Late that night, after Alon and Alexion had that conversation—

“Hm—”

“......?”

Alexion’s secretary looked at him, puzzled, as he sank into deep thought.

He was someone who often mulled over various things, but this time, the way he looked was genuinely serious.

“Sir Alexion? What’s wrong?”

At the secretary’s cautious question, Alexion glanced over and replied with a complicated expression.

“It feels like something’s going to happen.”

“Something? What kind of—”

“His Majesty said he might grant one of the inner castles to someone he trusts.”

“......An inner castle?”

The secretary’s eyes widened.

But soon, he nodded in understanding.

After all, for a king ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) to grant a castle to someone was, in a way, perfectly natural.

...Of course, granting an inner castle wasn’t exactly typical, but even so, it didn’t seem like something that should trouble Alexion this much.

“If it’s not rude of me to ask, may I ask why that concerns you so much?”

The secretary asked carefully.

At that, Alexion muttered again, still wearing a troubled expression.

“As I said... I have a feeling something strange might happen......”

“Something strange?”

“For example, I might end up being entrusted with an excessive ‘evaluation’ or something like that— ghk—”

At that moment, as if PTSD had suddenly hit him, he clutched his head.

Then, with eyes that somehow looked even more uneasy than before, he looked at the secretary.

“Unless His Majesty brings it up again, pretend you never heard this.”

“......? Yes, understood.”

“And under no circumstances speak of it.”

“Understood.”

He firmly enforced silence.

The secretary, bewildered, nodded for now.

But despite all that caution, there were two things Alexion didn’t know.

One was that no matter how careful he tried to be, his conversation with Alon had already been exposed through perfectly legal surveillance—no, protective activity.

And the other—

“......”

“......”

Far from the castle, at Alexion’s small private residence still located beside Palatio, there were individuals secretly eavesdropping—people capable of spreading that information across various places in an instant.

Two figures, so constantly seen together that their absence would now feel strange, looked at each other.

One was a demon belonging to an information guild.

The other, an elf belonging to the Black Leaf.

Sensing several other presences as well, the two silently shifted their gazes.

And soon, the traces of presence around Alexion’s residence—

vanished in an instant.

...Very quickly.

####

The next day.

Alon woke up feeling more refreshed than usual after finally sleeping in a bed instead of outdoors.

And the first thing he did was not go to see Reinysius—

“......All of this?”

“Yes. These are the documents that require your handling.”

—he went to work.

“Wow, a castle’s been built inside the office.”

“뀨—”

Evan let out a remark of admiration.

Blackie climbed onto one of the piles of documents, curled up, and thumped its tail.

Standing there blankly, Alon watched as Evan looked around the office.

Mountains of paperwork filled the room.

“How did it pile up this much......?”

It definitely hadn’t been like this last time.

As Alon failed to finish his sentence, Alexion subtly averted his gaze.

Following it, Alon looked outside.

He saw the territory.

A territory that had clearly grown larger than before—something he hadn’t fully noticed while focusing on the castle.

“......Oh?”

Only now realizing it, Alon looked back as Alexion spoke carefully.

“As the capital has continued to develop, the documents have naturally... accumulated quite a bit.”

At Alexion’s words, Alon let out a low sigh, then soon gave up and sat down.

Standing there in a daze wasn’t going to reduce the workload.

‘I’ll have to call Penia and split this over a few days.’

Rather than dwell on it, he started processing the documents while thinking of a practical solution.

At the same time, he calmly organized what he needed to do going forward.

‘First priority... the Divine blood—’

Alon recalled what the Bearer had said.

Before long, not just second-stage but even third-stage Divine blood would begin to descend.

If he set a tight timeline, he had about eight months left.

Eight months.

Whether long or short, within that time, Alon needed to prepare.

A rough plan was already forming in his mind.

‘Next... going to Rosario.’

Of course, there were many other things Alon needed to do.

He had to look into an airship for travel efficiency, visit Divine Land again, and research “manifestation.”

He also had to meet Arculainysis and inform the Empire about this matter separately.

And do so as quickly as possible.

‘I already wrote the letter, at least.’

And above all—

there was one experiment he needed to conduct regarding the law.

The law granted to Alon.

A high-risk, high-return power that granted strength beyond imposing constraints.

Even while returning after using it on Seollang, Alon had experimented with that law—and in the process, he had discovered something very interesting.

Something necessary to use that law efficiently despite the enormous risk of even a single use.

‘Penia needs to prepare something for that... so I’ll do it then.’

Penia had said it wouldn’t take long.

In the meantime, Alon continued processing documents while deciding what to handle first.

After some time—

“Sorry I’m late......”

Penia arrived, looking unusually gloomy.

“Something wrong?”

At Alon’s question, conflict flickered across her face.

She bit her lower lip slightly.

“No, it’s just... I got a letter......”

“A letter?”

“Yes...... It feels like... not a good one......”

Alon was curious what the letter was, but since she didn’t seem willing to talk about it, he didn’t press.

Penia joined in the paperwork with a dark expression.

Only the sound of pages turning filled the silence.

At some point, Blackie, who had been sleeping curled up atop a pile of documents, climbed onto Alon’s head.

Alon checked the time.

“That’s enough for today.”

“Yeees—”

Next, it was time to go see Reinysius.

####

“Ah.”

“What is it?”

As Alon headed toward the second office—formerly Penia’s, now occupied by Reinysius—he suddenly recalled something.

“Come to think of it, you lost your lab. Are you okay with that?” 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Penia let out a short sound and waved her hand.

“I’m fine! I was just borrowing it anyway.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and I can just work together in your lab, Lord Alon!”

“Still, isn’t that inconvenient? If you want, I can give you a room—”

“I’m fine!”

“If it becomes inconvenient, make sure to tell me.”

“Yes.”

As Alon backed off, Penia smiled brightly as if she had accomplished something.

But then—

her expression suddenly darkened.

Then she smiled again—

and darkened again.

“......??”

At that strange fluctuation, as if something was wrong with her mood, Alon was taken aback.

‘Until the castle is fully settled... should I prepare a separate office for her?’

Thinking through a solution, he opened the door to the second office, which they had just reached.

“Hm? It’s been a while.”

“Kylrus.”

Kylrus, sitting in the office chair, greeted him.

Then Reinysius spoke.

“You’re here.”

“Reinysius.”

“Sit. There’s much to discuss.”

The moment he saw Alon, he immediately offered him a seat.

Then he turned to Penia.

“I’m sorry to say this, but could you step outside for a moment?”

A very direct dismissal.

But Penia looked between Reinysius and Alon—

“Alright.”

—and obediently stepped outside.

Once she was gone, Reinysius set up a barrier around them.

Watching everything, Alon spoke.

“Is it something important?”

“I’d prefer what we’re about to discuss not spread outside.”

“......What exactly did you find?”

At that, Reinysius nodded seriously, then fell silent for a moment.

“......”

Kylrus watched with arms crossed.

Reinysius remained quiet.

As if agonizing over where to begin, he frowned and relaxed repeatedly.

Then—

“Alright.”

—as if he had made up his mind, he began.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s best to start with what I’ve discovered.”

“What you’ve discovered?”

“Yes.”

Reinysius nodded, then looked at Alon with a grave expression.

“Alon—the gods of the forgotten era did not die.”

“......What?”

“They are merely imprisoned.”

And then he said—

“In a prison of time.”

####

At that same time—

Hidan, who had escaped that suffocating regular meeting and was living each day grateful to still be alive, suddenly received a strange report.

“......What?”

“So, in Colony, the residence of the Great Moon has suddenly been half-destroyed.”

“......Half-destroyed?”

“Yes.”

“Suddenly?”

“That’s correct.”

“......Who would do something that ridiculous?”

Hidan asked in disbelief.

The man shook his head carefully, as if he didn’t know.

“That part hasn’t been confirmed yet...... Most eyewitness accounts just say the guild house suddenly exploded......”

“That’s strange......”

Thinking it over, Hidan tilted his head.

While a house exploding was certainly a problem, if nothing else had happened, it normally wouldn’t warrant an immediate report—the kind reserved for urgent or unusual matters.

So—

“Is there something else?”

At Hidan’s question, the man tilted his head in confusion but continued.

“There is something additional I should mention.”

“What is it?”

“Not just the Great Moon’s residence—apparently, the residences of the other Moons have all disappeared as well.”

“......The other Moons’ residences too?”

“Yes. In particular, the Red Moon’s residence had been rebuilt, but it collapsed again yesterday......”

“The Red Moon’s as well?”

“Yes. And from what we’ve heard—”

“?”

“there are rumors that the Red Moon destroyed it personally......”

At that report—

“......???”

Hidan’s head suddenly became a mess.