UWTD 364: Resolve

On that day, Artoria Pendragon received the approval of all knights and vassals loyal to the king. This time, she didn't have to pull the sword and sacrifice her humanity, and neither did she have to act as a man and give up her identity.

However, the very next night, someone slipped into Artoria's dream once again.

"Merlin…"

In the middle of a garden full of pink and white flowers, Artoria faced the Mage of flowers. But unlike his usual playful smile, the white-haired man's face remained stiff as a board. She had never seen this man look so serious in her life, and she never thought that such a day would come.

But the topic at hand required that.

"Artoria, you have to cancel your contract with him. He's dangerous." Merlin didn't waste any time.

"W…What?" Artoria trusted Merlin's wisdom because of how long she had known him, but the current situation left her confused.

"I have no time to explain. I barely reached you, and I don't think I'll succeed again." But the mage in white robes extended his hands. "No matter what you do, they won't allow this world to continue. So, come with me. We have to return to the true world before you go through meaningless suffering."

Artoria stood there in silence. It was a crossroads she had expected. Of course, getting her wish wouldn't be easy. Tons of roadblocks would get in her way. The very world would change with the common history flipped on its head. However, she had decided on her answer long ago.

"No." She refused. "It doesn't matter how much suffering awaits me. I won't stop. Even if there is no chance for it to happen, I want to try even if it means failure."

Merlin looked over the king, his brow wrinkled when he faced Artoria's resolve.

The fragments of conversations she had with Adam, and his promise. It all remained fresh in Artoria's head.

"And I know that he will do the same. So, I will see it to the end."

Hearing that, Merlin's serious demeanour crumbled, and the laugh he had been suppressing for a while surfaced.

"You trust him that much already. I am sorry. I couldn't help but test you." Merlin coughed as the glare settled on him.

"It wasn't to make fun of you. I was truthful about what I asked you!" He hid behind a pillar, sweat sliding down his face. "As we speak, the forces are trying to break in here and wipe the place out, but he has been keeping them at bay for now. I, too, was asked to contact you and change your mind because they couldn't break through this space, and after talking with that interesting guy, I was finally able to get here."

"Forces? You mean the Counterforce is already retaliating?" Artoria forgot about his unserious attitude for a moment.

"Of course they are. You are trying to rewrite history as we know it. The past, present, and future of millions of worlds would twist and collapse. Alaya doesn't want to shoulder the burden of maintaining and repairing if that happens," Merlin added, coming out of the pillar's shade.

"No, that wouldn't happen," Artoria shook her head.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Intrigued, Merlin took a step forward.

"I'll ask him to make sure that doesn't happen."

"And he will listen?" Merlin leaned against the marble pillar.

"That's our contract." Artoria put an end to the talk right there. "I will be returning. Thank you for everything, Merlin."

As Artoria left the dream world, Merlin didn't stop her and smiled. The girl who was ready to give up being human, the one who gave up her happiness and emotions for the path with lesser destruction again and again. Now, she refuses to give anything for that bleak hope.

Before, she would choose to abandon her wish in the face of millions of worlds, but this time she wanted to have both.

He walked over to his table and dipped his finger in the water bowl. A swirl later, the water's surface showed a moving image. It didn't reflect Merlin, but a nightscape of a city twinkling brighter than the stars. Within that city, a maid with silver hair was walking around a quiet, rich neighbourhood of a normal city. Beside her was a small child with shoulder-length purple hair trudging along.

The maid, Artoria, and Adam. He had kept an eye out since they arrived. The maid in particular caught his eye because of her keen awareness. Soon, the water's surface bubbled, and the connection got cut.

A string of words formed from the smoke hovered before Merlin, and he already knew who it was from.

Keep to yourself, mage.

"This is the reason I can't stop watching over humans." Merlin smiled, waiting for the oncoming enjoyment.

***

Fuyuki City, Japan.

Under the orange glow of the sunset, a woman in a french maid uniform walked out of the convenience store. Her hands had a few plastic bags filled to the brim with fresh meat and vegetables.

It had been a month since she started living in a small mansion, yet the people of the city still couldn't wrap their heads around her appearance. They'd whisper about her red eyes as she passed, and some would stumble on air while watching her silver hair flutter behind her tall and noble figure. However, it mattered not to the woman.

'What should I try for dinner today?' Grayfia has started to take her cooking practice with even more seriousness and made steady progress.

Today wasn't supposed to be any different from usual. But as she reached the iron gate of her mansion, a kid caught her eye. A small, delicate girl with shoulder-length purple hair tied on the left with a red ribbon. In the cutesy uniform one could mistake her for a doll, not only because of her beauty, but the blank expression hanging on her face with lifeless violet eyes.

'This much despair coming off a child? No, it's not despair alone…' Grayfia saw the towering negative emotions piling upon those small shoulders.

Even if she gathered the negative emotions from around the city, it wouldn't hold a candle against this child. However, the girl wasn't crushed by those negative emotions; they all came from within her, and much more kept pouring out, unlike the silent exterior.

On any other day, Grayfia wouldn't bother with digging more, but something stirred deep inside her when she looked deeper into those emotions. Loss of family, loneliness, fear of being hunted, and only living for the sake of it. She knew it all too well, after all, Grayfia had faced this herself.

But someone reached out to her.

"Hey kid… What's your name?" Now it was her turn to follow her master's way.

"…Matou." The girl didn't even question why a stranger requested her name and spoke in a bland tone. "Matou Sakura."

...

See you tomorrow with another chapter!