The group continued talking for a few minutes, until the guild doors opened, releasing a strange feeling in all the adventurers. The sounds of a cane hitting the wood and a strange but familiar feeling of cold ran through Finn's body. Little by little, his breathing became heavier, and when he looked at the strange, long-bearded old man who had entered the guild, his eyes widened in surprise.
"It's you!" Finn exclaimed, standing up from his seat.
With a slight smile, the old man removed his cloak, greeting Finn as if he were greeting an old friend.
"It's been a while since we've seen each other, Finn" Merlin greeted with a smile. "You're more active than I expected. If I hadn't stopped time in this area, when you stopped, everyone would have known you already knew me."
"Stop time?" Finn asked, looking around. Everyone was completely immobilized.
"I see you've settled in pretty well, just like I told your grandmother you would" Merlin said, walking over to Finn.
"My grandmother? You know her?!" Finn asked, surprised.
"Of course I know her. I was the one who gave you to her 15 years ago, after all" Merlin revealed.
"You gave me to her?" Finn asked, confused.
"Oh, kid, there's a lot I need to tell you, and I'm sorry I didn't come to you sooner. But you sure kept me busy with that ancestral mural you found. But don't worry, we have plenty of time to talk for now." Merlin said, walking up to Finn and placing his hand on his shoulder.
Merlin sat down at the table Finn had been sitting at before, indicating that Finn should sit next to him, as it would be a long story.
—
"So I always belonged here?" Finn asked, surprised.
"That's right, young Finn. Your soul always belonged to this world, but because of that demon, you couldn't access your body" Merlin affirmed.
"And then you took me to Grandma, your friend" Finn said, and Merlin nodded.
"Morganna offered to take care of you for as long as necessary, although in the end, she didn't want you to return to this world. She wanted to see you grow peacefully there" Merlin said with a slight smile.
"I imagine it wasn't possible, right? That's why you brought me back yourself" Finn said.
"That's right, young Finn. No matter how much we wanted to leave you in that world, once the demon's seal was broken, your body began the process of reclaiming your soul" Merlin affirmed. "I only sped up the process because I didn't want you to come to this world just to die. The youth of an adventurer is the best age for you to grow as an adventurer."
"I understand, but what about Grandma? Did she stay there?" Finn asked.
"She did. Morganna hates the nature of this world, so she spent years searching for another world to escape to, your old world" Merlin revealed. "Don't worry, though. She said she'd visit you any day you least expected it."
"I'm surprised she didn't get angry, knowing her personality," Finn admitted with a slight smile.
"Oh, of course she did," Merlin stated, slightly opening his cloak and revealing a red hand-shaped mark. "She shows no mercy, even to her old friends… Although, changing the subject, there's something we should talk about, and I think you want to talk about it too."
"About what?" Finn asked, confused.
"About this world. It's not the same one you learned about in the novels, is it?" Merlin asked.
"That's true. Several things have happened that don't happen in the novels. Cristel is a good example. She is described as serious, but kind to her guild members. They never mention a friend of hers" Finn said, pointing to Amelia.
"Well, that's because Amelia was supposed to have died a month ago, just a week before the start of Cristel's novel" Merlin revealed, leaving Finn surprised.
"Died!! Why??" Finn asked, alarmed, remembering that Cristel was in mourning at the beginning of her novel, but they never explained why.
"For you two…" Merlin revealed, pointing at both Finn and Darwin, who remained frozen in time. "The day I met you, I told you that I had many regressions in time, each one different from the last, with the purpose of changing the tragic destiny of this kingdom and the neighboring kingdoms. In all those regressions, I let you grow up with Morganna and waited for you to come to this world on your own once your body claims you… but that never happened."
"It never happened?" Finn asked, and Merlin nodded.
"Almost two months ago, Darwin was supposed to have died in that cave, alone and abandoned, marking Amelia's first step toward collapse. You were her only support at the time" Merlin revealed.
"But that doesn't make sense. I wasn't supposed to have a soul back then. How could I have supported her?" Finn said, confused.
"Oh, Finn, living beings are very dependent, even on objects with no real value. You became someone very precious to Amelia, despite not being able to communicate with her or show her affection at all" Merlin revealed. "And when you died on a mission with your old team, Amelia had no one to grieve with."
"What about Cristel? they are friends" Finn said.
"they are, but Cristel has never had the same attachment that Amelia had to you two. Cristel grew up alone until she was 13, when she met Amelia and became her first friend. Although they only spoke to each other on certain occasions, Cristel came to consider her a great friend, but Amelia didn't see it the same way" Merlin clarified. "When you died, Cristel couldn't comfort Amelia, which led her to commit suicide."
Merlin's words hit him like cold water. Finn didn't know all this had happened simply because of his absence.
"But that didn't happen just now. Your arrival changed not only Darwin's death, but also Amelia's death and Cristel's change in attitude" Merlin revealed, becoming more serious this time. "Finn, no matter how hard I try to change this, I've never been able to achieve what your mere presence did. Do you understand what I'm asking of you? I don't want you to throw yourself directly into danger trying to solve the problems of this world; that's what I'm here for. What I'm asking of you is that whatever you're doing, you keep doing it."
"But I've only focused on surviving and trying to live a more peaceful life" Finn confessed.
"Then survive, Finn. Live life as you've been doing up until now. Be an adventurer alongside Darwin... something tells me you two will achieve great things, but all in good time, Finn. For now, live" Merlin said seriously, causing Finn to nod.
With a slight nod, Merlin stood up from his seat and walked toward the entrance.
"Are you leaving?" Finn asked.
"Don't be ridiculous, Finn. Technically, I just arrived. How am I going to leave?" Merlin asked, standing in the same spot he was before stopping time. "By the way, get ready to play along."
"What?" Finn managed to ask before Merlin slammed his staff on the ground.
In the blink of an eye, everything returned to normal, causing everyone to start moving again. Everyone happily greeted Merlin's arrival, even Cristel and the rest of her friends.
"Ha, Finn, my boy, I see the spell did work after all" Merlin exclaimed happily, approaching Finn.
"What… Oh, yeah, of course it worked!" Finn replied, not knowing how to react.
"I see. So it was you who helped Finn with his problem after all," Cristel said, looking at Merlin.
"Of course I helped him. I've been working on a cure for years, and it wasn't until a few months ago that I finally succeeded!" Merlin said with a big smile.
"I see. So it's you I should thank for bringing such a great adventurer to us," Cristel said. "He still lacks a little discipline, but I'll take care of that."
"In that case, I'll leave him in your care, Cristel," Merlin said, placing his hand on Cristel's shoulder before continuing toward the stairs leading to the Master's office. "Well, I'm leaving. That new mural you discovered and the ceremonial site will keep us very busy for the next few days."
Cristel and the others nodded, watching Merlin walk away.
"I thought you didn't know Merlin," Darwin said, looking at Finn.
"I met him because some memories have been coming back to me little by little" said Finn, but convincing everyone.
"I see, that makes sense" said Darwin.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, if he remembers the chocolate mission, I won't be able to face him again!!!" Amelia thought, showing a calm appearance, but nervous inside. "And how much of your memories have you recovered?" she asked.
"Oh, not much. From what I understand, that's all I'll get back." Finn lied again, but managed to calm Amelia down.
"I see, that's a shame..." said Amelia.