Chapter 449: Return (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 449: Return (5)
The southeastern region of the Empire.
Once a place where a trade city had flourished brilliantly, it was now a complete ruin because of the Divine Blood.
Furthermore, in that place where the majority of the Imperial citizens had been reduced to mere tools for the Divine Blood...
[….]
In a rare occurrence, dozens of Divine Blood had gathered.
However, there was something exceedingly peculiar about them for Divine Blood.
Except for when they gradually transformed into humans through stages, Divine Blood generally varied wildly in their appearance and size.
Naturally, the Divine Blood gathered here were no different.
They possessed a diverse array of forms.
Yet, there was one single commonality.
Their armor.
They wore ink-black armor tailored to their respective bodies, topped with bizarrely long helmets that looked like something a plague doctor would wear.
They stood in formation like knights, and before them...
[Huu—]
An entity stood.
His body was not even as large as the other Divine Blood.
In fact, he was disproportionately small.
Almost like a human.
But though his size was human-like, his appearance was far from it.
Furthermore, unlike the gathered Divine Blood, he wore no ink-black armor.
Instead, what was visible was ashen skin so gaunt it looked as if he were suffering from malnutrition.
And as if a heart had never existed there to begin with, there was a gaping hole in the center of his chest.
Finally.
Two spears were impaled through his shoulders.
One black, one white.
With the spearheads protruding through his ribs after piercing both lungs, the man looked more like a common criminal than a leader at first glance.
Nevertheless, the Divine Blood in ink-black armor were all bowing their heads toward him.
After some time had passed...
The entity, who had been exhaling languid breaths while sitting on a broken stone throne before the crowd of Divine Blood, suddenly spoke.
[Warriors of the great Astaroth.]
[The time has come.]
He abruptly opened his mouth.
[It is now time to uphold our mission.]
[The Heretical Blood has overflowed from death, granting us the opportunity to gain power—this must be a holy revelation that shall bring the Great One down to this earth—]
A calm yet majestic voice echoed in all directions.
[Collect the Heretical Blood—and uphold the command of Astaroth. We shall bring about His descent into this world.]
[Ah—Astaroth.]
[We are His spear, His sword, and His shield.]
[We are His unwavering flesh—]
Inside the plague doctor-like helmets, red eyes began to flash eerily in the ashen world.
Quietly.
And with a spine-chilling light.
* * *
Alon did not particularly enjoy luxury.
Of course, that didn't mean he hated money.
In fact, he was closer to being someone who liked money very much.
It wasn't for the sake of extravagance, but for the satisfaction of knowing he could live an abundant life.
At any rate, from Alon's perspective, having the mages of two Magic Towers build him a castle wasn't a bad deal at all.
Granted, looking at the size of the castle currently under construction, he did feel a bit apprehensive, wondering, 'Isn't this a bit much?'...
But in the end, the cost-effectiveness was quite high, so he didn't refuse.
He didn't, but...
"…Evan."
"Yes."
"…Was that thing on the blueprints we saw last time?"
Alon stared blankly upward.
A floating castle was still drifting in the sky.
To be precise, it wasn't quite a full castle; it felt more like something that could hold a small garden and a house.
Regardless, the fact remained that it was a floating castle, so he asked.
"…Wasn't that something that didn't exist in the first place?"
"I thought so, right?"
"Yes. Penia, have you seen it before?"
"I have no memory of seeing it either…."
Following Evan's lead, Penia also shook her head.
It was confirmed that the floating castle was not in the blueprints.
In truth, if the floating castle were simply sitting there, Alon might have just let it slide.
It was a bit shocking, but he would have figured that such an addition could be part of some changes.
After all, the initial plan and the actual execution often differ.
…Setting aside whether a floating castle is the kind of structure that can just be 'added' on a whim, of course.
Unfortunately, the reason Alon couldn't easily overlook the current state of affairs was...
"…Um, Lord Alon?"
"What is it…?"
"Doesn't the castle seem a bit larger than what we originally discussed?"
It was because the castle itself had grown larger, just as Penia said.
"…I thought so too, right?"
"Yes. According to the blueprints… it shouldn't look like that."
"Maybe they built extra because they had leftover materials or something?"
Evan proposed his own hypothesis, but...
"…To build that one castle on the right that isn't even in the blueprints, it feels like selling one or two territories wouldn't even cover the cost."
He shut his mouth at Penia's subsequent remark.
Just then.
"Ho—human magic, is it? To think it has advanced this much in a few hundred years—it's even a different method from the Magi. Is most of it composed of calculation formulas?"
Rainisius the Golden Dragon's eyes sparkled with interest as he immediately recognized the magic circles embedded in the castle.
Watching the group react in their own ways, Alon first settled the situation.
"…Let's head inside for now."
He had finally returned to his territory.
* * *
Immediately after returning to Palantia.
Alexion, whose smile had grown significantly deeper despite his haggard appearance, greeted Alon.
After a brief greeting, Alon was soon able to meet the two Tower Masters.
"Oh, you've arrived!"
"Welcome back!"
Alon looked at the two Tower Masters, who were showing him an immense amount of respect for some reason, with a bewildered expression.
"…??"
Of course, Alon had been away from the territory for a long time, but he hadn't forgotten his conversations with these two.
'…I'm pretty sure we agreed to speak informally to each other.'
As he briefly wondered why they had reverted to formal speech, Alon soon brushed the thought aside.
Norton, the Purple Tower Master, and Manram, the Brown Tower Master.
He gave them a light greeting.
"It's been a while."
"Yes!"
"We are doing our absolute best to construct the castle!"
"Every single mage from the Purple Magic Tower has been deployed to build the castle!"
"The same goes for the Brown Magic Tower! Almost all of our personnel have been assigned!"
However, what he got in return was an intense(?) report.
Moreover, they were competing to speak while glaring at each other.
The two Tower Masters glanced at each other's reactions before continuing.
"Ahem—our Purple Magic Tower used the alchemy materials we were going to sell to upgrade the magic circles to a higher tier."
"Our Brown Magic Tower has raised the quality of the materials being used to an even more premium grade than before!"
They continued speaking enthusiastically, as if appealing to Alon.
"…."
The two of them poured out their achievements without pause.
From Alon's perspective, it felt like unpaid slaves shouting, 'I did more work!' even though they weren't receiving any compensation, which made him feel strange.
"I'd like you both to calm down for a moment."
After calming the two heated mages, he asked.
"Well, it seems there are parts of the castle currently being built that differ from the previous blueprints—"
"Ah! You don't need to worry about that part! It's just something we're building separately on our own!"
"…."
The words 'No, I mean, why?' almost jumped out of his throat, but he couldn't say that outright to people who were working so hard.
Alon briefly organized his thoughts.
"…Well, it feels like I'm already receiving more than enough excessive favor."
Alon wasn't oblivious.
He could roughly tell that the level of favor was excessive and where that favor was coming from.
However, since it was hard to imagine they would go to such ridiculous lengths for that reason, he had broached the subject.
"Ahem—as you know, that's because I want to maintain a very good relationship with His Majesty."
"I feel the same way."
The two Tower Masters only gave meaningful smiles.
Alon asked back.
"…Is that really all?"
"Oh, of course!"
"That is truly all we want!"
The two of them made an even bigger fuss.
Then.
"Well then, we'll see you again tomorrow! We still have work left to do!"
"I will also report the details to you tomorrow!"
Shouting, 'I'm going to work voluntarily now!' they quickly hurried away.
"…What on earth is going on?"
It was another day where Alon's questions continued to pile up.
The next day.
Before heading over to the Divine Land, Alon was conducting magic research as usual while recovering from the fatigue of his long journey.
Penia approached, breaking the silence.
"Lord Alon."
"Penia?"
"…I found out why those two are acting like that."
"The Tower Masters?"
"Yes. It seems they saw it."
"…Saw what?"
"Me using Phrases."
"Ah."
Only then did Alon let out a low exclamation.
At that same time.
In the capital of the Southern Empire.
In that place where a royal castle, more brilliant and massive than any other in the Empire, was situated.
"So, you're saying Contanias saw that King of the Frontier and called him the father of the Guardian Dragon?"
"That is correct, Princess."
Irenena Polantisia was listening to a knight's report.
"…."
It was quite a shocking report, yet there was no particular change in her expression.
After a moment of thought, Irenena spoke.
"It's highly likely that idiot just misunderstood something."
She dismissed the report quite simply and let out a sigh.
"Sigh—I can't believe he's bowing his head to a King of the Frontier, taking such nonsense as truth. It's so embarrassing that we share the same bloodline I could die."
She shook her head, covering her face with her hand as if she were mortified.
At that, the knight bowed his head and spoke.
"…Actually, I thought the same might be true."
"Why? Is there some other story?"
"According to gathered intelligence, it seems the Princess of the Eastern Empire also reacted strongly to those words."
"…To that idiotic statement?"
"Yes. I heard she intends to visit the Frontier Nation after finishing her business."
Irenena fell silent at the knight's elaboration.
In truth, Contanias's fuss hadn't elicited much of a reaction from her.
After all, her treatment of him was nothing more or less than an idiot who happened to be born into a good bloodline.
However, if Serdea had reacted, the story was different.
She wasn't as foolish as Contanias, and above all, her intuition was sharp.
Sharp enough that it couldn't be dismissed as mere gut feeling.
'…Come to think of it, even the Tower had proposed to him.'
Of course, at that point, Irenena had also been somewhat interested in him.
If Serdea's intuition had chosen that King of the Frontier, she felt there must be something to him.
But even so, for his true identity to be the 'Father of the Guardian Dragon.'
It made no sense at all, so Irenena tilted her head in confusion for a while before speaking.
"…Dark."
"Yes, Princess."
"I'm sorry, but I think I'll have to use your ability."
"If it is for you, Princess, I would do so gladly."
"…I feel like I need to check on the King of the Frontier myself. And—"
She quietly issued her command.
"It's also to test the ability I gained this time."
She closed and opened her eyes, which had turned a jade color, distinct from her usual golden glow.