It was a statement repeated ad nauseam, but what mattered most to a transcendent being was believing in oneself. Their power came from an unshakable sense of self and a steadfast mental image, making confidence their cardinal virtue.

In Merlin's case, the problem seemed to be that she had a little too much confidence, but be that as it may.

Najin had no intention of disputing the idea.

He had witnessed too much clear evidence to deny it. The Helmeted Knight, who had forgotten himself, became a transcendent being again the moment he remembered who he was. Gerd earned his eighth star the moment he became certain that his sword had been right.

Confidence. Conviction. The realization that one had been right.

That was the essence of stars and of transcendent beings. That was what Najin believed, and precisely why the single sentence on the gravestone had caught his eye.

「As for me, who am I?」

A question that seemed to be addressed to someone.

Whoever had written it could simply have written “Who am I?” Yet they had deliberately inserted a comma, separating “As for me” from “who am I.”

What lay within that comma?

Najin found himself wondering.

2.

“Merlin.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

Merlin looked at Najin, chewing with her mouth stuffed full of bread. He gestured to her, meaning that they should talk after she finished eating.

“All done. What is it?”

“Do you know anything about the Kingdom of Kassel?”

The gravestone had read, “Viola Ordina, hero of the Kingdom of Kassel.” It was a nation that had existed some five or six hundred years ago. That was all Najin knew about it.

“Only that it fell about five hundred and sixty years ago?”

“Anything else?”

“I do know a dragon caused its downfall. Was it the evil dragon Ladon? I think so.”

A nation destroyed by a dragon.

“Hmm.” Najin rubbed his chin.

“Then what's the purpose of this star's grave? Is it just a dream a Constellation is having? Does it display their dream for no particular reason?”

“There is a reason.”

Merlin tore apart a freshly baked loaf. Steam curled up from the bread.

“If all they wanted was to dream, why bother making a way in and out? If it were just for display, why would we be able to interact with other people here?”

She spoke as she chewed her bread.

“A star's grave, a Constellation's dream... It exists because they want someone to wake them. They want someone to wake them from this sweet, never-ending dream, to bring it to an end. To make a choice for them when they couldn't choose for themselves.”

“It's regret, lingering attachment, and escape, too.”

There was something bitter in Merlin's expression as she said it.

“It's similar to what you've been doing all this time.”

“Similar how?”

“You gave those knights endings they were satisfied with. It's much the same. Give the owner of this dream an ending they're satisfied with, or at least one they can accept, and the dream will break.”

“Of course,” she added, “there is a simpler way. You can just smash the whole dream with overwhelming power.”

“That's a bit...”

“Right? Besides, you'd have to be on my level to do that. A great Constellation with eleven stars...”

“Keep that up and I'll do it again. Who am I?”

“A-all right. I won't brag.”

Having been given a taste of her own medicine over the past few days, Merlin hurriedly stopped boasting. She shared a neatly torn piece of bread with Najin. It tasted quite good.

“It's a dream, but taste, touch, all my senses feel normal.”

“It's a dream in name only. It's no different from reality. If you die here, you really die.”

“Then what should we do now?”

“First, we'll have to investigate. See how this dream unfolds, and what lingering regrets its owner has.”

Najin and Merlin naturally turned their eyes toward the grand temple. At the edge of the temple atop the cliff sat a woman with long, jet-black hair.

Viola Ordina, hero of the Kingdom of Kassel.

She spent most of each day perched there, watching the sun rise and set. Her expression was so gloomy that even looking at her was dispiriting.

“She looks utterly listless.”

“She does. Aren't dreams supposed to be happy? She doesn't look happy at all.”

“Not necessarily. Some Constellations shut themselves away in graves to punish themselves.”

“What a bunch of oddballs.”

“...”

“Why that look?”

“It's nothing. Anyway, aren't you curious about the reward? What you get for ‘clearing’ a Constellation's dream?”

She was plainly rushing to change the subject, but Najin didn't mind. Merlin must have things she didn't want to discuss, too. He went along with her.

“What do you get?”

“A stellar relic.”

Najin had heard of stellar relics: objects formed from a Constellation's starlight, comparable to Masterpieces. Strictly speaking, his Excalibur was halfway to being a stellar relic itself. It was a sword completed by Arthur's stars, after all.

“With a reward that incredible, clearing it isn't going to be easy. You don't have to go into this determined to ‘clear’ it. If you can't see an answer, you can leave. I'll leave that choice to you.”

Merlin pointed at the stone monument in the middle of the city. Simply touching it would let them leave this dream.

“...”

A dream they could leave at any time.

Najin turned his gaze toward the grand temple. Apart from when he had first entered the dream, Viola hadn't spared him so much as a glance.

She merely sat there, watching the sun rise and set.

For some reason, those eyes, devoid of even a trace of warmth, bothered him. In any case, there was nothing he could learn just yet. Only time would tell.

“Hm, hmm-hmm.”

For a while, Najin wandered around with Merlin.

She walked in an unusual way, never planting her feet firmly on the ground. Her steps were little bounces, and her clothes and blue hair swayed with each one.

She moved lightly, as though she weighed nothing at all. Walking like that, Merlin looked happier than ever. Humming to herself, she tugged on Najin's arm.

“This! How about this?”

She brought him a poster advertising a play titled “Glory to Ordina.” Pointing at the words, Merlin's eyes shone.

“Ordina is the owner of this dream, right? Watching this will definitely help us gather information. What do you think? A good idea, isn't it?”

It seemed more like Merlin simply wanted to watch it than gather information. Najin chuckled and nodded.

“Yes, let's give it a try.”

Watching her smile brightly at his answer, he suddenly thought how young Merlin looked. There seemed to be quite a gulf between the Merlin of fairy tales and heroic stories and the blue-haired girl before him.

A personality that matched her appearance.

She retained the personality of the girl she appeared to be, rather than that of a thousand-year-old mage from the age of myth. It was something Najin thought about from time to time, and that side of Merlin sometimes struck him as incongruous.

Who was Merlin?

An archmage of the age of myth, a mage who had witnessed and experienced countless things, worn down by life. Yet he sensed none of that in her. Instead, she seemed straightforward, emotional, and girlish.

'Could it be...?'

A conjecture flashed through Najin's mind. But it was only a passing thought; he didn't consider the possibility deeply.

“Come on, let's go!”

Walking ahead of him, Merlin turned briskly around.

Her blue hair glittered in the sunlight. She brushed it back and smiled, a smile of unblemished brightness.

Najin nodded and dismissed the thought.

Well, wasn't she better this way?

An archmage of the age of myth, detached from everything as though she had seen through it all, or this lively Merlin, who could sometimes be a complete pushover. If he had to choose one as his guide, Najin would pick the latter without a moment's hesitation.

“Yes, let's go.”

3.

A play starring Viola Ordina.

Najin sat beside Merlin in the theater to watch it, but he couldn't actually focus on the story. His illustrious guide sitting beside him kept drawing his attention.

“Wow...”

When an actor delivered a speech, fully immersed in the role, Merlin watched in wonder with her mouth hanging open.

ROOOOAR!

Whenever the actor playing the evil dragon bellowed loud enough to sweep away the audience, her shoulders jerked in surprise. When she swallowed a snack the wrong way, coughed, and then started hiccupping, even Najin couldn't hold back his laughter.

“Don't—hic—laugh—hic. I said don't laugh.”

“Drink some water. Here.”

Patting Merlin's back, Najin handed her some water. She gulped it down, then returned her attention to the play as though nothing had happened.

“Wow, wasn't that really good? The acting was excellent. I'm not usually fond of plays, but this one really...”

Even after the play ended, Merlin talked about it at length as they sat in a teahouse. She chattered nonstop, even spreading both arms wide to imitate an actor.

“Merlin.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Are you having fun?”

“Where did that come from?”

“Nowhere. You just look happy.”

“Of course I am. Do you know how long it's been since I could move around like this? Or mingle with people and talk?”

“How long has it been?” Najin asked.

“A thousand years.”

“...”

“Oh, of course I've been traveling with you... But I didn't have a body then, did I? That was a far cry from ‘walking’ with you. I was hitching a ride.”

“That's true.”

“Honestly, that's what I regret most. Sometimes I imagine it. What if I weren't a Constellation, or an archmage, but a mage just starting out on a journey?”

Merlin closed her eyes as she spoke, as though picturing it.

“I'm in Cambria, looking for a swordsman to be my companion. Mages and swordsmen have always gone together, you know. They can make up for each other's weaknesses. So I'm looking for a skilled swordsman... and then I happen to meet you.”

“And then?”

“Then I take on jobs with you. We'd bicker at first, wouldn't we? Telling each other that wasn't the right thing to do, or that we should do it this way. But we'd learn to work together, grumbling all the while.”

“That's how we'd travel.”

“Together, slowly, one step at a time.”

“You grow incredibly fast, but I wouldn't fall that far behind. I reached the Sixth Circle at around nineteen myself. I might even be ahead of you.”

“You might.”

“Yes. We'd grow together like that. Fight powerful enemies, explore unknown lands. Sometimes I'd give you a push, and sometimes you'd pull me along...”

Together, side by side, growing together as they moved forward.

After describing all that, Merlin opened her eyes.

“That's what I really wish we could have.”

Her gaze lowered.

“Instead of walking beside you, I have to wait for you at that distant journey's end. My role isn't to walk with you, but to guide you there. I really do wish it were otherwise.”

Was that why she looked so happy now?

Najin felt he could understand a little of why Merlin seemed so excited. It wasn't simply because she had a body. Being brought down to his level, being with him on equal footing rather than looking down from above—that must be what made her happy.

“What is there to regret?”

“Hmm?”

Najin shrugged.

“I'll be where you are before long. You know it hasn't even been two years since I started my journey, right?”

“Well... that's true.”

“Who am I?”

The corners of Najin's mouth curled upward.

“The youngest to earn four stars. The youngest Sword Seeker. The youngest free knight. And...”

“Stop. Please stop doing that...!”

Her face red with secondhand embarrassment, Merlin reached out to cover Najin's mouth. But he caught her wrist and finished what he was saying.

“The youngest to enter Camlann, the youngest to slay a black dragon, the youngest to slay a witch. Oh, I'm just going to claim every ‘youngest’ there is. Every last one.”

Merlin stared at him.

Najin met her eyes and smiled.

“You said you'd wait at the journey's end, right? What makes that the end? It's the end of King Arthur's journey, not mine.”

“Hmm.”

Merlin snorted. But unlike when they had first met, it wasn't a snort of scorn. It was more a laugh inviting him to keep talking.

“Where you're waiting isn't the end. It's a turning point, isn't it? The point where I've completely surpassed Arthur. We can go together from there, so what's the problem?”

“Together? You mean, side by side?”

“Yes, side by side.”

Najin looked at Merlin as he said it.

Normally, this was where she would mutter, “You certainly know how to talk.” But today, that answer didn't come.

“...”

Merlin merely stared at him.

Her eyes, always so clear, were a little unfocused in that moment. As though she were entranced. As though her mind had gone blank.

“Merlin?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Yes. That's right.”

Only when Najin called her name did Merlin come to her senses. She hurriedly looked away. Her ears were slightly red. Najin tilted his head.

“What's wrong?”

“N-no. Nothing's wrong.”

What had gotten into her all of a sudden?

Najin tilted his head as he watched Merlin cover her mouth and avoid his eyes. Since she wasn't inside him now, he had no way of knowing what she was feeling or thinking.

DONG.

It was just as Najin was puzzling over this.

DONG, DOOONG, DONG...

Bells began ringing through the city. By the time their peals, beginning at the grand temple, had traveled around the city, a shadow had fallen over the entire Kingdom of Kassel.

It wasn't an artificial shadow created by a devil's authority, magic, or Mystery. Something enormous had simply blocked the sun. Najin and Merlin naturally looked up.

A being called the master of the skies in the distant past.

A dragon was there.

Ladon, the evil dragon.

The evil dragon that had cast its shadow over the kingdom roared.