Ch.185Who Am I? (1)

Free Knight.

A knight bound by nothing.

Najin had succeeded in receiving the title of “Free Knight,” a rank that only knights who accompanied Arthur a thousand years ago could hold. Now, when introducing himself, he could stand tall and proudly call himself a Free Knight, not an apprentice knight or someone’s subordinate.

‘Who am I?’

Najin asked himself while polishing his sword. Then, looking at his reflection in the well-polished blade, he grinned and thought to himself.

‘The youngest Free Knight.’

It would be embarrassing to say aloud to others, but what did it matter? Who would overhear words muttered in his mind? Unless there was a constellation sitting in his mental landscape, no one would hear that monologue.

-KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Of course, Najin did have a constellation in his mind.

Merlin, who resided in Najin’s inner world, screamed and grabbed Najin’s collar, shaking him. For Merlin, who had witnessed Najin looking at his sword reflection and asking “Who am I?” for the tenth time today, it was mortifying enough to die of embarrassment.

-Stop! Please stop!

‘Who am I?’

-You’re doing this on purpose. You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?!

‘The youngest Sword Seeker, youngest holder of 1-star, 2-star, 3-star, 4-star. And the youngest Free…’

Merlin’s face turned bright red with empathetic embarrassment. In truth, Najin had been repeating the monologue partly to tease Merlin.

“What? It’s true, isn’t it?”

-……

Merlin cursed him with her eyes. Najin shrugged and stood up. Argo had returned to the continent long ago, and Najin was now traveling alone through the Outer Continent.

Well, he did have one companion who was fanning her face while sighing heavily, but still.

“Who am I?”

-You, stop……

When Merlin’s eyes flashed with anger, Najin pointed to a tombstone in front of him.

“It’s written right there, isn’t it?”

The sentence written on what appeared to be a gravestone.

Najin read it aloud.

“Who am I?”

2.

Najin looked around.

It was an overgrown ruin. Trees had grown wildly all around, and collapsed or scorched buildings were covered in vegetation.

Even at a glance, it seemed like a ruin that had been abandoned for at least several hundred years.

Finding such ruins wasn’t uncommon in the Outer Continent, which was full of fallen ancient nations and cities. He had occasionally discovered similar ruins when traveling with the Helm Knight.

“……”

A ruin neither common nor particularly rare.

The reason Najin had stopped in front of this ruin was because of the tombstone standing in its center. It appeared to be a grave marker, and as is typical of tombstones, it contained a brief introduction of the deceased.

Viola Ordina, Hero of the Kingdom of Cassel.

Protected the country from the evil dragon.

A knight who fought bravely until the end.

Three lines of text engraved in ornate lettering. But what caught Najin’s attention was the sentence that followed.

‘Who am I?’

Neither neat nor ornate.

It was written in crude letters. There was no answer to that question. Only that single line asking “Who am I?” was written there.

-It’s a grave.

‘I know that much.’

-Ah, my explanation was insufficient. It’s a Star’s grave.

Merlin said while observing the tombstone.

Najin tilted his head.

“A Star’s grave? It feels different from the place where I dueled with the Bull Horned Star.”

-That was also a Star’s grave, but this is a Star’s grave in a more literal sense.

Merlin pointed at the tombstone.

-I told you before that sometimes a sacred domain remains even after a Star dies, right?

‘Yes, you did.’

-It’s not common, but sometimes the sacred domain itself becomes the Star’s grave. There are various reasons, but in most cases, it’s because the Star wanted it that way…

She swept her finger from top to bottom, as if depicting a falling star.

-Instead of hanging their star in the sky above, they bury it in their sacred domain. And then they dream forever. In the sacred domain they created, their own paradise.

“They dream?”

-Yes. They’re essentially dead. It’s a bit better than becoming a Fallen Constellation, but, hmm…

Merlin trailed off.

She glanced at Najin.

-Curious?

“A little.”

-Then go in and see.

“What?”

Najin blinked.

Go in and see? How? As versatile as he was, he couldn’t perform the trick of entering someone else’s dream. Confused, he looked at Merlin, but she was simply pointing at the tombstone.

-It’s the same as entering someone’s sacred domain. That tombstone is the entrance. Try it if you want. It varies from grave to grave, but this one doesn’t seem to be blocking visitors.

“It sounds extremely dangerous.”

-It probably is. Judging by the Star buried in that grave, it seems to be about six stars.

But still, Merlin said.

-Your next destination is also a Star’s grave. It might not be bad to experience it beforehand.

Najin pondered for a moment.

As he considered, his gaze fell on the blank space on the tombstone. The empty space below the question “Who am I?” That blank space particularly bothered Najin.

“What do you think, Merlin?”

-Well, I think it’s not a bad idea to experience it once. Besides, the owner of this tombstone seems moderate.

When Najin asked how she knew that, Merlin explained as if it were nothing special.

-Truly dangerous Stars don’t leave things unattended like this. They either forcibly pull you into their dreams just by stepping near, or completely block entry. Some even prevent you from leaving once you enter.

But the fact that it’s left unattended like this?

Merlin wiggled her finger as she spoke.

-It’s like saying, ‘I don’t care who comes. It doesn’t matter.’ That kind of feeling? The conditions for entering and leaving the dream are too simple. You just need to place your hand on that tombstone, and that’s it.

A trap too sloppy to be a trap, with free entry and exit.

-How about going in once…?

Merlin subtly pushed Najin’s back.

Though somewhat suspicious of her behavior, Najin ultimately reached out to touch the tombstone, believing Merlin wouldn’t do anything to harm him.

As Merlin said, it didn’t seem bad to experience it once.

Tap.

The moment Najin’s finger touched the tombstone.

Time began to flow backward.

The time of the overgrown forest rewound. The branches of tall ancient trees shrank. Thick tree trunks became thinner. Trees decreased in height and width, returned to small sprouts, and then disappeared beneath the ground.

Tap-tap-tap-tap.

In place of the vanished undergrowth and trees, tiles appeared. White marble. Collapsed pillars found their places, and ruined buildings returned to their original forms. In the rapidly rewinding time, Najin slowly closed and opened his eyes.

Blink.

When Najin opened his eyes.

“Did you see the new fish at the market today?”

“It’s disgustingly large and disgustingly expensive. To have such expensive fish for a single meal? I couldn’t even dream of it.”

“Fresh bread! Warm bread just baked! One copper coin each!”

“Hey, yesterday it was two for that price!”

“Flour prices have gone up, what can I do?”

“Huh, seems like the flour price doubled only at your shop?”

Najin found himself standing in the middle of a bustling street.

3.

Najin blinked in confusion.

What was this? Looking around, he saw people walking about. Not Sword Seekers, but ordinary people who looked like they had never swung a sword in their lives. Najin was quite bewildered by the sight.

Wasn’t this the middle of the Outer Continent?

But that thought didn’t last long. The reason was the warm sunlight shining down. Looking up at the sky, he didn’t see a pitch-black night sky with stars. Instead, there was a blue sky and the sun.

‘Merlin, what is this…’

He muttered inwardly, but no answer came. Najin frowned. He couldn’t sense Merlin’s presence that should have been in his inner world.

“…Merlin?”

“Yes. Why are you calling me?”

The voice came from nearby.

It wasn’t the usual transparent, clear voice that reached him in a straight line without any interference. Now Merlin’s voice naturally blended with the voices of people walking around the street.

Najin looked toward the source of the voice.

Merlin was standing there. Being slightly shorter than Najin, she blinked as she looked up at him.

“…Merlin?”

“I said, why are you calling me?”

Merlin gave a mischievous smile.

Then she grabbed Najin’s hand, as if to prove she wasn’t an illusion. Najin’s eyes widened at the warmth he felt in his hand.

“How? Merlin, don’t tell me you’ve descended…”

“Descended? If I had, this dream would have shattered.”

“Then?”

“Entering a dream is similar to entering a constellation’s inner world. Haven’t you seen this somewhere before?”

He had. And quite recently.

“It’s similar to how I’ve taken residence in your inner world, right? So in this dream, I can walk around with you. With an actual body!”

She seemed strangely, or rather obviously, excited. She took deep breaths repeatedly, then lifted her feet to press firmly against the ground.

“It feels like I’m alive again after moving my body after so long. So this is what it feels like to step on the ground. The air is clean and nice too.”

After taking a long breath, she glanced at Najin. Her blue eyes sparkled unusually bright.

“How does it feel? Reassuring, right? It doesn’t seem dangerous at all, does it?”

“So that’s why you recommended it. You said ‘try it once’ because it didn’t seem dangerous no matter what?”

“Well, not exactly. Since I’m bound to you, I can only use power at your level.”

Still, Merlin shrugged.

“The knowledge of the great archmage doesn’t just disappear. For this journey, you can rely on me.”

Merlin thumped her chest confidently, but there wasn’t the slightest sense of a constellation’s dignity in her appearance. Najin couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the sight.

“What? Why are you laughing? Do I look that unimpressive?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I’ll let it slide just this once because I’m in a good mood. Alright, shall we gather some information first?”

The excited Merlin pulled Najin’s arm.

As Najin was being dragged through the streets by Merlin, he suddenly looked up at a high point in the city. He felt someone’s gaze from there.

A grand temple built on a cliff.

A woman sitting on the railing of that temple.

Long, flowing black hair. In stark contrast, a face so white it was pale. Eyes as black as her hair were staring intently at Najin.

A gloomy-looking woman.

She stared at Najin for a while before eventually turning her gaze away, as if it were nothing important. Najin instinctively sensed it.

That woman was the owner of this dream.

After turning her gaze away from Najin, she slowly rose. Her black hair rippled with her movement. But it wasn’t just her hair that rippled. As she moved, the temple bell began to move.

Dong, dong, dong…

The sound of bells spread throughout the city. The citizens’ gazes naturally turned to the woman standing at the edge of the grand temple. Some citizens offered prayers while looking at her, some bowed their heads, and others praised her.

“Respect to the hero.”

“Glory to Ordina.”

Praise poured forth. Respect. Salutes.

However, the expression of the woman receiving these accolades was nothing short of gloomy. Without even glancing at the citizens, she disappeared into the grand temple.

As if she found all of this disgusting.

As if she was sick of it and couldn’t bear it anymore.