The Root had certainly incinerated the information regarding the 'future' from within my mind.
However, memories of the past remained perfectly intact. I remembered that I had once shown my memories to Godword Mayday to persuade him, and by reading them, he had come to know the future events just as I did...
"So... is that why you summoned me to the Moon?"
"For the most part. That damn Crimson Moon over there killed me, and I had the 'interesting' experience of entering the Root once more. I gained a decent ability out of it, but as a side effect, I lost my memories of the 'future.'"
"...I suppose. If it's the Moon, even the Counter Force of Humanity struggles to exert influence, and the Beasts within my memories cannot easily intrude."
"Precisely."
"Indeed... at the very least, in this primordial Earth environment that far surpasses even the Age of Gods, it would be difficult for even the Independent Manifestation of a Beast to come and go at will."
"That's enough. In that case, can you reproduce the contents I have 'forgotten'?"
"It shouldn't be difficult."
Godword looked directly at me and began to reproduce my memories using his Unified Language. I quietly closed my eyes and accepted the wave of memories that felt as if it were swimming through my brain matter.
The memories of the future... the Night of Wallachia and the Tatari incident from Melty Blood, the adventures and cases of Lord El-Melloi II, the Fifth Holy Grail War, the Tokyo Holy Grail War, the Snowfield Holy Grail War in America, and the Apocrypha incident... the tragic future branches of Land of Steel and Moon Coral, and finally, the adventure of the Grand Order—the mission I must resolve.
After reflecting on all these memories and slowly comparing them with the current situation, I spoke in a quiet, slightly bewildered voice.
"...Wow, that's crazy."
* *
The item Lord Brishisan gave me was indeed Solomon's final ring.
Excluding the nine rings in Goetia's possession, the only one remaining would be this one in my hand. Having discreetly handled Mash Kyrielight's Demi-Servant experiment to prevent discovery and having ordered more efficient intelligence gathering within Chaldea, the individual 'Romani Archaman' should not exist there currently. In the first place, if the soul exists as a living being, the art of Impure World Reincarnation cannot be used.
"...I never imagined things would turn out like this."
The King of Mages, Solomon.
The hard counter to the Beast King Goetia, and essentially the ending character who concludes the Incineration of the Human Order. I had summoned him ahead of time using a technique closer to necromancy.
According to the original history, Solomon, who won the Grail War alongside Marisbury, would wish upon the Holy Grail to become human. He would discard all his abilities and become an ordinary person, struggling to prevent the coming Incineration of the Human Order.
Having become an ordinary human and losing his Clairvoyance, he wouldn't know who the vanguard of the Demon God King was. Thus, he didn't even trust Lev Lainur (Flauros), who acted friendly toward him. He trusted no one except Leonardo da Vinci, a fellow Servant, and Mash Kyrielight, whom he cared for as medical staff.
And at the very end... seeing Mash sacrifice herself for the future in the final Singularity and Ritsuka confronting Solomon, the King of Mages would finally steel his heart. He would step forward to face the Demon God King and conclude everything with his Noble Phantasm, Ars Nova.
"...What do you plan to do? Even though his resurrection is currently incomplete, if you wish upon a Holy Grail-class prana core, it is possible for him to discard his abilities and live as an 'ordinary man.'"
"Incomplete resurrection... well, you're not wrong."
"But that's not what's important right now. You must know that for us to complete this Restoration of the Human Order, what we are doing is essentially... inducing him to commit suicide?"
"No. Now that he has been summoned via Impure World Reincarnation, there is a way to keep Romani Archaman alive even after the final Singularity."
Goetia is looking into the future and already knows that the restoration will fail due to Ritsuka Fujimaru, Mash Kyrielight, and Romani Archaman. That's likely why he tried to set fire to Ritsuka's home and actively interfered the moment the Demi-Servant experiments began, trying to divert my attention elsewhere.
Because of that, I had no intention of summoning Solomon before Goetia initiated the Incineration of the Human Order.
If I summoned him and Goetia preemptively killed him instead of carrying out the terrorist attack, it would be self-defeating. There was also no guarantee that the inhuman King Solomon, who hadn't experienced life as a 'human,' would suddenly appear before Goetia and use Ars Nova.
"The current situation couldn't be better."
As for Solomon's wish, he truly desires the life of a human.
He was a king from the moment of birth and lived as a thorough non-human, so he naturally yearned for the mundane life of a human. In fact, his tactless response during the confrontation with Goetia—the 'Eh, not really. Not particularly?'—which caused Goetia to darken, ultimately meant that since humans would handle things anyway, there was nothing for him to do.
"But if we turn King Solomon into a human now, Goetia will target him. Furthermore, the act of making him human is effectively demanding his sacrifice... Have you not considered how he will take that?"
"...Yes, originally, I intended to force that outcome to make Romani Archaman and Goetia self-destruct together."
The plan I formed after receiving the catalyst from Brishisan was to eliminate Marisbury, the cancer within Chaldea, along with Lev Lainur in one fell swoop.
That would naturally prevent the terrorist incident, and the Servant summoning system, FATE, would remain undamaged. In other words... it would be possible to summon proper Heroic Spirits.
I would substitute the prana with my own stockpile and Aoko-nee's 'Blue' from the Fifth Magic, and turn Solomon into Romani Archaman the moment the Incineration began... then I would entrust him with coordinating the Singularities, fueling his sense of guilt. After that... if all else failed, I'd have to resort to some depraved method I've never even attempted.
But now that I've summoned Solomon using Impure World Reincarnation, the situation has completely flipped. And in a way that favors us.
"Even if we make Solomon a human now, his body is incomplete."
"...What do you mean?"
"He has no Noble Phantasm. Since he's in a state where a 'dead person' was forcibly brought back, he naturally cannot use a Noble Phantasm. His Clairvoyance, his luck... literally all the skills a Servant possesses are sealed."
"Then isn't there no reason to make him human? A Solomon without a Noble Phantasm is useless and incompetent as a human... Surely Solomon with the power of the King of Mages would be a more useful card for us as 'combat power'!"
"True, but I have a way to return his Noble Phantasm to him. And if he regains it... Solomon, who has experienced life as a human and possesses human emotions, will be more helpful to us. Besides, we don't know how the real King of Mages would react to the coming events, do we? Goetia would surely keep a much more aggressive watch on him."
All the current Solomon possesses is immense Caster performance derived from God's wisdom. That is all.
With no Clairvoyance, no skills, and no Noble Phantasm, he is literally a dead man... Of course, even with just that, he was strong enough to shatter the Crimson Moon, which brings a certain advantage.
"Furthermore, someone summoned via Impure World Reincarnation can never die. Unless they are sealed... Even if he possesses the abilities of a normal human, it would be impossible for even the Demon God King to openly seal an immortal being under our collective watch."
The biggest reason I didn't summon Solomon immediately after receiving the relic from Brishisan was fear of Goetia's backstab. Trying to protect a harmless civilian against a madman who tried to kill Ritsuka beforehand and might even throw the Evils of Humanity at us if things went south? That would be a waste of manpower.
But if he's immortal, the story changes.
Solomon—Romani Archaman—as a normal 'human' with no special abilities.
I wanted him to feel proper empathy and emotion regarding human life, to possess a sense of guilt... and to live a life, rather than being in a state of apathy as he is now.
"Well then, shall we turn him into a human?"
An immortal is still a human, after all.
* *
Godword Mayday continued to press me, desperate to satisfy his curiosity.
The current Solomon lacks a Noble Phantasm, just like Romani Archaman, who discarded all his power to become a normal man.
Even if he regained his original abilities, he cannot use a Noble Phantasm. Because his soul was summoned through the heterodox art of 'Impure World Reincarnation,' and as he is not a properly summoned Heroic Spirit, the Noble Phantasm—the very identity of a Heroic Spirit—is blocked.
Godword Mayday clung to this point relentlessly, asking what my plan was and what I was thinking.
What was the real reason for turning him human instead of using him as combat power?
If there was a way to return his Noble Phantasm, what on earth was it?
On the Moon, 'his' gaze does not reach, and their curses do not apply. As one could see, even though we were freely speaking the names of Solomon and Goetia here, we were perfectly fine and uncursed.
So, please tell him the reason!
But I intentionally ignored his words and began gathering prana for Solomon.
"...You have no intention of telling me until the end, it seems."
"You'd do the same if you were in my shoes. A trump card should be hidden until the very last moment."
"Do you not think there might be an error in your calculations? What if it's your misunderstanding, and you make a mistake at the final moment! This is a matter involving the lives of all humanity!"
"...Actually, if you think about it, Godword Mayday, it's a method you know too. It's just a matter of perspective."
Ending the brief exchange one-sidedly, I approached Solomon, who stood still, holding the sphere of prana that had gathered like a pseudo-Grail.
He was staring blankly at the sky in the same posture as before, and I spoke to him.
"What are you thinking about, Solomon?"
"...I was just looking at the sky, Karma. The sky I usually saw was blue... but black, this is mysterious in its own way."
"That's because the terraforming of the primordial Earth is almost undone. So, how is it? This experience of Impure World Reincarnation."
"It doesn't seem bad. I have little sensibility for such things to begin with, so I don't have much to tell you."
Indeed, though he is called inhuman, his essence is a dry human whose very emotions are scarce.
I wondered what choice he would make... Even though I knew the ending, I handed him the orb of prana that had taken the shape of a cup.
"...A prana core. Why are you giving me this?"
"If you have a wish, try wishing upon it."
"I don't understand, Karma. Even if the reason you summoned me was to survive, the reason you specifically offer me this... is it because there is something you want from me?"
"...Well, I can't deny that. To be precise, I absolutely need the existence known as Solomon for my future."
"..."
"But in that position, I want someone who can feel emotions like other people and interact with them. Someone who can shed tears at the pain of humanity, empathize with their sorrow... and blame themselves for their own shortcomings."
Solomon accepted the cup and spoke.
"I understand what you mean. You mean there is a threat that cannot be resolved with mere 'power.'"
"Exactly."
"Then why do you not order or request it of me? If you told me to become human, I would obey. Why do you not command me, Karma?"
"You've followed enough. Honestly, I already know what choice you'll make."
Saying this, I felt like I had become Merlin.
Indeed, even Merlin, knowing what would happen, had told Artoria Pendragon to think again before she pulled the Sword of Selection.
I was annoyed when Kishua Zelretch told me I was like Merlin, but looking back now, I was doing something similar.
"Just... if you've lived your life receiving nothing but orders, try making a choice of your own heart for once... Mr. King of Mages."
"...Very well. I may not know your true intentions, but for this once, I shall wish for my own desire."
Overwhelming prana began to surge, and changes began to occur in his body.
First, the tattoos covering his body began to disappear one by one, and the Magic Circuits and Crests wrapped around his body began to fade.
"...Ah, I see."
The dead, cracked skin peculiar to a corpse and the sclera resembling a demon's eyes remained the same.
However, his bleached white hair had turned into a vibrant orange, and the faint aura he emitted through pure prana vanished without a trace, leaving only an ordinary human behind.
"How does it feel to be human?"
I threw the question to him as he slowly looked over his own body.
He pinched himself here and there, as if he were just starting to feel it. Upon seeing the blood flowing from his fingertip turn to dust and then return to its original state, he eventually broke into a bright smile.
"It's wonderful. Being human is such a beautiful thing."
"...Since you've become human, it's a bit awkward to keep using the name King Solomon like before. Is there a name you want?"
"Hmm... considering you created the current me, why don't you name me?"
I chuckled at his nonchalant reply and eventually burst into laughter. Perhaps wanting to enjoy his 'human' emotions, he also began to laugh along with me cheerfully.
Soon the laughter subsided, and I looked at him with a serious gaze.
"...I am going to use you. You were summoned with your Clairvoyance stripped, and since you aren't human right now, you won't be able to see the future... but that future will be more terrible than you imagine."
"I see."
Kishua had once called me a Merlin-like human.
Honestly, I doubted if I was truly at that level, but deep down, I often thought that statement might be right.
Deceiving others about my purpose and guiding them so that the results I desire occur—is that not an action similar to the Magus of Flowers of Britain?
"But I promise you. Within the Human Order I seek to save... you, the very first being to open that Human Order, are included. I hope you won't forget that... Romani Archaman."
"Romani Archaman... Yes, it's a good name."
I have made numerous promises and told numerous lies.
To avoid Goetia's gaze, to avoid the pursuit of the Clock Tower and the Holy Church, half of the names I spoke were lies, and even the base of my promises and contracts was built on deception and falsehood.
But I swear, right now, in this moment, the promise I am making is truly from the bottom of my heart.
"That goal of saving humanity... I shall lend my strength to it as well, Karma Kirigaya-kun."
"I'll be in your debt... Romani Archaman."