Chapter 48: Look at this god—does he look like a fool?

Far away in Camelot, Manaka was teaching her magic apprentices when suddenly she blushed and lowered her head.

After a long moment, she covered half her face with a book. Fearing that the students might notice, she peeked out from behind it, a mix of pride and shyness on her face.

"Prince, really..."

——————

Meanwhile, Arthur was startled.

[Complete mission (Outcast) and obtain talent—Dreamlike Charisma.]

[Complete mission (Romance) and obtain equipment—Magic Card: Wind.]

Arthur glanced at Merlin, hesitant to say more.

Is this guy really satisfied with such a casual, perfunctory reward? It felt cheap—he hadn't paid anything at all, yet he'd gotten a tool-man with an absurdly high cost-performance ratio. Well, okay then.

But the rewards were real.

[Dreamlike Charisma]—no need to explain; it meant exactly what it said. It was the talent Arthur least needed, so he ignored it.

Arthur turned the Magic Card: Wind over in his hands, his expression growing increasingly puzzled.

There were no instructions for this system reward. Arthur would have to figure out its powers on his own.

But this card—

"No matter how I look at it, this thing is a Clow Card, isn't it?"

What was the system trying to do?

His mind spun with confusion.

Suddenly, the Clow Cards in his hand shimmered. No light effects, just patterns shifting as if alive. Except for the elf girl motif, the rest morphed into a star map—blue background, gold filigree—forming the true [Magic Card: Wind].

Arthur injected a small surge of magic, and a gentle breeze curled and danced in his palm.

[Mission (Abnormal) completed; obtained talent—Miracle Lv5.]

[Evaluation: A bonfire flickering on the edge of extinction, a fragile yet brilliant miracle.]

And what about Manaka, the one Morgan gets along with so well, who finally embraced Camelot?

Arthur shook his head. Tonight was truly strange. The tasks he had no desire to complete, and those that baffled him, had all been completed in one sweeping, inexplicable moment.

But the strangeness didn't end there.

"Huh?"

This is going to get interesting.

——————

The next morning, Merlin woke from his 'dream'.

Better put—Merlin, being an incubus, didn't really need sleep like humans. In fact, night was when he thrived most.

But the night before, Arthur had ordered him to sleep.

Merlin hadn't really woken—every time he opened his eyes, he saw Arthur sitting opposite, silently staring.

After trying several times, Merlin could only wait until dawn.

At this moment, Arthur still sat motionless, eyes fixed on him as before.

"My king, haven't you slept all night?"

No response.

Something felt wrong.

"Arthur? Has he been attacked? Manipulated by magic? No—that's impossible. I'm here. Is there a magician in this era who can bypass me and cast a spell?" Merlin frowned, hesitant to touch him.

But that was absurd.

Not even a god could cast a spell on Arthur without Merlin sensing it.

Suddenly Arthur's body trembled; the rigid posture collapsed. He fell back on the bed, listless.

"My king!"

"Huh? Morning already? Time flies," Arthur blinked, dazed.

"What happened—"

Before Merlin could finish, Arthur laughed softly and asked, "Merlin, as one of the top magicians, do you believe in gods? Or if I said I met gods last night, would you believe it?"

Gods exist, naturally.

In this last land of the Age of Gods, many traces remain.

Do gods still exist today?

"Yes," Merlin would say.

Arthur, usually so rational, seemed oddly possessed by the question.

"I know, that's why it's incredible." Arthur shook his head with a smile.

The story began after Merlin had fallen asleep the night before.

Arthur counted his mission rewards when another triggered:

[Task Trigger]

[Wisdom]

Requirement: The king cannot be a fool.

Reward: Prop—Periodic Table of Elements: Ganges Water

Arthur found the mission stupid and the system possibly broken.

Then, a voice echoed in his mind.

Welcome to the chat group of the gods!

Ten minutes into the chat, Arthur grasped what was happening—the group's leaders, believers, and the whole absurdity.

"To put it simply, I met a god last night. Perhaps, in some sense, he really was a god." Arthur smiled. "To hide their lies, people weave endless lies. And to cover those lies, they must weave even more lies."

"King Arthur, the weather is very nice today." Merlin's back broke out in cold sweat. He felt Arthur was talking about him.

Look, gods.

In this era, only Arthur and Manaka possess power close to gods.

As for those who love to lie, well, it seemed Merlin was the only one.

"It's amazing—a god who lies and must cover his lies is just like a mortal."

"Are you okay—"

Before Merlin could reply, Arthur's gaze landed on the golden crystal in his hand.

It radiated vast energy beyond ordinary magic.

"This is the Crystal of Faith, used exclusively by gods—like coins for them." Arthur scattered the crystals on the floor, then pulled out a hollow ring burning with a faint blue flame.

"And this, the Godhead. Our gods shouldn't have this."

Arthur's expression softened with regret.

The leader of the gods' chat was easy to fool. Reluctantly, the leader had to dig into his divinity and hand it over, losing everything in the process.

He was just too poor.

According to the chat info, the group was established three years ago, and the leader's entire fortune was only 500 Crystals of Faith. The chat eventually broke up because of rule violations, and the leader lost his godhood.

Arthur wanted to continue his trickery, but there was nothing left to do.

"What a pity."

Merlin was stunned.

"You let me sleep last night, but you went and robbed the gods yourself?"