No Hope Left, Just Wait for Death

I really had only wanted to fool you, but you actually took it seriously?

And a half-incubus, half-human hybrid—with that handsome appearance, that dashing face...

Holy crap, if one of those really showed up, who could possibly resist?

Forget women—even British boys were into that sort of thing...

A lowly bloodline like an incubus might have been universally reviled in ancient times, but nowadays... wouldn't it be even more exciting?

"Say, Merlin, have you ever considered making a debut and having some fun?"

After thinking it over, Li Mo's mischievous side surfaced, and he teasingly joked.

"Pfft!"

In Avalon, Merlin, who was gripping Fou by the scruff of his neck, nearly spat. His indignant voice immediately rang out. "I'm a respectable person—no, I'm a respectable mage!"

Li Mo: ...

What did being a respectable mage have to do with making a debut? It was not as if he was asking Merlin to debut in some island nation. Unless...

"Great Merlin, tell me honestly. What exactly do you use your Clairvoyance to look at?"

"Pah!" Merlin sounded as if he had become anxious, his voice firing off like a string of cannonballs through Li Mo's mind.

"A mage's business... can that even be called business... It's called pursuing knowledge... called learning until the day you die..."

Li Mo: ???

Merlin, what exactly had you been watching all day!???

"Then..."

"No! Don't try to tempt me. I absolutely will not make a debut!"

Σ(￣д￣;)!!!

I just thought it would be a shame if more people did not get to see that peerless beauty of yours... Li Mo wiped away the nonexistent sweat on his forehead, holding back his laughter without knowing how he was supposed to laugh.

Yet Merlin's attention did not seem to be on Li Mo at all. His magnetic voice drifted over from afar. "Tell me, what did you come to me for?"

The topic finally returned to its starting point. Li Mo scratched his head and said awkwardly, "Merlin, do you know what the place I'm currently in is called?"

"Hm? Wait a moment..."

It seemed as though something had reminded Merlin. At the mage tower in Avalon, Merlin suddenly closed his eyes before opening them again, as if searching for Li Mo in the present world.

Before long, Merlin's voice came again. This time, however, it lacked its usual frivolity and was instead full of gravity and doubt.

"You're beneath your Clock Tower?"

"Yeah. What's wrong?"

"I can't see where you are. You should pray for your own luck. I hope that after I finally get out, I'll still be able to see you in the present world."

Huh? He could not see him?

Li Mo was a little startled. If you could not see me, how could you still talk to me?

And that was Clairvoyance. Even if it was only the Eyes of the Present World, a bit low-tier compared to Solomon's and Gilgamesh's, there should not have been anywhere it could not see, right?

In the FGO timeline, Merlin's Clairvoyance could even see what Ritsuka Fujimaru and the others experienced in Singularities. Yet now he was suddenly saying that he could not see?

It had collapsed. The whole premise had completely collapsed!

As if he had guessed Li Mo's confusion, Merlin's magnetic voice rang out calmly.

"Actually, Clairvoyance is not nearly as powerful as you think. There are many things in this world that we cannot see, such as the Spirit Tomb Albion where you are now."

"Since you know that King of Heroes Gilgamesh also possesses Clairvoyance, then surely you know that gods still existed in his era?"

"Yeah, I know. Wasn't Gilgamesh a 'wedge' the gods created to connect with humankind?"

Merlin: ...

What the hell was Gilgamesh supposed to mean? How was he meant to continue after that?

Ignoring the things Li Mo said that he could not understand, Merlin continued explaining in an irritated tone.

"Since you know that much, then why did Gilgamesh, who possessed Clairvoyance, not use it to look into the past, or even at the gods?"

Right. If he could use Clairvoyance to look at the gods, or even at the very beginning of this world's origin, why would he need anything else?

Li Mo's mind went blank. He had truly never considered such a question.

Before Li Mo could speak, perhaps afraid that he would say something wildly off-topic, Merlin's voice rang out again.

"Because Clairvoyance is not omnipotent. There are many things in this world that we cannot see and must not see, such as gods, the Reverse Side of the World, and places like the Sea of Stars."

Fallen Dragon was that incredible?

"Then why am I—"

"As for why you can still speak with me, do you remember the flower petal I imprinted on your forehead when I first gave you the Flower Magecraft inheritance?"

"That is why I can still talk to you despite being unable to see you. Of course, it is not permanent. Once you can use Flower Magecraft freely, the mark will naturally fade away."

So there was no point in looking for you, then?

Li Mo pulled a long face, his disappointed voice escaping his lips. "Merlin... I'm in Spirit Tomb Albion, and I may be lost..."

Merlin: Huh???

"What kind of joke is that? You're a Clock Tower mage, hahaha... You aren't seriously lost, are you?"

In Avalon, Merlin's expression went from bafflement to wild laughter, then from wild laughter back to bafflement. Nearby, Fou sat sprawled on the ground and looked at him with utter disdain.

"How did you get into the Spirit Tomb?"

"My teacher brought me in. He said he wanted me to contract a familiar..."

"Didn't he give you a map?"

"He did, but I can't read it..."

Silence...

Merlin: No hope left. Just wait for death!

Li Mo: ???

Of course, that was just someone making things up. The real situation was actually like this...

"Do you know where you are right now?"

"No."

"Is there anything particularly distinctive around you?"

"Plants... trees..."

"Then there's no hope for you. Just wait for death. Farewell!"

Li Mo: ???

That was the real situation!

"So, Merlin, can't you give me some better advice...?"

Li Mo held the parchment map in his hand, having flipped and folded it so much that it was nearly crumpled to pieces, and spoke the most miserable words in the most energetic tone.

Yet Merlin's voice remained as irritated as ever. "What can I do? I've never been to that place, and I can't even see it."

"How about you keep walking? Try a little harder and see whether you can run into someone?"

How could anyone possibly be in this damn place!

Li Mo flipped the table!

"That's it. Farewell!"

Huh? You're leaving already? Stay and chat a little longer?

"I've already packed my things. I'm heading out now."

"Also, don't be so dramatic in your inner monologue. My eyes cannot see you, so I cannot hear you speaking."

"When you talk to me, everything you think comes through to me."

Li Mo: ...

"Merlin?"

"Hello? Are you still there?"

Yet no matter how Li Mo called out, Merlin's voice never came again...

In Avalon, Merlin stood at the edge of an impossibly tall mage tower, holding a dog-like creature by the scruff of its neck.

"Fou—kyu, fufu—woo~"

"Hehehe." Merlin laughed softly, a trace of teasing showing in his pale violet eyes.

"Come on, hurry and go, Casterly Rock."

"I'm leaving too."

"Go freely—touch truly beautiful things!"

Fou: ???

"Fou—woo!!!!!"