El-Melloi II was now a Lord of the Clock Tower, so it was naturally impossible for him to repeat what he'd done ten years prior—stealing his teacher Kayneth's holy relic and running off to Fuyuki to participate in the Holy Grail War.
Although, in Daniel's opinion, that would still be a perfectly viable method to get involved without having to spend an enormous sum buying a participation slot. Just look at the Fourth Holy Grail War—in the end, they couldn't even fill all seven Master slots with proper magi and had to select from the general populace, which is how Ryunosuke, that cheerful young man, ended up in the mix.
Of course, that method relied entirely on luck. Not getting picked was perfectly normal. Now that he thought about it, El-Melloi II was incredibly lucky to be selected as a Master back then after rushing recklessly to Fuyuki.
"Gray, get some rest,"
After learning both available participation slots had been claimed, El-Melloi II quickly finished his sandwich and left after instructing Gray.
Daniel, on the other hand, wasn't relying on probability to enter the Grail War. He had Da Vinci. If one of the seven slots wasn't filled, she could easily get him in. And even if all seven were full, he could still perform an irregular summoning if necessary—though that would be a last resort. Naturally, the best scenario would be to secure a spot through official means.
"My brother…"
Watching her brother's departing back, Lainie smiled and shook her head. Truthfully, she didn't want him to participate in this Holy Grail War. He was lucky to survive the previous one—this time might not be so forgiving. But stopping him outright was clearly not an option. So instead, Lainie gave him two conditions: first, repay all of the El-Melloi family's debts.
With the scale of that debt, it wasn't impossible to repay eventually, but doing so before the Fifth War began was beyond reach unless external help was involved. The second condition? Restore the El-Melloi family's Crest—an even more difficult task. These two requirements practically eliminated any possibility of El-Melloi II participating in the Grail War.
But El-Melloi II wasn't someone to give up easily. And if he really forced his way in, Lainie wouldn't stop him. This was, after all, the root of his obsession—and the very origin of the "Princess of the Clock Tower" moniker.
"Um… Teacher…"
Gray seemed to want to say something, but in the end, held back.
"With such a cute face, always hidden away… my brother, honestly…" Lainie turned and teasingly commented.
"No… it's me who asked Teacher to do that."
El-Melloi II's reluctance to see Gray's face was, from her perspective, exactly what she wanted. With the face of King Arthur, which she herself despised, Gray avoided mirrors entirely—there wasn't even one in her room.
"Alright, I understand."
"Flatt! Who told you to substitute rock salt for pyrite? They're both minerals, sure, both Earth-aligned, but their properties are completely different! I've emphasized this countless times in class! This is how you waste your talent every day. If I had your talent back then—!"
In the Modern Magecraft Theory classroom, El-Melloi II was especially furious today. With his "claw of punishment," he grabbed Flatt by the head and lifted him up. The fact that he was using reinforcement magecraft showed just how angry he was.
"Big Ben Sensei, I just wanted to see what would happen…"
Despite El-Melloi's rage, Flatt kept grinning like an idiot, which only made things worse.
"You—! Ten times the homework. Svin, you supervise him."
Noticing his own state of mind was a bit off, El-Melloi II finally set Flatt down and gave him a punishment instead. Flatt immediately shouted in protest, but Svin shut him up quickly.
"Barriers… This world's magecraft is pretty good. It's just being held back by those two."
The magecraft of the Moonlit World wasn't as weak as it looked. The only thing weak was modern magecraft. God Age magecraft, on the other hand, was an entirely different beast. To compare: if modern magecraft was a bullet or grenade, God Age magecraft was a rocket launcher, a missile—or even a nuke.
For Daniel, this system of magecraft was ideal for filling out his magical knowledge, especially in areas like barriers, workshops, and sanctums.
If you used the Moonlit World's terminology to categorize it, Kamar-Taj's three sanctums would unquestionably qualify as "temple-class" magical workshops—perhaps even on a Chief God level.
There were gods in the Moonlit World. They weren't dead—they had merely retreated into the reverse side of the world. It was said that beneath the Clock Tower, within the Spirit Tomb of Albion, existed a path to this reverse side. Though that was just a rumor.
The origin of the Spirit Tomb of Albion was itself mythic. Allegedly, a dragon from the Age of Gods missed the window to enter the reverse side of the world. In desperation, it tried to dig a path there but perished midway. Its fall became the basis of Albion—like a whale fall giving rise to life, this was a "dragon fall." All the phantasmal species produced by Albion supposedly originated from this dragon's corpse.
Of course, there was another theory: that the dragon wasn't truly dead, just in hibernation, awaiting revival.
"Gray, what's with the professor today?"
After class, Luvia approached Gray. Maybe others hadn't noticed, but the sharp-eyed Luvia could tell something was off. Flatt's antics were nothing new—El-Melloi should've been used to it.
"It's because the café nearby closed. They used to sell his favorite coffee and sandwiches. So he's a little upset today," Gray explained gently.
"That same café we went to before?"
"Yes."
"…Unbelievable." Luvia was momentarily speechless. El-Melloi II had just shattered her image of what a Lord was supposed to be. To most magi, the Twelve Lords of the Clock Tower were like demigods at the pinnacle of the magical hierarchy.
"Don't worry, Miss Luvia. Teacher said he's going to check if the café reopens after school."
"Got it." Luvia sighed and nodded.
"Um… Miss Luvia, I think Miss Lainie is calling for you." Gray gestured toward the left, where Lainie was indeed waving.
"Goodbye."
Luvia gave a small nod and headed over. Ever since she transferred into the Modern Magecraft department, she and Lainie had become fast friends—a contrast to her more antagonistic relationship with Rin.
"A serial killer? A modern-day Jack the Ripper? They've killed so many and still haven't been caught… definitely the work of a magus."
Back at home, Daniel sat in a garden pavilion flipping through the latest newspaper while practicing projection magecraft.
Though the internet existed in this era, it was still in its infancy. Newspapers were still the primary source of information.
"Why are you so obsessed with projection magecraft?"
Rin walked over with some tea and pastries, watching curiously as Daniel projected a lifelike unicorn.
"Basic magecraft isn't useless. Take Displacement Magecraft—it allows for spatial transfers if prepared properly."
Indeed, Moonlit World Displacement Magecraft was theoretically capable of doing what the Ope-Ope Fruit did in another world: spatial swaps. Of course, it was only theoretical. In practice, the required rituals and conditions made it nearly useless in surprise battles. It only worked in pre-prepared situations or inside one's own workshop.
That difficulty was likely why only a handful of magi in some specific world even tried to use Displacement Magecraft in combat.
But for Daniel, who had the core of the Herrscher of Reason, anything he could project with magecraft, he could also build with the Herrscher's power. Before, influenced by Walter, he'd only created modern tech—but now he'd realized he could build biological entities too.
With Projection Magecraft and the Herrscher's power combined, he might even be able to replicate Avalon's scabbard someday. Maybe even build a bootleg version of Unlimited Blade Works.
"Besides, projection isn't useless. I still don't get why no one in the Clock Tower ever thought to use it to make modern weapons."
As he spoke, the unicorn in his hand shifted into a Desert Eagle handgun.
Rin's eyes widened. This kind of thinking was completely outside the Clock Tower's dogma. Of course, only Daniel could pull this off. For others, projecting a gun wouldn't be easy—just like how Shirou could only project swords. Daniel's edge came from his overwhelming power.
"I wonder when the Mystic Eye train will appear… if it doesn't show up soon, I might just stop waiting. There are so many parallel worlds I want to visit."
Just as Daniel was thinking this, his phone suddenly rang.
"…Gray?"
He was surprised to see her name on the screen. She'd never called him before.
"He's missing! Teacher went into the sewers and hasn't come back!"
As soon as the call connected, Gray's anxious voice spilled out. She was so panicked her words barely made sense.
"Calm down, Gray. Take a breath. Tell me slowly."
Once he'd heard the full story, Daniel understood immediately what had happened. He hung up, explained the situation to Rin, and prepared to leave.
"Some teacher… making his student worry like that." Rin stood up, clearly intending to go too.
"We're going into a sewer, you know. Are you sure? I can handle this alone and be back quickly."
"A sewer, huh…"
Rin hesitated for a moment—but her pride quickly won out.
"…Whatever, it's just a sewer."
When Daniel and Rin arrived at the café, Gray was already there—along with Flatt and Svin, the strongest male students in the Modern Magecraft department.
Before Rin and Luvia arrived, Svin and Flatt had been the top male students in the class. After the girls' duel and practical lessons, the title of strongest male and female students became divided: Svin and Flatt for the men, Rin and Luvia for the women.
"Sorry… I tried calling Flatt earlier, but it didn't go through…"
Gray apologized quickly when she saw them. She'd originally tried to contact Flatt, but the call hadn't gone through—so she tried Daniel instead. Afterward, Flatt did call back. Once he and Svin heard that their teacher was missing, they immediately rushed over using magecraft.
The reason they hadn't answered at first was that they'd been helping a fellow student set up a computer. Computers were extremely rare at the Clock Tower, and very few knew how to use them. Flatt had one but didn't really know how to operate it. So when a knowledgeable student appeared, he jumped at the chance to learn.
El-Melloi II also had a computer—even connected to the internet. As a Modern Magecraft instructor, he needed to stay up to date with modern science… even if most of his understanding came from online games.
In the Clock Tower, the Modern Magecraft department had the highest rate of computer usage.
"No worries. We can talk later. Right now, let's focus on finding El-Melloi."
The group of five quickly entered the sewers from a hidden entrance near the café. As soon as they stepped inside, all five wrinkled their noses. This was a sewer, after all—the stench was as expected. Svin cast a quick spell to reduce the smell.
His beast magecraft granted him an animal-like sense of smell. That's why Flatt often called him a dog. His sense of smell was so sharp he could detect someone's general health and emotions, assigning a color to each scent. For instance, he thought Gray's scent was the most pleasant of all—which led to him being labeled a pervert and slapped with a rule: stay at least five meters away from her at all times.
And whenever he saw her, he started rambling nonsense, which made Gray think he disliked her.
With such a sensitive nose, being in a sewer was hell. You could imagine the situation by thinking of a certain nine-tailed boy who could defeat opponents by farting. Fortunately, this was the Moonlit World, and magecraft existed to solve these kinds of problems. Otherwise, someone with that sensitive a nose would've passed out immediately.
"I've got his scent."
After casting his spell, Svin quickly picked up El-Melloi II's trail. He was indeed impressive. The group charged through the twisting underground paths, turning left and right. Without Svin's nose, finding their teacher would've taken ages.
"Teacher!"
Soon, they found El-Melloi II collapsed and heavily injured. A simple barrier made from his used cigar lay before him—a last-ditch defensive measure.
Clearly, he'd encountered an enemy.
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