Chapter 276 : Something Is Strange (1)

About a month had passed before Alon finally returned to the marquisate.

"Hmm?"

He sensed a slightly odd atmosphere.

It wasn’t that something had happened.

The statues of the northern lords erected by Deus, and the auction house that would enrich the marquisate.

They were all still in place.

At least on the surface, it appeared so.

Then what exactly was this subtle feeling?

Alon only understood after seeing the piles of documents in the office and facing Alexion.

"Bandits are running rampant?"

"Yes, and because of that, the situation has become quite difficult lately."

Starting from that point, Alexion explained what had been happening around the marquisate.

"From what I’ve heard, it’s not just Asteria. Apparently, bandits are swarming across the entire Allied Kingdom."

"Things were better in the old days," Alexion said with a brief sigh.

After a moment of silence, Alon asked,

"Is it because of the Abyssal Entities?"

"Yes, that’s correct."

"It seems more serious than I expected."

"Indeed. Unlike last time, they're spreading in large numbers, and even weaklings can gain power from them, making the situation all the more devastating."

As Alexion sighed, he suddenly clapped his hands.

"Come to think of it, have you not encountered any, my lord?"

"I haven't."

"Is that so?"

"…Is it that unusual not to encounter any on the road?"

"To be honest, yes."

The situation looked worse than Alon had originally understood.

‘This is starting to feel like the middle part of Psychedelia.’

When the sin-based enemies start appearing in the midsection of Psychedelia, there’s a depiction of how the world begins to collapse as bandits surge due to the Abyssal Entities and enemy levels rise overall.

"Alright, I understand. Let’s formulate a countermeasure."

"Understood."

Alexion gave a respectful bow and left the office.

"This seems really serious."

"It does, indeed."

"But for all that, we didn’t see even a single bandit, did we?"

Evan was right.

During the long journey back to the marquisate, they hadn't encountered a single bandit.

‘We were just one carriage, clearly a tempting target… Were we just lucky?’

He only had a moment to ponder it.

"…Anyway, work comes first."

Looking at the mountain of paperwork already felt like confronting a bandit.

Alon sighed and reluctantly picked up his pen.

A week later.

"Haa—"

Alon had managed to handle most of the work that had piled up.

Even the remaining tasks that required in-person inspections took a few more days to complete.

'Well then, time to start the real work. As for the timeline… Since Magrina told me to take my time last time, let’s plan for two months—no, to be safe, three months.'

Just as Alon began to make his plans.

"My lord."

"Alexion?"

Unlike before, Alexion appeared with a bright face, free of worries.

He walked briskly toward Alon and beamed.

"I'm surprised, my lord. I didn’t expect you to take care of it so quickly...!"

"…Take care of what?"

"Yes! Thanks to you, the bandits around the marquisate have been dealt with, and now the merchants are all saying the area is safe. Everyone is praising you, my lord!"

Alon had no idea what he was talking about.

“…?”

He couldn’t help but wonder once again.

At that moment.

Outside the Palatio Marquisate—

“Spare me—gghk!”

A one-sided massacre was taking place.

“P-please—”

Slash—!

An elf ruthlessly beheaded a terrified bandit looking up at her.

Rim brushed her hands off and scanned the surroundings.

Even a quick glance showed that dozens of bandits were dying, coughing out ominous black smoke.

"Haa—"

As Rim caught her breath.

"Captain."

"What’s the situation?"

An elf appeared behind her as if waiting, bowing respectfully.

"We’ve cleared all the bandits near the marquisate."

"What about the south and east?"

"The Lizardmen took care of those areas. Or rather, some parts were already dealt with before they arrived."

"Already?"

"Yes. It’s assumed that beastkin and half-demons associated with him took care of it."

"Is that so."

Rim murmured quietly as she looked at the bandits.

"Still, just in case, sweep the surroundings. They may be meaningless scum to him… but he might still find it annoying."

Her gaze grew cold and sharp.

"Yes, understood."

The elf who had received the command vanished, and Rim quietly disappeared from the place as well.

***

Alon was briefly bewildered by Alexion’s sudden praise, but he decided to move on and begin organizing his plans in earnest.

The tasks ahead could be divided into two main goals.

The first was to properly establish a foundation for magic.

Although Alon hadn’t exactly used magic incorrectly until now, his magic had shown a heavy tendency toward imbalance.

For example, he would often focus solely on incantations, or conversely, only on hand signs when casting spells.

Therefore, Alon felt it was time to personally establish a solid magical framework.

This was partly because he wanted to study the magic of sorcerers more deeply, but it was also due to Sparrow’s words.

He had said that before learning how to use spell formulas, one must first fully understand incantations and hand signs.

The second task was to train with Kylrus.

“You can at least last a minute now.”

“Huff… Huff…”

In a world where everything had perished.

Alon gasped for air in front of Kylrus, who stood calmly with the dragon behind him.

Even though he had moved for only a minute, Alon collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

Kylrus, watching him, muttered in a detached tone.

“You’re still too soft.”

“......”

Alon glanced up at Kylrus.

He wondered if perhaps Kylrus was also worn out but pretending to be fine to maintain his image.

However—

“?”

Seeing Kylrus looking completely fine, Alon sighed.

Even though Kylrus wasn’t using “Reverse Heaven,” his strength was undeniable.

As Alon caught his breath, Blackie tilted his head beside his shoulder.

While petting Blackie’s head, Alon said,

“I remembered what you asked me last time.”

“...Last time?”

“You asked about the origin of magic, didn’t you?”

“Ah.”

Kylrus’s words brought a small sound of realization from Alon.

He remembered asking about that a few days ago while organizing his thoughts on magic.

“You said back then that nothing is known except that Primordial Mage spread magic, right?”

Kylrus nodded.

“That’s right. But as I recalled, there were a few theories that floated around at the time.”

“Theories?”

“Yes. The theories arose after Primordial Mage shared the knowledge of incantations and hand signs.”

Kylrus stroked his chin.

“Let me start by saying, most sorcerers concluded that Primordial Mage was the one who invented incantations, hand signs, and spell formulas.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. Back then, none of those concepts existed, so there wasn’t much reason to question it. But there were other opinions as well.”

After a brief pause, Kylrus continued.

“One theory was that the magic taught by Primordial Mage was actually from a previous era.”

“From a previous era?”

Kylrus nodded.

“As you know, the era of our sorcerers is now called the ‘Forgotten Age of the Gods’ in this world. But even before that, there were earlier ages.”

Alon recalled having heard this somewhere before.

He paused to think, and then—

“Ah.”

He remembered he had heard it from the Observer he met at the Sea of Raksas.

“I heard something like that. Though I didn’t get the details.”

“I’m not much different from you. I just know a little more—mainly, that the incantations and hand signs we use were supposedly created during that earlier age.”

“They were created in that era?”

“Yes. While Primordial Mage may have crafted magic using those components, the components themselves existed beforehand. That’s about all I know.”

Kylrus shrugged casually.

Alon organized the new information in his mind.

“Got it. Still, thanks for telling me.”

As Alon expressed his gratitude, Kylrus looked at him intently.

“You said you were trying to systematize magic, right?”

“Yes.”

“Once you feel you’ve built a solid structure, let me know. I’ll teach you something you can use at that point. Probably—”

He swung the tail of the dragon behind him toward Alon.

“—it’ll be quite helpful to you in your current state.”

Crack!

“Oh, you’re up later than usual today? That’s a new record.”

As usual, Alon had awakened in the second office where Penia was.

***

While Alon continued doing his duties in his own way—

In the Kingdom of Ashtalon, a strange rumor began to circulate.

“Huh? Why is His Majesty preparing so many gifts? There’s no special event coming up, is there?”

“You didn’t hear?”

“What?”

“I heard the Marquis Palatio is getting married. And to the Elf Queen, no less.”

A strange rumor that completely ignored the will of the person involved.

“What!? Really!?”

“Hey hey hey~! Keep your voice down!”

“…Gasp! But is that true?”

“I heard it from a royal guard, so it must be. Apparently, His Majesty said so himself.”

“Wow… So that’s why they’re preparing in advance?”

At Knight Jack’s wide-eyed question, another knight beside him nodded discreetly.

“Right. Seems like they’re trying to make up for the prince’s previous actions. Anyway, we’ve been told to keep it discreet, so keep it to yourself, alright?”

“Of course. You know how tight-lipped I am.”

“Of course I do.”

The two swore their utmost secrecy to each other.

However—

“You know what I heard?”

Despite that vow—

In a kingdom where the only tasks were boring administrative ones, this kind of spicy gossip was an incredibly tempting topic.

And even the tightest-lipped knight couldn’t help but chatter like a paper leaf blown in the wind.

Thus, the supposedly secret information—

“Ah, Sir Jack! Hello!”

“Oh, Hanson. What’s all this?”

“Obviously, gifts for you, sir.”

“Haha, I see. I’ll put them to good use. This may not be much in return, but let me share a piece of important information. It might be useful to you.”

“Ooh, what is it?”

Like a word with no feet traveling a thousand miles, the rumor quickly spread outside the kingdom.

“Gasp, really?!”

“Yes, but keep it to yourself.”

“Of course, of course. Who would I tell? They used to call me the Anvil of Marlot, you know!”

Eventually, the rumor reached the Anvil of Marlot.

“Hmm? Hanson? What is it?”

“Padric, come here. You won’t believe what I just heard.”

In less than five hours, the rumor reached the ears of traveling merchants moving together in caravans.

And then—

“…What did you say?”

“They’re saying the Great Moon is getting married.”

“Is it true?”

“It seems like it could be.”

As Hidan was heading to Rosario to report to Yutia Bludia, the rumor reached his ears.

“…Yuna.”

“What?”

“Could you go to Rosario for me—”

“Ah, sorry! Someone’s calling. I have to go!”

Yuna hastily cut the communication, making it very obvious.

Left alone in the hideout, Hidan said, “…Ah.”

Even though he had done nothing wrong—

He shut his eyes tightly, sweating coldly.

“I want to go home…”

Only a soft sigh echoed throughout the hideout.