After greeting Artoria and the others she hadn't seen in a long time, Aoko left her sister and went straight to Merry, who was sitting at the edge of the observation deck, gazing at the distant sea of flowers.
"This is a beautiful place."
"Isn't it? After all, it's my own creation." Merry said proudly.
The Sea of Stars was indeed a beautiful place, but this wasn't it. The Avalon they were in wasn't the true Sea of Stars, but rather its border.
Back then, when Merlin left Artoria and tried to enter the Sea of Stars—a place accessible only to the innocent—he might have been said to have intentionally fallen into a trap at its border, ensnared by Viviane, the Lady of the Lake, and imprisoned within this tower.
Merlin didn't actually mind being imprisoned. He could leave anytime he wanted; one could even say he chose to be imprisoned. But despite that, living in such a barren place made him uncomfortable, so he transformed it into a sea of flowers.
Merry's situation in Avalon in another world was roughly similar. Only, instead of being trapped by love, she was confined due to Viviane's personal grudge against her. She was deeply disliked there.
Leaning against the edge of the observation deck and looking into the distance, Aoko asked, "So now you can tell me why you gathered us all here? Especially intentionally in the Sea of Stars. Judging by the others, they seem to already know. I'm the last to arrive, and I don't know anything. And aren't there still a few people missing?"
The people gathered within Avalon's Tower were almost all women who had close relationships with Naoki.
Ayaka, Ciel, Riddell, Touko, Aoko, Artoria, Okita, Mordred—plus Merry.
Except for Morgan, Shiki, and Atalanta, they were all present.
"Don't worry about Shiki and Atalanta. The reason you were all brought here is because I was worried you'd be affected by what's about to happen next. But nothing will happen to Shiki. We don't need to worry either. And Morgan has her own matters to attend to, so we don't need to concern ourselves."
"And there are two reasons why you were gathered."
Merry raised two fingers.
"One reason is what I just mentioned—to keep you safe from the events about to unfold. Aoko, you've long known about the Burning of the Human Order. The time is drawing near. Here, no matter what happens on the surface world, we won't be affected."
"And the other reason—it'll make it easier for us to join the King later."
Join?
Aoko showed a rare expression of surprise. "Join? Do you mean… he'll need our strength?"
"After all, this is a real attempt to save the world—and possibly twice over. The power of a single Holy Sword Bearer won't be enough." Merry smiled. "Well, think of this place as our base for now. Until the battle comes, we'll stay here—you don't mind, do you, my other self?"
Merlin, hanging from the ceiling, immediately rolled his eyes upon hearing Merry's question.
You've all taken over his home—what good would his refusal do? Besides, the King was still watching from below, so he didn't dare resist.
For years, Artoria's allegiance had clearly leaned toward Naoki. Words from an obsolete character like himself were meaningless.
(Later, I'll go to Romani to complain and curse him out.)
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
At the same time, Chaldea.
"Achoo!"
Romani, working in the medical room, suddenly sneezed loudly.
"Uh… who's talking about me?"
"Merlin?"
"Hahahaha, Naoki, you're joking. He's super disgusting, it gives me the creeps—anyway, why are you here again!"
Turning around and seeing Naoki sitting cross-legged on a patient's bed, playing on his phone while drinking, Romani showed an expression of utter resignation.
"Naoki, as head of operations, you have your own private room and office. Do you really need to come here every time you have free time?"
"I'm worried you'll die from overwork, you know? Besides, I don't come empty-handed. Every time I come, don't I bring you strawberry cake?" Naoki pointed to the half-eaten strawberry cake beside Romani's hand.
Romani smiled bitterly. "I truly appreciate it. Thank you for going through the trouble of baking it yourself. Anyway, I won't die from exhaustion. If I were going to, I'd have died long ago."
"Yeah, I know. And I won't let you die. If you do, I'll immediately implant Avalon into your body."
"Why won't you let me die!"
Although they had worked together for quite some time and had known each other for ten years, Romani understood Naoki's slightly excessive concern, but he still found it somewhat hard to accept.
After eating another piece of cake to calm himself, Romani continued, "Besides, Naoki, instead of wasting time here, you should think about the other Master. In the meeting earlier, you got scolded again by Director Olga."
"Do you really think she scolded me because I haven't given a list of another candidate?"
"Then why? Was it because you weren't there for her birthday a while ago?"
"You know." Naoki sighed resignedly. "My time can't be divided. Marie's birthday happened to coincide with my return to Japan…"
Hearing the hesitant tone in his voice, Romani, as an experienced man, said seriously, "Naoki, if you keep going like this, sooner or later you'll really die."
"Thanks for the advice, 'senior'—by the way, I'm currently browsing Magical Merry's blog. Want me to leave a comment for her: 'Romani was once the King of the Sea'?"
"Stop it, you bastard!"
"Just kidding."
"You're…"
Romani looked at Naoki wearily and asked, "So, what will you do about the other Master? You've been delaying this for a long time. Even when someone with a particle transfer adaptation above ninety appeared, you still said no—do you really intend to wait for someone with one hundred percent adaptation to appear?"
Naoki nodded. "I have to."
"Is there really such a person? The entire Clock Tower can't find a magus with one hundred adaptation, let alone an ordinary person…"
"There is. And coincidentally, I just found her."
Showing the screen of his phone to Romani, Naoki smiled. "From Japan—a high school girl named Fujimaru Ritsuka from Mifune City. Particle transfer adaptation—100 percent."