Chapter 461 : Why are you doing this............? (9)
The place Alon arrived at after following Lime was the guild office.
It was clearly a place that had once been so horribly destroyed by the attack of the divine-blood that its form was unrecognizable.
“......It’s been properly restored.”
“Yes, it took quite a lot of effort.”
Before they knew it, Lime stepped inside the office that had regained its original appearance.
Alon followed her upstairs and was able to arrive at the office that Seolrang was using.
Seolrang’s office was not much different from before.
The items in use and the arrangement of the furniture were mostly the same as before.
However................
“Ahem, I’m sorry I couldn’t explain it earlier.”
For a brief moment, Alon had been staring at one spot, but at Lime’s words, he turned his gaze and naturally shook his head.
“It’s fine. More importantly, what’s going on?”
“About that~”
Lime fell silent as if organizing her thoughts, then soon parted her lips.
“As I mentioned, bandits have been appearing near the Colony, but those bandits aren’t normal.”
“Not normal?”
“I’m not certain, but they seem to have been affected by the divine-blood.”
“............! Affected by the divine-blood?”
Penia reacted seriously as she interjected.
However, after a brief pause, Lime continued speaking.
“Yes. But that’s only speculation.”
As Alon and Penia stared at her, she let out a breath.
“Yes, this is...... well, the situation is a bit complicated.”
The full explanation began, and when Lime finished her story, Alon summarized it.
“So you’re saying that bandits strong enough that it wouldn’t make sense unless they were affected by the divine-blood have been appearing recently?”
“That’s right. They’re not quite like the monsters we saw when the Colony was almost destroyed last time, but still. And—”
“They clearly have human forms?”
“...Yes, that’s why I said it’s ambiguous.”
Lime’s voice continued quietly.
“Most anomalous entities derived from the divine-blood take on strange forms, but those ones were human.”
“So recently, because of those bandits with such abnormal power, Seolrang and the other Babayaga have been going around dealing with them.”
“Now that the Colony is finally being rebuilt, if such ominous rumors spread again—”
Lime did not finish her sentence.
However, the meaning was fully conveyed nonetheless, and while Alon’s group fell silent.
Creak—!
The office door opened,
"Huh?”
Seolrang entered.
Seeing the gathered group, she looked momentarily confused. But soon, upon spotting Alon, her eyes widened.
“Master!”
With a bright face, she ran toward Alon.
Squeeze~!
Seolrang hugged Alon as he sat.
Her wagging tail and her usual smile entered Alon’s view.
“Seolrang, have you been well?”
“Yeah! How about you, Master?”
Alon stroked her head, which was filled with a wide smile.
The Seolrang he saw after a while was, as always, unchanged.
After Seolrang suddenly arrived and greeted them, Alon heard a more detailed explanation from her.
“I kept one alive to find out their base, but they never opened their mouth until they died. Or rather—”
“It felt like they simply couldn’t speak.”
“They couldn’t speak?”
“Yeah. Like a puppet.”
Seolrang tilted her head, going “Hmm~.”
“They definitely looked human, and judging by how their eyes moved, it seemed like they could think, but they couldn’t speak.”
“......Hmm~”
“That’s quite subtle.”
“But still, you eventually found their base?”
“That’s right!”
Even so, Seolrang had ultimately found their base.
“......Then is the bandit problem resolved?”
“No. I managed to sense roughly where their base is, but I couldn’t go there and come back.”
“Why?”
“One of the ones who went with me wasn’t in good condition.”
“Ah.”
“So! I dropped that friend off and was about to head out again, and right then—Master was here!”
A beaming smile once again filled Seolrang’s face.
As if reflecting her mood, her tail swayed endlessly for a moment.
“But why did you come to the Colony, Master?”
Now curious, Seolrang asked.
Alon told Lime and Seolrang why he had come to the Colony, and after listening quietly for a while, Seolrang spoke.
“Then does that mean the Fragment those divine-blood are looking for is somewhere around here?”
“For now, according to the information, yes.”
“Then I’ll help!”
Without hesitation, Seolrang immediately raised her hand.
Alon looked at her for a moment before speaking.
“Thank you.”
“No! Helping Master is my job!”
“But even so, we can’t put dealing with the bandits on the back burner, so let’s resolve that first.”
At that, Seolrang nodded as if in agreement,
And thus, the first task for Alon’s group, who had come to the Colony, was decided.
That night.
“Brother!”
“It’s been a while.”
Alon met Karsem, who had come to find him in the middle of the night.
“If you had contacted me, I would have come out to greet you right away......! I’m sorry.”
“That’s not necessary. I came on my own.”
As Karsem lowered his head, Alon lightly waved his hand and asked.
“By the way...... it’s nighttime—are you okay moving around alone like this?”
“If you’re worried about me, thank you, but it’s fine. At least within this city, I have enough strength to protect myself.”
Karsem laughed heartily.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. And actually, even when you weren’t here, Brother, I often came here at night.”
“I see.”
·Is there a reason for the king of the Colony to visit this place at night?
Alon wondered, but since it wasn’t an urgent matter, he simply nodded for now.
After exchanging brief pleasantries, Alon brought up something he had been meaning to ask Karsem.
“May I ask you something?”
“Ah, yes! If it’s something I can answer, I’ll tell you everything.”
Karsem nodded.
“Have you perhaps found the item?”
“The item......?”
“Didn’t the Seeker’s Tower distribute power to the kings?”
“Ah.”
Only then did Karsem seem to understand the question, nodding again.
“Yes. I also found an item and gained an ability.”
“...If it’s alright, may I ask what kind of ability you obtained?”
It was a very cautious question.
If he had truly gained an ability, asking about it could be considered rude.
Even though Karsem treated Alon casually, the two were still kings leading their respective nations.
Of course, Alon lacked that kind of awareness somewhat.
In any case, Alon thought it couldn’t be helped if Karsem refused to answer, but—
“Yes, of course!”
Contrary to expectations, Karsem readily accepted Alon’s request.
***
At that time.
Hidan, an executive of Blue Moon, had been having an extremely busy schedule lately.
After committing a fatal(?) mistake last time and somehow receiving forgiveness from Red Moon, he had been diligently researching what kind of hairstyle the Great Moon preferred.
That wasn’t the only task Hidan was responsible for.
Mediating various situations occurring in the underworld within Blue Moon’s domain was also his job, and managing the members of Blue Moon as a whole was also his responsibility.
Because of that, although things had improved a bit since the Great Moon entered the desert, he was still overwhelmed with work and remained exhausted.
Just as the interior of Blue Moon’s hideout was filled with Hidan’s sighs.
“You look completely worn out.”
“Yuna.”
One of Blue Moon’s executives, Yuna, had come to visit.
“I’ve been tired lately.”
“Well, considering the work you’re handling, that’s understandable. Lately, I’ve been tired too, but—”
While agreeing that Hidan being exhausted was natural, Yuna trailed off.
“Is something going on?”
“Ah, there’s just a lot of information to gather overall these days.”
“......That much?”
“Well, we are cooperating with the information guild, but even considering that, there’s still a lot to gather separately. You know? Ever since the divine-blood appeared, things haven’t been easy.”
“That’s true.”
As she said, ever since the divine-blood descended, although it wasn’t visible externally, many things had been happening behind the Allied Kingdom Alliance.
New organizations were springing up like mushrooms, religions that had hidden themselves in preparation for the end of the world were reappearing,
And among them, even anomalous entities created by the true divine-blood were emerging, causing chaos almost every day.
Even though the Divine Land created by the Great Moon was making efforts.
“You’ve been working hard too.”
“Well...... yeah.”
At Hidan’s words of comfort, Yuna shrugged and moved as usual.
Soon, she picked up a sheet of paper placed in a corner of the hideout and unfolded it to read.
“Is that a report?”
“Yeah. Of course. What else would it be?”
However, soon, Yuna’s voice cut off.
“Why?”
Hidan asked in confusion, but Yuna remained silent, staring at the paper for a while before—
“......Hidan.”
“Speak.”
“......Didn’t you say the Moon will be holding a meeting soon for the first time in a while?”
“That’s right......?”
“......Can you leave me out of the meeting this time?”
She said calmly, and before Hidan, now even more puzzled, could say anything, Yuna flipped the paper she had been reading.
“?”
Hidan, who received the paper without thinking, began reading its contents.
The content itself wasn’t particularly remarkable.
It was literally just a report listing gathered information.
That only deepened his confusion about Yuna’s behavior.
“......Ah.”
Soon, he let out a low sigh.
“Did you see it?”
“...Yeah.”
He had seen it.
The sentence written at the very bottom of the report.
'Penia Crysinne, Vice Tower Master of the Blue Mage Tower, officially announced at the Central Mage Tower Conference that she and the Great Moon share a special relationship.'
“......Hidan.”
“Yes.”
“The Vice Tower Master of the Blue Mage Tower.”
“Yeah.”
Yuna swallowed dryly and spoke.
“...Does she have ten lives or something?”
Hidan closed his mouth.
Because he thought the same thing.
“Yuna.”
“Ah, sorry, I have something to take care of, so I’ll get going.”
“No, wait—”
“Please handle the report for me! It’d be weird for me to attend a meeting that’s being held after so long anyway!”
“Wait—!!”
Before Hidan could finish shouting, Yuna had already disappeared.
And thus, left alone, Hidan—
“......Ah.”
He tightly shut his eyes.
There was only one thought in his head.
‘Ah, I want to go home.’