Chapter 324

Chapter 324. Dog (1)

As soon as Alon Palatio arrived at the scout camp, he received another round of “thank yous.”

Already embarrassed, he left the camp and headed straight for the Magic Tower. Two weeks had passed since then.

“We are almost there—”

As she looked at the distant scenery of the Magic Tower, Penia spoke, and Alon replied:

“I didn’t think I’d have to come to the Academy so often.”

“I agree. But… shouldn’t we have really stopped by there?”

“Where do you mean?”

“The Luxible Duchy. You said we would go at least once, but in the end, we came straight here.”

Alon remembered that belatedly and nodded.

Just as she said.

When he first arrived at the camp, he had considered stopping by the Luxible Duchy.

After all, the Ronovelly Jungle was close to that duchy.

But Alon decided not to go to the duchy due to a rumor he heard by chance upon arriving in Caslot.

“Hey, did you hear that?”

“No, I didn’t hear anything.”

“Come on, it’s just to make some polite conversation.”

“Ahem. So, what is it?”

“I’ve heard that the Luxible Duchy is preparing something this time.”

“Preparing? What exactly?”

“Rumor has it they are secretly mobilizing soldiers. I don’t know exactly what they are preparing, but it seems everything inside the duchy is very agitated because of it.”

“Soldiers? Are they going to fight a war?”

“I don’t think it’s that, it sounds unlikely… but still, that’s what they say.”

It was a rumor he heard several times during the two days he rested in Caslot, so Alon decided not to visit the duchy.

He thought it wasn’t a good idea to show up when the realm was so busy.

“Well, the rumor about mobilizing soldiers is probably false.”

Of course, Alon didn’t believe the rumor literally.

There is no smoke without fire, yes, but he had recently learned quite well that rumors could be tremendously distorted.

“They looked busy.”

Responding briefly to Penia, Alon recalled another rumor he had heard in Luxible.

“They say three of the Seven Greats died in Ashtalon.”

But it didn’t take him long to realize that rumor was also distorted.

According to information from the Information Guild:

The three greats who had accepted the Ashtalon mission had simply lost contact, and the rumor had deformed from there.

Even so, he still had doubts about what really happened in Ashtalon, so he had made an additional request to the guild.

“Well, I’ll find out soon enough.”

He pushed that thought aside and changed the subject naturally.

“Will they have interpreted at least one more spell?”

Penia answered immediately:

“Hm— I don’t think they’ve completed everything yet.”

“Really?”

“Yes. There isn’t that much difference between the 1st Circle and the 2nd Circle, but… if circular spells are huge blocks of information, then they must be much harder to interpret.”

“We barely found two Phrases of the 1st Circle, right?” Penia added.

Alon nodded.

“True.”

“Still, we are moving very fast.”

Just as Penia said, progress was much faster than expected.

In two weeks, they had found two complete Phrases.

“But the hard part comes later.”

“Do you mean the Sentences?”

“Yes. I think we’ll be able to find the missing Phrase relatively quickly, but looking for Sentences is practically non-stop manual labor.”

It was something he couldn’t help but agree with.

Finding three Phrases had already been exhausting to the point of leaving his eyes bloodshot.

And according to what Heinkel had told him, the Sentences, also known as Prayers, were even worse.

Just as Alon was thinking about that—

“My Lord, we have arrived.”

“Good.”

As soon as they arrived at the Tower, Basiliora slipped into the ring as if she had been waiting for the moment.

Alon walked inside together with Penia, and as soon as they entered to meet Heinkel…

He saw a crowd of wizards there, leaving him completely bewildered.

There shouldn’t be wizards at this time of year.

“Penia, is the conference starting already?”

“Uh— no? There’s still quite a while for that………………?”

Penia responded with equal confusion.

She brought a hand to her chin, as if checking if she had forgotten something, but quickly shook her head.

As Alon, Penia, and Evan observed the wizards in confusion—

“Ah? It’s Marquis Palatio!”

Someone spoke.

And then—

The bustle died down instantly.

“??”

The place was full of people and very noisy, but it fell into immediate silence.

What is this?

What is going on?

Alon barely had time to look around trying to understand—

“Marquis Palatio?”

“He came?”

“Where? Where?”

“Ah, there he is.”

“Hah—!”

As if they had been waiting for exactly this moment, dozens of gazes locked onto Alon.

Before he could say anything—

“Marquis Palatio! We, the Red Tower, wish to receive your guidance—!”

“Marquis Palatio! Could I speak with you for a moment?”

“Let’s have a magic exchange meeting!”

“Or at least allow us to see your spell once!”

“Was what you used last time really Light!?”

Seeing the avalanche of wizards approaching, Alon was completely overwhelmed.

“Haaah—”

“Are you alright, my Lord?”

“I’m fine. Thanks to you, I survived.”

“Eeeh, it’s nothing.”

In the end, Alon was only able to escape the swarm of wizards thanks to Penia.

Although she had been in the House of Palatio for quite some time, she always attended the Academy, so it was enough for her to show a bit of her hysteria for the wizards to back away immediately.

‘…What kind of life does she lead when I’m not looking?’

He thought about that for a moment, recalling how the wizards backed away fearfully when Penia barely frowned.

“Hm, this will be troublesome. I think the Tower Masters will come shortly.”

“The Tower Masters….?”

“I think the impact of the Light spell was too great. Did you see what they were doing? Over in that hallway, everyone was casting Light non-stop.”

“…Yes, I saw it.”

Yes, he had seen it perfectly.

Even while they were moving aside for Penia, the five Towers were firing bursts of Light through the gaps, shouting things like “Observe my spell!”.

Alon felt what a celebrity walking down a red carpet must feel.

…He had never wanted to feel something like that.

With Penia’s voice in the background saying, “I guess any normal wizard would react the same. I would have done it too if I didn’t know anything,” they arrived at the library.

[Oh, you came?]

Heinkel waved at them, as if it were already a habit.

[It’s been a month. Did you complete all your work?]

“Yes, I finished what I had to.”

[And the research?]

Alon summarized the situation.

“So you interpreted two Phrases, and found the hand seal for Light.”

“That’s right.”

“Then, what is the complete Light like?”

“…It’s quite something. Honestly, my mana can barely support it.”

“Does it leave you exhausted after a single use?”

“Yes.”

Heinkel nodded thoughtfully.

“I actually would like to see it right now, but first let me tell you how the research is going.”

“How is the 2nd Circle going?”

Alon asked, and Heinkel thought for a moment before saying:

“To be honest, it’s difficult. In a month, with luck, we find a single Phrase.”

“That would mean—”

“I know, it’s not fast. Ah, right. If it weren’t for your friend, it would have taken even longer.”

“……Is the difference between the 1st and the 2nd Circle that big?”

He already knew there would be a difference, but it was the first time seeing Heinkel so worried, so he was surprised.

She nodded.

“A lot. Extracting necessary information from the spell is the same, but… the method for finding Phrases changes completely.”

“For example?”

“Hmmm—”

Heinkel thought about how to explain it and suddenly waved her hand.

A paper floated out.

“…This is…”

“A blueprint. From the ‘ancient era’.”

The blueprint was full of complex details. Heinkel unfolded it in front of Alon.

“Interpreting the 1st Circle is like analyzing a blueprint like this. But the 2nd Circle—”

She waved her hand and took out another blueprint, placing it on top of the previous one.

“—is this.”

“Just as you see. The 1st Circle is a single blueprint. The 2nd Circle requires combining several blueprints created separately to find a Phrase.”

When she joined the two blueprints, a completely new structure emerged. Alon saw how intricate it was and understood immediately.

[But don’t worry. It will take time, but it’s not impossible to interpret.]

“Really?”

[Mmm. I believe so. Ah, how long do you plan to stay?]

“In the Tower?”

[Yes.]

Alon thought for a moment.

“Probably a week. I have more things to consult.”

[Perfect. Then rest today, and tomorrow I will ask you for the spell demonstration.]

“Understood.”

After closing the conversation, Alon returned to the first floor.

And there he was able to see a face he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“What a pleasure to see you again, Marquis Palatio…!”

“…Tower Master?”

It was Selaim Mikardo, the Master of the Blue Tower.

He approached with his usual kind smile and greeted Penia as well.

“How have you been?”

“Fine. But, what brings you here…?”

As soon as Alon answered, he remembered the words Penia had said earlier: “the Tower Masters will come.”

Selaim smiled broadly and said energetically:

“Of course I came for your Light spell! Although I didn’t expect to find it right here!”

“Ah.”

“Could I ask you for a demonstration?”

“Demonstration…?”

“The Light spell. I want to see it with my own eyes, please.”

His eyes shone with excitement.

Alon hesitated for a moment, but he remembered that he had to show the spell to Heinkel anyway.

Just as he was about to accept—

He heard an obvious click of the tongue.

He turned, and saw a woman there.

A woman in green clothes, with an icy expression.

“Oh, Sharan Poranu. You came too?”

Only then, by Selaim’s words, did Alon understand who she was.

The Master of the Green Tower, Sharan Poranu.

A character who appeared several times in Psychedelia as the player’s ally. A great mage who, in life, was the one who came closest to the 9th Circle.

While Alon recalled that, she cast a cold glance and said:

“Of course I came. All because of someone’s absurd lie.”

And she said it just like that.

---

In a forest completely covered in blood.

In that place where the leaves had been dyed a dark red, there was a man.

His figure was strange. His eyes, open and empty from laziness, had two pupils each. And floating around his body were purple strands, of unknown origin, dragging through the air.

Sitting without strength on the broken remains of a cocoon, without any trace of desire or will, the man—”Sloth”—looked at the sky.

It was midnight. And above him, there was a brilliant galaxy.

Constellations large and small.

Shining stars.

The sky glowed as if it wanted to illuminate the earth like a sun.

“Ehhh—”

While looking at that endless sky, the man let out a deep sigh.

“I don’t want to.”

He murmured.

“I don’t want to.”

He repeated.

“I don’t waaaaant to.”

Without stopping, the man kept murmuring.

As if it were a mantra, as if his own existence truly bothered him, he repeated the same words.

Then he slowly lowered his head.

And he stood up staggering, without strength.

Crack— cruuunch—!

The broken cocoon where he was sitting began to melt rapidly.

And at the same time, it was absorbed by his body.

Tap— crack—!

The area around him began to darken.

As if expanding his territory, the darkness spread slowly.

Seeing that—

“But…”

Sloth murmured with a bored look.

The Sin of Sloth.

“Even so, I have to do it.”

He said, as if letting out another sigh.

“It is my duty, after all.”