Chapter 142: Inquiry (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 142: Inquiry (2)
After a full day of deliberation, Alon decided to return to the Marquisate first.
He could always stop by Lartania on his way to the Colony after visiting his home.
"Are you leaving, Teacher?"
"I am."
As soon as he finished his preparations to depart, Yutia appeared as if she had been waiting for the moment.
Alon gave a brief reply and asked, "Are you not leaving for the Holy Kingdom yet?"
"No. Even though that Abomination has been dealt with, the collapsed walls require additional measures."
Alon nodded, looking past her at the temporarily repaired castle walls.
"Ah, Teacher."
"What is it?"
"Could you perhaps give me the item you brought out last time?"
"The item I brought out...?"
"The one from inside Rikrakakmur. Would that be possible?"
Alon hesitated for a moment at Yutia’s request.
"...I could hand it over, but what do you intend to use it for?"
"I want to purify it."
"Purify it?"
"Yes. Since it came from inside an Abomination. It might look fine on the surface, but I think it would be best to take it to a cathedral and perform a purification ritual."
Yutia hummed in thought before adding, "If you’d rather not do it right now, you don't have to, but please make sure to stop by the Holy Kingdom later for the ritual. Items like that can be dangerous even if they seem harmless."
"They can affect the mental state of the possessor," Yutia added, raising her index finger like a teacher herself.
Seeing her like that, Alon felt a small sense of relief, realizing why she wanted the artifact. Even if no one else knew, he did.
He knew that, originally, she was destined to become one of the Five Great Sins in the future.
‘Well, there’s actually no need to be nervous.’
The artifacts of the Five Great Sins only functioned at full capacity while inside the body of an Abomination—in other words, as long as the Abominations continued to protect them.
The moment Alon pulled it out of Rikrakakmur’s body, the artifact had already lost its value as a functional object of sin.
"Evan."
"Yes, sir."
"Bring that thing out."
Evan immediately went into the carriage and began rummaging through their belongings.
"Uh, Marquis? It’s this, but... the color has changed since last time."
"Hasn't it been changing bit by bit since the start?"
"True, but I don't think it was ever this dark."
Evan handed over the object.
It was no longer red; the artifact had been stained a pitch black.
Alon recalled a scene from the game—the way the Sin of Pride would fly into a rage when a player timed it perfectly to snatch the artifact from an Abomination before the Sin could get to it.
‘...It really does look like it’s completely lost its power.’
Alon stared at the colorless artifact for a moment before handing it to Yutia.
"Here it is."
"Thank you, Teacher. I’ll take it to the Holy Kingdom, perform the purification ritual, and bring it back to you immediately."
"I would appreciate that."
"Don't mention it."
Yutia gave a radiant smile.
And then.
"...Marquis."
"Yes, Saint."
"I will... I will definitely protect you."
"...Excuse me?"
Yuman had approached his side at some point, nodding with a face full of firm resolve, as if he had received a divine command.
Alon silently took a step back without letting it show.
‘It’s nice that he cares, but...’
It was starting to feel burdensome. With that thought, he hurried his departure.
* * *
It had been about a week since they left the border.
"I win, you snake-brain!"
[You brat! You used a trick!]
"What trick? Your head is just lacking!"
Around evening, when the air was turning slightly chilly, Alon’s group gathered in small clusters around a campfire they had lit for the night.
Alon blew on a hot sweet potato to cool it before taking a bite, watching Evan and the small snake. They were competing in a new game every night, a sight he was now quite accustomed to.
Then, he happened to look up.
"..."
He stared blankly at the stars.
‘...Do they look beautiful to you?’
The Observer’s voice echoed in his ears.
He didn't know why, but lately, whenever he looked at the stars, her words would drift through his mind like a passing thought.
Munch, munch.
However, he quickly finished his sweet potato, ending his reminiscence, and thought about what he had to do next.
‘The Exam Question—Elivan will handle it somehow, so I don't need to worry about that. The first thing I need to do now is deal with the other Abominations holding artifacts, and to do that, I need to reinforce my magic...’
He recalled what the Golden Dragon Rainisius had said.
More specifically, the mention of magic he had heard before leaving after receiving the dragon's proposal.
‘Regrettably, I do not know much about the magic of Magi. What little I do know is that their magecraft is a language based on something called... the Physical Realm? Or something like that.’
‘If there is one other piece of information that might help regarding a Magus’s magic, it is this.’
‘It is the Hand Seal. I do not know the principle behind how it works, but I once heard a close ally speak of magic reinforcement through the overlapping of Hand Seals. To be honest, I wasn't listening very closely, so I don't remember it well, but they said if you know the Hand Seals you use in detail, it is possible to stack their effects and abilities.’
The Golden Dragon had ended his story there, saying that was all he knew.
‘...Hand Seals, huh.’
In truth, while hunting Rikrakakmur this time, Alon felt the need to delve deeper into the study of magic.
He had been able to plan for Rikrakakmur using various gimmicks he had seen while playing the game, but among the other Abominations, there were many more that lacked such gimmicks.
In other words, there would be many more situations in the future where he wouldn't be able to devise a strategy to gain an overwhelming advantage as he had this time.
Therefore, Alon couldn't rely solely on Self-Embodiment; he had to investigate magic itself to prepare spells that could handle a wider variety of situations.
And the first task was the Hand Seals.
He hadn't really tinkered with Hand Seals properly until now.
As he was lost in thought.
"Marquis."
"Hmm?"
Evan handed him another sweet potato.
His expression was incredibly refreshed, as if his bickering with Basiliora—disguised as play—had finally ended.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
[Give me some too!]
"There is no food for losers!"
[Guaaaah! Stop talking nonsense, human!! There is no way I could lose to a mere human!!]
Basiliora wailed while doing something akin to a breakdance on the ground.
"So."
"Yes?"
"What was the game this time?"
Seeing him so frustrated, Alon asked Evan, who was nonchalantly biting into a piece of corn.
"Marbles."
"...Marbles?"
"Yes."
"...The game where you hit marbles to win them?"
"Yes."
Alon looked down at Basiliora.
[I! This great being! To a mere human!! To a mere humaaaaaan!!!!!!!]
‘...Just because he lost a game of marbles...?’
To have such a reaction.
He felt he understood a little better why Evan and Basiliora could enjoy their games so much.
Once again, Alon was about to absentmindedly put a sweet potato in his mouth—
[Kyu?]
He thrust the sweet potato he was eating toward Blackie, who had climbed onto his shoulder at some point.
Nom, nom.
Blackie bit into it as if he had been waiting.
Watching Blackie smile cutely with his eyes as if it were delicious, Alon thought to himself once more.
‘...A mouth doesn't sprout from his stomach like last time.’
He had been quite surprised when a mouth suddenly appeared on Blackie's belly before.
[Kuaaaaah—!!! Ah, wait— wait, wait! Stop, hey, stop it!!]
Perhaps annoyed by Basiliora’s non-stop screaming, Blackie poked him a few times with his front paw.
[Life is sorrowful, so sorrowful...]
As Basiliora shriveled up, the night fully deepened.
...It was a cool night.
* * *
About two weeks passed.
Alon arrived at the Palatio Marquisate after nearly two months away.
The Marquisate seemed to have changed quite a bit in the meantime.
Accordingly, Alon had a massive backlog of work, and he was even told that Ladan had stopped by.
However, he couldn't hear all the news in detail.
No, he wasn't allowed to.
The reason being.
"I am so sorryyyyy—!!!"
Thud!
"..."
As soon as he arrived at the Marquisate, he was met by Penia, who was kneeling and slamming her head against the floor with everything she had.
* * *
In the office, where documents were piled high.
Alon felt a strange sensation.
Penia Kraysinne sat before him, looking like she was on pins and needles.
As if she had committed an unforgivable sin, her eyes darted around restlessly, and her body fidgeted constantly.
"...Did you come alone?"
"Ah, n-no... that... I came with my brother..."
As her voice trailed off, Penia’s head bowed lower.
Looking at her, Alon felt like a school bully he had occasionally seen in his past life.
...Because no matter how he looked at it, Penia looked like the victim.
Just as a strange sense of injustice began to well up.
"So, the thing is..."
Penia began to speak haltingly, and after listening to her story for a while, Alon understood.
"T-that's how it happened."
"...I see."
He now knew why she was prostrating herself in apology.
"...To summarize what you said: Heinkel believes you and I are in 'that kind' of relationship, and told you that if you just asked me, she would teach you magic. So, you intentionally acted out that relationship at the Magic Tower... is that it?"
"T-that's right. Since that person keeps wandering around in spirit form..."
"So you did manage to learn magic, but since it was only a matter of time before you were caught, you came here to confess."
"Y-yes, that is correct..."
Penia nodded, cautiously gauging his reaction.
‘So that’s why.’
Only then did Alon understand why the rumors hadn't died down easily. At the same time, he looked at the trembling Penia and pondered.
‘Now, what should I do?’
In truth, he didn't particularly want to do anything to Penia.
It was annoying, but no actual harm had come to him.
As he deliberated, something seemed to occur to him. He soon gave a small internal smile and spoke.
"Fine, let's do this."
"Yes?"
"Your goal is to learn magic from Heinkel, right?"
"I-it's okay if I don't, but I think I would be very happy and joyful if I could... Yes, yes..."
Penia’s voice trailed off without confidence.
Alon leaned back slowly in his chair and made a proposal.
"Then how about this? There's no need to keep such an uncomfortable rumor going. I will go and meet Heinkel personally. Wouldn't that be more convenient for both of us?"
"Huh? Really...!?"
"Yes."
Penia’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.
Her eyes sparkled with a childlike wonder that seemed impossible for someone with her usually ruined personality.
Soon, she said, "Yes, yes! If you would do that, it would be wonderful for me...! The rumors are a bit uncomfortable...!"
She nodded with an extremely joyful expression.
"..."
Alon felt a bit strange at that.
Of course, the rumors were uncomfortable, but seeing her so happy made him feel like there was something wrong with him, which didn't feel great.
"However, I have a request in return."
Having composed his emotions, he got straight to the point.
"What kind of... request?"
At Penia’s question, he smiled and stated his objective.
"I'd like you to help me with my magic inquiry."
"Magic inquiry?"
"Yes. It might be a bit unfamiliar, but can you do it?"
The timing was perfect.
‘She’ll be a great help to the inquiry.’
Penia Kraysinne was a person with a broken personality.
However, her magical skill was the real deal, and at this point, she was undoubtedly moving past the 7th Tier toward the 8th Tier.
"If it's just something like that... I'll do it...!"
Penia also agreed vehemently.
Both thought they had reached a mutually satisfying conclusion.
However, Penia did not know.
That a 'hellish grind in the abyss' under the name of 'inquiry' was waiting for her...
It was a week later when she finally realized that fact.
* * *
At that time, Hidan was at Deus’s mansion in Calliban to deliver news regarding the recent Exam Question.
However, the topic he opened with was not about that.
No, it couldn't be.
The reason was.
"...Lord Purple Moon."
"Hmm, what is it?"
"That..."
It was because of the giant statue standing in the middle of the garden, visible through Deus’s window.
Moreover, it was a statue similar to... no, practically identical to the one in the Merkillan territory.
When Hidan looked at Deus, Deus spoke with an infinitely serious expression.
"...So, you see."
"Yes."
"...I went to the Merkillan territory and met Philian."
"Yes."
"He’s a very good friend. We talked about 'that person' for a very long time—nearly three days straight."
"I see."
"Yes."
"...And does that story have anything to do with that statue?"
At Hidan’s point, Deus slightly averted his gaze.
"...Philian said he would give me the statue as a gift."
"Didn't you buy it rather than receive it as a gift?"
"...It felt a bit wrong to just take it."
"...For someone who 'just took it,' I heard you spent a massive amount of money."
"That—"
Deus stammered several times before finally opening his mouth.
"...It was to secure probability."
"To secure... probability?"
"...Yutia said probability was necessary. To form a territorial alliance with the Merkillan territory—"
"You don't have a territory, do you?"
With that one sentence from Hidan, Deus’s probability—no, his logic—was utterly shattered.
"Anyway, that's how it is."
"...I see."
"Yes."
Hidan thought to himself.
Ah, he's talking nonsense.
"...I will report this to the Red Moon."
At that.
"Could you... not report it?"
"It's going to leak out soon anyway..."
"If you report it, it'll last three months. If you don't, it'll last half a year."
Looking at Deus, who wore the face of a child wanting to keep a precious toy for just three months longer.
"..."
Hidan quietly shut his mouth.