On the night Tolenis and Palmarian IV had their conversation about Alon—ten percent truth, ninety percent lies—

At an outpost on the outer perimeter of Caliban’s royal castle, built so that guards could rush out at any moment to protect the palace if an intruder appeared—

“......”

A man was slipping out of the place without a word.

His name was Gunan.

He was a Caliban Kingdom guard. He’d been on duty at the castle late into the night, and only just returned to the outpost to rest.

But not long after clocking out, he carefully slipped out of the outpost, making sure no one saw him.

He headed for the far western corner of the palace grounds—still inside Caliban’s royal castle, but now an unused warehouse complex.

Soon, after sneaking into one of the many warehouses, Gunan—

“Hoo—”

As if pitch-black darkness was familiar to him, he let out a relieved breath and began feeling around the floor.

Click—!

With a small sound, a hidden floor hatch opened.

Without hesitation, he pushed his body inside, then fed mana into the magic orb in the basement.

Wooooong—!

The magic orb connected, shining with a bright light.

And not long after—

[Under the moon beneath the open sky.]

“The end of night awaits.”

After finishing the verification procedure by exchanging a passphrase only they knew, they began to speak.

[It’s been a long time since we used this magic orb.]

“Yeah. We don’t use it {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} unless it’s an emergency.”

[Did something happen? Or did your cover get blown?]

At the man’s voice from inside the orb, Gunan shook his head firmly.

“No. Don’t worry. The disguise is perfect.”

Royal castle guard Gunan.

In truth, his real identity was a member of the information guild that sold information: “The End of Night.”

The information guild, “The End of Night.”

Naturally, in an era where calling yourself an “information guild” carried risks in itself, it couldn’t help but be a blemish.

Even so, it was a fairly well-known organization.

Unlike other information guilds that were picky about who they sold to, this place was known for providing information to figures in the underworld.

Because the direction of the information they handled, and their customer base, were a little different, they’d managed to survive in this brutal world up to now.

[Then why did you use the magic orb? I told you to use it only when it’s important.]

A scolding came from beyond the orb.

Gunan answered calmly.

“I obtained important information.”

[Important information?]

“Yeah.”

[Let’s hear it.]

At that, Gunan glanced around the empty warehouse as if wary someone might be listening anyway, then—

“......I got information that Marquis Palatio is Divine blood.”

He said it carefully.

[......What?]

The man beyond the orb—the leader of the End of Night—stared with his mouth slightly open.

[......What are you even saying right now?]

To the leader, who asked again like he couldn’t believe it, Gunan spoke steadily.

“Exactly what it sounds like. Marquis Palatio is Divine blood.”

[......Are you sure?]

“I’m sure. While I was on guard duty this time, I overheard a conversation between Caliban’s king and the First Prince.”

Caliban’s soundproofing magic is intense, so it took some work to hear it—if it weren’t me, no one would’ve been able to, he added with a quick little brag.

[......This is insane. So that really means it’s true?]

“Yeah.”

The leader was horrified.

Gunan agreed.

He’d felt the same thing when he first overheard it.

[And if what you’re saying is true, then that Divine blood who protected Caliban is below Marquis Palatio.]

“That’s right. And from what I heard, more Divine blood fell in the Allied Kingdoms to serve that marquis.”

[More Divine blood...?]

“Yeah.”

[......Ha.]

After hearing that much, the leader fell into thought for a moment.

[Like you said, this was worth using the magic orb for.]

“Told you.”

[If this information is real, then starting from this, we can break out of the underworld and move into the daylight, too.]

The leader murmured with a voice carrying faint exhilaration.

[Thank you.]

“Don’t mention it. In return—”

[I know. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of properly. I need to go right away.]

With that, and a final goodbye, the connection vanished.

Watching the magic orb slowly lose its light, Gunan let out a sigh.

‘Marquis Palatio is Divine blood....’

Gunan suddenly recalled Marquis Palatio, the one he’d seen from far away.

Marquis Palatio, who’d brushed past him with an unsettling air and a face that gave nothing away—like you couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

And the next thing that came to mind was—

The enormous giant who had protected Caliban not long ago.

Thump-thump-thump-thump—!!

Whenever he thought of that moment, his heart pounded violently without him meaning to.

It was only natural.

The fear of facing a monster no human strength could ever defeat had been carved far too deeply into Gunan’s mind.

But the reason Gunan could replay that scene again was what happened next.

A giant had appeared—one that could tear apart that impossible monster as if it were nothing.

And he’d witnessed that overwhelming sight with his own eyes.

That was why he’d been even more shocked when he heard the story.

When he heard that a giant with that kind of overwhelming strength had knelt before Marquis Palatio.

That meant only one thing: proof that Marquis Palatio was even stronger than the giant.

‘Just what is Marquis Palatio hiding?’

He didn’t know why, but—

Gunan’s body started trembling on its own.

Meanwhile, at that same time—

“......Why is my ear so itchy?”

As Alon scratched at his ear after pausing mid-bite on a sweet potato, Evan said,

“Maybe someone’s talking about you, Marquis.”

“What is there to even say about me?”

“Wouldn’t there be plenty? It’s not like there’s only one or two things connected to you.”

“Mm—yeah, I guess that’s true.”

With Penia nodding along at his side, Alon scratched his head.

“But Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“Stop eating sweet potatoes and eat the stew, will you?”

“No.”

“Is it because the sweet potato won’t go in?”

“If it were in there, I’d eat it.”

“......You do realize you’re obsessed with sweet potatoes, right?”

At Evan’s question, Alon argued back.

“Adding sweet potatoes doesn’t ruin the taste.”

“Yeah, but then we get friends who start having seizures. You saw it yesterday.”

At that, Alon looked at Basiliora and Blackie.

Just yesterday, just because sweet potatoes were in the stew—

[Kwaaaagh—!!]

[Kyuuuu—!]

They’d convulsed like they couldn’t stand sweet potatoes.

But today, they were shoveling down the stew like it was delicious.

“.......”

Alon stared at the sweet potato with a strange expression.

‘Sweet potatoes... are good, though....’

......It was autumn.

####

Two weeks had passed since Alon set out for the marquis’s estate, and they still had some distance left to go.

“Marquis, I’ve already contacted everyone here and there.”

“You have?”

“Yes. It looks like we’ll be able to hold the proclamation ceremony about a week after we arrive at the marquis’s estate.”

“Hmm—”

“What is it?”

“No, I was just thinking it might be a little hard to move around like this once I become a king.”

At Alon’s words, Evan thought for a moment, then answered.

“Eh, won’t it be fine?”

“Will it?”

“The reason kings don’t move around is because it’s dangerous for them to wander around. But compared to that, you’re—well... you don’t have that issue at all.”

“And governing?”

“We’ve got Alexion.”

“......Even after it becomes a country, is it really okay to keep leaving it to that person?”

“Eh—honestly, even if we call it a country, we don’t have much territory.”

“......That’s true.”

“It won’t be exactly the same as before, of course. And to begin with, you’ll have to keep paying attention to Divine Land anyway. Ah—”

Evan suddenly let out a low exclamation and continued.

“Come to think of it, we also got a message from Sili.”

“What about?”

“You know how we talked last time about believers?”

“We did.”

“She says everything’s been properly prepared, so you don’t need to worry.”

“......Prepared?”

“Yes. She sounded extremely confident.”

“......Maybe—”

He was about to ask, She didn’t go and do something, did she? but Alon shook his head.

No matter what, Sili wasn’t that bad.

“Ah, and is there any other news?”

“Other... Ah. If you mean about Divine blood, there’s nothing major yet.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Yeah. At first I thought everything was about to blow up. Well, I hear the Empire side is still noisy, though.”

Alon watched Evan shrug for a moment—

Then Penia spoke.

“Marquis.”

“Penia, what is it?”

“Well... we got a message.”

“......A message?”

“Yes. From King Palmarian.”

Instead of looking surprised, Alon said—

“Again...?”

“Yes.”

Over the last two weeks, King Palmarian had contacted them three times.

And none of it had been urgent.

“......Why does he keep doing this?”

“I don’t really know either....”

As Penia and Alon both tilted their heads like they couldn’t understand it, Evan offered a theory.

“Maybe he’s trying to give you financial support for proclaiming the kingdom.”

Normally, Penia would’ve snapped back with, What nonsense are you saying?

But this time, she stayed quiet.

No—if anything—

“......What if that’s actually it?”

She agreed with Evan.

And maybe her reaction was only natural.

In this short period, all three times Palmarian reached out, Alon had received an incredible amount of support.

“......Hmm.”

Of course, it wasn’t openly labeled as “support.”

But it was obvious goodwill to anyone with eyes.

‘What is this, really...?’

Alon’s doubts only deepened, but for now, he went inside to take the king’s call.

####

Around the time Alon was receiving Palmarian’s inexplicable goodwill—

In Raksas’s royal castle, in the maritime city known as a nation of pleasure—

“......So tell me again.”

Queen Torimavia of Raksas was receiving an unbelievable report from Duke Kolvan, who could be called her right-hand man.

“You’re saying Marquis Palatio’s true identity is Divine blood?”

“......Yes.”

“Does that even make sense?”

“As I said, the giant that saved Caliban called Marquis Palatio Divine blood, and Palmarian IV saw the marquis acknowledge it.”

“Is it reliable?”

Torimavia questioned it.

The duke, head bowed, answered.

“After checking through our own informant, we confirmed that Palmarian IV has been contacting the marquis regularly since he left.”

“......That means, at the very least, the odds of it being false are low.”

“Yes. Considering Palmarian IV’s personality...”

At the duke’s words, Torimavia nodded as well.

He was right.

“......Marquis Palatio is Divine blood....”

While Torimavia sank into thought—

“Your Majesty, there’s one more thing.”

“......More important than this?”

“It’s connected information, but... it may be even more important to us.”

“What is it?”

At the duke’s additional report, Torimavia asked back, and—

“It seems Marquis Palatio can control Divine blood.”

“......!! He can control Divine blood?”

And soon, in the queen’s ear—

“Yes. Meaning... if we can form a friendly relationship with Marquis Palatio...”

Information flowed in.

Information that carried a slightly different meaning than what had first spread.