A day had passed since Serdea and Airinna had swept through like a storm and left.

In the end, why had they come all the way out here?

Unable to resolve that question, Alon was in the middle of talking with Kylrus.

"...You’ve become fairly useful now."

"Have I?"

"Yes. There is nothing more for me to teach you. More precisely, this is enough. You are not someone who mainly handles spirit dragons anyway."

"Hmm—"

Alon turned his gaze.

What he saw was still the ruined world.

"What is it?"

"No, my eyes just drifted there for a moment."

"...Your eyes?"

Alon nodded.

"Didn’t you say this place is my mental world?"

"Well, yes."

"To be honest, I still don’t really understand it."

After looking around the empty world, Alon soon withdrew his gaze.

He was curious why his mental world had taken this form, but unfortunately, there was no way to know the reason.

Without lingering on it, Alon pushed the subject aside.

After exchanging a few more words with Kylrus, he offered his farewell.

"Then I’ll be going now."

At that, Kylrus, who had been about to nod as usual—

"...Wait."

—stopped Alon.

"What is it? Do you have something to say?"

In response, Kylrus stared at Alon in silence, then slowly opened Kylrus's mouth.

"Among the things you said."

"Hm?"

"Surely—"

"...?"

Kylrus moved Kylrus's lips as though choosing the words carefully.

But after some time had passed—

"...No."

"?"

"Go."

"No, didn’t you stop me as if you had something to say?"

Kylrus waved a hand as though it was nothing.

Alon found it odd, but soon shrugged and slipped out of the Foot that Runs Through the Past.

And then—

"You’re awake."

"......"

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Reinysius.

As if he had been waiting, Reinysius was standing right in front of him.

His face was so close it felt burdensome.

"What are you doing?"

"Originally, I came because I had something to tell you, but something interesting seemed to be happening, so I was observing it."

"...What?"

"Your magic power was moving in an interesting way. Unlike usual."

Reinysius pulled his face away from Alon and turned his gaze to the Foot that Runs Through the Past.

Only then did Alon let out a low exclamation.

Up until now he had not thought much of it, but only now did he remember that Kylrus and Reinysius knew each other.

And not just that—they were quite close.

"What is it?"

At Alon’s reaction, Reinysius tilted his head.

After hesitating briefly, Alon answered.

"...This is a little late to mention, but I’m on my way back from meeting Kylrus."

"Kylrus?"

"Yes."

"...?"

For a moment, Reinysius looked bewildered.

Calmly, Alon explained the Foot that Runs Through the Past.

Then, while quietly staring at the foot, Reinysius asked,

"...You meet Kylrus with this artifact?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"According to Kylrus, it works by summoning the soul through a medium."

But Reinysius’s brows drew together slightly, as if something felt off.

"Alon. There are a few things I’d like to ask. Is that alright?"

"Ask as much as you want."

"What do you mean, you summon Kylrus?"

"I mean exactly that."

"...Are you summoning a dead soul?"

"A soul?"

"Yes."

"...Ah."

The conversation felt strangely like they were talking past each other, and Alon was puzzled for a moment, but then he remembered that Reinysius had been exiled alone in a cavern for hundreds of years.

'He said the only person he’d met during that time was Duke Comalon, more or less.'

Thinking again of Reinysius’s circumstances, Alon spoke.

"Didn’t Duke Comalon tell you?"

"I heard nothing from that brat. Though he did tell me many things."

Only then did Alon realize it.

That Reinysius knew even less about this world than Alon had thought, aside from the Five Sins—

more precisely, that Reinysius knew nothing about the Outer Gods.

And so Alon began to explain.

Time passed like that.

"...Don’t you think something is strange?"

"What part?"

"The Outer Gods."

"...The Outer Gods?"

At «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Alon’s question back, Reinysius nodded.

"Yes. According to what you said, the Outer Gods appear to be the gods of the age of forgotten gods—in other words, the gods from the era when I lived."

"That’s right."

"But if they were killed by the sins, how is it possible for them to come back to life?"

"Well—"

Alon started to answer naturally, then stopped.

He had never questioned that before.

Which made sense. To Alon, it had been something obvious.

That was how he had understood it through the game Psychedelia.

Only then did Alon break out of that misconception.

Like someone solving a math problem, knowing only the method but not the principle behind it, while being convinced they properly understood the problem.

"......"

"As I see it, this ecology is strange."

Perhaps realizing that Alon had recognized the issue, Reinysius added,

"As you know, gods are beings who survive through faith, and the reason they gained immortality is faith as well. Yet for gods who lost that faith to perish, then reappear as Outer Gods, is something that should be impossible."

"...Could it be the power of the Five Sins?"

At Alon’s question, Reinysius shook his head firmly.

"Unfortunately, there is no possibility of that at all. Thinking of what you told me afterward, it is even more impossible."

After answering like that, Reinysius quietly looked at the Foot that Runs Through the Past.

"But regardless, this situation may not be so bad for us."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Of course, this is only an inference—"

With that, Reinysius began to speak and told Alon of one possibility.

And Alon’s eyes soon widened.

"That—can be done?"

"It is not certain yet. I am only saying that it may be possible if we can grasp the principle. But to do that, I’ll need to study it, so would you lend me this foot for a while?"

At Reinysius’s request, Alon thought for a moment.

"...Very well."

But he soon agreed.

Because he thought it was necessary.

"Come to think of it, didn’t you say you came because you had something to tell me?"

At last, Reinysius brought up the matter he had briefly set aside.

"Ah, it was about the magic circle and Blackie."

Even after that, the conversation between Alon and Reinysius continued for a long time.

####

The next day.

Alon left Palantia.

He would have liked to rest a little longer, but he had heard that because of the fragment that had fallen into Colony, there was no knowing when Divine blood might come.

'And I also have to stop by the Central Mage Tower...'

As Alon organized his schedule and looked at Blackie and Basiliora, both sleeping lazily in the sunlight for the first time in a while, Evan, who had been quiet until then, spoke to him.

"Lord Alon. Did yesterday’s talk end well?"

"Hm?"

"I mean the conversation you were having with that unpleasant bastard."

It was not difficult for Alon to realize that "that unpleasant bastard" referred to Reinysius, and he answered.

"...Well, rather than ending well, it was more like a report, literally speaking."

"Is that so?"

Alon nodded and recalled the conversation he had had with Reinysius yesterday.

In fact, what they had discussed could largely be divided into three topics.

One was Blackie.

Another was the automation of divine power that Alon had been considering.

And the last was a story about the castle.

He had actually heard that both Blackie and the automation of divine power were being researched in their own way.

But for Alon, the sticking point was the remaining one.

'Adding a bunch of minor functions to the castle?'

'Yes. The tower masters had some interesting ideas.'

'...Will that really be alright?'

'There is no problem. There will never be an issue with magic power, even if I die.'

'No... not that, I mean the castle’s appearance—'

'Its appearance? Well, it will change a little, but even so, it probably won’t be much different from now.'

'Are you sure?'

'...Probably?'

"...Hmm."

Remembering how Reinysius had hesitated on that last answer, Alon brushed the thought aside and asked Evan,

"So, did you send word to Penia?"

Evan nodded.

"Yes, I did."

"But what are you planning with that?"

"Well—she said she seemed to be preparing something."

"Preparing...?"

"Yes. She said the timing happened to be good too."

At the additional news Evan gave him, Alon was once again puzzled.

####

The Central Mage Tower was usually quiet unless the magic conference was being held.

Yes, under normal circumstances.

But ever since the mages of the tower had begun researching Alon’s "magic," it had become extremely noisy, and now, just a few weeks before the Grand Conference began, the population staying in the tower was far greater than usual.

That was why the Central Mage Tower should have been extremely noisy.

Yes, normally.

"“......”"

And yet right now, the Central Mage Tower was eerily quiet.

It was not because there were no mages.

There were many mages.

Not just many.

There were very many.

So many that it almost felt as though the testing ground on the first floor might burst apart just from the number gathered there.

But even so, the mages merely remained silent, all staring toward the center of the testing ground.

More precisely, at the vice tower master of the Blue Mage Tower—

who, in the middle of the laboratory, was using Alon’s magic.

"Diffraction."

And then—

Fwaaaaash—!

They watched the lightning formed in her hand shoot up into the sky with a crackling sound.

And then,

"Lord Alon, who will soon be visiting the Mage Tower, says he will be 'personally' selecting the mages who will work with Palantia."

Her confident voice rang out—

"Along with the 'blessing' that lets you use the magic Lord Alon uses."

Penia smiled brightly.

####

The moment Penia publicly revealed Alon’s magic, she immediately became the tower’s biggest star.

It was only natural.

At this point in time, merely proving that someone other than Alon himself could use Alon’s magic was enough to make her the greatest star in the Mage Tower.

The path Alon had walked until now was more than enough for every mage to admire.

And so—

"Ahem—ahem—Vice Tower Master, do you happen to know this? It’s that famous kidnapped state, you see—"

"Vice Tower Master! It’s been so long! You haven’t forgotten me, have you?"

"Vice Tower Master, hello? I’m pretty sure I greeted you before—"

At present, Penia was enjoying the mages’ praise in real time.

In truth, Penia had always lived with about this much authority even before.

After all, she was the vice tower master of the Blue Mage Tower.

But the reason she was even happier than usual was because of the mages’ changed attitude.

Even before, their attitude toward her had been obedient.

But that was only how they acted to her face. Behind her back, she knew they were always busy calling her rude and arrogant.

But now?

Everyone was sincerely bowing their heads to her with all their might, and so she was enjoying life in the tower more than ever.

Then—

"By the way, Vice Tower Master, may I ask you one thing?"

"I shall permit you to ask."

"Per-haps... what kind of relationship do you have with Lord Alon...?"

She got that question from a newcomer who had just joined the Blue Mage Tower.

"......"

Penia lowered her gaze slightly, looked at the newcomer who seemed to be expecting something, then swept her eyes around.

With a subtle turn of her eyes, what she saw were the other mages who had been flattering her so enthusiastically just moments ago.

And they had all stopped their flattery and were now focusing their attention on her.

Naturally, Penia knew very well what answer she should give here.

A cooperative relationship—or if not that, a ruler-and-subordinate relationship. Those were the ideal answers Penia ought to give.

And even if she gave one of those formal answers, the way the mages treated her outwardly would not change.

Only the swelling anticipation they had now would disappear; in the end, no matter what, it would remain the same that they needed to stay on her good side.

But even knowing that, Penia’s reason was struggling fiercely.

By nature, she was the type who quietly enjoyed being looked up to by others.

And on top of that, she also had one secret bit of greed.

So in that short moment, while receiving the gazes of countless mages, Penia—

"Ahem—ahem—as for the relationship between Lord Alon and me..."

In the end—

"Well, I’d say it’s a somewhat special relationship, wouldn’t you?"

"Gasp."

—went ahead and said it.

All the while thinking inwardly, 'What could possibly happen over something like this?'

...Without knowing what kind of trouble that single sentence was about to cause.