Chapter 193 - Stature (4)

"W-what did you say?"

Paloel looked taken aback by Rim's reaction. No, he could hardly have reacted otherwise.

Even as a member of the secret society Pagade, she neither outranked the Council of Elders nor wielded greater power. In other words, Rim's insolent manner of addressing Paloel was a blatant overstepping of her authority.

Paloel's brow furrowed sharply, but he dared not say another word.

"..."

'She means it.'

Killing intent overwhelmed the room. That fierce pressure conveyed a clear message: if he truly said anything more—

'I will hurt you, Paloel.'

Unable to speak readily, Paloel nevertheless could not understand Rim's behavior. Only a few days ago, she had plainly disliked that human. What could possibly have changed her attitude so drastically?

After pondering it, Paloel finally reached one conclusion. There was only one conclusion he could reach.

'Could that human really be a god—'

Unless Marquis Pallatio, who had come to Greinif, truly was a god, Rim's sudden change in attitude was inexplicable.

Then she spoke.

"Let me make myself clear."

"..."

"From this moment on, I will consider any attack on Marquis Pallatio an attack on me."

With that warning, Rim walked calmly past him. Paloel could only watch her retreating back in silence.

Meanwhile, at that same moment...

"... That is the situation."

"I see. So that's what happened."

Alon was meeting privately with Magrina, the elven queen. Having explained the events, he studied her reaction before moving on to his next topic.

"At any rate, there are a few things I'd like to ask about it. May I?"

"As many as you wish. I'll answer anything I know."

Encouraged by her friendly smile, Alon posed his first question.

"Do you happen to know when the Greed—no, the Ash Scatterers down below first appeared?"

"I can't give you an exact answer to that. We elves don't know the details either."

"... Is that so?"

"But if I were to estimate how many years it has been... I'd say roughly six or seven hundred."

"Six or seven hundred?"

"Yes. That's around when I heard about them."

Alon tilted his head without realizing it.

'If it's been six or seven hundred years, does that make a connection to Greed doubtful?'

As far as Alon knew, a Greed Mother appeared alongside the Sin of Greed. Even afterward, it would only manifest if the Sin of Greed was nearby.

Once the Five Great Sins—including the Sin of Greed—descended into the world, they never stayed idle. As though intent on exterminating the continent's entire population, they traveled wherever living creatures could be found, spreading death in every direction.

In other words, if the Sin of Greed had truly appeared, there would certainly have been havoc already.

'If I assume the Sin of Greed appeared six or seven hundred years ago and died, leaving only the Greed Mother alive, it's not entirely implausible.'

Still pondering, Alon asked another question.

"... Did the Sin of Greed happen to awaken around that time?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure about that. I don't think so."

The answer was uncertain.

"Is that so?"

Alon decided to set his hypothesis aside and move on to the next question. He judged that asking any further would yield no more information.

'If it happened that long ago, there might be a record in an old book or something. Perhaps I should look.'

Then, suddenly, he took a fresh look at Queen Magrina's face.

'... How old is she?'

It wasn't important right now, but the span of years she had mentioned was so at odds with her youthful beauty that he couldn't help wondering.

'If she can casually mention seven hundred years ago, she must have been alive then. That makes this elf at least—'

As his thoughts followed their natural course, her words brought him back to his senses.

"Bro—no, Marquis? You aren't thinking something terribly disrespectful, are you?"

The queen was smiling. Yet despite the upturned corners of her mouth, her eyes were not smiling at all.

"No, nothing of the sort."

He answered faster than usual.

"Then please continue with your questions."

"I will."

Fortunately, the moment passed without incident.

"Do you know about the mirror beneath the Root?"

"A mirror?"

"Yes, a round, full-length mirror."

Alon told her about the strange experience he had undergone.

"Hmm. First of all, the object you saw certainly is an artifact. However—"

She paused briefly, then gently shook her head.

"I don't really know what it does."

"You don't know its effect?"

"No. Ordinarily, that mirror reflects nothing at all. That's why I thought it was an artifact."

"... How long has it been there?"

Once again, Queen Magrina considered the question briefly before answering.

"I don't know. But it was there the first time I went to that place."

"Then you wouldn't know who put it there, either."

"Unfortunately, no."

So this, too, remained a mystery...

Alon gave a brief, thoughtful hum and moved on to his next question.

"Do you happen to know what this is?"

He held out the golden fruit he had obtained deep beneath the Root.

The moment the queen saw it, she asked in some surprise,

"...! This... How did you obtain it?"

Alon briefly explained what had happened.

A little while later, Magrina nodded as though she had understood something.

"I see. So that's how it happened."

For a while, she sank alone into a sea of thought. At last, she resurfaced and gave Alon an answer.

"What you're holding is a fruit of the revered World Tree."

"A fruit... of the World Tree?"

"Yes."

"... Does eating it have some effect?"

Magrina answered immediately.

"Of course. It is the World Tree's fruit, after all."

"What effect?"

"You'll probably gain more mana than you could ever imagine."

"... More mana than I could imagine?"

"Yes. It contains the World Tree's own mana. Simply eating it will leave you overflowing with mana."

"Oh."

A faint look of admiration crossed Alon's face. If Magrina was right, this fruit was the key to solving his inborn lack of mana.

However...

"You will need to exercise some caution before eating it."

Things in this world never went quite so smoothly.

"Does it have some side effect?"

"Rather than a side effect... perhaps I should say its effect is too powerful?"

Its effect was too powerful?

"Yes. If you eat it improperly, your body will burst."

"... Really?"

"It only increases your mana. It doesn't also improve your body so it can accommodate that enormous amount."

Alon fell silent. He had realized that the fruit flaunting its golden glow before him was far less useful than it looked.

Still...

'Improving my constitution, then.'

He had no intention of giving up an opportunity once he had found it. Deciding to investigate ways to improve his constitution in due course, Alon put the fruit away.

"Have you asked everything you wanted to know now?"

Just as the meeting was drawing to a close, Alon remembered one question still lingering in his mind.

"May I ask one final question?"

"Of course."

Despite the considerable number of questions he had asked, Magrina smiled as though she wasn't bothered in the slightest.

Alon hesitated for a moment before finally asking,

"... Could you tell me what you know about the primordial elf?"

Since she mistook him for the primordial elf, the question was bound to sound very strange. Yet to come all this way and return without hearing anything about the primordial elf? That seemed even less acceptable.

So he raised the question cautiously.

Despite his outwardly impassive expression, Alon waited for Magrina's answer with considerable tension.

"About the primordial elf... you mean?"

"Yes."

At last, Magrina replied,

"Ah—yes, yes, I'll tell you. That's no trouble at all."

She wore a smile that seemed to say, Hmm, all right, so that's how you want to play it?

... Just as she had the first time Alon denied being the primordial elf.

"Hmm, where should I begin?"

"I'd prefer you tell me everything you know, if possible."

He needed to gather as much information as he could regardless, so Alon asked for all of it. Magrina began searching her memories as though this were an amusing game.

"First of all—he was a mage."

"I see."

"He also had a daughter."

"... He had a daughter?"

"Yes."

That was unexpected information.

'He must have been married.'

Alon gave a slight shrug.

"Anything else?"

"He was intelligent. And though he seemed brusque on the outside, he was a warmhearted man."

From there, Magrina spent some time recounting memories she cherished, while Alon listened quietly.

"I think that will be enough."

"Will it?"

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

Leaving a somewhat disappointed Magrina behind, he returned to his quarters.

####

Silli, the second child of House Makalian, had recently become quite a celebrity.

Of course, she had been well known before, too. Her elder brother was Deus Makalian, the First Sword of Callivan, and he was a self-proclaimed and widely acknowledged doting brother who adored his little sister.

Recently, however, Silli's fame came from her magic.

As a rule, mages weren't held in particularly high regard in Callivan. Even so, the fact that she had rapidly reached the second tier in less than two years of studying magic testified to her genius. She had thus become quite famous in the capital in her own right.

Today, she had something to tell Deus and stopped by his office.

"Brother?"

"What is it?"

There, she found her brother holding binoculars and doing something strange again—no, looking at something.

"... What are you doing, Brother?"

"What am I doing—ah, you mean this?"

"Yes."

When Silli nodded, Deus smiled confidently.

"Take a look."

He handed his sister the binoculars.

"...?"

Looking puzzled, she nevertheless accepted them and brought them into focus before her eyes.

"What is this—?"

At the panoramic view of an enormous domain that filled her vision, she couldn't help exclaiming in admiration. Beside her, Deus spoke brightly.

"The marquis's domain."

"... What? By the marquis, you mean—Marquis Pallatio?"

"Yes. Doesn't it show up wonderfully?"

"Uh—it does, but... How?"

At Silli's bewildered question, Deus proudly squared his shoulders.

"I asked a mage to cast a sharing spell on the gems I brought back from the labyrinth. Normally, this distance would be impossible, but artifacts from the labyrinth are remarkably effective."

Deus burst into laughter.

"... Uh, I understand that, but why go to the trouble of doing this...?"

"Why? To protect the marquis, of course."

"Protect... the marquis?"

"Yes. There could be people targeting him, so I've been keeping watch around the clock like this."

Deus chuckled, his face full of pride and satisfaction with himself.

Silli, however...

... Keeping watch? This...?

"So I can deal with any criminals who target the marquis immediately."

The more she heard, the deeper she sank into a labyrinth of confusion.

'Isn't this... even more illegal?'

"No one will dare lay a finger on the marquis. Ha ha!"

It was a peculiar evening...