In spring, Homurahara Academy.
Sitting by the window, Naoki rested his chin on his hand and gazed at the cherry blossoms fluttering outside. There weren't many people in the classroom except for him, and the atmosphere felt much quieter than usual. However, it was already April, and this was normal. After all, every year around this time, many students left the school.
In fact, Naoki was also one of those who had to leave.
"Naoki."
A friend's voice came from the door. He turned to see who it was and smiled, "Ryudou, what's up?"
"If everything was fine, I wouldn't have come to see you."
Taking a tube out of his school bag and handing it to Naoki, Ryudou sighed and said, "This is your graduation certificate. You really skipped the graduation ceremony. Completely skipped it. Even though I'm used to seeing you skip group activities, I really didn't expect you to skip this one. The principal was furious."
The graduation certificates of Homurahara Academy were handed out by the principal himself during the graduation ceremony, and students went up to the stage one by one to receive them. The process was very formal, but the principal was a very pragmatic old man. He said this was done so he could take a good look at the students one last time before they left.
Taking the graduation certificate from Ryudou, Naoki shrugged and said, "Didn't you bring it back for me? Besides, the graduation ceremony is a very hypnotic event. If I went there, I'd probably fall asleep right away. Wouldn't that be embarrassing?"
"You..."
Looking at his friend, Ryudou could only sigh, then glanced out the window as usual: "Forget it, today is the last day of high school, and I'm no longer the student council president, so I won't hold you accountable."
"Then, I'd like to thank the student council president for his generosity."
"Don't give me that." Ryudou sat down at the desk next to Naoki's. "Come to think of it, what are you going to do after graduation? When you filled out the career survey earlier, it seemed like you just scribbled something random."
"Since I hadn't decided, should I say I'm lost on the road of life? I'm a bit... Never mind me, what about you?"
"I'm pretty sure I'll inherit my family's temple. By the way, about my place, would you like to come over for dinner tonight? I've also invited Taiga and Otoko. Even though I don't think any of us will be leaving Fuyuki City, we might see each other less often in the future, so let's have a good gathering this time."
Ryudou Temple?
Naoki rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment, then nodded: "Alright, but I'll be a little late because there's a place I need to visit."
"Later... We're going there? Now's the time." Ryudou immediately understood what Naoki meant. "But you're really diligent. You go there once a week. It's been almost a year."
"A year... It's been that long."
Naoki looked out the window again.
A year.
That was the time that had passed since the end of the Holy Grail War. To be honest, Naoki hadn't realized time had flown by so quickly.
A year ago, after returning from the Root, he woke up in a hospital in Fuyuki City, a week after the incident at Ryudou Temple and three days after the Holy Grail War ended.
The truth behind the incident at Ryudou Temple—the return of Sajyou Manaka—was never revealed. Even the Tohsaka family, responsible for the local Magus in Fuyuki City, were unaware of the story behind it and simply assumed it was a clash between Servants. As usual, it ended with a gas explosion under the Church's control.
The result of the Holy Grail War was exactly as Ryougi Shiki had said, with Tokiomi's victory and the destruction of the Holy Grail. Of course, this wasn't something Naoki was concerned about at the time.
Back then, Naoki only realized one thing after waking up—when he woke up, there was no one around him.
If he thought about it, this was natural.
To resolve the issue with Manaka, he had willingly let himself be engulfed by the light of the Holy Sword, reaching the Root after his death. To bring him back from the Root, Arthur transferred all of his power to him, allowing him to be reborn, while Arthur himself returned to the Throne of Heroes.
On the other hand, he had no siblings in this world. The relatives of the original owner of this body lived in a rural area quite far from Fuyuki City and couldn't receive any news about him. He didn't have many classmates he was close to at school. The people he could chat with, Ryudou Reikan, were too busy with Ryudou Temple affairs, and the others also had their own things to deal with.
In such a situation, it was only natural that Naoki returned to being alone.
"My wish has come true."
This was the next thought that crossed Naoki's mind.
His wish had come true. To survive the Holy Grail War and return to his peaceful daily life—his wish had undoubtedly been fulfilled.
Yet Naoki couldn't feel happy, at least not at that moment. Even after leaving the hospital and returning to his previous life [home – school – part-time job], Naoki didn't feel the relief of having survived a disaster.
His wish was indeed to return to a normal life, but what happened after returning to that normal life?
What would he do after returning to his original life?
Was he truly satisfied living the life Ryudou described as a "walking corpse" every day?
It was then that Naoki realized one thing.
Even though it had been less than a month, even less than a week, he might have already grown accustomed to it—accustomed to that world, the world where Magecraft existed.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Fuyuki City Cemetery, a relatively secluded place.
Holding a bouquet of flowers, Naoki approached a gravestone at the edge, placed the flowers, crouched down, clasped his hands, and prayed for a moment: "Hi, I've come to see you again, Reiroukan Misaya."
[Reiroukan Misaya]—This name was engraved on the gravestone.
This was the tombstone Naoki had bought for her. Although they had only known each other for a day or two and their relationship wasn't particularly deep, he felt he needed to erect a gravestone for her, perhaps because he felt a kinship as fellow outsiders.
To this world, Naoki and Misaya were outsiders. They came from different worlds and had no relatives in this one. No one would remember them, and no one would know them, except for each other.
Therefore, as the only person who knew of her existence, Naoki at least didn't want Misaya to die in a foreign land without anyone knowing.
Looking at her gravestone, Naoki touched his collarbone. Although it had long disappeared, there was indeed a mark left by Misaya there.
Smiling, Naoki said, "It might be a bit sudden to say this, but this might be the last time I come to see you for a while. It might be a long time before I can visit you again. After all, the place I'm heading to next is quite far."
Career survey.
Although Naoki had only casually filled out some forms and handed them in when the school conducted the survey, in reality, he had already made his decision at that time.
He had grown accustomed to the world of Magecraft. He couldn't let go of that world, and he didn't want to either.
He had to keep moving forward, because he was the Master of that person... Arthur Pendragon.
A year ago at the Matou household, Naoki had said that he might not be able to become a Master who surpassed Sajyou Manaka and Sajyou Ayaka, but at the very least, he wanted to be a Master who wouldn't hold them back.
So he had to keep moving forward, to the point where he could show off to that man when they met again.
Naoki took out a letter from his pocket—it had been sent by Kayneth from England two months ago. Since he had failed to fulfill the contract between them during the Holy Grail War, and to prevent Naoki, who possessed valuable Mystic Eyes and extraordinary talent, from being buried in a small country in the Far East, he invited him to study at the Clock Tower as a Lord.
The Holy Grail War might have ended, but the life of Natsukawa Naoki, or the life of the time traveler named Natsukawa Naoki, had only just begun.