Chapter 353

C353. Dance (2)

“I am good at basic operations!” —that was it.

If you interpreted it accurately, it was as if the mages were shouting enthusiastically: “I am good at living like a slave!”

When Alon left them behind and went further inside.

“Vice Tower Master, are you familiar with this? It is the famous Magic Sensitivity Herb.”

“Hello.”

“If it isn’t too much trouble, could you accept this as a gift…?”

“Hmm, refusing a gift would also be discourteous.”

“Thank you so much…! I am Professor Fenberil of the Green Tower.”

… Penia was looting the mages.

“Next.”

Ahem, ahem.

Penia, puffing out her shoulders with an air that didn’t suit her at all.

She spoke while waving her hand casually when—

“So, what kind of—”

Upon seeing Alon, she hurriedly uncrossed the legs she had resting on the desk.

“Hehe, you arrived, Marquis.”

“…Wow. So that is what it means to open one’s eyes ‘tenderly’.”

Evan clicked his tongue in surprise.

“Shut up.”

Penia frowned and glared at him with harsh words; then, as if she were seriously thinking about how to explain this situation, she fidgeted with both hands. Her eyes darted back and forth.

“Eh— it’s not that I was trying to receive things on purpose…”

Her voice trailed off.

Alon sighed slightly.

“I am not going to get angry, so explain at least the basics.”

“Y-Yes…!”

Penia brightened up immediately and nodded.

And she immediately began to explain the current situation.

---

A while passed.

Alon summarized.

“I see.”

“In other words, they have already selected everyone who will do calculations, but there are still mages who couldn’t apply in time.”

“And those mages who weren’t selected wanted to have an additional interview with me.”

“Exactly.”

“And you sucked their blood, didn’t you?”

“Shut up, please.”

Evan interrupted, but Penia silenced him rudely and looked back at Alon with a face full of injustice.

“It’s not like I did anything, okay? I was just sitting there and they came to leave me things.”

“…Really?”

“Uh-huh—. Even though I told them I didn’t need it, they gave it to me anyway. What was I supposed to do? And begging so much for me to accept it… rejecting it would also be rude. I suffered too, you know…?”

She didn’t even try to hide the mountain of reagents and artifacts piling up behind her.

Penia sighed with drooping shoulders.

Evan made a face that said “how pathetic,” but Alon remained silent for a moment before asking:

“Why did this situation arise in the first place?”

“Yes?”

“I mean, why are there so many people determined to participate in magical research?”

He really didn’t understand it.

They say they are “basic operations,” but in reality, it was no different from repetitive and exhausting work.

In his previous world, the closest thing would be…

A coding slave.

And yet, there were so many mages wishing to become that kind of slave.

It was inevitably strange to Alon.

Penia answered immediately.

“It must be because of the research results.”

“The results?”

“Yes. Even if the work is boring, by participating they can see the results directly.”

Alon nodded, but it wasn’t enough to dispel all his doubts.

It was understandable that they wanted to participate if they were fascinated by Alon‘s magic.

But even if they saw the results of his research, they couldn’t replicate his magic.

There was nothing they could really gain, no matter how hard they worked.

“…But aren’t those results useless to other mages?”

“Hmm—…”

Alon insisted and Penia reflected for a moment.

“Hmm?”

“Perhaps you should meet with Lady Heinkel, Marquis.”

“She said she wanted to speak with you, and among those things is also the answer to this.”

She mentioned Heinkel.

And Alon—

“Let’s do it.”

He nodded slowly.

---

“You arrived.”

“Yes.”

A while later—

Alon met with Heinkel.

“You arrived later than I thought.”

“I had some business. Have I taken long?”

“Not really, there is no limit. It is a conversation about magic. Sit down. It will probably be somewhat long.”

“That long?”

Heinkel reflected for a moment.

“Well, it depends, but yes…”

Having said that, she sat across from him.

“What is this about exactly?”

“Before that, wait a little.”

Heinkel murmured something.

Magic circles unfolded throughout the library.

There were dozens, at a glance.

As she murmured, the circles activated.

And the instant they shone—

“!”

Alon felt the landscape change. And it was a landscape he knew very well.

“This place…”

It was the destroyed world.

The one he always saw when he visited Kylus.

Alon was absorbed.

“Don’t be surprised, this is your inner world.”

He heard Heinkel‘s voice and turned around.

She was there.

With a complete body, different from the real world.

“More than an inner world… this is devastating.”

Heinkel commented. Alon asked:

“Aren’t you supposed to be unable to use magic anymore?”

“True.”

“Then, how…?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I am coming just to explain that to you. Sit down.”

Alon looked toward where she was pointing.

In the middle of the destroyed world, a table and chairs had appeared.

Alon sat down and asked:

“So, why did we come to my inner world?”

“Hmm?”

“We could have spoken in the library. Even for security… this seems excessive.”

Heinkel observed him for a while.

As if she hesitated whether to say it or not.

But it didn’t last long.

“Well, let’s say there are reasons.”

She sighed softly.

“Penia told me you asked why mages are obsessed with basic operations.”

“Yes.”

“It’s simple. With this research, a new path was opened for mages.”

“Pardon?”

“More accurately, a new method of calculation. Or well… a by-product that arises when interpreting magic. But it turns out it is more useful than expected.”

“How useful?”

“I will explain it to you later. It is long. To give you an idea, it is like going from only having addition and subtraction… to discovering multiplication and division.”

Heinkel said that and entered the main topic.

“Good, now then.”

“Did any problem occur in the research?”

She shook her head.

“No. In fact, the magic is being interpreted with unprecedented speed. Soon four spells of the 2nd Circle will be completely interpreted.”

“Then…”

Heinkel hesitated a little.

It seemed she didn’t know where to start.

And then she spoke slowly.

“The truth is, it isn’t a problem.”

“…How so?”

“We just discovered something slightly disturbing.”

“What thing?”

She began to speak serenely.

“Alon, do you remember what I said last time? That all existing magic, when interpreted, becomes Wizard’s magic.”

“Impossible to forget.”

“Then you also remember that when interpreting them, regardless of whether they are 1st to 8th Circle, they all have the same fundamental strength, only the skill changes.”

“I remember that too.”

Heinkel corrected him quickly.

“Sorry, Alon. That is no longer exact.”

“…?”

“I interpreted an 8th Circle spell recently.”

Since she now had assistants for the repetitive tasks of the 2nd Circle, she was able to attempt it.

Alon asked cautiously.

“And how was it?”

“I spent almost a whole month. And I didn’t get much. But, ironically, I did understand its essence.”

Her expression twitched.

“That magic… at least according to my judgment, was omnipotent.”

“Omni… potent…?”

“It isn’t completely interpreted, so I don’t know exactly. But not even in the Era of the Forgotten Gods were there records of something like that. Not even Sparrow knew of it.”

“…Is it older than the Era of the Forgotten Gods?”

“Exactly.”

Heinkel sighed.

“Sparrow was surprised, but accepted it. It was said that even they forgot certain ancient texts and phrases.”

Alon nodded. He had also heard stories like that.

“That sounds good, doesn’t it?”

“That it can be used if you interpret it, yes. But historically it is negative.”

“Why?”

He was confused for an instant.

And Heinkel continued:

“Think about it, Alon. This world has repeated its destruction countless times, leaving no heritage. Even when such omnipotent magics existed in the past.”

Alon opened his eyes wide.

---

The opaque sky.

The ground, covered in roots.

And inside a huge temple in ruins.

There were two figures.

At one end, sitting on the throne, with the black hood covering her entire body, was the Apostle of Wrath.

On the other side—

“What? Surprised to see me alive?”

It wasn’t Innocence. It was the Apostle of Jealousy, smiling mockingly.

A momentary silence.

The one who spoke first was—

“So you were alive.”

The Apostle of Wrath.

With a voice devoid of emotions.

The Apostle of Jealousy smiled.

“Of course. I had prepared many insurances.”

“I exploded all the cellular clusters you hid, but it seems you had more saved.”

“Correct. And hidden where you could never find them.”

Wrath observed him calmly.

“So, did you come to die again? Or for revenge?”

“No. I know very well that I cannot defeat you.”

“And even so, you came?”

“Of course. Because I have your weakness.”

Wrath lifted her head covered in shadows.

“My weakness?”

“Yes, your weakness.”

“My weakness, huh.”

“Your identity.”

Wrath stared at him, but Jealousy continued, relaxed:

“If you were just a demon who has lived a long time, it wouldn’t be a weakness.”

His smile widened.

“But it is, isn’t it? Apostle of Wrath. Or rather—”

He pronounced every syllable clearly.

“Wouldn’t it be more correct to call you Yutia Bloodia?”

The silence stretched out.

And then—

The Apostle of Wrath removed her hood.

What was revealed was—

“Hmm.”

White hair.

And a voice beautiful like a rolling jewel.

The Apostle of Wrath—

No.

“I didn’t think you would find out.”

Yutia Bloodia smiled softly.

“You discovered me.”

Her red eyes shone.