“......The First Prince killed his father and has taken the side of the Divine blood.”

“......What?”

At Karsemm’s words, Alon went blank.

Karaan, Colony’s First Prince.

Because he knew about him—

there was no way he wouldn’t know.

Until now in this world, Karmakses III hadn’t died, but originally he was destined to meet death.

And the one who became king next was precisely the First Prince, Karaan.

Alon recalled Karaan from Psychedelia.

In the game, his disposition wasn’t particularly good or bad.

To evaluate more precisely, he was closer to a tyrant than a king.

Even in the game, anything he disliked he crushed with authority.

Because of that, in the mid-to-late stages he even came into conflict with the player.

Even so, the reason Alon didn’t definitively judge Karaan’s disposition was—

that unless he was entangled with certain specific factors, he wasn’t a figure who acted particularly harshly.

‘Was it reputation, again?’

A memory now faded.

Recalling the situation in the game where issues arose between Karaan and the player, he asked back to confirm.

“Is that... truly so?”

“Yes, it is an undeniable fact.”

At the grief-laden reply, a low exclamation slipped from Alon.

“If possible, may I ask for a detailed explanation of the situation?”

Alon asked politely.

Karsemm let out a huu— sigh.

As if wondering what to explain first, he fell silent for a while, then—

“......It happened right after the Milky Way fell.”

calmly laid out everything that had happened so far.

After some time passed—

“That is how it came to be.”

Having heard all of Karsemm’s account, Alon let out a low groan.

“This is—”

“Beyond mere patricide.......”

Penia and Evan’s expressions also grew grave.

Alon reviewed what Karsemm had conveyed.

“So— right after the Milky Way fell. Karaan killed the king who had returned after finishing everything?”

“Yes. And as if that weren’t enough, he offered Father’s corpse as a sacrifice.”

Karsemm bit down so hard on his lip that a grinding sound seemed about to come out.

Even seeing Karsemm in such grief, Alon had no choice but to continue his questions.

“So the one currently acting as king is Karaan’s puppet, wearing the king’s skin.”

“That’s correct.”

“......And Your Highness was imprisoned to be offered as the second sacrifice...... and escaped.”

“That’s correct.”

“The guard must have been tight. Fortunately, you’re safe.”

“......If Karaan had realized I had reached the fourth tier just before being imprisoned, I probably wouldn’t have been able to escape.”

Alon nodded and idly touched his hair.

‘Dead... is it.’

Karmakses III had known Alon for a long time, but they hadn’t been that close.

Even so, a bitter taste rose in his mouth, and after a moment of silence he spoke.

“......I believe I understand the entire situation, but is there a reason you’re hiding like this?”

“That’s true. Wouldn’t it be enough to request cooperation from the Baba Yagas first?”

Penia nodded as if agreeing with Alon’s question.

But Karsemm shook his head.

“If I hadn’t known Karaan’s plan, the moment I escaped I would have requested cooperation from the Baba Yagas.”

“His plan?”

Penia asked back immediately.

Karsemm answered.

“......The moment I inform the Baba Yagas of this fact, he will open a portal into the kingdom and summon anomalous entities inside it.”

“Open... a portal?”

“Yes. Even now, though he can open portals inside the kingdom, he is deliberately not doing so.”

“......So, am I understanding this correctly? Even though he could summon anomalous entities into the kingdom and destroy it in one blow without this kind of war of attrition, he’s deliberately maintaining this situation?”

“Yes. However, even I do not clearly know the reason.”

Karsemm lowered his head as if ashamed.

Penia’s brow furrowed, unable to understand.

But Alon, without difficulty, faintly grasped Karaan’s intent.

‘Because of faith.’

Fear, too, functions as faith.

Alon knew that.

Because he already knew someone who had used it that way.

“If he asks for help, it collapses immediately; if he doesn’t ask, it withers away and collapses....... Both are the worst.......”

Evan muttered lowly beside them.

Hearing that voice, Alon fell into thought again.

Then Karsemm suddenly rose from his seat—

thud—

and dropped to his knees before Alon.

“Y-Your Highness?”

Startled by the sudden action, Lime called out to him.

But Karsemm fixed his gaze on Alon.

“Marquis, I know this is an utterly shameless request. But— could you please... save Colony?”

Karsemm bowed his head deeply, as if it might touch the ground.

Penia fell silent, and Lime’s eyes shook in confusion.

As heavy silence gradually pressed down over the room—

Alon—

“Alright.”

answered with extreme simplicity.

“......Pardon?” 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The answer was almost monotonous.

At it, as if even he himself was surprised, Karsemm asked back with a bewildered expression.

“?”

“?”

“?”

It wasn’t only him.

Everyone, Lime included, stared at Alon with ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) baffled eyes.

“......What is it?”

“No...... I, I didn’t expect you to accept so easily—”

Karsemm seemed stunned by Alon’s attitude, but—

Alon had already finished his own thinking.

“Is there any additional information I should hear?”

he asked casually.

“......Ah, yes, there are various things. But it will take some time to organize the information.”

“Do you also know when the next battle is likely to occur?”

“......It will probably be in three days.”

“Three days...... then let’s discuss it once more this evening.”

Leaving words that they would meet again shortly, Alon departed.

It was instantaneous.

The room fell silent again.

Lime, who had stared blankly for a moment at the door through which Alon, his party, and Seollang had left—

“......Ah.”

let out a low exclamation.

“......I think I understand why Seollang can’t live without him......”

she murmured quietly.

Immediately after guiding Alon and his party to their room.

“Teacher! I’m going out for a bit!”

“Alright.”

“See you in a bit!”

Seollang instantly slipped outside the city walls and headed for the cave in the west.

Soon, inside it, Seollang silently lifted the essence of the Golden Mane Tribe.

[......Are you thinking of doing it again?]

The black dragon’s voice sounded the moment Seollang raised the essence.

“Yes.”

[I don’t particularly recommend it.]

“I’ll still do it.”

[Is it to protect that one?]

“Yes.”

At the answer without a shred of hesitation, the black dragon fell silent for a moment.

[......Is there really a reason you must protect that one?]

“What......?”

[Even if you cannot protect that one, you can still be more than enough of that one’s strength. No matter how I think about it, there is no need for you to grow impatient. Besides, haven’t you already become sufficiently strong?]

The black dragon’s words were true.

Seollang had already grown far stronger than before.

She had already passed the trials of the essence again and again, and now only the final trial remained.

However.

“It’s still not enough.”

[......Not enough?]

“Yes. As I am now, I cannot defeat the Divine blood—you said so yourself.”

[From the start, for a life born in this world to defeat Divine blood is almost impossible.]

“I still have to.”

[Why?]

This time, Seollang fell silent.

Then thought of—

Yutia.

Rine.

...and those beside Alon who were stronger than she.

Squeeze—

Seollang did not answer.

Instead, she merely gripped the essence of the Golden Mane Tribe tighter.

Woooong—!

The moment she poured in magic, feeling her mind being sucked into the essence, Seollang steeled her will.

As said, she had grown far stronger than before through several evolutions.

And as far as she knew, if she passed the final stage of the essence—

she would become far stronger than she was now.

Because she had glimpsed the ability obtainable when finishing the final stage of the trial within the essence.

Thinking of that, Seollang realized that she had already entered inside the essence.

The scenery she had known had changed before she realized it.

The first thing she saw was a blue night sky.

The next thing she saw was a crescent moon.

And the last thing she saw—

was the grassland she had always seen.

“Hoo—”

Seollang exhaled, then scattered magic again as she steeled her will.

Dozens,

hundreds,

thousands of trials—

Seollang, who had undergone them all,

knew that in this silent grassland, something would soon occur.

There had been times when this grassland became a suffocating battlefield.

Times when this entire place became the maw of a gigantic monster.

So while remaining tense, Seollang—

“......?”

suddenly felt something strange.

Surely something should have already happened—

yet nothing had changed.

And so she was puzzled only briefly.

Seollang soon belatedly noticed that the grassland was, in fact, slowly changing.

“......A temple?”

In the grassland where there had been nothing just moments ago, a temple had appeared.

So Seollang, without letting her guard down, entered the temple—

and there,

[You have come, girl.]

“......You are—”

met a beastkin.

Several hours later.

While moving to meet Karsemm again, Penia spoke to Alon.

“Hey, Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“I just thought of something. Earlier— what was that about?”

“What do you mean?”

“Karsemm’s request. Why did you accept right away?”

“......What do you mean?”

“I mean— couldn’t you have gotten various things in return for granting the request? For example, something like this.”

When Penia curled her fingers into a circle, Alon looked at her silently for a moment, then answered.

“Because it’s something I have to do anyway.”

“Hm—”

‘Is he kind, or just a pushover,’ she seemed to ponder seriously, then Penia soon broke into a playful smile.

“......Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve recently fallen into a financial crisis too. Could you help me?”

“......That’s a bit.......”

“Eh—”

Penia made a disappointed sound.

But regardless of her reaction, Alon went down the underground stairs.

Penia sighed, “Ehh—”

and Evan, who had been watching her quietly, spoke.

“You don’t get it.”

“Huh?”

“If you’re going to borrow from the Marquis, you have to act a bit more pitiful. Besides, you already know from long experience that the Marquis doesn’t think about profit, right?”

Evan clicked his tongue and added.

But Penia shot back with a “Hah?” expression.

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“......I’m giving you a tip.”

“You think I was actually trying to get money from the Marquis?”

“......Wasn’t that it?”

“It wasn’t.”

What nonsense are you even talking—Penia scolded, then continued.

“Besides, just helping Colony is already enough profit.”

“Why?”

“Once that patricidal bastard dies, Karsemm will ascend the throne, and he’s not someone who would ever ignore the debt the Marquis has built up.”

“.......”

“And once battle starts inside the kingdom, people who believe in the Marquis will definitely appear too, so it’s absolutely not a bad story for him.”

At her words, Evan looked bewildered.

“......If you understand all that, why even ask that earlier?”

“You’re seriously asking that? The Marquis didn’t look like he was in a good mood, so I just teased him a bit.”

At Penia’s earnest answer, Evan made a blank face, then with a slightly mischievous smile—

“Well now— such burning love for the Marquis? Even so, it’ll be tough. The competition on both sides is fierce.”

He spoke teasingly while already preparing to run.

Because from experience, whenever he made this kind of joke, Penia got angry easily.

However.

“?”

He had expected insults like idiot or moron to fly at him immediately—

but only silence flowed between them.

Evan tilted his head.

Penia, who would normally explode, was quiet.

But only for a moment.

“......Just shut up.”

Penia glared at Evan—

then walked past him, who had been a few steps ahead, and went down into the underground.

Evan, who had gotten exactly the insult he’d wished for.

Even so, he didn’t move.

Because he had clearly seen Penia’s face with his own eyes.

Though she wore her usual sullen expression, there was a different color in it than usual.

“......Seriously?”

Evan, mouth hanging open, managed only that one word.