Chapter 327

**Chapter 327. Dog (4)**

Some time later.

Alon Palatio, after leaving the demonstration room, was finally able to have a decent conversation with Sharan, who until a moment ago had been doing nothing but making dog sounds like a madwoman.

“……So, you say you want to learn Primordial Magic?”

“Yes… right?”

Sharan said this while stealing discreet glances, as if testing his reaction. She was too pathetic to be called the Green Tower Master.

Turning his gaze toward a small sigh he heard from the side, he saw Penia with an expression of genuine shock.

“Why the face?”

“N-no, nothing…”

Penia shut her mouth, realizing belatedly that she had let out a sound, and after heaving a sigh—since she had been heard anyway—she leaned into Alon’s ear and whispered:

“Remember what I told you the other time? That she was very arrogant.”

“Well… you know. That’s why I’m surprised.”

Penia spoke quietly enough that the Tower Master wouldn’t hear her, and then pretended she hadn’t said anything.

‘What kind of behavior did she have for Penia to say that…?’

Alon, intrigued, looked at Sharan again.

In the game, she didn’t have that image.

But.

“…Do you want me to bark again?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“I can do it even better this time.”

…And what the hell is the use of doing it better?
While he struggled not to lose his composure, Alon quickly understood what Penia was referring to.

‘At least she isn’t someone with a normal way of thinking.’

Just as he was mentally updating Sharan’s profile…

Selaim, who had been nearby the whole time, spoke while looking at Penia:

“Well… if we’re talking about personality, I think you are more famous than the Green Tower Master, aren’t you?”

Alon’s head turned immediately toward Penia.

Penia ground her teeth while looking at Selaim.

“…Master. Please be quiet.”

“Before, you only asked me to be quiet for a moment, but it seems you’ve become more aggressive.”

“It is you who is making me evolve.”

“I’m only speaking the truth.”

“Forgive me, Master, but are we exchanging truths now? Because then perhaps I should also tell a certain ‘truth’ that I know.”

“……Let’s leave it at my loss.”

Although she wore a smile, her eyes weren’t laughing. Selaim averted his gaze immediately.

Alon suddenly remembered Penia’s “past,” which he had almost forgotten.

“Certainly…”

Yes, it had been impressive.

He murmured it unintentionally, but noticing Penia looking at him sideways, Alon cleared his throat and changed the subject, looking back at Sharan.

She seemed to emit a vibe of: *“I’m ready to bark whenever.”*

‘…What do I do with this?’

In reality, accepting Sharan as a disciple was of no benefit to Alon.

Furthermore, the “primitive or primordial magic” she sought wasn’t even something he could teach her.

So, after thinking about it a bit…

“First of all, I don’t think I can teach you the magic you desire.”

“…What if I bark louder?”

Why does everything end up at that?

Sharan was even worse than he had calculated.

“It’s not that… but rather that the magic I used is extremely difficult to teach.”

“Ah.”

“Do you understand?”

“…If I bark more?”

Is this the Green Tower Master?

“Master…”

“What is it?”

“…The Green Tower Master seems to have somewhat low intelligence.”

“It’s something that always happens. Normally she is very smart, but when she gets obsessed with a single thing… she ends up like this.”

Selaim twirled a finger around his temple, and Penia nodded with an “ah” in understanding.

…They are saying this right in front of her. Isn’t that disrespectful?

Alon coughed to bring order to the conversation.

“…It’s not that. Although teaching it is difficult, if what you wish is to investigate it, I can help you with that part.”

“In…vestigation?”

“Yes. We need to talk a little first, but if the study itself is enough for you—”

“I’ll do it.”

She answered without even thinking for half a second.

Alon nodded and immediately headed toward Heinkel using the inter-stratum displacement device.

[You’re here already?]

“Yes.”

[I saw the demonstration. I never imagined a hand seal could influence it like that. Do you at least know what principle caused it?]

“Not exactly…”

[Then, how did you find the correct affinity?]

“I had prepared several seals beforehand. I tried them one by one.”

Hmm— Heinkel murmured, thoughtful, when Alon seized the moment and spoke.

“Heinkel, I have a proposal.”

[…Proposal?]

“Yes, about the Green Tower Master.”

He explained what he had in mind.

[Involve her in the research?]

“Yes. I heard there will be many repetitive calculations. So, wouldn’t it be useful to have more hands?”

That was the main reason Alon wanted to bring Sharan into the project.

Extracting information from the Circles system required an absurd amount of simple operations.

The more people, the faster.

‘And the Green Tower Master will serve perfectly.’

Hmm— Heinkel thought about it and then nodded.

[I have no objection. Why didn’t you bring her immediately?]

“…Weren’t you avoiding mages?”

Alon knew Heinkel hid to avoid being seen by mages.

But she shrugged her shoulders.

[Well, yes… but it’s not like she’s a nobody. There’s no need to exaggerate.]

And she added, “especially since she will be a sla— I mean, a valuable mage for the research,” correcting herself.
Alon pretended not to have heard that.

After obtaining permission, Selaim—who also wanted to join as he didn’t want to be left behind—accompanied Alon to see Heinkel again.

“Wow…”

“Is she really… the Primordial Chalice…?”

“There were already rumors that she was in the tower, but to see her in person…!”

The two mages looked at her with eyes full of devotion, forgetting that they themselves were Tower Masters.

[Huhu~]

Heinkel adopted a proud pose, as if saying: “See? I’m amazing,” while Alon observed her calmly.

‘Penia was like that at the beginning too.’

While he thought that, the three mages began to converse.

“Heinkel, if it’s not a bother, could I ask you something about your past?”

[Ask.]

“You were the one who created the Mana Compression Process, correct?”

[Mmm~ I see you know well.]

“Of course I know. Thanks to you, modern mages can reduce the casting time for Manifestation.”

[Oh~ you even understand that it is connected.]

“Hehe, I am a Tower Master, after all.”

Sharan said this timidly, and Selaim nodded profusely beside her.

Alon called out to Penia.

“Penia.”

“What is it, Marquis?”

“Did you know that?”

“About the Compression Process?”

“Yes.”

The Mana Compression Process.

A complex concept, even if explained step by step.

Summarized: it was the process of creating the magic matrix on paper instead of in the air. Alon knew it too.
Without understanding that, it was impossible to learn magic properly.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard that it affects casting time.”

“Well, originally it was created to facilitate Manifestation, but if you add magic over the matrix according to the desired shape, the time is reduced quite a bit. I am sure you use it too.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. You see this base structure you use in Light magic? Actually, that didn’t exist before.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. That’s why when we simplify Light magic, that process disappears.”

Alon looked at Heinkel again.

“She was more incredible than I thought.”

“…More than you thought…?”

“Yes.”

“…What image did you have of Heinkel…?”

Alon pondered it for a moment and answered honestly:

“…A sort of floating ghost that uses magic well and elevates herself to look taller…”

Penia went stiff.

A while later.

The three mages conversed for hours without stopping about theories Alon didn’t even understand.

While he thought “this will definitely make the analysis faster,” Heinkel approached him.

[How long will you stay?]

“Like before, approximately a week.”

[Good. This time I can teach you a little more. While analyzing the Second Circle I found something very interesting.]

“That sounds good. Ah, and I also want to talk about the magic I showed at the demonstration.”

[The magic you used?]

After listening to Alon’s doubts…

[…So, even though you completed it, you think there is another way to use it.]

“Exactly.”

Heinkel murmured thoughtfully for a while.

Silence.

Then—

“Eureka.”

Suddenly, as if a lightbulb turned on over her head, she said:

[I have a hypothesis. Do you want to hear it?]

A little later.

[…And if that were true, what then?]

“…I’ll have to test it.”

Alon nodded several times.

—

The Lightning Spirit Kalanon.
No, no longer the warrior, but the official mascot(?) of the same, had been living very happy days recently.

Two big reasons:

First, thanks to a “hint” from Alon, she was venerated—albeit in a limited way—by the inhabitants of the Divine Land.

Second, because the faith she received was increasing at great speed.

It didn’t compare to when she was the original Lightning Spirit, but it was vastly more than what she had received inside Alon, where she barely managed to accumulate faith with great difficulty.

……Of course, she also desired to recover the faith of her golden age.

But compared to living in fear of disappearing… this was a luxury.

While she lived happily in the Divine Land, being admired by knights and mercenaries, she heard the conversation between Silly and Deus.

“…You mean we should evangelize the outside villages too?”

“Brother, we need subjects who follow him.”

“…I know, but the Marquis didn’t order us to go that far.”

Deus spoke like a perfect loyal subordinate.

But Kalanon knew that he was already doing things Alon had never asked for.

She had personally heard Alon’s true intentions when creating the Divine Land.

‘Should I tell them…?’

Until now she only acted as a mascot, but lately, she had accumulated enough faith to transmit short messages.

‘…Although if this gets any more out of control, it will annoy him.’

Kalanon, knowing Alon Palatio’s personality, was going to intervene to stop the two siblings.

But then…

“But it’s a shame. If we attract the nearby villages, his faith would increase even more.”

“Would it help the Marquis a lot?”

“Of course.”

Kalanon paused.

“But there are only small villages in the surroundings, Silly. With so few people, not much faith will accumulate.”

“If we speak only of the nearby villages, that is true.”

“…Does that mean…?”

“That would only be the first step, brother.”

Kalanon’s ears pricked up.

“If with evangelization we give small aids, the faith for him will expand on its own.”

“Just with that?”

“Yes.”

Deus was incredulous.

Silly smiled.

“For us, it is small. For them, it is not.”

Kalanon listened in silence… and couldn’t help but think.

She remembered the era when she was the absolute Lightning Spirit.

At this stage, it was impossible to recover that power.

But… what if the faith grew faster?

What if humans really started to believe en masse?

Her heart began to beat. She imagined her figure from 600 years ago, when she had the entire world beneath her feet.

If faith accumulated constantly…

Even being a mascot, she could recover the power of her golden age.

That is why…

“…But brother is right. We cannot do things the Marquis didn’t order…”

Just when Silly murmured that with regret…

[No. It is fine.]

Kalanon used her divine power.

“!”

“!”

Silly and Deus were startled.

[Do not be alarmed. I am His Guardian.]

After calming them down, Kalanon hesitated for a moment.

Was it right to say something she knew Alon didn’t want?

Her conscience held her back.

But then…

She remembered her days of glory. And she decided.

[-He desires his faith to increase even more.]

And she chose to get on the runaway train with them.

“Really?”

[Yes.]

“If that is what He desires…!”

……And so, the train began to accelerate for real.

[E-even I don’t know what I’m doing…!]

So fast that it no longer had brakes or a way to get off.