Alon was briefly taken aback by the very mature appearance of Kalannon, but quickly felt puzzled.
“?”
Kalannon’s body, which had clearly grown significantly, began to slowly shrink.
“Ah…”
It was because she had reverted to the body of a young girl.
“…What was that just now?”
“That was my original form…”
As soon as she returned to her young girl form, Kalannon went back to speaking formally, just like before.
“Eugh~ As I thought, this is still the limit for maintaining my true form.”
She stretched while looking at Alon.
“Anyway, have you been doing well?”
“I have.”
“Did you worry about me at all?”
“Well… I did… worry, I guess.”
To be precise, it was more curiosity than concern.
It had already been over a year since Kalannon last appeared before Alon.
Once he gave an affirmative answer, Kalannon nodded deeply with a pleased hum.
“You don’t have to worry too much. I’ve been preparing in my own way!”
“Preparing for what?”
“For survival, of course!”
“Survival?”
“Yes, I told you before, remember? I’ve been working on a way to survive on my own.”
“That’s right…”
Alon recalled that Kalannon had mentioned she was preparing various things since divine power was being concentrated on him.
Apparently, she had made quite a bit of progress.
When Alon nodded, Kalannon exclaimed,
“I finally finished it!”
“…What is it?”
“This right here!”
Kalannon grinned confidently and then—
“?”
[Woomnya~!]
—transformed into a blue cat.
Well, strictly speaking, not just a blue cat.
“…Is that Blackie?”
She looked a little like Blackie.
The difference was that unlike Blackie, her body was clearly visible.
And on her head was the crown Kalannon wore when she incarnated before Alon.
Also, her fur was fluffier, and her tail was a bit longer.
[Nya!]
While Alon was lost in thought, looking at Kalannon’s sudden transformation, a voice—or rather, a meow—reached his ears.
“…I don’t speak cat, though.”
[Nyaa!]
When Alon simply stared at her, Kalannon quickly returned to her girl form.
“Sorry. I can’t talk when I transform like that.”
“That’s your way of surviving?”
“Yes, it is.”
“I mean, I don’t see how that connects.”
“Oh, really?”
“…What does turning into a cat have to do with surviving as a god?”
“You really don’t get it.”
At Alon’s comment, Kalannon shook her head with a ‘tsk tsk, still a long way to go’ expression.
“If I’m like this, I can survive as a mascot!”
She declared proudly.
“A mascot, huh—”
“Remember last time I transformed, I had horns?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s kind of the same concept.”
“So basically, you're saying you’ll stick around me as a mascot. Is that it?”
“Exactly! And that way, my personal recognition will naturally go up too!”
She chuckled smugly and muttered, “How about it? Isn’t it a perfect plan?” appearing very confident in her idea.
Alon still had one lingering thought.
Is turning into an animal really the best approach?
But in any case, Alon believed he bore some responsibility for Kalannon ending up this way.
“So are you going to walk around in that form from now on?”
Instead of pushing back, he just asked.
Kalannon nodded.
“That’s right! The only reason I hadn’t gone outside until now was because I needed to gather enough divine power to exist in the outside world. Of course, even when I incarnate, I’ll still remain here.”
“Here, meaning?”
“Inside the divine land you created.”
Because that’s the only way I can safely gather divine power! she added.
“Thank you for creating it! You saved me!”
“…Well, sure.”
“Then I’ll see you in a bit!”
With those words, she shattered the world of the blue galaxy,
And the next moment Alon opened his eyes,
A blue orb had formed in front of him.
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
[Hmm?]
“Oh.”
Everyone gasped in awe upon seeing the blue orb.
But soon, the orb began to distort, then rapidly shrank—
[Nyaa~!]
—and transformed into the same blue cat Alon had just seen in the galaxy.
“…What the heck is this?”
“Seriously…?”
Evan and Penia asked, bewildered by the suddenly appeared cat.
To them, Alon explained that the cat was actually Kalannon.
“Ohh~ Now that you mention it, it does have horns like a cat.”
“True.”
[Hmm~]
As Evan, Penia, and Basiliora curiously examined the cat,
[Meow?]
Blackie, who had been sleeping in the pouch on Alon’s chest until just now, suddenly opened his round eyes wide and jumped onto the desk, staring directly at Kalannon.
Blackie tilted his head this way and that.
His head spun as if it could rotate 360 degrees, a sign of just how startled he was.
Then, wearing a slightly haughty expression, he glanced down at Kalannon once more.
[Meow-]
And promptly returned to the pouch he had come from.
“…What was that just now?”
“Seriously.”
[Pfft, was that a clumsy display of jealousy?]
That exchange was brief.
As Alon watched Kalannon curiously roam around the room,
“So, Marquis, did you check it?”
“Ah.”
At Evan’s question, Alon closed his eyes again and turned his gaze inward.
“It hasn’t grown as much as I expected.”
He said that after confirming the divine power that had gathered.
“Huh? Really? That’s strange. I thought it would be overflowing by now.”
Evan tilted his head, clearly puzzled.
After a moment’s thought, Alon spoke.
“It’s not completely inexplicable.”
“Is that so?”
“All the ones who’ve gathered here came because of a ‘rumor’ in the first place.”
“Ah—”
Evan nodded at that explanation.
“You said before, divine power won’t accumulate without firm belief, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Hmm~ In that case, I think things will stabilize here soon.”
“Actually, I just confirmed the divine power and felt a bit relieved myself.”
Together with Evan, Alon gazed at the bustling barracks, hiding his relief behind a blank expression.
After finishing discussions with Blue Ghost, the group stayed in the Divine Land for about a month, until Alon concluded that it was time to meet White Ghost, and they returned to the House of Palatio.
And a few days later—
The situation in the Divine Land became chaotic.
Or to be more precise—
While the mood among the soldiers and knights selected from the start hadn’t changed much, tension was rising among the new knights and mercenaries who had entered as citizens.
It was because of Kalannon’s power.
“They said we’d be able to use power if we trained in the Divine Land. But I haven’t felt a thing.”
“Right? I’ve been here almost a month too.”
“Ugh, so it was just nonsense after all?”
“When you think about it, just training in the Divine Land and getting powers doesn’t make sense.”
“Exactly. Only Kalannon’s followers are supposed to be able to use that power.”
Even though Alon had never said anything like that, the mercenaries and knights who had gathered due to the strangely distorted rumors were now disappointed after learning the truth.
“Hmm—so what should we do now?”
“What else? Just leave. No point staying if we can’t even use power.”
“True. Better to return to Lartania than keep training here.”
Just as such talk began spreading among the mercenaries and knights—
“It’s been a while, Silli.”
“It has indeed, brother.”
Silli Maccalian arrived at the Divine Land and encountered Deus.
“How’s the training going?”
“Fine. But—”
“Oh, you mean the mercenaries and knights who came after hearing the rumors, right?”
“You knew?”
“Yes, I asked around a bit before coming to see you.”
“I see…”
Deus nodded briefly.
“But you don’t need to worry too much. Those who don’t believe in the Marquis were never intended to stay here in the first place. They would likely become obstacles to the Marquis’s grand plan.”
Though he spoke reassuringly, Silli gave a slightly puzzled expression.
“Huh? What do you mean, brother?”
She responded with a question instead.
“Hmm? I just mean the knights and mercenaries will leave. I didn’t want you to worry unnecessarily. Even if they do, we already have enough people.”
Deus tried to explain again, looking puzzled.
But Silli tilted her head once more.
“That’s what’s strange though.”
“How so?”
“Well, no one’s actually left yet, right? And I don’t think anyone will, either.”
She smiled.
Something about that smile made Deus feel a chill down his spine.
“…Is that so?”
“Isn’t it?”
“But they realized the rumors were distorted, didn’t they?”
At that question, Silli gave a low hum, then shook her head.
“Brother.”
“Yes?”
“To be honest, the rumors that spread were kind of ridiculous, weren’t they?”
“Rationally speaking, yes.”
“Then why did people come after hearing them?”
“Well~”
Deus paused for a moment and gave his opinion.
“They might’ve gotten swept up in the hype. Or maybe they thought, ‘What if it’s true?’”
“That’s correct. But the important part is the latter.”
“The latter being—?”
“The part where they thought, ‘What if it’s real?’”
Silli turned her gaze away from Deus and pointed toward the barracks outside, where lines of soldiers and knights still stretched on endlessly.
“Brother. Do you see those people inside the Divine Land who are voicing complaints?”
“I do.”
“They already know the rumors were false. So why aren’t they leaving?”
When Deus didn’t answer immediately, Silli spoke for him.
“Hope.”
“…Hope?”
“Yes. Everyone here is clinging to just the tiniest hope. Even if the rumors were false, they’re still thinking, ‘Maybe…?’ That’s enough.”
“Enough for what?”
𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
This time, Silli didn’t answer.
She simply looked into the distance with her violet eyes and said,
“That person will do nicely.”
She smiled and pulled two books from inside her robe.
They were covered in blue leather.
“Take this, brother.”
“…?”
“Please read it.”
Deus silently opened the book.
And then—
“This is…”
He immediately realized the blue book was a holy scripture.
Not just any scripture—it was a scripture written by Silli herself for Marquis Palatio.
Realizing that, he lifted his head—
And noticed, only then, that Silli had already walked away toward a timid-looking knight in the distance.
When she reached the knight, she said,
“Hello, sir knight.”
“You are—?”
“I’m Silli Maccalian, Saintess of Lady Kalannon.”
“…You’re her?”
“Yes. Actually~”
She smiled.
“I think you’ll be able to use Kalannon’s power very soon.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes. So, with your permission—”
She gently handed him the book with the blue cover.
“Would you like a little help?”
Her deep, mesmerizing violet eyes sparkled as she spoke.

Comments

Loading...