Ch.215The Black Tower (6)

The Black Tower shows the memories of the past.

The prophet’s eyes see the future.

Past and future touched across a thousand-year gap. From the moment Merlin turned her head from the lake to look at Najin, the world was no longer an illusion.

What happened 1000 years ago.

A past that existed, not a falsehood.

It was a paradox created by the mystery of reminiscence and eyes that gazed into the future.

“……”

A moment that was past and present for Najin, future and present for Merlin. Najin was a person from the distant future and Merlin was a person from the distant past, but at this moment, they stood with their feet in the present, looking at each other.

“You……”

Merlin swallowed.

“You pulled out Excalibur?”

“As you can see.”

Najin pointed to Excalibur in his hand. Merlin, who had been looking at Najin with trembling eyes, tightly closed her eyes. She exhaled slowly with her eyes closed.

“You’re seeing the past from the Black Tower, and I’m seeing the future through the lake. So we shouldn’t be able to meet, nor should we meet, but……”

She opened her eyes again.

“By coincidence upon coincidence, perhaps inevitably, you’re standing before me.”

“That’s how it turned out.”

“Can I ask one thing?”

“By all means.”

“You.”

Merlin moved her lips.

“How many years in the future are you from?”

“I’m from 1000 years in the future.”

1000 years. The moment that time was mentioned, a hollow laugh escaped from Merlin’s lips. Merlin laughed as if in disbelief.

“A thousand years. A thousand years?”

She murmured.

“That’s long. It’s an unimaginable amount of time. Are you telling me to wait that long?”

Even as she murmured this, Merlin kept looking at the surface of the lake. The future no longer reflected on the lake’s surface. But Merlin bit her lip hard, as if ruminating on the future that had been reflected there until just a moment ago.

A thousand years is too long.

It’s an unimaginable amount of time.

But her future self a thousand years later was smiling. Smiling so joyfully, so happily.

“……”

Merlin.

“You know.”

Having glimpsed a thousand years into the future, she became curious about that future.

“Najin, you said?”

Merlin looked at Najin.

“The future I saw in the lake was too abbreviated to understand well. What is this? Why am I smiling like that? What’s so enjoyable? I really don’t know.”

Because I don’t know.

So, Merlin said.

“Tell me.”

Her eyes were shining, if only a little.

Whether it was starlight created by Excalibur, or just her eyes shining, was unknown.

“Tell me. Your story.”

Whatever the case, Merlin’s eyes were shining.

2.

Countless hero tales tell us.

No matter where you stand, if you look up at the vast night sky, you will see constellations. And those constellations are the traces of heroes who raced across this land, their lives.

“That was half right and half wrong.”

“…Which part was wrong?”

“The part where ‘no matter where you stand, you can look up and see constellations.’ Where I lived, stars weren’t visible.”

“Such a place exists?”

“Underground city Attman, that’s what it’s called.”

Najin explained.

“People from the upper town called it this: a landfill. A place where discarded trash is buried.”

The starting point of the story, the prologue.

“Even if you look up, all you see is a black ceiling. Just rough stones. I thought the minerals embedded in those rocks were stars.”

“Must have been a boring life.”

“Right? Well, actually, I didn’t have time to feel bored. I was too busy trying to survive. But as I lived, I gained some leisure, and with leisure came dreams.”

“What was your dream?”

“To see stars.”

“Stars?”

“To see, even just once, what those stars mentioned in the Arthurian legends were. That was my dream.”

Najin told his story from the beginning.

“Arthur was just a man of fortune born in the right era. If he were born in this era, he would be nothing. Jealous? Want to refute? Then come and smite me if you can.”

“……”

“Wait. Don’t raise your hand. This is all foreshadowing that leads to the next part of the story.”

“Sigh, fine. Continue.”

“After that, with the help of Ophen, Ivan, and Old Man Hogel……”

Although Merlin was indifferent at first, as the story continued, her expression began to change. When listening to Najin’s story of pulling Excalibur and fleeing from pursuers, Merlin was on the edge of her seat, and she briefly marveled at Ivan’s choice.

“Atanga would have gone crazy if they saw that.”

“Right?”

“So what happened next?”

She asked for the next part.

And Najin told the journey that followed.

“My first meeting with Merlin was the worst.”

“……?”

“No, think about it. When someone chokes you from the first meeting, it’s hard to see them in a good light, isn’t it?”

“No, that was your fault……”

The first meeting with Merlin.

“Talking non-stop all day long, it’s just… How should I put it? Remember what I said to Merlin earlier? That it’s difficult to have illusions about you given the circumstances. That’s what I meant.”

“I… I did that?”

“Yes. In fact, if we go outside now, she’ll probably make a fuss and ask me: what exactly did you see in there? Why aren’t you explaining? Saying she has a right to know too.”

“That’s a bit…”

“A bit?”

“A bit embarrassing.”

Chattering all the way to Cambria.

“There were many incidents in Cambria too. It was my first experience of the outside world. Every time I did something that defied common sense, Merlin would scream. Asking if I was crazy, telling me to act with some common sense.”

“…That’s your fault, isn’t it? No matter what, trying to rummage through garbage cans is a bit much. People should maintain a minimum level of dignity.”

“Dignity doesn’t feed you.”

The journey in Cambria.

“There were many times when I felt lost. Not knowing where to go or what to do. At those times, Merlin would show me the way. Saying there’s this path. Walking it is your responsibility. I’m just pointing the direction.”

“Really? It seems my guiding skills haven’t rusted even after a thousand years.”

“Of course, she also made me suffer unnecessarily by omitting explanations more than once……”

“Was that last part really necessary?”

As the story continued, Merlin’s expressions became more varied. Sometimes she laughed as if in disbelief, sometimes she wore a serious expression, and sometimes she murmured “I did that?” with an incredulous look.

“And so.”

The story.

“We moved forward. It was mostly similar. I would do something reckless, Merlin would sigh and scream, but eventually show me the way.”

Forward, moving forward again.

“At some point, we didn’t need much conversation. I would just glance at Merlin, and she would look at me with a sigh and an expression that said ‘Again?’ Then she would start explaining with a look that said ‘Well, I figured as much.'”

At some point, long conversations became unnecessary between Merlin and Najin. Just a few short words, exchanged glances, and expressions were enough to know what the other was thinking.

“From the underground city, leaving Cambria, to the Outer Continent.”

Sometimes with exaggeration.

Sometimes humorously.

Sometimes seriously, Najin continued his story.

“So?”

So, Merlin asked.

“So, what happened next?”

Like a child reading a fairy tale.

Like a child listening to a hero’s story told by parents, Merlin listened to Najin’s adventure.

It was an unremarkable story.

To be honest, it was a trivial story.

From Merlin’s perspective, who had already reached the end of her story, the destination, Najin’s story was nothing special. Small in scale, having to risk life for insignificant matters, small and trivial stories.

Not entirely cool, not entirely beautiful, a story that feels incomplete.

But why?

“It seems fun.”

Merlin murmured with a faint smile.

“Yes, it seems fun.”

Merlin exhaled deeply.

“So that’s why I smiled like that. That’s why I clung to you, squealing. When I saw the future reflected in the lake, I didn’t understand… but listening to your story, I understand now.”

Taking a deep breath, she tilted her head back. The sky she looked at was dark. So dark that it seemed the sun would never rise. A dark and cold sky.

“Your star’s name.”

Najin’s star isn’t there.

Najin’s star will rise a thousand years in the future.

“Morning Star, you said?”

Morning Star, the star that announces the end of night.

The star that brightens the darkness and announces a new beginning.

“A thousand years until dawn comes. That’s long. Too long to wait, I think.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. If you tell someone who’s thinking of dying right now, ‘A pleasant future will come in a thousand years, so hang in there until then,’ what do you think they’d feel?”

Merlin shrugged.

“Still.”

Still, she murmured.

“The story continues. It’s not over, but moving on to the next chapter……”

Murmuring this, Merlin smiled inadvertently.

As if she had realized something. Merlin turned her gaze while handling the Star of Terminus in her hand.

“What you told me at the tomb of the Lonely Star.”

Blue eyes stared intently at Najin.

“That it’s not a destination but a turning point.”

You’re waiting for a turning point, not a destination. Najin had said that it’s where Arthur’s story ends, not where his story ends.

“That you are my companion. That no matter what happens, you won’t go ahead of me.”

Najin looked at Merlin.

The Merlin before him was not the Merlin he knew well. Not the shabby Merlin whose thoughts he could read just by looking at her eyes and expressions, but Merlin from a thousand years ago.

Reading her thoughts was difficult.

‘Difficult, but.’

Why? At this moment, he felt he could understand what Merlin was thinking.

“Can you promise?”

Najin knew how to answer that question. There was no need for words like “I promise” or “I swear.” Najin spoke briefly.

“Aren’t I already doing that?”

That was the answer Merlin most wanted to hear. Only then did Merlin smile. Not a sneer, not a hollow laugh out of disbelief, but a truly genuine laugh.

“I see. Yes, it was a needless question. You’re already doing it.”

Merlin exhaled deeply. Along with her breath, something seemed to be shed, and Merlin’s expression looked peaceful. She released the lightless Excalibur she had been gripping tightly. With a splash, Excalibur sank beneath the lake.

Watching Excalibur sink, Merlin closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Merlin wore a slightly different expression.

An expression of having made a decision.

Rising from her seat, Merlin looked at the sky. A thousand years until dawn comes. As if she had decided how to spend those thousand years.

3.

“You must be dreaming right now?”

Walking towards an unknown place, Merlin said.

“A thousand years in the future, you must be dreaming of the past. But for me, this is reality. In fact, dreams and reality aren’t that different to me.”

Half fairy living in dreams, half human living in reality, she spoke.

“I’ve lived with half in dreams and half in reality. If it didn’t matter which side, I’d choose both, living like a greedy person. I’ve lived like that, but……”

She walked.

Walked and walked.

“Now it’s time to choose.”

The place where she stopped was a plain.

Standing in a vast plain in a corner of the Outer Continent, Merlin turned to look at Najin.

“From now on, I’m going to drop my 12th star.”

She stretched her hand toward the sky.

What her fingertip pointed to was the Star of Terminus.

“Terminus, I am already a being who has reached the end. I shouldn’t deny that. In some way, my story needs to end.”

To Najin’s question of why, she answered.

“Because a period must be placed for the next story to begin. To move on to the next, there’s a need to end the previous story.”

To move on to the next sentence, a period must be placed. Without a period, one cannot move on. Only by concluding the previous story can a “new story” begin.

“So I will place a period.”

The Star of Terminus shone.

“Originally, you know. I was just going to end the story here with everything. I was going to close the book.”

She smiled bitterly.

“I didn’t want to live anymore, Arthur’s request or whatever. I thought there would be no meaning in living longer. So, I just wanted to die.”

But, Merlin said.

“I look forward to traveling with you. If such a future comes someday, I think I might live a little longer. Ah, of course, I’m not sure if a thousand years can be called ‘a little,’ but you know.”

Honestly, it’s quite long. Right?

Murmuring this, Merlin brushed her hair back.

“Terminus must be placed. The star must be discarded. But, I don’t want to end my story here. Then what should I do? The answer is surprisingly simple.”

Merlin’s body became blurry.

“I’ll divide myself into two.”

Into one who will live and one who will choose death.

Fortunately, I have a good dividing line. Merlin pointed to herself with a mischievous smile.

“One me who will live in dreams.”

And the other.

“One me who will live in reality.”

Merlin’s body became blurry. She divided herself into two. The Merlin who separated from her was the Merlin that Najin knew well. After gently placing her, who had her eyes closed, on the ground, Merlin smiled faintly.

“I’m envious.”

“……”

“I envy the me who will be with you. When she opens her eyes, she won’t know anything, right? She won’t feel the anger towards Arthur, the disillusionment with the world, the suicidal urge to hang herself right away. Because I’ll take all of that.”

The good things, the turbid and dirty things, the pure and transparent water left after removing all the sediment that has sunk to the bottom.

“I’m envious.”

Looking at herself who would be able to enjoy the new journey more sincerely than anyone else, who would be able to smile happily, Merlin smiled bitterly.

“But one thing. Just one thing I’ll take.”

Click, Merlin took a step closer to Najin.

“The conversation we had here. The story you told me. The memory of meeting you, I’ll take it. If I know in advance, it won’t be fun, right? And……”

Bringing her face close to Najin, Merlin smiled like a child full of mischief.

“I should have at least one such memory too. That would be fair, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose so.”

“Yes. Thank you for telling me your story. Thanks to you, I don’t think I’ll be bored.”

One step.

Merlin moved away from Najin. With each step she took, the scenery began to distort. Najin knew what Merlin was trying to do now.

The tomb of stars.

Merlin was creating a tomb of stars. A tomb of stars where she herself would be buried. To bury the star named Terminus, a star that was more like a curse.

“……”

Click, Merlin walks away silently.

Before she moved further away, Najin spoke.

“Merlin.”

Merlin turned to look at Najin.

As always, no long conversation was needed.

“See you again.”

A short sentence.

Merlin opened her eyes wide, lowered her head, bit her lip hard, and finally raised her head to look at Najin.

“Yes.”

Merlin smiled brightly.

“I’ll be waiting in the future, a thousand years from now.”