To become a king and a magician

69. Mrs. Natsukawa's Reappearance

Compared to the city of Guanbuzi, which has undergone many changes, the changes inside the school are not significant.

After all, it's only been a little over two weeks since she left. For a place like this to change, it would take at least two years.

After entering the school, Fujimaru Ritsuka did not go directly to the teaching building, but instead led Mashu to a house located on one side of the school gate.

"Senior, where is this place?"

"This is the club's activity area for archery," Fujimaru Ritsuka said. "I used to be a member of the archery club and I practiced archery a bit... Well, I became a nominal member after my first year of high school."

"Kyudo...is that the art of archery?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded: "Yes, but compared to archery alone, Kyudo also has a lot of etiquette involved. In addition to drawing the bow and shooting arrows, it also emphasizes the training of etiquette and manners - I'm not used to that aspect, and that's why I became a nominal member."

As she said this, Fujimaru Ritsuka had already placed her hand on the archery club door and opened it quite easily.

Fujimaru Ritsuka frowned as she looked at the door that had been pushed open.

Outside of activity hours, the rooms and offices of club activities are usually locked to prevent theft, and the keys are managed by the club president or the advisor.

But it's open now...

(Is someone inside?)

It's already afternoon, and it's the weekend, so there shouldn't be anyone here.

As Mashu and I entered the archery club, we were greeted by a room decorated similarly to the Ryougi family's. Since archery is a sport that emphasizes etiquette and manners, the activity space was decorated in the style of a traditional Japanese room.

Of course, it can't compare to the Ryougi family in terms of scale; in the end, it's just a school club.

"Nobody's here." Mashu cautiously peered inside. "The lights aren't on either. Could they have forgotten to lock the door?"

"I don't think so, after all, the archery club teacher is... But, as expected, this is a place that can't be left untouched by change."

The archery club's space wasn't large; the room wasn't even as big as the individual dormitories in Chaldea. The side facing the door was completely open, and further ahead was a flat area with several targets standing at the end.

Arriving at the place where bows and arrows were laid out, Fujimaru Ritsuka took out a bow and arrows, and under Mashu's watchful gaze, nocked an arrow, pulled back the bowstring forcefully—

"Zheng—"

With a soft whooshing sound, the arrow flew out and struck the target in the distance.

"Clap clap clap..."

Mashu clapped her hands: "Judging from the position, it should be right in the center. Senior is really amazing."

Although she doesn't understand archery, from the perspective of archery skills, Mash thinks that Fujimaru Ritsuka must be one of the most skilled archers.

Fujimaru Ritsuka put down her bow and smiled. "It's alright. I haven't held a bow in a while, so to be honest, I wasn't very confident... I'm really glad I haven't completely forgotten how to use it. But by your standards, Master, this arrow should be—"

I'll barely give you a passing grade.

Before Fujimaru Ritsuka could finish speaking, a voice rang out from behind them. Upon hearing this voice, Fujimaru Ritsuka froze as if frozen in place, unable to move for a moment.

Mashu turned around and, upon seeing the person behind her, her eyes widened in surprise: "You are...?"

"—Archer of the First Singularity?"

——————————————————————————————

A little while later.

Rest area for the archery club.

Atalanta placed two cups of tea in front of Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash, then sat down opposite them. After taking a sip of water herself, she asked, "So... what's going on with you two? Fujimaru, didn't you drop out of school? Why are you back all of a sudden? And the way you addressed me just now... did you get involved with magic at Chaldea?"

"Well... I guess so." Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded. "But I only found out about you being a Servant a couple of days ago, Sensei."

"I am no longer a Servant—to be precise, I used to be a Servant. It has been more than a decade since I gained a physical body because of the Holy Grail. Now, I am more of a human being than a Servant."

“That’s true, after all these years, you haven’t used the power of a Servant at all, teacher… Oh, right, I haven’t introduced you yet.” Fujimaru Ritsuka pulled Mash to her side. “This is Mash, she’s my… uh, junior at Chaldea! And like me, she’s a member of the combat department.”

"By the way, our minister is Minister Natsukawa Tora."

Upon hearing her man's name, Atalanta raised an eyebrow: "You're under Xia Chuan's command?"

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Miss Atalanta, I am Mash Kyrielight.”

“Ah, there’s no need to call me by my real name. I’m basically married into the Tiger family now. According to Japanese custom, just call me Mrs. Natsukawa or Natsukawa.” Atalanta laughed. “I’ve been called that for over ten years, so I’m used to it.”

Among the many women in the Natsukawa family, this was the only thing that others envied most about Atalanta: she could openly call herself "Mrs. Natsukawa." Although she had the advantage of a fake identity, being able to assert her sovereignty like this was something that even Aika and Zero were incredibly envious of.

Of course, this is because the two of them are currently obsessed with various role-playing activities. But to be fair, in terms of results, the two of them are currently the most comfortable. Even if a "traitor" had to be voted out, it would definitely be one of them.

Since Natsukawa Tora went to Chaldea, the two of them have practically monopolized all the time, so they are the least qualified to be dissatisfied.

"Speaking of which, what brings you back this time? I heard from Shiki that the situation outside is a bit tricky... Shiki is Ryougi Shiki, you probably don't know her yet, right?"

“No, we’ve already met once… As for the situation outside, don’t you know, teacher?” Fujimaru Ritsuka asked with some doubt. “Regarding the incineration of human reason… didn’t the captain tell you?”

Human reason is burned away.

Atalanta was certainly aware of this.

"Ah, is that what it is... Come to think of it, it's been about this long already, ten years already? Time really flies. Over the years, I've been focused on being a teacher, and I haven't heard much about Tiger's affairs."

Atalanta sighed softly.

"Tell me about the current situation regarding the burning of humanity."

70. Atalanta begins to join the main characters.

To be honest, Fujimaru Ritsuka doesn't know much about the burning of human reason; all she can say is what she knows.

After hearing what Fujimaru Ritsuka had to say, Atalanta fell silent for a while.

"I see. Has the situation become this serious?"

Human history has been completely burned away; apart from the city of Guanbuzi, there is no intact place left on the entire planet. The person who orchestrated all of this was a figure who impersonated King Solomon, whose true identity was the demon king Goetia.

Seven singularities, seventy-two demon pillars, the Holy Grail...

Taking a deep breath, as if she couldn't take it anymore, Atalanta sighed, "Although I knew long ago that anything he was involved in would not be simple, I never expected it to develop to this point."

"Him? Do you mean the minister?"

Atalanta nodded: "He's been like this for a long time. In the blink of an eye, he gets caught up in all sorts of trouble. Dead Apostles, True Ancestors, the Holy Grail War, the Daughter of the Root... There's nothing that doesn't make people worry about him all year round, even though he doesn't really need to be worried about."

"Your brother has quite a rich past."

“After all, he is the wielder of the Star Sword,” Atalanta exclaimed. “Judging from your words, you must have already seen his holy sword, right?”

Holy Sword?

Fujimaru Ritsuka immediately thought of the gleaming golden sword that Natsukawa Torara had used in Fuyuki City: "Hmm, it looks incredibly powerful. By the way, what exactly is the Star Holy Sword Wielder?"

I've heard this term, Fujimaru Ritsuka, a few times, but I've never really understood what it means. Is it a title? It doesn't feel like something so simple.

“The one who wields the Star Sword,” Atalanta explained, “is the Star Sword in the tiger’s hand. It is forged from planets and elves and is the strongest sword capable of destroying all evil. The one who wields the sword is called the Star Sword Wielder and will bear the mission of saving the world.”

A mission that must save the world?

The minister?

"In fact, Tiger has saved the world several times so far. I know of at least two, and there are probably many more that I don't know about. He's also the kind of person who doesn't like to talk about these things."

"Was the minister such a great person?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka's assessment made Atalanta laugh: "Great, perhaps that's how you see it, but in his eyes, he was just doing what he could, or perhaps it was the only thing he could do in that situation."

"So, teacher, is that why you like the club president?"

Upon hearing Fujimaru Ritsuka's sudden gossipy question, Atalanta's ears twitched a few times, and her cheeks flushed slightly: "Well... part of it is, but there are some other reasons as well—but you, a child, don't need to know about such things yet."

"I'm already seventeen!"

"They're still children, underage as long as they're underage."

Atalanta gave Fujimaru Ritsuka a light tap on the head and said, "Speaking of which, now that you have the chance to come back, aren't you planning to go home and see your parents?"

"Yes, I was planning to go later, but I thought I'd come and check out the school first—well, teacher, Mashu and I will be going now."

"Go."

As if urging them to leave, Atalanta waved her hand, signaling Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash to hurry up and go to her house. After watching them leave, she sat in deep thought for a while and then sighed softly.

"Sigh, there's nothing I can do. It seems I'll have to take a break from my teaching duties for a while."

"I need to take care of that idiot who always tries to do everything himself first. And..."

Since her student had been dragged into this, Atalanta, as her teacher, couldn't just watch her student take such a risk.

Should we formally teach her archery for combat?

(Forget it, we don't need to consider that for now. Besides, even if a human learns archery, they won't actually need it. In the battles she'll face, she'll have to rely more on the power of her Servants.)

Only a few can fight Servants in human form. Atalanta doesn't think that teaching Fujimaru Ritsuka archery will be useful. Instead of wasting energy on that, she should focus on improving her abilities as a Master.

(We'll talk about it later. For now... I'll go back and pack my things, then prepare to resign.)

——————————————————————————————————————

Just as Atalanta and Fujimaru Ritsuka parted ways.

The Two Elements Family.

Several minutes after the communication with Natsukawa Torato ended.

As a portal of light appeared out of thin air at the entrance of the Ryougi family's house, Natsukawa Torata stepped out and quickly adjusted his breathing.

"Running all the way from Chaldea to here was really exhausting. It really is true... Long-distance travel is definitely better by plane."

In fact, Natsukawa Torato could have used the Imaginary Manifestation technique to directly pull out a portal and move over, but if he used it inside the star, he would easily be teleported to some strange places, so in the end he would still have to run over.

I'm still quite tired.

Just then, perhaps sensing Natsukawa Toramaru's arrival, Angelica's figure swiftly appeared on the cobblestone path extending from behind the Ryougi family's gate and quickly arrived in front of Natsukawa Toramaru.

"Welcome back, Lord Natsukawa."

"Yes, I'm back, Angelica. It's been almost a month. I'm sorry for causing you some trouble before."

“If it’s about Lord Fujimaru and Lady Mashu, then it can’t really be called a problem,” Angelica replied calmly. “Furthermore, Lord Natsukawa, there’s no need to apologize. All your actions were correct and reasonable. The problem arose because of my improper arrangements, so please punish me accordingly.”

"Uh... let's talk about that later. First, take me to meet Shi."