Chapter 31: The Unreliable Prophet (Please add to library, please vote)

Kay had considered killing Lancelot! This was no exaggeration; he had truly harbored the intent to kill. He remembered that this Lancelot was Arthur’s fated catastrophe. It was Lancelot who would cuckold Arthur, falling in love with his queen, which would lead to the disintegration of the Knights of the Round Table and, ultimately, King Arthur’s death in battle.

This was the legend etched in Kay’s mind. Although he never understood why Lancelot merely wearing a pair of "green hats" (cuckolding him) would cause the collapse of the Round Table and Arthur’s demise, he sometimes blamed his past life for not learning more about the Arthurian legend. Now, he was left with only half-baked knowledge; for instance, he still did not know who the other protagonist in the affair was. As Arthur had grown up, Kay had never noticed him showing interest in any girl.

This feeling was truly awful. He couldn't even manage to be a decent prophet...

(This is not strange. If you go out into the street and ask people over the age of thirty-seven how many know the details of the Arthurian legend, you will find that, in fact, if I hadn't watched the *Merlin* series, I would only know a few terms like the Sword in the Stone, Merlin, King Arthur, and the Knights of the Round Table. Anything more is completely unclear.)

So, for a fleeting moment, Kay decided to end it all once and for all. He developed a murderous intent toward Lancelot; if he killed him, everything would be over. Kay had already planned to execute this before leaving for the dragon's lair and was prepared to hunt Lancelot down.

But halfway there, Kay hesitated.

Kay was not averse to killing; in this era, killing was not rare; on the contrary, it was quite common. What Kay truly abhorred was killing a good person. Having received over a decade of military and police training, he had no qualms about dealing with villains—he would strike them down without mercy. But against an innocent person... he could not bring himself to do it. Whether in his past life or this one, he had never learned to betray his conscience.

Lancelot might truly be the culprit behind Arthur’s future fall, but he had done nothing yet. Besides, this was reality, not a legend! Everything was still unknown. Furthermore, since he had arrived here, everything now had the possibility of changing.

After some reflection, Kay gave up. In any case, Lancelot had committed fraud and impersonated a noble; he had already lost his future in Camelot and would have to leave for distant lands. This would effectively cut off any possibility of him harming Arthur in the future.

However, he hadn't expected that as soon as he returned home, a group of people would be pleading for Lancelot, including that idiot Arthur! At that moment, Kay was truly angry.

Fortunately, Kay quickly calmed down. It was impossible for Arthur to see the future, so he naturally could not know what Lancelot would bring upon him. But Arthur was still not clever; as Kay had said, as the heir to the kingdom, he was doing something completely contrary to his own position—how incredibly foolish!

As for Merlin... Kay didn't even want to talk about him. He could only say that the boy’s innate magical talent had made him too arrogant—arrogant to the point of being self-righteous about everything! To him, the law had become a symbol of unfairness; he placed himself above the law and above all the existing rules of society, completely indifferent to the consequences of his actions.

This confirmed to Kay once again that the Arthurian legend and reality were not the same thing! The differences were so vast that it was practically a different story.

After lashing out at Merlin, Kay did not make things difficult for Gwen. She was just an ignorant maid who didn't have the audacity to knowingly break the law; it was likely all instigated by Merlin. So, after a few stern words, he sent her and Arthur off to rest.

***

"I'm sorry... Kay, I didn't know it would turn out like this..." After Gwen left, Morgana became very embarrassed. She was not the type of girl to act unreasonably, so she could naturally hear that Kay was not unwilling to give Lancelot a chance, but that they had started off by doing the wrong thing.

It was precisely this mistake that had caused Lancelot to lose his real opportunity. As Kay had said, if everything had been brought out into the open from the beginning, everything would have been manageable; as long as Lancelot had the capability, he would naturally have had his chance.

But now, they had ruined everything themselves.

"It's fine, I don't blame you. I only blame that idiot Arthur! He actually let others lead him by the nose, to the point of forgetting his own position. He is still a long way from becoming a true king!" Kay could naturally not blame a kind girl, especially when she was his fiancée.

Although Morgana knew Kay was changing the subject, she was still very happy. Women are like this; often, even when they know the other person is spouting nonsense, they love being lied to.

...

While Kay and Morgana were having a tender moment, things were not going well for Gaius, as Merlin had been thrown into the dungeon.

When Arthur ran over and told Gaius everything, Gaius was stunned. He hadn't expected Merlin to be so daring. After his true identity was discovered by Kay, not only did he not give up, but he had also dragged Arthur and Morgana into pleading for Lancelot again.

Now that he had finally angered Kay, Gaius understood Kay well. Though he appeared gentle and polite—a different sort of person from King Uther—in reality, their cores were much the same. They were extremely principled, and once those principles were touched, they would never show mercy.

Gaius felt deeply guilty now. He blamed himself for not stopping Merlin in time. Gaius had warned Merlin that the laws of Camelot had never been broken, but Merlin hadn't taken it seriously and had stubbornly stated that if Gaius wanted to report him, he should go ahead.

He felt he owed Lancelot his life, so he had to repay him.

At the time, Gaius didn't know what he was thinking, but he had just acquiesced. Thinking back now, Gaius regretted it deeply.

The situation had become much more serious. Initially, Kay might not have been too angry about Merlin’s mistake, given that he had indeed let Lancelot and Merlin go at the time. But Merlin’s subsequent actions had completely infuriated Kay.

Kay now believed that Merlin was using Arthur!

***

And looking at the facts, Merlin was indeed doing just that. Merlin wanted to repay a debt, so he trampled on the laws of Camelot at will. After being caught, he was not satisfied and even dragged Arthur into it.

This hit Kay’s bottom line.

Gaius now had no idea how to plead for Merlin.

"Gaius, do you have any ideas?" Arthur, after all, could not let go of his friend Merlin. Even though Kay had spoken that way, Arthur still didn't really believe Merlin was using him.

"I... I don't know..." Gaius was also helpless. It was true that he was extremely close to Kay, but precisely because of that closeness, he understood how stubborn Kay was. Once he made a decision, it rarely changed. Back when Kay wanted to travel the world, King Uther had opposed it fiercely, yet Kay went his own way and just left. From this, one could see what kind of temperament he had.

However, regardless of the circumstances, Gaius was prepared to try. To outsiders, Gaius seemed like an odd man who rarely got close to anyone, but it was different with Merlin. Whether it was his relationship with Merlin's mother or the father-son bond he shared with Merlin, he did not want to see Merlin truly meet with disaster.

"I will go talk to Kay tomorrow. I think... he will give Merlin another chance for my sake." Gaius himself did not feel very confident when saying this.

But for now, this was all he could do. At the same time, Gaius remembered something even more important.

"By the way, Arthur, did Kay report Merlin’s arrest to the King?" If King Uther found out about this, the matter would be completely unsolvable, and it would be more realistic for them to start looking for a burial plot for Merlin.

"No! I've already spoken to the guards and told them not to report it to Uther. Kay hasn't sent anyone to report it to Uther either." Arthur had handled this perfectly, unlike his usual clumsy self.

"That's good, that's good. Then there is still room to maneuver," Gaius said with relief. From this perspective, Kay at least did not have the intention of beheading Merlin immediately; otherwise, Merlin would undoubtedly be dead before he could go and plead for him tomorrow.