Chapter 511

Episode 511. A…cademy? (3)

Deus meditated seriously on the most ideal way to handle this situation.

Should he just pretend he didn’t see anything and go back to sleep?

Yes, that seemed like the least exhausting option.

… Or so he thought.

However, he was certain that the two women staring fixedly at him would not allow it. An unshakable determination shone in their eyes, as if they were willing to do anything to seal his lips.

—Fuu.

Deus’s head began to ache. A sigh escaped his lips. He looked at Alon, who until a moment ago was hugging Rine.

[Kkyu?]

Alon tilted his head and made a sound.

—… Kkyu?

It was definitely a “kkyu.” At that sound coming from Alon’s mouth, Deus tilted his head just like him and, letting out a faint “eh?”, shifted his gaze.

There was Alon Palatio, still sleeping peacefully with his eyes closed.

—!

In that instant, the gears in Deus’s head began to spin at full speed. Clearly, Alon-nim was sleeping over there. But here, there was also an Alon-nim. However, this Alon said “kkyu,” and Blackie, who always sleeps on Alon’s chest, was nowhere to be found.

There was only one possible conclusion.

—… Are you two, by any chance… using Blackie to create a clone of Alon-nim and doing this sort of thing?

Deus, forgetting he had been intimidated just a moment ago, looked horrified.

—Mmm…

—Ahem…

Under Deus’s icy gaze, the eyes of Rine and Penia, which had been shining with intensity, subtly drifted elsewhere. Rine quickly regained her usual expressionless face and feigned ignorance.

—T-this is just temporary help to take measurements for clothes, Deus.

—… I don’t think it’s necessary to breathe that deeply just to take clothes measurements.

Deus hit the nail on the head. Rine’s face turned red.

—I, well…

Seeing Rine defeated, Penia took over. Facing Deus’s inquiring gaze, Penia dragged out her words and…

—… If I tell you we were going to take clothes measurements… you won’t believe me, right?

—What do you think?

—I figured… —Penia deflated immediately.

—As much as you both like Alon-nim, this is a bit…

Deus looked with incredulity at the two women, now completely self-conscious.

—If Alon-nim finds out, he’ll be scared to death.

—Ahem…

Both fell silent, left without arguments against Deus’s point. Sighing, Deus looked at Alon—no, at Blackie. The little clone was still tilting its head at him.

‘What kind of entity is it really…?’ Deus thought.

He knew Blackie was a Spirit Dragon (or Shadow Dragon). But as incredible as it was, to copy a person so perfectly… even Deus, until he heard its voice, was convinced for a moment that it was the real Alon. While he was absorbed in his wonder:

—Deus, why don’t you try it too?

Hearing Rine’s voice, Deus turned his head.

—You make statues, right? Don’t you think seeing it directly would help you in many ways for your creations?

Listening to Rine, Deus maintained his cold expression and began to say:

—That is a very interesting way to invite me to be an accomplice… —He stopped short.

… Thinking about it, she wasn’t wrong. Lately, Silly was the one who sculpted statues of Alon most frequently, but the creative base and ideas came from Deus. And recently, his inspiration for the statues was running dry. It was natural. To be inspired, he had to live with Alon, but by his nature, he didn’t often have many opportunities. Added to that, Deus’s personal work left him with less and less free time.

‘I only want to observe the postures, so it’s a different case from theirs, isn’t it?’

Finally, after completing his mental self-justification:

—… Exactly how much is possible to do?

Deus ended up succumbing.

The next day. Very little time remained before reaching the capital.

—Alon-nim.

—What is it, Deus?

—By any chance… have you thought about learning swordsmanship?

—… So suddenly?

Alon, seeing Deus’s expression, which for some reason had become extremely overwhelming, instinctively took a step back.

The next day, after confirming that the capital of the Eastern Empire was already visible in the distance, Alon addressed his group.

—It seems that from now on we must move separately.

—Understood.

—Agreed.

—Yes, Godfather.

—Hum… will it be okay without me? —Evan bragged.

It would certainly be a bit inconvenient without him, but unfortunately, Evan would also enter as a student and not as his escort.

—It can’t be helped. Anyway, it’s only for one day, —Alon continued. —As I’ve said several times, avoid using your real names after entering the academy. Act as closely as possible to the false identity you’ve received.

—Yes.

—… It will be difficult, but at most we will be there for two months, so try to endure. And above all…

—No matter what form you choose, you must limit your power. I don’t think there is anyone capable of detecting you, but we must be cautious. Of course, if you find yourselves in a dangerous situation, do not hesitate to deactivate the seal.

—Understood.

—… I’m saying this just in case; I don’t mean only life-or-death situations. I’m talking about when things get dangerous. Life comes first.

—Yes.

—If I discover traces of the Religion of War, I will communicate them to you via a code.

—Fine.

—See you at the academy.

With those words, Alon put on the ring. As soon as he did, he felt an unusual weakness in his body. Not only that, his physical appearance changed slightly.

—Oh.

—You look a bit younger.

Listening to Penia’s exclamation and Evan’s comment, Alon thought:

‘My mana… is close to the third Circle ($3^{rd}$ Circle). My appearance has also changed enough.’

Although being ambushed in this state could be a problem, he wasn’t too worried. Blackie and Basiliora were on standby with their mana at maximum to protect him at any moment.

—Certainly… being an artifact that dragons used for their games (Harmonization), the performance is impressive, —Rine commented, examining a ring identical to Alon’s.

Just as she said, Alon had received these artifacts from Arculainisis.

“It’s just that the other dragons came to visit me at my nest the other day!”.

Ar had been very proud that Alon needed her help. Alon offered her a brief mental thanks and looked at Deus.

—Deus.

—Yes?

—Take this.

He handed him a ball of thread.

—This is…

Deus’s eyes widened as he recognized what it was.

—Keep it just in case.

Without waiting for questions, Alon began to walk alone toward the capital.

‘… What am I doing?’ he let out a sigh. He remembered Evan’s words before arriving.

“Lord Alon, do we really have to work so hard to prevent the Empire from being destroyed?”.

Evan’s question was valid. Alon, belonging to the Allied United Kingdoms, had no obligation of loyalty toward the Empire. If it were only a matter of the Empire being partially destroyed, perhaps he would have thought twice. Alon was not a hero. If he had to weigh the lives of his companions against those of the imperial citizens, his friends’ lives would weigh much more.

However, he was here because of the information given to him by The One with Closed Eyes.

‘If an Apostle begins to gather followers on their own, there will be no solution…’.

If all the Apostles descended at the same time and wore each other out fighting, there would be no problem. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The Apostle of War would appear earlier due to the followers already infiltrated. … And the Empire, protected by the Consecration Matrix, would give him enough time to become invincible before the others descended. The final result of that was easy to predict.

‘I hope to find them.’

Alon wished to find traces of the Religion of War in the academy. If they weren’t there, he would have to start searching for the ritual site from scratch.

‘Fortunately, the detection method is not difficult.’

[Kkyu?]

Blackie poked its head out from his chest to look at him. Alon stroked its head while finishing his reflections.

‘Two months.’

That was the maximum time Alon estimated was necessary to stop the ritual. He couldn’t afford more time, as the Religion of War would likely act before that deadline.

‘I will stop it before then.’

With that determination, he entered the capital of the Eastern Empire.

One day after his arrival.

Thanks to arriving just in time, Alon was able to attend the entrance ceremony the next day. He was internally surprised.

‘Was Psychedelia an academy story…?’

The Imperial Academy had a structure suspiciously similar to the academy story clichés he knew. But he soon shook his head.

‘Impossible.’

As far as he knew, no academy appeared in the original game. Moreover, he seemed to recall that at a certain point, the academy simply disappeared.

‘… Is it still standing because of the changes in the narrative?’

He looked around and thought, ‘Well, at least it’s organized in a way that’s familiar to me.’

The only peculiarity was that it had four grades. The rest was the same as any academy: the division by classes, the separation by aptitudes in swordsmanship class, magic class, and administrative class… Everything was the same. Even the most typical detail:

—Wow, Mr. Delgard! You’re already here?

—Yes, yes. Long time no see.

The typical antagonist surrounded by sycophants. Alon glanced sideways at an arrogant guy with his legs on the desk before looking away. The important thing now wasn’t him, but…

—Fuu.

… the traces of the Religion of War. Alon closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt the divine power flowing very subtly. Because of the ring, he could only use a minuscule amount, but that was an advantage: it was so little that there was no risk of being detected.

“Seeing divine power with your eyes?”

“Yes. If you apply the power in the way I taught you, you will be able to look for traces. It shouldn’t be difficult. With that, you’ll be able to analyze the interior of the academy instantly”.

Alon configured the divine power just as The One with Closed Eyes had taught him and focused it on his vision. For a moment, he felt his sight tinged with blue, and then…

—!

He saw it. Although it was a minuscule power and barely lasted an instant, he caught a red stain in the distance.

‘As I thought…’.

Just as Alon was marveling at the discovery, a hand rested on his shoulder. Alon turned his head. There was…

—Alon, what are you doing here?

A girl with blue-dyed hair… no.

‘… Rine?’

It was a Rine with a somewhat younger appearance than usual and with a braid to one side, smiling at him. Alon was bewildered. Looking down, he noticed that the students who were chatting before were now looking at them. More accurately, they were looking at Rine’s face…

Even so, Alon responded instinctively to the question:

—I was just thinking about something…

Rine let out a small giggle.

—That offends me. You should at least pay attention to your fiancée first.

—?

Alon was struck dumb.

‘Fi… ancée?’

Did such a setting exist…? Alon let out a mental exclamation. He remembered that in the false identity documents, it mentioned he had a fiancée. But since the details section didn’t say anything else…

‘…??’

Alon’s face was full of doubt. But, unfortunately, his bewilderment didn’t end there. Just after Rine’s arrival, a red-haired girl appeared… no, a Penia who also seemed to have adjusted her age to look younger.

—… Excuse me, haven’t you made a bit of a mistake with those words? —Penia said. —Alon’s fiancée is me. You’re the ex-fiancée, right?

With those words, the air in the classroom froze completely.