Chapter 157

Among the elves of Greynifra, Philde was the greatest magician, and she possessed a natural gift—Soul Eyes (영안)—which allowed her to see the souls of all beings.

From the smallest of creatures to the most powerful.

As long as something was alive, it would naturally have a soul, and she could see them all.

However, she never paid much attention to this so-called “blessing.”

First, because she wasn’t a necromancer who dealt with souls or dark magic.

Second, because she had never found souls particularly interesting.

While every individual’s soul was slightly different, it wasn’t usually distinct enough to be fascinating.

A soul was just a soul.

Of course, when she was very young, she had seen gods and foreign deities with unique souls, but that was only because they were gods.

For ordinary living beings, souls were all more or less the same.

That’s why Philde had been completely shocked when she saw the soul of Marquis Palatio.

Because—

His soul resembled the souls of gods she had seen in the distant past.

“……”

Unlike a typical soul, which appeared as a blue sphere, his was faint but tinged with radiant gold.

That was something no ordinary human could ever possess.

A golden soul meant one of two things—it was either a being close to divinity or a god itself.

And there was one more thing that stunned her.

‘…The soul doesn’t match.’

Marquis Palatio’s soul did not belong to his body.

Philde had never seen anything like this before.

As she had told Perion, every soul is meant to fit its body perfectly.

But the marquis’s soul, while appearing to belong, actually did not.

In other words, the soul inside this body was not originally his.

As soon as she realized this, countless questions flooded Philde’s mind.

The first voice that came to her thoughts was—

Perion’s voice, suggesting that Marquis Palatio might be the Primordial Elf.

‘…Could it really be?’

Until now, Philde hadn’t taken Perion’s words seriously.

She had come here more for an excuse to escape the boredom of Greynifra than because she actually believed the marquis might be the Primordial Elf.

But now, she wasn’t so sure.

The soul she saw within the marquis shone brighter than anyone’s.

Like the legendary Primordial Elf, who had been worshipped as a god.

A soul that did not match its body.

As if it were telling her that someone else had taken over that body.

Philde stared at him blankly, her mind spiraling with even more questions.

‘…But if he really is the Primordial Elf, why is he hiding his identity?’

From Philde’s perspective, if Marquis Palatio was truly the Primordial Elf, there was no reason for him to conceal it.

Even if he had possessed a human body, proving his true identity shouldn’t have been difficult.

Why?

Just as her confusion deepened—

She noticed it.

Something writhing behind Marquis Palatio.

Instinctively, her gaze shifted toward the movement.

And then—

It vanished.

As if it had never existed.

But Philde had caught the brief distortion in space.

Determined to confirm what lurked behind the marquis, she activated her Soul Eyes once more, drawing upon her mastery as a high-ranked mage.

And what she saw—

“Ah…?”

A black abyss?

‘…No.’

It wasn’t an abyss.

It was an eye.

A pupil so vast it swallowed her entire vision—an abyssal eye.

And then.

[Be silent.]

A voice ripped through her mind.

“Uuweeeek—!!”

Philde vomited blood.

“!? Lady Philde!”

Perion, utterly shocked, rushed to support her.

But the blood wouldn’t stop.

It gushed not only from her mouth but also from her eyes, nose, and ears.

The price for seeing something she should never have seen.

“L-Lady Philde, stay with me!”

Perion desperately tried to rouse her.

But Philde, still choking on her own blood, collapsed into the crimson pool she had created.

As she teetered on the brink of unconsciousness—

She realized something.

The reason the Primordial Elf never returned to Greynifra.

‘If… that thing… were to reach the World Tree…’

Philde recalled the thing she had glimpsed for only a fleeting moment.

She didn’t know what it was.

Not even a fragment of its true nature.

And she knew—she should not try to find out.

But there was one absolute truth she had understood.

‘Under no circumstances… must that thing go near the World Tree…!’

Her instincts screamed louder than ever.

Even more than the beings sealed beneath the roots of Paggade, this thing was far, far worse.

At the same time, another realization struck her.

‘The Primordial Elf had died fighting the black entities.’

As pieces of memory resurfaced, her mind began assembling the true picture of what had happened.

And then—

“Pe… Perion.”

“Yes…!”

“It seems… your words…”

Philde swallowed, still struggling to speak.

“…They might be true.”

“…You mean—”

“…That man…”

Philde confirmed it to Perion.

“He might really be the Primordial Elf.”

“!!”

Perion’s eyes widened to their limits.

***

Meanwhile.

“Should I hit left? Or right? Here? Here! Shoo! Shoo!”

[Just hit already, damn it!]

“Left? Right? Here it goes!”

Smack!

[Gyaaaaah!!]

“Ahaha! That was perfect!”

[Again! Do it again!!!]

Alon stared at Evan, who was cackling madly as he swung his hand—coated with his black companion—at Basiliora’s head.

And Basiliora, who had taken it personally, was furiously demanding another round of the game.

‘…I can’t believe they’re having this much fun with just a simple game of “Chop-Chop-Chop”…’

Shaking his head, Alon was yet again baffled by their boundless energy.

Two weeks later, exactly one month after Alon’s return to the marquisate—

“…Hah.”

“You’ve worked hard, Marquis.”

As Alon dissolved the magic formula, Penia spoke beside him.

“How was it this time?”

“Hmm… I think I’ve reached about the fourth stage.”

“That’s promising.”

“But from the fifth stage onward, the density becomes too high, and the molecular structure collapses. At this rate, your original plan might be difficult to achieve.”

“Is there no solution?”

“…I think either we need to pour in a lot more mana, or we need to adjust the density accordingly.”

“Let’s try again.”

After taking a brief breath, Alon straightened his posture once more.

For the past month, he had been delving into the study of seals alongside Penia.

Their main focus was on the structural changes and molecular combinations caused by the overlapping of seals.

The more precisely the seals were layered, the more complex and novel structures emerged.

Though he hadn’t succeeded yet, he had even discovered a method to manipulate a spell’s molecular structure to resemble another, drastically amplifying its power.

His research into magic was progressing quite successfully.

“Ah, that was close this time.”

“Was it?”

“Yes, the structure was just slightly misaligned, so it failed.”

“Let’s stop here for today.”

“Understood.”

With today’s training session over, Alon immediately reached for a sweet potato and took a bite.

“Do you really like sweet potatoes, Marquis?”

Penia asked cautiously.

Alon nodded.

“Yeah, I suppose I do.”

“Don’t you get tired of them?”

“Hmm, I don’t think so.”

To be honest, even Alon himself didn’t quite understand why he never seemed to tire of eating sweet potatoes, no matter how many he consumed.

Normally, I’d be sick of something after eating this much…

He examined the sweet potato in his hand with a curious expression.

‘…Maybe it’s just because Yutia brought them. They do taste better somehow.’

He remembered how Yutia had visited Penia while he was away a month ago and left these sweet potatoes behind.

Thinking of that gesture, he finished his bite.

Upon returning to his office, Alon patted Blackie, who was sprawled out asleep on his desk, before taking his seat.

“Marquis.”

“What is it?”

Evan followed him inside almost immediately.

“The Kingdom’s Grand Ball is in two months. Will you be attending?”

“It’s already that time?”

“Yes.”

After a moment of consideration, Alon nodded.

“I suppose it wouldn’t do to keep skipping it. I’ll attend this time.”

“I’ll make the necessary arrangements, then. Ah, right—weren’t you planning to go somewhere soon?”

“Yeah, I’ll be moving out soon.”

The time had finally come.

By now, the tutorial phase should be wrapping up, and all of the main party members should have gathered. This is the perfect time to join Eliban naturally.

Alon glanced outside.

The weather was gradually shifting from the warmth of spring to the heat of summer.

Using the changing seasons as a rough estimate of where the protagonist should be in the story, Alon calculated his next move.

‘Alright. Time to go get that thing.’

Having made up his mind, exactly one day later—

“Marquis, you have a visitor.”

“A noble?”

“No, he introduced himself as Eliban.”

“…Eliban?”

“Yes. He specifically requested to meet you.”

“??”

Eliban, the protagonist of Psychedelia—had come.

On his own.

***

Beyond the Raksas Sea, on the peninsula.

“That concludes my report.”

“I see. So that’s all I need to know?”

“Yes.”

As Yuna finished her report, Radan was about to rise from his seat when—

“Ah, there’s one more thing I need to tell you.”

“Hm?”

Her words made him pause in confusion.

“Something you forgot to report?”

“No, not quite… It’s more of a personal matter.”

“…What is it?”

“It’s about the Great Moon.”

“…Is someone speaking ill of the Great Moon?”

At the mere mention of that name, Radan reflexively grabbed the trident beside him.

His body leaned forward as if ready to charge out at any moment, but Yuna quickly calmed him down.

“No, nothing like that.”

“Then what is it?”

“Well—”

Now that she actually had to say it, Yuna found it difficult to phrase.

‘The Great Moon was… pouting—no, feeling left out?’

She couldn’t find the right words, but since she had already brought it up, she decided to just be direct.

And so, she explained about the Great Moon’s birthday.

“…His birthday?”

“Yes. While the Great Moon showed no outward reaction, so he may not have cared… Evan brought it up, so I thought—”

“Hmm.”

Radan tapped his fingers on his desk in thought before grinning widely.

“Alright. When’s the date?”

“September 20th… That’s what I was told.”

“Four months from now, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Radan stood up immediately.

“? Where are you going?”

Pausing for a moment, he replied.

“What do you think? I need to go find a gift worthy of the Great Moon.”

“A gift… worthy of the Great Moon?”

“Yeah. And I know just the thing.”

With excited strides, he left the office.

***

Meanwhile, after hearing about this from Yuna, Hidan passed the information to Deus.

“I see.”

“Yes.”

“…Alright, I’ve made my decision.”

“You mean the gift?”

“Yes. I’ll gift the Great Moon a grand statue.”

“…That’s going to be expensive.”

“I’ll just take the funds from the Second Prince.”

Deus, with a completely serious expression, began spouting nonsense of unimaginable proportions.

And very obvious nonsense at that.

“You don’t just personally want the statue, do you?”

“From the start, it was you who told Yutia about my previous statue, which then— No, never mind.”

In the middle of his sentence, Deus suddenly averted his gaze.

Following his line of sight, Hidan turned as well.

And realized.

He was looking at the spot where his old statue used to stand.

“……”

Hidan was stunned.

Just how obsessed is he with statues…?