Ch 38

Seeing Merlin suddenly vomit blood and collapse, Caron was flustered. Merlin had seemed to be so strong that Caron thought he’d be unlikely to win even if he went all out agaisnt Merlin. It was Caron’s first time seeing someone like that collapse suddenly for no reason.

"Old man-nim, are you all right?"

"Sir Merlin! Are you okay?"

Caron and Arrieta helped the fallen Merlin up, but he had no time to pay them any mind. He was busy trying to figure out the reason for the changed future

‘The future has changed...?’

Unlike prophecies that often required deciphering vague expressions, foresight was something you could directly perceive, similar to dreaming. Foresight was more certain than a prophecy, but there was a disadvantage that it was quickly forgotten with a little carelessness. First, there were three things that were certain. The first was that Arpen, the warrior of the original timeline, died, and Galak, who had originally died, survived to become the warrior. Second, the Crow tribe, which was half-declining from isolation, became much stronger than the original timeline, or ever before. Finally, the world was still destroyed, even though the future had changed.

"Cough! Cough!" Merlin coughed and collapsed due to the foresight’s rebound.

"No! Don't die before you fight with me!" Caron shouted desperately.

Caron was genuinely worried, he couldn’t let Merlin die before he had a chance to fight him. Caron accumulated mana on his fingers and began first aid using the Crow tribe’s secret technique, which stimulated the body's mana circuit. Caron's first aid improved Merlin’s weak complexion.

"Phew~! Saved him for now. Now, let's go to the hospital."

"I will guide you. Follow me." said Arrieta.

Arrieta gestured to the knights, who were about to approach Merlin, to continue the exam, and led Caron inside the great temple. Caron carried Merlin on his back and followed. The place Arietta guided him to was not a hospital room, but one of the prayer rooms of the great temple.

"I don't think there's a doctor here…"

Arrieta took off her hood and replied, "I am better than most doctors, so do not worry and lay Sir Merlin down in front of me."

Caron felt suspicious, but followed her instructions. Arietta’s hair began to glow sky blue as she put her hand on Merlin's chest and gathered her mana. A hymn came out of Arietta's mouth, and Caron thought it was beautiful. After some time, the holy light gradually diminished and Arietta's beautiful voice trailed off. Caron, who had been entranced by Arrieta’s voice, felt that the procedure had ended in an instant. However, seeing that the angle of sunlight from the window of the ceiling had changed, he realized a considerable amount of time had passed.

"Whoo, the inside was worse than I thought. Come to your senses now, Sir Merlin."

As Arietta's refreshing mana spread through Merlin's body, he came to and instantly began vomiting black blood.

"Ugh! Uwaack! Ssp! Ugh... You saved my life."

Merlin's complexion quickly began to improve, despite having thrown up so much blood.

Caron was amazed. "Oh! What is that? How did you do that?"

Arrieta shrugged. "It is a power that people call divine power. It is not that special."

If the priests had heard her, they would have shaken their heads in a panic, but Caron nodded casually.

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"I see. It’s a power I can't use."

Caron did not know the principles of divine power, but he could tell that it was fundamentally incompatible with him.

"But old man-nim, why did you vomit blood and collapse? You don't look weak enough to just collapse without anything happening."

Merlin smiled awkwardly. Suddenly experiencing foresight was unexpected for him as well. In fact, as long as he didn’t see the future twice within a few days, he wouldn’t have collapsed like this, even if he did still vomit blood.

"How should I explain this… It's related to a very high-level magic."

Merlin could easily simplify it to explain, so he decided to gloss over it. Since the black-haired boy in front of him was named Caron Blade, Merlin thought that he must have inherited the unique name of the Blade family. He couldn't lie recklessly in front of a Blade. Since Arietta was there too, he had to keep the foresight hidden all the more. Arietta knew how dangerous foresight magic was, and was sure to try to stop him from using it at all costs.

"Hmm, if it’s that difficult, then I’m fine.”

As Caron moved on, Merlin smiled, took out a handkerchief, wiped his blood, and bowed his head.

"Thank you, by the way. Thanks to you, we can move on quietly."

If it hadn’t been for Caron's first aid, Arietta would have used her divine power right there at the training grounds. If that had happened, information that Arietta was here would have been leaked to the outside world.

"If you're thankful, let's have a fight later. Of course, after your condition gets better."

Merlin laughed bitterly at Caron's request. “Haha, I'd like to decline that but… You should go back to the exam site. Oh, and tell them I'm fine."

"All right. Take care of yourself, old man-nim."

When Caron left, Merlin said, “Arietta-nim, you stay there."

Arrieta, who quietly tried to follow Caron to the exam site, flinched. Merlin began to nag at her for forcing her way through his magic and going to the exam site, where he had explicitly told her not to go.

At the same time, Merlin thought deeply to himself. Why did the future change? There was only one reason he could think of. It was because Caron and Arrieta met. He couldn’t know what their meeting had done to change the future. However, what was important was that the future, which he had tried so hard to change but failed, had finally changed. Although the world was still destroyed, he now knew that it was possible to change the future.

* * *

When Caron returned to the exam site, the third exam was already over. The candidates all seemed like they had fought with all their might, as half of them looked completely exhausted.

"It must have been quite intense." Caron said, handing Benjamin a handkerchief.

Benjamin answered, wiping away his sweat. "Phew~! It wasn't easy. I don’t know how they knew, but they put people with similar skills together."

Benjamin looked at Gwalchavad, who was writing away on his score sheet. It was Gwalchavad who had confirmed the skills of the candidates while running during the second exam and created the match bracket.

"So, did you win?" asked Caron.

Benjamin smiled and nodded. "Of course!"

Caron looked over at Tashid, who was lying on the floor of the training grounds. He had been Benjamin's opponent, which meant Tashid had lost the spar.

Caron clicked his tongue. "Tch! I missed an interesting fight."

Tashid was one of the candidates that Caron had wanted to fight, along with Benjamin.

Benjamin chuckled. "Come to think of it, what happened to the person who collapsed earlier? That was the magician named Merlin we saw a few days ago at the great temple, right?"

"Ah, that old man-nim? The treatment is done and he needs to rest for a while, but he’s fine now. There just happened to be a good healer nearby. He promised to go a round with me when he gets better."

Caron spoke boldly about a promise that hadn’t even been confirmed. If Merlin was with them, he would’ve panicked, asking what Caron was talking about.

“I was worried, but that’s a relief.”

It wasn't Benjamin who responded to Caron. When Caron turned his head in the direction of the voice, he saw that it was Gwalchavad. Gwalchavad bowed his head slightly, thanked Caron for helping Merlin, and said to the candidates, "I will now announce the successful candidates for the third exam. Ernesto Jerryford, Benjamin Farhan, Forward Asilante, Caron Blade, and Tashid. These are the five."

Some of the eliminated candidates protested, but as they were all exhausted from their spars, they were overpowered by Gwalchavad’s presence alone. No matter how exhausted they were, they were still some of the strongest in their respective regions. Being able to easily overpower them all at the same time meant that Gwalchavad was truly strong. Caron’s eyes glistened at Gwalchavad's ability. For now, Gwalchavad was the next opponent he wanted to fight after Merlin.

"Now, that's it for the third exam. The successful candidates should gather at the entrance of the great temple by two o’clock, after lunch." Gwalchavad smiled and exuded martial aura. "The fourth exam is a one-on-one spar with the members of the Knights of the Round Table. I ask you to do your best so you don’t have regrets later."

Contrary to his gentle voice, the martial aura that filled the training grounds was full of ferocity.

* * *

"What a discontented face, Lancelot."

Lancelot continued to warm up, paying no mind to Percival's statement.

"No matter how dissatisfied you are, it is a Round Table tradition recognized by His Majesty the Holy King to allow people to take the entrance exam, regardless of their status." Percival continued.

Lancelot nodded. "I know. You need power to protect the country, and it's not wrong to value that power the most. That’s not what I take issue with."

"Then?"

"Picking talented people who have grown on their own is too inefficient, and not a good thing for the country. I think we should select those who have potential from an early age and develop their talent in a more stable environment."

Percival sighed softly. "Sir Merlin has already tried that once before. When he did that, he failed to cultivate the talent he wanted at the Round Table.”

"I've read the record, too. It was just an experiment conducted by a small group, and even though it didn’t meet the standards of the Round Table, it still produced useful talents. This country is big. Our Round Table is not enough to properly protect all parts of the country."

"I agree, but the country cannot afford to do any more due to the long-term war. How much time and capital do you think it would take to gather, select, and nurture talent? Besides, it shouldn't just end up with raising them. What about a means to check the power that would arise from selecting and distributing them across the country?”

Once power was obtained, there were bound to be people who would want to benefit from it. There was a risk that even the selected talents would be corrupted if the power of the place where talent was nurtured was corrupted as well. Lancelot had nothing to say. As Percival said, it was not only a plan that could not be afforded right now, but it had not even been established in the infrastructure of the country.

"And you know that the system you are thinking of will not pass." Percival added.

Lancelot sighed deeply. "Yes. The center will never allow the provinces to gain power.”

The Holy Kingdom followed an excessively centralized political system, centered on the Holy King and religion. If all the raised talent in large quantities could not be used centrally, the surplus talent would undoubtedly be distributed to the provinces. In any feudal society, it was natural for the central government to be wary of the provinces, but it was particularly severe in the Holy Kingdom. This was because the ruling class of the country, the Holy tribe, placed too much importance on their pedigree.

Lancelot stopped talking and apologized. "I'm sorry, I went too far."

Lancelot's words could have been taken as slander against the Holy King and the current administration. Percival chuckled at Lancelot's apology and smacked him on the back to cheer him up.

"Your heart is in the right place. Now is the time to focus on what we can do."

Saying so, Percival headed to the entrance of the great temple with Lancelot. There stood five hopefuls, burning with fighting spirit.