To become a king and a magician

"There are quite a lot of people. Let's close the door first."

After summoning a strong gust of wind to re-block the broken door, Natsukawa Tiger laughed and said, "Sorry, my little sister is only eight years old and still a minor. She's not really suitable for the R-rated scenes that are about to unfold."

"Considering you may still be a little confused about the situation, let me explain—in short, apart from this victim lying on the ground, none of you will leave here unscathed."

No one said a word.

In their minds, every delinquent wanted to question Natsukawa Tora about his intentions, barging in and disrupting their plans. But seeing their leader, hammered into the wall and seemingly still alive, they all chickened out.

The next moment—

"Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump ——————!"

——————————————————————————————————

Asagami Fujino slowly opened her eyes, looked at the chandelier hanging above, and realized that she was lying down. She subconsciously wanted to sit up.

"You'd better stay lying down, Asagami Fujino."

Suddenly, a man's voice rang out beside me.

Asagami Fujino turned her head and saw a very handsome and fair-skinned blond man, whose gender was indistinguishable, sitting on a chair by the bed looking at her, with a young girl standing next to him.

"here it is?"

"A hospital room. Since I didn't know where you were staying, after rescuing you from those thugs, I could only bring you here and give you a check-up."

"You saved me..."

Asagami Fujino sorted out her chaotic memories.

"Oh right, I was on my way back to school when I was forcibly taken away by a few people... Did you save me? Thank you so much."

"Just doing what I could to help someone in need."

It wasn't until Natsukawa Torama had hammered all the delinquents into the wall that he realized the kidnapped girl was Asagami Fujino. Because she was wearing a black school uniform and the environment was dim, Natsukawa Torama hadn't noticed her at all.

"Is there anything that's bothering you? You just had surgery, so you can tell me if you're feeling unwell and I'll call the nurse."

"Operation?"

Asagami Fujino frowned.

"But I'm not sick."

“Appendicitis, and a rather serious one at that. According to the doctor, it’s been going on for quite some time,” Xia Chuanhu explained. “I originally brought you here just in case you were kidnapped by the gang and might have been hit on the head or something. I just wanted to get you checked out, but I didn’t expect to find out you have appendicitis.”

This is a lie.

After learning that the girl he had saved was Asagami Fujino, Natsukawa Torama immediately took her to the hospital for surgery—all the troubles they encountered in the process were resolved through suggestive magic.

After hearing Natsukawa Torato's explanation, Asagami Fujino remained silent for a while before giving a helpless smile: "I didn't expect it to be found out like this... I'm so sorry to have troubled you, thank you so much. I will definitely repay you for the surgery later. By the way, I haven't asked your name yet?"

“Natsukawa Tora. Just call me Natsukawa. This is Gray, my sister.”

11. Night Raid

In the square in front of the hospital.

Turning to look at the third floor of the hospital behind her, and staring at Asagami Fujino's ward for a few seconds, Gray asked, "Brother, is it alright to leave Asagami-san in the hospital like this?"

"Probably not, and thanks to the chance encounter with her, I suddenly had a place I wanted to go."

Speaking of things related to Asagami Fujino, it undoubtedly involves the plot of residual pain and Araya Souren. However, the time for residual pain hasn't come yet, and it's not 98 yet, so Ryougi Shiki should still be lying in the hospital room. There's no rush.

However, Natsukawa Torato felt it necessary to meet with Araya Sōren, who was the biggest secret behind the Kyoukai no Kyoukai.

After all, he once acted with the goal of "wanting to save everyone," and Natsukawa Tora, whose goal was "wanting to help others as much as possible," could be considered senior and junior in a very extreme sense.

(I think it's Xiaochuan Apartment, I need to find a map, but at this time...)

It was almost 8 p.m., and Natsukawa Tiger didn't care, but Gray should be sleeping. If possible, Natsukawa Tiger wanted to take Gray back to the hotel first before making any further plans.

(Speaking of which, staying in hotels all the time isn't a good idea, the expenses are too high... Could I ask the master if she could let me stay at the Garan no Treasure Hall? I'll ask when I go tomorrow.)

Earlier, after dinner, Aozaki Touko had told Natsukawa Torama to go to her agency, Garan no Tou, at noon the next day.

Thinking of this, Natsukawa Tiger said to Grey, "It's getting late, let's go back to the hotel. Are you sleepy, Grey?"

"A little bit, but if my brother wants to continue doing things, I can hold on for a while."

"It's okay, I can do my things tomorrow. Children shouldn't stay up late, or they won't grow tall."

Patting Grey's head and taking her hand, Natsukawa Tiger was about to walk onto the main road when his eyes caught sight of a somewhat eerie figure on the empty road.

It's strange, but that's in terms of common sense. It's clearly not raining, yet the person is unusually wearing a yellow raincoat and standing under the streetlight like a sculpture, completely hidden in the oversized raincoat. Because of the angle, not a single glance or expression is visible.

The moment he saw this person, a mix of unfamiliarity and familiarity welled up in Natsukawa Tora's heart.

He might have seen the person in the raincoat somewhere before, but that person in the raincoat was not the same person he had seen before—that's the gist of it.

"pat-"

The man took a step forward, his raincoat being pushed aside by his calf, revealing a corner of his blue clothes.

In that instant, like a cheetah pouncing on its prey, the man in the raincoat suddenly charged towards Xia Chuanhu!

The distance between the two is about fifty meters, at their current speed—

(Six seconds. Too slow.)

For Natsukawa Torato, this amount of time was enough to create a distance of several hundred meters, but since Gray was still by his side, the best option was...

"elder brother?"

Faced with Xia Chuanhu suddenly lifting her up in his arms, Gray gasped slightly, then was carried by Xia Chuanhu to a streetlight across the street. The instant Xia Chuanhu left the ground, the person in the yellow raincoat pounced, followed by a flash of silver light that rapidly magnified in Xia Chuanhu's vision—

(A short sword. No magical reaction whatsoever, and poison... seems to be absent as well.)

Turning his head to dodge the attack, Xia Chuanhu looked at the person below him: "Attack a complete stranger in the middle of the night, can you give me an explanation?"

"prey....."

"what?"

"You stole my prey."

The voice coming from under the raincoat was somewhat androgynous, but still recognizable as a woman's. The moment he heard that voice, Natsukawa Tora understood why he felt a sense of familiarity the instant he saw the person.

However, at the same time, he felt genuinely incredulous and utterly bewildered.

"You are......"

Looking at the blue hem and red sleeve peeking out from under the raincoat, Natsukawa Tiger was certain of the identity of the person who attacked him, but how could this be? It was December 1997, and she should still be lying in the hospital at this time.

"You are two—"

"We've lost our weapons. It was a bit rash to just throw them away. We should carry a few more as spares in the future."

Before Xia Chuanhu could finish speaking, the man started talking to himself, then looked up at Xia Chuanhu as if trying to memorize his face. His icy blue eyes stared at him for a while before he looked away.

There will be no next time.

"Huh? What do you mean? And you should be—"

Once again, before Natsukawa Tiger could finish speaking, the man swiftly disappeared into the night.

(That voice, and those eyes...it's definitely Ryougi Shiki!)

This was completely unexpected!

What surprised Natsukawa Torato even more than the fact that Morgan was still alive!

Why did Ryougi Shiki appear at this time? Shouldn't she have been in a coma since the car accident in 96 and wouldn't have woken up until around June 98? It's only the end of 97 now.

(Does this mean that Ryougi Shiki didn't get into a car accident in this world? Then... is it a parallel world?)

Ryougi Shiki, who did not fall into a coma but still awakened the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, can only be explained by the existence of a parallel world if this situation is so different from what Natsukawa Torato knew.

"Looks like I have one more thing to do tomorrow."

Visit Aozaki Touko at Garan no Todo, meet Araya Sōren at Ogawa's apartment, and investigate the matter concerning Ryougi Shiki from 96.

(Ever since I returned to Japan, it feels like things just keep piling up, like they're never letting me stop.)

Gazing in the direction where Ryougi Shiki had left, Natsukawa Tora sighed softly.

"Brother?" Gray's voice brought Natsukawa Tora back to his senses. "Was that person... someone you knew?"

"You could say that, or you could say that. It's just that I have some understanding of her on my own. Let's not talk about this anymore, let's go back to the hotel."

"Ah."

——————————————————————————————————

I met her.

It's a little earlier than expected, but since we're already there, it's just a matter of time.

If it's him, he should be able to handle it, there shouldn't be any problem.

I'll find a chance to see him again later.

Three years... Haha, it's been so long in the blink of an eye.

12. Changing World Line

The next day, at noon.

Following the address that Aozaki Touko had given them, Natsukawa Torato and Gray went to her workshop—Garan no Tou.

"This should be the place."

"I'm looking at the abandoned building in front of me," said Natsukawa Tora.

While it's called an abandoned building, it's essentially a ruin. Construction began a few years ago during a period of economic prosperity, but then the economy suddenly deteriorated, and construction was halted halfway through, leaving it an unfinished project. Although the exterior is largely complete, the interior is completely undecorated, with bare concrete walls and floors.

In addition, the original design was supposed to be a six-story building, but now it only has four stories, with the fifth floor floor serving as the roof.

Not long ago, Aozaki Touko bought this place in order to have a place to stay in Kanbuko City and established the Garan no To Office. However, apart from herself as the president, there are no employees in the office.

Upon reaching the fourth floor and entering the office, Natsukawa Tora immediately saw Aozaki Touko sitting at her desk.

Hearing the door open, Aozaki Touko adjusted her glasses and looked over, then smiled and said, "Oh, you're here, my disciple. You're right on time."