To become a king and a magician

49. Preparing to travel to France

As soon as Natsukawa and Weber drove back to the apartment and stepped inside, Mary's head popped out from the living room.

"Ah, you two are back. Perfect timing! Come on, I have something to tell you."

"Is there something you need to say? What is it?"

"This is a really big thing!"

Seeing Merry's mysterious smile, which made it 100% certain that something was amiss, Natsukawa Torato and Weber both took a half step back.

"I don't think so."

"I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen."

As they talked, the two slowly moved towards the second floor, leaning against the opposite wall. Seeing their attitude, even knowing their reasons, Mary couldn't help but feel a vein throbbing on her forehead. She walked over and grabbed both of them by the collar.

"Hey! What are you doing—"

"My neck, my neck is going to break!"

"Alright, listen to me and come here obediently."

Mary rudely tossed the two of them onto the living room sofa and sat down opposite them. Meanwhile, in a corner of the living room, Grey brewed a pot of black tea and came over.

"Ah, brother, Mr. Weber, welcome back. You must be tired from work and school."

"It wasn't that hard."

"It's mainly because Hu's brain isn't working properly and he's causing me trouble."

"Stop talking nonsense."

Tap tap!

Seeing the two of them bickering again, Meryl immediately slammed her hand on the table: "Alright, alright, you two stop this stand-up comedy. Little Grey, sit down too, I have something important to say."

"So what's going on? Are you getting married or going on a blind date?"

What if I said yes?

"Which blind, unlucky bastard is so brave? He actually dared to take you, this monster! I would call him the strongest."

"I'll give you nightmares, a forest carnival of gender-swapped elves and orcs."

Meili shut Natsukawa Tora up with a single sentence, then pulled out two coupon-like things from her pocket: "Ta-da! This is the big news I wanted to tell you!"

"What is this?"

Weber took the two coupons from Natsukawa Tora, who dared not speak, and glanced at them: "Tickets to France? Ms. Lillian, who are you going to France with?"

"There was a TV raffle on Halloween Eve, and I entered it. Luckily, I won the grand prize: a five-day, four-night trip for two to Paris. The TV station covered everything from round-trip tickets to food and accommodation. The departure date was the 18th."

"So, Ms. Lillian, you're going on a trip to France? Isn't that wonderful?"

“No.” Meryl shook her head regretfully. “Actually, the timing conflicted with my schedule. An old friend of mine is coming to London to visit me those days, so I can’t go. So I thought, why don’t you guys go have fun instead?”

Shall we go play?

After exchanging a glance, Webber scratched his head: "But there are three of us, and only two tickets... One of us has to stay behind and watch the house—Tiger, you and Grey go together, I won't go."

"Huh?"

Grey, who was about to say she was leaving, was taken aback.

"Mr. Weber?"

“Like Ms. Lillian, I was also busy at that time—or rather, it was close to finals, and I had even more to do than usual. I simply couldn’t find the time to travel to France. So, it’s just the two of you going,” Weber said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Natsukawa Tora immediately raised his hand: "Wait, if it's finals, then I can't go out either, right? Won't that cause problems with my final exams and studying?"

"The Clock Tower doesn't have final exams. They'll just assign you a project to submit before the end of the semester. Don't worry, all the projects for the basic courses are basic content, so you'll have plenty of time to do them after you come back from your trip."

"Besides, Grey has been in London for almost two months, but she has hardly gone out. It would be good to take her out for some fun."

"That's true."

Natsukawa Torato looked at Grey: "But can Grey go abroad now? She needs a passport and visa to go abroad, right?"

"Pa la la la!"

The words had barely left her lips when several small notebooks fell onto the table. Mary gave a smug OK sign: "Hmph~~~~ No problem at all, I've already made all the preparations."

Looking at the passports, visas, and even birth certificates on the table, Xia Chuanhu and the other two were stunned for a moment.

Picking up the passport and opening it, Natsukawa Tiger's brow twitched immediately. He looked at Meryl and said, "I'm saying, these are all forgeries, aren't they?"

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

"Who has a sleeping face in their passport photo?!"

Just as Natsukawa Tora said, the photo section on Grey's passport looks like it was taken while she was asleep!

"There's no way this kind of photo could pass inspection!"

"Natsukawa Tiger roared, while Gray, who was beside him, was so shy that she almost wanted to bury herself in the ground!"

"Hmm, you really think this is just an ordinary passport?" Meryl smiled mysteriously. "Actually, these things are all imbued with my illusion magic. To people without magic circuits, this is what they perceive as a 'real passport.' The same applies to other documents."

"Where's the promised mystery and secrecy?"

Ignore it!

That's way too capricious!

With a helpless sigh, Natsukawa Tora pointed again to the photo of Grey's sleeping face: "What about this photo?"

"Taken while little Grey was sleeping."

"So why do you take these kinds of photos? Wouldn't it be better to just take a proper picture?"

"A young girl's sleeping face is a treasure of humankind! Let alone a cute girl like little Grey!"

That's hopeless, that pathetic nightmare.

Natsukawa Tora pursed his lips: "By the way, what was the original purpose of these photos?"

"Don't tell you."

"Tell me."

“Okay—hello, Scotland Yard? There’s a potential criminal here—”

"Stop!" Meli snatched the phone from Natsukawa's hand and sighed helplessly. "Was it really necessary? It's just a couple of photos of little Grey that were taken secretly."

"The very idea you're thinking is problematic! And this is clearly all planned! Winning the lottery to go to France, preparing your passport and visa in advance—I have every reason to suspect you're up to no good again!"

It wasn't that Natsukawa Tora was suspicious, but rather that Meryl's behavior was far too suspicious. Just as he said, he had barely raised the issue of passports and visas when Meryl immediately produced them, acting as if she had been prepared all along. Given her personality, she would never act in advance unless she had some ulterior motive!

"Just asking, is everything really alright in Paris?"

"What do you think?" Meryl laughed. "Anyway, even if people say no, you'll still think they are there, so what's the point of me denying or affirming it?"

"..."

"Well, don't worry, this is really just a trip. You and Grey should go to Paris and relax. After all, a lot has happened before, hasn't it? Oh, and remember to bring back some souvenirs."

50. Speaking of which, hasn't that certain green-songwriter not appeared in a long time?

Hier didn't really like coming to the headquarters of the Burial Agency.

The reason is simple: I just don't want to see that annoying bureau chief.

The Burial Agency is the strongest combat agency in the Holy Church, composed of its most powerful personnel. The selection criteria for members are not based on the depth of their faith, but rather on their ability to effectively kill heretics; faith and character are secondary. Naturally, its members are mostly individuals with personality disorders.

Even within the Burial Agency, the director's level of personality disorder was second to none, perhaps even the highest. In addition to being a serial killer, she also enjoyed bullying people in various ways, and every member of the Burial Agency, including Hiel, had been bullied by her.

Therefore, all the members of the burial agency wished they could kill her.

If he could, Hier really didn't want to meet that person, but he had no choice. No matter how much he hated her, he had to obey the summons from his superiors, otherwise he would be accused of disobeying orders, and then there would be a lot of trouble.

"Oh? What a rare sight! Isn't this Hiel?"

Another annoying voice rang out—though, compared to the director, the owner of this voice wasn't as repulsive to Hiel. If one had to put it into words, everyone in the Burial Agency disliked each other to varying degrees.

The voice belonged to a priest with a striking spiky hairstyle and a tall stature, but he exuded a lazy air, like an uncle who often sunbathed in the countryside.

Father Dawn.

Hier greeted the newcomer.

"Long time no see. Did you also receive a summons from the bureau chief?"

“Yes, I was sleeping soundly when a phone call summoned me here like an order for takeout,” Father Dawn said with a helpless laugh. “Although my job is not much different from delivering takeout.”

"Although it seems impossible, the director probably wouldn't be asking us to carry out the same mission, would he?"

"Eh? Won't that be too much trouble for you? It's really a hassle to carry someone like me who's holding you back."

"As long as you know."

Although he was also part of the burial agency, Father Dawn was one of the biggest differences from the other members—he was incredibly weak.

In the Burial Agency, where everyone is a superhuman and their individual combat strength is enough to rival that of Servants to a certain extent, Father Dawn is the only member selected not because of his combat strength, but for reasons other than combat strength.

He himself has no exorcism abilities, no means of attack or self-defense, is not good at dealing with blood and violence, nor is he good at watching horror movies; he even faints from fright after witnessing a massacre caused by heretics. He doesn't even possess the essential skill required of an agent—magical literacy.

In other words, he was just an ordinary person. The reason he was able to join the burial agency was largely due to his irreplaceable role in certain situations. Apart from that, all he could do was do odd jobs, such as transporting weapons or carrying people... and being a hindrance.

Although it seemed unlikely, considering that the bureau chief wouldn't just summon two members to see her so casually—

(This is definitely going to be another difficult task.)

Hier sighed heavily.

Just as the two were greeting each other, their footsteps, which had not stopped, had already led them to the end of the corridor. Pushing open the tightly closed office door, the two immediately saw the "Director" sitting inside, imitating Commander Ikari.

"You arrived right on time, but you could have been a little faster next time. If you're any slower, Dawn aside, Hield, you might as well die once or twice."

The young woman, who covered one eye with her long hair, said with a smile.

In response to these words, Hiel simply replied, "If you can kill me, that would be even better, Director Narubalek—so, what are the details of the mission?"

"You're really in a hurry. I like your straightforward personality, but talking back is not right."

puff!