To Become a King and a Magician

Dusk—before nightfall.

In a classroom bathed in the light of the setting sun.

Ayaka had finished her day's lessons and was packing her bag.

"Another day has passed… No calls."

Half a day had gone by since then. In terms of progress, her supervisory duties were nearly halfway done. But perhaps because the time was so short, Ayaka didn't really feel like a supervisor—was checking in with a phone call really considered supervision?

(Would it be better to take a leave from school and monitor his every move? That would feel more like proper supervision.)

"Sajyou."

A senior's voice from the door pulled Ayaka from her thoughts. Looking up, she saw Ciel standing at the entrance, waiting for her as usual.

By day, they were senior and junior at the same school. But when night fell, they became a Magus and an Executor, working together to protect Tokyo. It might sound a bit childish, but Ayaka found this secret double life pretty cool.

Carrying her school bag and walking out of the school with Ciel, their destination wasn't home but rather places tied to recent urban legends.

"Have you met that Moon Fall Magus?"

While waiting at a traffic light, Ciel suddenly asked.

"Yes. During lunch break, I went to the station and happened to meet him as he was leaving. If I'd been a bit late, I might have missed him."

"What's he like? As bad as the rumors say?"

Bad?

Ayaka recalled Naoki and Mordred from earlier that afternoon, then shook her head. "The girl with him might be a bit much, but he's completely different from the rumors you mentioned. How should I put it… He gives off a very cheerful vibe."

"A cheerful Magus?" Ciel couldn't help but laugh. "I thought the word 'cheerful' would never apply to a Magus."

"He didn't give me the impression of a Magus either."

It was just intuition. Ayaka felt that Naoki was different in some fundamental ways from people like her, who had grown up as Magi from a young age.

Ciel looked at her in surprise, then smiled. "Since you say so, I'll trust your judgment for now. After all, our supervision mission ends tomorrow afternoon. As long as he doesn't cause trouble before then, that's enough."

"I've warned him, and he promised, so there shouldn't be any issues. So, senpai, what's the first target we need to handle tonight?"

"The ghost truck at the intersection." Ciel said, pulling out a stack of papers from her bag. "Recently, students have been saying that when crossing the intersection, they see a truck speeding toward them, but just when they think they're about to be hit, the truck vanishes."

So that's why it's called a ghost truck?

"When did this rumor start?"

"The earliest trace the Church could find was three months ago. Back then, it was just sporadic gossip, something to chat about after meals. But in the last two days, it's started to escalate."

The last two days?

It seemed that in the past week or two, the frequency of spiritual phenomena like this had suddenly spiked. It used to be once or twice a week, but in the last two weeks, it had jumped to four or five times a week.

"Could someone be controlling it behind the scenes?"

"The only ones capable of something like that are Magi, but you know as well as I do that since the last Magus family left five years ago, you're the only Magus in Tokyo. The only Magi who've entered Tokyo in the past five years are the ones who arrived today."

Indeed, if it was Naoki, the timing wouldn't add up.

Ayaka shook her head. "I guess I'm overthinking it. Senpai, how much longer until we get there?"

"We're here."

As Ciel said that, Ayaka realized the crowd around them had thinned to almost nothing. There wasn't a single person nearby—it seemed the Church had quietly set up a repulsion field.

The sky was almost completely dark now, the time for Magi to operate under the cover of night.

With a small sigh, Ayaka opened her bag, took out a feather-shaped ring, and put it on.

"Senpai, can you stop changing the situation so suddenly like this?"

"Isn't this training your ability to handle emergencies? I'll watch from here—go for it."

Ciel had somehow leapt onto a streetlamp, speaking with a smile.

As the only Magus in Tokyo and the head of the Sajyou family, Ayaka was the only one who could eliminate the Magecraft phenomena threatening Tokyo's stability—or so she thought as she faced the ghost truck slowly materializing before her.

Countless raven feathers began to flutter across the street.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

Meanwhile, at a barbecue restaurant in Tokyo.

"Ugh~ This is so good, Master!"

Like a starving ghost reborn, Mordred devoured the grilled meat on the grill in front of her at an astonishing speed.

Across from her, Naoki kept adding fresh meat to the grill while saying, "Eat slowly, no one's stealing it from you. And leave some for me—I haven't eaten yet."

"You've got money, Master—just order more!"

"Having money doesn't mean you can spend it recklessly."

And honestly, Naoki felt that even if they ate the entire restaurant's stock, neither his nor Mordred's stomachs would be full—two king-sized appetites, what restaurant could withstand that? Not to mention, Gray and Atalanta would be joining later. It was a rare trip to Tokyo, so he wanted to treat them to something nice.

(I'll just have a late dinner by myself.)

"Ugh ugh ugh~~~ Hah—!"

Chugging a large glass of beer in one go, Mordred let out a bold burp. "Awesome! It's been ages since I ate this well. Back in the day, I only got to eat like this after winning a battle—usually, I could only eat half-full."

"Weren't Gawain's mashed potatoes filling?"

"Was that stuff even human food?!"

As if a bad memory had been triggered, Mordred's face paled. She wolfed down several pieces of meat in a row to recover.

(Were Gawain's mashed potatoes that bad?)

Naoki recalled Merry saying that Gawain's cooking back then was actually decent, on par with an average person, just that he always made huge portions. Even after all the Knights of the Round Table were full, there'd still be leftovers, and Arthur, ever considerate of his subordinates, would force himself to eat the rest with a grim expression.

At that moment, Naoki could clearly feel a stomachache-like sensation emanating from within his body.

(Arthur had it rough back then, surviving in that Round Table harem…)

Luckily, Naoki didn't have to worry about anything like that happening to him. His relationships with the opposite sex were still within safe boundaries, with no issues whatsoever.