Chapter 313: What Is This…? (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 313: What Is This…? (4)
Alon was momentarily taken aback by Kalanon’s significantly more mature appearance, but his surprise soon turned into confusion.
“?”
The body that had clearly grown into a young woman began to shrink once more.
“Ah…”
She had returned to the form of a young girl.
“…What was that just now?”
“My original form…”
As soon as she returned to her child-like body, Kalanon reverted to her usual polite way of speaking.
“Ugh—as I thought, this is the limit for how long I can maintain my true form for now.”
She stretched as she looked at Alon.
“Anyway, have you been well?”
“…I’ve been fine.”
“Were you perhaps worried about me?”
“Well… I suppose I was… a little.”
To be precise, it was a feeling closer to curiosity than worry. It had already been over a year since Kalanon had last shown herself to him.
When he gave an affirmative answer, Kalanon nodded in satisfaction.
“You don’t have to worry too much. I’ve been working hard on my own preparations!”
“What kind of preparations?”
“Preparations for survival, of course!”
“Survival?”
“Yes, I told you before, didn’t I? That I was doing something in my own way to survive.”
“Indeed…”
He recalled her saying she was preparing various things because her divinity was being concentrated toward Alon. It seemed she had made significant progress.
As Alon nodded, Kalanon gave a confident smile.
“I’ve finally finished it!”
“…Finished what?”
“This!”
Kalanon smiled triumphantly and then—
“?”
[Mew-nya!]
—she transformed into a blue cat.
No, to be more precise, she didn’t just look like a blue cat.
‘…Blackie?’
She looked quite similar to Blackie. The differences were that, unlike Blackie, her body was clearly defined, and she wore the same crown she had when Alon manifested as Kalanon. Furthermore, her fur was fluffier, and her tail was longer.
[Meow!]
While Alon was lost in thought looking at Kalanon’s sudden change in appearance, a voice—no, a cry—rang out.
“…I don’t speak cat.”
[Meow!]
“…”
When Alon simply stared at her, Kalanon quickly returned to her girl form.
“I’m sorry. I can’t speak when I’m in that form.”
“…Is that your way of surviving?”
“Yes, why?”
“I… I don’t see the connection.”
“Oh, really?”
“…What does becoming a cat have to do with surviving as a god?”
“You really don’t get it, do you?”
At Alon’s remark, Kalanon shook her head with an expression that said, ‘Dear me, you still have a long way to go.’
“If I’m like this, I can survive as a mascot!” she declared triumphantly.
“A mascot?”
“Remember how I grew horns when I transformed last time?”
“Yes.”
“It’s the same logic.”
“So, what you’re saying is that you’ll stick by my side as a mascot?”
“Exactly! That way, my personal recognition will naturally increase!”
Kalanon chuckled to herself, muttering, “What do you think? Isn’t my plan perfect?” She seemed incredibly confident in her idea.
A brief thought crossed Alon’s mind: Is turning into an animal really a good method?
However, since Alon felt somewhat responsible for Kalanon ending up in this state, he didn’t bother to argue.
“So, are you going to wander around outside in that form now?” he asked instead.
Kalanon nodded.
“That’s right! The reason I couldn’t leave until now was to gather enough divinity to exist outside. Of course, even if I manifest, I’ll still be here.”
“By ‘here,’ you mean…?”
“Inside the Divine Land you created!”
She added that it was the only way she could safely gather divinity.
“Thank you for making it! You saved me!”
“…Right.”
“See you in a bit, then!”
With those final words, the world of the blue Milky Way collapsed. When Alon opened his eyes again, a blue sphere had formed in front of him.
“Oh?”
“Huh?”
“…Whoa.”
[Kyu?]
The companions each let out exclamations of surprise at the sight of the blue sphere. Soon, the sphere began to distort and shrink rapidly.
[Meow!]
It became the blue cat Alon had seen in the Milky Way just moments ago.
“…What is this all of a sudden?”
“I wonder…?”
Evan and Penia asked, bewildered by the sudden appearance of the cat. Alon informed them that its identity was Kalanon.
“Ho—now that you mention it, it does have horns even though it’s a cat.”
“You’re right.”
[Hmph.]
While Evan, Penia, and Basiliora were looking at her with fascination, Blackie—who had been sleeping in the pocket on Alon’s chest until just now—jumped down onto the desk with wide eyes and stared intently at Kalanon.
Blackie tilted his head this way and that. He seemed so shocked that his head looked like it was rotating 360 degrees. Then, after looking down at Kalanon once more with a haughty expression, he hopped back into his original pocket.
[Kyu—]
“…What was that just now?”
“I’m not sure.”
[Pfft, it seems he’s feeling a bit of petty jealousy.]
The conversation didn’t last long. After watching Kalanon wander around curiously, Alon turned his attention back to the matter at hand.
“So, Marquis, have you checked?”
“Ah.”
At Evan’s follow-up question, Alon closed his eyes and contemplated his inner world once more.
“…Surprisingly, it hasn’t increased that much,” he replied after checking the gathered divinity.
“Oh, really? That’s strange. I thought a massive amount would have accumulated.”
Evan tilted his head in confusion. After a moment of thought, Alon spoke.
“It’s not entirely incomprehensible.”
“Is that so?”
“Most of the people gathered here came because of ‘rumors’ in the first place.”
“Ah—”
Evan nodded at those words.
“You said divinity doesn’t accumulate unless they have firm faith, right?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm—then I suppose things will normalize here soon enough.”
“Actually, I felt a bit relieved after checking the divinity just now.”
Behind his expressionless face, Alon felt a slight sense of relief as he looked out at the crowded barracks alongside Evan.
* * *
After finishing his consultation with the Blue Ghost, Alon and his party stayed in the Divine Land for about a month. Once Alon decided it was time to go meet the Ghost King, they returned to the Palatio Marquisate.
A few days later, the atmosphere in the Divine Land became restless.
To be more precise, the soldiers and knights who had been recruited initially were fine, but a sense of agitation was spreading among the knights and mercenaries who had entered as divine people.
It was because of Kalanon’s power.
“Hey, I heard we could use power if we trained in the Divine Land, but that’s not the case at all.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve been here for almost a month now.”
“Sigh, was it just a false rumor after all?”
“Come to think of it, it didn’t make sense that you could use power just by training here.”
“Exactly. That power is originally only for Kalanon’s believers.”
Alon had never said such a thing, but the mercenaries and knights who had flocked there after hearing strangely distorted rumors were disappointed upon discovering the truth.
“Hmm—well, what should we do now?”
“What else? We leave. There’s no reason to stay here if we can’t use the power.”
“True. It’s better to go back to Lartania than to train here for nothing.”
Just as such talk was spreading among the mercenaries and knights…
“It’s been a while, Silli.”
“It has been a while, Brother.”
Silli Macallian arrived at the Divine Land and met Deus.
“Is the training going well?”
“Yes. However—”
“Ah, I know. You’re talking about the mercenaries and knights who came here after hearing rumors, right?”
“…You knew?”
“Yes. I took a look around and listened to the talk before coming to see you.”
“I see…”
Deus nodded briefly.
“But well, there’s no need to worry too much. I had no intention of keeping mercenaries and knights who don’t believe in the Marquis here anyway. They would likely just get in the way of the Marquis’s great plan.”
He spoke as if to reassure her, but Silli wore a somewhat questioning expression.
“Huh? What do you mean by that, Brother?” she asked instead.
“Hmm? No, I just—I thought you might be worried since the knights and mercenaries will be leaving. Even if they do, we already have enough people.”
Deus explained again, feeling puzzled. However, Silli tilted her head once more.
“That’s what I find strange.”
“My words?”
“Yes. No one has left yet, have they? And from now on, no one who has entered will ever leave.”
She explained with a smile. Deus felt a chill run down his spine at her demeanor, but he managed to force out a response.
“…Is that so?”
“Isn’t it?”
“…Even though they’ve realized the rumors were distorted?”
At that question, Silli made a thoughtful humming sound for a moment before shaking her head.
“Brother.”
“Yes?”
“Honestly, the rumors that were spread were a bit far-fetched, weren’t they?”
“…To be blunt, yes.”
“Then why did people come here after hearing such things?”
“That’s because—”
After a moment of thought, Deus offered his opinion.
“They might have been swept up in the crowd. Or perhaps they believed it might actually be true?”
“Correct. But the important part is the latter.”
“The latter?”
“The part where they thought, ‘It might actually be true.’”
Silli turned her gaze away from Deus and pointed toward the barracks, where endless lines were still forming and the knights and soldiers were stationed within the Divine Land.
“Brother, do you see those people complaining inside the Divine Land?”
“I see them.”
“Those people already know the rumors were distorted. So why aren’t they leaving?”
As Deus pondered, Silli provided the answer.
“It’s hope.”
“…Hope?”
“Yes. Everyone here is clinging to a tiny shred of hope, thinking, ‘What if?’ even though they know the rumors were false. And so, it is enough.”
“What is enough?”
Silli didn’t answer this time. She simply looked somewhere with her purple eyes.
“That person should be fine.”
She smiled and pulled two books from her robe. They were books bound in blue leather covers.
“Take this, Brother.”
“Hmm…?”
“Give it a read.”
Deus opened the book without a word. And then…
“…This is.”
He realized without difficulty that this blue book was a scripture. And not just any scripture, but the scripture of Marquis Palatio, written by Silli herself.
The moment he realized that and looked forward, Deus belatedly noticed that Silli, who had been standing before him just a moment ago, was now heading toward a somewhat frail-looking knight in the distance.
Upon reaching the frail knight, Silli spoke.
“Hello, Sir Knight.”
“Who are you—?”
“I am Silli Macallian, the Saintess of Kalanon.”
“…You are?”
“Yes. I’m here because—”
She smiled.
“—it seems that if you do just a little more, you’ll be able to use Kalanon’s power.”
“Is… is that true?”
“Yes. So, if you don’t mind—”
She carefully held out the blue-covered book to him.
“—shall I help you a little?”
Her deep purple eyes shone with an intensity that made it impossible to look away.