The golden wheat swaying in the wind looks like a running wolf.
Following that wolf, a small hill appears. On top of the hill stands a green-haired man and a pure white dragon.
Both figures are quite familiar, so Kail slowly walks toward them.
“─You really did give birth to a dragon.”
“What? Birth? What do you mean…?”
“Transplanting a dragon’s heart caused this side effect… I’m sorry, Arthur.”
“Ah, no! This isn’t something I gave birth to!?”
Approaching closer, Merlin and Arthur’s voices can be heard. The pure white dragon flying around Arthur pays no mind to their conversation, acting indifferent.
As Star Tail nonchalantly looked around, his eyes met with Kail who was approaching.
Kail quietly puts a finger to his lips, signaling for silence, but Star Tail, unfamiliar with human body language, starts making loud noises instead.
“Star Tail, why suddenly… Kail!?”
“This is bad.”
Caught approaching, Kail sighs and quickly rushes over to the two. Landing between Merlin and Arthur, Kail turns his back to Arthur and addresses Merlin.
“It’s been a while.”
“I don’t think it has. Damn brat.”
“Can’t you just accept a greeting? It’s not like I’m socially awkward.”
“Do I need to follow the world, or should the world follow me?”
Merlin chuckles and retorts to Kail’s words. Hearing this, Kail gives Merlin a once-over.
The distance between them is close. However, Kail’s weapon remains sheathed, while Merlin holds a staff.
If they were to fight, it would be disadvantageous. But… he couldn’t avoid asking.
“Just one question, Merlin.”
“I don’t take questions.”
“Do you know someone named Rizelotte?”
Upon hearing Kail’s question, Merlin tightly closes his mouth. Whether it’s because he refused to answer or if he’s hiding something else, it’s unclear.
In the tense situation, Kail slowly moves his hand toward the sword hilt. As his hand slowly settles on the hilt, Merlin speaks up, watching the scene unfold.
“Who?”
“Rizelotte. Black hair, Master-level sorcerer.”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you prove it?”
“Why should I prove anything?”
The moment Kail grips the sword hilt after hearing Merlin’s response, Merlin grabs his staff as well. In this explosive situation—Arthur silently watches before jumping up and shouting.
“Uncle! And Kail! What are you two doing!?”
“Arthur, this isn’t a place for you to intervene.”
“Shut up! Are you telling me to just watch as two people I know fight!?”
Arthur steps between Kail and Merlin, looking at both before turning to Merlin first.
“Uncle, are you serious?”
“Serious about what?”
“You really don’t know?”
“Yes, but…”
“Can you promise me?”
“Why should I…”
“I’m asking if you can promise!”
“…I swear on my heart. I truly don’t know.”
Having received a firm answer from Merlin, Arthur immediately turns to Kail.
“And Kail, what are you doing picking a fight with Uncle!?”
“I didn’t do anything…”
“You should resolve things through dialogue! Grabbing your sword like you’re ready to fight isn’t solving anything!”
“But that’s…”
“Anyway, Uncle doesn’t know anything, so just accept that.”
Hearing Arthur’s words, the two Masters fall silent. Both hold her dear, making it difficult to disregard her words.
Besides, hadn’t Arthur just resolved Kail’s concerns? Ignoring her and picking a fight with Merlin would be impossible.
“—What’s going on?”
Yuri, appearing late through the golden wheat field, tilts her head as she sees Kail and Merlin glaring at each other, seemingly ready to fight.
A brief silence passes.
***
“So, you sensed magical power from this person, right?”
Yuri, arriving late, receives an explanation from Kail and takes the talisman from him, activating the magic inscribed on it.
The magic tracking Rizelotte’s magical power activates, and the talisman points directly at Merlin.
Seeing this, Yuri realizes Kail was right.
“It’s true.”
“Hmm… what is that?”
“You’ll see. It’s a magical device that tracks magical traces.”
Yuri glares at Merlin as she speaks. Not a trace of magical power could be detected from him.
Considering she could even detect the magical power of her 6-star magician father, there were only two possibilities: either Merlin wasn’t a magician, or he was a magician above the rank of Duke.
And Kail had mentioned that Merlin’s identity was the leader of the Empire’s Magic Corps—a magician above the rank of Duke. It was strange that Merlin didn’t recognize the talisman.
“But?”
“This thing is pointing at you, meaning the person we’re looking for left traces on you.”
“I don’t know about that. I travel a lot; maybe it’s from then?”
Merlin feigns ignorance, scratching his head innocently. His natural demeanor suggested he was lying, but forcing a Master to confess or interrogating him wasn’t an option.
“It doesn’t seem like a lie…”
“Huh? That definitely seems like a lie to me.”
“Kail, didn’t you hear? Uncle promised me he wouldn’t lie.”
Arthur firmly believes Merlin isn’t lying, with trust so strong it’s hard to comprehend where it comes from.
After a brief glance at Arthur, Kail sighs deeply and assumes Merlin’s words are true before speaking.
“Uncle Merlin, uh, can I call you that?”
“No.”
“Then what should I call you?”
“Call me Lord Merlin.”
“Yes, Lord Merlin. ─If your words are true, why is this pointing at you?”
Kail thrusts the talisman forward. Magic doesn’t lie. The effect of this magical device, made by a Duke, is to find the owner of the magical power left on the talisman.
Unless Merlin is secretly Rizelotte, there’s no reason this talisman should point at him.
Magical power has unique patterns for each person. With billions of people, there are nearly billions of patterns. The chance of Merlin and Rizelotte’s patterns coinciding is zero.
“That’s something I don’t know?”
“No, does that make sense? One of us is lying.”
“Right. Then I must be correct.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, whoever made that magical device is probably a lesser magician than me.”
Merlin’s claim, leveraging his authority as the greatest magician in the Empire, sounds convincing at first glance.
If asked whether to believe the maker of the magical device or the wise sage Merlin, most people would choose Merlin.
However, Kail, a modern man, doesn’t fall into such traps. Unswayed by Merlin’s prestigious status, he sticks to logic.
“What does that have to do with anything? If a doctor says 1+1=3, does that make it true? Even elementary school kids know that’s wrong.”
“Elementary school kids? What are those?”
“Ah, well… kids who’ve just started learning to read.”
Anyway—Kail argues that Merlin is wrong based on how simple the magic on the device is.
No matter how smart the opponent is, basic magic like this wouldn’t be mistaken. Moreover, the chance of an error coincidentally pointing to Merlin is even slimmer.
“Why do you keep insisting when I said I’m not involved?”
Realizing words won’t work, Merlin resorts to the same baseless arguments as Kail. He knows responding to tantrums with more tantrums is most effective.
Of course, as the world’s greatest intellectual, such undignified behavior should be avoided…
“But it’s pointing at you!”
“You’re not getting it. Do you have any other evidence besides─”
“「Trace」「Reveal」.”
At that moment, Yuri, who had been silently observing, casts a spell at Merlin. The spell takes effect instantly, and the magical power from the talisman in her hand pierces straight through behind Merlin.
As a hole opens in the air, a birdcage hidden in hyperspace drops to the floor.
“…Double casting?”
While Merlin stares blankly at Yuri, astonished by the realization of a technique thought to exist only in theory, Kail picks up the cage stuck to the talisman and looks at Merlin.
“─You still claim you don’t know?”
Smirk—.
As Kail’s lips curl upward, Merlin’s expression hardens.
