Chapter 165 - ...Huh? (4)

After a brief, very brief discussion of gifts for the Great Moon, the meeting resumed its normal course. Of course, there were occasional interruptions when Deus suddenly brought up the Great Moon or Seollang declared, "I'll be the gift!"

Nevertheless, the meeting proceeded a little more smoothly than usual, and only began drawing to a close just before dawn ended. As everyone prepared to say their farewells—

["Seollang."]

["Hm?"]

Deus abruptly called her name.

["Why are you doing that with your ears, anyway?"]

Seollang was pressing both ears shut with her hands. And it had not been just once or twice. Throughout the meeting, she had squeezed them whenever she got the chance. Deus had been puzzled by this peculiar new habit the entire time.

As everyone's eyes turned toward her, Seollang let out an "Ah!" and broke into a radiant smile.

["Mentor did it for me!"]

["... The Great Moon did that for you?"]

["Yes! Like this, and this!"]

Though no one had asked, Seollang began recounting everything that had happened in Coloni, one event at a time.

["And that's what happened!"]

The moment she finished, the Moons each voiced their own exclamations.

["... To think the Great Moon looked genuinely worried."]

["That is remarkable."]

Deus and Radan looked envious. Knowing Alon's usual expressionless face, the fact that the Great Moon had shown Seollang such emotion, even briefly, meant a great deal to them.

["..."]

Rine, who had already spent several days with them in Coloni, also watched Seollang with a sulky face, looking oddly envious.

But Yutia alone retained her usual smile.

["Of course, Seollang. He cares about 'us.' Isn't it only natural that he'd worry when you, one of us, were in danger?"]

It was a gentle smile that betrayed no change in emotion whatsoever.

Seollang stared at her, then suddenly lifted her shoulders triumphantly, as though something had dawned on her.

["But I saw Mentor smile, too."]

["... The Great Moon smiled?"]

["Yes!"]

Deus barely managed to ask the question, and Seollang nodded vigorously.

The corners of Yutia's mouth twisted slightly as well.

["... Surely he smiled for you because he was worried about you?"]

But Yutia still had not lost her smi—

["Nope! He smiled while we were just talking!"]

The mood snapped abruptly.

["..."]

Yutia's mouth closed firmly. At that, Seollang lifted her shoulders again, looking even more triumphant.

["You've never seen it, have you, Yutia? Mentor smiling."]

Seollang flashed a V sign, as if to say, I won!

Hidan, who had silently watched the situation unfold, took on a peculiar expression. Granted, the Moons all tended to react somewhat like children whenever the Great Moon came up, but even allowing for that, Seollang's taunt was... frankly, a little more childish.

'... Surely Red Moon wouldn't get upset over something so triv—'

Confident of that, Hidan turned toward Yutia, only for his mouth to fall open despite himself.

The smile that had remained unchanged until moments ago...

["..."]

"..."

...was now visibly out of alignment, no matter who looked at it.

In other words, it was undeniable that Seollang's words had gotten under her skin.

Hidan cautiously lowered his eyes.

["Right!? I knew it! Then I'm the first one to see Mentor smiling, aren't I?"]

Perhaps because she thought she had beaten Yutia for the first time(?), Seollang cast all awareness of the situation aside and chattered away, her shoulders raised proudly.

But that did not last long.

["Ahem! So, Mentor squeezed my ears then, really firmly..."]

After several minutes of delighted bragging, Seollang began trailing off and taking stock of the mood.

["..."]

Yutia was no longer smiling at all.

Just as Seollang belatedly realized she had been too intoxicated by her sense of victory(?)—

["Ahem. I have something to attend to, so I should be going. The meeting appears to be over, so I'll take my leave first."]

Having grasped the situation with impeccable timing, Radan vanished from the screen, citing work he could not possibly have had at this hour before sunrise.

["... Likewise. I have a meeting with the knight order after this."]

Deus immediately escaped the meeting as well. Just as Hidan wondered whether he could have found a better excuse than a meeting at the crack of dawn—

["... I'll be going, too. I have things to do."]

["... Hm?"]

After briefly glaring at Seollang with a somewhat disgruntled expression, Rine also made herself scarce.

Only then did Seollang realize something was wrong. And then—

["Eek..."]

Noticing the cold smile that had appeared on Yutia's lips, Seollang unconsciously let go of her ears. Freed, they instinctively folded backward. Her eyes darted this way and that as she slowly backed away.

["I-I'll be going now, too!"]

She fled.

And so two people remained in the meeting until the very end: Hidan and... an extremely angry Yutia.

Cautiously lifting his head, Hidan realized he had missed his chance to leave.

'What do I do?'

He could hardly breathe.

The other Moons must have fled because they knew, too—how frightening Red Moon became the moment she grew even slightly angry. Of course, she did not mercilessly dispose of her allies, but her anger alone was terrifying.

Anxious that her anger, now without a target, might turn on him, Hidan discreetly slipped out of the frame and held his breath.

The next moment—

["Whew..."]

What reached his ears was not an angry voice, but a quiet sigh from Yutia. Having successfully moved out of the frame, Hidan stole a sideways glance at the still-active screen.

There was Yutia, her cheeks slightly puffed out.

'Puffed-out... cheeks?'

Her face flushed and her expression a little sulky, she quietly muttered as though pouting,

["But I'm the one who thinks about him the most..."]

Then she ended the call.

"...???"

Hidan was left stunned by this unfamiliar side of Red Moon, one he had never seen before.

Then he realized: because he had moved out of the frame, Red Moon had assumed all the calls had ended and let down her guard.

It did not suit Red Moon, yet, paradoxically, he felt as though only now had he glimpsed 'her' as an individual in her own right.

Staring into empty space as though he had seen a mirage, Hidan quickly took stock of the situation and broke into a cold sweat.

'I'd better forget that.'

If Red Moon ever learned of this, even by the slightest chance...

...he would be a dead man that very day.

And so he firmly vowed to himself:

'I have to erase all of it from my mind.'

####

About two months had passed since Alon met the Teal Forest Trading Company. The ball was drawing near, and news of developments he recognized from the original story had begun reaching his ears.

"... With this, it's essentially finished."

"Indeed."

Facing Penia, Alon dispelled the new magic they had just succeeded in perfectly fine-tuning.

"Thank you. Without your help, this would have taken far longer."

"Ahem. You're very welcome."

Her answer was modest, but her shoulders rose ever so slightly. Her whole body seemed to proclaim, 'See? That's how good I am!!' Behind his indifferent expression, Alon gave a private chuckle and asked:

"When is the next magic symposium?"

"Oh, it's... about three months from now... right?"

"Then we'll go together. You kept your promise, so I will keep mine."

"Thank you so much!"

Penia bowed deeply, delighted as though she had obtained the greatest treasure in the world.

After looking down at his hand for a moment, Alon sat down.

"Incidentally, there's little point in devising more combinations now, is there?"

"Hmm... Based on our research so far, I think we'd need a few more experiments to make a better seal than this..."

Penia looked so anxious that her thoughts were plainly visible: 'Don't tell me this guy wants to do more?'

Alon lightly shook his head.

"Well, don't worry. I'm not quite that devoid of a conscience."

"Oh, yes..."

Wasn't he already devoid of one?

Penia chose not to voice the thought that briefly crossed her mind.

"Your magic is rather unusual, though, my lord."

"In what respect?"

"... Well, its power. The method of constructing the spell and its molecular arrangement are exactly the same, but strangely, its power keeps increasing."

"... Can you clearly sense that?"

Penia considered for a moment before answering.

"Hmm, the day-to-day difference is negligible, but if I compare it to two months ago, there is definitely a clear difference."

"... I see."

Alon nodded without thinking.

Of course, he had not been secretly training at night or devising new arrangements behind Penia's back. His miserably small mana reservoir did not allow him such luxuries.

Nevertheless, the reason his magic's power continued to rise was most likely his divine stature.

'... Though I have absolutely no idea what's making it rise.'

As that thought crossed his mind—

"Um—"

"What is it?"

"If you wouldn't mind, could you give me... even a hint as to why?"

Penia asked cautiously, her eyes darting about. She clearly seemed afraid of something, but her curiosity appeared to be overcoming that fear. Alon considered for a moment. He could not reveal that divine stature was the reason for the increase in power.

After racking his brain—

"... I'll tell you another time."

"R-really? Thank you so much!"

Having brushed the question aside, he left the second office, which had effectively become Penia's laboratory.

'Well, now that I've filled it with mana, shall I get moving?'

Alon took The Foot That Runs Through the Past from inside his clothes and examined it. Initially pitch-black, it had turned blue before he knew it. That meant it was now ready to use, unlike before.

'... Charging it with mana was quite a chore... Though it's not time to use it yet.'

Even while conducting his magical experiments, he had steadily poured mana into the artifact until it was ready for use. Recalling that rather arduous process, he organized his schedule in his head.

'... First, the ball. Then I'll stop by Lartania, use The Foot That Runs Through the Past to meet Kailas, and afterward go to the ruins to collect the item.'

Without taking any real rest, Alon promptly left the marquis's estate as planned.

Several weeks later, around the time his party arrived in Teria, where the ball would be held, in the Holy Kingdom of Rosario—

"Hello, Cardinal Yutia."

"Yes, it's been a while, Chosen One."

Cardinal Yutia and the Chosen One, Elivan, were exchanging greetings.

Both wore deep smiles that seemed to conceal something.