out to be a lie, she could just have Artoria hang him up again.

After changing into her casual clothes, Aozaki Aoko tidied herself up a bit: "Well, it's about time to go eat, it should be lunchtime at this hour..."

"Lord Aozaki, are you awake?"

Just then, a voice sounded outside the door. Aozaki Aoko went over and opened the door, where she saw a soldier standing in the doorway.

"I just woke up. What's wrong? Is Feilong here again?"

"No, it's a group of strangely dressed, suspicious people trying to get into the fortress."

"Suspicious person? How suspicious?"

"Their clothes are different from what we usually wear, and they don't look like the attire of noblemen. If I had to say, they are somewhat similar to Lord Aozaki... Oh, and when they were talking, they also claimed to be from a place called Chaldea."

Chaldea?!

Aozaki Aoko's eyes lit up immediately—after waiting for a week, her man had finally arrived!

41. Roman: Are you being polite?

At the gate of Vokulir's fortress.

Sitting on a rock by the roadside, Fujimaru Ritsuka hugged her knees and was panting heavily.

Although they were heading to a nearby town, Vokul was quite far from where the three of them had landed. Mashu and Hinako were fine; their physical abilities were superhuman, so walking a few kilometers was no problem for them.

But Fujimaru Ritsuka was different; a few kilometers had already made her legs ache.

[Fujimaru, you really need to work on your physical training. You definitely need to add physical training to your daily routine when you get back.]

From inside the bracelet, Natsukawa Tora's nonchalant, detached voice could also be heard.

Fujimaru Ritsuka raised her hand somewhat helplessly: "I've only been trained by Ms. Meryl for a week, not to mention the uneven ground here..."

【Then I'll conjure up a mountain terrain for you in the training room, so you can get used to marching in various environments beforehand】

"..."

Due to mental and physical exhaustion, Fujimaru Ritsuka no longer had the energy to protest against her boss. Besides, even if she did protest, she figured her boss would just arrange all the meals for her anyway.

There's nothing we can do but grit our teeth and accept it all. After all, she's the last human Master of Chaldea.

"By the way, Minister, aren't you planning to come over?" Fujimaru Ritsuka changed the subject. "Didn't you say you'd be coming soon? Why are you still drinking tea in the control room?"

【Huh? I meant I'd rush to your side at full speed if you encountered a major crisis. But you haven't faced any crisis at all, so there's no point in me getting there, right? I might as well just stay in the control room and have some tea—besides, I'm drinking cola, tea is boring.】

I've been walking around here for over an hour, while the minister is drinking Coke in the air-conditioned Chaldea.

Fujimaru Ritsuka began to regret her decision to talk to the club president; wasn't she just asking for trouble?

Of course, besides that reason, my not going is also for your sake.

"Huh?"

[Leaving aside Akuta-senpai, you and Mashu are still complete novices in every aspect, in dire need of training to improve your abilities. The fluctuations in the First Singularity are minimal, and the intensity of battles there is likely the lowest, making it the most suitable place for you to hone your skills.]

In this situation, if I went with you guys from the start, wouldn't that just be me, a max-level, fully-trained player, bullying wild animals in the newbie village? It wouldn't provide you with any training benefits at all.

So that's why the minister is leisurely drinking Coke in the control room right now.

Fujimaru Ritsuka understood, but listening to the slurping sounds coming from the other end, she couldn't help but feel a little envious. She also wanted to relax with a can of cola after hiking for so long!

Hearing Natsukawa Torato's words from the side, unlike Mashu who nodded in agreement, Hinako Akuta showed a very disdainful expression: "To put it bluntly, he's just lazy. He doesn't want to work and shirks his responsibilities, yet he makes it sound so noble."

"I call this training newcomers, Senior Akuta. Besides, you're already there over there, so wouldn't it be redundant for me to go as well?"

"cut."

Perhaps because Natsukawa Tora said something agreeable, Akuta Hinako pursed her lips and said nothing more.

at the same time--

"I apologize to the travelers from Chaldea for keeping you waiting."

A soldier carrying a long spear jogged from inside the city to the three of them. He was the same soldier who had just gone to inform Aozaki Aoko of the situation of Fujimaru Ritsuka and the other two.

"We have obtained permission from the Guardian to allow you to enter. I apologize for keeping you waiting here for so long. Please come with me. The Guardian said he wants to see you directly."

"Guardian?"

Upon hearing the name mentioned by the soldier, Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others couldn't help but show puzzled expressions. When they met earlier, the soldier only said that he was going to report, and did not mention the Guardian.

Meanwhile, at Chaldea, Natsukawa Torato also reflexively thought of those bronze giants that could shed tree roots, but the guardian the soldier mentioned was clearly not one of those big guys, not to mention that the guardian sounded like a rational person.

(And... there shouldn't have been such a person in the first singularity, right? Did some anomaly happen that I'm unaware of?)

If that's the case, then the situation within the First Singularity is probably not entirely as Natsukawa Torato knows; perhaps some unexpected events will occur. After all, King Solomon directly descended upon Fuyuki City, so it's not surprising that something might happen in the First Singularity.

(Hopefully, this isn't a situation that Akuta-senpai can't handle.)

——————————————————————————————————

Vokul is said to be a fortress, but the interior space is not large. In addition, due to the repeated attacks by wyverns in recent days, the environment inside the city is not optimistic. There are broken buildings and residents in tattered clothes everywhere. The overall atmosphere is gloomy and lifeless.

This was a common sight during wartime. France and Britain were locked in a fierce battle, and after finally signing an armistice, the residents thought they could live in peace for a while. But just two or three days later, Joan of Arc returned with her dragons to seek revenge.

The hard-won hope for peace was shattered in an instant, and by the very hands of their former hero, Joan of Arc... It's understandable that these residents remain in a daze, to the point that even the strangely dressed Fujimaru Ritsuka and her two companions didn't inspire much interest in watching.

Led by the soldiers, Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others crossed the central road of the fortress and arrived at a house near the center of the fortress.

Compared to the other houses, this one appears to be the most complete.

"This is it. Three travelers, the guardian is inside."

The soldier stopped at the door and turned around to say this.

"Then I'll stop here. I need to go back to the city gate to stand guard. Please excuse me."

"Yes, thank you for showing us the way." Mashu bowed politely to the soldier, watched him leave, and then turned to look at the house where the so-called guardian was.

"What kind of person could he be, Guardian?"

“According to the soldier’s description, the reason this place hasn’t been destroyed by the wyverns is all thanks to the guardian inside… He’s probably not a bad guy, right?” Fujimaru Ritsuka said. “Anyway, let’s go in first. It seems like he wants to see us too.”

Hinako Akuta and Mashu nodded, and just as the three of them pushed open the door and went inside—

"You've really kept me waiting! What were you doing taking so long, Natsukawa!"

【puff------!】

Upon hearing that incredibly familiar voice, Natsukawa Tora in the control room turned around and sprayed a mouthful of cola all over Roman.

【Qingzi? ! 】

42. Minister, how many wives do you actually have?

Long red hair, a stunning figure, and a perpetually confident expression.

This is the woman who is now standing in front of Fujimaru Ritsuka and the other two.

Under normal circumstances, Fujimaru Ritsuka would likely be surprised that the Guardian was such a beautiful woman, but before that—

"Huh? Xia Chuan?"

Upon hearing the surname mentioned by Aozaki Aoko, all three of them showed expressions of surprise.

Aozaki Aoko, seeing the three girls enter her room but not the person she expected, froze for a moment: "Huh? Where's Natsukawa? Weren't they supposed to be Chaldea people? Where did he go?"

“My brother is still in Chaldea and didn’t come to the Singularity with us…” Mash answered instinctively. “Um… are you… someone my brother knows?”

"Huh? Didn't he tell you?"

Aozaki Aoko pointed to herself: "My name is Aozaki Aoko, and I am a magician. My relationship with Natsukawa can't really be described as acquaintance. In fact, I am his fiancée, whom he has never been engaged to, married to, or even given a wedding ring to."

"..."

"..."

"..."