Chapter 328 : In the Name of Sloth (1)

Eastern desert of the Colony.

Not far from Ashtalon.

"Hoo—"

Eliban was absentmindedly staring up at the Milky Way in the night sky.

He stayed completely still, not moving at all.

How long had he been like that?

"What are you doing, Eliban?"

Yan sat down next to him and finally, Eliban turned his head.

"Just looking up at the sky."

"You really like the night sky, don't you?"

"Does it seem that way?"

"You spend a few nights each week just sitting alone and watching it like this, right?"

At Yan’s words, Eliban silently stared at the Milky Way before answering.

"Does it look like I enjoy it?"

"Um— don't you?"

"Actually, I don't really like it that much."

Yan looked at him in surprise at his response.

"Then why do you look at it so much?"

He didn’t answer Yan’s question.

Instead, he changed the subject.

"What are the others doing?"

"They’re getting ready for bed soon. Everyone's already had dinner."

"Yeah?"

It was a blatant change of topic from Eliban.

But Yan just shrugged.

It wasn’t the first time Eliban had done this, so he was used to it by now.

Following Eliban's lead, Yan quietly looked up at the sky too and then slowly asked.

"By the way, Eliban."

"What?"

"About Marquis Palatio. Is it really okay?"

"All of a sudden?"

Eliban asked back in confusion.

Yan nodded.

"Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about Marquis Palatio, right? Like how he suddenly established his own territory and so on."

"…Ah, you mean the rumors about founding a new kingdom?"

"Yeah. Right now, the rumors are mostly positive, but if he actually steps up to become king, it’ll inevitably lead to a lot of bloodshed."

What Yan said was only natural.

For someone new to ascend to the heavens, there always needed to be corpses and bloodshed — history had always proven this.

"So?"

"I know you like the Marquis, but doesn’t that go against the ‘peace’ you believe in?"

"Against 'peace'… huh."

Eliban looked like he was thinking deeply for a moment.

"No."

"…What?"

"Rather, I think it’s good."

He said it plainly.

Yan tried to ask something, but before he could, Eliban continued.

"Do you think I’m saying this because I like Marquis Palatio?"

"…Honestly, yes."

Yan hesitated for a moment but then nodded.

However, Eliban smiled and said.

"No."

"…No?"

"Yeah, I do like the Marquis. But more than affection… it’s because it aligns with my goal."

"That the Marquis becoming king… aligns with your goal?"

Yan asked back as if he couldn’t understand.

He knew.

That Eliban liked Marquis Palatio to an almost strange degree.

But when it came to his goal of ‘peace,’ Eliban was unwavering to the point of being cold.

Even if it was Marquis Palatio, anyone would have thought Eliban wouldn’t compromise.

His belief in ‘peace’ was upright and precise.

Depending on the perspective, it could even seem extremely self-righteous.

To the point of feeling almost inhuman.

That’s why Yan was so surprised.

Because he realized that what Eliban said was true.

"Well, I don’t expect you to understand now."

Seeing Yan’s shocked expression, Eliban smiled and slowly stood up.

Then he said.

"But you’ll understand soon enough. What I really mean."

He muttered words that were hard to fully grasp.

Finally, saying he was going to sleep, he headed toward the campsite.

Yan quietly watched Eliban’s back for a while.

***

A week and a few days had passed since Alon arrived at the Magic Tower.

During that time, Alon had gained a lot.

If he had to pick two big things.

One was that, unlike before, he learned from Heinkel how to interpret tiered magic a little faster.

The other was—

[Well?]

—He had completed the interpretation of "Magic Bolt," a 1st-tier magic.

"Wow—"

"You really solved it in just a week."

Penia exclaimed in admiration, and Alon nodded in agreement as Heinkel just shrugged.

[Well, saying "a week" might be misleading. You two had already worked on it quite a bit, and I just sorted and finished it up.]

Heinkel spoke humbly.

Of course, only the tone was humble — her attitude clearly said, "Ahem, well, it’s an achievement only I could do."

[Besides, it’s not fully complete yet, right? You still need to find the sigils.]

"Even so, it was fast."

Heinkel wasn’t wrong.

She had only stepped in after Alon and Penia had already found most of the phrases.

However, finding the sentences required an even higher level of difficulty.

If it had just been Alon and Penia, it would have taken at least a month or two, not merely a week.

[Hmm, don’t praise me too much. This time it just went faster because of the new method I discovered. The 2nd-tier spells will still take a long time.]

Evan, who had been watching nearby, asked.

"So, Marquis. Are you going to demonstrate it this time too?"

"Demonstrate?"

"Yes."

Alon nodded.

"Even though we haven’t found the sigils yet, I think it would be good to at least try a demonstration. But why do you ask?"

Evan scratched his head a little awkwardly at that.

"Well, last time, you used ‘Light’ magic, and it turned out like that, right?"

"Right?"

"This time… I just wonder what might come out."

"I was just a bit curious."

Alon nodded at Evan’s added comment.

Up until they found all the phrases and sentences, they couldn’t even attempt to demonstrate the magic, so he’d been curious too.

[Then how about we do it right now? I’m curious too.]

"A magic demonstration?"

"I want to see it too~"

At Heinkel’s words, Celaime and Sharan immediately perked up.

Just a moment ago, they had looked like zombies, endlessly scribbling things onto paper, but now they were back to life.

It had only been a week, yet they were already so different from the dignified tower master image.

They looked just like grad students Alon used to see shuffling around campus, which left him momentarily speechless.

"Then let’s go right away."

He dusted himself off and stood up.

"Are we heading to the demonstration hall then?"

"I think it would be better to just test it outside."

"Oh, right—the demonstration hall is under construction now."

"It’s not really because of the construction... if we break it again, you know how it is."

At those words, Penia hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Actually? I think they'd prefer seeing a new magic even if we destroy it."

"...Really?"

"Of course."

"Yeah, every time I go down to talk to the information guild, people ask me about it almost every single day."

Seeing Evan shiver as if he was disgusted just thinking about it, Alon moved to demonstrate the Magic Bolt.

***

Northern region of the Kingdom of Ashtalon.

"What... is that—"

Filian Merkiliane, who had come north on King Shtalian V’s orders to assess the situation, and his knights were all staring blankly at the devastation spread before them on the plains.

No—could this even be called a plain anymore?

Filian Merkiliane stood frozen, unable to turn his eyes away.

The first thing that entered his sight was the blackened, charred ground.

On that dark ground, what should have been lush greenery had turned into a crimson plain.

Everywhere were shattered walls and territories dyed red, completely turned to ruin.

Then, his eyes caught sight of something else.

Squelch—squelch—squelch—

People.

Squelch—

Squelch—squelch—

Squelch—

A monotonous sound echoed in their ears.

It was simply the sound of something being stabbed repeatedly, devoid of any emotion.

The knights—and Filian Merkiliane.

They knew where that sound was coming from.

They couldn’t not know.

The source was right before their eyes.

They saw a man and a woman.

A man and woman both wearing the same shaped rings on their ring fingers.

The man was stabbing the woman’s already torn-open abdomen with a dull blade.

Squelch—

Squelch—squelch—

Squelch—

His repetitive actions showed no emotion.

As if it was something that simply had to be done, he continued his motions indifferently.

But strangely, from the man's lifeless eyes, tears of blood were flowing.

Meanwhile, the woman, who was being stabbed without resistance—

Crunch—crack—

Was biting and tearing into the man's neck with her mouth.

Like the man, she was also crying tears of blood, chewing and spitting out his flesh in a numb, repetitive way.

That wasn’t all.

Somewhere, a child was slicing open an old man’s back.

Somewhere else, soldiers were mindlessly stabbing knights in the throat.

Elsewhere, a child was chewing up a young woman's head.

It was bizarre.

So bizarre—

Filian couldn’t properly comprehend the scene.

Nor could the knights.

Their eyes delivered raw, direct information to their brains, but their minds failed to process it.

Oddly enough, it felt like a dream.

Even though the scene before them was clearly no different from a depiction of hell.

Filian wondered why that was.

And soon after, he realized.

"There’s no sound."

That’s right—there were no sounds that should have been there.

No screams that ought to echo in war.

No clashing of weapons.

No shouts from anyone.

Nothing.

All that existed here was the sound of flesh being torn.

This surreal scene stripped all sense of reality from the knights.

Finally, the moment everyone there realized it at once—

"Uwaaagh!!"

Someone collapsed with a loud cry and began vomiting right there.

All the knights' eyes simultaneously filled with terror.

In that chaos, Filian quietly spoke.

"Deputy commander."

His face was pale, as if he was about to throw up.

But the deputy commander somehow managed to nod and respond.

"Is this the right place?"

"Yes. This is Trimane."

Trimane.

Count Harvest’s territory, also known as the kingdom’s "gold mine estate." A vast land where countless people resided.

"Ha—"

Hearing the report, Filian let out an involuntary laugh.

"From the places His Majesty ordered us to check to here, how many villages and territories have there been in total?"

"Eight villages and one territory."

"Then they too—"

The deputy commander didn’t answer.

He just silently confirmed it.

Filian lowered his gaze.

Even now, like a shadow creeping behind the sun, the black zone was slowly expanding.

Watching that, he recalled the king’s words.

"Filian Merkiliane, since three powerful figures have not returned, go confirm the truth. Do so secretly without telling anyone else."

A very straightforward order.

But as Filian recalled this almost impossible command—

"Deputy commander."

"Yes."

"You will return to His Majesty immediately and report this situation. The rest of you will come with me to warn the nearby villages and territories."

"Understood."

"And make sure to report together to His Majesty."

After a moment of thought, Filian made up his mind.

"We can’t hide this any longer."

After saying that, he quickly began to move.

Meanwhile, the black shadow continued to endlessly expand its territory.

Truly, without end.

***

"...Insane."

Evan unconsciously muttered and then belatedly covered his mouth.

He might let something like that slip when alone with Alon or with Penia, but not now.

"Crazy—"

"This is just unbelievable."

But as if to ease Evan’s embarrassment, even Celaime and Sharan, who had looked intrigued moments ago, now shouted in shock.

"This... is Magic Bolt?"

Even Alon, who had performed the magic himself, looked genuinely surprised, his face uncharacteristically showing emotion.

[...I was surprised last time too, but this is incredible.]

Finally, Heinkel, who had been watching blankly, muttered.

[This is without using the sigil, right?]

"Yes."

[Then, is there a sigil related to focusing or converging energy?]

Heinkel quickly asked as if struck by an idea.

After chatting with her about various things for a while, Alon finally said.

"...Tomorrow, I’ll try experimenting that way."

[Not right now?]

"I would like to, but unfortunately, my mana—"

[Ah—]

Heinkel nodded as if she understood.

"Is that really Magic Bolt?"

"Honestly, it’s hard to believe, but it is."

"But wasn’t it completely different? Especially this time, it seemed like the power could change drastically depending on how much mana you poured in~"

"I never imagined it would have such versatility."

"I feel the same way."

"I’m curious how powerful it would be if you just crammed in all your mana. Just how far could it go?"

Sharan, Celaime, and Penia shared their thoughts as they headed down from the tower.

When they reached the first floor—

"...?"

Alon sensed something strange.

Before they went up, the tower had been lively and noisy, but now the atmosphere had grown extremely heavy.

Alon glanced around and checked the mages’ faces.

They all looked either dazed, serious, or furrowed their brows as if they couldn’t fully grasp the situation.

"Hey—"

"Ah, Tower Master—"

"What’s going on?"

When Celaime asked, sensing the tense mood among the mages—

"We received a message from the Violet Tower. It seems something terrible has happened in Ashtalon."

One of the mages, who had been holding his head, finally answered.

"...Terrible? What do you mean?"

"Have you heard the rumors about Ashtalon before?"

"The ones about monsters slaughtering each other?"

"Yes. Recently, in the northern part of Ashtalon—"

The mage naturally shared what they had heard with Alon’s group.

"They say a black area that drives people mad is constantly spreading across the land."

When they finished explaining everything—

"A black area?"

Alon asked again.

"Yes, that’s right. An area that was previously invisible is now consuming the surface."

Alon quickly grasped the seriousness of what was happening in Ashtalon.

At least, as far as he knew—

"...The Sin of Sloth."

—this was what happened when it appeared.

"So, a request for reinforcements has been sent out to the entire Allied Kingdom, including the Tower."

The mage spoke slowly, struggling to finish his sentence.

"It seems... tomorrow’s magic demonstration will have to be postponed."

Alon had no choice but to head straight to Ashtalon.