Chapter 177

“Then, let’s meet at the banquet.”

“Understood.”

After Alon bid his final farewell and left—

“Hoo—”

Carmaxes III let out a deep sigh and brushed his chest in relief.

A king feeling tense while speaking with a mere noble? If anyone heard, they’d scoff at how ridiculous it sounded. Yet the thought that Marquis Palatio might actually be a Sage God froze him in place.

……Of course, whether Marquis Palatio was truly a Sage God remained unknown.

With that thought, Carmaxes shifted his gaze.

“So, what did you think?”

It was finally time to hear the truth from Teyra, who had claimed to recognize a Sage God.

And then—

“……Are you alright?”

Carmaxes III couldn’t help but ask.

Teyra, who had shown no particular interest until Marquis Palatio arrived,

Now looked utterly pale, as if all the energy had been drained from his body.

Seeing Carmaxes III’s bewildered expression, Teyra let out a sigh before slowly parting his lips.

“I’m fine. It’s just that I saw something… unbelievable.”

“Something unbelievable?”

“Yes. Even I cannot comprehend it.”

Something incomprehensible?

As Carmaxes III’s brow furrowed, Teyra took several deep breaths before finally speaking.

“……To put it simply, Marquis Palatio does seem to be a Sage God.”

A brief silence followed.

Carmaxes’ voice cracked as he spoke.

“Are… you certain?”

“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes. The power that the Sage God wielded when I visited the land of the Lizardmen—he also possesses it. However, what’s peculiar is—”

“……Peculiar?”

“The orbs. There were four of them.”

“……What exactly does that mean?”

Teyra fell silent, lost in thought, before beginning his explanation.

And after a short while—

“……So, according to your words, the Sage God you saw in the Lizardmen’s land had only one chained orb, whereas Marquis Palatio had four of them?”

“Yes.”

“What does the number of orbs signify?”

At Carmaxes III’s question, Teyra shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t provide a definitive answer. After all, I’ve only encountered a Sage God that one time…”

“……Then what can you speculate?”

“What I can speculate is—”

Teyra hesitated briefly before locking eyes with Carmaxes.

“The more orbs one has, the stronger they are.”

“The more orbs they have?”

“When I was in the Lizardmen’s land, I once saw their strongest warrior. He had two orbs.”

Of course, Teyra quickly added that these were ordinary orbs seen in common people, not the chained ones. Then, he bowed his head.

“Of course, my theory could be wrong, but if we consider this, the number of orbs may indicate strength or talent.”

“……Strength or talent, huh? Then, if your speculation is correct, and the Sage God you saw had only one orb, while Marquis Palatio possesses four…”

As Carmaxes’ murmur trailed off, the tension in the room grew.

“……If my hypothesis is correct, he might be even stronger than the Sage God I saw in the Lizardmen’s land.”

At this shocking revelation, Carmaxes III’s mouth slowly fell open.

***

Shortly after the audience with Carmaxes III ended—

‘Why did he call me in as soon as I arrived?’

Alon found it odd that Carmaxes III had summoned him just to schedule the banquet.

Normally, such matters would be handled by an envoy rather than a direct meeting.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even an invitation—it was more of a unilateral notice that the banquet would be held at a set time.

Regardless, Alon only pondered the abrupt summons briefly.

Thud!

“Master!”

Seolrang suddenly appeared on the carriage roof with a loud thump.

The moment Alon’s carriage neared the guild building, Seolrang had leaped down from the rooftop onto the moving carriage.

“If you waited inside the building, I would have come up.”

“We could go up together!”

Seolrang leaned in close to Alon, her eyes sparkling.

Then, perking up her ears as if anticipating something, she gazed up at him.

Recognizing the familiar signal, Alon pressed her ears gently.

Seolrang simply smiled in satisfaction.

Seeing that, Alon unconsciously let out a small smile himself and patted her head twice.

As he ascended the building, Alon felt relieved.

‘I was worried at first, but…’

Around the time they arrived in the desert, Alon had remembered something he’d forgotten due to his mental realm.

That, upon reaching the colony, he would finally have to give Seolrang an answer about her long-postponed proposal.

For a while, he struggled with what to do. But upon reaching the colony, his concerns eased.

Because even though Seolrang was friendlier than ever, she hadn’t brought up the topic at all.

At first, he found it strange, but then he wondered if she had finally learned to distinguish between ‘like’ and ‘love.’

Her change was undeniable—she was growing, both mentally and emotionally, like a child maturing into an adult.

Upon entering the guild, the two exchanged greetings.

Then, suddenly, Seolrang turned toward the window and paused.

“Hmm?”

She glanced back at Alon and smiled brightly.

“Ah, Master! I’ll be right back!”

“Where are you going?”

“I have some business at the royal castle!”

“Alright, go ahead.”

“Okay! I’ll be back soon, Master!”

With a crackling burst of lightning, Seolrang dashed off.

Watching her disappear, Alon’s expression turned into that of a father watching his daughter go out to play.

“Marquis.”

Soon after, Evan called out to him.

“What is it?”

“Oh, you remember that request you made? I’ve got it here.”

“The investigation is already done?”

“Well, it’s been over a month since you asked, so they had plenty of time.”

Without hesitation, Alon unfolded the paper Evan handed him.

“Hmm…”

“But, Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“Why are you looking into this? It doesn’t really concern us, does it?”

It was a fair question.

The list Alon had requested contained information about various underground organizations and secret factions operating within the Allied Kingdom.

Before the original story began, these groups had remained hidden, their locations unknown. But when the Five Great Sins started emerging, these factions appeared as well, plunging the Allied Kingdom into chaos.

In other words, at this point in time, they hadn’t even fully surfaced yet, making Evan’s curiosity understandable.

At times like this—

“It’s just… that thing.”

“That thing, huh.”

“Yeah, that thing.”

As always, Alon gave the same vague answer.

“Yeah… I figured you’d say something like that.”

Evan shrugged, as if he hadn’t expected much.

“Is that so?”

“Well, Marquis, you do tend to do things I don’t understand sometimes.”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“I am, but it’s probably something you can’t talk about, right?”

“Hmm—”

It wasn’t that he couldn’t talk about it—it was just that he wasn’t confident in explaining it properly. Just as Alon was thinking this, Evan added—

“Well, if it’s too difficult to explain, you don’t have to. It’s not like hearing one or two of these things will change anything for me.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. Even if you do things I don’t understand, I know you’re not doing anything bad.”

Alon felt an odd sense of satisfaction from Evan’s words of trust.

Then, Evan suddenly flashed a mischievous grin and whispered—

“Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“If my salary happens to increase again, I’d welcome it with open arms.”

“You just ruined my moment of sentimentality.”

“Oops—should’ve waited a little longer to bring it up, huh?”

Evan’s face was full of an easygoing smile.

Shortly after, he bid farewell and left the room.

Now, silence filled the space.

[Meow-]

Alon absentmindedly stroked Blackie, who had been exhausted from being overwhelmed by Seolrang’s affections earlier.

He gathered his thoughts.

‘Right now, what I need to focus on are the enemies that will shake the Allied Kingdom and the Apostles.’

The enemies threatening the Allied Kingdom—they could be dealt with.

Even if they hadn’t revealed themselves yet, they were still operating in the shadows. Buying intelligence from the information guild would make handling them easy enough.

But the real problem was the Apostles.

‘At first, I had hoped it was just paranoia, but…’

The moment he confirmed that even Rine was entangled with the Apostles, Alon was certain.

Every child he had saved so far—without exception—had already been involved with the Apostles before he intervened.

That meant the Apostles could appear before any other child at any time.

This was what troubled him.

‘…If only I knew where the Apostles were.’

Unfortunately, that was an impossible wish.

Alon had no way of identifying who the Apostles were, and from his past battles and intelligence gathering, he had learned that they only revealed themselves when attempting to awaken a “Vessel.”

That meant that no one, not even the information guild, could track their whereabouts.

‘So, in the end, all I can do is respond every time they show up… Is there really no way?’

Only Alon’s deep sigh echoed in the quiet room.

***

That Night.

After failing to reach any concrete conclusions, Alon eventually headed for the royal palace to enjoy the banquet as per Carmaxes III’s invitation.

‘…Tonight, I’ll attend the banquet, meet Kylrus, and then collect what I was supposed to receive from the Dragonkin.’

Having grown quite familiar with the royal palace, Alon soon arrived at the banquet hall Carmaxes III had prepared.

But the moment he stepped inside, a question popped into his mind.

Seolrang, who had left earlier that day claiming she had business in the royal palace, was nowhere to be seen.

‘Where did Seolrang go?’

Her empty seat stood out.

Alon tilted his head in confusion but soon turned his attention to Carmaxes III, bowing respectfully.

“I greet the King of the Colony.”

The same greeting as always.

However—

“Ah, you’ve arrived, Marquis Palatio.”

Carmaxes III’s polite tone—something Alon had heard once before—rang in his ears.

Straightening from his bow, Alon’s face showed a barely perceptible flicker of puzzlement.

“Please, have a seat.”

“…???”

It was a night that started in utter confusion.

***

Meanwhile, Under the Blue Moon

Staring blankly at the dark streets, where not a single light was visible, Rine unconsciously muttered Alon’s words from earlier that day.

“The past is nothing more than the past—”

She had repeated those words so many times already, yet she found herself saying them once more.

And as she did, a faint smile formed on her lips.

To be honest, hearing those words hadn’t brought any significant change to Rine’s heart.

She was still afraid of her past. It still haunted her, tormented her, and filled her with dread.

No matter how much Alon reassured her, to her, the past remained something she wished to forget.

His words hadn’t fully reached the depths of her heart.

Her past still clung to her.

But even so, the reason she had been able to smile at that moment was simple—

It was because of Alon’s expression.

A face that even he himself might not have been fully aware of.

But it was unmistakable.

His usual expressionless face had been replaced by one filled with—

‘Concern.’

An expression that, no matter how one looked at it, was full of worry.

And it was directed at her.

That, to Rine, was an incredibly joyous thing.

…So much so that she never wanted to lose it.

She didn’t want the shackles of her past to taint their current relationship.

That’s why—

—No, I don’t even need to tell you. You just need to make a choice. You’re smart enough to know, aren’t you? That your library has far more hidden spaces than you realize.

She recalled the voice of the Apostle of Greed.

A voice she didn’t even want to think about.

And yet, it spoke of a possible path forward—

A way to break free from the shackles of the past and move forward.

For a long time, she gazed at the blue moon.

Her eyes, reflecting its hue, glowed with an even deeper, more vivid shade of blue.

***

In the Distant Outskirts, Far From the Colony

In a place where finding anything seemed impossible—

A barren wasteland of endless desert—

“I found you.”

“!?”

The elf, Draim, who had been discreetly following Alon for his protection,

Now found himself helplessly restrained—his neck gripped tightly by Seolrang’s lightning-charged hand.

“You were spying on Master, weren’t you?”

“Guh—!”

With an expression of pure shock, he stared at her.