“...Hmmm.”
On his way toward the colosseum right after reuniting with Penia for the first time in a while, Alon once again realized just how much had changed.
...No, was it even right to simply call this “change”?
“......”
Alon turned his gaze to the side.
The massive grove of the World Tree.
And between those colossal trunks, elves were still busily raising buildings—no, trees—even at this very moment.
Gigantic trees continuously appearing around the World Tree in real time.
Rather than Palantia’s territory, it looked as though a piece of Fildagreen itself had been transplanted here.
“......”
And that was not all.
Beyond the World Tree territory, what spread out before him was sand.
Yes, sand.
The sand that had once been in Colony.
“...Hmmm—”
The empty dirt plains had all been filled with soft drifting sand.
And at the center of it stood the colosseum currently being carved out from sandstone mountain rock.
Though still incomplete, unlike the first day, its massive form had now properly taken shape.
And when he looked toward the sections where Seollang had already established the basic framework, he saw that the Golden Mane Tribe—who had apparently arrived in Palantia at some point—were now diligently carving intricate details into it.
Just standing there and watching, it was honestly a spectacular sight.
But only for a moment.
“...Hm?”
Alon tilted his head in confusion.
He had definitely come to meet Seollang because she said there was something to discuss regarding the colosseum, yet she herself was nowhere to be seen.
And so, after briefly turning his head here and there—
“Ah.”
Looking toward the Imperial territory on the opposite side of the colosseum—the territory that had been handed over to Arculainysis—Alon locked eyes with a man.
Standing there without crossing into Seollang’s sandy territory, simply staring at Alon—
the Empire’s prince... no.
“......”
...Now effectively the administrator of the subsidiary Empire thanks to Arculainysis—
Contanias.
“......”
“......”
For some reason, despite being a prince, Contanias was not wearing his usual noble attire, but laborer’s clothes that looked strangely familiar as he stared fixedly at Alon.
Really.
Honestly.
There was absolutely nothing Alon himself had done.
But—
Alon naturally found himself forced to avert his gaze elsewhere... .
####
Cold sweat trickled down briefly.
“S-so what exactly are you talking about? Affection level magic...?”
Penia forced out an awkward laugh.
But the corners of her smiling lips were trembling faintly.
Seeing that, Magrina continued speaking without losing her smile.
“You know, I have rather good hearing?”
“And I have many friends who whisper secrets into these ears too.”
As she lightly tapped her long elven ears, Penia realized something.
Pretending ignorance was completely meaningless.
Whether Penia had muttered to herself alone or not, Magrina looked exactly like someone who had already received prior information through informants in Divine Land.
And so, sighing deeply as though admitting defeat, Penia subtly turned her gaze aside.
“Ahem... Exactly how much did you hear?”
She cleared her throat unnecessarily as she asked.
Watching her, Magrina continued smiling as she spoke.
“Ah—so if you obtained Alon’s hair, and his affection level turned out far higher than expected? Then—using magical consultation as an excuse, you’d immediately enter his bedroom at night—”
“Kyaaaaaaahhh!!”
Penia cut Magrina off with a shriek, her face bright red.
While absentmindedly staring at the World Tree earlier, Penia had unknowingly begun muttering her fantasies aloud the moment she approached Palantia.
Realizing that fact, she pitifully flailed her hands through the air.
“S-stop that...”
“Should I?”
“Yeah...”
“If you truly do not wish to hear more, then I’ll stop.”
Penia lowered her head with a deep sigh, practically reproaching herself for her own mistake.
But only briefly.
Sneaking another glance toward Magrina, Penia cautiously asked again.
“...By any chance, um—are you going to tell anyone?”
“No? I don’t particularly have any reason to do that.”
“...R-Really?”
Penia’s expression brightened instantly.
But only for a moment.
“Instead, may I participate too?”
“Participate...?”
“Yes. The magic that can see affection levels. Though to be precise, it’s less the magic itself and more the affection levels I want to see.”
At those words, Penia briefly fell into thought before reaching a surprisingly quick conclusion.
“...Fine.”
“Wow, really?”
...In reality, it was practically impossible to refuse.
‘...Well, adding one more person isn’t that bad.’
Penia decided to think positively.
At the moment, Magrina seemed to believe Alon’s hair alone was enough based on the limited information she had overheard, but in truth, more was required.
Strictly speaking, that meant it would be difficult for Penia to successfully cast the magic alone.
And if she had partners helping her, obtaining the “materials” would naturally become easier—
Just as Penia was trying to rationalize things to herself—
“Heh~ You’re doing something interesting.”
At the voice from behind, Penia nearly jumped in shock and spun toward the balcony.
Standing there with an openly amused expression, as though she had heard the entire conversation already, was Seollang.
“Let me join too!”
She shouted with a grin, without adding any explanation whatsoever.
At that, Penia let out a faint groan of realization, but while thinking that maybe having three people involved still was not too terrible—
“What an interesting conversation.”
“Seriously.”
“Mm.”
As though they had been waiting for this exact moment, Arculainysis, Ryang-a, and Historia all entered as well.
Penia could only let out another helpless groan.
The secret she had intended to keep entirely to herself had instantly become something shared among six people.
“No... Did all of you secretly install eavesdropping magic in the office or something?”
Penia spoke with an oddly aggrieved expression at this ridiculous situation.
No matter how she thought about it, coincidences like this made no sense.
Of course, Penia herself knew that accusation was absurd, but...?
“...?”
She froze.
Just moments earlier, every single uninvited guest had been grinning mischievously like troublemakers preparing to squeeze information out of her while clearly thinking, ‘You’re doing something interesting there?’
But for some reason, now they were all suddenly avoiding her gaze.
“......”
When she looked toward Magrina, Magrina immediately turned her eyes elsewhere naturally.
“......?”
Likewise, when Penia looked toward Seollang, Seollang casually shifted her gaze outside the balcony.
“Mmm—The colosseum’s actually turning out pretty well.”
She abruptly changed the subject while staring at the colosseum she herself had personally smashed apart piece by piece during construction.
“......”
And so Penia turned toward Ryang-a, Arculainysis, and Historia.
“......”
“...Whew~”
“......”
Not a single one of them met her eyes.
Meanwhile, seeing Arculainysis awkwardly whistle while Historia’s eyes quietly rolled off to one side—
“...You’ve got to be kidding me...”
Penia forgot her embarrassment entirely and instead became utterly dumbfounded.
####
Not long after Penia learned a completely unexpected secret, they eventually moved elsewhere for a meeting.
...Though Penia had technically learned their weakness too, there was no way that alone would drive these people away.
No, more accurately, the moment she separated from them she had already realized endless interference would immediately begin pouring in, so she had given up from the start.
Instead—
“First, there’s one thing I need to correct.”
She decided to make proper use of this situation.
“What would that be?”
At Magrina’s serious question, Penia answered.
“Alon’s hair alone is not enough to determine his affection level.”
“Then what else is necessary?”
“His scent is required. More precisely, the scent produced when interacting with a specific person.”
“...Scent?”
Seeing Seollang tilt her head, Penia nodded.
“Mm—just think of it comfortably as magical power. More precisely, magical power produced while being with a particular person.”
“...? Magical power produced while someone’s around? Then does that mean we need to make him use magic?”
Ryang-a asked.
Penia shook her head.
“No, not exactly. Umm—let me explain from the beginning.”
Soon afterward, she began thoroughly explaining the structure behind how affection level magic functioned.
And after her explanation ended—
“So in simple terms, all True Mages naturally leak extremely small amounts of magical power even without actively using magic?”
“Right. Unlike ordinary mages, True Mages interfere more directly with ‘laws’ themselves. Because of that, they naturally changed in that way.”
“And that tiny magical power subtly changes whenever physical contact occurs with a specific individual.”
“Exactly. That’s why I compared it to scent. Though technically it’s magical power.”
Penia nodded at Magrina’s question and added further explanation.
This was exactly why Kylrus had called affection level magic a True Mage-exclusive spell.
Because unless the target was another True Mage whose magical power naturally leaked out unconsciously, the spell was practically impossible to use.
“But hearing this, it sounds like magical power itself is the important part. Then why is the hair necessary at all?”
“Ah—that’s only to improve accuracy. Honestly, the magic itself can still function using only magical scent even without the hair.”
“Hoh~”
Watching Arculainysis nod curiously, Penia spoke again.
“Anyway, in order to determine Alon’s affection level, all of us will need to cooperate to some extent—that’s what I’m saying.”
“Mm—I understand.”
“So do I.”
“Same here.”
“Mm.”
“So basically, we just need skinship with Boss, right?”
“Yes, and then—”
Penia pulled out a small sphere from inside her clothes.
A colorless transparent orb that looked as though it had been carved from a gemstone.
“When that time comes, just inject the tiniest bit of magical power into this to activate it, and it’ll gather everything automatically.”
She placed it down on the meeting table and spoke with complete seriousness.
####
The reason Hidan had come to Palantia this time was to report on the task Seollang had assigned earlier.
Of course, aside from that, there was one additional minor matter.
Namely, asking about Yuna.
‘Just what in the world did she do...?’
Recently, Yuna had increasingly been wandering around with a vacant expression muttering, “What do I do if I’m screwed—” without ever actually explaining what she had done.
Because of that, Hidan had planned to investigate the matter.
To begin with, he already knew that her last assignment had involved serving as the Great Moon’s proxy.
But naturally, reporting to Seollang came first.
And so, after finding Seollang—
“Anyway, since we all share the same goal, let’s cooperate this one time. We’ll check Alon’s affection levels once everyone has gathered enough magical power.”
Hidan ended up witnessing the scene completely inevitably.
Namely—
everyone nodding in agreement at Penia’s words, spoken with the resolve of someone making a tremendous decision.
...Agreeing to secretly observe the Great Moon’s affection levels.
“......”
...What the hell is this?
That thought passed through Hidan’s mind.
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