Chapter 93 of the Weapon Replicator of the Academy

Chapter 26: The Sacred Forest (5)

[...No.]

At that moment, a gloomy voice was heard.

The rough and muddied voice came from Merlin.

[You can't take that sword!]

[Now, wait a moment, Sir Merlin!]

Ignoring Nimue's plea, Merlin lunged at me. His face was that of a demon.

I rolled to the side, got up, and held Excalibur.

Merlin, who seemed to have lost his mind, raised all the nearby branches and hurled them at me. The number and ferocity were on a different level from before.

Facing Merlin, who was approaching with a fierce momentum,

"I won't take it."

I undid the weaving of Excalibur.

Crack!

Merlin's branches pierced through me and dug into the ground. Selena's eyes widened.

[Oh...]

Merlin was unusually flustered. He hadn't intended to kill me.

However, I didn't die as he thought. I didn't have a single scratch.

"It doesn't work."

Merlin's branches can't hurt me because I can see his 'dream' as a clear illusion.

[How... How is this possible...]

"I can see it. Since what I create is also an illusion, the trees and wild animals you create are also... and."

I looked at Nimue with a warning glance.

"Even Excalibur."

[...!]

Nimue's eyes widened in shock.

[What do you mean?]

Merlin asked, his voice deeper than before.

"...Sir Merlin."

I paused for a moment. A complicated feeling tainted my heart as I was about to tell the story.

"Who are you protecting the lake for, Sir Merlin?"

[What do you mean?]

"The sword sleeping in the lake, who are you protecting it for, to pass it on to?"

Merlin blinked his wrinkled eyes at me.

As if I were asking something obvious, he said,

[Of course, King Arthur. I am waiting for him.]

"Huh?"

Selena exclaimed. She probably didn't understand Merlin's answer.

I closed and opened my eyes.

"Sir Merlin."

And I said,

"King Arthur is dead."

* * *

Merlin, the great mage, sage, and prophet.

He received a prophecy.

One day, King Arthur would need a 'second sword.'

When that day comes, he must wait for Arthur to pass on the sword.

However, Merlin doesn't know how long he can live. If Arthur comes and he is already dead, there will be no one to protect the lake.

Thus, Merlin inscribed his 'dream' in the lake.

Even if he dies, to fulfill his promise.

To be the final sword supporting the king and to protect the lake.

"You are the existence created from that dream."

I told Merlin.

The Merlin in front of me is a single personality that the past great mage Merlin installed in his 'dream.'

...In other words, an illusion. He merely believes he is Merlin.

[...Ha.]

Merlin let out a hollow laugh.

[I thought I was the one manipulating the dream, but I'm an illusion too.]

[Merlin, don't believe him. It's a trick to confuse you. That's absurd, Sir Merlin. Have you forgotten your promise with King Arthur?]

Nimue quickly interjected.

I approached Merlin. Meanwhile, Nimue was still trying to persuade him.

"Would you like to test it? Touch me."

I can now perceive Merlin as a complete illusion.

Others might be able to touch Merlin without any problem, but not me.

[...]

Merlin silently moved his hand.

To touch the hand I extended towards him, he waved it from top to bottom.

Swish-

Merlin's hand simply passed through me.

Like a ghost.

"..."

Everyone watching the scene was speechless. Even Nimue, who had been talking enthusiastically, fell silent.

I looked at Nimue.

"Miss Nimue. The sword embedded at the bottom of the lake."

Nimue looked at me and swallowed.

"You said, 'The sword cannot be pulled out. By anyone.'"

[That, that's true, but─]

"Without King Arthur in this era, who are you waiting for?"

Nimue bit her lip at my rebuttal. She tried to say something with her trembling lips but stopped. Repeatedly.

Selena, who had been watching, spoke up.

"Then the sword embedded in the lake is... ultimately...?"

"A fake. The two legends have mixed together."

The lake is real.

In other words, the only thing that is real here is the lake.

The sword King Arthur pulled from the stone and the sword given by the Lady of the Lake are clearly different.

Even though both are called 'Excalibur,' it's just a name.

[...Everyone.]

At that moment, Merlin's tightly pressed lips opened.

[Do you know everything?]

"More or less."

[Then tell me everything. The truth.]

Despite hearing that he was a 'fake,' Merlin remained calm.

Indeed, a great mage. Even the Merlin born from his own dream maintained a wise and detached attitude.

I took a deep breath and began the story.

The target of my explanation was Selena. It was too burdensome to speak directly to Merlin.

"This is a dream created by Merlin, but it wasn't originally this big. There was a complete forest here, and it was within the human domain."

However, as time passed, the situation changed.

The human domain shrank, and the power of the monsters grew. To protect the lake, Merlin expanded his dream.

"The trees and flora and fauna in this forest are all excessively beautiful and perfect. But none of them exist in reality. Over time, the dream has changed. It's a trace of 'beautification.'"

No monsters enter this forest. Not that they can't, but they have no reason to.

Monsters are living beings that need to eat, but nothing here has any nutritional value. Besides, Merlin himself drives them away.

"The monsters don't enter, and the forest remains as a forest. Now, all that's left is to wait for King Arthur to come one day. But there was one problem."

"What is it?"

"Merlin doesn't have Excalibur."

"......!"

In the legend of King Arthur, Merlin is not originally the one who gives Excalibur. He is a companion and advisor to King Arthur, a beacon guiding his path.

Selena asked again.

"Then why did the past Merlin design the 'dream'? How could he pass on Excalibur if he didn't have it?"

"...He trusted Nimue. She had Excalibur."

During his lifetime, Merlin designed the dream, trusting Nimue. To repel intruders before King Arthur arrived and to select someone worthy of Excalibur if Arthur died.

"But Nimue lied. 'The sword is embedded at the bottom of the lake. Only the one with the right can obtain it.' Something like that."

[You, you! If you don't stop...!]

Swish!

I shot a spear with spatial weaving. The spear grazed past Nimue.

"Shut up. I already know you're 'real.' I didn't think you could deceive us for long."

I spoke in a threatening tone, but of course, I didn't intend to kill Nimue. She is a necessary witch.

"Anyway, Merlin believed her. Since the owner of the dream believed the lie, a real sword was indeed born at the bottom of the lake. At least, within this forest, the Excalibur in the lake is 'real.' Of course, it can't be pulled out."

"...But the real Excalibur is with Nimue, right?"

"Yes. Even now."

Hearing our conversation, Nimue stepped back. She moved away from the lake and stood in a battle-ready stance.

[You, you. If you think you can take Excalibur, absolutely─]

"I won't take it."

I answered bluntly. Nimue made a foolish sound.

"You saw it earlier. I already have it."

Saying that, I wove Excalibur again and immediately canceled it.

Pretending to be calm, but I was worried about my mana.

"Merlin can't leave this forest. He is an existence within the dream. But Nimue can. As a fairy, she knows how the world has changed. However, she didn't tell Merlin. She kept saying that King Arthur is still alive and will come here one day."

Merlin is just a personality created to protect the lake. Therefore, his thinking is not as complete as a human's.

Just as we don't doubt anything in a dream when we are in it.

Merlin, within the dream, doesn't doubt anything in the forest.

"And she made the monsters attack Teyvann."

"Huh? Nimue?"

"Yes. Or rather, she didn't attack Teyvann, but adjusted the timing of the attacks by the monsters."

Whether Nimue was there or not, the monsters outside would invade Teyvann as planned.

However, the frequent small-scale attacks that hindered the barrier's repair, and the full-scale assault when the barrier was weakest, were orchestrated by Nimue.

There was no need for her to side with the monsters or become their leader. By using magic to leak useful information to the intelligent monsters outside, they would act on their own.

"Why, why did she do that?"

"Because the barrier is visible from the forest."

"Is that a problem?"

"Of course, Merlin would find it strange. 'Why can't King Arthur come here even though the human domain has been restored this far?'"

"...Ah."

To prevent this, Nimue attacked Teyvann.

To stop the human domain from expanding further north. To make the lie that 'King Arthur can't come to the forest because he is too busy fighting the monsters outside' believable.

...In the game, Nimue's actions ultimately led to the worst outcome, with the monsters breaking through the barrier and swallowing Teyvann.

Of course, Nimue didn't intend to go that far, but the anger of the players who discovered the truth was immense.

"So, the only things that truly exist in reality are the lake and Nimue, the Lady of the Lake. Everything else is an illusion created by Merlin and sustained by Nimue's lies."

After summarizing, I looked at Merlin.

"This is the truth."

Merlin didn't react to my words.

But after a while, he raised his old eyes and swept his gaze across the sky with eyes that had become even more transparent.

[Is that so.]

That was all he said.

Despite living for a long time, losing his existence and meaning, Merlin remained calm even after learning the truth.

"...Let's go, Selena."

"Huh? Like this?"

"There's nothing left for us to do here. Most importantly, we don't have time. This is a dream, so time flows a bit slower, but it's still dangerous."

The barrier is probably being attacked by the monsters right now, with blood splattering.

Even if Nimue stops her contact with the monsters, they will still come, just without a strategy.

At least, we need to stop this assault.

I mounted Cassian. Selena, glancing back and forth between Merlin and Nimue, climbed on behind me.

"Let's go, Cassian."

Cassian moved without hesitation, and I glanced back as we ran.

The figures of Merlin and Nimue, growing distant, seemed like a paused frame.