Chapter 404: It’s a Proclamation Ceremony… Right? (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 404: It’s a Proclamation Ceremony… Right? (3)
A shantytown stretched endlessly before the Marquis’s estate.
Looking at the sight, Alon seriously wondered what on earth Silli had done.
But that thought was brief.
Passing through the sprawling slums, Alon arrived at the castle gates. He stared at the line that seemed to have no end and muttered, “...Was my territory always this popular?”
“It was popular, that’s true. It’s always been a mandatory stop for merchants because of the Auction House. However—”
Evan also looked at the long queue, sounding a bit exhausted. “...It has certainly never been this crowded.”
“...I agree.”
“Just what did Silli do—no, what could she have possibly done to bring this many people here?” Evan shuddered, clearly sharing Alon’s thoughts.
“I was wondering the same thing,” Penia added.
Alon glanced around at their surroundings. “...I feel like I’ve suddenly become some sort of villainous lord.”
“Where did that come from?”
“Well, look. Inside the walls is all glitz and glamour, but outside is filled with these shabby tents.”
“...Hmm.” Evan looked back and forth between the shantytown and the interior of the walls, then pointed at Alon’s statue. “If you just look at the town, it doesn’t feel that way, but looking at that statue... it does give off that vibe, just like you said, My Lord.”
“...Hmm.”
Alon stared at his own statue.
Seeing it now, the feeling was definitely stronger.
‘...Is there some kind of mana in that pose?’
As Alon stood there lost in thought, he and his group easily bypassed the long lines and entered the inner district of the territory.
“O-Oh, you’ve arrived, My Lord...”
“...Alexion, are you alright?”
“I’m... still breathing...”
They encountered Alexion, who looked deathly tired as he processed paperwork. From him, they received a rough explanation of the current situation.
“So, people were already trickling in, but the numbers exploded starting a month ago. Is that it?”
“Yes.”
“...The reason?”
“To be honest, I don’t know the full details myself. However, rumors regarding your statue have been spreading recently.”
“Rumors about the statue...?”
“Rumors like... if you have the Marquis’s statue, the ‘Good Divine Blood’ will protect you? Things like that.”
“And you’re saying it’s because of those rumors...?”
Alexion answered Alon’s question immediately. “Of course, the rumors themselves probably didn’t have such a massive impact. They only started circulating a few weeks ago, after all... Though, I suppose it served as a catalyst to draw more people in.”
“Aren’t people believing these rumors a bit too easily...?”
“Monsters like the Divine Blood can wipe a whole kingdom off the map like it’s nothing, can’t they?”
“...That’s true.”
As Alon gave a short nod of agreement, Alexion continued.
“And as I mentioned, the reason people are flocking here now is likely due to the Saintess rather than the rumors.”
“...By Saintess, do you mean Silli?”
“Yes.”
“I knew it...”
“We expected as much,” Evan and Penia added, nodding along with Alexion.
“What did Silli do exactly...?”
“I don’t have all the details, but looking at the result, it seems she gathered the refugees of Ashtalon.”
“The refugees of Ashtalon?”
Penia tilted her head even as she nodded. “It’s certainly possible since the kingdom fell, but...”
Alon also had his doubts.
‘Is that... even possible?’
Strictly speaking, only the Ashtalon royalty had been wiped out. The territory of Ashtalon remained intact, perhaps by a stroke of divine luck, even in a world where Divine Blood was crawling out everywhere.
That meant that while the King was gone, the nobles who held the various territories were still perfectly fine.
Furthermore, although Alon hadn’t paid much attention to it, he knew that other nations were busy working behind the scenes to absorb Ashtalon’s nobles into their own countries.
In other words, even if Ashtalon had fallen, it wasn’t to the point where refugees would come all the way here.
“...How did she gather them?”
Naturally, the question escaped Alon’s lips.
Alexion hesitated for a moment before answering. “Well, from what I know, some rather... sinister rumors began to circulate in Ashtalon.”
“Sinister rumors...?”
“Yes. For instance, that the Divine Blood would soon descend upon Ashtalon, or that a Unique Entity had been spotted emerging from the mountains...”
“...Just from rumors like that?”
“And then, immediately after, the Divine Blood actually appeared in Colony, Calliban, and Rogatan, a small kingdom in the south.”
“Ah.”
“At that point, rumors about you, My Lord, spread like wildfire.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“That you are a Living God.”
“...”
Hearing the explanation up to that point, Alon could roughly grasp how Silli had lured the Ashtalon refugees. Yet, one question remained.
“I understand the gist of it... but even so, is it really possible for this many refugees to swarm here just from that?”
Alexion nodded, acknowledging it as a perfectly reasonable doubt. He glanced around cautiously and leaned in close.
“Actually, I found that part strange as well, so I looked into it.”
Evan and Penia naturally leaned in to hear what Alexion had to say.
And then.
“?”
“...It turns out several villages in Ashtalon were secretly destroyed.”
“...”
“Gasp.”
“Gasp.”
At those words, Alon, Penia, and Evan all wore expressions of pure horror.
“...No way?” Evan asked back in shock.
Penia, Alon, and Alexion looked at each other warily, but—
“Wait.” Alon spoke first. “...Even so, I don’t think Silli would go that far.”
It was a logical rebuttal. Evan and Penia were about to agree—
“Mmm... true, even for Silli...”
“That’s right. Going that far is... is...”
“...”
“...Could she... have done it...?”
“...”
The four of them looked at each other’s faces.
Regrettably, not a single one of them could say with certainty that Silli wouldn’t have done it.
Just as a wave of complicated feelings regarding Silli washed over Alon.
“Ah, here you are!”
Alon turned his head at the sudden voice from behind.
“...Silli?”
There stood Silli, wearing her usual smile.
“I had some business at the Marquis’s estate anyway, and I came over as soon as I heard you’d arrived!”
She greeted Alon’s group brightly, but then—
“...Wait, why are you all making those faces?”
She looked bewildered as she watched the group instinctively take a step back from her.
* * *
Immediately after Silli arrived, she heard the gist of the suspicions from Alexion.
“Eh—? I mean... even if I do my best at the tasks I’m given, don’t you think it’s a bit much to think I’d go that far...?” Silli pouted, looking offended.
“Right? I knew it.”
“I believed in you!”
“Me too.”
“...”
“You guys don’t look like you believed me at all...” Silli sighed. “Let me just say, I didn’t intend for that to happen. Why would I do something like that when I know you hate that kind of thing, My Lord?”
“...Is that so?”
“Of course. I’m a Saintess, after all.”
I obviously don’t do things people hate! Silli shouted confidently, and Evan let out a sigh of relief.
“So the villages being destroyed was just a coincidence, then.”
“Oh, I did do that.”
“?”
“?”
“?”
“?”
Silli, Silli, what on earth are you saying? All four of them wore the exact same expression.
“Didn’t... didn’t you just say you didn’t do it?”
“Right? I’ve never harmed a person.”
“...But the villages...?”
When Evan asked in confusion, Silli smiled. “Ah~ those were empty villages.”
“Empty villages?”
“Yes, they were empty. You don’t have to worry about whether there were people living there. I checked multiple times.”
“Were there empty villages...?”
“As you know, when the capital of Ashtalon was destroyed, the larger towns didn’t flee because of their assets. But some small places with no assets were abandoned. I just got rid of those.”
“...But wouldn’t other people already know those villages were empty?”
“Well, the people nearby would know, right?”
“True.”
“But the people who aren’t from nearby wouldn’t know, would they?”
“...Ah.”
Evan seemed to understand Silli’s point instantly. Penia and Alexion were the same.
Naturally, Alon understood as well.
And so.
“Anyway, don’t worry. No one was harmed!”
Looking at Silli as she spoke so brightly, Alon couldn’t help but think blankly.
‘Is this... what they call Chaotic Good or something...?’
* * *
“You should rest today. We can have a proper discussion on how to proceed starting tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
Alon, having confirmed that the citizens of his newly forming kingdom had been brought in through peaceful(?) means, was finishing his conversation with Alexion.
“Ah, could you take a look at this?”
Alon showed Alexion the ‘Feet Running Through the Past.’
“This is...?”
“It’s an artifact, but something seems to be wrong with it. Do you know how to fix it?”
Alexion took the Feet Running Through the Past and turned it over, inspecting it.
Vrrr—
Soon, he created a thin thread of mana at his fingertips and began to tinker with the artifact on the spot.
After a short while.
“Here you go.”
“...? It’s already finished?”
“Yes. It seems one of the artifact’s circuits malfunctioned and trapped the mana inside, so I simply recalibrated it.”
“Impressive.”
“It’s nothing special, really. The ones who create artifacts are the impressive ones; fixing them is just a matter of touching up the circuits.”
Alon nodded at Alexion’s words and took the artifact back.
As soon as he returned to his office, he used it immediately.
And then.
[It’s been a while.]
Alon faced Kailas, who stood in the gray space with his characteristic cool expression.
“Yeah.”
Alon nodded and looked around the world, which was now tinted gray rather than the abyss he had seen last time.
“...It’s changed.”
[Did something happen?]
At that question, Alon gave him a brief explanation of everything that had happened so far.
[So it became like this after you dealt with those beings called Divine Blood, I see.]
“Yeah.”
[So, did you come here to check on that?] Kailas finally got to the point.
“That’s part of it, but the real reason I came today is because of Blackie.”
[Blackie? ...Ah, you mean that Shadow Spirit Dragon.]
“Yeah.”
[What’s the problem?]
“...I’m asking just in case, but can a Shadow Spirit Dragon transform by absorbing others?”
[Transform?]
“Yeah.”
As Alon spoke, Blackie popped his head out from Alon’s chest, as if sensing the conversation was about him.
Kailas picked up Blackie with an expression that suggested he wasn’t particularly interested.
Streeeeetch—!
Blackie was pulled long and then snapped back together. Kailas looked at Blackie and spoke nonchalantly.
“...I don’t see any particular difference?”
“Blackie?” Alon called out to him.
At Alon’s command, spider legs began to emerge from Blackie’s back.
“After eating the corpses of the Divine Blood, he became able to transform like this. I don’t know much about Shadow Spirit Dragons... so I came to see if you might know anything.”
Soon, Blackie’s face shifted into the appearance of the Poison Eater.
As Alon watched the process, he suddenly realized Kailas had been quiet for a long time and looked up.
“...Kailas?”
Alon called his name in the silence. And then—
“KYAAAAAAAH!!”
Thud!
Kailas let out a scream like a little girl and threw Blackie far away.
Then, he collapsed, foaming at the mouth and twitching in a seizure.
“...W-What?”
Alon’s bewildered mutter echoed through the space.
[Kyu... Kyu?]
Blackie, having been tossed aside, let out a pitiful cry with a wronged expression.