Chapter 198 - How to Use It (4)

Heinkel stared blankly ahead. Filling her vision was a temple, everything within it bathed in red. And—

'A red... moon?'

An ominous moon hung in the sky. A red moon illuminating this entire world in crimson.

["Wraith."]

"!"

A girl had appeared before she knew it. She spat out each syllable as though grinding it between her teeth.

["You'd do well not to push your luck, wouldn't you?"]

Black sacred robes. Crimson eyes.

At the sight of her, Heinkel's mind raced, forming, discarding, and deriving hypotheses in an instant.

Not to discover who the girl before her was. She was thinking to define this impossible space spread out before her.

Her exceptionally brilliant mind grasped the situation in moments—

"!"

And immediately roused her mana.

She was a mass of mana, perhaps magic itself. Yet paradoxically, that meant she ordinarily could not use magic. However revered she might be by every mage, she was ultimately only a wraith.

Unless she dabbled in black magic, manifesting anything but the simplest magic as a spirit was effectively impossible.

But—

KRRRAAACK!

As though defying that law, Heinkel deployed her magic in an instant. She had realized she could manifest magic within this space.

No, it was not even a realization. She had experienced this space before.

Three overlapping magic circles manifested around her. From those three came nine, and from those nine came twenty-seven.

In less than ten seconds, Heinkel—known as the Chalice of the Beginning, standing at the pinnacle of all mages both then and now—created a spell so magnificent that merely seeing it would make anyone bow their head in awe.

From a sky where nothing but red light existed—

RRRUMBLE!!

The enormous meteor shower she had created was falling. Heinkel's magic plunged down, tearing through the air and shredding even the crimson light.

Yet—

"Ooh."

Yutia's response to the meteors hurtling toward her was utterly casual. No more than someone watching an entertaining spectacle.

Apparently having no intention of stopping the falling meteors, the girl merely watched. Unimpeded, they slammed into the ground.

──────────!!!

They took everything away.

The temple roof. The pillars. The trees. The floor. The girl before her. Even Heinkel herself, who had cast the spell.

And so—

SNAP!

"!"

Heinkel returned to the beginning.

The situation was exactly as before. She was staring blankly ahead, and everything was still there.

The red temple. The red trees. The red marble floor. The red moon.

Everything was unchanged, as though time had been reversed.

And the girl, too, was still standing there.

"Hmm. I only meant to warn you, but that's a stronger reaction than I expected."

Heinkel scowled and tried to speak.

"Why are you here? Surely the Abyss—"

"Shh."

"!"

She could not continue. The girl—no, Yutia Bloodia—had gently pressed her index finger against Heinkel's lips as she struggled to move.

"I've never once revealed my true form. You really are clever, aren't you? But that's as far as you go."

She smiled at Heinkel as though praising her. In stark contrast to that relaxed demeanor, Heinkel was trembling all over, engulfed in terror from the moment she realized who the girl was.

Reason had vanished from Heinkel's eyes, leaving only fear. Gazing steadily into them, Yutia softly stroked her face.

Once. Twice.

Then—

TAP.

She tapped Heinkel's cheek with her index finger.

"Listen carefully, wraith. I'll only say this once."

"..."

Then she continued.

"If he wants help, help him."

"If he asks for something, give it to him."

"If he tells you to offer up your heart, do it."

"That is all you can do for him. Understood?"

The girl's voice rained down, like the meteor shower Heinkel had created moments before.

"If you understand, would you nod for me?"

Heinkel barely managed to nod. She knew all too well that she had no other choice.

"It's nice how obedient you are, just as you always were. And—"

In response to Heinkel's submission, Yutia stroked her head once more.

"Someone as clever as you understands, right? About me."

She placed an index finger against her own lips, her eyes crinkling in a satisfied smile.

With that—

["Gasp!"]

"?"

"?"

Heinkel let out ragged breaths, cold sweat running down her.

"... Are you all right?"

Alon asked, his face expressionless. Calming her pounding heart, Heinkel stared at him with an utterly uncomprehending expression.

"...?"

Seemingly bewildered by her sudden stare, Alon tilted his head slightly.

["You—"]

Heinkel tried to ask a question. She had so many—overwhelmingly more than when she had first seen the black things behind him.

She wanted to ask him right now. Did he know the girl who had just appeared? If so, what exactly was their relationship? Who on earth was he, that she—the "Abyss"—followed him?

What in the world was he?

She wanted to ask.

But—

["No, never mind."]

"?"

["... Your request, your request was—to teach that woman magic, right?"]

Heinkel could not voice those questions. She knew with absolute certainty that the instant she asked them, she would never survive.

And so—

"That's right."

As Alon nodded, looking somewhat puzzled, she looked at him—

["All right. I accept."]

"Pardon? But just now—"

["... That was a joke. I was a little annoyed, that's all."]

No, more precisely, she looked at the red gem set in Alon's brooch, awkwardly forcing up the corners of her mouth.

"Skreeee!"

Penia, who until a moment ago had looked ready to turn to white ash and crumble away, shrieked like a pterosaur.

["... Come back starting tomorrow."]

Alon had no clear idea what had happened, but for now, he nodded.

####

"Thank you sooo much!"

"There's no need. You paid me for it, so I'm simply doing the same."

"Still, thank you sooo much!"

After bowing over and over with sparkling eyes, Penia finally walked away with such happy steps that she seemed ready to take flight.

... It felt like watching one of those Shiba Inus toddling along in old YouTube videos.

After briefly watching her leave, Alon recalled what had happened earlier.

'... What was that? Something definitely felt different.'

She had been her usual self until halfway through. Then, at some point, her behavior had changed completely.

'And that look in her eyes.'

Alon was not perceptive enough to read someone's emotions from their eyes alone. Yet even he had clearly noticed it.

That was definitely—

'As though she was afraid of something—'

"My lord."

Just then, Evan's voice reached him.

"... What is all that?"

His arms were piled high with things.

"Oh, these? They're gifts for me."

The gifts were stacked like a tower, so high that he could not see ahead without turning sideways.

"Gifts?"

"Yes. I know I don't look it, but I'm quite a handsome fellow, aren't I? The lady mages have been showing me plenty of interest. Haha!"

"...?"

"... My lord, that look of utter incomprehension is a little hurtful, you know. Especially from someone whose emotions hardly ever show on his face."

"Was I doing that?"

"Yes."

Evan heaved a sigh.

"Well, they were given to me, but in practice, they're meant for you."

"... I think I understand."

["Hmph. No explanation needed. One look is enough to understand."]

Basiliora, who had not shown so much as a glimpse of himself even when they went to see Heinkel, appeared for the first time in a while and cut in as though he had been waiting.

"My lord, why didn't you take this snake-headed bastard to the lady in the library? She could've straightened him out again."

["Hmph! Don't talk bullshit! That damned—"]

Basiliora, who had been shouting boldly, hastily lowered his voice. Stretching upright like a meerkat, he surveyed his surroundings—

["Do you think I'd submit to that fiend?!"]

Then finished his declaration.

"... What a fucking clown."

["You're the bigger fucking clown!"]

With the two bickering in the background, each clearly finding the other pathetic, Alon's party arrived at their temporary lodgings.

"My lord, come to think of it, I have something to report."

"What is it?"

"Rumors. Earlier, didn't you tell me to listen for any useful stories?"

"Were there many?"

"Hmm. We haven't visited the Information Guild recently, so quite a few rumors have cropped up."

Evan began relaying the rumors that had accumulated.

"Hmm. I think that's about everything."

After the report ended, Alon sorted through the rumors. Of the various stories, about three required his attention.

First, Elivan had taken the Kingdom of Shtalian route and was going around clearing Monster Gates.

Second, a major calamity had struck the capital of the Principality of Varnos.

And lastly, there was a rumor about the Principality of Luxible, their next destination—no, more precisely, the mysterious jungle of Ronovelli.

The rumors concerning the Principality of Varnos and Ronovelli. Those two seemed worth investigating.

'Monsters attacked and devoured Varnos's capital, and black mana is spreading across Ronovelli.'

Of the two, Varnos concerned him particularly. The reason was—

'The fall of Varnos. That's definitely the beginning of the Four Great Factions episode... isn't it?'

Varnos's destruction was the starting point of the Four Great Factions episode, which only occurred midway through Psychedelia.

Of course, Alon was aware, to some extent, that much of the Psychedelia narrative he knew had become useless.

But even taking that into account, the Hungry Ghost—its appearance, that is—was far too early.

"... Evan."

"Yes, my lord."

"Visit the Information Guild soon and find out more about the Principality of Varnos."

"Understood."

Alon asked Evan to investigate in detail.

A few days later.

"Have a good trip!"

"... I'll see you next time."

Leaving behind Penia, whose face positively glowed with happiness, Alon set out for Ronovelli to meet the Thunder Serpent tribe.

At that same moment, inside Ashtalon's royal palace—

"I greet Your Majesty."

"Where did Kurak go?"

"He said he had somewhere to stop along the way and headed elsewhere. He asked me to tell Your Majesty that he would briefly visit the place where he needed to be."

Shtalian V briefly frowned at Duke Merkillan's report.

"It can't be helped."

He sighed, then asked the duke,

"So, did you look into what I told you to verify?"

"Yes, I did."

"What did you find?"

"... To state my conclusion, Marquis Pallatio's identity is—"

Duke Merkillan paused, as though struggling to say the words.

"—Apparently a god of the nonhuman peoples."

He delivered his report calmly.

"What...?"

Shtalian V's voice trembled faintly.