"It stemmed from Eya's 'Challengology.'"
"Why did Eya create a Challengologist? Because he knew this field of study would be useful to him, yet had no interest in it himself. That was how Merlin came to be."
"And Merlin? He was a Time Doppelgänger personally crafted by Eya to specialize in his weak points. The meaning of his existence was to thrive in fields Eya disliked."
"What Eya disliked, Merlin happened to excel at; what Eya could not be bothered to touch, Merlin regarded as treasure."
"Do you see it? Their principles were naturally at odds."
A relationship born from rejection, deepened through preference, and set against itself by conflicting principles was bound to reach one ending: discord born of disputes.
So, at the end of the day, the root of their poor relationship lay in Eya's original intent in creating Merlin.
From the very beginning, that "utilitarian separation" had planted the seed of Merlin's resistance toward him.
"It is like having another you standing before you—almost identical in every way, except that the faith he pursued all his life is precisely the trait you dislike." Laplace said softly, "Would you like such a self?"
Angel thought for a moment, then shook his head.
Shaking his head did not mean he disliked it. It meant: "I don't know."
After all, he had never experienced such a situation. It was difficult to determine whether he would like it or not through imagination alone.
Laplace considered this, then said, "True. You have no Time Doppelgänger, nor have you ever created a duplicate with an independent will. It is hard for you to view the original self from the perspective of a 'separate self.' It is normal for you to feel confused. Then let me tell you what I would think if this