A few days later.

After receiving one of the second-tier spells that had been deciphered by Heinkel. In the end, Alon decided to set aside about a day to pick a new mage. Of course, he already had more than enough mages, but-

"...Please- please pick me!"

"I support my widowed mother!"

"My rabbit who’s like family and my hamster who’s like a daughter are starving!"

-because the mages didn’t look like they were going to easily get out of the way.

...Of course, before that. I don’t know why they were advertising that they support a widowed mother or that they have multiple pets when applying for basic computation magic, but....

Anyway, after deciding on additional recruitment, Alon told Penia about it.

"A new mage?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm- how many?"

"How many do you think I should take?"

"Um-"

While watching Penia hesitate, Alon suddenly had a thought.

"But Penia."

"Yes?"

"Now that I think about it, isn’t basic computation better when you have more people?"

"It is, right?"

"Then can’t we just take all the mages who say they want to do it and give them work?"

Alon’s question was reasonable. Any mage could do basic computation.

However, Penia answered with a strange expression.

"If you look at it simply, that’s true, but-. In practice, it’s not quite like that."

"It’s not?"

"Yes. As you obviously know, even simple computation varies a lot from mage to mage."

"Right."

"But what we’re using to decipher magic right now isn’t just simple computation, it needs coordination between mages."

"Coordination?"

"Yes. Unlike the first tier, the second tier has a stupid amount of simple computation. So even for a single calculation, the mages coordinate with each other."

Penia paused, looking for an easy way to explain it, then shrugged.

"Just to put it simply, in cases like this, if even one person computes below a certain speed, the overall computation speed drops hard."

In the end, ten people had to come together to make one computation value.

"So even if nine people finish within ten seconds, if one person takes fifteen seconds, then ultimately it takes fifteen seconds."

"That’s right. In that sense, the people we picked are elite in their own way."

Alon nodded.

"Then have you already filtered everyone?"

"Mm, some people came late, so if we look around, we can probably pick a few more. Well, it’ll be hard to find a lot, though."

"Then I’ll leave it to you."

"Ah- am I doing it alone?"

"...I don’t mind doing it together, but."

Penia thought about something for a moment, then.

"!"

As if something came to mind, ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Penia smiled a little slyly.

"No, it’s fine. Honestly, I can handle it by myself. And you’re busy, aren’t you, My Lord?"

"Well- I can spare about a day, though."

"No. You have to go to the ball, so you should start getting ready."

"..."

Alon stared straight at Penia. Then, after smiling at Alon-

"Wh-why are you looking at me like that?"

Penia turned her gaze off to the side.

"It looks like you’re obviously trying to pull something, My Lord."

"Shut up, seriously."

Evan, who had been quietly beside them, cut in with a single line, and Penia’s face crumpled.

"...Lately, I feel like all I ever hear is ‘shut up.’"

"No matter what I’m like, I’m not doing that kind of thing over something like this. You’re slandering me, so of course I’m going to say that, aren’t I?"

"That’s funny, coming from you when you were happily taking stuff a few days ago."

"Like I told you, I didn’t say a single word, and they brought it on their own, okay? And in the first place, since deciphering is what matters, I’m not planning to pick just any random nobody!"

Even as Evan muttered without backing down, Penia rebutted every point without missing anything.

Alon went, “Mm-,” and nodded. Even if Penia was, to some extent... no, pretty worldly, Alon knew well that Penia still tended to do what needed to be done properly.

So.

"I’m not worried about that."

Alon defended Penia.

"My Lord-!"

Penia’s eyes sparkled as if moved.

"Ahem- well, sure. I do know the difference between what I should do and what I shouldn’t. Honestly, though, it does look like you wouldn’t refuse gifts that come your way."

Evan, looking a bit awkward, backed off a step.

And Alon, thinking, As if that could be true, looked at Penia.

"..."

Somehow, Penia was avoiding Alon’s eyes in a strangely evasive way.

...Penia?

####

Leaving that strange moment with Penia behind, Alon had been heading toward Teria, where the ball would be held, for a few days now.

"I won!"

"No way! This is invalid, invalid! You just moved your pawn to a spot where you’re not allowed to move it!"

"My pawn moves three spaces!"

"What kind of bullshit is that?! Ria! Look at this! Pawns can’t do that, can they?"

"...Huh?"

"Were you dozing off?! You said you’d referee!"

Seollang and Ryang-a were playing chess—one of the board games brought from the Mage Towers—with intense focus. And for some reason, Historia was sitting there refereeing, and the carriage was loud with their back-and-forth.

"Ahem- the ball is roughly like this."

"...So it’s easiest to understand it as a partner ball that goes on for about five days."

"That’s right. And I hear it’ll be unusually lavish this time, so there’ll be a lot of things to eat."

"I see."

Alon suddenly thought of the egg tart Alon had eaten at the last ball.

'It really was good.'

It had been especially sweet compared to what Alon ate back in the estate.

That recollection only lasted a moment.

"So, My Lord."

"What is it?"

"How long are you planning to stay this time?"

"...Well, it’s been a while since I attended, so I plan to stay for as long as it’s running."

"So you’re planning to show your face for as long as possible and then not go again for a few years."

Alon didn’t bother answering Evan. Because it was true.

'Those kinds of places still make me uncomfortable, too.'

For nobles, balls carry a very important meaning. In a world without social media, a ball or a certain kind of gathering becomes an important arena for communication.

But since Alon’s natural disposition was that Alon preferred being holed up in a room playing games rather than standing in front of other people, balls weren’t very enjoyable.

"Hoo-"

When Alon quietly let out a sigh, Evan asked, as if curious.

"I know you don’t particularly like places where people gather, My Lord, but may I ask why?"

"If I had to give a reason, it’s probably because I don’t want to bother paying attention."

"Paying attention?"

"Whether they’re nobles or whatever, don’t you have to pay attention?"

"Well, sure, you do have to follow basic etiquette, but aside from that, isn’t it rare for you to need to watch the room, My Lord?"

"Why?"

"Because, in the first place, your reputation is your reputation. You don’t do much public activity, but either way, you’re the head of Kalpa."

It wasn’t My Lord who needed to watch other people—other people watched My Lord.

As Evan spoke, Alon slowly nodded. Evan, who had been watching that, said:

"My Lord, I’ve been thinking this for a while, but don’t you have too little awareness of your own position?"

"Do I?"

"Yes, that’s how it looks to me. Almost like you’re not doing it ‘on purpose.’"

"...That much?"

"That much."

Alon thought for a moment. Of course, Alon had never deliberately tried to be unaware of Alon’s position. There was no reason to. And more than anything—

Alon wasn’t without desire for power, either. Since Alon was human, there was obviously a certain degree of ambition.

It should have been like that, but.

"Ah- I think I get it. Teacher kind of- doesn’t feel very noble-like."

Seollang, who had been stacking pawns into a tower until just then, reacted to Evan’s words.

"Agreed."

"...The Boss doesn’t really feel like someone high up, either. Not like someone who’s aware of it."

As if they’d been waiting, Ryang-a and Historia also gave their opinions one after another.

Alon kept thinking with a puzzled expression for a while. Even as that happened, the carriage steadily continued toward Teria.

Since there was no need to hurry, Alon’s group moved at a relaxed pace, passing from village to village, and Alon arrived in Teria on the day of the ball.

"Teacher."

"Yutia."

In front of the royal palace, Yutia—wearing the same black formal attire as always—was there to greet them.

"Have you been well? Nothing happened, right?"

"Nothing in particular. More importantly, did the work wrap up well?"

"Yes, thanks to your consideration, Teacher."

Yutia smiled with calm grace, then turned Yutia’s gaze to look at Seollang, Ryang-a, and Historia standing behind Alon.

"Thank you as well. For escorting Teacher safely."

A light greeting filled with gratitude.

—That was actually a victor’s provocation disguised as gratitude.

Up until the moment they arrived here, the three had been going at each other, but now their expressions stiffened in unison.

"Shall we go, Teacher?"

"Yeah."

Turning their back on them, Yutia walked forward with Alon, confidently heading for the ball.

The moment the two entered the ballroom together—

"Greetings, Marquis Palatio- I am-"

"It’s a pleasure! My Lord-!"

"Ah, it’s truly been so long. My Lord, I am a noble from the east-"

...They ran straight into an enormous crowd. A crowd big enough that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say everyone attending had gathered around the Marquis Palatio.

Naturally, Alon couldn’t ignore them. At some point, Alon was calmly greeting people one by one, even those standing far in the distance.

It wasn’t actually that hard. No, in a way, it even helped. From Alon’s perspective, having gone several years without participating in any real communication like this, it was almost comforting that people came over to greet Alon like this.

When they greeted first, they stated their name first.

Alon didn’t want to be embarrassed by someone acting familiar and Alon not remembering their name, or to make an enemy for no reason in a place like this.

Anyway, because of that, receiving nobles’ greetings wasn’t so bad.

...Yeah, it wasn’t that bad, but.

The problem was—

"Hahaha, My Lord- if there’s anything you can’t say out loud, please tell me. I will absolutely help you."

"Ah, yes-"

"My Lord, if you ever want a secret conversation that’s hard to tell others about, I would be grateful if you contacted me here."

"...? Yes, well-"

"My Lord. If you need help with this sort of matter—no, if you need to talk, please tell me separately. Ah, and I’m absolutely on your side!"

The nobles.

"...??"

Looking at all these nobles with furtive expressions saying things like, Want to be my secret friend?, Alon realized it instinctively.

...Alon didn’t know what, exactly.

But something had happened again.