Chapter 210: The North…? (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 210: The North…? (1)
The World Tree stood tall in Greinif, the land of the Elves.
The massive Royal Castle nestled beneath its boughs was currently thick with tension.
There was only one reason.
Hazard, the God of the Lizardmen—a being whom even Elves living for centuries had never seen in person—had come to the castle.
Of course, it hadn't been like this from the start.
Hazard, known as a Living God, had arrived to meet the Queen without causing any particular trouble.
Magrina, for her part, had accepted his visit without much trepidation.
Furthermore, despite the expectation that their meeting would be awkward after so long, the two spoke in an unexpectedly relaxed atmosphere.
Rather than asserting their dominance as heads of state, they spoke with a sense of familiarity.
Naturally, given their respective positions, a baseline of professional decorum remained. However, as the conversation continued in such a comfortable tone, the Elves found themselves bewildered yet relieved.
Yes, that was certainly the case—until a moment ago.
"It's about time you dismissed the Elves guarding my friend. They're too weak to do the job properly anyway, aren't they? It's only right that we Lizardmen take over the escort duty."
The atmosphere shifted the moment Hazard, whose face remained obscured, uttered those words.
"…Hah? What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
In an instant, the air in the audience chamber began to chill.
"Hmm—is what I said wrong? Lizardmen are far stronger than Elves."
Even in the face of Magrina's chilling gaze, Hazard’s voice didn't waver in the slightest.
At his response, the corners of Magrina’s mouth curled into a crooked smirk.
"Heh—is that so? You mean the lower species that would have been wiped out if the Primordial Elf hadn't saved you back then?"
"The same goes for the Elves. And strictly speaking, I provided help as well."
"Help? If anything, you've done nothing but receive it."
"……."
The Queen's mockery echoed through the hall.
Hazard fell silent for a moment, then scratched his head as if feeling sheepish.
"Well, I won't deny that I've received a lot from my friend."
"Friend, my foot—you've literally received everything from him."
"Ahem, ahem."
After letting out a small groan at her repeated verbal barbs, Hazard reasserted his claim.
"Regardless, we will be taking over the escort duty from now on."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then it seems you wish to put our friend in danger."
"You certainly are full of yourself. Besides, your kind can't exactly provide a quiet escort like we can, can you?"
"Hmph—safety is far more important than being quiet."
Hazard glared at Magrina.
She glared right back at him.
Everyone held their breath at the confrontation, neither side willing to back down an inch.
After a long, cold silence had passed.
"Then let's go find him and ask him ourselves. We'll see whose protection he wants," Magrina proposed with a smile, as if she had hit upon a brilliant idea.
"Fine."
Hazard nodded, as if he had been waiting for those very words.
Both wore smiles of certain victory on their faces.
The Elves and Lizardmen watching them—
"……."
—silently lowered their eyes at the invisible sparks flying between the two.
* * *
It had been about a week since Alon arrived in Calliban.
During that time—long to some, short to others—Alon focused on his body's full recovery.
In the process, he gained one realization and heard two rumors.
The first rumor Evan shared was that Elivan was clearing the Strange Gates much faster than expected.
The second was news that most of the organizations that usually ran rampant once Psychedelia began—something Alon had been somewhat worried about—had mostly vanished on their own.
"……Evan."
"Yes, sir?"
"The organizations you mentioned yesterday—are you sure they're all gone?"
"Yes. Just to be sure, I even asked the information guild for cross-verification. Aside from a few, they've all been wiped out."
"……What caused it?"
"Hmm—recalling what was mentioned during the conversation, it seems they all collapsed due to external attacks, like raids from rival organizations. Or they were simply found dead overnight."
Evan pondered for a moment before adding something as it came to mind.
"Ah! Come to think of it, I heard that one person cleared out several organizations by themselves. Let's see… it was the Blood Sword, the Dark Ear, and the Pirima… and what else? The Spy in the Dark?"
"……The Spies?"
"Ah, yes, yes, that's the one. Apparently, one person handled them all."
"Why do they think that?"
"They said the method of killing was identical. Something about their necks being twisted around twice? I believe that's what I heard."
Alon stroked his chin, his expression unreadable.
There was certainly a commonality among the organizations Evan mentioned.
‘They all likely started gaining fame by assassinating famous figures. Later, they acted like parasites, infiltrating each kingdom and eating them from the inside.’
From a Player's perspective, no matter which kingdom you started in, you could receive quests through those organizations that allowed you to get relatively close to the King.
However, since there was no other commonality, Alon pondered for a moment before deciding.
‘Well, if the butterfly effect caused those organizations to disappear, that’s not a bad thing. I would have had to move against them eventually anyway.’
He decided to focus on the fact that the troublesome organizations had been cleared out.
‘……Though many others will crawl out of the woodwork when the time is right, thinking it's their chance.’
Of course, there would be other enemies appearing later.
Enemies strong enough to match the balance of Psychedelia.
Regardless, having the immediately annoying organizations removed was not a bad thing.
As he leaned back comfortably against his chair with a sigh,
[Kyu?]
Blackie, who had been batting a ball around on the floor until a moment ago, hopped onto Alon's lap and tilted his head.
After stroking Blackie, who was acting cute as if to comfort him, Alon closed his eyes.
He was now able to perform Contemplation on the Divinities within him quite rapidly.
He looked at the Divinities floating in the void and soon zoomed in on Kalanon's Divinity.
The moment he touched it, Kalanon's Divinity expanded naturally, as if a distant planet were being pulled toward him in an instant.
Within the expanded Divinity.
Just as Alon had seen before, there were shining stars and blue dots spread very faintly around them.
This was a new fact Alon had realized while investigating the Divinities over the past week.
It was a way to see the believers of a Divinity when it was expanded.
First, the white starlight represented those to whom Alon had granted power.
The dots—ranging from dark colors that were hard to notice without looking closely to somewhat vivid blue—served as indicators of how many people believed in this Divinity and the depth of their faith.
‘It wasn't so much that I realized it on my own, but rather thanks to Kalanon appearing briefly to tell me.’
Alon recalled Kalanon, who had suddenly appeared a few days ago to speak briefly for a few minutes, and looked at the other Divinities one by one.
The Divinity of the Primordial Elf had many vivid green dots, but the total number wasn't large.
Kalanon's Divinity also had many blue dots, but again, the number wasn't particularly high.
The red Divinity had two vividly shining red dots.
Surprisingly, the white Divinity had an overwhelmingly larger number of white dots compared to the others.
However, the white Divinity had something peculiar about it that set it apart.
When expanded, the Divinity that appeared white actually looked like a faded gray.
And finally, the black Divinity, which was like a black hole—
"……Ah."
The moment he tried to expand the black Divinity.
Alon felt his Contemplation break and opened his eyes.
He didn't know why, but whenever he tried to look at the black Divinity, his Contemplation would break like this.
It was a recurring, inexplicable phenomenon.
Alon wore a strange expression, but then—
[Kyu?]
—he resumed stroking Blackie, who was tilting his head in dissatisfaction now that the petting had stopped.
"Evan."
"Yes?"
"Let's get ready to head North soon."
He began preparing for the journey to the North.
* * *
The following day.
Alon heard something unexpected from Deus.
"……A 'Great Collapse' occurred?"
"Yes. A report came in from the outpost yesterday."
Alon fell silent.
The Great Collapse.
It was a phenomenon where the snow accumulated on the mountains would pour down toward the lowlands, burying the mountain paths. That alone made the Snow Mountain incredibly dangerous.
The immediate problem was the difficulty of moving forward through the fallen snow.
But the greatest danger was something else.
The fallen snow would hide all the crevasses that one needed to avoid on the mountain.
Because of that, once a Great Collapse occurred.
Unless the fallen snow was cleared by the 'earth tremors' that only happened on the Snow Mountain, the terrain would remain extremely hazardous for several months.
As far as Alon knew, this setting was designed to prevent Players from going straight from Calliban to the Snow Mountain in the early to mid-game.
However, there was one thing he didn't understand.
‘……Why did a Great Collapse happen at this point? In Psychedelia, it definitely happened much later than this.’
It was the timing of the Great Collapse.
He was puzzled by the fact that it happened earlier than the information he possessed.
But that was only for a moment.
"Then the expedition won't be heading out."
"Since the Great Collapse has occurred, that will likely be the case. The barbarians don't come out during this time either."
Alon decided to postpone his trip to the North.
‘Actually, this might not be a bad thing.’
He had wanted to spend more time deeply researching magic and the Divinities he had acquired, including Kalanon's.
Alon cleanly gave up on going North for now.
"Oh! Then are we going home?"
"You look delighted."
"Ahem—well, wouldn't it be good to rest a bit? We did have that big incident in the jungle."
"I suppose so."
With Evan's quick organization, now full of energy, they changed their destination to the Duke's estate.
"Well then, I'll see you next time."
"Understood, Your Grace. I will come to visit you first in four months."
"You don't necessarily have to do that."
"No, I insist."
"……Well, if you say so."
After a brief farewell, Deus saw off Alon, who was leaving for the Palatio estate in a carriage, and then moved to disband the expedition.
After some time had passed.
"It seems all the work is finished."
"Hmm—"
After receiving the report from his adjutant, Deus returned to the manor.
On his way to his office, Deus found himself smiling.
Normally, going to the office meant working.
However, the reason Deus was heading there now was, in a sense, a form of pleasant rest and play for him.
‘……Just a little more and the blueprints will be finished.’
It was to finalize the blueprints for the statue he intended to commission.
He had been working busily to place the order before leaving for this expedition.
His steps grew even lighter.
The moment he opened the office door and stepped inside—
"……Silli?"
"Hello, Brother."
His younger sister, Silli, was there.
Moreover, she was leaning over the blueprints he had been working so hard on, looking at them with intense focus.
Deus flinched instinctively at the sight.
He remembered Silli's nagging from last time.
She had criticized him for spending too much money on a single statue.
Of course, the production costs were being covered by money Deus had already earned and an advance on money he would earn(?) in the future, so it was within a manageable budget.
It wasn't something he should be nagged at by Silli for.
However, as a brother who loved his sister dearly, Deus cared about every word she said.
He found himself cautiously checking her reaction.
He even broke into a cold sweat, remembering the even harsher look she had given him when he was caught trying to design an additional statue last time.
"……These blueprints are good."
"……?"
The words that followed filled his face with confusion.
What Silli said was the complete opposite of what he had expected.
But that was only for a moment.
"Ah."
Deus had a realization.
Silli was no longer the Silli of the past.
She, too, had been saved by that person.
Just like himself.
As he recalled that fact, a smile slowly spread across Deus's lips.
That meant his beloved sister now shared his thoughts.
"Is that so? They're not quite finished yet."
"Even considering that, I think you've designed them very well."
"I see."
Deus felt a sense of gratification as he looked at Silli, who now shared the same hobby(?).
The conversation flowed naturally.
He was even moved by the thought that this was what true sibling affection felt like, but then—
"Hmm, but I think this part needs more detail. For example, like this. Yes, yes, make the coat a bit longer."
"Oho—I see."
"Ah, and the eyes need to be fixed a bit. You shouldn't just use diamonds; they need to be expressed delicately, Brother. Since the Count has blue eyes, rather than implementing them like this, you should refine the gems more—"
"……Silli?"
Deus sensed something.
"What is it?"
"……I'm aware of that part, but there are some realistic aspects—"
"Are you planning to make the statue 'half-heartedly' because of those realistic aspects?"
"Uh, well—"
"Parts like this need to be higher. The horns should point further up. I think it would be good to use gold."
"……Gold? Hmm—that would certainly be nice, but there are budget issues, so I'll probably have to use something else—"
"Gold."
"……Huh?"
"It has to be gold."
"No, the budget—"
"Gold."
"……The budget."
"Gold."
She was the sister who had criticized him for spending that much money on a single statue.
Yet now, with an incredibly stern and serious expression, she was asserting "gold" over and over again.
"……Gold, I understand."
"Good."
Deus realized that Silli had become… different.