Chapter 155 - The Road Home (2)

Penia Kraisinne had always lived with a very high opinion of herself. She might throw her temper around like a delinquent, but that did not mean she was stupid or slow-witted.

In short, she knew how to assess herself objectively.

For Penia, who had a reasonably good grasp of her own circumstances, a letter of correction was really no great matter. Such letters inspired fear in nobles who lived political lives; anyone unentangled in political ideologies had no reason to be afraid.

Provided, of course, they had not done something utterly outrageous, such as conducting human experiments connected to heretics.

Besides, the Holy Kingdom took care not to antagonize people from the magic towers too readily. Neither side had much to gain from fighting the other.

Thus, even upon hearing that Cardinal Yutia had come to see her about the letter of correction, Penia had been indifferent. In fact, when she first heard of the cardinal's visit, she had eagerly hoped the woman would make even the slightest verbal slip.

It might give her an outlet for all the work-related stress Marquis Pallatio had piled on her.

And so she had regarded Yutia with venom in her eyes.

Right up until the moment Yutia entered.

But the instant Yutia stepped into the room and gave the insolent-looking Penia a deep smile, Penia involuntarily straightened in her seat.

For one fleeting instant, she had seen something behind Yutia.

She had not gotten a close look. But one thing was clear.

It was the same kind of thing as “that.”

The thing attached to Marquis Pallatio's back. Something no human should ever perceive. A poisoned chalice that could grant everything in the world the moment one perceived it, but demanded one's life in return.

Cold sweat began breaking out all over Penia's body before she knew it. The presence of “that” meant the person before her was not a mere cardinal, but an entirely different being.

And so...

'What is that? How in the world? Why is something like that behind a cardinal of the Holy Kingdom? Why?'

As Penia floundered in fear and confusion, Yutia abruptly apologized.

“I'm sorry.”

“Pardon?”

Penia's mouth fell open in bewilderment.

“I decided it might be difficult to have a conversation with the deputy tower master of the Blue Magic Tower unless I did this. So I only revealed it for a brief moment... I didn't realize you would be so frightened.”

“Hic—”

Penia hiccupped.

“You needn't react quite so strongly. I haven't come to hurt you, Deputy Tower Master. However—”

Even as she watched Penia, Yutia retained her gentle smile. Then she slowly raised her index finger to her lips and whispered.

“—You understand, don't you? This is a somewhat... sensitive matter.”

“O-of course. I know how to keep a secret. Yes. I certainly do...!”

Penia nodded over and over with frantic vigor. Apparently satisfied, Yutia folded her arms and tapped one arm a couple of times.

“Good. Very good.”

“Yes, yesss...”

Wearing an obsequious smile wholly unlike her expression when she berated Pelin, Penia spoke with extreme caution.

“B-but might I ask why you've come to see me...?”

“Hmm, simply because... I heard an amusing rumor.”

“An amusing... rumor?”

Yutia smiled at her question.

“Yes. I've been hearing an amusing rumor about you, Deputy Tower Master, and Marquis Pallatio.”

“A r-rumor...?”

Penia instantly realized which rumor Yutia meant. At the same time, her survival instincts sounded an alarm, miraculously dragging a carelessly crumpled memory out of a corner of her mind.

The rumor that Marquis Pallatio and Cardinal Yutia were very close.

The moment she remembered it, Penia scrutinized Yutia's expression. She was smiling, yet she was not smiling at all. Unlike the curve of her lips, her eyes were cold.

Penia launched into a frantic struggle for survival.

“Th-that's absolutely not true!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, yes, absolutely! It's nothing but a baseless rumor, yes! It certainly is...!”

“And yet, I hear you didn't deny the rumors going around—”

“N-no! I've denied them all now! Recently! There will never—absolutely never—be any such rumors again! Truly!”

Penia desperately explained herself. Whether her explanation was actually working or not, the shadow lingering in Yutia's gentle smile seemed to lift little by little.

Seeing that a path to survival was opening up, Penia redoubled her efforts and continued, determined to settle the matter once and for all.

However...

“Th-the marquis isn't exactly my type, either. You know? He's always expressionless and all that, isn't he? I don't really like people like—”

“What?”

Perhaps she had gone a little too far.

“... Pardon?”

“What did you just say?”

Yutia's face, which had been smiling pleasantly, had turned cold in an instant.

Belatedly, Penia's eyes darted about as she opened her mouth.

“Ah, well—that's—”

Sweat trickled down her face. Why did she have to suffer like this because of Marquis Pallatio? A sudden surge of misery actually brought tears to her eyes.

But the next instant...

“Deputy Tower Master.”

“...!?”

Penia could not help being startled. Yutia, who had been sitting across from her just a moment before, was now seated right beside her, one hand resting lightly on her shoulder. When had she moved so close?

Penia froze. She wanted to scream, but somehow stifled it with a hiccup.

“It's very good of you to try to prove your innocence—but that remark crossed a line, didn't it?”

“Hic—”

“Answer.”

“Yes... y-yes...! I-I'm sorry...!”

“I'll let it slide this time. But next time... you understand, don't you?”

TAP

“I'm not a particularly patient person.”

Yutia whispered in her ear in a chilling voice.

“Very well, Deputy Tower Master. Let's get along from now on.”

“... Yes. I-understand. C-certainly, Marquis Pallatio does have some rather impressive qualities... Ha. Haha.”

Penia answered with an awkward laugh as Yutia rose to her feet, but...

“... Does that mean you secretly wanted that sort of relationship with Marquis Pallatio?”

As Yutia's face began to harden again, Penia hastily had to elaborate.

“N-no, that's not it. The marquis is impressive, but that doesn't mean he's my type or anything—”

“So the marquis isn't your type?”

“No—that's not what I mean. He's certainly an impressive man—!”

“He isn't your type, but he's impressive, so you're secretly interested—”

“No, that's not—”

Feeling trapped in an endless cycle, Penia thought with indescribable fury and a sense of injustice:

What the hell does this crazy woman want me to say!!!

But, as mentioned, Penia was exceptionally good at assessing herself objectively, and she felt all too keenly that she could not defy the being before her.

“I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry for being alive...”

All she could do was bow her head.

... It was a peaceful afternoon.

####

About three days later.

[“Bwahahaha—I win!”]

“You crazy bastard—”

[“Kyuu?”]

As they continued their long journey across the desert, Alon watched Evan, Basiliora, and Blackie getting worked up over some unfamiliar wager on the driver's seat.

'... What on earth are they playing?'

After that rather idle thought, he rummaged inside his clothes and took out the nail guard he had obtained from Scorpirion.

Like the discarded remnant he had given Yutia, it had completely lost its power and was now grayish white.

'... An apostle.'

An apostle. It had been Alon's first time seeing one. They had not appeared even in the game.

But one thing was certain: they were strong.

'... If Seollang hadn't awakened, we probably would have been the ones defeated.'

Alon felt a deeper need to study magic. Dealing with the abominations was one thing, but he also needed to prepare, at least to some extent, for the apostles who would soon begin appearing.

By any sober assessment, if every apostle possessed that level of strength, stopping them would be virtually impossible for Alon. And if he failed to stop them, the apostles would eventually create the Sins.

Fortunately, he had people who could help with his research, and he had already thought of a way to improve his own magical abilities.

What troubled him, however, was information about the apostles.

'... There's nothing I can learn about them.'

Unfortunately, no one knew anything about the apostles. Asking Rine had yielded nothing, and neither had the dragonkin he visited during his few days in Coloni.

All he had managed to get was a suggestion that someone who had survived to the very end of the war might know.

And so...

'... Kailas.'

Alon recalled that name once again. The goblin whom the Golden Dragon had known as a Magus, but who had appeared in the present as an Outer God.

'... Once I follow Elivan and obtain that object, I'll have to go see him right away.'

Even aside from learning how to use the Death Shadow Dragon, he now had another reason to meet Kailas.

As he organized his thoughts...

“My lord.”

Alon turned at Evan's sudden call.

“What is it?”

“I just realized I hadn't given you this.”

Evan pulled a glass bottle from inside his clothes and handed it over.

“... What is this?” Alon asked, accepting the bottle of black powder.

“From what I heard, it's the powdered remains of the apostle.”

“... What?”

“Seollang's secretary... was it? That person dropped it off.”

At that explanation, Alon asked in bewilderment,

“... Why give me this?”

He stared blankly at the finely ground(?) apostle powder.

####

At the southernmost reaches of the continent lay a sacred land of lush forests, tended by elven rather than human hands. Deep within that land, which the elves called Greinif, stood the elven kingdom of Pildagrin.

A dreamlike elven realm built around the World Tree.

And in the immense palace at the center of the kingdom, directly beneath the World Tree...

“... You found Lagierni's Blessing?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

A man—no, Perion, now free of his human disguise—was reporting to the queen with his head bowed.

“... I never thought we would find it. You have accomplished something truly great, Perion.”

The elven queen, Magrina, praised him in a voice mingling surprise and pride, her bright platinum-blond hair swaying down to her waist.

Perion bowed his head still lower and continued.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. However—there is something I must tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I was not the one who found Lagierni's Blessing.”

“... You weren't the one who found it?”

“No. You see—”

Nodding cautiously, Perion began recounting what had happened in Lartania. After listening for some time, Magrina asked,

“... So this man, Marquis Pallatio, not only saw through your identity at once, but also told you where Lagierni's Blessing was... Is that what you're saying?”

“Yes.”

“The room containing Lagierni's Blessing was set up like a Pagade hideout—and—”

“... No one besides me had ever entered it. And as I mentioned, there was a message written inside.”

“...‘ I hope this reaches my younger sister safely,’ was it?”

“Yes.”

Magrina gazed at the Blessing Perion had brought with an expression of disbelief, remaining silent for a moment. Her voice began to tremble.

“... Then are you suggesting that this Marquis Pallatio might be the primordial elf—in other words, my older brother...?”

“... Naturally, I cannot be certain. But he easily recognized me as a member of the Pagade, and led me to Lagierni's Blessing... To my knowledge, no one but him could have done that.”

Magrina fell speechless once more. Perion's words did have merit.

Yet she could not judge the marquis on these facts alone. As far as she knew, the primordial elf, her older brother, had died hundreds of years ago.

And she knew very well that the dead did not return.

As silence continued to hang over them, a voice spoke from her side.

“I will go and discreetly investigate.”

She turned to find an elf in a mage's robe: Pilde, the mage who served directly under her.

“... Can that really be verified?”

“It is not impossible. As you know, Your Majesty, my eyes are somewhat unusual.”

“Ah.”

Magrina let out an involuntary exclamation.

Pilde possessed spirit sight, eyes that could see souls. With that ability, determining Marquis Pallatio's identity would be exceedingly easy.

“... Then I leave it in your hands.”