Chapter 181 - Birth... Day? (2)

“My lord, you must be pleased this time.”

“Must I?”

“Yes. All the children said they would celebrate your birthday, didn’t they?”

His birthday. A birthday, huh.

Alon cleared his throat for no particular reason.

“Certainly, I’m grateful.”

“Oh, stop pretending to be so calm.”

“I’m not pretending. This is simply how I feel.”

“Then why are the corners of your mouth creeping up?”

Alon discreetly covered his mouth with a hand.

To be honest, he was looking forward to it a little. He had never once received a birthday present from the children he supported.

Of course, that was only natural, since he had never really told them his date of birth. More importantly, he hadn’t rescued and supported them to get birthday presents, so he wasn’t disappointed.

... Really.

“Come on. You were dejected when Rine said she would give you a present last time and then sent nothing.”

“I don’t believe my expression changed.”

“By now, I can read you at a glance.”

“... Was it that obvious?”

“Not so much obvious. After serving you for nearly ten years, I can tell a few things.”

“Is that so...?”

“Yes.”

As Alon awkwardly touched the corners of his mouth, Basiliora, who had been quiet until moments ago, wriggled out.

[“Hmph. You’ve watched him for ten years and that’s all you can discern? Utterly laughable.”]

“Running your mouth again.”

These days, Evan clicked his tongue the moment Basiliora appeared.

Not to be outdone, Basiliora fired back.

[“Honestly, such insolence from a mere human. I only spoke the truth. Why react like that?”]

“What truth?”

[“If it’s taken you ten years to begin reading him, doesn’t that simply mean you’ve neglected your duties as a retainer?”]

“You’re begging for a flick to the forehead. So you can tell how His Lordship feels just by looking at him, is that it?”

Basiliora proudly straightened that puny body.

[“No.”]

“?”

[“Why that look?”]

“You were just giving me shit about reading his expression!”

[“That’s your concern. It makes no difference whether I can read his expression. Am I Alon’s retainer? No. I am—”]

“You’re what?”

[“A god!”]

Basiliora broke into a villainous cackle.

As though that wasn’t even worth answering, Evan turned to Alon.

“My lord.”

“What is it?”

“Didn’t you say you were going to the magic towers’ symposium soon?”

“I did.”

Evan pointed at Basiliora with his chin.

“Why not leave this one with that Heinkel person?”

[“What?! Where did that come from? I merely said what was right! How did the conversation turn to—!”]

“Perhaps I should.”

[“Aaaaaargh!!!”]

Basiliora suddenly writhed all over, as though the mere memory of those days had revived the trauma.

[“Mew.”]

Blackie regarded Basiliora with a look of contempt and shook its head.

“My lord, don’t you think you no longer need this one?”

Evan wasn’t stopping.

“You mean Basiliora?”

“Yes. You haven’t used this one much since last time.”

“Hmm. Only once, admittedly.”

“In that case, why not hand this one over to Heinkel for good?”

[“What?! What are you saying? At least make your bullshit plausible, you bastard!!!”]

Now so horrified as to foam at the mouth, Basiliora turned an aggrieved look on Alon.

[“It’s not that I don’t want to fight! You simply never summon me!!”]

“That’s not untrue.”

Basiliora’s voice was louder than usual, apparently out of a genuine unwillingness to go to Heinkel.

Certainly, Basiliora was one of the strongest forces at Alon’s disposal. Far from useless.

Despite currently resembling a squat little snake some thirty centimeters long, Basiliora was a god in essence.

‘Besides...’

Alon lowered his gaze to Blackie and Basiliora.

Kailas had told him what he needed to practice to properly command the Death Shadow Dragon, as well as what a Shadow Dragon could do.

If that worked out...

‘I might be able to make Basiliora stronger, too.’

Having reached his conclusion, Alon looked down at the bracelet on his wrist, Salvation of the Wanderer.

‘It’s about time to recharge it. Perhaps I should fill it before visiting the elven village.’

He also put his necessary plans in order.

[“You human scum, worse than a beast! You scheme to send me to hell?!”]

“How does it feel to have your life threatened by someone worse than a beast? And how does it feel to win less than fifty percent of all your games against that beast?”

[“Stop spouting nonsense! I win more than half, and you win less!”]

Watching the pair continue to get worked up over their pointless argument, Alon lounged comfortably in the scorching desert heat.

####

Alon arrived in Pallatio territory roughly two weeks later.

“That’s an auction house?”

An enormous building stood squarely in the middle of the marquisate. It certainly hadn’t been there when he left.

“That’s what I’ve heard.”

“... It’s large.”

And that wasn’t all. Buildings were springing up on the surrounding plots around the enormous auction house.

Alon felt pride welling up in his chest despite himself.

... Though he hadn’t actually done anything.

In rather high spirits, he passed the enormous auction house and arrived at the marquis’s mansion.

What greeted him there was...

“... What is this?”

“Paperwork.”

“... This much?”

“Yes.”

From floor to ceiling, the documents rose to a dizzying height, like towers built from paper.

Alon groaned. The pride that had suffused his heart gave way to gloom.

‘Going straight to the elven village was never an option.’

Of course, leaving it for now probably wouldn’t cause any major problems. He had let it pile up several times before.

But one fact was painfully clear: sooner or later, he would have to deal with every last document.

“Whew...”

A sigh laden with mixed feelings echoed through the office.

How was he supposed to do all this alone...?

“Evan.”

“Yes?”

“Put up a notice.”

“What sort of notice?”

“That we’re looking for someone to handle office work.”

However...

“... I don’t mind putting up a notice, but shouldn’t you handle this sort of work yourself, my lord? Most of these documents are probably important.”

“... I suppose so?”

“Of course. Hand this sort of thing to someone else, and they’ll usually help themselves behind your back.”

As if anything in life would be that easy.

Alon groaned.

“... Well, is there anyone trustworthy?”

“Hmm. Let’s see. Me?”

[“Bullshit.”]

A brief interjection from Basiliora.

Evan continued as though he hadn’t heard it.

“Well, I’m hopeless at paperwork, though.”

“Hmm...”

A face suddenly came to mind.

‘... Should I ask Yutia?’

Alon considered it for a moment, then put those stray thoughts aside and sat down. Hiring someone would take time anyway.

So...

“... Shall we begin?”

He picked up a document.

He had been so pleased to return home after two months.

As he leafed through the documents, thinking he would have been better off away from home, an ingenious idea suddenly occurred to him.

“... Hmm?”

####

Alon finished every last document stacked from floor to ceiling in just one week.

How was that possible?

“Pant... pant...”

It was all thanks to the promising talent, Penia Kraisinne.

Even after faithfully completing her role as Alon’s magical research assistant, Penia hadn’t returned to the magic tower. Instead, she had set up a laboratory in the second office to experiment with the catalyst Alon had given her.

‘The talent I needed was right under my nose.’

Alon brought her over to help with the paperwork.

Naturally, she wasn’t enthusiastic at first. Though she agreed aloud, her eyes forcefully declared, ‘Why on earth should I?’

But now...

“We’re... finished, right?”

“Yes. Well done. Thanks to you, we finished sooner.”

“That’s... a relief.”

Despite working late for several nights in a row, Penia was genuinely delighted.

The reason was the condition Alon had offered her.

‘... All I said was that I’d speak to Heinkel about letting her receive regular magic lessons. To think she’d work so enthusiastically.’

Alon recalled Penia over the past several days, handling not one or two but a full eight pens at once.

She was an Asura incarnate, reassuring just to behold. He had nearly put down his own pen and applauded without thinking.

‘What is magic, anyway?’

Penia still wore a smile even though her stamina must have been almost exhausted. What could magic mean to her, to make her throw herself without hesitation into work that others would avoid?

Alon recalled the image of a fussy mage he had held in his mind.

‘... Perhaps mages are actually the easiest people to handle, in a sense.’

As of today, he decided to revise that image.

“Well, rest today. Tomorrow, we’ll begin magical research.”

“Understooood—... What?”

Penia had answered automatically before her eyes widened as though they might pop out.

With an air of complete understanding, Alon patted her shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I’ll put in a good word with Heinkel about this work as well.”

“Oh! Understood...!”

It took less than a second for life to return to the face that had been about to sink into gloom.

Penia dashed out as though she had found strength she hadn’t possessed a moment earlier.

Watching her, Alon nodded quietly.

‘... Yes, mages really are easy to handle.’

####

At last, the morning of Alon’s birthday arrived.

Waking early, he looked beside his pillow. Blackie lay curled up asleep, a thoroughly familiar sight by now.

He gently stroked its soft black fur, then got out of bed.

‘So it’s today.’

Neither in his original life nor since possessing this body had he ever really considered his birthday special.

But now that the children said they had prepared presents, the day somehow felt different from usual.

‘I wonder what they’ll give me.’

The thought came naturally as he changed clothes.

He certainly wasn’t expecting expensive gifts. His anticipation had nothing to do with what sort of presents they were. Whatever they might be, the fact that the children had prepared them for him tickled his heart.

The strange emotion made even Alon feel unfamiliar to himself.

‘Well, there’s nothing wrong with feeling good.’

With a faint smile, he drew back the curtains over the window.

“...?”

And promptly discovered something strange.

An enormous statue, not merely dwarfing the marquis’s mansion but easily towering over even the walls of Pallatio territory.

“???”

The colossal statue depicted Alon—himself—with a black coat billowing around him and one hand raised casually. Huge diamonds were set into both eyes.

It stood tall in the middle of his territory.

Alon stood frozen in a daze for a long while.

Then he suddenly felt a peculiar sense that something was off.

“Hmm?”