To Become a King and a Magician

The next day.

"Ugh... My head hurts so bad... Drank too much..."

Waking up with a splitting headache, Naoki clutched his head in pain.

Was sweeping through five restaurants really too much?

And drinking alcohol like it was water... Now that he thought about it, Naoki couldn't understand how he, who barely drank before, could have such thoughts. Even if it was Mordred's influence, it was still irrational.

Speaking of which, last night he drank aqua vitae.

Lucky for him, he was no longer essentially human, so he could act so recklessly.

Glancing at Mordred beside him, Naoki frowned. Last night, both he and Mordred were drunk, so when they got back to the hotel and saw the bed, they collapsed on it without caring which bed they slept in.

Only now did Naoki realize they had shared the same bed last night.

(Is this scene a bit inappropriate to look at?)

Seeing Mordred's messy state beside him—pants rolled up to her ankles and sleeping in a terrible position—Naoki patted his chest to calm the restless Arthur within, then turned and headed to the bathroom.

After returning last night, neither of them had showered, and their bodies reeked of alcohol.

"By the way, what time is it?"

After showering and feeling refreshed, Naoki instinctively checked the time. He remembered Gray and the others were returning to Fuyuki City at 2:30 PM.

The wall clock showed just before 12:30 PM. There were still two hours before Gray and the others' outing ended and they returned to Fuyuki City.

"Still early, enough time for lunch and to head to the meeting point—Mordred, wake up!"

"Ugh... So noisy..."

Rubbing her eyes to wake up, Mordred glared at Naoki with a grumpy, just-woken-up face: "I haven't slept enough."

"Two hours from now, we're heading back with Gray and the others. If you don't get up, I'll leave you here."

"That soon... Feels like I haven't had enough fun."

"Didn't you want to drink last night?! Now go shower and get rid of that alcohol smell!"

Catching the towel Naoki threw at her face, Mordred stuck out her tongue in annoyance, kicked off her pants completely, and hopped into the bathroom.

Naoki rubbed his forehead in resignation: "You should pay attention to a woman's manners! I'm a guy, you know!"

"I'm not a woman!"

The echo from the bathroom left Naoki momentarily speechless—fair point.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

Half an hour later.

At the restaurant downstairs in the hotel.

"Good day, Big Brother, Miss Mordred."

"You guys really slept in. Where did you two go last night?"

Gray and Atalanta, who were having lunch, saw them come down and greeted them—all four were staying at the same hotel.

Naoki sat across from them: "Didn't do much, just cleared out food at a few restaurants and got blacklisted. It's rare for me to eat so freely like last night, so I'm in great shape today."

Despite his mental state, in terms of Mana, Naoki was in peak condition. Thanks to the food he ate last night, he could probably go all out for ten minutes.

"You two, do you have any free time now?"

"We visited all the planned places yesterday afternoon and this morning. Now it's free time, as long as we gather before 2:30 PM." Gray explained. "Sister Ata and I don't have any plans, so we're staying at the hotel. Do you and Miss Mordred have something to do?"

Naoki shook his head, but Mordred quickly raised her hand: "I've got a place I want to visit! After lunch, let's go there! That place called Akihabara!"

"Eh?"

Everyone froze for a moment.

Akihabara? Why did Mordred want to go there?

"Didn't Master say you wanted to go there? I kept you company yesterday, so today let me tag along. You've got something you want to do there, right?"

Her words stunned Naoki, his eyes staring at Mordred in disbelief: "You actually care about me? Did last night's drinking fry your brain?"

"It's not like that! I can be considerate sometimes, you know! So, you going or not? Even if it's not Akihabara, wherever Master wants to go, I'll tag along."

Seeing Mordred's small fangs peeking out, Naoki smiled and gently patted her head: "Alright then, for the two hours before we leave, just hang out with me—Gray, Tama, you guys coming?"

"Don't call me that!" Atalanta snapped, annoyed. "I'm not going. Weren't you the one who told me to keep an eye on Gray? Besides, there are other kids, and I plan to check on them later."

"I'll stick with Sister Ata. Big Brother and Miss Mordred, have fun, and please don't cause any trouble."

"I'll try..."

Naoki said with little confidence.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

That afternoon, with the strength of a Servant's legs, Naoki and Mordred didn't even take the train—they walked straight to Akihabara.

Then—

"Master... did the drinking fry your brain?"

Ten minutes after entering Akihabara, Mordred stared at Naoki, who had fully blended into the otaku crowd around him, her eyes wide with shock.

Carrying large bags filled with figures, models, and merchandise, Naoki turned with a serious face and said: "What? Isn't this totally normal for me?"

No, no, this is not normal! Who wears an anime character jacket out in public—

Mordred glanced around while thinking.

Okay, there were plenty of people doing it, and a lot of them!

"Master, you... you didn't flip some weird switch, did you?"

"Nope, this is called returning to my true self. I actually kinda like this stuff." Naoki laughed. "Besides, I've always wanted to come here once. This is like fulfilling a wish, so let me go a little wild."

"A little wild? If Mother—er, if Gray saw you, she'd drag you back to stop you from embarrassing yourself further."

"That's probably true."