Emiya's hopes were so high for the pair to finally announce their joint partnership in saving the world. Oh well. Maybe one day. For now the topic inevitably shifted to the old King's philosophy, and the minutiae and subtlety behind the decision. Emiya's counterpoint, while naive, was that the enemy imposed no such limit upon themselves, held no such philosophy. The closest one came was Demetrias keeping his word within the Armory, yet he still pursued a goal that would seemingly trample on Humanity in it's entirety. He was a man of his word. He was not, however, a good person. All of the Voidlords operated outside the boundaries of logic and reality. Disease, what is supposed to be a neutral and natural phenomena, was utilized as the vector for an assault on Humanity. The harsh truth was that all of those people would have died from their wounds regardless, however the worst part was the false sense of security the plague promised them. Fear turned to relief, then that relief was emboldened into courage, and eventually complacency. Forgetting their brushes with death, they moved on with their lives, only to have it robbed from them. It was the worst kind of hope one could receive; false.
"Yeah, yeah, his non-intervention policy. It's clear he's only involved now because these latest events are the result of influence by anything but humans, but it still pisses me off that he could do so much good, but is content to sit on his thumb any other time.
Well I don't care what it takes, I'll be there to make sure that sword falls as slowly as possible, especially for those who deserve to live, flaws and all."
It had been quite a while since Merlin spoke with Emiya in such a fashion, and at such length. Maybe to make up for the time lost within Irkalla? He was also getting wrapped up with the Voidlords, and their sheer familiarity could be a danger given Emiya's previous experiences with Demetrias, so was this to be his potential "final lesson"? Wait, is that why he wanted Emiya and Zhongli to band together? In case he was discovered, or some other less-than-favorable scenario occurred? Dispelling these gloomy thoughts, Emiya merely returned Merlin's sentiment regarding humanity's "end".
"On that we can both agree."
Of course, when put in such a way, it was easy to view Solomon's ideals as foolish, or at least flawed. It is not inherently cruel, or apathetic. In fact, from a certain point of view, it is quite optimistic. But the tragedies that arise from a lack of intervention, the sadness and pain that is accrued in playing the role of bystander; for someone like Emiya Shirou, such a thing was intolerable. For Merlin...
He couldn't understand.
Emotions were beyond him.
He could only understand outcomes based on rational concepts. If one stood to gain more from his interference than lose anything, then that was the logical action. This ideal, much like Solomon's, was not without flaws. Intervention could have an effect opposite of its intention, worsening a bad situation rather than improving it. Or despite it, the situation was doomed from the very beginning. Merlin's distant gaze refocused on Shirou with his final words, reaffirming his commitment to his role as a Hero of Justice, his vision dyed red. "Do we?"
The incubus blinked once and looked out to the sea, responding to Emiya as he took in the deep green of the ocean and the orange hue of the setting sun, a solemn smile fixed on his lips. "May you never change, Emiya Shirou."