To become a king and a magician

Natsukawa Torato was certain that if Meryl were here, Yad would have been completely dismantled, and every single part would have been pulverized beyond repair.

With a slight sigh, Xia Chuanhu said, "The reasons for this are somewhat complicated. Anyway, please come in first, and I will explain it to you step by step. It's a matter of fate, you and I... you and I are all somewhat related."

"A relationship...?"

Because the conversation between Yad and Natsukawa Tora was completely beyond Gray's comprehension, the six-year-old's mind was completely blank. The only thing she was certain of was that the older brother in front of her must be an extraordinary person.

......

Leading Grey into the house and having her sit down at the dining table, Natsukawa Torama organized his thoughts for a moment: "Hmm... where should I begin? If I had to, I'd start from a year ago."

"Let's start with what you care about most, Yad. I do know Merlin, but the Merlin I know and the Merlin you know are not the same person. They are similar beings from different worlds with the same name and similar experiences. You can think of him as Merlin from a parallel world."

"A parallel world? Ah, Merlin was actually a woman in another world?"

“It’s not impossible, after all, this is the world (Type-Moon)…” Natsukawa Tora smiled, then took out the necklace that Merlin had made. “The Merlin aura you sensed should be this. This is a Mystic Code she made for concealment. It can hide some of my special features and save me trouble.”

"The unusual thing about you? Could it be that you're also a woman?"

"Yad!"

After being scolded by Grey, Yad immediately shut his mouth. Natsukawa Tora pursed his lips and said, "If only it were that simple, my special ability wouldn't be such a big deal. But if it's related to this village, then it could be something that could cause a riot."

riot.

This is by no means an exaggeration. The sole purpose of the village of Brakmoia is to create a vessel that can resurrect King Arthur, and Grey is the only individual in hundreds of years to have succeeded—but Natsukawa Torato is an even more successful individual than Grey.

Gray's situation, in the end, is merely imitation, a copy. No matter how meticulously she strives, she can only achieve an infinite approximation, never truly becoming the original. Natsukawa Tora, however, is the "original" itself.

If the villagers find out, there are only two possible outcomes.

One option is to transfer their fervent adoration for Gray to Natsukawa Tora, regarding him as the true "Child of God." This scenario is actually not too bad; at most, Natsukawa Tora would find it difficult to leave—but that's not a problem, as Kenneth and Meryl would inevitably take action if he were to disappear for an extended period.

Another scenario involves villagers whose faith crumbles after learning that their centuries of effort have failed and their assigned mission cannot be accomplished—a common occurrence in the world of magic. In such cases, no matter what actions are taken, the outcome is almost always tragic.

Hearing Xia Chuanhu's words, Grey and Yad both fell silent. Grey was too young to fully understand the gravity of the situation, while Yad vaguely sensed some of the underlying truth.

"Hey buddy, you just said you have a relationship with me and Grey?" Yad continued, "Could you explain that part?"

"As long as you don't tell anyone, it's fine."

Natsukawa Torato laughed, “Last year, I participated in a ritual in Japan called the Holy Grail War. It’s a magical ritual that summons heroes from the past, known as Heroic Spirits, to fight alongside them and compete for a wish-granting machine that can grant any wish. And the partner I summoned at that time was King Arthur.”

King Arthur.

Young Grey couldn't understand the meaning of this name to her, and just as Ad, who was in the cage in her hands, was about to cry out, Natsukawa Torato quickly added: "Of course, not the King Arthur you know, but a male King Arthur from another world, just like Merlin."

"Can't you just finish what you're saying in one go?"

"From my perspective, you were trying to interrupt me halfway through my sentence."

"Tsk—"

It was probably a slight pursing of his lips, as Yad made a similar sound, before saying, "So this is what you mean by 'related to us,' then you could say that—wait, wait, wait, could it be that your peculiarity is related to that King Arthur from another world?"

“I died once in that Holy Grail War, leaving no trace of my body, only my soul. But as you can see, I am now sitting here perfectly fine, communicating with you. Why do you think I can exist like this?”

"Ah~~~~ I understand now. That makes sense. You really do need to keep your situation hidden, especially in this village. Well, with that dream demon's magic prop, you should be fine as long as you don't take it off, right?"

"You absolutely mustn't tell anyone about this, and Gray absolutely mustn't either," Natsukawa Tora warned.

Grey blinked. "Can't we tell anyone?"

"Yes, you can't tell anyone, not even your closest family members. This is a little secret between you and your older brother, understand?"

Little secret.

Grey didn't quite understand, but nodded subconsciously, "I understand..."

"That's good."

“But then again, you’re really bold,” Yad continued. “Knowing you’re incompatible with this village, you still came here. It’s like you’re deliberately jumping into a latrine. Do you like eating shit?”

"I'm in dire need of money right now, and this is the perfect opportunity to get a commission from this place."

18. The windmill creaked and groaned as it turned.

After sitting in the hunting cabin with Yad and Grey for a while, Natsukawa Tiger, having finished breakfast, began to tour the village under Grey's guidance.

But even though it's called a visit, there's really nothing to see.

The village was small, with a small population, and had no distinguishing features other than its remote location; perhaps the black statue of the Virgin Mary could be considered one. Beyond the village lay a cemetery, and further still, a swamp could be seen, though it was separated from the cemetery by a fence.

After walking around the village with Grey, they sat down on a step near the church in the center of the village. Natsukawa Tora sighed softly, "There's nothing unusual in the village, so does that mean the problem is in the cemetery or the swamp?"

"A problem?" Grey frowned in confusion. "Is something wrong in the village?"

"Ah...it seems that the ley lines are acting strangely, causing the magic in this area to become off—Grey, you probably don't understand what I'm saying, but it's okay, it's not a big deal anyway, since it's something that even a half-baked magician like me could handle."

Compared to his own affairs, Natsukawa Torato was actually more curious about something else.

"Speaking of Grey, those villagers seemed to respect you a lot just now."

During the visit to the village, although not everyone did this, about half of the villagers bowed to Grey with great respect as if they were seeing someone of noble birth.

It's probably because she looks like Artoria.

Grey nodded slightly: "Well... ever since my appearance changed a year ago..."

"After all, to the people here, the crybaby Grey is like a deity," Yad chuckled. "If you took off your necklace, you'd probably get the same, or even more enthusiastic, treatment, right? Want to give it a try?"

"Yad!"

"Ughhhhhhh!"

Seeing Gray start to shake the cage up and down, Natsukawa Tiger couldn't help but smile: "Let's forget about it then. I didn't want things to turn out that way, and besides, I don't want to get involved in something that's obviously going to be a huge hassle."

"Speaking of which, what's that windmill over there?"

Natsukawa Tora changed the subject, and his gaze shifted to the other side of the village—in the direction completely opposite to the cemetery and swamp, there was a high hill with a dilapidated windmill hut at its highest point.

“Ah, that’s a kind of residence, I suppose,” Grey said. “Although I’ve never been there, my teacher said that it seems like every few years a guest comes to stay for a while.”

"A guest..."

(Regarding this place and time... was it the dean of the Atlas Academy?)

Because it wasn't a very vivid memory, Natsukawa Torato couldn't remember who was in that windmill. He only remembered that the person was the dean of the Atlas Institute, one of the three major magic organizations along with the Clock Tower. As for the person's full name and details, he had long forgotten them.

After thinking for a moment, Natsukawa Tora said, "Can I go take a look over there?"

"I think it should be possible, but didn't you say you were going to the cemetery, big brother..."

“We can go to the cemetery later. I’m more interested in the windmill area right now—ah, but that would be a long way. Grey, if you’re tired, just point me in the right direction. I can go by myself.”

“No, I’m fine.” Grey shook her head. “Thanks to the teacher’s training, I’m in great shape. Don’t worry about me. Now please come with me, I’ll take you to the windmill.”

——————————————————————————————

Visually, the windmill is not far from the village; in reality, it only takes a few minutes to walk there. And that's taking into account that Gray is a slow walker. If Natsukawa Tora were to walk normally, it would probably only take two minutes to get there.

Standing atop the hill and looking down, you can see the entire village, including the swamp and cemetery.

From a distance, the swamp appeared surprisingly large, almost overlapping the cemetery we had just seen. Judging from its muddy, low-transparency appearance, it's possible that someone had accidentally slipped in and never surfaced again… such things might have happened before.

Natsukawa Tiger and Grey arrived at the windmill. The windmill seemed to be broken, as it remained motionless despite the wind blowing.

"Boom boom..."

He knocked on the door twice, but received no response. Xia Chuanhu frowned. "Is nobody home?"

“The door isn’t locked,” Grey reminded her.

"That means it's unmanned."

Pushing open the door, Natsukawa Torato's view was of a somewhat dimly lit interior, and various instruments that seemed out of place in this windmill setting. They resembled computers in appearance, but lacked a mouse and keyboard, consisting only of a monitor.

"What are these...?"

"An instrument used in magic research—something like that, but I've never seen one like this before, and it's not in the clock tower either."

That being said, Natsukawa Torama was not unaware of what these cubes, seemingly polished from crystal, were. While their official name was unclear, if he wasn't mistaken, these instruments were likely—

"The computing instruments of the Atlas Institute—"

"Bingo."

Almost at the same moment that Natsukawa Tora finished speaking, a steady voice and footsteps sounded inside the windmill. In the dim light, Gray and Natsukawa Tora could barely make out a figure from the direction of the voice.

He was a young man around twenty-five years old, with blond hair, and his whole body was wrapped in a black cloak.

"To describe the effects of these instruments with almost no information or hints, even if it involved a bit of guesswork and luck, I have to commend your insight. And I also have to feel deep regret about the current situation. I didn't expect to meet you so casually at this time. According to the original calculation, my contact with you should have been when that thing was on the verge of collapse."

"who are you?"

"Tsbia Eltnam Atlasia—or to put it bluntly, the Dean of the Atlas Academy."

The blonde magician introduced himself to Natsukawa Torato and Grey in this way.

"It is an honor to meet you here, another successor to the king."

19. Preparing to go to the hometown of the hanging man.

Another heir to the throne.

The title that Tsbia uttered made Natsukawa Torato pause for a moment—why would he know something about him?

"You might be wondering why I know about you," Tsbia said before Natsukawa could speak again. "Actually, it's just a very basic deduction based on intelligence, just like what you just did. Also, I've thoroughly investigated the Holy Grail War that happened in the Far East last year—or rather, the incident that occurred during the Holy Grail War."

"So that's how you found out about my situation?"

"Most of them are speculation."

“Then you’ve made one wrong assumption.” Natsukawa Tora spread his hands. “I’m not that guy’s successor. I was just saved by him, and I never had any intention of inheriting his legacy.”

"Subjective thoughts cannot affect objective facts. In fact, you are indeed the so-called heir in your current state. In terms of compatibility, you are better than the priestess beside you, otherwise that thing would not have reacted."

At this point, Tsbia couldn't help but smile wryly: "To be honest, your arrival was something I didn't expect. The reason is that there are too many uncertainties surrounding you, making it difficult for me to make accurate calculations about you."

"Is my arrival causing you any trouble?"

"You could say yes, or you could say no; the final judgment will depend on your actions. But in terms of the outcome, the best option for me is for you to leave here now and never set foot here again."

"You want me to leave right away... Well, that's true. Magicians are all free spirits, even Webber sometimes acts like a magician. But let me hear your reasons for asking me to leave," Natsukawa Torato asked. "I came knowing about myself and this village, and I made preparations beforehand, so I don't think there will be any problems with my safety—"