To become a king and a magician

"According to the calculations, if the person in charge doesn't come, there's a 40% chance the village will disappear in Wales, and there's a 70% chance the buried LogosReact will be damaged. Although we can't interfere due to the contract, we can still try to dissuade them before things happen."

"I laughed," Tsbia said.

Upon understanding his purpose, Morgan simply smiled and said, "I see. You've come to plead for this village—when did magicians become so humane?"

"No, I'm only here to protect our institute's magical costumes. After all, they're useless to you now. If you destroy them in a fit of anger, it will cause us a lot of trouble."

"Then how will you stop me?" Morgan laughed. "I once gave this land a mission, but it has given me a terrible answer. Hundreds of years have been wasted on it, and this is a loss that cannot be overlooked with just a few words."

"Or are you prepared to compensate me for these meaningless losses of the past few centuries on behalf of this village?"

Morgan's words made Tsbia laugh: "No, no, no, the losses of hundreds of years cannot be measured by mere material and value—but isn't it premature for you to conclude that it has already 'failed'?"

"Ok?"

Morgan was intrigued by the unexpected answer: "An interesting point... You seem to have a way to make up for my loss."

“No, I have no intention of paying for the village’s actions. It’s just that what I’m about to do, in terms of the outcome, should happen to align with your goals.” As Tsbia spoke, he tapped the armrest, and a magic circle appeared, from which emerged a small box no bigger than a fist.

Pushing the box in front of Morgan, Tsbia said, "A month ago, another heir to the throne helped me with a matter that had been on my mind. Since he helped me, I should repay the favor and give him a gift in return. It's just a pity that there wasn't enough time at the time to give him the gift immediately."

"A return gift..."

"I originally planned to send this gift over in a while, but since you're here, why don't you take it over for me?"

Staring at the perfectly wrapped gift box, Morgan raised an eyebrow: "I don't see any reason to help you."

"This is a copy of LogosReact—LogosReact·Replica."

"I'm laughing," Tsbia said.

"Of course, since it's a replica, its performance is far inferior to the original, not even comparable to that little girl's, and its functions are quite limited. Even so, for a magician, it's still a rather valuable piece of jewelry—could you please pass it on to me?"

“Few people can surprise me twice in a row.” Morgan’s tone was tinged with surprise. “The weapons of the Atlas Institute, which are said to be able to destroy the world, can even seal the Holy Lance. Is it really okay to let even a replica fall into the outside world like this? Let alone become personal weapons.”

In response to Morgan's question, Tsbia answered easily: "Indeed, as a personal weapon, it is indeed too powerful, so I limited it in the initial design - just like the Holy Lance."

"I see."

Morgan accepted the gift box.

"Alright, I'll accept your bribe. It's more than enough to make me spare this village. And you're right, your gift does indeed overlap with my goals in terms of outcome."

"I will pass the gift on to him. It's almost Halloween, so consider it a Halloween present."

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

Meanwhile, inside the apartment.

"what!"

Suddenly opening his eyes, Xia Chuanhu shivered several times as if he had caught a chill.

Seeing this, Grey quickly asked, "Brother? What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, it's just that I suddenly have a feeling of being watched... It can't be that someone is trying to sabotage me from behind—cough cough cough!"

Before he could finish speaking, Natsukawa Tora started coughing again, which startled Grey so much that she quickly pressed him back onto the bed and covered him with the blanket.

41. A second blossoming of glory

"resurrection------!!"

A week passed in the blink of an eye. After lying in bed for a week, Natsukawa Tiger's high fever caused by foreign objects mixed into his magic circuit finally subsided completely.

Seeing him jumping around after being fully recovered, Webber, sporting dark circles under his eyes, tossed a notebook at him irritably: "Now that you're back, hurry up and catch up on the lessons you missed this week. Do you know how far behind you are?"

Reaching out to take the notebook, Xia Chuanhu's face, which had been beaming with joy at his recovery, instantly turned into a grimace: "Do you really need to be watching me so closely? Are you my mother?"

"I'm your teacher. Also, I need to tell you that there's another alchemical material transformation experiment. Hand it in to me after Halloween; it'll earn you credits."

"..."

If looks could kill, then Natsukawa Torato is certain that Webber is already lying down as a corpse.

He spent the entire week lying in bed, struggling like a disabled person unable to take care of himself! And now that he's finally recovered, this guy hasn't even offered a congratulatory message before dumping a mountain of homework on him—where the hell did this Spartan teacher come from?!

“Weber…”

"What's up? If there's nothing else, I'm going to catch up on some sleep. I'm exhausted from staying up all night writing that report..."

"what--"

As he watched Weber stagger back to his room, Natsukawa Tiger was about to call out to him when someone pressed down on his shoulder from behind.

It's Merry.

“Alright, alright, he’s been working incredibly hard this week, so please understand,” Meryl explained. “After all, during the week you were lying around, a few more black dog fairies appeared sporadically. Although they weren’t nearly as big as the one you encountered before, they still gave the Clock Tower a real headache, and he’s been dragged to work overtime for several days because of it.”

"I see..."

So Weber helped him organize this notebook even when he was working overtime and was exhausted?

Tossing the notebook aside, Natsukawa Tiger couldn't help but chuckle, "Alright, let him get some sleep—but what about food? I'm starving, I haven't had a proper meal in a week, get me something fancy."

"Even if you say that, it's already afternoon. We only have some leftover fried rice from lunch. Why don't you make do with this and have something better for dinner? Anyway, tonight is Halloween."

"Tonight—ah, indeed it is."

Today is October 31st, which is Halloween Eve.

Glancing at the calendar, Natsukawa Torato then asked, "Speaking of which, didn't you just mention the Black Dog Fairy? Has that thing reappeared?"

"Yes, but the people from the Clock Tower quickly took care of it. Professional magicians are different from mediocre ones like you; they handled things cleanly and efficiently."

"I'm really sorry I'm only half-baked!" Natsukawa Tiger rolled his eyes. "The leftovers are in the fridge, right?"

"Hmm. Oh right, remember to go to the supermarket to buy some things after you finish eating, we're running low on seasonings."

Why aren't you going?

“They have things to do, and you’re not going to start studying and doing homework today anyway, are you?” Meryl laughed. “Just grab one of each kind of seasoning from the shelf, and I’ll reimburse you when you get the money.”

"Yes, yes, yes~~~~~"

————————————————————————————

After quickly finishing lunch, Natsukawa Tiger went to the supermarket as Meryl had instructed—to go with Grey.

Carrying a large bag of things, Natsukawa Tora looked at Gray, who was also carrying a large bottle of cooking oil, and said somewhat apologetically, "Sorry, Gray, for troubling you to come out with me. If you think it's heavy, I'll carry it."

"No, it's not heavy, I can carry it."

Grey shook her head. Although she was still a six-year-old child, Grey was actually the next gravedigger chosen by Belsak and had received gravedigger training at a young age. Since gravediggers occasionally need to fight spirits, enhancement magic to amplify physical abilities was a required course.

The reason Grey was able to lift such a large bucket of cooking oil was partly due to the use of enhanced magic.

Following behind Natsukawa Tora, Gray looked around at the street as she walked.

"The streets are really lively. There are even pumpkin-shaped lanterns and people dressed as ghosts."

"After all, it's Halloween. For us industry insiders, Halloween is a very important holiday, but in today's society, holidays have long become days for businesses to make a fortune and for people to gather and have fun."

As he spoke, Natsukawa Tora pointed to a shop not far away.

"Look over there, there's a Halloween promotion sign hanging at the entrance, right? It says the whole store is 30% off, but in reality, as long as you attract enough customers, you can make about the same amount of money as if you didn't offer a discount, or even more. Make some decorations to match the Halloween atmosphere, and do some promotional activities, like giving away gifts for accumulated spending. I've memorized the whole process of these businesses."

"Brother...you're really skilled at this."

“Because the place where I used to work did the same thing,” Natsukawa Tiger laughed. “If this were in Japan, I wouldn’t be out shopping like this on a holiday.”

Japan.

Grey occasionally sees this place name in some books; it's an island nation located in the Far East Sea, separated from Britain by the entire Eurasian continent.

It is also the hometown of the Natsukawa Tiger.

“Japan…?” Grey murmured for a moment, then asked, “Brother, do you…do you sometimes think about Japan?”

"Huh? Why do you ask that?"

"Because that's your brother's home, right? If you're away from home for a long time... won't you miss home?"

As she said this, Grey's hand holding the oil drum tightened slightly.

After a moment of silence, Natsukawa Tora laughed and said, "There is a little bit, but only a little. To be honest, I don't really have much affection for Japan. My real home isn't there. Rather than missing Japan, I miss a few friends there."

Is my real home not in Japan?

Grey tilted her head in confusion: "Then where does my brother's house lie?"

"Isn't this right here? The apartment where you, Webber, and Lillian were is my current home."

"elder brother......"

Grey's cheeks immediately turned bright red, and she quickly lowered her head, blushing. If it weren't for the things she was carrying, she probably would have pulled down her hood to cover her entire face.

Seeing Grey's adorable appearance, Natsukawa Tiger chuckled: "Alright Grey, let's go. We've crossed the intersection, the light's green."

"Ah, okay, brother—"

Whoosh!

Before Grey's voice had even faded, a sensation as if sinking underwater instantly coursed through their bodies. Their magic circuits reacted almost simultaneously, and Ad, suspended beneath Grey's cloak, screamed—

"Hey! Hey! Hey! This is bad! This is bad! This is really bad! Something terrible is coming!"

"That's really enough."

Even without Yad's reminder, Natsukawa Torato had already noticed.

It's the same situation as a week ago.

"Am I cursed? Why do these kinds of things always come up when I come to the crossroads?"

Although it wasn't at the same intersection, or even during a storm, the thing still appeared before Natsukawa Tora—in the afternoon, at dusk, just before nightfall.

“GAAAA.......”

"Black dog..."

42. Sleeping for too long makes you feel very tired and unwilling to move.

On the rooftop of a tall building near the intersection, holding a bag of popcorn, Meryl looked down with great interest at the two people who had already been trapped in another world.