At the Ziggurat.
As Naoki had suspected, Siduri left the Ziggurat to find him because Gilgamesh had business that required his attention.
Naoki entered the Ziggurat just as the overworked King had finished handling a batch of state affairs.
"Oh, you've arrived, Holy Sword Bearer."
Seeing Naoki's arrival, Gilgamesh's expression lightened slightly: "The last time we met was when you returned from the dense forest. It's been a while since we last spoke."
Naoki had returned from the dense forest about five days ago.
"Regarding the non-aggression pact between you and the Forest Goddess, though it was mentioned before, I must thank you, Holy Sword Bearer. You've worked hard."
"It's just part of the job. Consider it repayment for the food and lodging I've received here." Naoki laughed. "So, what's the reason you specifically sent Miss Siduri to fetch me? You're not going to ask me to go behead the Magical Beast Goddess right away, are you?"
Gilgamesh chuckled: "Hah, if this King said that, you'd probably carry it out without hesitation, and frankly, you're very likely capable of doing it."
"Well, let's put that aside for now. Though I'd love for you to do it, Enkidu is there too. Even you would struggle against two enemies at once. Sending you to do something like that now would just waste your time and energy."
"This time, what I'm asking you to do is something else—go to the city of Kutha and retrieve this King's Tablets of Destiny."
The Tablets of Destiny.
They were the future seen through Gilgamesh's hazy Clairvoyance, recorded unconsciously during his journey back from the Underworld to Uruk, before he became the Magecraft King.
Since it wasn't particularly vital information, Gilgamesh hadn't bothered to search for them after losing them, and he himself no longer remembered that future.
"Originally, this King entrusted this task to Merlin, but he hasn't found them. Now I'm assigning it to both of you to handle together. With your abilities, you should be able to complete it in a single day."
"If things go smoothly, but after going to Kutha, it might not be that simple." Naoki laughed. "If I recall correctly, that place is now Ishtar's territory. At first glance, I might get along with her thanks to my connection with her vessel, but in reality, Ishtar is the one dominating that body."
"As King Gilgamesh knows, she's a very spoiled and arrogant Goddess. She's likely to obstruct us and cause all sorts of unpredictable situations."
"Mhm mhm, in that case, I'll give you a more generous three days."
Having experienced Ishtar's torment himself, Gilgamesh fully understood Naoki's concerns. That foolish Goddess would undoubtedly create countless problems for anyone entering her territory. She was practically a walking trouble-making machine.
"Find Merlin yourself; this King doesn't know where he is. Also, though it's a bit of a detour, you need to stop by the Persian Gulf to investigate the water quality and bring back some seawater you collect there."
Investigate the water quality in the Persian Gulf?
"That's almost in the opposite direction."
"That's why this King said it's a detour. Now that you know, hurry up and go. There's the next batch of state affairs I need to deal with."
How unreasonable.
Even though he had returned from the Underworld and become a Wise King, at his core, he was still a heartless tyrant.
(But… investigating the Persian Gulf's water quality? That's to check on Goddess Tiamat's situation. Right now, Tiamat should be sleeping beneath the Gulf's surface due to the dream woven by Merlin and Merry together.)
Once Gorgon is defeated later, Tiamat will awaken due to the stimulation of death.
(I need to tell Merlin and Merry to end that dream before that happens.)
If the dream is forcibly broken, Merlin, as a Servant, might be fine—he'd just need to escape from Avalon again. But Merry came as her true self. In that situation, she would surely be severely injured.
Naoki didn't want to see his wife in that state, so he had to ask Merry and Merlin to prepare to end the dream.
At worst, he'd have to tire himself out fighting two Goddesses in quick succession.
Leaving the Ziggurat, Naoki looked at the massive halo of light in the sky and sighed softly: "For now, I need to find Merlin first. I don't know where he's wandered off to… Let me sense his presence."
Closing his eyes and calming his mind to extend his senses, Naoki quickly located that carefree figure within Uruk.
However—
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
A single spatial shift brought him near Uruk's Entertainment House. Seeing Merlin, who had just been thrown out of the place, Naoki rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"You're really taking it easy, Merlin. You have time to seek out this kind of fun—I'm going to tell Lia about this."
"EEHHH!? Natsukawa!?"
Merlin, who had just gotten up from the ground, quickly clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture: "Please let me off this time! If you tell Lia, she'll definitely hang me outside the Avalon Tower to dry for days!"
"Isn't that perfect?"
"It's not good at all!"
After protesting loudly, Merlin patted his backside: "By the way, why did you suddenly show up here, Natsukawa? You've got those two women at home—do you still need to smell the wildflowers outside?"
"If I did that, don't expect to see me tomorrow." Naoki gave him a sidelong glance. "Gilgamesh told me to go to Kutha with you to find the Tablets of Destiny."
"Eh? The Tablets of Destiny are in Kutha?"
Merlin was slightly surprised: "Before, the King said they were in the dense forest to the west. Now he's saying Kutha. I really hope this isn't another wild goose chase."
"Relax, it won't be a waste of time. With me, the round trip will be quick."
After saying that, Naoki grabbed Merlin's arm, preparing to teleport directly near the city walls.
But Merlin stopped him.
"Don't keep zipping around like that—it's no fun."
"Eh? No teleporting… You want to walk?"
Merlin smiled and nodded: "The girls in there just said my stamina is terrible, which is an insult to their devotion, so I'm planning to exercise now."
"I doubt the physique you've developed over thousands of years of lounging can be fixed just by walking."
"You can still train stamina!" Merlin declared. "Besides, I have some things I want to talk about with you, like about my other self and about Lia."
"Think of it as a simple trip. We'll walk slowly and chat along the way—If the girls have their Ladies' Club, then we guys should have our Boys' Club, right?"
Boys' Club?
Naoki pointed at himself, then at Merlin: "You, a thousand-year-old incubus, and me, a fairy pushing forty… It's more like a Geezer's Club."
"Keeping a young heart is enough~"