Chapter 198: Usage (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 198: Usage (4)
Heinkel stared blankly ahead.
The landscape filling her vision was a temple drenched in crimson light. And—
‘A red… moon?’
An ominous moon hung in the sky. A Red Moon, bathing the entire world in a bloody hue.
[Specter.]
“!”
A girl appeared out of nowhere. She spat out the word, syllable by syllable, as if chewing on it.
[It would be best if you didn't overdo it, don't you think?]
A black holy shroud. Crimson eyes.
Looking at her, Heinkel’s mind raced. Her internal circuits fired at lightning speed, establishing, discarding, and deriving various hypotheses in an instant. It wasn't to figure out who the girl was.
The reason she was thinking so hard was to define this irrational space unfolding before her.
And Heinkel’s exceptionally brilliant mind grasped the situation in a short time—
“!”
Immediately, she awakened her mana.
She was a mass of mana, perhaps magic itself. But paradoxically, that was why she normally couldn't use magic. No matter how much she was revered by all mages, she was ultimately nothing more than a specter. Unless she dabbled in black magic, manifesting magic in a spirit state was virtually impossible, save for the simplest forms.
However—
Rumble—!
As if defying those very laws, Heinkel deployed her magic in an instant. She realized that within this space, she could manifest magic.
No, it wasn't even a realization. She had already experienced this space before.
Three magic circles overlapped and manifested around her. From those three, nine more appeared, followed by twenty-seven. In a brief moment of less than ten seconds, the magic created by Heinkel—the one known as the Primordial Cup, who stood at the pinnacle of all mages past and present—was a spectacle so grand that anyone seeing it would bow in awe.
In this sky where only red light existed—
Craaaaack—!!
A massive meteor shower she had summoned was falling.
Heinkel’s magic tore through the air, shredding even the crimson light as it descended.
But.
“Heh—”
Yutia’s reaction to the aggressively surging meteors was incredibly light. It was as if she were watching an entertaining show. That was the extent of her reaction.
Furthermore, the girl made no move to stop the falling meteors; she simply watched. And the meteors, slamming into the ground without any interference—
──────────!!!
—took everything away.
The temple’s roof. The pillars. The trees. The floor. The girl before her. And even Heinkel herself, who had deployed the magic.
And then.
Snap!
“!”
Heinkel was back at the beginning.
The situation was exactly the same as before. She was staring blankly ahead, and everything remained as it was. The red temple. The red trees. The red marble floor. The red moon.
Everything was exactly the same. As if time had been rewound.
And the girl was still standing there.
“Hmm—I only meant to give you a warning, but your reaction was more intense than I expected.”
At that, Heinkel scowled deeply and tried to speak.
“Why are you here? Surely the Abyss—”
“Shh—”
“!”
She couldn't continue. The index finger of the girl—no, Yutia Bloodia—was pressed firmly against Heinkel’s lips, preventing her from moving.
“I’ve never revealed my true form before—you really are smart, aren't you? But, no more than this.”
She smiled at Heinkel as if offering praise, but—
Tremble—
In contrast to that relaxed attitude, Heinkel was overcome with terror the moment she realized the girl's identity, her entire body shaking. Heinkel’s eyes, stripped of reason and filled only with fear, met Yutia’s steady gaze. Yutia gently stroked Heinkel’s face.
Once. Twice.
And then.
Tap.
She tapped Heinkel’s cheek with her index finger.
“Listen well, specter. I’ll only say this once.”
“…….”
Then, the girl’s voice poured down like the meteor shower Heinkel had just created.
“If he wants help, help him.”
“If he does something, give him what he needs.”
“If he tells you to offer up your heart, offer it.”
“That is all you can do for him. Understood?”
“If you understand, why don't you nod?”
Heinkel barely managed to nod. She knew all too well that there was no other choice.
“I like that you’re as obedient now as you were back then. And—”
At Heinkel’s submission, Yutia stroked her hair once more.
“Since you’re smart, you probably know, right? About me.”
She placed her index finger against her own lips and smiled with her eyes, looking satisfied.
And with that.
[Gasp—!]
“?”
“?”
Heinkel broke into a cold sweat, breathing heavily.
“……Are you alright?”
Alon asked with an expressionless face. Heinkel looked at him with a look of utter incomprehension, trying to calm her racing heart.
“……?”
Alon tilted his head slightly, seemingly puzzled by her sudden stare.
[You—]
Heinkel tried to ask a question. There were so many things she wanted to know. Even more overwhelmingly than when she first saw the black things behind his back. She wanted to ask right now if he knew the girl who had just appeared. If he did, what on earth was their relationship? Who was he that she—that the ‘Abyss’—followed him?
What exactly are you? She wanted to ask.
But.
[No, never mind.]
“?”
[……The favor, the favor—you want me to teach that woman magic, right?]
Heinkel couldn't bring the words out. She realized with certainty that the moment she asked, she would never survive.
Therefore.
“That is correct.”
To Alon, who nodded with a slightly bewildered expression, she said:
[Fine, I’ll accept.]
“Pardon? But just a moment ago—”
[……That was a joke. I was just feeling a bit spiteful.]
No, to be precise, she awkwardly curled the corners of her mouth while looking at the red gem on Alon’s brooch.
“Kyahhh—!”
Penia, who had looked like she was about to crumble into white ash just moments ago, let out a screech like a pterodactyl.
[……Come back starting tomorrow.]
Alon didn't quite understand what had happened, but he nodded for now.
* * *
“Thank you so much—!”
“There is no need for that. You paid the price, so I am simply doing my part.”
“Still, thank you!”
Penia bowed several times with sparkling eyes before practically flying away with a very happy stride. It felt like watching a Shiba Inu waddling along in an old YouTube video.
After watching her back for a moment, Alon recalled what had happened earlier.
‘……What was that? Something definitely felt different.’
Up until the middle, everything had been normal. But at some point, Heinkel’s behavior had shifted drastically.
‘And that look in her eyes.’
Alon wasn't particularly sharp at catching emotions just by looking at someone’s eyes. But even he could clearly sense it. It was definitely—
‘As if she were afraid of something—’
“Marquis.”
Just then, Evan’s voice reached him.
“……What is all that?”
His hands were full of various items.
“Oh, this? They’re gifts for me.”
The gifts were piled like a tower, so high that he couldn't see ahead without tilting his body to the side.
“Gifts?”
“Yes. I may not look it, but I’m quite handsome, aren't I? The female mages were showing a lot of interest. Haha!”
“……?”
“……Marquis, that look of disbelief is a bit hurtful. Especially from someone who doesn't usually show much emotion on their face.”
“Did I look like that?”
“Yes.”
Evan let out a long sigh.
“Well, they were given to me, but they’re essentially being sent to you, Marquis.”
“……I think I get the gist of it.”
[Hmph—no need to explain, it’s obvious at a glance.]
Basiliora, who hadn't shown his face at all while they were going to meet Heinkel, chimed in as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
“Marquis, why didn't you just give this snake-head to that person in the library? Then he could have had his attitude adjusted again.”
[Hmph! Don't talk nonsense! Such a—]
Basiliora, who had been shouting confidently, suddenly lowered his voice. He stretched his body out like a meerkat, scanned the surroundings, and then—
[Do you think I would yield to that demon!!]
—he finished his shout.
“……What a joke.”
[You’re the joke!]
With the two of them bickering as background noise, Alon’s group arrived at their temporary lodgings.
“Marquis, now that I think about it, I have something to report.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about the rumors. Didn't you ask me to listen for anything useful earlier?”
“Were there many?”
“Hmm—since I haven't stopped by the information guild lately, quite a few rumors have cropped up.”
Evan then began to relay the rumors that had accumulated.
“Well, that seems to be about all of them.”
After the report, Alon organized the rumors. Among them, there were three that Alon needed to pay attention to.
First, that Elivan was traveling through the Shuhtalian Kingdom, clearing Strange Gates.
Second, that a great disaster had occurred in the capital of the Varnos Principality.
And finally, rumors regarding the Luxible Grand Duchy—or more accurately, the Mysterious Jungle Ronobelli—which was their next destination.
The rumors about the Varnos Principality and Ronobelli. He felt he needed to look into these two.
‘Monsters attacked and devoured the capital of Varnos, and black mana is being scattered in Ronobelli.’
Varnos was particularly concerning. The reason was—
‘The fall of Varnos. This should be the start of the Four Major Factions episode……?’
The fall of Varnos was the starting point for the Four Major Factions arc, which usually occurred in the mid-game of Psychedelia.
Of course, Alon was aware to some extent that much of the narrative he knew from Psychedelia had become useless. But even considering that, the appearance of the Hungry Ghosts—or rather, the Master of the Hungry Ghosts—was far too early.
“……Evan.”
“Yes, Marquis.”
“Stop by the information guild soon and find out more about the Varnos Principality.”
“Understood.”
Alon tasked Evan with a detailed investigation.
A few days later.
“Have a safe trip—!”
“……I’ll see you next time.”
Leaving behind Penia, whose face was glowing with happiness, Alon set out for Ronobelli to meet the Thunder Snake Tribe.
At that same time, inside the Shuhtalian Royal Palace.
“I greet Your Majesty.”
“Where did Kurak go?”
“He said he had somewhere to stop by on the way and headed elsewhere. He asked me to tell Your Majesty that he would be away for a short while.”
Shuhtalian V frowned slightly at Duke Merkillan’s report.
“It can't be helped.”
He let out a sigh and then asked the Duke.
“So, did you look into what I asked you to confirm?”
“Yes, I did.”
“And?”
“……To conclude, the identity of Marquis Palatio is—”
Duke Merkillan hesitated for a moment, as if finding the words difficult to say.
“—He appears to be a God of the Demi-humans.”
He reported calmly.
“What did you say……?”
Shuhtalian V’s voice trembled slightly.