Unlike when they first met here.

Magrina bowed her head politely in neat attire.

Alon, who was staring at her blankly, asked with a puzzled expression.

“An elf?”

“Yes, I’m sorry for having to hide my identity, my lord. The situation left me no choice…”

Magrina gave a sorrowful smile.

But Alon still couldn’t understand.

Why she had disguised herself as a human.

The fact that humans weren’t well treated in the Allied Races.

He had already witnessed that multiple times with his own eyes.

“I don’t care that you hid your identity, but isn’t turning into a human more dangerous for your safety?”

Alon directly voiced his curiosity.

The one who answered was Kalanda.

“Normally, yes, but things are a little different now. Only my daughter didn’t receive the curse.”

“……The curse?”

“Yes. You can’t tell just by looking, but all elves are actually under a curse. One that halves their lifespan.”

“Their lifespan, halved?”

Kalanda let out a sigh and patted Magrina’s head.

“High elves like me, who can usually live well over a thousand years, have had our lives cut in half because of the curse.”

“Is it Baarma’s curse?”

“No. Baarma is certainly a being powerful enough to destroy our alliance, but not omnipotent to that extent.”

“Then—?”

“Our lifespan was taken by a True Mage.”

“……A True Mage?”

“Yes, a True Mage who sided with the black beings. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say the True Mage was one of them.”

Kalanda murmured, half to himself, even as he answered.

“If that’s the case, didn’t this happen before the war with Baarma?”

In response to Alon’s question, Kalanda paused his hand from stroking Magrina’s head.

“Return to your room. I’ll come find you shortly.”

“……Yes, Father.”

He sent Magrina out of the room.

Only after the door shut with a thud did he continue.

“You’re right. That’s certainly the truth. But unfortunately, the world doesn’t always care about the truth.”

“Meaning—”

“To put it simply, the elves are suspicious of Magrina. They see her as a traitor who sold out her people to the black beings for her own survival.”

“… …”

At a loss for words, Alon fell silent.

Magrina, while not as young as Ryanga or Nangwon, was still not yet of age.

In other words, any elf hearing those suspicions would know they were unreasonable.

Perhaps noticing Alon’s troubled expression, Kalanda gave a bitter smile.

“I know too. How absurd those suspicions are.”

“And yet—”

“But as I said, the world doesn’t always care about the truth.”

A moment of silence settled between them.

Alon cautiously opened his mouth.

“……A scapegoat?”

“Exactly. Even knowing the suspicion is irrational and that it couldn’t possibly be true, they need someone to blame. A place to pour out their anxiety and rage.”

Kalanda let out a heavy breath.

“Of course, not everyone is like that. But undeniably, such people do exist.”

“……So, the disguise.”

“Exactly. Even her own kind are targeting my daughter.”

“Why is it that only Magrina wasn’t affected by the curse?”

“The fact that no one knows—that’s what makes their irrational suspicion seem reasonable.”

He gave a hollow laugh and bowed his head to Alon once again.

“In any case, I’m truly grateful. I never dreamed I’d see the daughter I lost in the last war again.”

Straightening his posture, he gazed wistfully at the door Magrina had exited through.

“To some, she’s a scapegoat to vent their anger on. But to me, she’s my one and only precious daughter.”

####

Right after finishing the conversation with Kalanda, Alon returned to his room to gather his thoughts.

“So in the end, does that mean we have two months—or maybe just one now? After that, we’ll have no choice but to deal with Baarma. Godfather.”

“……It seems so.”

Alon let out a sigh and called for Rine.

“Rine.”

“Yes, Godfather.”

“By chance, is there anything in the library about this current era?”

At that, Rine made a subtle expression.

“I actually already checked, and while there are records—they probably won’t be much help right now, Godfather.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It just says something like ‘The Allied Races fought a battle against Baarma.’ That’s about it.”

“Hmm.”

“Other than that, detailed records are………….”

Rine’s expression grew more and more gloomy.

Alon gently patted her shoulder.

“It’s okay.”

“…Yes.”

But the shadow over Rine’s face showed no sign of lifting.

Just then, with a click, Penia entered the room.

“Penia?”

“Y-Yes, Marquess.”

Holding a mountain of books taller than herself.

“……What’s with those books?”

Penia shuffled over awkwardly and dumped the books onto the desk.

Only then did Alon ask, and Penia rolled her eyes for no reason before extending a finger.

“Hrm hrm. We’re going to have to deal with Baarma anyway, right? That dragon god is already dead.”

“True.”

“So I was thinking—maybe some book might mention a weakness of Baarma.”

At that moment, Rine stepped up to the desk and began scanning the book titles.

“‘Magic Cast by True Mages.’”

“…….‘The Sorcery Compendium of Marna—’”

“‘The Relationship Between True Mages and Gods, The Nature of True Mages.’”

But then—

“‘The Fiery Romance of a True Mage—’”

“WAAAAAAAHHHHHH—!!!!!!!”

Reciting the book titles didn’t last long.

Because Penia let out a shriek and quickly hid the book behind her back.

Her eyes rolled anxiously, and cold sweat trickled down her face.

Rine and Alon stared at Penia with expressions that had gone cold.

Penia seemed to desperately search for an excuse and then raised her index finger.

“W-Well, you see? If we go back to the real world, we won’t be able to find any information about True Mages, right? So I figured we could do some research here, and help you with your magical studies, my lord? And maybe even check if some of it could be applied to magic?”

…….

“I mean, helping with your research is the main goal, but maybe? Just maybe, this could contain something groundbreaking and get me some recognition from the world, and then I could totally crush my master’s pride? Something like that?”

But all that came out was rambling nonsense.

As Penia flailed to justify herself, Alon asked calmly.

“……That aside, isn’t it all meaningless unless we return?”

“Well, that’s true. But I believe.”

“Believe in what?”

“That you’ll make it happen, my lord.”

With a face that shouted ‘I believe in you!’ she clenched her fist.

Alon felt an odd prickling discomfort, but inwardly concluded:

‘Either way, we’ll have to fight Baarma eventually. First, I should talk to them tomorrow and gather more information.’

That was the conclusion he came to.

###

The next day.

Alon once again appeared before the three kings.

“……Are you saying the weapon has been destroyed?”

He realized that the situation was more serious than he had thought.

“To be precise, not destroyed—but rendered inoperable.”

Surang let out a sigh laced with gloom.

Alon calmly pieced together the information in his mind.

The reason the god Yongrin, who led the alliance, had sacrificed himself to create a barrier and halt Baarma’s advance— it was to buy time to use the weapon called ‘Agathon.’

Agathon.

A weapon used by True Mages to deal with the black beings. They needed time to restore it to deal with Baarma.

Unfortunately, Yongrin’s plan had been flawed from the start.

In order to use Agathon, the World Tree had to share its overwhelming magical power as a power source.

But as if they had known about the plan— at the very moment of Yongrin’s sacrifice, Baarma’s followers invaded.

Because of them, the World Tree suffered a critical blow.

Still, even in its ruined state,

They tried everything to make Agathon run on the magical energy of people instead, completing the restoration— but in the end, Agathon could not be used.

In other words, the two months of time that Yongrin had bought them could end up being meaningless.

And the expressions of the kings were grim.

“……”

As Alon rubbed his forehead in thought—

“May I see Agathon?”

Rine, who had remained silent until now, stepped forward.

“That wouldn’t be hard, but from what we’ve checked, the weapon can only be handled by a True Mage… wait, are you a True Mage?”

A flicker of hope crossed Surang’s face.

“No, I’m not.”

“……Right, of course not. All the True Mages already lost their lives back then.”

He slumped back into gloom.

Meanwhile, Alon recalled Rine’s abilities and asked again.

“Still, just in case—could she at least take a look?”

Surang’s expression remained reluctant, but he eventually nodded.

“……Very well. Let’s go right now. There’s not much else to talk about in our current situation anyway.”

He rose from his seat.

At that moment—

“Wait a moment.”

Ashur, who had been quietly observing until now, stepped in.

“What is it?”

“Would it be alright if Alon came with me instead?”

“……Why?”

“Dowon wishes to see him.”

“Alon?”

“Yes.”

Rioch nodded, and Alon looked puzzled.

“Who is this Dowon?”

“I’ve heard about you from my son, but I didn’t think you truly knew nothing… Dowon is the god who leads the alliance alongside Yongrin. Also, at present, the only remaining god of Kalgunias.”

Upon hearing the name Kalgunias again, Alon asked:

“Do you know why they’re looking for me?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t. She only told me that she’d like to meet you at least once.”

Ashur shrugged lightly.

Alon hesitated briefly but then nodded.

“Very well.”

He accepted the offer.

Now separated from Rine, Alon followed Ashur out of the palace.

‘…Every time I see this place, it feels strangely familiar.’

He had that thought again while walking through the palace grounds.

Time passed as they exited the palace.

And in the distance, a massive temple came into view.

Even from afar, it was enormous and ornate.

A place so grand it seemed it must have been built by giants.

When Alon arrived at the temple—

“Then go on in.”

“You’re not coming with me?”

“She only wishes to see you.”

Following Ashur’s words, Alon walked toward the temple alone.

The moment he reached the entrance—

RUMBLE—!!

As if welcoming him, the enormous doors opened by themselves.

Alon stepped slowly inside.

He didn’t need to go far.

Right away, he saw a giant.

A blue-eyed goddess stared at him as if seeing something truly extraordinary.

And then—

[……It is finally time to keep our promise.]

The goddess’s voice echoed all around him.