At the same time as a noble’s neck turned, pandemonium erupted.

"Guards— guardsmen! The hero has gone crazy!"

"R-run!"

"Get out of here, hurry!!"

"Move! I said move!"

The relaxed atmosphere shattered in an instant.

The nobles, letting out screams that were almost shrieks, struggled desperately to get out of here.

Someone protected their own body with the private soldiers they’d brought.

Someone else, unbelievably.

As if they’d prepared for even a situation like this to some degree, pulled something out from inside their clothes and tried to flee.

But—

Kwaddeudeuk-!

Regrettably, the nobles couldn’t escape.

Beyond Elivan, who was smiling, another noble’s neck turned, dying on the spot.

And then another.

And then another—

Continuously.

Unceasingly, they died.

The ballroom that had been so splendid.

Was covered in corpses and fresh blood.

The golden chandelier was splattered with blood.

Thick blood seeped into the carpet and the gold-thread trim finishing its edge, hiding its bright sheen.

And so, what remained was—

"Ah— aaaa......."

At the very front,

the Duke Pimallian of Ashtalon, who had been staring at Elivan.

He, who hadn’t run away, stared blankly at Elivan.

No— more precisely.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t run away, but that he couldn’t.

To run, his legs were seized by fear and wobbled.

To scream, his mouth was soaked in terror and only trembled, shaking.

But even in that fear and terror.

Elivan wore a bright, sunny smile.

The duke couldn’t understand at all.

To be honest, there wasn’t a single part of this situation he properly understood.

No, he could understand Elivan’s logic.

He was a hero.

And using his own birthday party, he’d gathered nobles connected to the underworld.

And slaughtered them all.

There was no shortage in calling him a villain.

Yeah, up to that point, it wasn’t an utterly incomprehensible story.

Even if it was far too horrific and violent for something a hero had done.

But the doubt that clawed through the duke’s head was somewhere else.

"Just... why?"

The duke muttered without realizing it.

If the hero meant to kill them, it didn’t have to be here.

Looking at that unprecedented power, he could probably have killed them quietly, too.

But Elivan didn’t do that.

He deliberately drew the nobles all the way here.

And he even gathered the attention of the Allied Kingdoms under the pretext of a birthday party—

and then killed them.

As if he meant to broadcast this incident widely.

That was an incredibly stupid thing to do.

No matter how much they were villains, and people connected to the underworld.

What he’d done was reckless enough to make him lose all the prestige of “Hero Elivan.”

Just... why, why—

"Looks like you’re curious."

The Duke Pimallian, who had been thinking fiercely inside fear and terror—

"......."

at some point swallowed his breath as he saw Elivan looking at him.

Elivan’s expression was the same as before.

A cheerful smile hooked at his mouth.

But the miserable scene filling the duke’s vision made him realize that Elivan’s smile was no longer ordinary.

So he couldn’t easily open his mouth.

"What are you so curious about? The reason I bothered to gather the nobles and kill them? Or the reason I threw my own reputation down onto the dirt?"

Unlike him,

Elivan asked the duke with ease, and before the duke could answer, as if he’d already pierced through what was inside, he said the answer calmly.

"The answer is simple. You probably already guessed it. The nobles gathered here are all trash. Pests that will put down roots in the underworld and someday stain the kingdom with corruption."

"Pests...?"

"Yes, pests. There isn’t a more fitting word than that."

The duke felt doubt.

Certainly, as Elivan said, everyone gathered here was connected to the underworld.

But among them, someone holding the kind of power that could stain the kingdom with corruption from the underworld, or someone who could come to hold it—

he could say for certain didn’t exist.

Rather, as far as he knew, the real power brokers of the underworld at this point hadn’t been invited to Elivan’s party.

The doubt born from that.

"......But right now, here, there isn’t anyone who could be like that...."

So even in the fear surging in, the duke threw the question out.

Barely mumbling with a mouth that wouldn’t open.

Elivan went ah, and nodded.

"Yes, that’s right. Everyone here is a bunch of nobodies. If it’s ‘right now,’ that is."

Including you.

—Leaving behind words the duke couldn’t properly understand,

Elivan continued the answer.

"And the reason I bothered to gather you here and kill you is simple."

Then he said,

"A swollen reputation, when it falls, flows down into an even deeper place."

The corners of his mouth were still lifted.

Naturally, the duke couldn’t understand why Elivan had done something like this.

But even so, there was just one thing—

one thing he understood.

That Elivan in front of him was a person far more dangerous than he’d imagined.

"S-save me. You’re— a hero, aren’t you?"

The duke begged for mercy.

He knew it himself.

How useless this was.

But he still wanted to live.

A head filled with nothing but the desire to survive struggled to cling to even a ridiculously low probability and live, and Elivan, looking at the duke like that—

"No."

answered calmly.

"Wh... what...?"

The duke asked back, bewildered.

At that sight, Elivan smiled again.

"Literally, I’m not a hero. Strictly speaking, I’m closer to ‘someone who was helped by the hero.’"

Then, now as before.

Regrettably, there was never a chance for an answer to return from the duke after that.

In the moment Elivan said that,

thump—

the duke’s neck was twisted.

Blood flowed out with a prushk- sound.

Staring at that scene, Elivan naturally turned his gaze.

At some point, that thing wearing black sacred robes had appeared.

"Outside?"

At Elivan’s question, it laughed and answered.

"They’re rushing here. Looks like it went the way you wanted."

"......."

"So, are the preparations done?"

"Yeah."

At that answer, it flicked something toward Elivan.

A red fragment.

Something too ambiguous to even call a jewel—just a fragment that was only red.

And in the moment that fragment touched Elivan’s hand—

Kwaddeudeuk-!

His body began to be swallowed by the red blood vessels pouring out from the fragment.

Slowly, but quickly.

As it watched Elivan quietly being swallowed by the red blood vessels, that thing wearing black sacred robes suddenly asked a question.

"Aren’t you worried? If your expectations were wrong, you won’t be entering the path of truly saving this world—rather, you’ll destroy it. Now you’ll become the strongest sin."

A calm question.

To that, Elivan—

"No."

just answered like that.

A very simple answer.

But even at the short answer that came back, it couldn’t help but show a strange light in both eyes.

On Elivan’s face as he was being swallowed, there was unmistakable ‘trust’ and ‘belief.’

As if he’d directly held the future in both eyes and come back.

And so, it only smiled, then disappeared.

Elivan quietly looked up at the sky.

In the evening sky that had just been dyed with darkness, the Milky Way was embroidered.

Brightly, as if looking down at the ground.

But even as he looked at the Milky Way, his gaze still didn’t change.

Because the only correct answer he’d found was exactly this.

Elivan put trust into that gaze.

Elivan put belief into that heart.

And so Elivan—

just closed his eyes.

And.

"......."

Anger opened its eyes.

[I thought I was going to die-!]

[Kkyuuuuuu-]

Around then,

Alon moved a little faster than usual and arrived at the Palatio estate.

The moment he entered the office, Basiliora and Blackie came bursting out, panting.

[Damn it! Why won’t that weird hand-seal bastard get off us!?]

[Kkyu-! Kkyukkyukkyu-!!]

The instant Seollang disappeared to settle the unfinished game match with Ryang-a, Basiliora and Blackie popped out right away and poured out complaints as hard as they could.

The two of them looked at Alon at the same time.

[Alon! Send those bastards away already! It’s starting to get hard to endure!]

[Kkyu!]

A shout filled with firm resolve.

But behind a blank face, Alon made an awkward expression.

He could try bringing it up if he wanted to bring it up.

But still, telling Seollang ‘it’s about time you leave’ was a little...

"......Well. I’ll ask."

Still, he couldn’t just ignore the pitiful looks in their eyes. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

So for now, Alon nodded like he understood.

Just as Alon was calming the situation down like that—

"Long time no ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) see."

With a kkiik- sound of the door, Evan entered the office.

[You scared me, you dumb bastard!]

[Kkyu!]

At the speed of light, each one tried to dive into Alon’s pocket and ring, then stopped, and Blackie and Basiliora glared at Evan with bulging eyes.

"Why’re you calling Seollang?"

[Kkyuuuu-!]

[Hmph— I’ll admit it. Right now, you’re stronger than me!]

But Evan threatened them with a snort like it wasn’t even worth anything, and the two of them, groaning like they’d seen the world’s greatest villain, went in.

"Huhuhuh-"

Evan shook his shoulders and laughed, like he’d won.

Looking at him, Alon said,

"......Is it fun?"

"Of course it’s fun, my lord. There aren’t many times I can press those two down."

To Evan, who added, 'I have to press them down now, too,' Alon asked.

"So, did you find Sili?"

"Ah, I came to tell you about that, actually. It looks like Sili already headed back to the Divine Land."

"Did she?"

"Yes."

"......Looks like I’ll have to go to the Divine Land again once."

Just after recalling what Sircal had said last time, Alon asked a question at the thought that suddenly came to him.

"Come to think of it, didn’t Sili say she had something to do in the territory too?"

"Yes, it looks like she built a church."

"......A church?"

"Yes. I heard she built it across from the church Yutia built."

"......."

For a moment, Alon smacked his lips.

Whether he should pick at ‘how did you build it without my permission’ first, or pick at ‘why did you build a church across from the Sironia church’ first—

he couldn’t get a sense of it at all.

Since he was going to meet Sili before long anyway, Alon organized his thoughts and decided to ask then.

Right after that,

Evan delivered strange news.

"Ah, and I hear they’re going to start by building small-scale housing in the Divine Land."

"......Housing?"

"Yes. They kept using tents like barracks, so. It seems like they’re going to build new ones this time."

Alon went hm— and nodded.

Certainly, at a point where there were already so many people, they needed housing somehow.

But the reason Alon had put off that thought until now

was the cost.

The Palatio marquisate is extremely well-off.

Honestly, at this point, even if Alon retired and relaxed, there was no way his money would dry up until he died.

Of course, it would be different if he lived extravagantly.

But Alon wasn’t the type to live extravagantly.

However, building housing in the Divine Land wasn’t work that normally cost only a little money.

Maybe enough that even Alon, with a lot of money piled up, could wobble a bit.

So.

"......How much cost is needed?"

Alon asked, somewhat tense, but—

Evan—

"Huh? There isn’t anything like that, though."

"......? There isn’t?"

"Yes."

"Then how are they building housing?"

"It says they’re covering it with donations."

"Donations?"

"Yes."

"Enough donations came in to do a housing project?"

As Alon asked, bewildered, Evan, as if remembering something else, delivered more news.

"Ah, come to think of it, they said they’re reorganizing the roads too."

"......The roads too?"

"Yes. With donations."

"......."

"On top of that, they said they’re going to build a small city hall too."

"Don’t tell me, this time too...?"

"Yes. With donations."

"......???"

A faint confusion rose on Alon’s face.......