"Marquis?"

"...What is it?"

"No, it’s just... your expression doesn’t look very good."

"Mine?"

"Ah—your face doesn’t really change much to begin with, but... I can still tell, you know."

While Alon kept thinking, Evan asked.

Alon fell silent for a moment, then answered.

"It’s nothing."

"...Is that so? That’s weird—"

"Ugh—"

"? Why?"

"No, just... I got chills for a second...."

"...Why am I being treated like that...?"

Penia immediately started dealing damage without taking a breath.

Evan answered naturally, and the two of them started bickering.

Alon stared at them and thought.

'What the hell was that, really.'

In the end, Alon never got an answer for how the Former Observer—no, that thing—knew those facts.

[You’ll find out naturally. If you can truly reach ‘Heavenly Law Creation’ and become a god.]

That was what he heard instead.

After hearing that sentence, Alon almost asked her again—then stopped.

The reason was simple.

There was no way for him to pry open her tightly shut mouth.

And there wasn’t much time left, either.

'...Then how in the world could I become Divine blood?'

Instead, Alon asked her something else.

How he could become Divine blood.

She gave a light shrug.

[I told you, didn’t I? Those born as living beings in this world can never become Divine blood. This place was made solely for the gestation of a god.]

[No matter how much faith and belief you gather, at most you’ll just live longer, and half-baked Divine blood will come out. But you’re ‘different,’ aren’t you?]

[Of course, that # Nоvеlight # reason alone isn’t enough to become a god. To become Divine blood, you need faith and belief. And by coincidence, you had everything.]

As if you’d already prepared it all in advance.

In his memory, her voice continued.

[You had faith. There were people who could make that faith bloom as Divine blood—and in the battle with the Bearer, you branded the humans of this world with the idea that you were a ‘god.’ So smoothly.]

Fits together a little too perfectly, doesn’t it? it added with a swirling smile.

[That’s why you could become Divine blood.]

That was the answer she gave him.

And Alon quietly listened to what came next.

It was about Creation.

[First, I’ll tell you this. It’ll take time for you to reach Creation.]

'Does it take a long time?'

[Rank has four stages in total.]

[First, you behold all things.]

[Second, you enact rhythmic motion within it.]

[Third, you carve in principle.]

[Fourth, you become providence itself.]

[And the place you have to reach is the second stage: rhythmic motion.]

'Then... I’ll be able to reach Creation?'

[You’ll be able to imitate it.]

That thing answered with a shining smile.

'...How am I supposed to train?'

[Don’t worry. Even if I don’t tell you, you’ll figure it out on your own. And more than anything, that isn’t what matters right now.]

'Weren’t you just talking like that was the most important thing?'

[Yeah. But you have to endure until you reach the second stage, don’t you?]

'...'

[Remember this. Raising your rank is important, but what you need to prioritize above all else is your proficiency with magic.]

'Proficiency....'

[Yeah, proficiency—filling in what you’re lacking right now. That’s how you’ll be able to fight them. So I’ll say it again. Remember this: you definitely have potential, but—]

'—Until I make that potential bloom, it’s endlessly dangerous....'

Recalling her final words, Alon let out a sigh.

No matter what, his head got complicated the more he heard.

What that thing told him held a truth too big for Alon to ignore.

But more than anything, after hearing it, something kept snagging at him.

'...Elivan.'

Alon recalled Elivan’s actions.

Before, he might not have known, but with all the puzzle pieces in hand now, it wasn’t hard to infer—

Elivan’s actions, as if Elivan had prepared all of this in advance.

'Just what are you....'

Alon thought.

But no matter how long he kept thinking, nothing came.

He still couldn’t understand why Elivan had moved like that, like everything had been prepared.

So that worry only deepened.

For a long time, continuously.

####

A few weeks later.

Alon returned to Marquis Palatio’s estate and rested.

...To be honest, he had too much to do for that—declaring the kingdom, Siyan requesting a meeting, handling matters in the Divine Land and his territory.

But he was too exhausted, so he decided to rest first.

Of course, that didn’t mean he did nothing.

He’d already been clearly warned by that thing, and Alon wasn’t dull enough to ignore it and just goof off.

So.

"Mm—still no real progress."

"I see."

Alon continued magic research with Penia.

More precisely, research into improving his magic the way that thing had told him to.

"But Marquis, honestly... isn’t this kind of impossible?"

"...So it is?"

"Yes. Marquis, you basically use ‘phrases’ and ‘sentences’ to crank up your magic’s firepower to the extreme, right?"

When Alon nodded silently, Penia continued.

"But trying to improve things so you can use magic at the same level as now while cutting your chanting down to almost nothing... isn’t that kind of ridiculous?"

She was speaking politely, but in practice, she was basically saying, 'Don’t you have any shame?'

Alon scratched his head.

She wasn’t wrong.

Even so, the reason Alon was agonizing over it was simple.

At least as far as he could tell, if he was going to improve his magic, there was only that one way.

Alon’s magic was strong.

Maybe so strong that no mage alive right now could even dare to match the firepower he could produce.

But that overwhelming firepower came with the risk of needing time and phrases.

And that risk became a massive weakness for Alon.

Up until now, he’d always relied on the kids’ help.

And because he’d known in advance what techniques the outer gods and the sins would use, he’d spent time preparing and minimizing that risk.

But now, that wouldn’t be possible anymore.

The Divine blood he had to fight from here on out didn’t appear in the game.

"Hoo—"

Alon sighed.

Trying to use magic that only gets stronger because it has risk, while paying no penalty at all.

Even he thought it was close to a child’s tantrum.

But the problem was—

even if it was a tantrum, he had to find a way.

"..."

As Alon scratched his head and seriously thought, Penia—who’d been quietly watching him—carefully opened her mouth.

"...Um, Marquis."

"What is it?"

"If you really can’t give up, I do have a method... want to hear it?"

"A method, huh."

"Yes. Ah, of course, it’s not guaranteed. Um—it’s more like... making your creativity a little richer... that kind of feeling?"

"What do you mean?"

At Alon’s interest, Penia glanced around and slowly continued.

A short while later.

"So there’s a potion called the Regression Drug. And if you drink it, you temporarily go back to being a kid?"

"Strictly speaking, it’s only your mind."

"...To what age?"

"...Somewhere between ten and thirteen years ago from now?"

"Hm—"

Alon thought.

No—more like he tilted his head, unconvinced, and asked.

"Does that really help?"

"Um—I think it will."

"...Really?"

"Yes."

"...No, if my mind just goes back ten years, wouldn’t I lose all my memories about magic? How is that supposed to help?"

When Alon asked like he couldn’t understand, Penia replied as if telling him not to worry.

"Because you can leave an imprint."

"An imprint?"

"Yes. You leave an imprint in the unconscious. So even if the me from ten years ago can’t recognize it, you can still find a clue about magic you can’t even imagine right now. Um—put simply, you keep only the memories about magic and throw away the rest."

"...That’s possible?"

"Yes, well—one or two days will be confusing, though."

Penia went, "Ah," then hurriedly added.

"Just so you know, I’m not saying this with absolutely no basis?"

"...You aren’t?"

"Of course not...! The Red Mage Tower Lord and the Green Mage Tower Lord reached the eighth tier using this method, you know?"

"...Using a method like this?"

"Yes!"

Penia nodded with confidence.

Alon fell silent.

Honestly, until a moment ago, he’d wondered if Penia was suddenly trying to sell him some weird drug again.

But if there was precedent with the Red Mage Tower Lord and the Green Mage Tower Lord, then it was different.

"It won’t go wrong, will it?"

"As far as I know, no one’s ever gone wrong. If something happens, you can undo it. And the time limit is about two weeks, anyway."

"Two weeks...."

At that length, it seemed better to try than to do nothing, so Alon nodded.

"When will it be ready?"

"I happen to have one bottle I made to use later. You’ll just learn how to imprint knowledge, then drink it right away."

"...Let’s do it."

He accepted Penia’s proposal.

####

About a month later.

Yutia Bloodia was walking through Marquis Palatio’s estate.

A pleasant smile was on her face.

Normally, the place she should have been was Rosario, not here.

But the reason she was here now was simple.

Tomorrow was Marquis Palatio’s birthday.

It would’ve been better to show up on the day itself and congratulate him, but Yutia chose to come a day early.

Because of the people who would gather for Alon’s birthday.

Rather than celebrating together in a crowd, Yutia wanted to congratulate him alone.

Celebrating together and celebrating alone carried different meaning.

At least, it did for Yutia—especially.

And on top of that, before Rine disappeared, she’d broken Yutia’s brooch again.

And the fact that for two months she hadn’t been able to watch—no, protect—Alon was also part of the reason.

Anyway, because of that, Yutia slipped into the marquis’s estate in secret without even telling Alon.

She opened the door to the office where Alon should have been.

And inside—

just as Yutia expected, Alon and Penia were there.

"Gasp—"

The moment she saw Yutia, Penia sucked in a startled breath.

At that reaction, Yutia almost frowned for an instant—

but thinking that Alon was looking at her, she smiled instead and greeted him.

"Oh my, it’s been a while."

"Ah, um—"

Penia’s pupils trembled.

At that excessive reaction, Yutia felt a hint of doubt, but quickly turned her gaze away.

Because the person she needed to care about wasn’t Penia.

So Yutia kept smiling and looked at Alon.

Alon met her gaze with a blank expression.

"Hello, Marquis?"

Naturally approaching him, Yutia gave a light greeting.

And Alon greeted Yutia—

"...Wh-who are you?"

He didn’t greet her.

For a moment, Yutia forgot to even keep smiling as she stared at Alon.

After Penia’s "Gasp—" sounded one more time, silence fell over the office.

But only for a moment.

"Y-You’re so mean, Marquis... That kind of joke isn’t funny, you know?"

Yutia smiled, full of agitation.

Like she was telling him to stop joking around.

But instead of answering, Alon stood up.

"...?"

He naturally moved behind the chair Penia was sitting in.

And soon, Yutia saw it.

Alon’s two hands gripping the back of Penia’s chair tightly.

And the moment she understood what that meant—

"R-Really... who are you...?"

At Alon’s continued words—

"...Huh?"

Yutia’s heart shattered.

...Crunch.