“Hello there. I’m Merlin.”
The green-haired man, Merlin, waved his hand lightly from side to side in greeting. Kail stared at Merlin as he casually tossed out words and actions, then slowly sheathed the sword he had drawn.
The moment it was fully sheathed, Merlin snapped his fingers and took the sword away. Clearly, it had been in his grasp just a second ago, but seeing the Demon Sword vanish into thin air, Kail let out an awkward laugh.
‘When exactly did he…?’
“The seal has been broken?”
Merlin tilted his head, looking at the Demon Sword, then began inscribing magical runes on it. Unfamiliar runic letters were woven into place, and once the resealing process was complete, Merlin handed the sword back to Kail.
As Kail took the sword back, he asked about the move Merlin had just pulled.
“How did you do that just now?”
“What do you mean ‘how’? And hey, weren’t you using informal speech earlier? Now you’re being polite?”
“Well, you were an intruder before, but now you’re a guest.”
Finding Kail’s reasoning amusing—treating people differently depending on their status—Merlin chuckled before explaining how he had managed to take the sword.
“It’s nothing special. That Demon Sword was originally something I created.”
“You… made this sword? Somehow, I find that hard to believe.”
“The sword itself was forged by a blacksmith. I simply sealed a demon inside it.”
The Lord of the Demon Realm. The worst kind of being who slaughtered tens of thousands whenever they descended to the mortal plane, sealed within a single sword—and Merlin said it so casually. Watching him, Kail could roughly gauge the extent of his abilities.
He was likely a sorcerer who had reached a level far beyond the Academy Headmaster or the Duke of the North.
And yet, despite possessing such incredible power, Kail didn’t recognize him.
‘Is he not in the game?’
Impossible. To create such a high-performance character and not put them in the game would be absurd. Surely, they must have been used somewhere.
But if that was true, why didn’t Kail know Merlin’s name or face? There were two possibilities: either he was a hidden mastermind lurking behind the scenes, or he had died before making a proper appearance.
‘The problem is, both make sense.’
It was hard to determine which one it was. If he was a hidden mastermind, Kail should kill him here and now. But how? Assassinate the leader of the Imperial Magic Corps inside the Imperial Capital? A sorcerer stronger than most Masters?
Politically and physically impossible. Kail could only grip the sword hilt tightly as he stared at Merlin. Though he seemed full of openings, appearances could be deceiving.
“What are you staring at so intently?”
“…Ah, nothing.”
In the end, Kail decided to investigate later and cautiously backed away. Merlin watched him retreat with a grin, though his expression gradually grew more serious.
A moment later—having approached Kail—he began groping his body with a grave look on his face. Disgusted by the sticky sensation of another man’s hands, Kail frowned and stepped back, glaring at Merlin.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Oh, my apologies. I felt a familiar presence.”
“A familiar presence?”
“Must’ve been a mistake. There’s no way that person could be here.”
Kail immediately realized who Merlin was talking about. After a brief silence, he started debating whether or not to reveal the truth.
On one hand, disguising Arthur as a boy and sending her to the Academy without showing up himself might suggest he’d completely lost interest in her. On the other hand, maybe he was just too busy to visit.
This seemed like the perfect opportunity to say something. Thinking it was the right thing to do, Kail nodded and called out to Merlin.
“By ‘that person,’ do you mean Arthur?”
“Indeed! So I wasn’t mistaken after all?”
Upon hearing Arthur’s name, Merlin leaned in closer and began scrutinizing Kail from head to toe.
“But how do you know Arthur?”
“We’re fellow Academy students.”
“…Fellow Academy students?”
Merlin looked at Kail in astonishment, as if trying to figure out how that could even be possible.
“With that face?”
“What’s wrong with my face?”
“No, sorry. It’s not just your face… but with that skill level, you’re an Academy student?”
“Well, is there some rule saying I can’t attend the Academy?”
“There’s no rule against it, but… seriously, a Master attending as a student…?”
Merlin wondered if, during his travels around the world, some insane power inflation had occurred, leading to an era where everyone and their dog became Masters.
Of course, if such an era had truly arrived, he—an Imperial Sorcerer—would surely know about it. Thus, he concluded that such a dreadful time hadn’t come.
“Well, I suppose becoming a Master is how you got that sword.”
After pondering for a moment, Merlin accepted that his brain couldn’t comprehend this situation and gave up trying to understand Kail.
It was often said that attempting to judge incomprehensible individuals by common sense was the height of foolishness. And Merlin was anything but foolish.
“So, how’s Arthur doing?”
“She’s fine.”
“Hmm. No problems?”
“Well, not exactly…”
Kail glanced briefly at Bellion. This wasn’t something easy to discuss in front of him. Noticing the glance, Merlin snapped his fingers and erected a barrier around them.
Once the barrier enveloped Kail and Merlin, the latter grinned widely and spoke.
“Now, no sound will escape from here. Speak if you have something to say.”
“Arthur gave birth to a dragon.”
“Huh, what?”
“Oh, and she was exposed as a girl a while ago.”
“Wha…?”
Having expected at most that her gender might have been discovered, Merlin was utterly shocked by Kail’s words.
What? Arthur did what? Gave birth to what?
Who? What?
* * *
“ACHOO!”
─Huh?
Startled by the sudden sneeze, Star Tail peeked out, looking up at her. Arthur stroked Star Tail’s head before gently pushing her back into her clothes.
Someone must be talking about her, Arthur thought, tilting her head curiously as she quietly gazed out the window.
Far in the distance, vast plains and golden fields stretched out before her eyes.
‘Nostalgic…’
Her hometown had been a rural area filled with endless green plains. Such a common sight, yet every time she saw a similar landscape, she was overcome with nostalgia.
Today was no different. Lost in memories of her hometown, she naturally recalled events from those days. The grass that reached up to her knees and the man with hair the same color as the grass.
And the blessing he bestowed upon her.
‘I wonder what that mister is up to now.’
Traveling the world without settling down was his hobby, he had said. Meeting Arthur that day and transplanting a dragon’s heart into her had been part of his amusement.
Of course, it was only possible because Arthur herself possessed the qualifications and spirit to receive the heart…
“Hopefully, he’s not up to something strange again.”
He was certainly capable of it. Even implanting a dragon’s heart into her was an unthinkable act to others—a shocking event, to say the least.
He might be plotting suspicious schemes in places no one could see.
‘…Come to think of it, those two would get along well.’
Thinking of Kail’s face, Arthur mused.
Eccentric and eccentric.
Together, they’d make a fantastic team.
* * *
“Arthur… Arthur got pregnant?”
Merlin was utterly stunned by Kail’s words. So much so that his usual 24/7 mana control faltered momentarily.
At that instant, all the magical barriers protecting Merlin vanished—meaning that if Kail, an Aura Master, had tried to cut him down, he could’ve done so effortlessly. But Kail remained unaware.
He simply laughed, amused by Merlin’s shocked expression.
“She didn’t actually get pregnant; it was through an egg.”
“What? A human laying an egg…?”
“No, a dragon hatched from the egg.”
By this point, Merlin realized something was off. As mentioned before, he wasn’t stupid. He quickly deduced that Kail was messing with him.
Shaken for a moment by the absurd claim of Arthur’s pregnancy, Merlin quickly regained his composure and glared at Kail.
“Dragons went extinct thousands of years ago. Why would one suddenly appear now?”
“How did you come to possess the heart of a dragon that supposedly went extinct thousands of years ago?”
“I stole it.”
“You stole it?”
Chuckling awkwardly, Kail finally understood why terrorists had desperately tried to kidnap Arthur back then. The object embedded in Arthur’s heart had originally belonged to them.
Moreover—Kail realized that Merlin was similar to him in some ways.
“You’re quite ignorant.”
“A swordsman calling me ignorant…?”
Looking at Kail as if he’d just heard something outrageous, Merlin wore a dumbfounded expression. Kail merely shrugged, as if asking what Merlin planned to do about it.
A long silence hung between the two men.
