To become a king and a magician

"Grey!"

2. News about Aozaki Touko

"Bang------!"

At the entrance of the Clock Tower teaching building, a sudden muffled thud startled the passersby, but after the initial surprise, they glanced at the clock and naturally looked away.

"Today too."

"It's this time every day."

"It's been two years, hasn't it?"

"Can't things just stop for a day or two?"

Everyone showed signs of displeasure to varying degrees, and began to mutter under their breath. This was understandable, given that such scenes had been occurring almost daily for the past two years.

When the thud subsided and the dust settled, Natsukawa Tiger put Gray down from his arms and glanced at the time: "Hmm, there are still ten minutes before class starts, plenty of time."

"Brother, although I've said it many times, please don't use this method of traveling anymore. It will cause trouble for others."

Grey glared at Natsukawa Torato with some displeasure.

Even though Grey had promised to supervise Natsukawa Torama before they set off, in reality, she couldn't stop him at all once they were on the road. Apparently, because of the incident in Paris two years ago where he scaled rooftops several times, ever since then, whenever they needed to travel, Natsukawa Torama would simply jump onto rooftops and leap across them.

In Weber's words, he was like a monkey.

Ironically, due to Natsukawa Tora's superhuman physical abilities, he experienced no discomfort whatsoever while doing this, and his speed was even faster than Webber's driving. And because of this method of travel, Natsukawa Tora became one of the most well-known figures in the Clock Tower within the past two years—in every sense of the word.

Besides this, another factor that led to Natsukawa Tora becoming a celebrity was Grey.

A year ago, because Grey had reached the appropriate age and he was worried that she would be led astray by Mary at home, Natsukawa Tora tried to mention Grey's enrollment to Kenneth. Natsukawa Tora didn't have high expectations at first, but a few days later, Kenneth had Webber convey the news that Grey was eligible to enroll.

However, unlike the normal enrollment method, Gray enrolled as Natsukawa Tora's attendant.

This is also one of the rules of the Clock Tower.

Magicians often find themselves targeted and facing mortal danger. Therefore, for their own safety, magicians have the right to bring attendants or disciples with them. This is a common practice among the legitimate sons of various noble families studying at the Clock Tower.

Grey was admitted through this rule.

Although Natsukawa Tora can hardly be considered a qualified magician, he is definitely not from a prestigious family.

"Bringing such a young child to class every day, could it be that the blond guy has some strange fetish?"

"Are there any other reasons besides this?"

"nausea."

.......

Such sounds could be heard sporadically around her, and upon hearing this, Grey couldn't help but pull her hood down even further.

With a slight sigh, Xia Chuanhu patted her head, then turned and glared fiercely at the surrounding crowd. Even through the Demon Eye Killer, his icy gaze still made everyone around him tremble and scatter like birds.

"Honestly, these guys... all they do is spread rumors and cause trouble all day long. I really am disliked."

This wasn't something that happened overnight. Because of Kenneth's care in various ways, and because Natsukawa Tora had been seen traveling with the Plant Lord before, many people thought he was just a gigolo who kept using connections—especially those magicians who also came from poor backgrounds.

“Don’t pay attention to these rumors, Grey. Let’s go to class.”

"Um......"

————————————————————————————————————

As Xia Chuanhu had mentioned earlier, the morning classes were as follows: because it was nearing the end of the semester and the coursework for this semester had already been completed, the instructors simply checked everyone's progress on their final assignments before going back to their own research.

The Clock Tower's instruction is conducted in a way that allows anyone who can keep up to attend. Magic is almost entirely determined by lineage and talent, so there's no need for serious instruction. It's common practice for Clock Tower instructors to spread information that can serve as bait, then select promising individuals and recruit them as assistants.

As a student, it's often faster to learn by finding a highly capable instructor and becoming their student than to acquire knowledge in the classroom.

The same goes for Natsukawa Tora.

"Weber, I'm here."

"Excuse me, Mr. Weber."

Inside the office, Weber, who was writing his thesis, nodded as the two walked in: "You're here. Have a seat for a while. I'm just finishing up the last bit of my thesis. We can talk about any research questions later."

"Let me help you organize the files first, your place is a complete mess."

"It's troublesome."

"I'm your assistant."

Yes, the lecturer that Natsukawa Tora approached was none other than Weber.

This is not surprising. Although lecturers generally select students to be their assistants, students have the right to refuse if the lecturer is not qualified.

Webber's abilities are well-known; a mediocre, third-rate magician like him would never have any students willing to become his assistants. He himself is aware of this and has never sought an assistant. However, a lecturer's rank is tied to their achievements. If Webber cannot train a few excellent assistants, his lecturer rank cannot be promoted, and his salary will not increase.

This was a nightmare for Weber, who was burdened with part of the El-Melloi school's debts.

Therefore, a year ago, Weber made Natsukawa Tora his assistant. Since the two of them often had private lessons after class anyway, this was just adding another layer of relationship, so Natsukawa Tora didn't object.

After helping Gray tidy up Webber's office, Natsukawa Tora sat down for just one minute, and Webber stopped writing.

"Finished writing?"

"Okay, that way we can report back to Mr. Kenneth."

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Weber. Here's some coffee."

“Thank you very much, ma’am.” After taking a sip of Gray’s coffee, Weber looked at Natsukawa Tora. “By the way, Tora, there’s something I need to tell you. I was planning to come to you after I finished my thesis, but since you’re here, I might as well tell you.”

Xia Chuanhu frowned: "What is it? It's not that some noble lady has fallen for your dark circles again, and you want me to help you reject them?"

"I can do this myself—and this has never happened before, so why are you saying 'again'?"

glaring at Natsukawa Tora, Weber said, "Do you remember what you mentioned to me two years ago? You said you wanted me to keep an eye out for Aozaki Touko, because you needed to see her. This morning when I came to work, I overheard some passersby saying that there seems to be a doll maker holding a doll exhibition in Japan."

"Huh?"

Natsukawa Tora paused for a moment.

(The puppeteer who organized the puppet exhibition... Oh right, it's almost 1998 now. Thinking about it, it's not that far off.)

"So, you think that's Aozaki Touko?"

"Who knows? But according to those people, some magicians who participated gave it rave reviews and even spent a fortune to commission several. That already shows that the puppeteer's skills are quite good, right? Maybe it's Aozaki Touko?"

"Let's try our luck...it'll do." Natsukawa Tora nodded. "Is there a specific date? When is the next one?"

"I don't know, it seems to be held irregularly. But judging from the frequency, there should be one every two months, so... there should be one in January."

"The first month of the lunar calendar..."

Xia Chuanhu pursed his lips, then smiled and said, "Alright, I've been in England for two years and haven't been back yet. I'll go back for the New Year this time and see my old classmates. They must have changed a lot in the two years since I last saw them."

3. Returning to Fuyuki after two years

Fuyuki City.

Xindu, shopping street.

It's already the end of December, and the first month of the lunar calendar is just a few days away. The weather has already turned cold, and with a light snowfall last night, people on the street are now wearing thick clothes to keep warm.

The same goes for Fujimura Taiga.

He breathed on his slightly cold palms and, following the streets he had walked countless times before, Fujimura Taiga quickly found a sign and a staircase leading down to the ground.

Tavern in Copenhagen.

This shop is owned by the father of Fujimura Taiga's high school classmate. Because of their friendship, Fujimura Taiga would often come here to drink with his old classmate, and this time he naturally had the same idea.

"Otoko! I'm here again!"

"Ah, Taihe, you're here really early today."

Inside the shop, seeing Fujimura Taiga walk in from the door, Hotaru Otoko, with her eyes slightly narrowed, immediately greeted him: "Have a seat for a while, Zero hasn't arrived yet. I'll go prepare."

Xiao Ling—Ryudou Lingkan. He is the eldest son of Ryudou-ji Temple, a famous temple in Fuyuki City. He and Xiao Ling were student council presidents and classmates in high school. Although they went to Tokyo to study at university right after graduating from high school, they would always come back to celebrate the New Year.

It was during this time that the group would gather together for drinks and conversation, sharing their recent experiences. As they grew older, they all had their own things to do, and even though they were all certain they would stay in Fuyuki City, opportunities to meet were becoming increasingly rare.

"Dahe!"

Yinzi's voice came from inside the warehouse.

"Huh? What's wrong? What happened?"

What would you like to drink today?

"This... I guess it has to be Lao Bai Gan! I'll text Xiao Ling now and ask him to buy some snacks to go with it!"

Drinking strong liquor in the middle of the day.

Yinzi was both amused and exasperated by her old friend's attitude of not considering the consequences of his actions, even though they had known each other for six or seven years.

"If you get drunk, I won't take you home."

"Don't worry! I'm known as the River Who Can Never Get Drunk!"

"Isn't that Xia Chuan?" Yinzi laughed. "Speaking of which, I remember Xia Chuan went to study in England, right? It's been more than two years, and he hasn't come back at all. He doesn't send any emails either. Is he planning to settle down there?"

"Who knows? That guy has had a kind of unstable feeling ever since his second year of high school."

When mentioning Natsukawa Tora, Fujimura Taiga's tone carried a hint of nostalgia.

Carrying a box of baijiu back to the store, Yinzi said nostalgically, "Indeed, it was after that long leave, right? He seemed indifferent to everything, and he often went to the cemetery. He only became normal again in the second semester of his senior year. Several times I wondered if he was depressed."

"Hmm? Are you talking about Natsukawa?"

Just as Fujimura Taiga and Otoko were talking, the entrance door opened again, and Ryudou Reikan, who had a bald head, walked in and asked a question.

"Oh, Xiao Ling. Speaking of Xia Chuan, he wasn't quite himself for a long time during high school, was he? Xiao Ling, do you know what happened?"

"That one."

Taking off his coat and hanging it on the chair, Liu Dongling recalled for a moment: "I'm not really sure either. I just occasionally heard him mention it when we were eating together. It seems that two people who were very important to him had passed away, and he had lost his way in life because of it."

"An elderly gentleman?"

"That makes sense," Liu Dongling said with a smile. "So, it's still just the three of us this year? And he still hasn't returned?"