The strange look Evan gave him only lasted for a moment.

Alon soon stepped out of the carriage and looked at the Divine blood standing there as if they had been waiting for him.

At a glance, there were well over several dozen of them.

Just seeing that many Divine blood gathered together was a spectacle in itself.

Alon stared blankly ahead for a moment, then quietly shifted his gaze.

Just in case, he was checking whether there were any Divine blood among them he had met before.

Once, Alon rolled his eyes.

Then a second time.

...And just in case, even a fourth time.

But unfortunately, he could not find a single familiar face.

“......”

Alon closed his eyes.

Then he organized his thoughts.

In front of him stood Star Root, a group of Divine blood who claimed to serve the Star Eater.

And yet he, the very Star Eater in question, had never seen them before.

How in the world had this situation come to be?

Naturally, Alon had no way of knowing.

He could say with certainty that he had never once had anything to do with Star Root.

That was why he wanted to ask.

Just what exactly had happened here?

But Alon did not dare voice that question.

Was it because those eyes full of loyalty from the Divine blood were burdensome?

No.

That was true, of course, but it was something he could ignore if he chose to.

The real reason he could not carelessly ask was because—

he clearly understood that one reckless question could make the situation much, much worse.

Yes, for example, if the Divine blood standing before him had not actually been recruited by him while sleepwalking, and had instead truly organized themselves out of some misunderstanding of their own.

...Though honestly, he had no idea what kind of misunderstanding could possibly have made things snowball this far.

'...Now I understand why the Sculptor was so flustered.'

Alon suddenly thought of the Sculptor he had met before.

Only for a moment, and then he focused on the Divine blood again.

Anyway, if this group really had been formed by some absurd misunderstanding, just as that one had said—

then the moment that misunderstanding collapsed, there was no telling how they might react.

Thinking that over, Alon looked at the two Divine blood still standing firmly in front of him.

On one side was the Divine blood whose entire body was engulfed in flames.

On the other was the Divine blood draped in so many grotesque skulls it was chilling to look at, staring down at him.

After looking at each of them once, Alon forcibly hid his uncertainty as best he could and gave the Divine blood an order.

“...For now, everyone disperse— we’ll gather again tomorrow.”

For a moment, he had the sudden thought, ‘Was that right?’ and stumbled over his words.

But as if that kind of slip meant absolutely nothing—

[Understood—!]

The two Divine blood called out loudly, and the group began dispersing in an instant.

...Even that was a spectacle.

Soon, after letting out a sigh, Alon returned to the carriage.

“...Lord Alon, what exactly is going on here?”

He was met with the full attention of everyone inside, including Evan and Basiliora.

The time for explanations had come.

After some time passed—

“Uh— so to summarize, you’re saying those Divine blood have never met you, never even seen you even once, but they still follow you, Lord Alon?”

“That’s right.”

At that, Evan silently alternated his gaze between the Divine blood scattering off into the distance and Alon.

“Hm— I see. So that’s how it is.”

“......! Did you figure something out?”

“No?”

“?”

“?”

“...Didn’t you just nod like you’d figured something out?”

“No, I was just saying I understood.”

“...Understood?”

“Yes.”

“What did you understand?”

“That the Divine blood are following you, Lord Alon.”

“How did you understand that...?”

“Ah—”

Only then did Evan realize that the conversation had veered off track, and he let out a low sound.

“I mean that literally. I just accepted it.”

“...Accepted it...?”

“Yes. Aren’t there a lot of things in this world that can’t really be understood from an ordinary human point of view? When that happens, you just accept them. Don’t try to understand. It’s easier that way if you just accept it.”

“Ah, I think I kind of get that.”

“Right?”

“Exactly......”

Penia, who had suddenly joined the conversation, and Evan looked at each other and nodded as though they deeply sympathized.

“...I don’t know how I feel about that.”

“We’ve always felt that way whenever something happens around you, Lord Alon.”

“...Has that sort of thing happened that often?”

“Think about it carefully.”

“...Hm.”

Alon fell silent for a moment, then changed the subject.

“Anyway, this is the situation. What do you think we should do?”

“Hm— honestly, I don’t have a clear sense of what we should do, since I don’t really know exactly what kind of situation this is....... But for now, shouldn’t we just maintain the current state of things?”

“We can’t do that forever.”

This time Penia gave her opinion.

“...I think figuring out the situation comes first.”

“Figuring out the situation?”

“Yes. We need to know how they see you, Lord Alon, so we can decide how to act based on that.”

That was reasonable.

When Alon nodded, Evan, who had been thinking something over, looked once toward the Divine blood visible in the distance and spoke.

“Then let’s do a little spying.”

“...Spying?”

“Yes. There are still quite a few Divine blood lingering around nearby.”

“I’ll go too!”

At Evan’s suggestion, Seollang, who had been quiet beside them until now, shot her hand up.

But Evan quickly shook his head.

“Penia and I will go. Seollang stands out too much in every possible way.”

Saying that, he opened the carriage door.

“We’ll be back.”

Soon Penia also bowed neatly to Alon and went outside with Evan.

How exactly were they planning to get information......?

Alon had only that brief thought before turning to look at Seollang.

“Hm? What is it, Master?”

She smiled the same as always.

At the sight, Alon spoke as though it were nothing.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Hm— really?”

Tilting her head, Seollang soon just shrugged, naturally came over to sit beside Alon, and began humming to herself while swishing her tail.

Even after what had happened with Mu, she was still acting exactly the same as ever.

To the point that, for an instant, it almost felt as though the conversation they had shared that day had all been a dream.

But Alon knew.

He knew at least that the conversation from then had not just been a dream.

And Seollang surely knew that clearly as well.

“......”

Even so, why was it that Seollang still refused to stop ‘acting,’ even when they were alone?

“-♪”

Without a word, Alon stroked Seollang’s head.

She smiled as though it pleased her.

Seollang’s hair was soft.

...Just like before.

####

At that time, Evan and Penia had stepped outside the carriage and were talking as they walked toward the Divine blood.

“But what exactly do we know going in?”

“What do you mean, what do we know?”

“You said we’re going to spy on them. Shouldn’t we know something first?”

At that, Evan gave a light shrug.

“I don’t really know much for sure, but I do know who we should spy on.”

“Who?”

“Them.”

Where Evan jerked his chin, there stood the flaming Divine blood and the one draped in skulls.

“Them?”

“Yeah. Just looking at them, those two were acting like the leaders, weren’t they? Think about it. When Lord Alon went in earlier, those two split to either side of him and followed him in like wings.”

“...I see—”

Only then did Penia nod as if it had finally occurred to her.

“You’re more observant than I expected.”

“How exactly do you usually think of me......?”

Penia’s response made it sound oddly novel, and Evan looked at her like he found it ridiculous that she was impressed by something this minor.

Then, seeing the two Divine blood getting closer little by little, he continued.

“Still— what do you think happened this time?”

At Penia’s question, Evan let out a low hum.

“Honestly, even I can’t get a feel for it this time.”

“Were there other times when you did?”

“Not exactly, no, but at least before there was usually some feeling of, ‘Well, I guess maybe that could happen.’ But this is a little different.”

“...That’s true.”

At Evan’s words, Penia could not help but agree.

There had been many things so far that they could not understand, but even so, they had been able to let them slide.

Because the one at the center of them had been Alon.

But this time, a massive group had formed like this without Alon even knowing about it.

Honestly, even if the person involved was Alon, it did not seem like something that should be so easily possible.

“Maybe a lot of misunderstandings or mistaken assumptions piled up.”

Muttering that, Evan had, before he knew it, come close enough to hear the two Divine blood talking.

And soon they heard it.

[What a pity. I will be the first to receive grace from the Star Eater.]

[What nonsense are you talking about? Ah— I suppose you couldn’t see properly because you have ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) no eyes. The Star Eater looked at me first.]

[You’re the one speaking nonsense. The moment the Star Eater turned his gaze, the one he saw was me. He must also have directly witnessed me disposing of that maggot before.]

[Tch— do you really think the Star Eater would choose you just because you caught one pathetic creature like that? The first one to receive grace from him will be me!]

[No, me—!]

[Me, I said!]

A conversation that was a little strange—

no, far stranger than expected.

And Evan, who had been hearing it from far away without even needing to sneak close—

“...Now that I think about it.”

“Go on.”

“Isn’t it possible Lord Alon really is sleepwalking?”

The words slipped out before he knew it.

“...Honestly, I really had started wondering a little if that might actually be the case too.”

Penia also blankly agreed.

####

The next morning.

Evan and Penia, who had supposedly gone to spy the day before, were saying in somewhat tired voices, “He’s not waking up at all......”

Alon was bewildered by that for only a moment.

Then, seeing the Divine blood once again gathered around the carriage as though they had been waiting for this, he felt dizzy all over again.

In the end, they still had not been able to figure out why the Divine blood were following Alon in the first place.

But that did not mean Alon could ask the Divine blood for the truth even now.

“...Move out.”

So he gave the order.

And right after that—

[Everyone on our side is assembled.]

[Same here. All gathered.]

With that, the three factions that had assembled to subjugate Astarotte immediately began to move.

And from that point on,

the official subjugation of Astarotte began.

And as dozens of Divine blood converged on the ruined land—

“......”

Her eyes reflected a strange pentagram as she watched the Divine blood moving to subjugate Astarotte.

No, to be precise, what she was looking at was not the Divine blood.

More precisely, it was the carriage among them.

And more precisely than that, it was one man inside that carriage whom she was silently watching.

The man sitting there expressionlessly.

“...What did you do......?”

As she looked at him—

“Yutia.”

Quietly, she murmured.