Chapter 451 : Return (7)
The next day.
Just past the morning, Alon looked down at the scenery of the Divine Land.
“It seems like the Divine Land changes a lot every time I see it.”
“I think so as well.”
Once again, the landscape of the Divine Land had changed.
The central tent where Alon stayed remained the same, but buildings were being constructed all around it.
“Mm~ well, half a year has passed, so I suppose that much change makes sense.”
“I suppose.”
Alon nodded belatedly.
He hadn’t paid much attention to it, but it had taken a full half year from the time he met the Seeker, obtained the law, and returned.
Retracing the time that had passed in an instant, Alon lowered his gaze again.
Aside from the wooden palisade and the central tent, the Divine Land had practically become a large village that could be called a proper territory.
“…Half a year is quite long.”
“It really is.”
As they descended the cliff and approached the gates of the Divine Land, knights rushed out as if they had been waiting and began lining up.
A situation similar to usual.
However—
“…?”
Today, Alon felt a strange sense of unease.
By now, the formation should have been complete, yet knights were still continuously pouring out from the gates.
Moreover—
“…Are they crying?”
“Not exactly crying…”
“But they do look like they’re tearing up.”
—The knights were looking at Alon with tears welling in their eyes.
Alon, who had been walking closer, halted.
No, why are they making those expressions?
As confusion surfaced beneath his expressionless face,
“Lord Alon?”
Evan cautiously called out to him.
“What is it?”
“…Have you perhaps come to the Divine Land secretly before this?”
“Why would I…?”
At Alon’s response, Evan also looked at the knights as if he didn’t understand.
“Then if that’s not the case, why are they all looking at you like a hero who sacrificed himself for the nation?”
“…Ah.”
Only then did Alon realize.
Those tearful expressions from the knights stemmed from loyalty.
“…I feel like I’ve seen this scene somewhere before.”
Tilting his head, Alon soon let out a quiet exclamation.
He hadn’t thought long, but he recalled where he had seen it.
Knights tearing up every time a carriage passed, and Alon moving expressionlessly. It was just like—
…?
It closely resembled the reaction of citizens who were deeply moved when the leader of a certain northern country appeared, something he had once watched without much interest while eating pork cutlet in his original world.
Alon quietly shut his eyes tightly.
Receiving an extremely respectful escort as if he were a supreme leader, Alon entered the tent.
“You’ve arrived?”
“Sili.”
As if she had been waiting, Sili greeted him with a bright smile.
After exchanging brief pleasantries, he heard from her the reason why the knights had changed like that.
“So, they gained power? Simus did?”
“Yes. And I gained it too!”
Sili nodded vigorously.
Without realizing it, Alon let out an impressed sound.
‘I knew things were progressing well to some extent, but…’
Even while being elsewhere, Simus and Sili were connected to Alon.
Still, he hadn’t expected them to gain power this quickly, so he was briefly surprised, but soon regained his composure and grasped the situation.
“So, rumors have spread that you and Simus received power from me.”
“Yes, that’s right! Though I added a few embellishments here and there.”
“…Embellishments?”
“Ah, you don’t have to worry too much. Since it was going to spread anyway, I just added a bit of seasoning so it could be more helpful to you, Lord Alon!”
“Seasoning…?”
“Yes, of course, there are absolutely no lies included!”
Sili smiled suspiciously as she said not to worry.
Behind her, the tearful faces of the knights from earlier came to mind.
“….”
Alon quietly turned his gaze to one side of the tent.
Kalannon was there beside a structure resembling a cat tower.
Swoosh—
As he looked at Kalannon, she subtly turned her head away.
…
Just by briefly making eye contact with Evan, Alon conveyed his thoughts.
“By the way, what have you been doing?”
At Sili’s question, Alon roughly explained what had happened so far.
“I see—”
As she nodded after hearing everything, Alon voiced a thought that came to mind.
“Do only the knights know that you and Simus gained abilities?”
“That’s right. Of course, when Simus first gained his power, there was an unexpected incident, so a few more people know, but it hasn’t spread widely yet.”
“…Just in case,” Sili added.
Alon nodded.
If something like that had happened in the Divine Land, the information should have reached him immediately, but it hadn’t at all.
As he organized his thoughts,
“Then what do you mean by ‘just in case’?”
At the additional question, Sili responded,
“It’s exactly as it sounds. We haven’t yet heard your intentions, Lord Alon.”
“My intentions?”
“Yes. You’ve been granting power until now, but this kind of power is completely different in nature. Depending on how the rumors spread—”
“The reactions will change?”
Sili silently smiled in affirmation, and Alon pondered briefly.
‘My intentions…’
The reason Alon tried to awaken divine power in humans was because of the divine-blood.
It was research carried out not for his own safety at all, but to give humans a weapon to stand against the divine-blood.
Thus—
“…Well, I didn’t really have any particular intention.”
“Is that so?”
“My main goal was simply to give them the power to fight against the divine-blood.”
At his answer, Sili let out a small exclamation and nodded several times.
Then, with clear eyes, she asked,
“Then will you continue to increase it moving forward?”
Ideally, he wanted to go beyond individually granting blessings and fully automate the process, but since that was practically impossible for now—
“Most likely.”
Alon nodded.
Sili thought for a moment before carefully asking,
“Then, if it’s alright with you, could I select the next people to receive your blessings?”
“…You?”
“Yes, of course, only if you’re okay with it.”
After a brief consideration, Alon permitted it.
“That’s fine. Though I’ll make the final confirmation.”
“Got it! Then I’ll start moving in earnest now.”
“…In earnest?”
“Yes.”
As Alon hesitated at her choice of words,
“This is a great opportunity to gather faith!” Sili exclaimed, bowing quickly before heading outside.
Before Alon could even ask anything—
“…What is she planning?”
A strange sense of unease arose within him.
And the next day.
“…Um, Lord Alon.”
“…What is it?”
“I looked into the rumors, and it seems…”
Evan scratched his head before reluctantly continuing.
“It seems the story going around is that you ‘personally sacrificed your lifespan to tear off pieces of your power and grant them to humans suffering under the divine-blood.’”
“…What?”
A story mixed with a little—no, a lot—of fabrication.
***
Around the time Alon shut his eyes tightly at the fabricated rumors(?), a crow was gliding through the sky above the Palantio territory.
That entity felt entirely different from an ordinary crow.
A faint trail of mana lingered along its flight path, and its size was several times larger than a normal one.
After circling above Palantio for a while, the crow’s identity was revealed.
[Your Highness, we have arrived.]
“Oh my, I see.”
—it was none other than Marileus, a knight and subordinate of Princess Irenne Polantisia of the Southern Empire.
And riding on top of him was Irenne.
“As expected, with your abilities, we arrived quickly.”
[It is my honor.]
Responding while transformed through a power gained from “derivation,” the crow—no, Marileus—spoke.
Irenne Polantisia lowered her gaze.
“This is indeed Palantio?”
[Yes, it is.]
“…The castle is quite enormous.”
[I share the same impression.]
“…Why would they build such a massive castle?”
A look of confusion appeared on Irenne’s face.
The castle of Palantio was so enormous that it far exceeded her expectations.
However, she soon regained her composure and recalled the purpose of her visit.
The reason was clear.
To confirm the rumor that the King of Palantio was the father of the guardian dragon.
And to use the power she had obtained this time to verify that rumor.
Having reached that thought, Irenne closed her eyes and muttered something before snapping them open.
Fwoosh—!
Her eyes, which had been golden, began to shimmer with blue light.
At the same time, the world she saw changed.
The bright landscape below turned gray.
And what filled that gray world were blue flames.
“…Haa.”
From the sky, Irenne let out a small breath.
This was the power she had obtained—once she used these eyes, she could perceive the information of all living beings in the world.
That wasn’t all.
From the colors visible to her, she could roughly gauge the strength of others.
Starting from blue, which was closest to ordinary humans, the color of the flames darkened depending on innate power, and in the case of dragons, they emitted brilliant golden flames.
She recalled how she had wandered the skies of the Northern Empire just to see how the guardian dragon appeared.
If Alon were truly a dragon hiding his identity, he would surely be emitting golden mana.
Thinking that, Irenne looked around—
“!”
Before long, she discovered a golden flame and widened her eyes.
“…?”
But soon tilted her head.
Something was strange.
The one emitting golden flames wasn’t Alon, but—
“Hmm? What was it you said?”
“I’m asking what your relationship with Alon is.”
—a man with an appearance like a celestial being.
His beauty was so extraordinary that he couldn’t be considered human, and Irenne unconsciously held her breath.
That radiant man was the owner of the dazzling golden flames.
…Why is there a dragon here…?
As Irenne’s eyes filled with confusion, something even more shocking occurred.
“What kind of relationship? There’s no need to think too hard about it.”
Through hearing enhanced by mana, his voice reached her ears.
“It’s simply a master and servant relationship.”
“…Just to confirm, you’re the servant?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
At the shocking statement of the radiant man—
“I am the servant, and Alon is the master.”
—something utterly unbelievable—
“…A dragon is being kept as a servant?”
At the dragon’s voluntary declaration of servitude(?), Irenne’s pupils trembled.