Chapter 504

C504

Blackie tilted his head and looked at Penia, who was making a request to him with an extremely complex expression.

Mixed on her face was a hint of guilt and shame, but at the same time, a faint glow of hope and a peculiar desire, along with other emotions difficult to define. Of course, Blackie did not have the capacity to read intricate human psychology. For him, the only things occupying his mind were the piece of Palantia meat she was holding and the bitter memory of the “sweet potato era” that had begun just a day after setting out.

Therefore…

Nod!

Blackie nodded without a second thought and took the meat with his mouth, devouring it in front of her in the blink of an eye.

“I still think you eat too fast…”

Penia marveled again at the speed with which that small being absorbed food. Upon finishing, Blackie shook his head from side to side with satisfaction, visibly in a good mood.

“You ate well, right?”

[Kkyu!]

“Then… would you do me the favor?”

At Penia‘s cautious question, Blackie nodded once more. To tell the truth, he had never transformed into Alon Palatio before. He had no need to do so, and no one had ordered him to. But for Blackie, imitating his master for a moment was an extremely simple task.

Wuuu—!

Suddenly, Blackie began to wrap himself in black shadows. As he grew gradually, his body acquired a consistency similar to that of a slime and, in a short time, the formless mass began to be sculpted with precision.

What appeared before her was none other than Alon Palatio.

“Ah!”

Penia let out a muffled gasp. She knew perfectly well that the being in front of her was Blackie. After all, she herself had given him her reserve meat so that he would transform! However, she could not help the exclamation.

‘… It looks real.’

Blackie‘s transformation showed a level of detail that made her hair stand on end, far exceeding Penia‘s imagination. Covering her mouth in shock, she asked timidly:

“Can you… perhaps speak?”

[Kkyu?]

“… Better we keep the mouth shut.”

Seeing the Blackie in the form of Alon tilt his head was strangely cute to Penia, but since the voice was still that of the small dragon, she decided that silence was better.

“Wow…”

She approached carefully and began to examine the fake Alon everywhere. Then, in a subtle manner, she began to touch his clothes. Letting out exclamations of wonder, Penia felt the collar of the coat and the edges of the garment. After a good while of “inspection,” Penia, feeling somewhat embarrassed, cleared her throat and said:

“Ahem, it’s just… you see, I was actually thinking of giving Alon-nim clothes as a gift.”

[?]

“T-the fact that I asked you to transform was also for that, do you understand?”

[…]

Blackie did not bother to respond to Penia‘s disjointed explanations. Although they could communicate, it was impossible for him to deduce why she was saying such things suddenly. Furthermore, Blackie, after accepting Alon as his master, had developed a personality similar to his: he usually acceded to the requests of his “clients.”

“Ahem… could I… give you a hug?”

At the final proposal, Blackie nodded without any suspicion.

“Yes? T-this is strictly to take measurements for the gift of clothes…”

At the precise moment when Penia opened her arms naturally…

“Hmm, so Mages need to hug people to take their clothing measurements?”

“?!?!?”

A voice resonated in the darkness. Penia swallowed the scream that was about to escape from her throat and, like someone who has been caught in a forbidden act, slowly turned her eyes to the side.

“This is… fascinating.”

“T-this is…”

There was Rine. Under the moonlight, her appearance looked even colder and more analytical than usual.

“No, it’s just…”

Penia desperately sought an excuse as soon as she saw her. However, Rine observed her coldly and then approached the Blackie transformed into Alon with an expression of incredulity.

“T-this is, how to put it, really to give him clothes as a gift…”

“Isn’t magic enough to take measurements?”

“No, well… since this is a copy, just in case…”

“You can’t be serious, right? And no matter how much you are interested in my Godfather, this kind of approach is…”

Tsk. Rine clicked her tongue while looking at Blackie–Alon.

“This kind of approach…”

She stared fixedly at the small dragon and continued:

“… the approach is, you know…”

As she spoke, Rine discreetly moved her fingers and gently held the lapel of Alon‘s coat. She began to rub the fabric softly between her fingers.

“… The level of reproduction is incredible, right?” Penia read her thoughts with ease.

Rine did not respond, limiting herself to feeling the lapel over and over. Penia, of course, could guess what was going through Rine‘s head. She herself had been surprised by the realism and, naturally, had had the same thought: “How will the skin of this Blackie feel?”.

After watching Rine‘s reaction for a moment:

“Ahem.”

Rine, who was still stroking the fabric, cleared her throat.

“Certainly, it is somewhat different from the original. To be able to give him clothes, physical contact is ‘inevitable’, I suppose.”

Rine said. And the intelligent Penia understood perfectly what she meant.

“Right?” Penia nodded.

“Yes. By the way, I was also thinking of giving the Godfather custom-made clothes.”

Through this brief dialogue, both reached a dramatic agreement. They did not say it explicitly, but they established an alliance.

[… ??Kkyu??]

Naturally, Blackie still understood absolutely nothing of what was happening.

A few more days passed. Alon Palatio‘s group was flying over the end of the wasteland.

“Alon-nim,” Evan said suddenly.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just… there is something strange.”

“… Suddenly?”

Alon put on a look of bewilderment at Evan‘s words. But he continued:

“Yes. I mean Penia and Rine.”

“… What about them?”

“Do you really not notice anything strange? Haven’t you seen that both have been in a very good mood lately?”

Alon shifted his gaze toward them. Certainly, the expressions of Penia and Rine denoted joy. If anything, the only concerning thing was some dark circles that were only noticeable if one looked very closely.

“Hmm… I don’t think that’s a reason to consider it strange.”

“Do you really think so?” Evan insisted. “Is there nothing else that seems unusual to you?”

“Like what?”

“Those two have been eating only sweet potatoes lately and yet they look happy!”

“Hey, does it surprise you that much that they like sweet potatoes?”

“It’s not just that. The other time, when they ate meat instead of sweet potatoes, the next day they were in a bad mood!”

“What I’m asking you is if it’s so strange that they like eating sweet potatoes.”

“Of course it is! We eat the same thing every day until we’re sick of it!”

It is true that Alon ate many sweet potatoes. And because of that, sometimes the group’s food was unified under that ingredient. But he found it curious that they disliked it so much. After all, sweet potatoes are delicious and the nutritional balance is not bad. Alon felt a pang of unjustified indignation. However, thinking coldly, it was true that the days they ate meat instead of sweet potatoes, both seemed to be in a worse mood, as if they had agreed on it.

‘… What could it be?’

While Alon meditated internally:

“Ah! Alon-nim, we are reaching the border. What do we do?”

“Hmm…”

Alon‘s consciousness returned to the present at Evan‘s question. Although by flying they could cross the border without being seen, Alon knew that, out of courtesy, it was a lack of respect to skip over someone else’s “fence” as if it were his home.

“… Let’s head down.”

Alon said, looking forward. Then…

“!”

He put on an expression of surprise. It wasn’t that there was something physical in the sky; the only thing visible was the blue sky and the border in the distance. But in Alon‘s eyes, something fascinating was reflected.

“… That is…”

It was a giant membrane extended along the border. Outwardly it did not look threatening; it was a layer so thin that one would doubt if it could really stop a Divine Blood.

“… It seems that is what they were talking about.”

“Hmm…”

Penia and Rine also seemed to notice the barrier and expressed their impressions.

[I’m going down!]

As they approached the shield, Basiliora began to descend slowly. As soon as they touched the ground, the first thing the group did was examine the faint barrier.

“Hmm, it’s curious,” Penia murmured.

Alon agreed in silence. Certainly, the barrier extended in the Empire did not seem designed to block anyone specifically. It gave the feeling that it only served to divide the “inside” from the “outside,” perceptible only to the Mages. Apart from that, no difference was felt between both sides.

‘How on earth does this stop the new forms?’

While Alon observed the barrier, he felt a strange dissonance. He felt that he had already seen that power somewhere.

“Hum.”

But they couldn’t stay looking at the barrier forever. Besides, upon crossing the border, they would find someone to ask.

“Let’s move forward.”

“Yes.”

Alon began to walk toward the interior of the border. Shortly after arriving at the border post…

“Eh?”

Alon encountered someone totally unexpected.

“… Deus?”

“Alon-nim…?”

It was Deus. More accurately, it was Deus Makallian standing in the middle of a border guard of hundreds of soldiers whom he had just completely destroyed.

What the hell was going on here? Alon‘s mind began to fill with questions.