To Become a King and a Magician

A few minutes later, in the living room of the Sajyou household.

Since Magecraft was a secret not to be revealed to ordinary people, to avoid being overheard, Ayaka chose to bring Naoki to her home.

Though Naoki offered to find a private room elsewhere, Ayaka refused.

At home, she felt calmer. Plus, with the Sajyou family's barrier, if they encountered an enemy like that again, she could feel somewhat safer.

After brewing a cup of black tea for herself and Naoki, Ayaka sat across from him: "Sorry, this house rarely has guests, so we only have black tea."

"It's fine."

Naoki waved it off, observing the Sajyou household. Perhaps because it had been occupied by just one person for so long or hadn't been cleaned in a while, the entire house felt eerily quiet, almost unsettling in its emptiness.

"Miss Sajyou, do you always live alone?"

"Yes, my father and older sister passed away eight years ago. My mother died shortly after I was born. I've always lived alone… Actually, you're the first guest in this house in eight years."

So, aside from Ayaka, no one else had set foot in this house for eight years?

No wonder it felt so desolate.

After sipping the black tea, which calmed her mind slightly, Ayaka bowed to Naoki: "First, let me thank you, Natsukawa-sama. You went out of your way to protect me at the park earlier."

"It was nothing. Though it was an unexpected situation for me too, it wasn't too troublesome for the current me to handle."

"That… what was it, exactly?" Ayaka couldn't help but ask. "I got a call from the Church saying there was a spiritual phenomenon nearby, so I went. But that entity, rather than a spiritual phenomenon…"

"It was a Shadow Servant." Naoki explained. "Miss Sajyou, you know about Servants, right? Beings like clones derived from Heroic Spirits recorded in human history and mythology."

Ayaka nodded: "I've heard a bit about the subspecies Holy Grail Wars that have been happening in recent years. My father once seemed to collect holy relics to participate but gave up in the end."

"Good that you know. What we just encountered was a Shadow Servant, or at least something with that nature. A monster formed when the residual Mana of a Servant left in the real world is distorted, naturally or artificially, and retains some of a Servant's abilities. Though its individual combat strength isn't great, a well-prepared high-class Magus could defeat two or three."

A high-class Magus could only handle two or three?

Ayaka instinctively recalled the earlier scene—did that mean Naoki's strength far surpassed a high-class Magus? Come to think of it, he was a Magus rumored to have pulled down the moon. It wasn't an exaggeration to say he'd transcended the category of Magus.

"Um… may I ask why you're back, Natsukawa-sama?" Ayaka voiced another question on her mind. "Weren't you supposed to return to Fuyuki City?"

"That's what I wanted to tell you."

Naoki said seriously: "Tokyo right now seems to be under the influence of a massive magical ritual. No matter what method I use to leave, I end up back at that station. Ever heard of a Möbius strip? That's roughly the situation."

"You can't leave Tokyo?"

"Exactly. Plus, there's a time issue. Though it's past midnight now, the date hasn't changed."

"Huh?"

Ayaka quickly pulled out her phone and checked—exactly as Naoki said, the date hadn't changed; it was still yesterday.

"Maybe… maybe the phone's broken?"

"Are all the clocks in the city broken?" Naoki countered with a smile. "Of course, it's still unclear whether this applies to all of Tokyo or just me. As the only Magus in Tokyo, do you have any clues?"

Frowning and thinking for a moment, Ayaka shook her head: "No Magus has come to Tokyo in a long time, at least not openly. The magic system I practice is black magic, which can't do something like this."

"I see… So, in other words, there might be a Magus operating behind the scenes in Tokyo, right?"

The absence of Magus openly didn't mean none existed covertly. Plus, with spiritual phenomena evolving from urban legends, this wasn't something that would naturally persist in such a short time. Someone must be orchestrating it behind the scenes.

"Then I'll check with the Church tomorrow morning."

"Alright, I'll investigate in my own way too, since this concerns when I can leave." Naoki said, standing up. "It's late, so you should rest. I won't disturb you. By the way, I wonder if any hotels are still open at this hour."

Even if there were, they'd likely only be love hotels. Not many hotels stayed open past 1 a.m.

Seeing Naoki about to leave, Ayaka pursed her lips, then suddenly said: "Um… If you don't mind, I have plenty of empty rooms here. You can stay."

"Huh?"

This time, it was Naoki's turn to be surprised.

Stay over?

"Is that okay?"

"You said it yourself—it's hard to find a place to stay at this hour. I can't let you sleep on the streets. Besides, as a Magus of the Sajyou family, I have a duty to manage outside Magi, like when I supervised you earlier."

Hearing Ayaka's explanation, Naoki blinked, then couldn't help but chuckle twice: "Haha, you're really bold, Miss Sajyou. Letting a stranger you've only known for two days stay at your house? Aren't you afraid I might be a bad guy?"

"You don't seem like a bad person."

It was just intuition, but Ayaka felt Naoki wouldn't harm her. It was strange—only the second day of knowing him, yet she instinctively felt he was trustworthy.

Naoki was momentarily stunned by her words, then turned his head slightly: "W-Well, I'll thank you for your trust and accept your kindness. I'll be troubling you while I'm in Tokyo… Which room should I take?"

"My father's room, right next to mine. I'll show you." Ayaka stood and headed to the second floor. At the stairs, she suddenly turned back: "Oh, I forgot to say—please, I'll be counting on you, Natsukawa-sama."

"Just call me Naoki, Miss Sajyou."

"Um… Then please call me Ayaka. Being called Miss Sajyou all the time feels… a bit awkward."

"Alright, I'll be counting on you, Ayaka."