To Become a King and a Magician

After cleaning off the cold sweat and repeatedly reminding Arthur not to go out randomly, Naoki headed to school.

The original owner of this body was a second-year student at Homurahara Academy in Fuyuki City. After time traveling, Naoki naturally inherited this identity. Of course, there were many misunderstandings at first due to the language barrier, which was still considered a laughingstock by some in the academic world, but now he could at least lead a normal school life.

However, he could only communicate normally with the students. As for the lessons... Mathematics and English were no problem, and minor subjects like physics and biology were also fine. The only issue was that Naoki couldn't understand Japanese and could only fall asleep.

Wearing a simple school uniform and carrying a school bag that looked like a work bag, Naoki walked to school as usual.

It was almost 9 a.m. now. Although class hours in Japan were already quite late, he would definitely be late at this point. And since being late was already a certainty, Naoki wasn't in a hurry to get to school.

"I remember the first class today is Japanese... I guess I'll skip it."

Naoki really didn't want to attend Japanese class. It seemed like the Mediterranean-looking male teacher with glasses had a grudge against him. Ever since he fell asleep once, the teacher had been targeting him in various ways. He truly couldn't understand it, but what could he do?

Not to mention—

"I don't even know if I can survive."

Leaning on the railing of Fuyuki Bridge, taking off the gloves he used to hide his Command Spells, Naoki sighed as he looked at the red Command Spells on the back of his hand, which resembled the Millennium Eye.

The Holy Grail War was brutal. Once involved, it was almost impossible to escape unscathed. Moreover, he could be considered the weakest Master. Once the war started, all he could do was fight for his life. As for fighting for the Holy Grail, he hadn't even thought about it.

"It's a bit strange... Why was I chosen by the Holy Grail?"

Not everyone could participate in the Holy Grail War. Those selected as Masters had a strong desire to fulfill their wishes. Even if it was a subconscious desire, as long as it was strong enough, it would attract the attention of the Holy Grail.

Conversely, if there was no desire, then regardless of whether the Magus was good or bad, their priority would be very low.

Naoki clearly belonged to the latter category. He had no wish that needed to be fulfilled, or his wish could be said to be delusions and daydreams. He didn't think he would be chosen by the Holy Grail for such a reason.

Thinking about it, the reason he was chosen was very simple—it was pure luck.

"Are you the seventh Master, Natsukawa Naoki?"

Suddenly, a voice sounded in Naoki's ear. He turned to look and was so frightened that his legs trembled.

Standing before Naoki was a young man with short brown hair, brown pupils, and a cross necklace on his chest. Wearing brown boots, with eyes and an expression devoid of any emotion, he looked like a zombie.

Mapo Priest—Kotomine Kirei.

After swallowing his saliva, Naoki took a deep breath and nodded: "Yes, who are you?"

"I am a member of the church staff, Kotomine Kirei. May I take a moment of your time?"

"Eh... Is the church starting to do marketing now?"

Trying his best to act like a normal person, staying as normal-minded as possible, and not letting the other party become suspicious—Naoki reminded himself repeatedly in his heart. At this point, Kirei hadn't been incited by Gilgamesh yet. As long as he behaved normally, the safety factor was quite high.

Although he was a bit confused as to why Naoki was so nervous, Kirei continued to explain: "I'm sure you've noticed that bruises have appeared on your hand."

"Bruises... ah, is this what you're talking about?"

Naoki raised his fully manifested Command Spells.

"You call this a bruise? It doesn't hurt at all. I thought it was someone's prank. It won't go away no matter how hard I try."

"The church can explain these bruises to you. Please follow me to the church."

"The church... Sure, but can you wait until after 4 p.m.? I have to go to school now. As you can see, I'm a student."

Yes, a student who just decided to skip the first class.

However, Kirei said, "Don't worry about that. The church will help you take a morning leave. We'll only take about an hour of your time, and we'll arrange transportation to take you to school afterward."

"This..."

Wow, this is truly a one-stop service.

But thinking about it carefully, the Holy Grail War hadn't started at this stage, and it seemed no Servants had been summoned except for Arthur, and the church had no reason to take action against Naoki. The reason Kirei came to see him this time was probably because Naoki was participating in the Holy Grail War as an ordinary person, and he wanted to popularize some relevant content about the Holy Grail War with him.

This could be considered a beginner's tutorial.

In terms of safety factors, if five stars were given out of ten, this trip should get four stars.

'Use a Command Spell to summon Arthur... No, that's too troublesome, no need. The only problem is that the Church and the Tohsaka family are colluding with each other. Since the Church has found me, I might have already entered Tohsaka Tokiomi's sight.'

If that was the case, then Naoki needed to be more careful in his actions in the future.

Thinking this, Naoki sighed: "Alright, Kotomine-san, please lead the way."

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

At the same time, in the Tohsaka household, Tokiomi also received information about Naoki from someone sent by the church.

"The seventh Master isn't a Magus, but an ordinary person. Is he just a lucky person chosen by the Holy Grail?"

Seeing this information, Tokiomi felt full of contempt and disgust.

"It seems like victory in this Holy Grail War is already in the Tohsaka family's pocket."

At this point, all seven candidates for the Holy Grail War had appeared, and most of these seven were looked down upon by Tokiomi.

The fallen Matou family, a Magus Killer hired by the Einzbern family, a lucky ordinary person, and a student who hadn't graduated from the Clock Tower. These people posed no threat to Tokiomi at all, not to mention the Holy Church was on his side.

From the beginning, Tokiomi identified the only participant and real opponent as Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald.

"The Tohsaka family... no, the long-held wish of our ancestors will be fulfilled in my generation."