Raising Villains the Right Way

For a moment after the Arm-Spitting One’s words, silence fell.

[You’re spouting utter nonsense, Arm-Spitting One. You don’t seriously think we’d believe that, do you?]

Burned Vegetation soon began to openly display hostility toward the Arm-Spitting One.

No matter how important it was to protect the Star Eater, the Arm-Spitting One’s claim was simply too absurd.

Every divine-blood present frowned in unison.

And so.

Burned Vegetation and the remaining divine-blood began to take up postures as if preparing for battle, but—

[................It seems I was underestimated.]

The Arm-Spitting One, however, remained calm.

[I didn’t underestimate you. I merely stated the facts.]

[I warn you, Arm-Spitting One. Such groundless lies will only anger me.]

Burned Vegetation issued a warning.

[It’s only natural that you wouldn’t believe it. I didn’t believe it at first either.]

[....What?]

Despite having issued a warning, the Arm-Spitting One remained unfazed, leaving Burned Vegetation momentarily dumbfounded as it questioned him again.

[...............Don’t tell me, the Star Eater really can distribute divinity?]

[Yes. You might think it’s a joke, but it isn’t.]

[You’re saying that’s really true?]

[Yes.]

As he nodded leisurely, hundreds of tentacles writhing calmly, Burned Vegetation looked toward the divine-blood accompanying it.

Every one of them wore uncertain expressions.

However, after only a brief moment of blankness, Burned Vegetation regained its composure.

[Then did you see it yourself?]

[No. That’s not it.]

[...? You didn’t see it yourself, yet you’re that confident?]

As Burned Vegetation asked incredulously, the Arm-Spitting One replied.

[I heard it from the ‘Risen One.’]

[The Risen One—]

[That one, the follower of the Abyssal Watcher—]

[What did you hear, exactly?]

Soon, the Arm-Spitting One calmly relayed what he had heard from the Risen One.

And after some time passed.

[In other words, there’s no reason to carry out the Rotting Mouth’s request merely for the sake of joining a faction.]

As the Arm-Spitting One finished speaking, a quiet murmur began to spread among the divine-blood.

Indeed, his words made sense.

If the Star Eater truly could take and bestow the abilities of divine-blood, then merely joining a faction was no longer the issue.

And so.

After only a brief moment of murmuring—

[Hmph—still, isn’t it all just talk?]

Burned Vegetation snapped back once more, regaining its composure.

[There’s no reason for the Risen One to lie.]

[Why not? The Risen One is one of the loyal followers of the Abyssal Watcher.]

[Even so, there’s no reason for him to lie to me specifically.]

At the Arm-Spitting One’s reply, Burned Vegetation fell silent for a moment.

When it thought about it, that argument wasn’t wrong either.

After all, the Arm-Spitting One standing before it belonged to the same affiliation.

[............There’s still a chance that what you’re saying is false, isn’t there?]

[Why ask me that? You could ask the ‘Piercing Eye.’]

At those words, Burned Vegetation turned its gaze toward the Piercing Eye that had come with them.

It was a divine-blood that possessed the ability to discern the true intent of others.

And so, the Piercing Eye, which had been staring at the Arm-Spitting One without a single margin of error through its hundreds of eyes—

[...............It is not a lie.]

Slowly opened its mouth.

—With a somewhat confused expression.

[What did you say............?]

At the unexpected answer, Burned Vegetation’s mouth fell open.

It couldn’t comprehend it at all.

Yet, clutching its throbbing head with one hand, it thought.

‘Could it be that the Star Eater truly possesses such an absurd ability?’

Through the Piercing Eye, it had confirmed that the Arm-Spitting One’s words were not false, yet it was still difficult to accept.

Because the ability itself was utterly unreasonable.

In the end, after pondering for a long while, Burned Vegetation said—

[...............Honestly, it’s still hard for me to believe you.]

[Is that so?]

[Yes. You could simply be accepting a lie as truth. So, we’ll verify whether your words are correct.]

And with that.

It made its decision.

***

“You’re saying you’ve found a means other than magic that can be used?”

[Hmm, strictly speaking, it’s closer to the realm of ‘inference’ than ‘finding,’ though.]

After adding that she couldn’t directly use his power anyway, Heinkel waved her hand, gesturing for Penia and Alon, who had come to the library, to sit.

After organizing her thoughts for a moment, she began to speak.

[Let me say this first—what I’m about to say is still only an inference.]

“I’m listening.”

[Hmm~]

Heinkel hesitated briefly before continuing.

[As you know, you’ve already succeeded in replacing the means of chanting incantations with ‘magic.’ You’re even using it in actual combat.]

“That’s right.”

[In other words, it’s already been proven that you can use incantations through other means. What’s important now is proof that it’s not the ‘pronunciation’ used to chant incantations that matters, but the will itself.]

Heinkel looked straight into Alon’s eyes.

[But even so, you failed to chant incantations using will alone. Why do you think that is?]

Alon pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

“Honestly, I don’t really have a sense of it.”

[Why not?]

“If there were even some kind of progress, I could research it little by little from there, but right now, I haven’t succeeded even once.”

Ever since succeeding in chanting incantations through magic, Alon had continuously tried, together with Penia, to chant incantations using will alone.

However, unlike with magic, Alon had not succeeded even a single time through will.

In other words, he hadn’t even found a starting point.

At Alon’s skeptical reply, Heinkel spoke.

[To start with the conclusion, I don’t think your approach is wrong.]

“..................Is that so?”

[Yes. The problem is simply that you’re ‘not prepared beforehand.’]

“Not prepared............?”

Heinkel nodded.

[Alon, what do you think about when you chant an incantation?]

“......What do I think about?”

[Yes.]

At the sudden question, as Alon tried to think—

[Stop, you don’t need to say it.]

“Pardon?”

[That’s already answered the question.]

A look of confusion appeared on Alon’s face.

Seeing that expression, Heinkel elaborated.

[Alright, I’ll get straight to the point. The reason you fail to chant incantations with will alone is, quite simply, due to your ignorance.]

“Ignorance, you say?”

[Even so, don’t take it too badly. It’s just that something you never needed before has now become necessary.]

As if preparing for a long explanation, she cleared her throat—

[From everything you’ve told me so far, you’re special. You can use spells without acquiring the mental imagery other mages require, and you can activate incantations simply by speaking, without learning them. That’s clearly a blessing. But—]

—She murmured in a low voice.

[—Right now, that blessing has become poison to you.]

“...Poison?”

[Yes. Because thanks to it, you’re using magic far too easily.]

At Heinkel’s words, Alon felt puzzled for only a moment.

“!”

Then Penia, standing beside him, murmured as if she had realized something.

“You lack motivation?”

[Correct.]

Heinkel nodded.

[Fundamentally, formulas are required to use magic. Likewise, incantations and spells also have formulas, along with the principles governing how they activate. But you—]

“......Can use incantations and spells simply by memorizing them. So you lack the motivation needed to use ‘will’ as a medium?”

[Exactly. That’s the core of it. To put it simply, your blessing has come back to bite you.]

At least in the current situation, she added.

[Of course, this is still just an inference. But if it’s clear that incantations activate even when only will is conveyed, then this seems to be the only explanation for why you can’t use magic through will.]

“Then to use will as a medium—”

[You’ll have to study incantations and spells from the beginning. It’s a bit of a murderous workload, though.]

She presented Alon with one possible method.

***

Immediately after hearing this.

Alon’s deliberation did not last long.

“I’ll give it a try.”

[Good decision. Honestly, if you’re just experimenting to see whether it’s possible to use will, you won’t need to invest that much time, so you don’t have to feel too burdened.]

As Alon nodded.

[Ah.]

Heinkel let out a quiet exclamation, as if she had just remembered something.

[And if possible, could you do me one favor?]

“What kind of favor?”

[……You know, that cat. Apparently, I’ve heard rumors that the one you keep with you can transform into a divine-blood……]

“Blackie, you mean?”

[Yes, that one. Could you show me?]

“It’s not particularly difficult, but why all of a sudden……?”

[There’s no special reason. Just pure curiosity. I’ve always been curious about divine-blood as beings. Would that be alright?]

Alon shook his head.

“No, as I said, it’s not especially difficult. It’s just that it might be a bit hard to show it here. It gets quite large.”

[Then show me outside.]

“Understood.”

Soon, the group left the library and headed outside the central Mage Tower, arriving at a wide open space.

After briefly checking Heinkel watching from near the Mage Tower, Alon—

“Blackie.”

[Meow?]

“Please.”

Called out to Blackie.

And then.

[Meow—!]

With a cute cry, Blackie leapt down onto the ground, and its body began to transform in an instant.

The enormous legs that started to rise from its back rapidly grew, lifting Blackie’s body high into the sky.

The elevated body swelled in size in the blink of an eye, and from within that dark, abyss-like space, dozens of eyes began to form.

And finally, the being known as the ‘Poison Swallower,’ the calamity of Colony, revealed itself.

[Oh.]

At the moment Heinkel’s admiring exclamation rang out.

In the forest on the opposite side of the central Mage Tower.

The divine-blood who had located the Star Eater’s position through the Piercing Eye and opened an abyss-like black hole toward where Alon was, using the Arm-Spitting One’s power, also—

[Th-that is—]

[The Poison Swallower?]

[...............No, that’s not the Poison Swallower. Didn’t you see? The small cat that followed the Star Eater transformed into that form.]

[And that ability—weak, but it’s certainly that of the Poison Swallower.]

[Which means—]

As they looked upon Blackie’s form—

[—The Star Eater’s power…. is real?]

They had begun to fall into a strange misunderstanding...............