Chapter 26: The Sacred Forest (2)

Merlin raised one eyebrow at me, then soon returned to his kindly expression.

["How surprising. How do you know my name...?"]

“I’ve heard a great deal about you.”

The legend of King Arthur was famous even within this game, though some minor place names had changed.

["Then we should understand one another."]

Merlin held out one hand. As though obeying his will, the branches stretched out to bar my way.

["Please leave. You cannot harm me."]

Selena and I watched in silence for a moment. Beside me, she let out an admiring “Wow.”

It certainly was an astonishing sight. The trees, the earth—everything within this forest seemed to move at a single gesture from Merlin.

“I’m not particularly interested in harming you.”

The writhing branches stopped at my words.

["What do you mean, you will not harm me?"]

“Exactly what I said. I didn’t come here to see you, Mr. Merlin.”

["Then where are you going?"]

“The lake.”

["...!"]

Merlin’s expression hardened.

My primary objective was the lake. Naturally, I’d expected to encounter Merlin before reaching it, but if he let us pass, there was no particular reason to fight.

Judging by his expression, though, he’d been happier when he thought I wanted a fight.

It looked as though we wouldn’t be getting through peacefully.

["I have changed my mind as well."]

“Meaning?”

["I shall have to kill you here. Since you know of the lake’s existence, I cannot let you live."]

Well, well.

Even his death threats were polite.

CRACK!

The surrounding branches cracked as though stretching their limbs. Thick branches split apart, while thin ones stripped away their own bark and sharpened their tips.

The branches became spikes, already too numerous to count.

“Selena.”

“Yes?”

“Can you block all those?”

“No, I can’t.”

Thought so.

I laid a hand on the cloth covering the Cassian’s back.

“Sorry, Cassian. You’re going to be a little cold.”

The Cassian barely reacted. Hmm, that must mean it was fine with it. Let’s believe that.

“Are you going to fight me?”

I asked Merlin one final time to make sure.

["I must. You have your loose tongue to blame."]

Fair enough. Maybe my mouth was the problem.

But there was no helping it. I had to reach the lake.

And above all, part of me had been hoping for this.

“That works out nicely. I had something I wanted to test, too.”

I pulled Penelope’s Cloth off the Cassian’s back.

Then I raised my left hand.

Fabrication

Grade - Legendary

Dragon Heart

A crystal shaped like a slender rod bent into a triangle.

The Dragon Heart I’d woven to fight Renzo. I wove it again—the very thing that had also brought me to death’s door.

I swallowed the Dragon Heart without hesitation and spoke.

“Menosorpo.”

["Foolishness!"]

Perhaps sensing something ominous, Merlin shot the branches toward me. Quick on the uptake, as ever. Or was he a little late this time?

Weaving in Midair, Simultaneous Replication

Imperial Palace Armory

Shield, 10 Identical Replicas

CLATTER!

I surrounded myself with shields in midair and blocked them.

‘Urrgh...!’

Meanwhile, I felt mana boiling up inside me. It was the Dragon Heart’s effect.

A Dragon Heart caused explosive mana growth.

But a Dragon Heart made through Weaving was, of course, a fake. It didn’t contain the mana needed to produce that effect.

So swallowing it increased my mana, but consumed my body in proportion. My bones, blood, and organs became fuel, converted into mana.

But what if there were another target?

What if there were another “dummy” to sacrifice to the Dragon Heart, without sacrificing my own body?

‘... It worked.’

I checked Penelope’s Cloth.

Its edge was glowing and gradually shrinking. The Dragon Heart was now consuming Penelope’s Cloth instead of me.

I could finally use the Dragon Heart without any strain on myself.

At least, until Penelope’s Cloth disappeared entirely.

["...!"]

Merlin’s face changed. Only now did he seem to recognize me as a threat.

“Here I come...”

My voice always changed a little after I swallowed a Dragon Heart. It felt as though an earthquake were shaking my entire body.

But that didn’t have any meaningful effect.

Fabrication, Black River

Grade - Chief Deity

Mjolnir

Once again, I held a god’s weapon in my hand.

This weapon had given Renzo, a man counted among the strongest, a hard time.

How would it fare against a figure from legend?

“All right, here I—!”

I drew back to throw Mjolnir with all my strength—

“... Huh.”

—but stopped, because there was no one there.

“He ran away,” Selena said beside me.

“He ran away?”

“Yes. The instant you brought out that hammer, my lord heir.”

Huh.

I glanced around the forest, then canceled Mjolnir’s Weaving. Once I stopped using mana, Penelope’s Cloth stopped being consumed as well.

Penelope’s Cloth had an ability called Form Reversion. No matter what happened to it, it returned to its original state. And that truly meant no matter what.

Even if it was converted entirely into mana like this, the cloth would always return to normal with time.

‘The problem is, if I use it all up, it takes about a day to come back.’

Penelope’s Cloth made using the Dragon Heart possible, not unrestricted.

One Dragon Heart a day. I needed to keep that firmly in mind.

* * *

‘I saw it wrong.’

That was Selena’s conclusion.

That hammer Frondier had created out of thin air a moment ago.

By now, she wasn’t even surprised when he pulled something bizarre out of nowhere. She simply chalked it all up to his ability and moved on.

But that hammer just now...

She hadn’t even seen it for five seconds, but its rectangular metal head had been symmetrical on both sides, with a short handle...

‘I saw it wrong.’

Selena let no emotion show. Rather, her face had frozen completely. In her attempt not to show any emotion, she seemed to have stopped thinking altogether.

‘I saw it wrong, I saw it wrong, I saw it wrong, I saw it—’

“Selena.”

“Yes. I didn’t see anything.”

Ah!

That strange answer had slipped out before she knew it. Frondier was blinking at her.

“... What’s this? Mind reading?”

“Pardon?”

“I was about to ask whether you saw where Merlin went.”

Oh.

Selena briefly tilted her head, pretending to think hard, then pointed.

“I don’t think I got a good look, but I believe he went that way.”

“I see.”

Frondier walked over, draped the cloth over the horse, and mounted. Then he looked at Selena.

Making a show of composure, she climbed on behind him.

“Cassian, keep going straight down this path.”

The Cassian immediately picked up speed at his words.

Amid the clatter of hooves, Frondier now sat fairly securely in the saddle. His body was still stiff, but at least he wasn’t going to fall off on his own.

Selena watched the trees sweep past at the edges of her vision. They were green beyond compare, the breeze refreshing, the sunlight streaming down beautifully.

“... What a beautiful place.”

She murmured it without thinking, then regretted it a little.

Frondier had a habit of scolding her when she least expected it, so she was nervous he might find fault with this remark, too.

“Isn’t it?”

Instead, he agreed.

“It’s like a forest out of a fairy tale.”

“Exactly. I wonder if there’s another forest this beautiful any—”

At that moment, Selena’s expression stiffened, and she closed her mouth.

She surveyed the scenery again, carefully examining the trees of the lush forest, the birds that occasionally passed, and the beautiful sunlight.

‘... It can’t be.’

Something was wrong. Of everything that made up this beautiful harmony, she recognized not a single thing. The trees, the grass, even the wild animals passing by resembled things she knew, but looked different.

Then could even the sun be...? The sunlight breaking through the leaves was hauntingly beautiful, but was that truly the light of the sun?

“Selena,” Frondier called softly.

“Do you know the name Merlin?”

“... Of course. I read the legends of King Arthur often as a child. Though I was surprised to encounter another figure from legend in person.”

“Then you must already know.”

“Know what?”

“Merlin is dead. He’s a figure from legend, after all.”

Selena blinked several times. Then her eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

“Th-then what we just saw was a ghost...!”

“Something like that.”

Selena was confused. Her head spun. Above all, she couldn’t understand why she was so surprised.

After thinking for some time, she realized something and spoke.

“Why didn’t I notice that? Of course I knew Merlin died a long time ago.”

Normally, common sense would have made her think, That’s impossible, the instant she discovered someone called Merlin.

After all, he was dead.

Yet until Frondier pointed it out, she hadn’t felt anything amiss.

“That’s only natural.”

“Natural?”

“You’ve probably experienced it often yourself. There are times when you accept things without question, no matter how absurd they are, how strange the events, or how little sense any of it makes.”

There were times like that?

Selena thought deeply, and soon understood.

“You mean... dreams?”

“Correct. You catch on quickly.”

It was the first compliment Frondier had ever given her, but Selena didn’t hear a word of it.

Her expression grew grave.

“Then are we asleep right now?”

“Hm?”

“If this is a dream, then in reality, we’re asleep while someone drags us away and restrains us, and when we open our eyes, all that awaits us is horrible torture...”

“No, no. What are you thinking?”

Frondier briefly looked back, about to chide her in disbelief.

But Selena was trembling, her eyes brimming with tears. Within seconds, they began spilling down her cheeks.

“... What’s with you?”

“No, not again, I... I, no...”

“...”

Frondier’s gaze grew somber. He brought the Cassian to a halt. Whether Selena noticed or not, she simply continued to weep.

“Hey. Snap out of it.”

“I-I was wrong... It was my fault—”

THWACK!

Pain rang through Selena’s entire head, bringing her to her senses. This time, her eyes watered because it hurt so much. Yet she stopped crying. It was a strange thing.

Frondier had a finger extended. He had flicked her forehead.

But there was nothing romantic about it, unlike some romance novel. He hadn’t held back in the slightest. He must have put aura into it, though she had no idea how Frondier could have managed that.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?”

“... Yes.”

“Right. That means you’re not asleep.”

What kind of...?

But now she knew for certain. She had never felt pain this intense in a dream. No, pain like this should have woken her up. So it wasn’t a dream. Though it hurt.

“Th-then what did you mean about this being a dream...?”

“We didn’t get here by falling asleep. It’s much simpler than that.”

“Simpler?”

Frondier looked around. The impossibly green forest, the clear air, the warm sunlight. Every part of it was flawless and complete, without a single blemish.

So even this was possible. He smiled in apparent admiration and spoke.

“Merlin has recreated a dream in reality. From an age so distant it’s called legend, all the way to this very moment.”