To Become a King and a Magician

The following afternoon, at the Sajyou family workshop.

"Good afternoon, Ayaka. Sleeping in this late—did you rest well?"

"Yeah, pretty well." Ayaka nodded. "More importantly, why did you come to the workshop specifically?"

"Of course, to tell you how to stop your sister." Naoki said. "First off, I have to tell you, in our current state, we can't stop your sister. Not at all."

"Hmm… starting off with pessimism?"

"What can I do? Your sister is connected to the Root, practically Omniscient and Omnipotent. Plus, there's my other self… Honestly, compared to your sister, my other self might be the bigger headache."

Ayaka frowned: "You can't beat him?"

"Of course I can beat him. I'd love to say that, but the current me can, at best, match him. If I went all out, I might win, but I have reasons not to die now. In a life-or-death fight where you need to stake your life, lacking that resolve would lead to absolute defeat."

Naoki couldn't afford to die here, so in a fight against his other self, he could only give it his all without risking his life.

"Then… what should we do? If we can't stop my sister, doesn't that mean…?"

"That's why we're here. The key to stopping your sister lies with you, Ayaka." Naoki said. "After all, the reason we can't stop her now is because my strength isn't enough. You saw it last night—the power my other self displayed."

"Yeah."

[Naoki]'s power left a deep impression on Ayaka. That force, like an incarnation of natural disasters, could be said to destroy the world.

"That was Magecraft."

"Oh… Huh?" Ayaka thought she misheard. "That… that was Magecraft?"

"Yes, Magecraft. And the kind I always use."

Magecraft could do that? Ayaka had no idea!

Naoki smiled: "Surprised? But in essence, it's clearly Magecraft. After all, fights on that level last night can be found everywhere in wars. With current human technology, it'd take time to achieve something similar, or even stronger."

"Hmm… If one person can perform feats comparable to a war, I don't think that can still be called Magecraft, can it?"

"The concept's enough. Anyway, back to the main topic—about that Magecraft, I want to teach you how to learn it."

Ayaka froze again.

Learn that Magecraft? Learn Magecraft on par with wars? Her?

"N-No way! There's no way I could learn Magecraft like that… I can't even master basic black magic properly. That kind of Magecraft is—"

"Okay, hold on." Naoki interrupted. "Listen carefully, Ayaka. 'I can't,' 'impossible'—if you keep thinking like that, stopping your sister will truly be absolutely impossible. Your sister is an extraordinary existence. Being bound by common sense won't reach her domain."

"I know, but… such advanced Magecraft…"

It wasn't Ayaka boasting, but it took her days to learn basic black magic. This massive leap in difficulty—she had no confidence she could master it.

Gently flicking her forehead, Naoki said: "You seem to have a big misunderstanding about my Magecraft. Do you think I'm trying to teach you Magecraft that can cause instant mass destruction?"

"It's not?" Ayaka held her forehead.

"Of course not. That's, at most, a result that Magecraft can cause. The essence of that Magecraft is summoning beings like fairies and elementals into your body, allowing you to use their power or control them as Familiars." Naoki explained. "Last night, my other self summoned fire fairies into his body, giving him the ability to control flames. The winds, stones, and waves were the same."

Summoning fairies and elementals…

"I call it Summoning Magecraft. Its difficulty isn't too high, classified as necromancy, with a bit of elemental Magecraft involved."

"Necromancy and elemental Magecraft? But I've studied black magic systems. Learning Magecraft from another system… I'm not a genius like my sister; I can't do it in a short time—Ow!"

Naoki flicked her forehead again: "See, there it is again. Why say you can't before even trying? You have to try; you might find an unexpected surprise."

Regarding Ayaka's situation, Naoki had already consulted Manaka before coming. Like her sister, Ayaka in this world had average talent in black magic. Complex Magecraft wasn't suited for her, but she had a strong affinity for elemental transformation Magecraft.

This was why Naoki decided to teach her Summoning Magecraft now.

"Besides, I'm not saying you have to start from scratch. I've used this Magecraft for a long time. Back then, to use it anytime, anywhere, I even wrote a thesis on it. I'll teach you the quick method."

"You just need to learn Summoning Magecraft and use it on me."

"Use it on you? Not on myself?"

"I'll handle the fighting, of course. You haven't learned how to fight. If you step up, my other self would knock you out in two or three hits." Naoki laughed. "Use Summoning Magecraft on me, summon fairies into my body, and leave the rest to me."

As long as he could use Summoning Magecraft, Naoki was confident he could defeat his other self with absolute superiority.

After all, his other self, besides those three deficiencies, was weaker in performance. Statistically, his strength was likely only about seventy percent of the original, and his use of Summoning Magecraft was too crude.

That was only possible because he had the leyline's Mana supply. Otherwise, with his reckless style, he'd have burned out in two minutes.

"So, let's get started, Ayaka. I'll teach you as simply as possible."

"Alright, I'll study seriously."

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

At the same time, outside Tokyo.

Stepping out of a car, Aoko gazed at the space ahead, then spoke to those inside: "This is far enough. I'll walk from here. You all head back; it's too dangerous for you up ahead."

Inside the car, Rin and Luvia didn't argue with Aoko. After all, when a Magician says it's dangerous, neither was foolish enough to press forward recklessly.

In the back seat, watching Aoko prepare to leave, Gray couldn't help but ask: "Big Sister Aoko, can't… can't I come too?"

"No, you can't." Aoko crouched down, smiling as she patted Gray's head. "Don't worry, I'll definitely bring back that jerk of a brother of yours. Go home, wash your face, sleep, prepare dinner, and wait for us to return—take good care of her, Mordred…"

"Here, take this."

Drawing a golden light from her chest, Mordred handed a shimmering sword scabbard to Aoko, then smirked: "This thing's been itching to go with you since earlier, Master… I'm entrusting it to you, Magician."

Nodding, Aoko accepted the scabbard, turned, and walked down the road.

(Let's see who dares mess with my junior!)