To Become a King and a Magician

After lunch, on the way back to the base, Naoki walked forward silently, constantly pondering what had just happened in his mind.

Being asked about his wish—this was just an offhand remark from Iskandar, a casual question, but for Naoki, it was a question so important that he couldn't calm down for a moment.

'What is my wish?'

'Why did I time travel?'

'What do I want to do?'

'What am I living for?'

"Master."

Suddenly, Arthur's voice sounded, and Naoki, still confused, suddenly snapped awake: "Arthur, what is it?"

"You almost walked into a telephone pole."

"Ah... I see. It's really troublesome that I can't see the road."

After adjusting the slightly crooked sealing cloth, Naoki leaned to the left, but he immediately bumped into a wall.

Seeing that something was wrong with Naoki, Arthur hurriedly stepped forward to help him as he stumbled: "Are you alright, Master? You've seemed very strange for a while now. Are you sick?"

"No, I'm just thinking about something, I'm fine..."

"What about what Rider just said?"

Naoki nodded: "I'm a bit confused about my future. I want to live, that's my truest wish, but if I really survive the Holy Grail War, can I truly return to my previous life?"

Probably not. Like a war veteran who would face many discomforts when returning to peaceful post-war life, after experiencing a major event like the Holy Grail War and awakening his Magic Circuits and Mystic Eyes, Naoki subconsciously no longer believed that he could continue living the same life as before.

As the saying goes, it's very easy to enter this world, but hard to leave it. Once you step into the abyss of the world of mystery, it's very difficult to fully escape from it.

"I think it should be fine."

Arthur smiled and patted Naoki's shoulder.

"If it's you, Master, I think it shouldn't be a problem to return to your previous life."

"Why do you say that?"

"It might sound strange to say this, but I think... Master has probably done something similar before." Arthur said, "And since you've done something similar before, I think it shouldn't be a problem for Master to do it again."

'Has something similar been done?'

'It seems to be true.'

Naoko is a time traveler who left his original world and came to a world that he somewhat knows but is not familiar with. To this world, he is an alien. He has no relatives in this world, no place to go, and no place to stay.

Yet half a year after coming to this world, he has adapted to this world.

As Arthur said—leaving one [world] and going to another [world]—he has done something similar before, and it's just a matter of doing it again, though the difficulty will be somewhat increased.

"That's true."

Naoki let out a long sigh: "Thinking about it, it seems too early to think about the future now. The Holy Grail War has just begun, and Sajyou Manaka hasn't appeared yet... Whether I can even survive in the end is still unknown."

"Master will definitely survive. I will do my best to protect you."

"You can tell that to Manaka, Arthur."

"I know."

Carefully shielding Naoki behind him, Arthur held the holy sword wrapped in Invisible Air and vigilantly observed every movement around them.

It's too quiet.

It's already noon. Although Miyama-cho isn't as bustling as Shinto, it's still the city center. It's impossible for the streets to be so quiet that there's not a single pedestrian.

"A barrier to repel people... a Magus?"

Slightly lifting the sealing cloth to see the flow of Mana, Naoki said: "Pay attention to the left side, Saber, the Mana there is stronger."

"Oh? Mystic Eyes that can sense the source of Mana? That's something extraordinary."

A heroic woman's voice sounded in the quiet street, followed by the sound of high-heeled footsteps. A woman in a black coat and white shirt walked out from the alley on the left.

'Huh? This person...'

Staring at the approaching figure through half-opened eyes, Naoki suddenly felt that she looked familiar, but for a moment he couldn't remember who she was. Arthur, standing beside him, was also stunned when he saw the person approaching, a look of surprise on his face and in his eyes.

"Long time no see, Saber, King Arthur. It seems this time you've found a good Master."

"Excellence cannot be judged by Mana. A Master's strength lies elsewhere." Arthur replied, "And what surprises and confuses me is why you are here? Master Lancer... Reiroukan Misaya."

The visitor was none other than Reiroukan Misaya.

Trying his best to keep Arthur from appearing in front of her, Naoki peeked out with one eye and quickly glanced at Misaya.

'She is... Reiroukan Misaya? Isn't she a character from Fate Prototype? Her counterpart in the parallel world—no, judging from Arthur's attitude, she should be the one from the Fate Prototype timeline.'

'But why is she here? Isn't this the serious Fourth Holy Grail War? Which unknown timeline is connected to this?'

Questions arose one after another in Naoki's mind.

And as he stared at Misaya, she also turned her gaze toward Naoki.

'Natsukawa Naoki, the current Master of Saber whom Sayjou Manaka asked me to bring to her, is him. What he's wearing on his eyes is a simple Mystic Code with a sealing effect... I see, Mystic Eyes? It seems he can't control them well.'

'But his appearance...'

Looking at Naoki, the image of a woman suddenly appeared in Misaya's mind. Although they were of different genders and didn't look exactly alike, they were at most 70% to 80% similar, but for some reason, Misaya felt that he was very similar to her.

And that woman's name was Sayjou Manaka.

Seeing Misaya's gaze, Arthur immediately moved to shield Naoki behind him: "Answer my question, Master Lancer, why are you here? I remember you were already—"

"Dead, right?" Misaya laughed at herself, "Yes, I did die. Because I was cursed by Sayjou Manaka when I was a child, I became a fallen corpse and died. But now, I've just been resurrected."

"By Sayjou Manaka."