Novel Full Chapter 1308 A Talk About Merlinus 1
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Tomas panicked, kind of similarly to how Acorn would panic, the young man quickly dropped his broken glasses and became slightly blind, as he tried to look for them over the floor, getting cut on his hand while trying to do that.
“A-Ah! Ouch… My glasses… I can’t see well without them.” he muttered nervously. “I’m so sorry…”
The King and the Queen facepalmed after seeing him acting so goofily, immediately realizing that he was indeed not quite the malicious young man as they imagined him to be.
“Tomas…”
I walked to his side, holding his hand and healing it, then I grabbed his glasses, and by using Alchemy and Synthesis, and adding some glass myself from my inventory, I repaired them.
“Here, would these work? I gave it a Sight Improving Enhancement.”
“E-Eh? That voice…! Elizabeth?” he blushed a bit, but once he put his glasses on, he realized. “R-Right… It’s… it was fake…”
“I’m sorry about that, Tomas, but we had to infiltrate using fake identities so we could get deeper into the magician tower and discover the truth,” I said. “We used you and… I’m sorry about that.”
“Ah… It’s… I guess it’s fine,” he muttered. “I always dreamed of the magician tower crumbling down. To think all the dreams I had, everything, it was all fake. It was nothing but a horrendous demonic cult… I hated everything… but I was forced to be there. Or I would have been killed.”
“It’s understandable,” I said. “It’s fine, you’re no longer there, Tomas. We brought you here, I sealed your demonic powers, and the King and the Queen know your situation as well.”
“R-Really?” he looked hopeful. “I am so grateful… But I can’t… I don’t know if I should go out yet. I would rather remain in my cell. If Merlinus ever gets to know I am not dead, he’ll quickly come after me, to kill me- or worse, he might kill my family!”
“We’ve already secured your family’s protection, Tomas,” the King suddenly said. “They’re living inside one of the castle’s rooms, and you might be able to see them again.”
“W-Wait, what?! Your majesty!” Tomas was shocked, falling to his knees. “T-Thank you… Thank you so much!” and he started crying.
“However, things aren’t going to be free,” said the Queen. “To get to that, you must first cooperate with us. We require the information you’ve learned from that place. Everything you could tell us about Merlinus, the tower’s structure, his loyal retainers, the plans he has, the artifacts he has, everything we need to take into consideration.”
“I guessed that would be what I had to do…” Tomas smiled a bit sorrowfully. “I’ll do it… I will tell you everything… I hate them, I hate Merlinus and all of them, for toying with my dream, for toying with the dream of countless more, for turning us young magicians into monsters for his cult! For forcing us to become his slaves, for blackmailing us… I have never before known such a vile man as Merlinus before. He seems to be evil incarnated, pure malice… cunning like a fox, emotionless and inhumane… He’s worse than demons.”
“It seems you hate him to the guts!” laughed the Queen. “Good… Oh?”
She noticed little Gustav was already asleep in her lap.
“Alright then, let’s go to bed dear,” she quickly walked to bed and then returned. “Let’s continue, sorry about that. My little son fell asleep. He’s already big enough that he shouldn’t be falling asleep like this anymore…”
“I-I see…” Tomas nodded. “Well, uh, Merlinus is… someone despicable. And… I’ll help you, in anything I can. To make sure he’s dead… he and the monsters he raises, and all his colleagues, who were all wicked like him…”
“I had thought he was evil but this wicked? Just what happened to the legendary old archwizard to become so truly despicable?” wondered the King. “In ancient times he even guided the Hero Luminous, helped him learn magic and grow stronger… He’s that ancient! He’s a figure of legends even, a living legend. Why would he… become so monstrous?”
“Maybe exactly because of that…” suddenly, Mark spoke. “Unlike other long-lived beings like Fairies, Spirits, or even the Demon Kings. The human brain is not designed to live for so long. The more he lived, the madder he grew. He probably started to feel like nothing else mattered in the world except him as everything else faded away eventually, only he remained, as ancient as he was.”
“That’s… certainly a good theory,” said the King, nodding. “He grew mad out of his incredibly old age… bored of the world. Bored of all living things, bored of all material things. He might have also begun to feel terrified of how old he became. Seeing how he’s obsessed with Gustav, he most likely wants him to be his vessel, if I heard Planta right?”
“Y-Yes, he’s been trying to obtain a new young body,” said Tomas, nodding. “He’s obsessed with finding a perfect vessel. Because his magic and demonic powers are so strong, any other body would simply die off immediately. This is why he wanted Gustav’s body most likely…”
“Because of whom he is?” wondered the Queen. “So he knows I am a Vampire?”
“Yes…” nodded Tomas. “He also knows your second identity, well… as an extension, most of us know as well… he wanted… he mostly likely wanted Gustav because he’s a half Player, a Dhampir, and also holds the bloodline of Luminous Royalty, which have powerful magical abilities unique to them. He said that there was no “more fitting vessel” for him than Gustav…”
“How disgusting…” the Queen muttered. “Another reason to hate this bastard old man! Dammit, I should’ve killed him before all of this…”
“I don’t think you could’ve done it alone, my dear, he’s too strong…” the King sighed. “Nonetheless, all of this is valuable information. Let’s discuss a lot more. We must prepare for what’s to come. We can’t keep delaying this… tomorrow at night, we shall dispose of him and the entire magician tower.”
The King gave his decree.
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