Seeing Merlin look as if he were about to collapse, Machina hurriedly crawled over on her knees, letting him lie in her arms.
“Yes, it was my fault… I was so full of myself. I’m the weakest one… Don’t talk anymore… Merlin.”
Machina grabbed Merlin’s hand, which was hanging in mid-air, and pressed it hard against her wet cheek as if it were her only lifeline. She felt the temperature of his palm gradually fading, and fear flooded over her like a tide.
“Merlin, as long as you survive, you can scold me however you want. You can do whatever you want with me… Please.”
“Hmm…?”
Merlin’s eyes began to lose focus. His body felt light, and the heart-wrenching pain seemed to be drifting away.
“Then… don’t give me that grumpy face anymore…”
“Fine, I promise. From now on, I’ll smile for you. I’ll only smile for you…”
“And don’t… leave me behind again…”
“I won’t. I’ll never leave you behind again.”
“And don’t bully me anymore. Actually, I’ve always cared about the fact that I don’t have magic power… You always use that to bully me.”
“It’s not… It’s not like that… I just didn’t want you to get hurt. I didn’t think it would end up… *sob*… I’ll never bully you like this again.”
“I also hope you can be as gentle to me as you are to our other classmates.”
“Yes… Yes! I’ll be as gentle as you want. Even if you betray me, it won’t matter!”
Merlin smiled. “Even if it’s a lie to comfort me, I’m happy, Machina.”
“I’M NOT LYING!”
Merlin closed his eyes of his own accord, as if reminiscing about the past. Machina panicked and lightly patted Merlin’s cheek.
“Don’t sleep!”
In the corner, the monster affected by hallucinations and paralysis gradually began to clear its head. Its chaotic roars became quieter, and its meaningless twitching started to stop. It would likely regain consciousness soon. Even so, Machina still did not let go of Merlin.
While Machina remained still, the surrounding fairies were in a complete uproar. The blue spots of light that had been fluttering around Merlin were now darting about like headless flies, the air filled with their terrified cries.
“It’s over! The Boss can’t die!”
“If the Boss dies here, none of us will escape when we get back!”
Panic spread among the fairies like a plague, immediately followed by a blame-shifting session.
“Hey, who told you to use the paralysis potion and the hallucinogen together? You don’t even know what’s in them, do you?”
“But… but for such a huge monster, how could we control it without strong medicine? Look, isn’t it about to wake up now?”
“But the Boss is seriously injured! The Royal is the most important!”
“Stop blaming me! If we hadn’t done that, the Boss wouldn’t have had any other choice!”
“This is bad! The Royal cannot die! The Old Boss entrusted him to us. If she comes back, we’ll be beaten to death. She’s much fiercer than the Boss!”
Machina looked up at the cluster of light spots circling frantically above Merlin’s head. Although she couldn’t understand what those chirping fairies were saying, she could feel their frantic energy.
“You lot, is there any way you can save Merlin?”
She had seen the fairies assisting Merlin in battle just now; perhaps there was still a way. The fairies glanced at Machina and then continued their frantic flight. It seemed they only cared about Merlin.
Just as Machina felt a wave of helplessness, Merlin stirred in her arms. Merlin’s small face had turned red from the frantic slaps just now, and he looked at Machina with a slightly resentful gaze.
“I’m not sleeping. In fact, after you froze my wound, it didn’t seem to hurt as much. But I’m not sure if it’ll stay that way…”
Even in this situation, Merlin still spoke optimistically.
“That’s good.”
The fairies began to fly in swarms again, their numbers seemingly increasing.
“Call the Captain over!”
“Getting beaten back home is better than getting slaughtered here!”
“Yes… the Royal cannot die here.”
The fairies seemed to have made a decision. The light sources that had been drifting aimlessly now constricted, gathering into a single mass.
“As expected!”
“Mm…”
The monster’s compound eyes began to glow as it started observing its surroundings. Machina took a deep breath. She continued to hold Merlin, but she gritted her teeth, violently squeezing out every drop of magic power in her body.
She had been too useless. She failed to protect Merlin and let him get injured like this.
‘Was she really that useful? Was she strong?’
‘She couldn’t even protect Merlin… What right did she have to lecture him?’
At the very least, she had to buy time for him. Machina forcibly squeezed all the magic power from her body, trying to protect Merlin even though her internal reserves had run dry. A knife-like headache surged within her.
‘Now!’
Machina exhausted all her magic power, freezing the monster’s forelimbs. Combined with its severed hind limbs, it was unable to move freely. Then she froze its scythe joints… Good…
The monster let out an angry cry. For the Machina of usual days, pinning down a monster was easy, but in her current state, she couldn’t even manage to stall for time effectively. Exactly how much time could she buy? Machina didn’t know.
Merlin had already protected her once. Even if they both had to die in the end, Machina would be his shield… At the very least, she should be the one to die first.
Feeling her body grow colder, Merlin began to speak despondently. Machina snapped her head back. Merlin’s body was getting colder and colder. He vaguely saw the figure with long black-blue hair in front of him, looking at him with an anxious expression.
‘Is this… a dream?’
‘If it were reality, how could the proud Machina ever make such a face for me?’
Merlin forced the corners of his mouth up, revealing a pale, pathetic smile. “Machina… if I can end this in a beautiful dream, I might actually be quite happy. Even if those words weren’t sincere… After all, you always bully me. I feel so wronged.”
“I BEG YOU, MERLINLIA! I didn’t lie to you! Please, save your strength!!”
Merlin averted his eyes from Machina’s anxious gaze. “Don’t you have a fiancé? How could you only smile for me? How could you be gentle to me… But I’m truly beyond help. I actually feel happy right now.”
As he spoke, a single tear slid from the corner of Merlin’s eye. “Haha.”
“I was wrong… Merlin… I won’t be stubborn anymore… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… hit me… scold me! But… please stop talking now… reinforcements are coming… save your strength…”
Merlin coughed up the blood in his mouth and shouted, “I’m going to talk! Because I’m dying of resentment! Do you think my heart is made of iron? I hate you! Ever since we reunited! How many times have you bullied me?!”
“Yes… I’m sorry… it’s all my fault.”
“And yet… I still chose to save you. How stupid. Haha… Scold me! Because I saved you instinctively just now! You must be laughing at me in your heart! Laughing at what a fool I am…”
“Merlin… I don’t think that… I don’t… I’m sorry… It was my fault for not doing better… You’re right! Having magic power is nothing special… I was wrong… It’s all my fault.”
Merlin simply smiled. “Even though I knew you had a fiancé, even though I knew your gentleness was fake… seeing you worry about me, I actually… still feel happy.”
Machina was already a mess of tears. “I don’t have a fiancé! I’m sorry… Merlin… I’m sorry…”
“I don’t believe you… Am I very stupid…?”
Machina looked at Merlin. He was right in front of her, yet he felt as far away as the ends of the earth.
“No… I’m sorry… I’m the biggest fool of all! I’m the one who didn’t protect you… I could have done better… If I had known it would be like this!”
Machina’s screams were choked by tears and mucus, and she coughed violently.
“If I had known… I shouldn’t have chased after those so-called grades… I was just acting out of spite… I would rather have failed myself, I would rather have died myself… than see you get hurt… Just consider this my loss!”
Merlin ignored Machina and spoke to himself.
“You bully me every day… if it can just end like this… without being tortured by you anymore… haha… it actually feels pretty good.”