At the sight spread out before them, even Penia opened their mouth with a, “Wow, this is—”

Everyone let out an involuntary sigh of awe for a moment, and then Alon’s group headed toward the Divine Land’s main gate, which looked like it had been put up temporarily, but—

“......This is a line?”

“Looks like it.”

Unfortunately, they couldn’t just go right through that gate.

Because of the line—stretched out long, with no end in sight.

“......No way this whole line is—”

“Somehow, it really looks like they all gathered because of the rumor......?”

At Evan’s follow-up, Alon’s blank expression broke into one that said he genuinely couldn’t understand.

“No, even if that’s true, it’s this bad?”

“Yeah.”

Next to Alon, who couldn’t believe it, Evan clicked his tongue.

But—

“Really? I don’t think it’s that hard to understand.”

Penia, instead, tilted their head while looking between Evan and Alon.

“Why?”

“Because it’s obvious, isn’t it? Like you know, the Allied Kingdoms are pure chaos because of bandits right now.”

“Well... that’s true.”

“No, I mean it. It’s really serious.”

Penia added that these days, it wasn’t unusual for a village you stopped by last time to be gone when you came back this time, and continued explaining.

“So it’s only natural that people would look for a way to survive and start eyeing Kalannon’s power.”

“......So they need power.”

“That too, but more importantly... um... how should I put it... it feels legal.”

“......Legal?”

Alon thought, ‘Since when is any power in this world “legal”?’ but listened closely.

“Look. Abyssal Cores are what the underworld types use, right? And if you absorb one, then when you use power, black mana leaks out of you like those Black Mage Tower guys.”

“Right.”

“So even if it strengthens you easily, if you’re the type who cares about how other people see you, you can’t use that method. Rosario punishes Abyssal Cores harshly too. You know, right? That artificial outer god last time.”

When Alon nodded as if he understood, Penia continued.

“Because of that, mercenaries and knights—people whose ‘name’ and ‘reputation’ matter—had to just sit there drooling. Even if that method existed, they couldn’t actually go for it. But then, in that situation, Kalannon’s power—something you can use just by training—popped out right when they needed it!”

“......It’s a rumor, though.”

“Right. And the result is—”

Penia gestured like, This, right here, and Alon nodded without realizing it.

If it was like that, it wasn’t completely impossible to understand.

But—

‘......Still, this is a bit—’

That was that, and it was also true that the situation he was standing in right now felt oddly burdensome.

Because somehow, since earlier, it felt like the area around him had been buzzing, then gone strangely quiet, and the stares were all gathering on him.

“......Look, that’s Marquis Palatio’s carriage.”

“It is.”

“That person is Kalannon’s—”

Maybe because it had gone quiet, Alon could faintly hear even that much by his ear.

Just as he was trying to agree with Penia’s explanation while forcing himself to ignore the stares landing on him—

“Everyone, freeze!!!”

From far away, knights came running with a loud shout.

“Have you arrived, Marquis!”

They formed up in front of Alon, who was looking out through the window, and roared.

Thanks to that—

The stares that were already focused snapped in an instant to the Marquis Palatio carriage.

Alon—

“Y-yeah.”

Feeling a knight radiating loyalty to an almost burdensome degree, and the stares of the crowd that he could no longer pretend not to notice, Alon barely managed to nod.

“We will guide you at once!”

The knight at the front answered bluntly, then started forcing a path through the line that had been stretched out up until a moment ago.

Of course, the long line looked like it was parting on its own without even needing that.

Anyway, following the opened path, Alon’s carriage entered the Divine Land.

“We’ve arrived!”

Stepping down from the carriage under the somewhat burdensome whispers and looks, Alon saw—

“Attention!!!”

As if they’d been waiting, the knights and soldiers stood lined up in formation.

“.......”

From the moment he first created the Divine Land, they had discipline.

Yeah, sure, that was true.

But now, these were knights and soldiers who would clearly carry out any order without hesitation.

‘......No, they’re just a garrison.’

And when Alon even spotted Deus in the distance, looking at the clustered knights and soldiers with a proud face, Alon suddenly realized one more thing.

‘Wait, when did they get their knight uniforms fitted?’

Back when they were selected, the knights’ gear hadn’t been unified aside from the pauldrons.

That was only natural.

He hadn’t had time to make armor—hell, he hadn’t even had time to decide on the order’s design.

But now—

Even at a glance, they were wearing shining, incredibly impressive suits of armor.

‘No, when did this— no, and where did they get the money to fit all this—’

As strange questions stacked up in his head, Alon turned his gaze.

Then, among the knights standing before him, he found a somewhat familiar face.

“......?”

A man with blue skin.

Did I see wrong? That thought flickered through Alon’s mind, but he shook his head.

In the first place, that blue skin wasn’t something you could possibly missee even if you wanted to.

And the first impression had been so intense that it was burned clearly into his memory.

So Alon—

“......What are you doing there?”

—asked the Blue-Eared One, who was standing in the very front row.

And the Blue-Eared One subtly looked up at the distant sky—

“......Yeah. Why am I doing this, anyway.......”

—and muttered something incomprehensible in a voice that sounded strangely enlightened.

The Blue-Eared One recalled the past—a little over a month ago.

White Ghost Gang Ryang-a, who, every other day, claimed she was depressed and used “training” as an excuse to relieve stress on her subordinates.

The time he headed to the marquis’s estate, trying to bring Alon before her and stop her tyranny.

To be honest, even up to that point, nothing particularly special had happened.

When he arrived at the marquis’s estate, he heard that Alon wasn’t there, but was in the Divine Land about a day away.

So he went to the Divine Land, and—

That was where it started.

......Where the strange things began.

‘Hey, Marquis Palatio—’

‘Huh, what is it, are you a newbie? What are you doing! Not rags like that—change into ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ this!’

‘No, that’s not—’

‘Tsk! No excuses! Hurry! You have to change before training starts! It’s tougher here than you think!’

‘No, wait— I’m not some soldier here—’

‘So much talk! Just put it on already!’

That was the very first thing that happened.

The moment he entered the Divine Land and asked a soldier where Marquis Palatio was.

After he ended up changing into training clothes without even realizing how, the next person he met was—

‘......You—’

‘Yeah, perfect timing. You’ve seen me before, right?’

‘That is correct.’

Deus.

The moment he saw Deus, he tried to walk up right away and explain the situation, but—

‘Did you enlist as a soldier?’

‘As if. I’m here only to find Marquis Palatio—’

‘I see.’

‘Yeah, I’m not a soldier or anything! So hurry and tell me where the marquis is—’

‘It would be a waste for talent like yours to remain a soldier. I’ll raise you to a knight.’

‘......What? Wait! That’s not what I meant—’

‘Take the position of Squad One leader.’

‘No, wait—!’

......In an instant, he became a knight.

At this point, he was a little offended.

Because no one was actually listening.

For that reason, for a moment, he even thought about flipping this place upside down.

But unfortunately, he couldn’t.

There were two reasons.

One was that this place was something Marquis Palatio had made.

To be honest, from his perspective, whether Marquis Palatio made it or some kingdom made it didn’t matter.

But Ryang-a, who could be called his boss, treasured Marquis Palatio to an absurd degree.

And he knew that very well.

If it ever got out that he caused a mess here—

He knew Ryang-a wouldn’t let it go.

And on top of that, the second reason was—

“Being a knight— amazing.”

“You’re strong, indeed.”

“Wow— how in the world did you...?”

The knights and soldiers, without exception, acknowledged him.

Of course, it wasn’t as if he’d never received attention or recognition before.

Even if Ryang-a beat him around, he was still clearly the vice-boss of the White Ghost Gang, and his strength was naturally second only to White Ghost Gang Ryang-a.

Meaning, “recognition” had always followed him as something obvious.

But this was different.

This kind of admiration and recognition, without discrimination—he had never received it before.

Because of his inborn skin, he’d received humiliation from humans beyond imagining until now.

And even within the White Ghost Gang, there were those who acknowledged his strength, but said it was “just innate power” anyway.

Of course, no one had the guts to run their mouth in front of him.

But it was definitely true that talk like that went around inside the gang, so to him, this kind of attention was a pretty fresh experience.

On top of that, even if the knight order’s training was boring, it still felt different from the White Ghost Gang’s rough, raw training.

......No, honestly, it was very different.

Unlike the White Ghost Gang underlings, who would do things halfheartedly whenever he told them to do something, the order’s subordinates worked hard even if it was something trivial.

And if the White Ghost Gang had plenty of guys who were weak but proud—guys who subtly tried to match him—there were none like that in the knight order.

In other words, the pain of being a superior that he felt inside the White Ghost Gang—here, he didn’t feel even a single bit of it.

So naturally—

Before he even realized it, he spent a month with them, completely influenced.

Of course, dumping the whole story would make the mood weird, so he only framed it as, “Somehow, I ended up like this against my will.”

“......Well, that’s why it turned out like this.”

He ended it briefly.

Inside Marquis Palatio’s makeshift barracks.

Alon, who had watched him talk with wistful eyes while staring at distant mountains, drew a conclusion.

“So anyway, you came because of Ryang-a.”

“That is correct. I came to take you.”

At his nod, Alon made a slightly awkward expression.

‘I did think I’d go meet her someday.’

But somehow, he hadn’t managed to visit until now.

Scratching his head, Alon said—

“I have business outside anyway, so I’ll stop by your side soon.”

“Understood.”

Then Alon added, as if remembering something else.

“Ah, and I’m saying this because it sounds like you got swept up in things, but you worked hard. If you want to quit, it’s fine if you quit.”

From what he explained, it was basically the same as coming to find Alon and getting dragged into unnecessary trouble.

Alon spoke with comfort in it, but—

“No, well— no.”

“?”

“Um, how do I put it—I already took a position in the order. Wouldn’t it be kind of weird to just suddenly leave like that?”

His gaze started to drift.

“......Well, that’s true, but don’t you need to go back to Ryang-a?”

“Ah, right.......”

At Alon’s continued words, the low sigh that followed—

For a moment, the impression of, What on earth is this? rose in Alon’s mind, but—

“Marquis.”

“What.”

“Anyone can see he’s still attached, right?”

“......Seems like it.”

“What kind of place is that White Ghost Gang, anyway.......”

As Evan whispered quietly and Alon softly agreed—

“But Marquis! If it’s to this extent...... doesn’t that mean your divine power went up a ton too?”

“Huh, that’s true.”

Penia clapped once as they asked, and Evan nodded too.

“Is that so.”

Alon closed his eyes to observe his inner self.

The moment he closed them—

“......?”

Alon crossed into a very familiar space.

A space filled with a blue Milky Way.

“This is—”

Realizing where it was without difficulty, Alon immediately turned his gaze, and there—

“Nice to see you.”

“......Kalannon?”

After a very long time, he was able to meet Kalannon, the lightning receiver.

However—

“Yeah. It’s me.”

Not as a young girl, but as a mature woman—Kalannon.