To Become a King and a Magician

—Return to that world.

Hearing Zelretch's words, Gray suddenly remembered. The past few years here had been so comfortable that she almost forgot they had to go back.

Of course, Naoki still remembered—how could he not clearly recall something as important as marriage!

"We can go back now? I thought it was five years? It's only been about four years, right?" Naoki frowned. "What, did someone bail me out, so I'm getting an early release? Sentence reduced?"

"It's not like that. There's just a slight time difference between the two sides. Besides, four years ago, that Aozaki girl heavily influenced time with her magic."

(Oh, he means when Aoko used her magic to throw the impact of the world's rebirth into the far future.)

"Because of that, the time here and there is slightly off. Over there, five years have already passed—specifically, the Fifth Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City is about to begin."

Zelretch laughed. "You're joining that Holy Grail War, right? If you don't hurry back, your spot might be taken. The timing's right, so I don't need to keep you here anymore."

The Fifth Holy Grail War is about to start.

Naoki kept thinking about the Fourth Holy Grail War.

(It's been almost ten years since then. Time flies so fast…)

"We can go back now?"

"In theory, you can return anytime. So, want to go back right now?"

Right now?

After a moment's thought, Naoki shook his head. "No, no rush. If I'm leaving, I at least need to say goodbye to everyone I know here. By the way, does Aoko know about this?"

"She came to me last week, asking to be sent back. Said she's preparing for the Holy Grail War."

"Huh?"

Naoki was instantly shocked. Aoko was joining the Fifth Holy Grail War? Why hadn't he heard anything about it? And why did she leave without telling him?

"Classic Big Sis Aoko." Gray said with a wry smile. "Always disappearing like that, leaving just a note or something."

"That's just how she is. Maybe she'll settle down after marriage… Well, since she's already gone back, it's fine. I'll say goodbye to everyone I know here before leaving. I'll let you know later."

"Alright."

Zelretch nodded and tapped the desk. Naoki and Gray blinked, and they were already in one of the Clock Tower's corridors.

Here we go again—Naoki scratched his head, approaching a window to check the surroundings. After confirming their location, he said to Gray, "Looks like London's fine. Head straight back to Japan… isn't that a bit too rushed?"

"We just got off the plane an hour ago, Brother." Gray said.

"Right, the next flight probably hasn't arrived yet… How about we stroll around first? It's been a while since we were in London. Might as well check on Ayaka."

Since he didn't come to London often, Naoki only kept up with Ayaka through letters or calls. The last call was half a month ago, and the last meeting was six months ago.

It had been half a year since they met—who knows what changes she'd gone through.

As Naoki was thinking about finding Ayaka, a slightly displeased voice came from nearby.

"So, I'm just an 'afterthought,' huh?" With a school bag no different from her high school days, Ayaka stood not far away, looking at the siblings. "In that case, maybe I came at a bad time."

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

A few minutes later.

At an open-air café.

"Huh? You're leaving?"

Ayaka coaxed back by Naoki with an afternoon tea treat, looked at the two across from her with slight surprise.

"Why so sudden?"

"Not really. I originally planned to stay here for five years. Because of the incident four years ago, there's a time difference between the two sides, so I can go back early. I'm a bit surprised myself."

Naoki said while feeding Gray a piece of cake.

"Of course, I'm not going back right away. I want to say goodbye to friends here first, like Tohsaka Rin and others. They've helped me a lot these past few years—it'd be rude to just leave."

Aoko's habit of vanishing without a word wasn't something to emulate.

Ayaka's grip on her coffee cup tightened slightly. "So… will you come back?"

"Who knows? I don't have a way to travel between parallel worlds. If I want to come back, I'd have to ask the Old Jewel Man. But I think it's fine; my relationship with him is pretty good."

"Can you say that again while looking at the Clock Tower that hasn't been fully rebuilt?" Ayaka said with a hint of exasperation.

Naoki raised both hands with an innocent expression. "Didn't you say you had a big problem back then, so I rushed over? Besides, I didn't fight the Old Jewel Man, just… touched him a little."

Touched him a little and nearly destroyed the Clock Tower, huh?

Ayaka herself used Summoning Magecraft, but she couldn't achieve the same impact as Naoki. She mostly used fairies as familiars.

After gaining a deeper understanding of the mystical world, Ayaka realized what kind of existence Naoki was. Calling him a monster was an understatement.

(But… thank goodness he can go back.)

Sighing in relief, Ayaka asked again, "If you're going back… is there something important you need to do there?"

"Yeah, going back to get married."

"Huh?"

Ayaka's ears were fine; she hadn't misheard. But the content of his words made her… a bit incredulous.

"Then… congratulations in advance?"

"No need to rush. I'm not getting married that soon. I'm just going back to confirm the relationship, so that jerk doesn't run off." Naoki patted Gray's head. "I still have to look after Gray, so no marriage plans for now. Maybe in about ten years."

(Then you might never marry in your lifetime—) Ayaka thought.