Kay's words echoed throughout the entire training yard, but everyone who heard them had a completely different reaction.
When King Uther heard them, he was simply relieved. His royal duties kept him constantly busy, and he couldn't personally supervise Arthur all the time. Consequently, he relied on reports from his staff regarding much of Arthur's development. Since Arthur had performed quite well in previous challenges and missions, Uther didn't really have a solid grasp of his son's actual fighting ability. Plus, he simply didn't have the time to spar with his own son.
But today, Kay tore away some of the lies surrounding Arthur, allowing Uther to see his true skill. Just like Kay, King Uther would rather be tough on Arthur now than have him die prematurely one day due to lack of ability. Uther was very aware that this era was dangerous, especially for those at Camelot.
Uther was no soft, cuddly dad; he was a standard 'Tiger Dad.' As long as something was good for Arthur, he wouldn't care about Arthur's feelings. If this were modern times, he'd probably be slammed by every parenting expert and child welfare organization until his life fell apart, but the problem is, this is an era before the Common Era—that kind of sensitivity just doesn't apply.
Meanwhile, Arthur's older sister, Princess Morgana (Uther's adopted daughter), and her maidservant were worried sick about Arthur.
As for everyone else... well, most people didn't really care. They were just happy to see the noble knights and the Prince get knocked around. They had a typical "rubbernecking" mentality—since it didn't directly concern them, they didn't give it much thought.
At this moment, Kay walked over to Arthur. However, when he saw Arthur's current setup, Kay's face darkened. He had ordered Arthur to do the horse stance—a demanding physical exercise—partially as a punishment. But looking at him now, it didn't look like punishment at all.
Arthur had a canopy shading his head, was sipping a little wine, had fruit laid out next to him, and a handsome young man was massaging him and wiping his sweat... It was practically a spa vacation.
Seeing Arthur like this, Kay's expression went instantly sour.
Arthur was currently engaged in a 'friendly negotiation' with Merlin over Merlin's earlier contemptuous remarks, with both sides using sharp language to mutually wound each other. For a moment, neither noticed Kay's arrival.
It wasn't until the area suddenly fell silent that Arthur and Merlin felt something was wrong.
"Our Prince Arthur is certainly comfortable, isn't he? Should I bring you a bed, too?" Kay's grinding, teeth-clenched voice sounded like it came from the depths of the underworld, causing both close friends to freeze up completely, their minds blank.
"I... I... I..." Arthur desperately wanted to explain the situation, but being a poor liar, he didn't know how to cover up what was in front of him. These things weren't set up for Arthur's enjoyment; he was simply annoyed that Merlin looked so pleased with himself, so he deliberately ordered Merlin to run back and forth, keeping him busy. Now, though, it looked like he had shot himself in the foot.
---
About ten minutes later, Kay hauled Arthur into the center of the training yard. The canopy, fruit, and wine had all disappeared. All Arthur had now were five buckets of water: one balanced on his head, two hanging from his arms, and the other two resting on his thighs. In addition, two sharpened metal spikes had been driven into the ground beneath his thighs, ready to make him howl in pain if he dropped even slightly.
Kay, meanwhile, comfortably commandeered Arthur's canopy, wine, fruit, and servant. He even had Merlin bring him a lounge chair. Kay was relaxing in the shade under the canopy, happily sipping wine, eating fruit, and shooting the breeze with Arthur's attendant, Merlin.
"I saw you yesterday, but I didn't have time to ask your name. What is it, kid? You can introduce yourself now." Kay genuinely didn't know Merlin. After all, he had only just returned, and Merlin was merely an attendant to Arthur—Kay certainly hadn't bothered to look him up. However, watching the conversation between Arthur and Merlin just now, he realized this young man and Arthur shared a true friendship.
Since he was his brother's friend, Kay naturally wanted to get to know him.
Merlin, for his part, was excited, as Kay had instantly become his new hero.
"Sir Kay, my name is Merlin! Son of Honoria. I'm currently Arthur's... uh, Prince Arthur's attendant. Uh... I... I... Sir Kay, you were truly... so, so incredible just now. I've never seen such a formidable knight. You looked like you walked right out of a legend."
Merlin was a little nervous. While Kay's demeanor was friendly and approachable, Merlin still felt a bit on edge, and he didn't know why this tension came over him. He never felt this deep-seated nervousness when he met King Uther, yet facing Kay, he instinctively felt pressure.
What Merlin didn't know was that Kay, sitting opposite him, was also having an internal moment. Merlin... that name wouldn't have been unfamiliar to Kay even in his previous life, as he was the famous great wizard. Although Kay didn't know the full extent of Merlin's achievements back then, he knew that King Arthur became the great Knight King with the help of Merlin the Sorcerer.
During his travels, Kay had searched for any sign of Merlin, but to his surprise, no one in the Celtic kingdoms knew who Merlin was. Kay had thought Merlin might be living in seclusion in some remote corner. Initially, Kay's image of Merlin was always like Gandalf—a white-bearded old man, the kind of wise, immortal figure who would naturally be living in retirement.
But Kay never expected that the Merlin of this world would not only not be a white-bearded old man but an attractive, clean-cut young man, who was also a commoner and serving as Arthur's attendant...
"Merlin? Hmm, that's a good name. I once heard people say that someone with that name is destined to become a great sorcerer." Kay decided to test the waters, as the name Merlin wasn't incredibly rare—though he hadn't met anyone else named Merlin so far—but what if?
Kay was very willing to chat with 'Gandalf' Merlin, because the legend said Merlin the Great Sorcerer was all-knowing and all-wise. Maybe he knew a way for Kay to get back home?
But reality crushed Kay's dream of a White Wizard meeting.
Upon hearing the words "great sorcerer," Merlin flinched violently, his eyes narrowing. The excited fan-meets-celebrity look vanished without a trace. He stammered nervously. "Ahaha... haha, a sorcerer, you say... Camelot has banned magic for many years now... how could I possibly... haha, you're quite the joker, Sir Kay..."
Yep, there's no doubt about it, this guy is Merlin, Kay thought to himself. His reaction was simply too strong. Kay had only said that a person named Merlin could become a great sorcerer, but this kid immediately applied it to himself... he basically confessed.
More importantly, Kay felt a magical fluctuation the moment Merlin's composure slipped. Right, he'd forgotten to mention it: Kay was also a sorcerer, and a rather good one at that. His high Spirit stat wasn't just for show. However, Kay's path was completely different from the other Celtic wizards; his magic all originated from the outside world.
Because of this, he could easily sense the magical fluctuations coming from Merlin.
The interesting thing was that the magical fluctuation around Merlin was very strange, seemingly capable of being perfectly hidden. Otherwise, Kay would have been able to tell he was a sorcerer the first moment they met.