To become a king and a magician

OK, see you later

After hanging up the phone, Lydia turned to the person sitting in her office: "I'm sorry for the slight delay. It was a very important call—so, is there anything else you wish to say, Your Excellency, the Grand Marshal of the Magic Path?"

"..."

Barthelo Lorelei looked at Lydel, who was smiling, took a deep breath, and said, "May I take your words just now as a provocation and contempt for the Clock Tower as a whole? Monarch Archerlot."

"Whatever. It's easy for the Department of Law and Politics to pin a crime on me, isn't it?" Lydia laughed. "However, I think the day after the news spreads through the Clock Tower, the Department of Law and Politics will be removed from the list of thirteen departments, right, Mo?"

"It doesn't take a whole day, an hour is enough."

Mordred, sitting directly opposite Barthezmello, spoke while carrying the King's Sword.

Because Lydel is the most vulnerable of all, Artoria and Mordred have been her bodyguards for many years in order to take care of her. Although Artoria went back to Japan to visit her family some time ago, Mordred is still there.

"It's like a fox borrowing the tiger's power. For a monarch to rely on the strength of others is truly despicable."

"Then why don't you go find a [Tiger] too?" Lydia said smugly.

Barthezello raised an eyebrow: "Do you think that man would still be interested in you now? An old woman who's almost fifty?"

"I still look eighteen, and according to you, everyone here is an old lady in their thirties or forties—can I take that as a provocation against our [Xia Chuan Group]?"

The Natsukawa Group—that was the name the Clock Tower gave to this group of people several years ago because of the rise of Chaldea and the activities of Aozaki Aoko and others. Since they all operated with Natsukawa Tora as the core, they were eventually named as such.

They have now become the most formidable force within the Clock Tower, with some even claiming that their power has grown so great that it could alter the existing order of the underworld and completely overthrow and restructure the Magic Association, which has been in place for thousands of years.

"However, we don't really care about your struggles. After all, my husband isn't one to cause trouble. It's good enough if we can all live together peacefully. Didn't the previous marshal often order my husband around?"

Lydia changed her tone.

"So you don't need to come here every now and then to make things difficult for me. In ten or so years, when my child and I have grown up, I will naturally retire. Then you can bother my child."

"Are you planning to retire in your sixties, more than ten years from now?"

"Is that not allowed? The Clock Tower shouldn't have a retirement age, right? The previous head of Archibald retired at the age of forty."

Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald.

This renowned prodigy of the Clock Tower is now semi-retired, having handed over all affairs to the current Minerals Department monarch, Reines El-Melloi Archibald, while focusing on studying magic and educating her children.

"Well, if you're going to keep pestering me like this, I'll have to go and sweet-talk my husband a little and ask him to come to the Clock Tower and talk to you all one by one. He'll be back this year anyway."

"Acting coquettishly... How dare you, a nearly fifty-year-old woman, say that?" Basemelo said with disgust. "Don't you find it disgusting?"

"But I'm forever eighteen now, and I maintain a youthful mindset. Most people who see me probably mistake me for a young girl in her early twenties, right?"

"Shameless witch."

"Same here, a lump of iron that no one wants your whole life. The Barthero family will probably die out with your generation, right? Or are you planning to just find any man to complete the mission?"

Barthezmero's eyebrows twitched immediately: "You—"

"Alright, calm down, Magician." Mordred slammed the sword on the table at the opportune moment. "If you want to fight, I'll take you on. The courtyard outside is quite spacious, how about we fight there?"

"Alright, that's enough for today. I'll take my leave now."

After taking a deep breath, Barthezmero stood up.

"I'll believe your story for now, Lord Acherlot, but don't think you can do whatever you want just because you've got the Tiger back. The Clock Tower won't be intimidated by a mere group. One day I'll bring you all under my control—including that man."

"boom!"

Looking at the door that had been slammed shut, and reflecting on Barthezello's words, Lydel couldn't help but laugh as she looked at Mordred: "What do you think, Mordred? I think this deserves a place in the annals of jokes."

"Indeed. But it's best not to let her meet with my father."

"why?"

“Intuition,” Mordred said. “I’ve seen it online before; these kinds of storylines where people start off antagonistic often end up as a couple—doesn’t it seem like a lot of trouble for that woman to become part of our family?”

"Well, that makes sense."

10. Reconfirmed Identity

And so, after being informed by Ryougi Shiki and relayed by Meryl, everyone connected with Natsukawa Tora gradually finished off all their work within the week.

For everyone, it had been several years since they had truly been together. Some people had not seen each other since the end of the Humanity Burning. Therefore, in addition to what Meryl mentioned, the desire to meet with others also held considerable weight in everyone's hearts.

Under these circumstances, a week quickly slipped away for everyone.

Then, the appointed Tuesday arrived.

.......

Inside the Liangyi family home.

Compared to the usual quiet and deserted atmosphere, the Ryougi family home was unusually lively today.

If I had to give a reason, it would be because too many guests came today.

Merry, Grey, Rei Sajou, and Olga Marie from Chaldea.

Morgan and others from the city of Kanbuko, Atalanta, Okita Souji, Fujimaru Ritsuka, and Mashu.

Lydel, Ayaka Sajou, and Mordred rushed over from the Clock Tower.

Aozaki Aoko, Aozaki Touko, Hiel, and Arcueid just arrived.

as well as--

"Wow! So many people! Is everyone here?!"

Led by Angelica, Miyamoto Musashi and Tomoe Gozen also arrived at the Ryougi family's residence.

Because of Tomoe Gozen, Chaldea and Miyamoto Musashi were actually able to contact each other. This time, Merry also notified the two of them of the summons. After Miyamoto Musashi and Tomoe Gozen finished dealing with things in the other world as quickly as possible, she secretly used spirit particle transfer to bring the two of them back.

However, due to the time difference, the two of them arrived last.

The twenty-odd people who were originally scattered all over the world, or even in different worlds, have now all gathered together.

"I never thought they would all actually come back."

Holding a glass of wine and looking at the people around her, Aozaki Aoko couldn't help but laugh.

“That shows that everyone misses each other and is also very curious about what Shi has to say today, doesn’t it?” Meryl, who was sitting next to her, smiled. “After all, it’s the first time Shi has contacted us on her own initiative, so its importance is self-evident, isn’t it?”

"indeed."

Ryougi Shiki is someone who doesn't have much connection with the world of magic. In her own words, she has absolutely no interest in it, so she rarely contacts other people. Only people in Japan have contact with her.

The fact that he took the initiative to contact Meryl indicates that what he is about to say concerns everyone.

"Could it be a tiger?"

"Who knows? But I think even if it's not, it'll be close enough. We'll see when the time comes," Meryl said. "Speaking of which... Angelica, where is she? Why hasn't she arrived yet?"

Everyone had arrived, but at this moment, Ryougi Shiki, the one who initiated the gathering, was nowhere to be seen.

"Could it be that he had a stomachache and went to the toilet?"

"It's not impossible."

"It can't be that he's still half asleep, can it?"

......

As everyone began to chatter amongst themselves, Angelica was just about to say something—

"Shh-!"

The sliding door, which had just been closed, was reopened, and Ryougi Shiki, dressed in a kimono, walked in from outside. After glancing at everyone, she suddenly pulled out a short sword from her wide sleeve and threw it at Merry.

"Waaah!"

She quickly turned her head to dodge the sudden attack, and looking at the short knife still trembling slightly as it was stuck in the wall, Mary wiped away non-existent cold sweat: "You're still the same as always, Shiki. Haven't you changed this habit of throwing knives at people you see after more than 20 years? Besides, I'm not a tiger, it won't do you any good if you throw it at me."

"I don't have a stomachache, and I didn't oversleep either. I was just a little delayed by something."

Ryougi Shiki smiled faintly as she pulled the short sword stuck in the wall with a flick of her wrist, causing it to fly back into the scabbard hidden in her sleeve. She then sat down in the seat of honor that Angelica had prepared for her.

"Is everyone here?"

“Yes, Lady Shiki, everyone has arrived,” Angelica replied, and then knelt down at the end of the table.

To accommodate everyone who is coming today, a long table that can accommodate everyone has been set up in the living room. Apart from Ryougi Shiki, everyone else is seated on either side.

Just as Angelica said, everyone was indeed there.

“Now, you can tell me, Ryougi Shiki,” Morgan asked. “Merry said you wanted us all to gather together. What happened?”

"Something has indeed happened here... and it's actually somewhat related to you."

Ryougi Shiki said, "Do you remember the vampire I asked you to catch a week ago? He was from Italy."

"Didn't you cancel that commission last Thursday?"

Regarding the request to capture the blonde vampire girl, Natsukawa Tsuki, Ryougi Shiki told Morgan and the others that they did not need to continue the investigation after learning about Natsukawa Tsuki's situation.

“Actually, I caught her a week ago, and she’s been staying with me for the past week,” Ryougi Shiki said. “Her identity is somewhat special, especially to us, and she has quite a few secrets. She said she would only tell us after we were all here, which is why I had you all come here this time.”

That blond vampire?

Morgan and the others frowned slightly, while Aozaki Aoko and the others, who had already guessed this, exchanged glances and remained silent in tacit agreement.

Ryougi Shiki looked towards the door and clapped her hands: "Come in, everyone's here."

Yes~~~

A soft, melodious voice rang out from outside the door, and then everyone inside saw the figure walking in. After seeing her face clearly, they all instinctively looked at Arcueid.

Fujimaru Ritsuka and others who had previously been in contact with her also showed thoughtful expressions.

Previously, it was just a guess, but now, after seeing Arcueid in the same space as her, the guess that Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others had previously ruled out has resurfaced, and this time they are even more certain of it.

Then—

"Although some of the people here have met me before, let's pretend this is our first meeting."

Xia Chuanyue composed herself and bowed politely to everyone.

“My name is Natsukawa Tsuki, and I am a person from the future, thirty years from now. I am the daughter of Natsukawa Torato and Arcueid Brunstadt.”

"Nice to meet you all, please take care of me."

Daughter?!