I Pull Out Excalibur

24 – The Staff of Selection (3)

Najin blinked her eyes absentmindedly.

What came into view was not the scenery of the forest that was there just a moment ago, but the vast night sky. Najin blinked her eyes several times while looking at the night sky.

“…Did I return?”

Did I return? Or was it just a dream?

Najin slowly stood up and suddenly raised her hand. The hand that last shook hands with Merlin. It felt like constellations were engraved on the back of her hand, but now they were nowhere to be found.

“Was it really a dream?”

It feels strange for it to be just a dream.

“Well, whatever it is…”

Najin slowly got up from her seat.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but she couldn’t let her guard down. There could be pursuers following the river she had descended from.

While organizing the traces she left behind, Najin suddenly looked at the city in the distance.

Probably a city built on top of the underground city.

Looking at the large city, she felt amazed, thinking, ‘So that’s what it looks like from above,’ but she couldn’t view it with a favorable gaze.

Najin knew how dirty that place was. Even from this far away, she stared at the spires of the city.

The spires adorned with symbols resembling those of the sect. Was that the lighthouse of the sect that she had only heard rumors about? Najin engraved the appearance of that lighthouse in her mind and vowed to eventually bring it down.

There was no time to dwell on what was already past.

Now she had to move forward.

“But, where should I go?”

Now, Najin had just come out into the outside world.

Najin had no knowledge of the outside. She didn’t know where to go, where to escape to. The world of the boy had suddenly become vast, but he felt like a lost child in this expanded world.

A vast world.

A vast expanse of a meadow.

Where should she head and where should she walk? With a sense of confusion, Najin was about to take her first step with the thought of distancing herself from the city.

Glitter.

Najin’s back of the hand shimmered. The constellations that couldn’t be seen just a moment ago were floating above the back of her hand.

2.

“Did you call me, Merlin?”

The boy disappeared from Merlin’s sanctuary for a while.

A new guest had set foot in her sanctuary. The presence that entered the sanctuary was a seat adorned with stars in the same domain as Merlin, and a knight who never left the Round Table until the end.

The oldest knight.

“The One-Armed Bedivere.

A knight who, with his loyalty to Arthur, still protects the shattered Round Table. Merlin smiled as he looked at Bedivere, whom he trusted more than anyone else.

“I have something to tell you urgently.”

“Is it related to Excalibur? If it is, I have some information as well.”

Bedivere sat down on a rock near the lakeside.

“While the information we have about the inland is limited due to difficulties in intervention, there seems to be no information about it in the Sacred Blood sect for now.”

“The sect?”

“Yes. It seems that the worst-case scenario of the sect, where the chosen one of the Sacred Blood sect draws Excalibur, did not happen. Since the deities of that sect directly denied it… It’s probably true.”

Besides, they also tried to make contact in other ways.

As Bedivere muttered, he sighed.

“To be honest, the information we can obtain is too limited. If we had known this, we might have created a sect ourselves.”

Not even the land of the stars, nor the battlefield of the stars, let alone the vicinity of Camelot. It was extremely difficult for the Ascendants who had already risen to intervene in the land where humans lived.

That’s why some of the Ascendants created sects to intervene, and some of them created armed groups to fight only for themselves and deployed them in the inland. However, the knights related to the Round Table, including Merlin and Bedivere, did not do that.

To be more precise…

“It’s not that we didn’t create it, but that we couldn’t.”

Merlin sighed.

Her gaze turned to the horizon. Merlin frowned at the movements of the dragon wriggling there. When she snapped her fingers, the net of stars that had been floating disappeared, and the dragon was thrust into the ground.

Kuwoong…

Merlin turned her gaze from the rising dust on the horizon and continued speaking.

“Just trying to control those cursed creatures in Camelot keeps us busy. How can we spare attention for the inland?”

“For something like that, you seem to be very concerned these days. I hear a voice, or something.”

“That… It was just a strange phenomenon.”

Merlin glanced away momentarily.

Bedivere chuckled and shrugged.

“So, what information did you find?”

“I found the owner of Excalibur.”

“I see. You found the owner… Excuse me? What did you say?”

Bedivere’s eyes widened.

“Who is it? The Empire’s Swordmaster? The Sacred Blood sect’s swordsman? If not, their disciples?”

“It’s none of them. He was just some inexperienced kid that I’ve never seen before.”

Just like someone who has just turned twenty.

Or perhaps, a slightly younger novice. Merlin said that a novice who hasn’t accomplished anything yet drew the sword.

“In any case, she was a stubborn novice, right? When she opens her eyes wide and speaks assertively like this….”

While listening to her story, Bedivere suddenly glanced at Merlin’s face. It felt uncomfortable.

“Although it’s a grumbling voice….”

That voice was full of amusement.

As if finding it interesting. Bedivere also noticed that the corner of Merlin’s mouth was slightly raised. The sight was peculiar, Bedivere thought to herself.

As usual, it would have been Merlin who would be more cautious about the appearance of a new candidate.

She witnessed Arthur’s death up close and personally heard the prophecy of the betrayal of the knight. Because she hoped the prophecy would not come true, Merlin did not hesitate to be wary of the candidates who might draw Excalibur.

“But now….”

He’s laughing. Merlin was laughing just like during the distant past when he traveled with the king. Bedivere could hardly understand that sight, but….

“I said the same thing.”

Soon, she could grasp it.

“Even if Arthur hears the same answer, well.”

As she listened to the story, she realized that she herself was also laughing like Merlin. The story of the “boy who drew Excalibur” that she heard through her mouth was interesting to Bedivere.

Enough to reminisce about the memories she had with the past king.

“That’s impressive. You said he was definitely a novice who hasn’t even earned a single star, right?”

“Yes. He doesn’t have any stars, of course. Really, just an ordinary novice.”

“But even after witnessing that scenery, he endured it…just like our king did?”

Merlin nodded.

Bedivere smiled.

“I want to see it once too.”

“That’s why I’m telling you.”

Merlin chuckled. He was a strategist and guide who came up with amazing plans next to Arthur and laughed. It was worth celebrating the laughter of Merlin, who she hadn’t seen in a long time, but instead of being happy, Bedivere felt a shiver down her spine.

Whenever Merlin laughed like that, he always caused trouble. In the end, things worked out well, but Bedivere remembered how difficult the process was.

“Just a moment…”

Before Bedivere could interrupt.

Merlin opened his mouth with a mischievous laugh.

“To bring him here personally. To this place.”

“…What?”

“In the place where that young one is, we cannot intervene. At the very least, we must reach the battlefield of the stars to truly engage in conversation, face trials, and the like…”

Until when should we wait?

How can we know if those meddling bastards will take the bait in the meantime?

“So, I will move my consciousness down there.”

“Just a moment, please wait. What is that…”

“By using Excalibur as a medium to transfer my consciousness to that young one, we should be able to see and hear the same things as them.”

In other words,

“I will guide directly. The young one himself said with his own mouth that he is prepared to face the highest place. So, there is only one path to walk.”

It was a story similar to Merlin becoming the guide for that boy.

“The path our chosen king walked.”

The royal path.

Or, the hero’s path.

“I will make him walk that path.”

Listening to Merlin telling this story, Bedivere silently watched. He understood what it meant to transfer consciousness.

The authority of the throne lies where the constellations are hung.

That is, it comes from the sacred space.

To transfer consciousness to a place other than the sacred space is like leaving behind all the power and authority as the holder of the throne. It means becoming a being that can only intervene in reality through voice.

‘To be sure, it’s the only way to intervene in the mainland, but…’

It’s not an easy task and a dangerous one. If something happens to the boy with the transferred consciousness, even Merlin’s consciousness could be at risk.

It’s a decision that must be made carefully.

So, Bedivere tried to advise, but the moment he saw Merlin’s face, he closed his mouth. It was the face of someone who had already made a decision.

“…Even if I say more, you probably won’t listen.”

Bedivere sighed and tilted his head.

“I understand why you called me. While you’re away, you want me to take care of what you’ve been doing, right?”

“It won’t be difficult. Just press it once every time the dragon wriggles. I’ll leave a spare for you, so it won’t be too difficult.”

“It seems like the most difficult task.”

A wrinkle appeared on Bedivere’s forehead at the prospect of handling Merlin’s job in his absence, but soon he sighed and stood up from his seat.

“I can’t stay for long.”

“It won’t take long.”

It might be a long time for a human.

To the constellations that had guarded this place for centuries, it would be just a fleeting moment. With those words, Merlin closed his eyes, and her body scattered into starlight.

The lakeshore where Merlin disappeared.

Bedivere, now alone, tightened his grip on his armor. Engraved on it was the emblem of the Round Table. It had been hundreds of years since the Round Table lost its owner and fell into ruin. The knight who had guarded the Round Table alone for those hundreds of years let out a long breath.

He had waited for hundreds of years, so what was waiting for a dozen or so more? Though he thought so in his mind, Bedivere could not let go of his curiosity.

A boy who might become his master.

Imagining the appearance of that boy in his mind, Bedivere clenched his fist in the air. What he held in his hand was a white spear bestowed upon him by Arthur. Holding the spear, Bedivere left the fortress.

He did not know when the boy would reach this place, but until then, he had to guard his position.

To tidy up the cursed beings trying to escape through the cracks of the seal, Bedivere moved.

3.

The constellation on the back of his hand flickered for a moment.

Najin squinted his eyes and looked at his hand. The constellation that had flickered was once again gone, as if it had never shone before.

“What on earth?”

Najin rubbed his hand as if he couldn’t understand.

– Even if you rub it like that, you won’t see it. It’s hidden so that other constellations can’t be seen either.

A voice echoed in his ear.

Startled, Najin turned around to see where the voice came from. However, there was nothing in his field of vision.

– It won’t be visible even if you turn your head, so don’t let your guard down.

A taunting voice.

Since it was the voice that he had been hearing a moment ago, Najin realized the identity of the voice.

“Is that you, Merlin?”

– You seem quite surprised, don’t you?

“What is this? The voice is ringing in my ears.”

– Well, that’s what it is.

A chuckling voice was heard.

– I told you. I will watch over you.

Najin blinked and the voice continued to resonate.

– And, if you are going to compete with Arthur… at least the conditions should be the same, shouldn’t they? So that it can be a fair competition.

The same conditions as King Arthur.

Before Najin could ask what that meant, Merlin answered.

– You should also have a guide.

The one pointing the way for the hero to walk.

Najin only now understood what Merlin was talking about. Throughout Arthur’s journey, there had always been an adviser and guide by his side. Many knights followed Arthur, but the seat next to him was always reserved for one person.

Guide, Merlin.

The guide always suggesting the right path.

It was a sentence introducing Merlin in a fairy tale. However, Najin mumbled with a somewhat awkward expression.

“So… will you be my guide?”

– Thinking about it.

“You don’t dislike it, do you?”

– Yeah. I dislike it.

“But still?”

– Disliking is disliking, but acknowledgment must be given. You proved your qualification by breaking through the trials I set for you.

Merlin said calmly.

– Opportunities befitting those qualified.

It was a sentence seen in the Arthurian saga.

Najin nodded slowly. Regardless of accepting or rejecting, it was an offer with no reason to refuse.

“Honestly, it was confusing.”

Although he had just escaped the underground city.

Najin was ignorant of the outside world. Knowing nothing, naturally, he didn’t know where to go.

“I appreciate that.”

– No need to thank. It’s natural.

“Then let’s seek advice right away.”

There was no intention to reject the offer to help.

Use everything at your disposal. That’s how Ibah taught him. Najin took a short breath and said.

“One, I am currently being pursued. If caught, I’ll probably die. I’ll explain the details as we move, so please just come with me for now.”

Najin reached out and pointed to the city behind him.

“Two, it’s best to stay as far away as possible from that city. The pursuers are sent from that city, and my appearance and characteristics seem to have already been exposed.”

– Did you commit a crime or something?

“Well, from birth, I’ve been a criminal, so it’s a bit difficult to explain.”

I’ll explain that later.

“For that reason, we have to escape to anywhere right now. Is there a good route?”

* * *

Journeying along the path guided by Merlin, Na Jin moved for a while.

It wasn’t until he entered the forest, filled with trees, that Na Jin caught his breath. The distance from the city was considerable, and the tall trees obscured his body, making it a suitable hiding place. He had to admit, even though he had only received brief guidance.

As a guide, Merlin was quite outstanding.

Merlin quickly found a place that was suitable for hiding his body and perfect for catching his breath.

“It’s comfortable.”

Although he was manipulating people, or rather, the Papal throne like tools, Na Jin didn’t feel guilt. After all, how could he refuse assistance? With that thought in mind, Na Jin raised his head and looked at the dense trees.

“So this is what trees look like.”

There were trees in the underground city as well, but he had never seen such large trees before. Na Jin marvelled at the sight of trees that appeared to be several times his height. Everything was new and different.

-So.

Once Na Jin confirmed that he had caught his breath to some extent, Merlin spoke.

“Why bother about being a sinner or a pursuer?”

“Well, um…”

As Na Jin, who had caught his breath, was about to answer Merlin’s question, he suddenly stopped speaking. That was because the sky above, when he looked up through the dense trees, was different from a moment ago. The pitch-black night sky gradually brightened.

“Why does the sky look like that?”

“What? Why?”

“The colors are strange.”

“What do you mean by strange?”

Merlin replied as if he didn’t understand English.

Na Jin tilted his head and climbed up a nearby tree. Perched high in the tree, Na Jin looked up at the sky.

A clear view.

A corner of the sky was colored like the lights of the ores he had always seen in the underground city. The darkness that had tinted the sky black receded, replaced by the glow of sunset. Finally, beyond the horizon, something round rose, emitting light.

Brightly shining.

A single word flashed through Na Jin’s mind as he had been contemplating its identity for a long time. Sun. While the residents of the underground city tried to imitate the glow of ores, they could never truly imitate it.

“That is…”

Na Jin murmured absentmindedly.

“That is the sun.”

Na Jin witnessed a sunrise for the first time.

The rising sun. Na Jin gazed at the sight of the sky brightening, the glow of sunset receding and the sky gradually turning blue. It was such a mysterious spectacle.

“That’s the sun, isn’t it?” Merlin said, looking bewildered.

“Why do you speak as if you’re seeing the sun for the first time?”

“I am seeing it for the first time. Today.”

“What?”

Najin chuckled at the disbelief.

“I’ve never seen the sun or the blue sky before today. Where I come from, neither the sun nor the sky was visible.”

“Did you live in a cave or something?”

“Somewhere similar.”

Where should he start explaining this?

Najin found it difficult to open up. The place where he had spent 18 years of his life – summarizing it wasn’t an easy task. As Najin struggled to find the right words, Merlin spoke.

“If it’s hard to explain, move around while you do. Take your time; it doesn’t matter.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Well, it wasn’t my intention, but it seems to align with the destination you’ve pre-set.”

He needed to move away from this city, escape pursuers, assume a new identity, and find a place to start anew. Coincidentally, the destination Merlin had marked in advance seemed to fit all these criteria.

“The city of opportunities, Cambria.”

Do you know that city?

Najin’s eyes widened at the question. He had heard of Cambria, though only from fairy tales.

“Specifically from a fairy tale, but still.”

After King Arthur drew Excalibur, the story began in Chapter 1 with Cambria as the stage. It was where Arthur and Merlin first met and the city where Arthur truly began to shine. The city’s other name was…

“The burial place of two dragons. The tomb of dragons.”

“You know it well. Do you also know who did that?”

Of course, he did.

“You and King Arthur did.”

It was the beginning of their names being thrown around. A legend started with a swordsman and a sorcerer defeating two dragons.

But at that moment, Najin felt her heart flutter. The fairy tale she had only read about in books was unfolding right in front of her.

“Before heading to Cambria, just one thing,” Merlin said.

“Let me test your skills. I need to know your level to estimate the cost.”

“My skills?”

“Well, nothing special. Can you handle mana? If you can show me that, I can roughly estimate the cost…”

Najin hesitated for a moment before drawing her sword from her waist. It was the sword of Jin Hogel, the inspiration for her escape from the underground city. Holding the sword, Najin released her sword energy.

Swish.

A white radiance appeared above the sword, followed by golden particles.

“Will this do? This is the best I can show you right now.”

…

Merlin remained silent.

As if his words were stuck in his throat.