Peaceful plains dotted with flowers of every hue in full

bloom.

Standing among them, the only thing that obstructed the

view were the groves of trees in the distant forest, and

even if one gazes around the entire sky, all that can be

seen is the green earth filling the landscape in equal

measure with the blue sky.

For here stood no fences made by human hands nor any

homes. No walls, no castle nor any lines in the ground that

men called borders of their countries.

Bright rays of spring and flavors of summer filled the air as

the sun rose.

The sky was swept by autumn winds and speckled by

dazzling wintry stars by the time night fell.

On the earth dwelt many flowers and insects.

The forests were home to water and greenery and different

beasts. And upon the lake lived the graceful Fae.

What humans envisioned as paradise is merely an imitation of this realm, a land at the end of the world where

they would be eternally forbidden to set foot.

Legend referred to this small world as the land of

everlasting spring, "the island of apples". An ideal

homeland, a utopia that could never be obtained nor

reached by wiser beasts.

A realm that has no connection with the decline and destruction of the surface world that keeps repeating itself.

A foreign land that is very close to human

history yet has no relationship with them.

Its name is Avalon. The inner sea of the stars, the other name for the place where the planet called the Earth rests its soul.

"No....I would say that's not the right word either. After all, this place is in the same coordinates as Britain, even though it is located in the reverse side of the world. A place that occupies the same space but is

divided by several layers."

Someone clad in a simple-looking robe yet fashioned from the finest fabrics walked across the garden in the form of a human.

As he stood there at ease and gazed into the horizon without hesitation, the sun's rays sparkled through his long hair, kindling a rainbow of hues.

He strolled across a sea of flowers, conversing with them as if they were friends. He hums to himself without hesitation or embarrassment, without hurting a single petal that filled the ground.

From the very beginning, this man's sense of values was not of humans nor paradise and he would neither favor nor be biased with either of them.

Thus, he crossed the border with the thought, "The woman I rejected is trying to kill me, so I'm going to hide on the other side of the world for a while," and happened to stumble upon the bright idea to come across this unexplored land where there is no one else.

"But this is quite a terrible place... the magic in the air is so dense. I can't believe I'm dying just by breathing, it's just like a vacuum. Just a single breath would be enough for any living man of this era to burst from inside. This land shouldn't even be called the paradise of legend. Won't it be better employed as a weapon?"

The man was walking in the garden while speaking whatever came to his mind.

He was undoubtedly a wise man, a sage who had wandered into this foreign place.

At any rate, the man himself did not know the way back, nor did he have any place to go from here. If someone told him that this is the world after death, he will even say "I see" and just agree with it.

However, he did not hold the slightest sense of crisis because the man himself is essentially a foreign being.

The "present era" that came out of that man's mouth refers to the outside world from where the man came.

The man had left behind the soon to be extinct island of a certain race in the fifth century and moved to this paradise on his own.

He was the court magus of a king, a non-human who transferred himself into this realm rather than standing alongside the King in her final battle for exceedingly personal issues concerning a

certain female.

"I see. It turned out as I thought... Mordred decided to revolt and the lords, who had been reprimanded by the king, approved. They even pressed blame on her for the harsh winters of recent years. So, the rebellion against the king, who was strict but the living embodiment of the ideal of Kingship himself, began huh."

The man walked step by step on Paradise, the flowers which he paid special attention not to trample, decreased as he advanced.

Although the island has no end, it seems to have a change of looks from land to land. The closer one gets to the end of the island, the more barren the land becomes, just like the reality called Britain.

The man pressed on, hummed, and waved his staff as he continued walking through the barren land. And curiously, flowers that were not supposed to bloom, would spring up in the imprints he made upon the ground, despite there being no traces of any use of magic or mystery.

They did not blossom from his desires to decorate the garden or a sense of sympathy towards these barren lands, a disgrace that

exists even in this paradise.

No, it wasn't sadness. For this creature, sprinkling flowers as it breathes. Bringing flowers to the earth; placing dreams in the

hearts of humans; ushering in simply a future for history...

That was the character and essence of the man.

His name was Merlin, the Magus of Flowers; the one among the pinnacles of the magecraft users even amidst the myriad spell-weavers of human myths and legend. The offspring of a human woman and an incubus; and possessor of those eyes which signifies the zenith(supreme) of magi - eyes which could

perceive into the world.

"Well, so they claim... but in truth, those eyes can do little more than sow more seeds. And the eyes are a little better than others but we cannot compare to others just because we see further."

Clairvoyance - the ability of the eyes to see far away even while remaining in one place.

This is the power that since ancient times, prayer masters who

have been entrusted with the land from the gods must have

utilized to protect the lives of the people.

No matter how massive the magic circuit is or how powerful the

magic formula is, magi without this "eye" will never be considered

as highest ranked.

Merlin's clairvoyance were eyes that see through the world. He was born with a sense of sight that allowed him to perceive any and all things in existence within his era, down to the smallest of details, without needing to take a single step.

Some Magi older than him even possessed eyes that could

perceive into the past or the future. Of course, they were also considered as the highest rank - but the only living Magus who possessed clairvoyance was Merlin. The previous holders had brought annihilation to their own realm and disappeared from the

world of men.

If "knowledge" is the most basic yet profound aspect of magic, then these clairvoyant magi were born with the ability "to know".

Although those Magi with possession of clairvoyance were born as human beings, having already reached the truth of the world became heretics of humanity itself who never managed to obtain

their human values.

How humans lived their lives is something that Merlin, who cannot see into the past, cannot know. However, he could somewhat understand their feelings.

He felt that their lives were not that interesting, regardless of how he felt about the form of human society or how it operated.

Merlin was aware of nearly all the doings and happenings occurring within his era, as well as capable of deducing how they would end.

To him, the world was no different from a "painting".

Certainly, the "painting" called human society was worth seeing for him. He might even consider it an expression of the concept of

divine miracles. However, the more interesting the piece of "painting" became, the more alienated Merlin felt when it became apparent that he had no place in it. Simply put, as he sowed the seeds in it, he felt the sensation of alienation as a species.

The story of his life might have gone differently if there had been a fellow human being with whom he could have shared his

complaints about how boring God's point of view is really.

"Just stop yourself, sit on the throne with the spirit body to mock the predecessors'', there had been times when he had such thoughts of taking his own life, ascending to the throne as a spirit, and having his predecessors laugh at him out of mockery.

No. It's better to say there had not been a single day when he did not consider it.

However, there was one responsibility that Merlin must see through to the end.

The ending of an era, of a certain nation.

The ending of their king, the one he had created and served.

"Oh, what to say, I wonder really ... the age of Gods is long past, and with what is soon to unfold, so too will the age of the Fairies end. It is the age of Man - and that too will reach its eventual conclusion sooner or later. The day will come when this star of ours ceases to rotate, after which we will establish ourselves in the heavens, beginning the age of the Will. Those incapable of volition without a frame of flesh and blood will be left behind in time. And yet... I wonder why are we so obsessed with humans."

Merlin was born from the union of a Welsh princess and an incubus, a half-human and a half incubus.

As a cambion, he could be considered a higher form of life- a being with both a spiritual nature to be parasitic upon humans

and also a being capable of making predictions of the future- a creature with very odd standing.

Merlin thought If he were not such halfway creation standing on neither side, if only he had just been born as an incubus, he would have simply preferred to play in the world of the spirits.

At the same time, he felt fortunate to have the human personality he acquired, for having the blessing called individuality, and for being able to work without relying on the dreams of others, using his own dreams as nourishment.

Despite the circumstances of his birth, Merlin never came to

despise humanity. If anything, he grew fond of them to an unnatural degree. Rather than allying with the Fae and the Giants - his brethren - Merlin found himself helping humans, fostering and advising many kings, all to create a better era for them to

exist.

He always had a smile on his face, even while standing amid crowds and knights, and found enjoyment in the activities of humans. He aimed to rule as he would nurture a flower - something that would lead him to go down in history as one of the greatest kingmakers to ever live.

All of this came about from Merlin's desire to complete the 'painting', a 'painting' that would make his senses feel 'beautiful'- painting with a "happy ending" for mankind.

There was no love for humans, much less for any single individual.

To humans, Merlin would have seemed like a nice young man but in reality, that's not how it appeared.

From a general human perspective, the nature of Merlin seemed closer to a sort of locust, an insect. He was entirely too mechanical, too objective; his thoughts advanced by leaps and bounds, so far out of context that it is incompatible with the intelligence of this planet.

Although Merlin was attracted to beautiful, pretty, exquisite things, there was no reason for him to "like" them. He was simply allowed to fill the hole in his heart with that shape, form of beautiful, pretty, exquisite things.

Merlin was a creature who loved the results that people leave behind -humanity's legacy, but also a creature who was utterly incapable of investing his feelings to feel empathy towards the actual human beings who were taking part in creating it.

"This painting is beautiful. However, I am not interested in the content of this painting, nor in the tragedy and joy of those who created it, and I cannot find a single value in it. I

don't understand what it is, but I find it beautiful."

Clearly, he could not understand the content of the painting, yet he finds it beautiful. Merlin himself knew that this peculiar appetite or hobby was an appalling thing, but he had never been able to change it.

After all, he was born with the morals of a different kind of creature. Incubi did not evaluate the contents of the dreams they devoured, but only the nutritional value of the dream necessary for sustaining their existence.

It was no different from humans gathering at the table and eating the meals in front of them, with little thought for what great things the animals they just devoured might have once accomplished.

"I live my life by eating dreams. If I could choose, I'd much prefer the taste of happy dreams. But pragmatically speaking, If I am being practical then nightmares have a much higher nutritional value because it's easier to find real stories within them. For happiness to overcome despair, many times more difficult of a hurdle than despairing easily. And the burden of really doing that is quite high for the dreamer...And here we are…"

Merlin stopped, figuring that he had removed himself far enough away from the vicious claws of the wicked witch. Before he stood a gate assembled from the roughly hewn stone of such massive size as to bring to mind the Stonehenge, huge stone gates from Britain.

Beyond the gate laid the same wilderness of barren plain, no different than before. A single sentence was carved into the gate: "Only the sinless may pass."

" I see, you got me. I've been tricked already."

Merlin shrugged and made no attempts to avoid the gate, simply walking under it and sowing his flowers as he always did.

As soon as he did, the barren plains he stood on changed dramatically. Thick walls of stone sprang from the earth as though to entrap the guest, stretching skyward without limit and sealing in the Magus. Merlin stood in the center of this seemingly infinitely tall stone tower and turned around to find that the gate had disappeared. He was surrounded by stone walls on all sides - caged in a five square meter space carved from paradise itself.

That was the true nature of this bounded field and it appeared someone who hates Merlin has made a deal so that he will not be allowed to leave this tower for the rest of his life.

"A curse of this scale can't be established if you don't trade your life for it, isn't it? It's scary. Strange, I have no memory of offending that girl that I would be hated to this degree. Since I don't remember, well, I'll just ignore it, surely it must not have been anything important."

"Only the sinless may pass."

The reason Merlin still stepped through the gate understanding it was a trap, was because he could not suffer those words full of pain, it hurt him.

After all, Merlin wished a happy ending for humanity, but he did not essentially love humans. So, he has consumed many human lives as if they were insects in the name of bringing happiness and prosperity.

There was no such concept as right or wrong, likes or dislikes, evil or good. Therefore, no guilt, nor sensation of sin.

Even let him feel like the only one in the world deserving of the so-called 'sinless' word and believing that the gate's words must be referred to him specifically.

In the big picture, it can be argued that Merlin was fond of human beings.

That is why he has been actively involved in the human world and has enjoyed it in his own way like a happy relationship. He merely lent his hand to help humanity and fashioned them kings, but he felt neither responsibility nor guilt for what would befall the countries after - at least, not until he heard the parting words

of a single girl.

"Yeah well. I suppose I can't help it."

The man sat down on the only rocky outcrop in the cramped solitary room.

It was far too stiff to be considered a proper seat, but putting himself on it granted the perfect height by which to gaze through the solitary window in the wall. Only now did he fully realize the purpose of his visit here. What could be seen through the window was not the Britain of reality; however, to Merlin, any view was the same as he would be able to perceive all the events of the entire era through it. The Magus of Flowers went through the drafts and summaries he had made in life thus far and drew from the depth of his robe a hidden familiar - Cath Palug.

"The last sight is almost here - so before that, let me tell a bit of a story of the past."