Chapter 167 – Ball (2)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Alon stared at the statue of Kalanon the Lightning Receiver that Siyan was holding.

It does seem to resemble me.

Of course, no face was carved onto the statue, so there was no way to compare facial features directly.

Even so, the reason Alon thought that was simple.

No matter how he looked at it, the clothes Kalanon wore were extremely similar to his own.

Well, the coat is different now because I am wearing the one the Red Tower Master gave me, but if I count the old one too… there really are quite a few similarities.

Evan, wearing a strange expression, thought for a moment and answered.

“…The clothing does seem a little similar.”

“Only the clothing, hm.”

Siyan stared at Alon for a moment, then shrugged and placed the statue back on the desk.

“Well, certainly the Marquis of the Kingdom of Asteria could hardly be the Kalanon the Lightning Receiver newly worshiped in the Principality of Luxible. Treat it as a light joke and move on.”

“Yes, understood.”

At Alon’s plain acceptance, Siyan nodded in satisfaction once or twice and changed the subject.

“In any case, I have heard that you have become entangled in quite a number of things lately. May I hear what sort of matters you have been involved in?”

“Yes, of course.”

Why is she asking?

Alon found it a little odd, but he faithfully reported everything.

And then.

“…Hm. The chosen one.”

“Yes.”

After explaining everything, Alon asked in return,

“May I ask one question as well?”

“Go on.”

“I wished to ask whether you called for me because something had surfaced in your mind again.”

The last time he had met Siyan in this office, she had definitely told him.

That if something surfaced again, she would call for him.

“No, not particularly.”

“…Is that so?”

“This time I simply called because I wished to see you. It has been a long while since I last did.”

An entirely unexpected answer.

“I see.”

“Are you dissatisfied?”

“No, not at all.”

Siyan stared at Alon, who denied it so blankly.

Then.

“Hehe.”

“…?”

A gentle laugh slipped from her.

Confusion appeared on Alon’s face.

“It was a joke.”

“Pardon…?”

“I mean that I did not call you for no reason at all.”

“Ah.”

“Your reaction is a little weak, though.”

“My apologies.”

As he lowered his head, Alon briefly wondered whether Siyan had always had this sort of character.

“There is no need to apologize.”

Apparently amused by the fact that she had successfully toyed with him, she smiled and rested her chin on one hand.

“As you guessed, one more thing surfaced.”

“What was it?”

“The you in my inherited memories had apparently gone to the World Tree of Greynif. He said he obtained a necessary item there.”

“The World Tree of Greynif…?”

At his question, Siyan nodded.

“Yes. Do you perhaps not know? Greynif is the name of the land of the elves among the lands of the mixed races in the south.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Alon understand why the word Greynif had sounded unfamiliar.

If it is the country of the elves, then it makes sense that I know little about it.

It was not that he had never heard the name at all.

The reason Greynif still felt unfamiliar was that the land of the elves was part of Psychedelia’s DLC area.

He had not purchased the DLC.

So while he had heard the name Greynif a few times while playing, he had never once gone to the area where the kingdoms of the mixed races existed.

On top of that, the relationship between the Allied Kingdoms and the mixed-race kingdoms was not good, even if it was not as hostile as with the Empire, so it was hardly ever mentioned.

As a result, Alon knew even less about it.

There is something I need there.

While Alon was thinking, Siyan added,

“Of course, there is no need to go there immediately.”

“There is not?”

“More precisely, you do not have to go at all. It is funny for me to say this after bringing it up, but that is not a place that is especially kind to humans.”

“…That is what I have heard as well.”

As Alon nodded while recalling the relationship between the Allied Kingdoms and the mixed-race kingdoms, Siyan shrugged and leaned back.

“So think about it at your leisure. But if you do go, I would like you to report back to me.”

“Understood.”

After exchanging a little more idle conversation, Alon left the office.

After he had vanished completely.

“…”

Siyan touched her chin as though deep in thought while looking at the door for a while.

Then she rose with a meaningless smile.

“Well, that should do. This should be enough.”

####

After attending the ball, Alon inwardly clicked his tongue at the far larger crowd than the last time.

However.

“Greetings, Marquis.”

“Greetings.”

“I am…”

Before he could even properly look around, he was quickly bombarded with an endless stream of greetings from nobles.

Only after more than thirty minutes of individually accepting the greetings of the Kalpa nobles, led mainly by the Duchess of Zenonia and Count Altia, did he finally regain a little freedom.

Alon let out a sigh and thought,

Balls really are exhausting.

He moved to one side of the ballroom and began eating an egg tart from the outer table when.

“It has been a while, Marquis Palladio.”

“…Hm?”

A man approached.

The face was oddly familiar, though Alon could not place it immediately.

He turned the gears in his head for only an instant.

“…Duke Merkillan?”

Only then did he remember who the man was.

Filian’s second younger brother, and the current head of House Merkillan.

Duke Merkillan smiled and dipped his head slightly.

“I am honored that you remember me.”

“…It would be stranger if I did not.”

That was not just a polite remark.

Even if he had not recognized him instantly, there was no way Alon could fail to remember House Merkillan.

Partly because Filian, a recruitable companion for the protagonist, belonged to the Merkillan family.

But even more than that.

Because that was where Alon’s statue stood.

A statue of Alon that did not even exist at House Palladio.

“…That is true.”

Duke Merkillan answered awkwardly.

Alon looked around and thought.

So it really is true that many nobles from other countries came.

At first he had been too busy receiving the greetings of the Kalpa nobles to pay attention, but now that he looked around, there were indeed many unfamiliar faces at this ball.

Among them.

…Shutalian V?

The king of Ashtalon was also present, and the knight standing right behind him immediately caught Alon’s eye.

An overwhelming giant body that looked well over two meters tall.

It looked out of place in a ballroom, but no one else seemed able to guess who he was.

He wore a helmet that obscured even his eyes.

But Alon knew without difficulty who he was.

Kurak the Engraved.

One who had crossed over from the lands of the mixed races Siyan had just mentioned, and a lizardman who would rise to the position of a key powerhouse when dealing with the Five Great Sins in Psychedelia.

And he is also a character designed to provoke the urge to buy the DLC.

When dealing with the Five Great Sins in Psychedelia, NPCs formed the basic party composition.

Depending on the country where a Sin appeared and on what actions the player had taken so far, related NPCs would join as companions and provide help.

Kurak the Engraved was one such character who helped during the Ashtalon branch, but he was differentiated from the others.

In other words, he was strong enough to lower the controller-breaking difficulty of the Five Great Sins to a certain extent.

Granted, even then it was more like lowering Hell Mode to Very Hard Mode, but in Psychedelia, where there were few ways to lower the difficulty at all, that alone was huge.

And in the DLC, Kurak, who normally helped only once during the Ashtalon arc, could be summoned during the battles with the Five Great Sins.

On top of that, if the DLC story was cleared, additional mixed-race powerhouses comparable to Kurak could also be called into those battles.

That was why most players who wanted even a slightly easier time bought the DLC.

Alon had been among the exceptions, one of the users who possessed a little too much pointless pride about games.

He is larger than I expected.

Kurak, who had been looking straight ahead, turned his head.

His face was hidden by the helmet, but Alon was certain that gaze had landed on him.

For an instant, Alon wondered whether he should establish some kind of connection, but unfortunately he knew almost nothing about Kurak.

The base game revealed neither his motive nor his purpose, not even the reason he helped the protagonist in the battles against the Five Great Sins.

In other words, there was not a single clue with which to build a connection, so Alon cleanly gave up the idea and was about to look away when.

Twitch.

“…?”

He saw it.

Kurak’s giant armored frame had jolted slightly.

He only had a moment to wonder about it before.

“…Marquis?”

At Duke Merkillan’s call, Alon remembered that he had been in the middle of speaking with him and gave a slight bow.

“Ah. My apologies.”

“Not at all. Still, might I ask one favor of you?”

“…A favor?”

“Yes. It is not a difficult one….”

Tilting his head inwardly behind his expressionless face, Alon answered,

“Please, go ahead.”

“…It is this. I was wondering whether you might write one letter to my elder brother….”

“By your elder brother… do you mean Filian?”

“Yes. It is just that….”

Duke Merkillan hesitated awkwardly, then finally disclosed the matter, and after hearing the full story Alon summarized it.

“So, you mean that he plans to hand the current statue over to Deus Macalian of Caliburn and erect a new statue of me, but intends to spend far too much money on it.”

“Yes, exactly. I do not know whether my brother simply has poor financial sense, but this time he is even suggesting making it of gold… and he will not listen to me at all.”

Duke Merkillan muttered that now that he thought about it, perhaps the reason he handed the old one to Lord Deus was just to create an excuse to build a new statue, then let out a deep sigh.

The weight of his suffering was so clear that Alon was left speechless.

…No, but why does he want to build a statue of me to that extent?

He had certainly helped Filian, but no matter how he thought about it, he could not understand why it had reached this point.

And he likely never would.

Alon first nodded as if to say he understood.

“Thank you. Then I will trouble you with it.”

The duke let out a sigh of relief.

Alon felt strangely as though he had done something wrong, even though he had done no such thing.

####

Late that night, when the first day of the ball was slowly coming to an end, Alon also began making ready to return to his quarters.

In truth, he had wanted to go back several hours earlier already.

But he had been caught by noble after noble and forced to keep speaking without a chance to rest, until he felt as though he had spent six months’ worth of words in one night.

He had only just escaped and was passing through the corridor toward the lodging assigned to him when.

“Hm…?”

He encountered two very familiar faces.

“…Sirkal?”

It was the swift Sirkal and her younger sister Jenira.

Alon tilted his head for a moment, but it did not take long for him to guess why they were here.

Did I hear that the Thunder Serpent tribe had joined hands with Luxible?

While he recalled the rumor he had once heard in passing from Evan, the two had already approached all the way to him.

“It has been a…”

Before Alon could even finish opening his mouth.

“We greet Kalanon the Lightning Receiver.”

“We greet Kalanon the Lightning Receiver.”

They said exactly that.

Bowing deeply and courteously.

“Huh…?”

An endless number of question marks floated above Alon’s head.

And behind a pillar in one corner of the corridor.

What… did they just say?

Karmakses III, who had quietly followed Alon out in order to make a secret proposal that no one else was allowed to hear, also stood there with his mouth hanging open as he watched the scene.

Marquis Palladio is… a god?

At that unbelievable truth, or what looked like it.