Chapter 34: The World told me to.
Instead of tensing up after a voice suddenly sounded behind him, Morden relaxed a bit; he had been moving around for quite a while, and he had started to worry if Merlin was actually going to show up.
"It seems you have started worrying if I wouldn’t come, Mr. Tales."
"I told you the world would help me locate you, didn’t I?"
Morden looked at the man that had just walked in front of him from behind him and just shook his head.
"Are you ready or are there some preparations you need to make?" Morden asked.
Hearing Morden’s question, Merlin couldn’t help but grin before answering with a question of his own.
"I am ready, Mr. Tales; the more important question is, are you?"
Morden was taken aback by the rebound question, but he quickly managed to compose himself.
"Let’s head over then."
Merlin stepped forward and began leading Morden in the direction that appears to be a residential district; he didn’t perform any divinations, nor did he say anything; he just walked.
’It seems he is actually a legit diviner; he said he was going to find me, and he actually did. let’s hope he is able to find that person too.’
’If he actually does, let’s hope I have what it takes to fight him.’
Apart from the voice in Morden’s head and the noise from the surroundings, the two walked in total silence, maneuvering from street to street.
Morden watched as they passed by his house while he made sure to not show any difference in his expression. From there they moved to the neighboring Clodi district and then the Balti district.
Noticing they were moving from district to district without it appearing like they were actually headed to a particular destination.
He felt the urge to speak up, but he resisted and tried his best to remain quiet.
After a short cruise in the Balti district, they turned around again and headed back to the Clodi district, and that was the single straw that broke the camel’s back.
"Are you sure you know where the person is?" Morden asked.
In response to his question, Merlin stopped in his tracks, turned around to look at Morden, and then smiled.
"I go where the World takes me, Mr. Tales; it is not in my power."
Those words almost made Morden cough out blood from frustration, but he managed to control himself again. He released a soft sigh before opening his mouth to speak.
"Alright then, let’s continue moving."
Merlin didn’t say a word; he only turned back around to resume their work.
After that short break they had, it was as if the setting were suddenly cranked up to maximum as they kept walking all around over and over.
They had walked past Morden’s house more than three times and had even gone to districts Morden wasn’t familiar with, like the Sarg district, where the middle-class to rich families usually stayed, but during all of their rounds, one thing was common.
They passed through the Clodi district.
About thirty minutes after Morden stopped them to confirm Merlin’s circumstance, the two were in the Clodi district again when Merlin finally stopped.
He turned to look at a Bungalow located on the left side before proceeding to approach it.
The bungalow was just like every other one in the surroundings; it was slightly dilapidated and slightly moldy, obvious from the mold growing from the cracks.
At first sight, it looked just like a building where a ritualistic Murderer will be staying, giving Morden some reassurance.
Merlin walked about halfway through the path towards the house before he stopped to look at Morden.
"You may proceed, Mr. Tales; your target is currently in there," he said in a calm tone.
Hearing that they were finally at that destination, Morden couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva while his head went into full drive mode.
’Are we ready to face this now?’
’We have prepared something like a counter to the flaw that was exposed before, so we should be good.’
’Anything else, we can only know after actually fighting him,’
At this point, he had already passed by Merlin and was already close to the house entrance. Behind him, Merlin was looking at his back and for some reason also slowly approaching the door.
When Morden arrived in front of the door, he twisted the knob and pushed the door open to reveal a fairly dark interior that Morden could only see after actually stepping in.
With Boost ready to activate at a moment’s notice, Morden took a step into the house and then another and then a third one until he was already fully inside.
It was at that moment that something strange sounded from behind him.
With extreme vigilance, Morden turned around only to see Merlin slowly closing the door with a slightly sinister smile.
"I mean nothing by this, Mr. Tales; it was the World that told me to."
The sight immediately made Morden’s heart drop, but he didn’t remain frozen; he instantly activated Boost to its maximum.
[Speed +20(temp)]
In the blink of an eye, he was already in front of the door, but it seemed like it was already too late. The door was already locked, and it won’t budge at all.
"Hahahahahahahahhaha!" a loud laugh suddenly rang out from all around him.
Just like the last time, he couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, at least not immediately.
"Save it, kid, you are stuck here with me."
"It seems you get the point of my lessons: the Bearer World is dangerous. So naive that even the comrade you brought along immediately abandoned you."
Morden’s eyes kept darting across the room as he tried tracking where the sound was coming from, like the last time, but unlike the last time, he wasn’t completely oblivious.
He could pinpoint that the voice wasn’t coming from the room he currently was in, which means the person was somewhere else.
He got into what he believed to be a fighting stance while he summoned the Ghost Slasher sword.
’This time, you won’t get away until you spill everything,’ Morden thought with raging eyes.