Ch.176Banquet (1)

Excalibur was spotted in the Outer Continent.

A platinum-haired woman wielded Excalibur.

Merlin’s gaze was fixed on these two lines written in the newspaper. With wide eyes, Merlin stared at the newspaper intently, and only after a considerable amount of time had passed did she open her mouth.

“Ha.”

Even after opening her mouth, Merlin didn’t speak right away. She exhaled as if in disbelief, and after a brief pause, she said:

“Who the fuck is it?”

She wasn’t angry. Merlin’s voice wasn’t much different from usual. But although it wasn’t outwardly apparent, Najin, who shared her emotions, could feel that Merlin was seething inside.

‘Do you know something about this?’

“No? I don’t know anything about it. And Najin? You don’t need to worry about it. I can assure you that this is fake. I can bet all the stars I possess on it.”

She stated firmly.

“Excalibur is unique. Only one exists in this world, and there are no imitations. There is one sword that’s somewhat similar, but that already has an owner, so it’s irrelevant.”

She was probably referring to Gramr. The demon sword possessed by the Sword Ghost of Camlann. Merlin exhaled deeply and pointed at Najin.

“Since Excalibur is unique, naturally its owner is also unique. As the Lady of the Lake and the representative of the Round Table who has kept Excalibur for a thousand years, I declare… the owner of Excalibur is you. Not some random bitch who appeared out of nowhere.”

Merlin shrugged with a “hmph.”

“The fact that I’m by your side is proof of that. Isn’t it?”

‘Well… I’ve never doubted it.’

Najin nodded.

He never thought that the Excalibur in his hand was fake. If this were fake, how would he explain his regenerative abilities and resistance? And how would he explain Merlin standing right in front of him?

‘I’m just curious.’

“About what?”

‘About this Excalibur that was spotted in the Outer Continent. The sightings aren’t just from The Sacred Host, right?’

Najin pointed at the newspaper. There were numerous testimonies about Excalibur being spotted in the Outer Continent, and they weren’t just from the stars or priests affiliated with The Sacred Host.

Knights dispatched from the Imperial Court were also making the same claims.

“Excalibur was spotted near the Eternal City.”

They all said the same thing. That a platinum-haired woman wielded Excalibur near a city in the Outer Continent. Najin pointed to that part and asked:

‘What is the Eternal City?’

“…Hmm.”

Merlin, who usually loved to show off her knowledge and found joy in flaunting her wisdom, unusually kept her mouth shut. Not because she lacked knowledge about the place, but as if she was uncomfortable talking about it.

“It’s a bit complicated to explain.”

Merlin mumbled, twirling her hair with her finger.

“It’s a stellar domain created by the Round Table.”

‘What?’

“Actually, rather than the Eternal City, it would be more accurate to call it the Eternal Nation…”

She trailed off. Glancing sideways at Najin and clearly showing her reluctance to speak, Merlin finally sighed deeply and opened her mouth.

Najin heard her mutter to herself, ‘Well, we shouldn’t keep secrets from each other.’

“Sorry, actually it wasn’t the Round Table, but a stellar domain I created.”

‘So it’s Merlin’s domain?’

“I did create it, but to be more precise, it was created by ‘me who had 12 stars right after Arthur died,’ so I can’t really say I created it.”

What kind of nonsense is that?

Najin tilted his head in confusion.

‘Merlin, you had 12 stars?’

“I originally did.”

‘But in fairy tales and records, it says you had 11.’

“The 12th star was one I obtained the moment Arthur died. And I discarded it right after obtaining it. So it wouldn’t have been recorded.”

Merlin lowered her gaze.

Looking at the floor, she said:

“I don’t remember exactly what I did right after Arthur died. When I came to my senses, I was sitting at the Round Table. It seems Bedivere brought me there, but he wouldn’t tell me what I had done, no matter what.”

There was a blank in her memory.

“All I know is that right after Arthur died, I did ‘something,’ and as a result, one star fell, and the Eternal City was born.”

The Eternal City, or the Eternal Nation.

‘So what’s inside that city?’

“I don’t know either. Maybe Bedivere knows? There’s a barrier around the city that no one has been able to penetrate. It hasn’t received any visitors for a thousand years.”

‘But you said you created it.’

“I told you. I don’t remember.”

At Merlin’s claim of memory loss, Najin wore a serious expression. The first thing that came to mind was a star with the power of oblivion and erasure. But Merlin shook her head.

“It’s different from oblivion or erasure. Just that part was cleanly cut out. Only one person could cut it out so cleanly.”

When asked who that might be, Merlin pointed at herself with a bitter smile.

“Who else? The great Grand Star Merlin.”

‘…’

“To be honest, I think it’s a blessing. After Arthur died, I was, well, quite unstable. I don’t know for sure, but maybe I’m somewhat sane now because of that excised memory?”

Najin remained silent. It felt like there was a box in front of him that shouldn’t be opened lightly. As the atmosphere grew heavy, Merlin clapped her hands and smiled.

“Well, if you’re really curious, we can visit it later, right? You’ll probably be able to enter.”

Merlin pointed at Najin.

“The entry condition for that city is ‘to be selected by Excalibur.’ Only you would be able to enter that city.”

2.

“Still, it doesn’t seem like such a bad story.”

Najin muttered after finishing reading the newspaper.

For the past few days, the speculation that “Morning Star might be the one who pulled out Excalibur” had been treated almost like an established theory. Although there was no concrete evidence, everyone seemed to suspect Najin based on circumstantial evidence. So, this shift in attention elsewhere was welcome news for Najin.

‘I’ve been getting too much attention lately.’

The media and public opinion had been overheated.

While he had achieved notable feats, anything excessive becomes poison.

‘There was a need to divert public opinion.’

Given the situation, this incident seemed almost suspiciously well-timed. The timing was too perfect to be mere coincidence.

Eyewitness accounts led by The Sacred Host.

Najin didn’t know much about The Sacred Host. The School of Blood was a place where inquisitors who hunted demons gathered, and the School of Force was a gathering of trash. So what was The Sacred Host?

“Idolatry.”

Merlin said briefly.

“They’re a group that creates and worships perfect beings. The Sacred Host is an example, but can we really call them perfect? They deteriorate and need to be replaced with new individuals every 150 years. What they want is probably a being like the killers of the School of Blood.”

A perfect being that doesn’t deteriorate or change.

“Hmm.”

Najin rubbed his chin.

Something came to mind.

“According to the eyewitness accounts, the one who wielded Excalibur was a platinum-haired woman, but wasn’t Arthur also platinum-haired?”

“Yes, he was.”

“I was wondering if this…”

“Stop.”

Merlin cut off Najin’s words.

“Let’s stop talking about this topic. It’s fake. Okay? There’s no need to pay attention to fakes. Right?”

She seemed to be deliberately avoiding the subject. It wasn’t that she was trying to hide something. Rather, Merlin seemed unwilling to think about the Eternal City and the platinum-haired woman.

The Eternal City, the platinum-haired woman.

These two subjects lingered in his mind for a moment, but Najin shook off the thoughts and stood up. Anyway, it didn’t seem like a matter to worry about right now.

Above all, he had somewhere to go today.

When he opened the door of his lodging and stepped outside, a servant was waiting for him. Although their presence was quite burdensome, Najin followed them to the dressing room.

“The chairwoman has already prepared clothes for you.”

The servants skillfully assisted Najin.

They neatly swept his bangs back and tied the rest of his hair in a single braid. The clothes prepared by Dieta were black with white embroidery, paired with a short cape covering one shoulder.

After changing, Najin headed to the headquarters of the association.

Dieta, who had been waiting for Najin, widened her eyes when she saw him approaching. Soon, Dieta smiled broadly and took a step towards Najin.

“You should dress like this more often.”

“It’s uncomfortable when wielding a sword.”

“That’s true.”

Dieta shrugged and extended her hand to Najin. Following the etiquette Dieta had taught him, Najin slightly bowed at the waist and took Dieta’s hand.

3.

A banquet is being held in Camelot, the capital of the Empire.

It was a banquet jointly hosted by Loctid and Cornelhild, the two representative associations of the Empire, with Dieta’s association also adding its name. It was an unpleasant situation for the two associations, but they couldn’t refuse Dieta’s association’s participation.

“Oh really? Then should I attend too?”

When Dieta’s association joined, Master of Platinum Tower Safria Gachefsga expressed her intention to attend. When this news spread, the scale of the banquet grew several times larger.

A banquet attended by numerous nobles, scions of prestigious families, and high-ranking officials of the Empire.

Splendid carriages lined up in front of the banquet hall. Inside, the continent’s renowned musicians, theater troupes, and jesters performed, elevating the atmosphere.

As expected of a banquet hosted by the Empire’s leading merchants, everything was extravagantly luxurious.

“The Empire has been quite tumultuous lately, hasn’t it?”

“With the Empire’s Best Swordsman on the move, it’s been chaotic. My department is in an uproar too. Suddenly being ordered to reinvestigate cases from the past 300 years…”

“He must have his reasons, don’t you think?”

“Of course! I’m not doubting Lord Gerd at all. I’m just saying it’s overwhelming.”

“You know, the Martilda family was completely ruined this time, weren’t they? Hidden corruption was exposed during the reinvestigation. The head of the Martilda family must feel wronged. Who would have imagined that a case from 78 years ago would suddenly be revisited?”

“There are no eternal secrets, are there?”

“Oh my, why are you looking at me?”

Amidst the laughter and chatter, political maneuvering took place. As the invited guests arrived one by one, the more prominent figures, perhaps considering it beneath their status to arrive early, began to show up just before the banquet was set to begin.

Every time a new guest entered the banquet hall, gazes would flood towards them like a tide, only to recede like an ebb.

And then.

Click.

Two people appeared in the banquet hall.

One was a woman with neatly braided light brown hair, wearing a pure white dress. With a sleek, curvaceous figure without any excess, snow-white skin, and golden eyes that sparkled between her lowered thick eyelashes.

Snake that Swallows the Gold Coins, Dieta.

As the girl who had recently stirred up the Empire made her appearance, all eyes in the banquet hall instantly turned to her. The tide of gazes that rushed in didn’t recede. While her achievements drew attention, it was Dieta’s appearance that held that attention.

Any lady or miss in the banquet hall would pale in comparison if placed beside her. That’s how striking her appearance was.

Dieta doesn’t bother to hide her strengths. Exceptional beauty is an excellent commodity for attracting and holding attention. And a merchant always sells their products at the highest price.

As those gathered in the banquet hall swallowed dry saliva, Dieta smiled faintly. The gazes, mixed with desire, interest, curiosity, and surprise, moved past Dieta to the person beside her.

Who is her partner?

There was a sense that people would pay any price to secure that position, but Dieta merely pressed herself closer to the arm of the man escorting her.

As if to say, “Unfortunately, this spot is not for sale.”

The gazes that had been directed at Dieta naturally shifted to her side, and upon seeing her partner, they had to widen their eyes a bit more.

“…”

Gray hair neatly swept back and sunset-colored eyes. There was no one who didn’t recognize that distinctive appearance. It was none other than the figure who had recently stirred up the Empire and was known to be under the protection of the Empire’s Best Swordsman.

Morning Star, Najin.

While it was rumored that he had deep connections with Chairwoman Dieta both officially and privately, who would have thought they would attend the banquet together? Murmurs grew louder in the banquet hall.

Click.

Seemingly indifferent to the murmurs, the two naturally made their way to the center of the banquet hall. Najin, too, captivated gazes. Even standing next to Dieta, he didn’t pale or seem inferior.

While many nobles and high-ranking officials were gathered in the banquet hall, no one could deny that these two were the protagonists of the day.

Appearance itself is a weapon.

Proving this fact, Najin and Dieta claimed the spotlight of the banquet from the moment they entered.