Chapter 37: As Long As You Hate Merlin Too, We're Life-Long Friends
Mary had originally intended to use their conversation as an opportunity to properly calm her emotions.
After all, she never expected to be discovered... and by King Arthur of all people!
One must understand—this was Vortigern's dream. Even that person from this world... let's temporarily call him Merlin, wouldn't dare infiltrate this place. Yet King Arthur had the audacity to sneak into its dreams while Vortigern was still alive!
This completely surpassed Mary's understanding and knowledge.
But after speaking with Noah for a while, she realized her emotions hadn't settled at all—instead, they became more turbulent than before.
Because this King Arthur before her not only knew about the distorted world, but was also aware of the main worldline and parallel worldlines. He knew she possessed Avalon from her own world, and even knew that the girl named Manaka Sajyou had come to this world with her! He even knew that the Holy Sword of the Stars from her world was in that girl's possession!
Was there anything he didn't know!?
Oh, it seemed he didn't know about how she'd been infected by Manaka Sajyou's feelings for King Arthur.
Thank goodness he didn't know that.
But even so, it was terrifying enough!
After Noah finished explaining everything, Mary stared at him with her rose-colored eyes framed by lashes so thick they appeared half-closed. After a long moment, she slowly voiced the question she considered most crucial.
"How do you know all this?"
As she asked, Mary focused all her attention on Noah.
Though currently called Mary, she was actually the Merlin from a parallel world—a half-incubus.
Half-incubi inherently lacked human emotions... Though she now unwillingly carried affection for King Arthur, before this she had no human emotions at all, simulating and deducing all emotional responses.
This demonstrated just how thoroughly she understood human thoughts, feelings, expressions, and many other aspects.
This understanding was the sharp weapon behind Merlin the old swindler's widespread reputation and his consistent success in deceiving people at critical moments.
It was also Mary's sharp weapon for determining whether someone was lying.
She was confident that this King Arthur before her couldn't deceive her if he tried to lie.
Then, she discovered Noah wasn't lying.
Noah had planned to contact people like Mary beforehand, so he naturally had already prepared explanations for certain matters.
For someone not skilled in schemes, this was the result of intense contemplation.
And he was quite satisfied with his prepared explanation.
Facing Mary's question, Noah pointed to his eyes and smiled as he gave his answer.
"I saw it."
Everything Noah said was true.
His deductions indeed came from what he saw with his eyes.
But to Mary, who knew nothing about his deduction ability, the same answer carried completely different implications.
Saw...
That meant Clairvoyance.
Moreover, many things involved didn't just pertain to the present but reached into the past... And judging by how he knew she was here and managed to find her, it might even involve the future.
That would be the highest level of Clairvoyance.
And it's the highest level of Clairvoyance like Solomon's... encompassing both past sight and future sight!
"However, I can't see everything either. I just happened to catch your situation, and after learning about your circumstances, I felt you might need my help while I also have areas where I need your assistance. I believe we can cooperate, which is why I came to find you."
Merlin found Noah's statement reasonable.
After all, she didn't know the specifics of Solomon's eyes, but even her own highest-level Clairvoyance, while capable of seeing through the present, still had many limitations. So other highest-level Clairvoyance must be the same way.
This might be the limitation of Noah's Clairvoyance.
How could the highest level of Clairvoyance exist without restrictions!
Just like how using magic that requires incantations would definitely make you bite your tongue if you spoke too fast!
This is inevitable!
Clairvoyance without limitations and things like High-Speed Divine Words are all lies, non-existent—there's simply no such thing!
"Cooperation... alright, although I'd like to say I don't need it, it seems I don't have the confidence to refuse now... So, King Arthur of this world, how do you propose we cooperate?"
Merlin clearly understood she had areas where she desperately needed Noah's help.
For instance, she needed to find Manaka Sajyou, investigate the distortion to return to her own world.
But she couldn't figure out what Noah might need from her.
After all, Noah was King Arthur, while she was Merlin from a parallel world, and a severely restricted Merlin at that... Even if Noah needed Merlin's help, wouldn't this world's Merlin refuse to assist him, this world's King Arthur?
This was what puzzled Merlin.
And Noah spoke very directly at this point.
"I don't like beating around the bush, so I'll be straightforward—I know that in your eyes, I'm also one of the distortions in the main world line, but I'm not prepared to acknowledge this, nor take responsibility for it."
"You want to find Manaka Sajyou, recover the Holy Sword of the Stars, and return to your world. I can help you with these, but I have my own requirements too."
"First, the Holy Sword of the Stars from your world. I need this sword to help me defeat a powerful enemy. The Holy Sword of the Stars in our world is different from yours—it must be from your world specifically."
Hearing this, Merlin nodded.
She had no problem with the first condition.
Then Noah continued with the second requirement.
"And then there's you."
When he said this, Noah's gaze fell upon Merlin.
Perhaps due to the influence of that affection from Manaka Sajyou, but in any case, Merlin felt a subtle joy in her heart upon hearing these words.
Noah, however, didn't think in that direction and simply continued speaking.
"I need your Clairvoyance, along with your assistance in magic and knowledge."
Hearing this, Merlin noticed she felt somewhat disappointed.
This was definitely a completely unfamiliar sensation for her, as all her previous emotions had been simulated. So even in her most seemingly panicked situations, her heart had always remained completely undisturbed.
But at this moment, because of these feelings of affection, her heart had been constantly fluctuating ever since meeting Noah. This made her somewhat unaccustomed and uncomfortable, while also leaving her uncertain whether to accept or resist these emotions that blended falsehood with reality.
So she simply shifted her attention to Noah's words.
"Clairvoyance, magecraft, and knowledge... There's a Merlin in the main worldline too, right? Compared to restricted me, wouldn't he be able to do better?"
Noah spread his hands.
"Since you know that old swindler too, let's set aside things like trust or dislike for now... How much effort do you think he'd actually put in?"
—The absolute minimum required.
This answer became clear to Mary almost instantly.
Thus, the conditions that had puzzled her moments ago now appeared particularly convincing.
Well then...
Mary and Noah exchanged glances, then she proactively extended her hand.
"Pleasure working with you."
Seeing Mary like this, Noah smiled and grasped her hand.
"Pleasure working together!"
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