Chapter 182 - Birth... Day? (3)

Alon stared blankly out the window at the enormous statue striking an all-too-familiar pose.

Before long, he went over to the statue and met its creator(?).

"My lord."

"... Deus."

Deus bowed deeply beneath the enormous statue. Alon pointed at it.

"What... is this?"

"My gift to you, my lord."

His expression brimmed with confidence.

Alon silently looked up at the statue. Up close, the statue striking the North Korean leader's pose looked even bigger.

Really, absurdly big.

... To be honest, big enough to be a little embarrassing.

"Well—um... I mean."

"Please, ask me anything."

Alon had plenty of questions. More than plenty, actually. Yet he couldn't readily speak, because he had no idea where to start.

After staring at the statue for a while, Alon asked the most pressing question first.

"How did you bring this here?"

"First, I made it as small as possible with shrinking magic, then transported it. I wasn't pleased about shrinking a statue of you, my lord, but it was unavoidable for transportation."

Deus answered without hesitation.

"I... see."

"Do you have any other questions?"

Silence fell again.

Isn't this a bit excessive? The words threatened to force their way out of Alon's throat again and again, but he held them back.

No, he had no choice but to hold them back.

Alon gazed steadily at Deus. His expression was no different from usual. He had a quiet air about him, and aside from a faint smile, his face showed little change.

But there was one crucial difference.

His eyes.

"..."

Unlike his restrained expression, his eyes alone shone as though stars had been set into them. Like a child begging, Did I do good? Hurry up and praise me!

"Hmm..."

Had Deus always been capable of looking like that?

Unwilling to dampen the innocence in those eyes, Alon said,

"I like it, Deus. Thank you."

Alon gave his approval to the statue resembling the North Korean leader, and the corners of Deus's mouth now curled unmistakably upward.

"I'm glad it pleases you, my lord."

"Yes..."

"But this will surprise you even more."

"...?"

There was more?

Before Alon's pupils could even widen, Deus, radiating confidence, nodded to the knights he had brought along.

"Get ready."

At his command, they swiftly moved into formation and brought out a massive target.

Then—

BOOOM!

Magic circles instantly unfolded in the diamond-studded eyes, and a gigantic mana cannon blast shot out, shattering the target.

"What do you think?"

Deus looked even more triumphant. Alon stared blankly up at the statue once again.

'Huge enough to overlook the entire estate, in exactly the same pose as the North Korean leader. And it even fires a mana cannon... huh.'

For a moment, he almost imagined a voice calling from somewhere, "You, too, must stand!"

Alon cleared his throat and turned his gaze to Deus, who stood proudly with his shoulders thrown back.

Looking at him, Alon realized something.

Deus, you...

You have the tastes of a little kid.

Embarrassing as it was, he couldn't disappoint Deus after he had brought such an extraordinary gift.

"... Impressive."

"Thank you."

And so Alon ended up becoming someone who liked statues.

####

["It shoots beams from its eyes?"]

"... That's pretty cool, actually."

["Kyu?"]

While Basiliora and Evan gathered in front of the statue and expressed their wholehearted admiration—

"Big Brother!"

Radan arrived.

"You've come too."

"Of course. It's your birthday, Big Brother."

Radan grinned.

Alon thought that, for all that, Radan hadn't exactly celebrated his birthdays before. But he couldn't spoil the festive mood, so he nodded.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Oh, and your present should be arriving any mo... Ah, there it is now."

Following Radan's pointing finger, Alon spotted something enormous coming through the north gate.

"What is that?"

"A Sea King God. It lives in the deep sea. I caught it for you, Big Brother."

"Oh."

Alon couldn't help exclaiming.

A dragon's head radiating majesty just from the sight of it. He also felt a touch of fond familiarity.

The Sea King God.

It was a monster you inevitably encountered at least once when playing a mage in Psychedelia.

Of course, it was a Sea King God in name only, not an actual god. Just some unknown monster with an enormous dragon's head.

Its scales, however, could be forged into highly effective magical armor.

'I've never seen one alive.'

In Psychedelia, no matter which route you took, you could never see a living Sea King God. It was treated solely as crafting material.

Seeing its original form was fascinating enough, but somehow it felt remarkably lifelike.

As though it might come alive and move at any momen—

RRRUMBLE!!

"!?"

The instant its head cleared the north gate, the Sea King God suddenly began thrashing wildly.

That thing... was alive?

As Alon reeled inwardly—

"Ah, there it goes again. One moment, Big Brother."

As though it were nothing, Radan darted over and smacked the Sea King God's head a few times. It soon went quiet.

Radan gave an awkward laugh.

"Sorry, Big Brother. I definitely trained it, but it's acting up."

"... That thing is alive?"

Radan tilted his head, as though the answer were obvious.

"Of course it is. It's a pet."

"A... pet?"

Alon looked at the Sea King God again.

[■■■■—]

An exceedingly mournful cry.

But the head wasn't all there was to it.

"It's... bigger than mine?" (Moved)

More than half of it had already entered along the marquis's widest avenue, yet its body still continued on.

"Impossible..."

For some reason, Deus, standing beside him, murmured in a voice steeped in defeat.

In response, Radan wore an expression that said, I won.

Watching the two of them, Alon thought, Is that really what matters right now?

"..."

He glanced at the leader... the statue, then turned back to the Sea King God.

With the horns on its head bent at rather odd angles, the Sea King God was being made to appear(?), wrapped all over in chains.

... He didn't even have the faintest idea where to begin objecting.

"Is that the kind of monster... no, animal one can keep?"

"Of course. I've trained it thoroughly, so it'll make a fine ornamental pet, Big Brother."

"Ornamental... huh."

... He had his doubts about whether ornamental was even the right word, but—

"... Isn't it a sea creature?"

"It lives in the sea, but it can breathe on land too."

"... Judging by its size, I don't think there's any way I could keep it here."

"Oh, don't worry about that, Big Brother."

Speaking confidently, Radan walked toward the Sea King God, which had now reached the statue's side. Alon followed him.

"Hey, shrink."

At those words, Alon witnessed the Sea King God—furtively watching Radan with eyes bigger than most adults' bodies—gradually shrink down.

And so—

"... This is a Sea King God?"

"Yes. Apparently, it can shrink its body to get around normally. I was going to have it stuffed, but that's why I brought it as a pet instead. I hear there are even bigger ones down in the deep sea."

The Sea King God trembled all over, as though it understood Radan's words.

... Or was it simply scared, rather than understanding him?

Deciding to stop thinking about it, Alon spoke.

"... So I can keep it just like this?"

"Yes. I'm only asking to make sure, but do you not like it?"

The question was clearly addressed to Alon, yet the Sea King God began trembling even more violently, gazing at him pleadingly as though it knew its future hung in the balance.

... Seriously, what did you do to it?

"... No, I like it."

In the end, Alon nodded.

"I knew you would, Big Brother! I'm happy too!"

Radan broke into a satisfied smile, and the Sea King God's body went limp, perhaps from relief.

... Why was it?

Alon was beginning to fear just what the other children might bring.

####

"... Huh? You already had a snake, Big Brother?"

["I am no snake! I am Basiliora the Reverent!"]

"Well... something like that."

["I said, I am Basiliora!!!"]

"Hmm... It's black?"

["Don't ignore me!"]

"It is black."

["I said, don't ignore me!!!!"]

Basiliora threw a fit. Paying it no attention whatsoever, Radan pondered something gravely on his own.

"... Big Brother."

"What is it?"

"... Could you give me another month or so?"

"Why?"

He glanced toward the Sea King God.

"I'll catch a black one for you."

"... Are there black ones too?"

"I'll have to look into that."

Alon wondered why he would bother, but soon guessed the reason.

'... Is it his compulsiveness?'

Radan's personality wouldn't let him rest until everything was evenly matched in pairs.

Glancing down, Alon found that the Sea King God, the subject of that discussion, was now clinging tightly to his arm.

"... There's no need to go that far."

"Is that so..."

"That's a bit of a shame," Radan added, smacking his lips.

Alon could distinctly feel the tiny Sea King God's startled shudder through his arm.

Once that matter was settled, Radan and Alon finally began catching up.

"Hello, Godfather."

"You're here?"

"Yes."

Rine had arrived.

Alon felt inwardly relieved to see how much healthier she looked since their last encounter with the apostle.

As though she had been waiting for this moment, Rine took a small gift box from inside her clothes.

"Your present, Godfather."

"Thank you."

Accepting it, Alon felt a curious sense of relief and was deeply touched.

Outside the window.

And on his arm.

After the unimaginable gifts that had begun arriving early that morning, worry was now overtaking his anticipation.

Fortunately, Rine's present looked normal(?) at first glance.

For one thing, it wasn't enormous.

That alone satisfied Alon.

'Yes, this is the sort of present I wanted.'

Nothing grand, just something that conveyed the children's affection.

... Like a father receiving gifts from his sons and daughters, perhaps?

Of course, that didn't mean he hadn't felt Radan's and Deus's affection. He simply thought that, if they prepared gifts for his birthday next year, something modest might be nice.

"Open it, Godfather."

"All right."

At Rine's urging, he opened the box, taking care not to tear the luxurious wrapping paper.

The gift was soon revealed, and Alon was immediately puzzled.

Inside the box was a single small button.

"... What's this?"

Behind Rine's back, Radan and Deus secretly wore expressions that said, I won.

But Rine smiled and casually said,

"If you press that, the lord of Lartania's head will explode, Godfather."

"?"

Deus and Radan, who had been making little celebratory fist pumps behind her, froze.

Their expressions said they couldn't comprehend what they had just heard.