Chapter 168 - The Ball (3)

First, one thing was certain: Alon knew very little about Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning. All he knew was that Kalanon was another god worshipped by the Thunder Serpent tribe, and that his worship was the state religion of the Kingdom of Luxible.

"We greet you, Lord Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning."

"We greet you, Lord Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning."

As a result, Alon could not make sense of what Sircal and Jenira were saying. In fact, he was so bewildered that he nearly blurted out, "Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning? Me...?"

"... Well—"

Alon started to deny it, then stopped. He had realized that this situation was not so bad. More precisely, he realized that he might be benefiting from their misconception.

Looking at the two girls with their heads bowed, Alon recalled an earlier conversation.

["Your magic is a little unusual, though, my lord."]

["In what way?"]

["... Its power. The spell's construction and molecular arrangement are clearly the same, but strangely enough, its power keeps increasing."]

["... Can you clearly tell the difference?"]

["Well, the day-to-day change is negligible, but comparing it now to two months ago, there's definitely a noticeable difference."]

["... I see."]

It was the conversation he had shared with Penia. She had said his magic was growing increasingly powerful despite remaining unchanged, and he had surmised that this was because his divine stature was accumulating.

In short, his magic might have grown stronger because the two girls before him—and the Thunder Serpent tribe—had mistaken him for Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning.

Of course, Alon could not even begin to imagine when, how, or through what chain of misunderstandings he had become Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning. But if his hypothesis was at least partly correct, and the tribe's misconception really had strengthened his magic, there was no need to clear up the misunderstanding.

'... Of course, it's only a guess.'

Naturally, he had no choice but to rely on speculation where divine stature was concerned. Even though he had played Psychedelia, the game had never offered much information about it.

After a moment's consideration, Alon reached a decision.

"... Do not use that name in a place like this."

He would simply refrain from denying their misconception.

Truthfully, he wanted to ask in a roundabout way why they revered him as Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning. But there was no need to stir up trouble.

"Forgive us."

"The thought of seeing your greatness once more got the better of us."

Alon responded to their replies with indifference.

"So, what brings you here?"

"No particular reason. It would simply be discourteous not to offer our greetings when one so great is nearby."

Unlike her somewhat fierce demeanor before, Sircal was now exceedingly polite.

'... In other words, they came to say hello.'

Various thoughts and questions suddenly came to Alon's mind. Above all, he wanted to know exactly how the Thunder Serpent tribe currently perceived him.

'... Do they see me as a reincarnated god? Or as an incarnate god himself?'

But resolving those questions without shattering their misconception would require carefully chosen words.

"... I shall pay you a visit sometime."

For now, he decided to suppress his curiosity, work out his questions gradually, and later visit the Principality of Luxible to ask them in person.

"We shall await you with joy."

"... Very well."

He suddenly recalled the statuette of Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning, that Siyan had shown him that morning—the one she had said looked so much like him.

'... That really was me?'

Behind his impassive face, Alon wore an expression of utter disbelief as he returned to his lodgings.

Once Sircal and Jenira had left as well, a lone figure emerged into the deserted passage: Karmakses III, who had been hiding behind a pillar, secretly eavesdropping on Marquis Pallatio's conversation with the envoys from the Principality of Luxible.

'Marquis Pallatio is... Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning?'

With an expression of complete incomprehension, he recalled the scene from moments ago: the envoys of Luxible greeting Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning, and Marquis Pallatio accepting that greeting as though nothing were amiss.

Judging by that alone, it seemed certain that Marquis Pallatio was Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning, whose worship had become Luxible's state religion. Yet he could not easily accept it. It defied common sense.

A human plainly visible before his eyes, alive and walking about—and, remarkable though he certainly was, a mere noble rather than even a king—being a god was beyond comprehension.

Nevertheless, there were two reasons Karmakses III continued to ponder this rather than dismiss it as mere absurdity. One was an account he had once read in an ancient book, stating that the nonhuman races had incarnate gods. The other was Seollang.

'... If Marquis Pallatio really is a god, that would explain Seollang's devotion to him.'

Until now, Karmakses III had been utterly mystified as to why Seollang followed Marquis Pallatio so faithfully. Though her languid, indolent air obscured it, he knew that her understanding of the world was founded entirely on the strong preying upon the weak.

By that standard, Marquis Pallatio should have ranked far beneath Seollang. He was certainly strong, but nowhere near her level.

Yet reality was different. He always stood outside her usual worldview, on a lofty plane above her. Karmakses III had heard that she owed him an immense debt of gratitude, but that alone could not explain her behavior toward the marquis.

But what if Marquis Pallatio truly was a god? Then it made a certain amount of sense: why someone whose thinking was so thoroughly grounded in the supremacy of strength followed, adored, and worshipped Marquis Pallatio to such an extent.

In the silent, deserted corridor, Karmakses III gazed for some time at the spot where Marquis Pallatio had stood, his expression troubled.

'... It seems I shall have to investigate incarnate gods properly.'

Adding a new plan to his agenda, he turned away.

####

After spending about another week enjoying the ball, Alon began preparing to move on. The festivities would continue for roughly two more days, but he had no particular desire to stay until the end.

... Truthfully, as far as Alon was concerned, the ball was merely exhausting.

"Are we heading to Lartania?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll make the preparations right away."

Evan, who had been sitting at leisure in their lodgings eating dessert, went out. Alon calmly sorted through the bits of information he had gathered at the ball, though most of them were useless.

'... The only thing that really qualifies as information is that the Monster Gate situation has been causing considerable turmoil in the countries lately... I suppose.'

Of course, he had also heard from a noble of Callivan that Deus Makalian had been spending some very busy days there recently.

'... Apparently he's building something.'

He had not heard exactly what Deus was building, so he wondered about it briefly. Then his attention shifted to the peculiar incident from yesterday.

["... Greetings, Your Majesty of Coloni."]

["It has been some time, Lord Marquis Pallatio."]

["... Hm? Ah, yes. But why are you addressing me so formally...?"]

["Ah, ahem—no. Never mind."]

["...???"]

Karmakses III had abruptly started addressing him with deference.

'... Why did he suddenly start speaking so politely?'

Just as faint creases formed around Alon's eyes—

"My lord. Everything is ready."

"Already?"

"I thought you might want to leave soon, so I prepared things in advance."

Following the diligent Evan, Alon climbed into the carriage to set off for Lartania.

####

Silli Makalian, Deus Makalian's younger sister, had frequently been wearing a strange expression lately. The reason was the statue erected in the middle of the private training ground Deus had personally arranged for her magic practice.

A statue consisting of nothing but its lower half.

Silli had no great objection to having "that thing" in her private training ground. ... Of course, even half-finished, the statue was so enormous that it easily dwarfed the completed statue in the garden, but her allotted training ground was also vast.

The problem, however, was—

["Hmm, hmm."]

Her older brother, Deus Makalian, who came at all hours to admire the statue's solitary lower half.

... No, to be precise, she did not mind her brother coming to look at it. It was embarrassing to admit, but Silli was quite fond of him.

However—

["Silli, what do you think of the marquis's statue?"]

["Hmm, the statue is radiant again today. Don't you agree, Silli?"]

["Really, it's coming along perfectly. Don't you think so, Silli?"]

Every time he visited, her brother gazed at the statue's lower half and demanded her impressions. ... Of course, each time she gave him an awkward smile and agreed, but honestly, Silli had only one genuine reaction.

... But it's just trousers... was her decidedly unenthusiastic assessment.

Unable to tell him the truth, Silli always smiled it off. Today, as usual, she came out to the training ground to practice magic.

"?"

She realized that the statue's lower half had grown a little. No, it had not merely grown a little. At first, the lower half alone had stood somewhere between one and two stories high. Now it easily exceeded two stories.

"...???"

As Silli's brow furrowed, a voice greeted her.

"There you are, Silli."

"Brother...?"

"Yes."

She glanced between Deus's solemn face and the statue, barely managing to hold her smile as she asked,

"... Um, Brother, the statue seems a little bigger?"

"Yes, that's right. I made it a little larger."

"..."

She nearly blurted out, 'This is more than a little...?' but just managed to restrain herself and asked instead,

"At this rate, won't it easily be taller than the mansion once it's finished?"

"Yes. But there was no helping it."

"... No helping it?"

"Yes. Radan says he is going to give the marquis a Sea King God."

"A Sea King... God?"

"Yes. Apparently, it's enormous."

Dearly as she loved her brother, Silli briefly wanted to point out that this had absolutely nothing to do with the statue's size.

"... Um, Brother?"

"What is it?"

"... Isn't the thought behind a gift more important than its size?"

She tried the direct approach instead, but—

"No, Silli."

"... It isn't?"

"No. A gift ought to move its recipient. And the larger it is, the greater that impact becomes. Don't you feel it too?"

With Deus radiating pride from every inch of his body, Silli silently turned to look at the statue.

... Which still consisted of nothing but its lower half.

"Ahh..."

Deus gave a low murmur of admiration, as though to say, That's exactly it.

What in the world was this...?

"Oh, and I intend to visit Lartania briefly."

"... Lartania?"

"Yes. I'll personally procure the gems to adorn the marquis's 'eyes.' If I make his eyes from those—"

Deus's eyes shone as though they were searching through the vast cosmos.

"They will be worthy of him."

Watching her brother become a little more childish whenever the marquis was involved somehow made Silli resent Marquis Pallatio...