To become a king and a magician

“Don’t say that. At least I saw some very interesting things.” Aozaki Touko lit a cigarette and said, “However, compared to the illusion magic used through letters, I am more interested in what you just mentioned about the Holy Grail War.”

"Before that, explain to me what the Holy Grail War is?"

Ryougi Shiki, the only one who had almost no connection to the world of magic, frowned and interjected.

They exchanged a glance, and when Natsukawa Tora shrugged in her direction, Aozaki Touko knew it was her turn to explain.

Exhaling a puff of smoke, Aozaki Touko asked, "The Holy Grail War is a magical ceremony held in Japan every sixty years, revolving around the Holy Grail, an omnipotent wish-granting machine that can grant any wish. Seven magicians summon heroes who are famous in history or mythology to fight each other. The last survivor wins the Holy Grail."

"That's basically it."

A wish-granting machine that can grant any wish.

Ryougi Shiki raised an eyebrow: "Is the Holy Grail such an exaggerated thing?"

"Who knows? I've never actually participated in the Holy Grail War, so I don't know much about the Holy Grail, but I imagine it's not something that's all-powerful. As far as I know, the Holy Grail War has been held four times, and the Holy Grail hasn't descended in any of them, so its authenticity is even less likely." Aozaki Touko said, taking a drag of her cigarette. "Let the parties involved tell us what happens next."

"What the teacher said is basically correct."

Natsukawa Tora picked up the conversation: "The Holy Grail is indeed not an omnipotent wish-granting machine. Its method of fulfilling wishes is to consume accumulated magical power, skipping the intermediate process and presenting the result to the wisher directly. The reason it is held only once every sixty years is to allow the Holy Grail to accumulate enough magical power."

"After all, with sixty years of magic, any wish, unless it's outrageously absurd, should be able to be fulfilled."

"Now that you mention it, the Holy Grail doesn't seem so impressive after all." Ryougi Shiki immediately lost a lot of interest. "An all-powerful wish-granting machine, but the result is just so-so."

"It's not quite right to say that. Calling it an all-powerful wish-granting machine is a bit of an exaggeration, but if we say it's an 'all-powerful wish-granting machine for magicians,' then there's no problem at all. After all, every legitimate magician has the same wish."

Reaching the root cause.

This is a common wish among almost all magicians. Therefore, without exception, they all make this wish after obtaining the Holy Grail. Coincidentally, the Holy Grail was created specifically to reach the Root.

Natsukawa Torato's words further dampened Ryougi Shiki's already waning interest: "What? You can only be called omnipotent if you're restricted by all sorts of rules and regulations? If that's the case, then it's not omnipotent at all. In the end, there can't really be anything omnipotent, right?"

Hearing Ryougi Shiki say that, Natsukawa Torato couldn't help but chuckle, "Who can say for sure? Maybe it really exists, an omnipotent thing."

"I feel like there's something hidden in your words..."

No, that's all.

Seeing that Natsukawa Tora was starting to dodge the question, Ryougi Shiki pouted in dissatisfaction and changed the subject: "So, what about you? I understand the concept of the Holy Grail War now, so let's talk about you."

Although Natsukawa Tora had only mentioned it casually before, and the explanation was very brief, that simple sentence contained an enormous amount of information, so much so that Aozaki Touko and Ryougi Shiki felt a sense of unfamiliarity.

What exactly did this 21-year-old boy experience three years ago?

"Can you guys stop looking at me with those expectant eyes? It's not a big deal. Compared to me, Teacher Orange's experiences when she was young are definitely more interesting, aren't they?"

"I'm still very young!"

In the midst of their conversation, Aozaki Touko threw a ballpoint pen at Natsukawa Tora.

Shrinking his neck to dodge the sneak attack, Natsukawa Tiger put on a stern face: "Teacher, I've already told you not to litter. Nobody wants you with this habit—Hey, hey, hey! Stop littering! I'll shut up, I'll shut up!"

"Brother, I've prepared all the ingredients."

Just then, Gray, wearing a pink children's apron, pushed open the door and walked in. Natsukawa Tora breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her: "Thank you for your hard work. I'll take care of the rest now—perfect timing. We can talk about my involvement in the Holy Grail War while we eat."

————————————————————————————————————

To be honest, Natsukawa Torato doesn't think there's much to say about the Holy Grail War. If he had to summarize it himself, he could only say that he spent most of his time retreating and the remaining half was spent risking his life.

but--

"So in the end, your Holy Grail War was just an innocent disaster caused by an overly affectionate little girl?"

After listening to Natsukawa Tora's story, Aozaki Touko shook her beer can slightly and laughed.

"Because he accidentally summoned the famous King Arthur, he was targeted by King Arthur's former Master, who happened to be a genius magician. As a result, he was tortured to the point of despair. This Holy Grail War is not quite what I imagined."

Ryougi Shiki echoed, "That's right, it's just like a child playing around."

(Sajou Aika will be furious if you say that... or rather, she's already furious.)

"What could I do? Back then, I was just an ordinary person who didn't know any magic at all." Rubbing his eyes, Natsukawa Tora sighed with a wry smile. "But... it was because of that Holy Grail War that I became who I am today. To be honest, if I could go back and choose again, I think I would still participate."

"Why?" Aozaki Touko was somewhat surprised. "For an ordinary person, participating in the Holy Grail War is tantamount to suicide, isn't it?"

"That makes sense, but even so... I don't want to lose the memories of fighting alongside that guy (Arthur). If I had to name one thing I've never regretted, it would definitely be meeting him—why are you all looking at me like that?"

"No......."

Taking a small sip of beer, Aozaki Touko turned her head slightly away: "It was just a little unexpected that you would make that kind of face... but in the end, it wasn't really unexpected, right, Shiki?"

"Ah."

"So what kind of expression was it, Grey? Did I just make a weird expression again?"

"No, it's just my brother's expression all the time."

(Completely oblivious to his own ignorance... when King Arthur is mentioned, he has such a proud expression.)

(However, Sajō Aika, Sajō... I've never heard of that surname before. There are only a few famous magic families in Japan, and most of them have connections with the Aozaki family, but I've never heard of the surname Sajō when I was a child.)

So, who exactly is Sajou Aika?

"Forget it, I won't worry about the boy's affairs."

"What did you say, teacher?"

"Nothing much—by the way, what are you planning to do about that Lord El-Melloi?"

————————————————————————————

at the same time.

"How dare you speak of His Highness the Prince with such pride and arrogance! You vixen, if I ever get out of here, I'll torture you to the point of wishing you were dead!"

Because of Natsukawa Torata's completely oblivious tone, Sajou Aika was absolutely furious.

28. Graduation is a troublesome thing.

Kenneth is coming to Japan.

"If you ask me what to do... I honestly don't know either."

According to Meryl, Kenneth came to Japan mainly for two things—Natsukawa Torama's graduation from all his basic courses, and the conferment of Natsukawa Torama's rank.

However, what troubled Xia Chuanhu was that he was not very clear about the specific procedures for these two matters.

"Teacher, you've been through this before, right? Tell me about it."

"Ask me for help... But that was ten years ago, I don't remember much." Aozaki Touko rubbed her temples and thought for a while. "Let me think, to graduate from all the basic courses, it seems that you need to meet the credit requirements in three areas."

"Three aspects?"

"First is the attendance score, which is generally not a problem. Then there's the self-defense score; given your physical condition, you should be able to beat up the teacher and that should be fine," Aozaki Touko offered very sound advice. "As for the last one, there's the practical score; just complete the assignments the teacher gives on time."

"After everything is completed, those who are ready to graduate will be gathered together for a unified ceremony to confer their positions."

(Graduation ceremony... not much different from high school.)

Xia Chuanhu recalled his situation.

(Attendance score... well, it should be fine. Although I'm usually right on time, I've never skipped class. I always get formal leave requests when I don't attend, so it's okay.)

(Self-defense techniques... Just beat up Mr. Kenneth and he'll be fine. Go easy on him, it'll give him a good workout. He sits in the office for long periods, it'll be good for him to move around.)

(Practice score... just a moment!)

His thoughts abruptly stopped, and Natsukawa Tora abruptly covered his face.

Ryougi Shiki: "What's wrong?"

Natsukawa Torato: "It seems like it's been half a year since I last went to the Clock Tower for class!"

"..."

Aozaki Touko was also stunned.

It seems that's indeed the case?

"I thought you had completed all the formalities before coming to me to become my apprentice."

"Well... because I didn't know if I could find you easily at first, I only planned to stay here for the winter break. I didn't expect to find you so quickly, and then I got so used to life that I forgot I had to go back to school..."

"I'm so sorry, brother, I forgot too... I should have reminded you..."

Seeing Grey blaming herself, Natsukawa Tora quickly waved his hand to comfort her, "It's okay, it's okay, it's mostly my fault, Grey, you didn't do anything wrong, really! Don't take it to heart!"

“But that’s a bit of a problem,” Aozaki Touko said in a deep voice. “Young man, you said you came during the winter break, which means you skipped all the classes at the Clock Tower in the first half of the year—no, you didn’t even report for duty. The number of days you attended was overwhelmingly insufficient.”

"While the Clock Tower does have rules for graduating early, that's based on meeting the graduation requirements. Normally, anyone who isn't an idiot can graduate from the full five-year basic curriculum, but you skipped half a year..."

It means I have to go back to school for another six months.

Xia Chuanhu scratched his head: "I've learned almost everything in the basic courses. I really don't want to go back. Compared to those basic knowledge, I'd rather stay here and learn about puppetry."

"I'm glad you said that, but you still have to follow the basic rules. Besides, you can learn about puppets after you graduate. I don't plan to close down this Garan Hall for the next two or three years, so you can come anytime."

"That's true."

The reason Natsukawa Torato had been visiting Aozaki Touko this past year was because he could only be sure of her whereabouts for this year; after this year, he didn't know where she would go. But since she herself said she didn't plan to leave for two or three years, it wouldn't be a bad idea for her to temporarily return to England to complete her studies.

"What about the ritual bestowed by that rank?" Natsukawa Torato continued to ask. "Merry said that the teacher is going to bestow a rank upon me. I remember that it is a rank that can be bestowed based on special talents, and therefore the level of magicians in this rank varies greatly."

Aozaki Touko nodded: "The matter of granting ranks is quite troublesome, but you have a monarch teacher who will take care of everything for you. However, there is still a problem in front of you."

"What's the problem?"

"Thesis. Rank is actually just like a degree. If you want to advance, you have to produce your own research results. The thesis is just a form of expression. What matters is the result. For me, all I need to do is produce a puppet."

At this point, Aozaki Touko pointed at Natsukawa Torato: "But you don't, do you?"

“Hmm…Merry said before that it was based on my physical condition assessment.”

"But that's because you fused with the power of a Heroic Spirit, not your own research result—and you might even receive a sealing order because of it. You should be the first person in the history of the Clock Tower to fuse with a Heroic Spirit, and I can totally imagine how those mages will react."

What conditions are required to fuse with a Heroic Spirit? Are there any physical requirements? Will the magic circuits be altered due to fusing with a Heroic Spirit? What about the physical condition? —etc.

Driven by such doubts, magicians would stop at nothing to study Natsukawa Tora's body.

in short.

"You will be dissected."

"In that case, the clock tower would definitely disappear, in every sense of the word."