Chapter 327: Dog (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 327: Dog (4)
A short while later.
After leaving the demonstration hall, Alon was finally able to have a proper conversation with Sharan, who had been—for lack of a better word—barking like a madwoman until then.
"……So, you're saying you want to learn primitive magic?"
"That’s... right?"
Sharan stole a glance at him, looking quite sheepish.
She looked far too pathetic to be called the Green Tower Master.
"……Wow."
Alon turned his head at the sound of a natural exclamation from beside him. Penia was standing there with a look of genuine shock.
"What is it?"
"Oh, no—"
Penia tried to shut her mouth, realizing she had let the sound slip, but she soon sighed as if there was no helping it since she’d been caught. She leaned in and whispered into Alon's ear.
"You remember what I told you before, right? That she’s incredibly arrogant."
"……I do."
"She’s usually quite... you know? That’s why this is so fascinating."
Penia feigned innocence after whispering just quietly enough so the Tower Master couldn't hear.
Just how extreme had Sharan’s usual behavior been for Penia to react like this?
Alon looked at Sharan again, feeling a fresh wave of curiosity. She hadn't had this kind of image in the game.
However.
"……Should I bark again?"
"I don't think that will be necessary."
"I'm confident I can do it better this time."
……What exactly did she hope to achieve by being good at that? Alon suppressed his rising bewilderment and looked at Sharan. He quickly understood what Penia meant.
At the very least, she isn't someone with a normal thought process.
Just as Alon was revising his evaluation of Sharan, Selaim, who had been standing nearby, spoke to Penia.
"Well—if we're talking about personalities, aren't you more famous for yours than the Green Tower Master?"
Alon’s head snapped toward Penia.
Penia gritted her teeth and glared at Selaim.
"……Master. Please shut up."
"Last time, you just asked me to be quiet. You’ve grown fiercer in the meantime."
"You are the one evolving me, Master."
"I was merely stating a fact."
"Excuse me, Master, is this a time for sharing facts? If so, may I share a 'fact' that I know as well?"
"……Let’s just say I lost."
Selaim quickly averted his gaze from Penia’s momentum; her mouth was smiling, but her eyes certainly weren't.
Alon suddenly recalled Penia’s past, which he had almost forgotten.
"I suppose so—"
She really had been something else.
He muttered that to himself for a moment, but then he realized Penia was rolling her eyes to look at him. Alon cleared his throat, "Ahem," and naturally shifted his gaze back to Sharan.
For some reason, Sharan looked like she was 'Ready to bark at any moment.'
……What should I do?
In truth, Alon had nothing to gain from taking Sharan as a disciple.
The 'primitive magic' she desired wasn't even the kind of thing he could simply teach.
After pondering Sharan’s request for a moment, he spoke.
"……Well."
Having finished his thoughts, he addressed her.
"First, I don't think I can teach you the magic you're looking for, Tower Master."
"……Would it help if I barked harder?"
"……."
How did she even leap to that conclusion?
Sharan seemed to have even more screws loose than he had initially thought.
"It’s not that. It’s just that the magic I used has aspects that are extremely difficult to teach."
"Ah—"
"……Do you understand?"
"So... should I bark more?"
……This was the Green Tower Master?
"Master—"
"Yes?"
"……The Green Tower Master seems to be a bit lacking in intelligence."
"It’s a common occurrence. She’s usually quite brilliant, but, well... when she gets obsessed with one thing, she ends up like that……."
Selaim spun his index finger in a circle next to his head, and Penia nodded as if she finally understood.
……They could hear everything; wasn't that a bit rude?
Alon cleared his throat again and continued the conversation.
"……It’s not like that. While teaching you is difficult, if you wish to research that magic, I can help you with that part."
"Research……?"
"Yes. We’ll have to discuss the details first, but that’s assuming research alone is enough for you—"
"I beg of you."
Sharan answered instantly without a moment's hesitation.
Alon nodded and immediately headed toward Heinkel using the layer transfer device.
[You’re here?]
"Yes."
[I watched the demonstration. I never imagined hand seals could have an effect like that. Do you understand the principle behind it?]
"Not exactly, but—"
[Then how did you find the right seals?]
"I had already found various hand seals previously, so I tried them one by one."
"Hmm—" Heinkel trailed off, appearing lost in thought. Seizing the moment, Alon spoke.
"Heinkel, there’s something I’d like to propose."
[……? A proposal?]
"Yes. It’s regarding the Green Tower Master."
He proceeded to lay out his suggestion to Heinkel.
[You want to involve the Green Tower Master in the research?]
"Yes. I heard there are many simple calculations to be done. Wouldn't it be better to have more manpower?"
This was the reason Alon wanted to bring the Green Tower Master into the research.
Extracting information from Tier magic required countless simple calculations.
The more people they had, the faster they could process the data.
The Green Tower Master should be more than helpful enough—
[Hmm—]
After some thought, Heinkel nodded.
[Well—I don't really mind them helping with the research, but why didn't you just bring her here?]
"……I thought you wanted to avoid encountering mages as much as possible?"
Alon knew that Heinkel had been moving in secret to avoid being noticed by mages.
However, she gave a light shrug.
[Well, that’s true—but it’s not like the person is some random nobody, so there’s no need to worry that much.]
More than anything, she was a valuable slave—no, a mage—who would help with the research. Alon ignored Heinkel’s slip of the tongue and nodded.
* * *
Immediately after receiving Heinkel’s permission.
Alon returned to Heinkel, accompanied by Selaim, who had quickly expressed his desire to join the research so as not to miss out.
"Wow……."
"Is that... is that really the Primordial Cup……?"
"I’d heard rumors that you were at the Magic Tower, but to see you in person like this—!"
The eyes of the two mages were filled with admiration.
Forgetting their status as Tower Masters, they looked at Heinkel with the expressions of children meeting a hero they had idolized since youth.
[Hohoho—]
Seeing Heinkel strike a pose as if to say, 'See? This is who I am,' Alon glanced at Penia.
Penia looked like that too.
While he watched the mages for a moment, Heinkel and the two Tower Masters began to converse.
"Heinkel—if it wouldn't be too rude, may I dare to ask a few questions about the past?"
[What is it? Go ahead—]
"It’s about the fact that you created the Mana Condensation Process, isn't it?"
[Mmm—you’re well-informed.]
"Of course I am. Isn't it thanks to you that modern mages can implement magic with reduced casting times?"
[Oh—you know that it links back to that?]
"Haha—I am a Tower Master of the current generation, after all—"
Sharan spoke bashfully, and Selaim nodded repeatedly beside her.
Watching them, Alon called out to Penia.
"Penia."
"Yes, Marquis?"
"Did you know about that?"
"Uh—the 'Mana Condensation Process'?"
"Yes."
The Mana Condensation Process.
It was a theory of considerable difficulty if one tried to explain it in detail.
Simply put, it was the process of creating a mana array on paper rather than in the air, and Alon was aware of it too.
One couldn't properly learn magic without knowing it.
"I’ve never heard that it was related to casting time."
"Mmm—fundamentally, it was created for ease of implementation, but simply adding mana to the array itself according to the desired form makes the casting time faster. You probably use it too, Marquis."
"……I do?"
"Yes. You know the basic configuration you use for Light magic? That wasn't originally there."
"……Really?"
"Yes. That’s why when we simplify Light magic, that process is omitted."
"……Oh."
Alon looked at Heinkel anew.
"She’s more impressive than I thought."
"……Than you thought?"
"Yes."
"……Just what kind of image did Heinkel have in your head, Marquis……?"
At Penia’s question, Alon thought for a moment before answering.
"……A ghost who’s good at magic and floats around because she wants to look tall?"
He replied softly.
"……."
It didn't take long for Penia’s expression to turn cold.
A while later.
The three mages had been talking for hours without rest about theories Alon couldn't even properly comprehend.
Just as Alon was thinking, With them here, the interpretation of magic will certainly be faster, Heinkel approached him.
[How long are you staying?]
"About a week, same as before."
[Hmm, I think I can teach you a bit more this time. I actually found something interesting while analyzing the 2nd Tier.]
"That’s good news. Oh, and there’s something I’d like to discuss regarding the magic I demonstrated earlier."
[The magic you demonstrated?]
Seeing Heinkel show interest, Alon conveyed the doubts he had felt while implementing the new magic.
[……You completed it, but you feel like there’s a different way to use it?]
"Yes."
"Hmm," Heinkel muttered something to herself, falling into thought.
A brief silence followed.
And then.
"!"
As if she had suddenly remembered something, her expression brightened as if an exclamation mark had appeared over her head.
[This is just a hypothesis—but do you want to hear it?]
Not long after.
[……If that’s the case, what do you think?]
At those words.
"……I’ll have to give it a try."
Alon nodded his head several times.
* * *
Kalanon, the Lightning Receiver.
No, Kalanon, who was now active as the mascot(?) of the Lightning Receiver, had been spending quite happy days lately.
There were two main reasons.
One was that, thanks to Alon’s word(?), she was being revered—albeit in a limited capacity—by those in Divine Land.
The other was the faith that was being restored at an incredibly rapid pace recently.
Of course, the faith being restored was woefully insufficient compared to when she existed as the Lightning Receiver in the distant past, but she was still satisfied.
No matter how little it was, it was far more than the amount she had painstakingly gathered while inside Alon.
……Of course, she did think it would be nice to gain as much faith as she had in her prime.
But considering the times she had been worried about her very existence fading away, her current situation was quite luxurious.
Kalanon, who was living a satisfying life being revered by the knights and mercenaries in Divine Land, was currently listening to a conversation between Silli and Deus.
"……So you're saying we should proselytize to the common villagers outside as well?"
"Yes, Brother. He needs divine people to follow him."
"……I know that—but the Marquis didn't go so far as to command that."
Deus replied as a loyal subordinate.
However, Kalanon knew that he was already getting ahead of himself with things Alon hadn't even ordered.
She had personally heard roughly why Alon had created this place called Divine Land.
Hmm—should I tell them?
Until now, she had merely taken the form of a mascot, but she had recently gathered enough faith to convey a few words.
……That man will be troubled if things get any bigger than this.
Thus, Kalanon, who knew the Marquis of Palatio’s personality to some extent, was about to stop the siblings who were about to charge forward like a runaway locomotive.
"But it’s such a shame. If we bring in the people from the surrounding villages, the faith in him will overflow even more."
"……Are you saying it would be a great help to the Marquis?"
"Yes, of course."
She froze.
She stopped the divine power she was about to use.
"But there are only small villages around here, Silli. I don't think faith will gather much with just that many people."
"That’s true if you only look at the surrounding villages."
"……Meaning?"
"Those are just the opening moves, Brother."
Kalanon’s ears perked up.
"If we provide a little help along with proselytizing in a few villages, the faith for him will naturally spread on its own."
"……Just with that?"
"Yes."
Deus looked skeptical.
However, Silli smiled and answered purely.
"It might be small to us, but to them, 'that much' won't be small at all."
Listening quietly, Kalanon found herself thinking back to when she was the Lightning Receiver herself.
In truth, it was impossible for her to regain her former power at this point.
But what if faith gathered even faster?
……What if, as Silli said, she could truly start gathering faith from humans in earnest?
Thump, thump.
Kalanon’s heart raced.
Before she knew it, she was picturing herself from 600 years ago, 'with all people beneath her.'
If more faith continued to accumulate than now, it was entirely possible to regain her peak power, even if she was just a mascot(?).
Therefore.
"……But Brother is right. For us to do something he hasn't commanded—"
The moment Silli muttered regretfully.
[No, it’s not.]
Kalanon used her divine power.
"!"
"!"
Silli and Deus stared at Kalanon in surprise.
[Do not be alarmed. I am his... Guardian.]
After reassuring them, Kalanon hesitated for a moment.
Is it right for me, who knows the Marquis of Palatio’s true intentions, to make such a statement? This conscientious thought momentarily silenced her.
But in that moment.
Recalling herself in her prime once more, Kalanon spoke.
[—He desires for even more faith to be gathered.]
Instead of stopping the runaway locomotive, she decided to hop on board.
"Is that... is that true?"
[Yes.]
"If that is what he desires……!"
……And so, the locomotive began to barrel forward in earnest.
[‘I-I don’t know anymore……!!’]
With the steering wheel and brakes smashed, it sped along so fast that no one could get off anymore.