The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 408:

The Knights of the Round Table and Yu-hyun's party arrived at the site where the incident had taken place.

As if to prove that Gawain's words were not wrong, the inside of the room where the king had resided was a mess, like it had been swept by a hurricane.

Something terrible had happened, and the king might be dead. Gawain's words were true.

Considering his nature, it was unlikely he would lie, yet everyone here had hoped his words were false.

“This is… serious.”

Kay lowered his head with a grim expression and brushed his fingertips across the ground, tracing the sword marks engraved there.

It was hard to believe that such marks could remain in a room filled with all kinds of magical and ritual protections for the king's safety.

Yu-hyun and Seo Sumin also scoured every corner of the room, carefully checking for any clues.

‘A pretty fierce battle took place here.’

The cuts in the room revealed that the fight between King Arthur and the intruder had been quite brutal. Based on these alone, it really seemed like Arthur had been ambushed and overwhelmed.

However, there were more than a few strange things about the situation.

‘If King Arthur was truly a Divine Spirit of his caliber, couldn't he have wiped out this entire fortress if he really wanted to?’

No matter how sturdy Camelot Castle was, considering the power of a Divine Spirit like King Arthur, the aftermath of this battle seemed oddly small.

One could assume that he had intentionally held back to prevent the castle from collapsing, but would he have cared about that when his life was at stake?

‘If he was in danger, he might have asked for help. But the fact that no one knew until Gawain checked is too strange.’

Too many pieces of the puzzle were missing, making it impossible to draw conclusions through mere speculation.

The more rational the thoughts became, the deeper the case sank into mystery.

Yu-hyun couldn't help but think that something beyond his knowledge had occurred here.

"Kay."

“…Oh, right.”

When Yu-hyun called, Kay nodded as if he had realized something and stepped outside with Yu-hyun. Seo Sumin, feeling uncomfortable staying alone, joined them as well.

After moving to a place out of sight, Yu-hyun immediately shared his impressions with Kay.

“Something is wrong here.”

“Yeah. I feel the same way.”

Kay rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He had hoped to find clues at the scene, but the more he looked, the less sense it all made, and his mind grew only more muddled.

Though neither said it aloud, both Yu-hyun and Kay couldn't help but consider the worst-case scenario.

“Could there be another traitor among us?”

Yu-hyun worried about voicing this so openly but decided it was safe to say, considering it was Kay.

Kay's expression hardened slightly at those words, yet he neither became angry nor outright denied it.

“I don't want to think that way, but it's hard not to. Of course, be cautious saying things like that. I’m letting it slide because it’s me, but if you said that to anyone else, they’d draw their sword, defending their honor.”

“I know, that’s why I’m only saying it to you, Kay.”

"Ugh. Hard to deny. Anyway, just as you said… the chances of it being an inside job are very high."

“Are you not going to tell the other knights?”

“Who would you trust among them? And saying such a thing would only make matters worse, instead of helping us get closer to the truth.”

The Knights of the Round Table were fiercely proud of their titles as knights, reacting intensely when their honor was questioned.

Especially when it came to words like “betrayal” or “rebellion,” they had a visceral reaction, stemming from their past experiences.

Three of the 13 seats around the Round Table were empty, left vacant by the betrayal of three knights.

Given what those three had done, it was natural for the remaining knights to be overly sensitive.

“They all pretend otherwise, but deep down, they're still affected by the past. If it turns out the king died from another betrayal, it will be truly irreparable.”

“And what if it turns out that it was indeed done by those traitors from back then?”

“That can’t be. Those three vowed never to step foot in Camelot again. It wasn’t something we forced them to do; they chose it willingly. And just in case, we’ve kept a close watch on them. Only Mordred resides outside of Mabinogion, so he’s harder to check on, but if he ever set foot in Mabinogion, we would know.”

“Then do you suspect anyone else?”

Kay hesitated to answer Yu-hyun’s question. He wasn’t sure who he could suspect, but he was also reluctant to doubt the very comrades he had trusted.

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Kay began questioning himself.

Could he truly trust them?

All the evidence pointed to the presence of an insider traitor.

The king’s sudden disappearance, the fight that broke out inside without anyone noticing, and the fact that no one realized anything had happened until Gawain’s discovery.

“If it were Merlin…”

Kay wanted to believe in his comrades. He was certainly the most rational, cold-hearted, and pragmatic among the Knights of the Round Table, yet that didn’t mean he lacked camaraderie.

The fact that he, who had always considered them above such things, was now feeling the greatest shock spoke volumes.

So, by invoking Merlin's name, it was as though he was instinctively rejecting the idea, clutching onto a last glimmer of hope.

“Merlin might know something.”

"The Archmage Merlin… indeed."

Camelot of Mabinogion became renowned not just because of the Round Table and King Arthur.

The presence of the Archmage Merlin and the witch Morgan Le Fay greatly contributed to Camelot's strength as well.

Morgan, suspected of betrayal as Mordred's mother, was confined to her private quarters, unable to interfere in Camelot's affairs, but Merlin was different.

If anyone might know something, it would be that man.

In fact, he might already have figured it out and begun to solve the case.

“If so, where is Merlin?”

“Normally, I don’t know where he is. He’s an elusive old man, after all. But with the news of the king’s absence spreading, Merlin will definitely come here.”

If Merlin could employ his magical knowledge, he might discover what they hadn’t been able to see.

Kay trusted in that hope.

Yu-hyun hesitated, unsure if he should say anything to Kay.

‘It’s not something I can be certain of yet.’

While others struggled to find any substantial clues, Yu-hyun alone saw something different.

Thanks to the Fiery Eye Technique he learned from Sun Wukong, he perceived a faint trace.

The marks left in the room and the text imprinted there provided a hazy glimpse of what had transpired inside.

‘There definitely was a fight here.’

Someone had infiltrated the room, and, naturally, a battle with King Arthur ensued.

There had been three intruders in total, though identifying exactly who they were proved difficult.

It was like looking through a thick fog.

‘Just like when I tried to glimpse the future of those bearing the Fragments through Laplace's power.’

Could this really be a coincidence?

Above all, the fact that on the very day he visited Camelot, King Arthur vanished — could that be a mere accident?

‘No. That can’t be. There's definitely something here connected to me. Specifically, the Fragments of the Codex.’

The ones who attacked King Arthur bore the Fragments.

There were three of them. Whether all three carried Fragments or only one of them was uncertain.

Knowing they had the Codex’s Fragments helped explain why the battle went unnoticed.

The demon created by Descartes’ Fragment could traverse the realms of illusion and reality.

With that in mind, it was plausible that other Fragments could wield powers similar to Descartes’.

In Camelot Castle, guarded by second-generation Divine Spirits, it wouldn’t have been difficult to hide a battle.

‘But why would the bearer of a Fragment attack King Arthur?’

There was no way to know yet. Whether it was personal grudges or other intentions would only become clear later.

They would have to wait until Merlin arrived to discuss it further.

“Let's head back.”

“Alright.”

When Yu-hyun and Seo Sumin returned to the scene, they found an unfamiliar face there.

He was an elderly man, dressed in the attire of an archmage, with a long white beard, white hair, a wide-brimmed pointed hat, and a large wooden staff in one hand.

‘Is that Merlin?’

Somehow, he wasn’t quite what Yu-hyun had expected. In fact, his actual appearance didn’t meet his expectations at all.

The look was exactly as he had imagined, but more than his appearance, he lacked a certain presence.

Yu-hyun had expected Merlin, the Archmage, to exude an intimidating aura. Yet compared to the other knights, he didn’t stand out as much.

Although Gawain, Kay, and Bedivere were remarkable, even objectively, Merlin felt lacking somehow.

‘Hmm. Is that really the famous Archmage?’

Just as Yu-hyun was about to feel doubtful, Kay approached Merlin.

“Merlin. You’re here. The situation is…”

“I’ve already heard.

Is it true that Arthur has disappeared?”

“Yes. But whether he’s really gone… in the worst-case scenario, he might be dead.”

“Arthur was the king I chose. It’s impossible that he was killed by mere intruders. Perhaps he was injured and moved elsewhere.”

“Then why? With so many people nearby who could help, why would he not call for aid?”

“That part requires some thought.”

Merlin stroked his beard, sidestepping the question, but Yu-hyun and Kay immediately understood his meaning.

The possibility of a traitor. Merlin was also concerned about it.

Arthur was ambushed and wounded, but due to the awareness of a traitor, he sought to act alone without asking for help.

So, where would Arthur go if he was moving alone?

“Do you have any ideas?”

“The problem is, there are too many possibilities.”

Kay frowned at Yu-hyun’s question, finding it troublesome.

There were over five places Arthur might go alone, but searching all of them one by one would be difficult.

Yu-hyun glanced at the other knights, then whispered quietly to Kay.

“Where’s the least likely place?”

“What?”

“If there’s a traitor and he moved alone, he’d have gone somewhere no one could expect… somewhere only he knows.”

"…!"

Kay widened his eyes, then nodded, realizing Yu-hyun was right.

With the possibility of an insider traitor, Arthur wouldn’t have taken refuge somewhere predictable.

It made sense to check a place Arthur would never be expected to go.

“Indeed, there is one place.”

“Where?”

“Where the witch Morgan resides.”

Kay hesitated, as if reluctant to even mention the name.

“Avalon.”

“Avalon… the ideal land?”

In the legend of King Arthur, Avalon was the ideal land to which he was taken before his death to be resurrected.

However, Avalon was now more notorious, a place Camelot’s citizens and knights shunned.

This was because Morgan Le Fay, Mordred’s mother, resided there.

Kay was convinced that Arthur would have gone there.

* * *

Kay, Yu-hyun, and Seo Sumin immediately left Camelot Castle, heading toward Avalon.

They moved independently, without informing the other knights.

They wanted to avoid the risk of the traitor catching wind of it and thought moving as a small group would be faster and easier.

They weren’t alone, though; another had joined their party.

Merlin, the archmage whom Camelot proudly regarded, had joined them.

“Now that I think of it, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Merlin.”

“I’m Kang Yu-hyun.”

“I’m Seo Sumin.”

Yu-hyun and Seo Sumin exchanged a brief greeting with Merlin.

Merlin stroked his beard and chuckled softly.

“You’re the famous Book Pile Lord and the woman who caused chaos in the Demon King's domain. I don’t know how the two of you ended up together, but my apologies. This is an internal Camelot matter, yet we’re receiving help from outsiders.”

“Don’t worry about it. We plan to be well-compensated.”

At the mention of payment, Merlin turned to Kay with a questioning look.

Kay nodded reluctantly. He had promised, after all. Besides, with no clear enemy in sight, the assistance of Yu-hyun and Seo Sumin would be invaluable.

“Well, if you're helping, we should compensate you. But it’s quite a predicament. If our guess is correct, Arthur headed to Avalon.”

“Is Avalon problematic in any way?”

“It wasn’t before, but now the problem lies with its resident.”

Yu-hyun had heard about Morgan.

She was once King Arthur’s wife and Mordred’s mother, but when Mordred committed treason, she too was branded a traitor.

Now, she was said to live quietly in seclusion at Avalon, but who would have thought Arthur would head there?

‘Did he trust that Morgan wasn’t the traitor?’

There was no assurance that Arthur had gone to Avalon, yet Yu-hyun sensed that something there was closely tied to this incident.

“They didn’t originally have a bad relationship, but they’ve barely met for a long time, so I doubt things have improved. Morgan might even reject a wounded Arthur if he shows up.”

“We can only hope that doesn’t happen.”

Before long, they halted in their tracks.

A massive thorny vine blocked their path.

“Is this Avalon?”

The vicious, withered black thorns alone formed a terrifying fortress.

Seo Sumin looked on in disbelief at the sight, so far removed from Avalon’s idyllic reputation. Merlin, however, simply nodded.

“Yes. This is the entrance to Avalon.”

“It doesn’t look like the ideal land at all.”

“It only appears that way from the outside.”

Merlin answered as he stood in front of the thorns.

“Morgan. It’s Merlin. Would you mind opening the door?”

At that moment, a voice echoed from the empty air.

[Oh, Merlin. How long has it been? It’s been a while.]

“Yes. It’s been quite a while.”

[So, what brings you here? And with unfamiliar guests, no less.]

At the seductive, decadent voice, Merlin replied with a kindly smile.

“We’re looking for something inside Avalon.”

[Oh? Looking for something? You’ve piqued my curiosity. Although, I don’t believe there’s anything of note here.]

“Well, I won’t beat around the bush. Morgan, Arthur came here, didn’t he?”

[…]

Morgan was silent for a while in response to Merlin’s direct question.

[…Come in.]

With her permission, the thorny vines parted, creating a path.

As Kay, Merlin, and Seo Sumin passed through the vines, Morgan’s sharp voice directed itself at Yu-hyun.

[But that man over there… it seems he won’t be allowed.]