For a moment, Alon made a face as if he’d misheard something.

“...Is there some problem, King Palatio?”

But unfortunately, with Karmakses III’s confirming follow-up, Alon realized he had not heard wrong.

What on earth was going on?

He ran his mind hard, but he simply could not understand by what chain of events he had ended up being called king.

“......”

So he seriously considered whether he should ask the reason first—

“...No.”

He soon shook his head.

Everyone was speaking as if it were only natural that Alon was a king.

Among such kings, if he were to ask back, “What? Me?”

nothing would make the situation more awkward than that.

So Alon proceeded with the meeting while pretending to remain composed.

After some time passed—

“...Then for the time being, we’ll observe the overall situation.”

“I agree.”

“Understood.”

“Let’s do that.”

A provisional conclusion was reached.

They had discussed for hours, but in the end, they decided to move as conservatively as possible until the anomalous-type monsters made any notable moves.

After coordinating a few minor points, the meeting ended.

Then the kings of each nation all rose from their seats and quickly departed.

From the time of the Bearer to the fall of the Milky Way and the emergence of strange monsters, the current kings had a great many scattered duties.

Among them, the one who remained until the very end was Siyan.

“Until next time. You—no, should I now address you as king instead?”

Siyan looked at Alon with amusement, and before Alon could answer,

“Anyway, once your affairs are finished, you should stop by Teria.”

Leaving those final words, Siyan exited the conference hall.

A subtly ambiguous attitude—whether treating Alon as a king or as a noble.

Alon was still bewildered, but soon rose to his feet.

Outside the door, Evan was waiting.

“Marquis, did the meeting end well?”

The same reaction as usual.

Alon stared straight at Evan, then—

“Evan.”

“Yes?”

“...Am I the king of the Kingdom of Palatio?”

He asked.

For a moment, Evan’s face went blank.

“...Marquis.”

“Speak.”

“...Have you perhaps developed a serious problem with your head? I’m starting to get worried... Ah, should I call Rine again?”

“....”

He poured out heartfelt concern in a deeply worried tone.

...For some reason, that irritated him.

Evan’s serious concern for Alon lasted only a moment.

Before long, they naturally identified the culprit—not quite a culprit—behind this situation.

“Yes! I told them!”

It was Sili, Saintess of Kalannon.

“So... Sili, what you’re saying is that you told them in the conference room that a nation had been created?”

“Yes! I thought there wouldn’t be a better timing than now! But don’t worry. It was all the Marquis—no, the King’s—achievements, so there was no one who opposed it!”

“No—”

Alon fell silent for a moment.

...More precisely, he couldn’t figure out where to even begin objecting.

“...Sili?”

“Yes! Please speak!”

Sili’s eyes shone intensely.

Alon slowly opened his mouth.

“...The other kings. They just let it be?”

That was the point he was most curious about.

No matter how he thought about it, for the kings of the Allied Kingdoms, the birth of yet another king would hardly be welcome.

The birth of a new kingdom.

Even if there was an alliance between kingdoms, it was the same as gaining one more competitor.

On top of that, there were many other issues.

Especially territory and citizens.

A nation wasn’t something that could be freely founded just because you possessed a region or two.

...Well, it could be.

But even so, to proclaim, “This is a new nation, and this person is its king,”

there were countless requirements beyond mere material things.

Nation-founding wasn’t child’s play.

Summarizing all those doubts into one question, Alon asked—and Sili, smiling brightly, replied,

“I made them let it be.”

Simply.

“...Hm? Made them?”

“Yes. As you know, Marquis, the current situation isn’t very good, right?”

“What situation are you referring to?”

At Alon’s question, Sili nodded with a smile.

“One of the major powers of the Allied Kingdoms, Ashtalon, has effectively fallen after losing its capital. And since the Milky Way fell, anomalous entities have begun to wander about.”

“It’s certainly unstable, but that alone—”

“Of course that alone isn’t a problem. But beyond the borderlands, there’s the Empire, isn’t there?”

“...Ah.”

A realization slipped from Alon.

Certainly, for the Allied Kingdoms, Ashtalon’s fall and the appearance of anomalous entities were worrying issues—but only to that degree.

If anything, the lawless lands left after Ashtalon’s collapse were also tempting prey for them.

But if the Empire were to involve itself—

the situation changed.

The reason the Allied Kingdoms had avoided imperial invasion until now

was precisely because of their alliance.

But if one of the major pillars of that alliance had collapsed?

From the Empire’s perspective, it would become a perfectly viable time to target the Allied Kingdoms.

Even if the Empire had no interest, the Allied Kingdoms would have no choice but to remain wary of it.

As Alon nodded in understanding, Penia—who until a moment ago had been quietly thinking beside him—spoke.

“But even so, wouldn’t that alone have been difficult to persuade the kings?”

Her question was reasonable.

Certainly, the Empire was the most sensitive subject for the Allied Kingdom kings, so they would be inclined to listen carefully—

but merely the existence of ‘unease’ alone lacked persuasive force.

Yet Sili’s smile did not fade.

“Of course that wasn’t enough. So I added a little seasoning.”

“...Seasoning?”

At Penia’s puzzled echo, Sili nodded.

“For example, that when the Empire invades, no one knows which side we will be on.”

She said it calmly.

At that answer, Penia and Evan both involuntarily flinched.

But Sili remained serene.

“Of course, I didn’t say it outright. I merely explained it through extended analogy, taking a great deal of time to help them understand.”

In other words—

...she had threatened them at great length.

“I merely told them that we, as a humble religion, would simply fulfill our duty.”

If they did not permit the proclamation of a kingdom, then when the Empire invaded, they would clap and welcome it...

—that was the threat.

“Ahem, anyway, after such a peaceful process of deliberation, I was able to obtain this honor!”

Even while speaking such ominous words, Sili wore a bright smile and struck a fighting pose with both hands.

Alon glanced at Penia and Evan, who still hadn’t quite recovered from the shock.

“...Right. Well... you worked hard.”

“Yes! Because it was what the King desired!”

“...?”

“Anyway, now you just need to proclaim it whenever you wish, Your Majesty! At that time, the Luxible Duchy will also change its national name together!”

“...You already secured the Luxible Duchy as well?”

“Yes!”

Before Alon could even properly process the thought King? What? Me?, Sili threw out yet another new piece of information.

Alon could only stand there, mouth slightly open—

“Mm... well, still, isn’t it a good thing?”

At Evan’s next words, he at least came back to himself.

“...A good thing.”

The king of a nation.

As Evan said, being king itself wasn’t bad.

In a fantasy world like this, becoming king meant never having to bow one’s head to anyone.

But that was only in terms of rank.

Alon did not find the position of king itself particularly attractive.

More precisely, it was largely because he knew what a king’s duties were like.

The king of a nation.

It might look wonderful from the outside, but in truth, once you opened it up, it was an extremely demanding occupation.

First, from the moment of accession, wandering freely outside became essentially impossible.

And from morning until sleep, one had to process duties arriving from all directions.

In other words, for Alon—whose life as a «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» marquis was not particularly inconvenient—

it simply felt like gaining nothing but added burdens.

As Alon wore an expressionless, contemplative look, Evan let out a dry laugh.

“You’re probably the only one who’d react like that to being told you can become king, Marquis.”

“Of course! His Majesty will become someone even greater!”

Sili added, missing the point entirely.

Before Alon could cut in with What does that even mean..., Penia spoke first.

“Mmm, still, I do understand the Marquis’s point. Being king may look good on the surface, but inwardly it’s a very exhausting position.”

“Mmm—”

Behind a dry expression, Alon nodded in satisfied agreement—

“If you become king, you can bundle the routine duties and redirect the budget however you like to fund magical research, you know?”

“...That suddenly sounds appealing.”

—before he could finish, he looked at Penia with a flat, chilled expression as she was instantly persuaded by Sili.

“Well, if the Marquis becomes king, you could just do magical research without needing to work. With unlimited resources, too.”

“Since it’s come to this anyway, why not try it?”

“Penia... isn’t that change of stance a bit too fast?”

Perhaps realizing her absurd expression had shown, Penia subtly averted her eyes.

“Still, our Marquis truly is unusual. It’s rare to be this unmoved.”

“......”

Sili, who had successfully recruited Penia.

Penia, already won over.

And Evan’s carefree observation—

Alon let out a long sigh.

####

Several days later.

“See you next time, Master!”

“Teacher, I’ll be waiting.”

“Marquis, we’ll see you again.”

“Right.”

Because of the anomalous entities, Seollang, Yutia, and Yuman departed.

“Hyungnim, then I’ll be going as well. It seems confusion is arising because of the information...”

“Boss! We’ll head to the jungle for a bit too. It’s about time we discussed things. Ah, I’ll take Historia with me too!”

“I want to stay here though...”

“Understood.”

Nangwon, Ryang-a, and Historia also left.

####

After seeing them off, Alon set aside—for the moment—the question of whether to proclaim a kingdom, and headed to Raksas with Radan, Penia, and Evan.

To meet the Former Observer in Raksas.

More precisely, to speak with the being that the Former Observer had said knew the truth of this world.

“Whew—”

Alon thought of the three artifacts in his possession.

The Mask of the One Who Walks Ahead, brought by Ryang-a.

The Crying Blessing, brought by Seollang.

And finally, the Jewel of the Closed-Eyed One obtained from Elivan.

And so—

‘...How much will I be able to uncover?’

A sense of anticipation rose.

In the past, the secrets of this world had been secondary at best.

Back then, Alon’s goal had been to stop the sins.

But now that things had come to this, the secrets of this world had become vitally important.

Little by little, anticipation stirred within Alon.

After several weeks of travel, Alon reached the coast.

There—

“Observer.”

As if already knowing Alon would come—

“...I’ve been waiting.”

The Observer was already sitting on the cliff, waiting for him.