Chapter 381 : Magic (1)

Alon looked at Ryanga.

Her eyes, lost and wandering, darted around in confusion for a brief moment.

Tap—

Without a word, she stepped down from Alon’s knee, took a few steps forward—

Tss-!

And vanished before his eyes.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

Alon stared blankly at the spot where Ryanga had been standing, remained silent for a while, and then finally spoke.

“Penia.”

“Yes, Marquis.”

“Are all the people I’m close to… originally a little strange?”

“Mm… in a sense, yes?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“There are a few ways to interpret it.”

While Penia was answering—

“Well, I only stepped out for a bit because of the auction. Did something happen?”

It was Evan, who had been away on business, returning.

“Nothing too serious. It’s just that the rumor about the Marquis losing his memory seems to have spread a little.”

“The Marquis’s situation?”

“Well, it’s nothing to worry about. Doesn’t look like it spread too widely.”

Penia explained everything that had happened earlier that day.

After hearing it all, Evan let out a thoughtful hum.

“Well, I guess that’s a little less of a reaction than I expected.”

“That’s less than expected?”

“Yes.”

“Wait… were you the one who told everyone I lost my memory?”

“Of course not. Why would I go around telling people that?”

Evan shrugged.

“When I said it fell short of expectations, I meant the reaction.”

“The reaction?”

“Yes. Honestly, I thought they’d make a bigger move once they found out you’d lost your memory.”

“What kind of move?”

“Oh, you know… something like kidnapping?”

“…What?”

Evan spoke such a frightening word so casually that Alon had to look at him, half-expecting it to be a joke.

“You’re not joking?”

“Why would I joke about that?”

Evan confirmed it with a straight face.

“…Hmm, maybe you’re right.”

Penia, who had been listening quietly, agreed, making Alon’s thoughts even more tangled.

‘Just what kind of thirteen years have I been living?’

A deep sigh escaped his lips.

####

By evening, everyone who had tried to use Alon’s memory loss to their own advantage had finally come forward to apologize.

Alon brushed the whole thing off lightly.

Nothing particularly harmful had happened, after all.

And besides, the “pranks” they played were easily forgivable compared to the impressive gifts they had brought.

‘Though… that one’s a bit much.’

From the balcony, Alon looked at the enormous statue that had somehow grown even larger since morning, then turned toward the lively dining hall.

The first thing he saw was Blackie and Basiliora, the two “new pets,” eagerly eating from their plates as they trained.

Next, Nangwon and Deus were chatting together like old friends.

Historia sat silently, gazing at Blackie.

And finally, Ryanga and Magrina were whispering something to each other.

It was a peaceful scene, untouched by turmoil.

For Alon, who had lost thirteen years of memory, there was no reason to feel any particular emotion toward them.

Even so, just looking at them filled him with an inexplicable sense of calm.

As if this peaceful sight… was something he genuinely cherished.

That strange contradiction made him chuckle softly, though only for a moment.

Then, turning his eyes toward the night sky, Alon scratched his head and sighed.

He’d been thinking it over again and again—

But still couldn’t find a way to repair his magic.

‘Is there really a way?’

The magic Alon needed to fix had a clear limitation.

To use magic, one had to form a “covenant” with an “artifact” and a “hand seal.”

That bond allowed a mage to wield a power far beyond the norm.

In other words, the very foundation of Alon’s magic—its firepower—was bound by the laws of that covenant.

Abandoning those laws would mean giving up the very essence of his magic.

In short, the problem tormenting Alon was one bordering on impossibility.

“My Lord?”

Just as Alon sighed at the thought, a voice called out.

He turned naturally toward the sound.

“Yutia—sis—”

He caught himself mid-word.

Although he’d already heard from Penia about their relationship, his first instinct was still to call her “sister,” just as he once had.

Because he left the sentence unfinished, he failed to notice the faint sadness in Yutia’s eyes.

“You can call me whatever feels comfortable,” she said with a soft smile.

“No, still—”

“It’s fine. I don’t want to see you uncomfortable. So please, just call me whatever you like. I’ll be happy with anything.”

Though she was smiling, Alon couldn’t help but feel she wasn’t truly smiling at all.

He averted his gaze slightly.

“So, why did you come—no, why are you out here?”

“I came because it seemed like you were troubled by something. May I ask what’s been bothering you?”

“It’s about… this state I’m in.”

“This state?”

“Yes. I sealed my own memories in order to refine my magic. But—”

He was about to say “because I lack creativity,” but hesitated.

Explaining that would mean revealing too much about himself.

According to Penia, Alon and Yutia had known each other for thirteen long years.

But would he really have told her about the world he came from?

Almost certainly not.

“So, it’s a problem about magic, then?” she asked.

Her words broke his train of thought.

“That’s right.”

“Hmm… perhaps the answer lies somewhere in your own memories?”

“In my memories?”

“Yes.”

“For example—”

Her distinct, brightly glowing red eyes wavered in brief thought.

Then, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

“Something like storing magic.”

“Storing it…?”

Alon murmured, repeating Yutia’s words.

But it wasn’t as if he hadn’t thought of that before.

He already possessed a “Hogaptu,” a device capable of storing a single spell.

And he also knew from countless fantasy worlds he’d read about before coming here that there existed a magic called Memorize.

However, neither of those offered a real solution to the problem Alon was facing.

The Hogaptu could only store one spell—and only once.

And the Memorize spell, the one so common it had practically become a cliché in every fantasy novel, the one that allowed a mage to store several spells in advance and cast them freely later—simply couldn’t exist in this world.

‘Even if it were theoretically possible, the most you could store in reality would be one spell.’

In other words, it wasn’t much different from the Hogaptu.

Therefore—

“I’ve thought about that before, but it’s not possible.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Theoretically, you could store magic—but only once. And only before using Reverse Heaven.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s… a bit complicated, but basically, to store magic, it has to be placed into the mana core.”

“…So, if you use Reverse Heaven and your mana overflows, the prearranged spell could run wild… Is that what you mean?”

“You could probably remove that risk with enough research, but yes, that’s essentially it.”

Yutia fell silent for a moment.

Then she suddenly asked, “But… would it really matter if it’s only one?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the problem lies with the hand seal and the chant, right?”

“That’s right.”

“But you already have a sub-hand seal, don’t you?”

“Hmm—”

“Even so, there’s still the chant,” Alon pointed out.

Yutia hesitated briefly, as if choosing her words carefully.

“…Can’t the chant also be created with magic itself?”

“…With magic?”

“The chant exists to apply the law of magic, right? So why does it have to be spoken?”

Alon frowned slightly.

“Well, obviously—”

He began to counter, but then—

“…?”

Something struck him.

A thought that had never crossed his mind before.

A hypothesis—unproven, untested, but perhaps possible.

And the moment it came to him—

“Hmm, well… honestly, I just said it without thinking too deeply,” Yutia added softly with a small smile.

“No, that’s actually a very good idea.”

“Really?”

“Thank you.”

“I’m glad I could help. I wanted to be of use to you, My Lord.”

Still smiling, Yutia added, “It seems you need a bit more time to think. I’ll head in first.”

She left with a graceful bow and walked back toward the dining hall.

Left alone, Alon turned the idea over and over in his mind, mulling over the inspiration Yutia had planted.

Then—

“Huh?”

He suddenly realized something.

Something so subtle it had slipped by unnoticed.

Yet the realization was oddly unsettling.

‘Wait… did I ever tell her that I was trying to improve the chant and hand seal?’

Alon stared blankly for a while at Yutia, who was now back inside, smiling and chatting with the others.

####

To start with the conclusion—

Seolrang had arrived in the Asterian capital, Teria, in just a few hours.

There were two reasons for that.

First, Asteria’s transit network was much faster than Colony’s.

Second, she knew that Asteria’s city hall stayed open later than Colony’s.

Of course, the documents she carried were from Colony, but that didn’t matter.

In the Allied Kingdoms, unless the law was personally decreed by the king, everything followed the Rosario legal system.

That’s why Seolrang, moving with lightning speed, reached Teria in no time.

Overjoyed that Yutia hadn’t caught her, she rushed straight to city hall.

Even as she checked the marriage certificate over and over, a faint unease grew in her chest—what if Yutia was waiting there for her?

She stepped inside and looked around.

Yutia was nowhere to be found.

Only then did Seolrang breathe a sigh of relief.

With her face lit up in anticipation, she handed the marriage certificate to the clerk.

And then—

“I’m… terribly sorry, but this document can’t be processed.”

“Eh…?”

The answer came as an immediate rejection.

“W-why not?”

“Well… perhaps you haven’t heard? About a week ago, Rosario announced a new rule. From now on, both signatories must appear in person for a marriage to be approved.”

The receptionist explained cautiously, glancing at her nervously.

At that moment, a few words flashed through Seolrang’s mind.

Rosario.

Cardinal Yutia.

Marriage certificate.

A Yutia who didn’t stop her.

And with those clues, the truth hit her all at once.

“T-this is… th-that’s cheating!”

Her voice trembled with despair.

It felt as though she could hear someone laughing in the distance—

The laughter of the one who had twisted the law itself just to stop her.