Chapter 340 : This Wasn't in the Plan (3)

"I'm sorry! I had to step away for a moment."

"My apologies, Marquis."

"It's fine."

Just as Ryanga was talking with Historia, Sili and Deus naturally joined the conversation.

Alon briefly waved his hand, signaling that it was okay.

"Ah, before we continue talking, why don’t we move to another location?"

"Hmm? Is there a reason for that?"

"Yes, I have something to show you!"

Sili suggested.

Alon looked puzzled but eventually nodded.

He wrapped up his conversation with Ryanga and Historia and followed the siblings.

Not long after they started walking—

"This is it."

"This is—"

"This is your residence, Marquis! Even though you're not usually here, you do come once or twice!"

Alon was faced with a massive tent erected in the center of Divine Land.

‘Wait… should I even call this a tent? This is…’

“Isn’t this basically a palace? I mean, what do you even call this...?”

“A tent-shaped palace…?” Evan muttered blankly.

Just like he said, the structure before them looked more like a palace made of cloth than a simple tent, leaving both of them dumbfounded.

"Please, come in!"

Following an unusually excited Sili, they found themselves inside before they knew it.

Soon, the office was revealed.

And there, they could finally have a proper conversation.

With sparkling eyes, Sili looked up at Alon.

Alon fell into thought for a moment.

He had a lot of questions he wanted to ask.

But now that they were face to face, he wasn’t sure where to begin.

After a brief silence, Alon slowly opened his mouth.

"I heard from Ryanga and Historia earlier that you created something called the Four Knights."

"Oh, that’s just the title for your personal guards, Marquis!"

"Personal guards?"

"Yes! There are always those who guard gods, right? So we created that position for you! We’re only selecting those with the ability to truly protect you!"

Then she added that two spots were still vacant.

"Oh, and we also reorganized the soldiers into new ranks!"

"The soldiers too?"

"Yes! Into five major classes—"

She then began reporting the changes to the military hierarchy, one by one.

For about thirty minutes.

And in that half hour, Alon learned two things.

The rank system that had only consisted of knights and soldiers was now split into a whopping fifteen levels.

And the modest 'Divine Land' he once oversaw had become a thing of the distant past.

"Of course, my brother helped a lot!"

Sili added, as Deus proudly straightened his shoulders with a blank expression.

‘Why is he so proud of that?’

Alon wondered, though he continued the conversation.

"But is there a particular reason for dividing the ranks that much?"

"Ah, yes! Mostly because there are so many more people now!"

"It did feel like the number of soldiers had grown."

Alon recalled what he had seen.

So many soldiers had gathered that it barely resembled the Divine Land he used to know, and he couldn’t help but tilt his head.

"Ah, a lot of the mercenaries who came earlier have settled down!"

"...Hmm?"

Noticing his confusion, Sili explained, and Alon looked even more puzzled.

“Weren’t they supposed to be leaving?"

"Well—some did leave, but most ended up believing in you, Marquis!"

With a confident shrug that said, "See how well I did?", Sili smiled brightly.

Looking at the girl with that unmistakably proud expression, Alon felt even more perplexed.

After all, the mercenaries had come to Divine Land due to distorted rumors.

Meaning, once they discovered the truth upon arrival, they should have naturally left.

So why did they stay?

"Was there a particular reason they didn’t leave?"

"I evangelized!"

"...Huh?"

"Evangelized?"

Even with her bold answer, Alon's doubts remained unresolved.

To begin with, the mercenaries from Psychedelia valued profit far more than faith.

"Did they really come to believe in me that easily?"

Still unconvinced, Alon questioned her again, and Sili smiled.

"Not at first."

"And then?"

"I made them believe in you. That’s what a saint like me is supposed to do."

Sili gave a proud "ahem" and beamed.

"Could I ask… how exactly you evangelized them?"

"Of course!"

As Alon's curiosity deepened, Sili nodded as if it were a given—

"First, I started by giving strength to a weak knight."

She began to explain her story step by step.

About thirty minutes later—

"And that’s how I was able to give faith to both the weak and the strong mercenaries alike!"

"There aren’t many scriptures right now, you know? So much so that some people are desperately waiting for more!"

With a final cheerful statement, Sili finished.

Alon stood there blankly, his mouth agape, and slowly turned to the side.

Evan also had his mouth wide open like him.

Well, it made sense.

If everything Sili said was true—

Then there was no way that innocent-looking girl with the bright smile had come up with and executed all of this on her own.

Honestly, it was all kind of sinister.

"...But wouldn’t that method of persuasion have side effects?"

"Hmm? In what way?"

"If it’s because you gave them strength, wouldn’t that power fade eventually?"

Evan posed the question.

But Sili, still smiling brightly, answered without hesitation.

"You don’t need to worry about that. All they really need is hope."

"…Hope?"

"Those who received strength through me have hope—hope that if they stay devout, they can access that power again. And the others hope that if they build strong faith, they’ll gain even greater power."

"...Isn’t that basically a lie?"

Evan cautiously pointed out.

To that, Sili let out a cheerful laugh.

"A lie? Not at all! In the end, they can wield the power, so it’s not a lie."

“Well—maybe I exaggerated just a tiny bit~”

She added, and Evan, slightly embarrassed, awkwardly replied, “Ah, I see,” while sneaking glances at Alon and Deus.

Thankfully, the three—excluding Sili—seemed to share a similar train of thought, so Evan felt momentarily reassured.

"...Hmm? Why are you all looking at each other like that?"

Sili asked, prompting Alon to quickly clear his throat and change the subject.

"Anyway, where did you go earlier?"

"Oh, I went out to do some evangelizing!"

"...Did you now?"

"Yes! The guardian deity told me to bring in more followers!"

"...Did I say that?"

Alon now found himself wondering, “Did I really say that?”

Of course, his expression remained as calm as ever.

"Yes, the guardian deity told me so."

Following Sili’s subtle gesture, Alon turned his gaze in the direction she pointed.

There, he saw—

Flinch!

Kalannon, in cat form, sneakily glancing around.

‘So it was you...’

Alon thought for a brief moment.

Then Kalannon, still nervously watching Alon, suddenly jumped onto his lap with a purr—

[Meow~ meow~]

Rubbing his body against him as if to say, "Please forgive me, I had no choice~."

What exactly was it that she had no choice about?

Alon’s question remained unanswered, but as he unconsciously reached out to pet Kalannon’s soft fur—

Pop—!

A moment ago, Blackie had been tucked inside Alon’s breast pocket, but now he popped out.

Tap tap tap—

Seeing Kalannon on Alon’s lap, Blackie swiftly leapt down.

Then—

Smack! Smack!

[Meow!?]

He smacked Kalannon’s head.

A solid nyan-nyan punch that made a loud "smack" sound.

As Kalannon ran off in shock, Blackie—

[Meowww—]

Glared after him, then proudly claimed the now-empty spot on Alon’s lap.

A sudden and bewildering turn of events.

Alon's hand hovered awkwardly in midair, unsure of what to do.

***

A little while later.

Sili had stepped out for a bit, saying she had something to do, after finishing her explanation.

"Master!"

"Divine One!"

"Chief!"

As if they’d been waiting for the moment, Seolrang, Historia, and Ryanga arrived.

Though their eyes were all on Alon, oddly enough, they were butting heads with each other (literally?).

What the hell happened between them?

"Move."

"You move."

"You thick-headed idiots~"

Though their mouths were smiling, the intensity in their eyes was almost physically manifesting from mana pressure.

Watching the trio, Alon let out a small sigh.

...Right, now that he thought about it, Seolrang and Historia never got along well.

He could accept that from past experience, but he hadn’t expected Ryanga to get involved too.

‘They seemed fine when it was just her and Historia...’

As Alon quietly pondered this, he glanced over at Deus.

Deus, with zero emotion, stared at them like they were chickens.

He clearly had no interest in their fight whatsoever.

Seeing his whole attitude scream "not my problem," Alon unconsciously nodded in agreement.

"Ah, Marquis."

"Yes?"

"I forgot to mention something earlier. We got a message from Alexion this morning."

"Alexion? What for?"

"You know, your ‘partner.’"

At Evan’s mention, Alon gave an “ah” of realization.

"But why is Alexion the one talking about it?"

"Because I told him to."

"Again?"

"Don't worry, this time there won’t be any annoying incidents like last time."

—Good to hear.

"Yes, I think the interviewees should be arriving soon."

"Interviewees?"

"Alexion sent invitation letters only to noble ladies who might be interested in you, Marquis. If they bring that letter, they’ll be interviewed and shortlisted accordingly."

"…Is that really necessary?"

"For someone like you, Marquis, it should’ve been done much earlier. Although, selecting the actual partner may still take a while. Some letters haven’t been delivered yet."

Alon still seemed skeptical, but nodded as Evan gave a rare, firm answer.

"? "

Suddenly, something felt off.

The three who had been growling at each other just moments ago had gone completely silent.

When he turned his gaze—

There stood Historia, Seolrang, and Ryanga, eyes wide open.

"Chief? What do you mean, ‘partner’?"

Ryanga asked.

Alon nonchalantly explained about the ball.

After hearing his explanation, the three said—

"Um... Chief! I, uh, just remembered something I have to do!"

"Master! I have to step out real quick!"

"Me too, just for a moment—"

Like a tide retreating, the three of them made hasty exits.

And not just them.

"Marquis, I’ll step out briefly as well."

Even Deus.

"...?"

"...?"

Alon looked to Evan in confusion.

The two of them exchanged glances and simply shrugged.

And then, exactly two days later—

"Um, Lord Alexion."

"What?"

"About those letters that were being delivered...?"

"What about them?"

"Some of them were reportedly stolen."

"...What?"

Alexion was baffled by the report.

Why would anyone steal letters that weren’t even political but just partner invitations?

"Who stole them?"

"They're not sure. Some say they blacked out and the letter was gone. Others said they found their pockets had been emptied somehow."

"Hmm~"

Maybe they were just lost?

Tilting his head with that thought, Alexion suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

He remembered the girl who had visited him exactly two days ago.

‘Oh my, is this a points-based system?’

‘Ah, this is...’

‘Hmm—so if someone gets above a certain score, they become a candidate?’

‘That’s correct.’

‘That’s quite clever. That way, you can filter out those who don’t suit my Lord.’

‘Thank you.’

‘I hope my score is high enough.’

‘...Huh?’

‘I really hope I score well.’

‘...Ah, yes.’

Though she smiled with her lips, her eyes weren’t smiling—Cardinal Yutia Bloodia of Rosario.

Thinking of that girl, Alexion momentarily suspected that she might have stolen the letters.

But he soon shook his head.

She was currently staying at the Marquis’s estate.

Stealing all those letters being delivered nationwide in real-time would’ve been impossible.

And if her goal was to eliminate all other candidates—

She would’ve had to destroy every single letter.

But that wasn’t the case.

Which meant—

The letter thief wasn’t Yutia.

‘Then who is it?’

While Alexion was lost in deduction, his secretary hesitantly brought up another topic.

"And one more thing."

"What is it?"

"It seems the rumor about the Marquis seeking a partner has started to spread."

Alexion sighed.

He wasn’t angry.

Even with quiet invitations, it was nearly impossible to keep it from leaking.

The rumor had spread faster than expected, but it wasn’t unanticipated.

So—

"That’s fine."

"What should we do?"

"What else? We resend them. Tch—It’d be easier if I could just speak through the crystal orb, but of course, nobles still insist on letters for formal matters. So inconvenient."

Alexion brushed it off like it wasn’t a big deal.

But the rumor spread faster than he imagined.

"...So you’re saying Brother is looking for a partner?"

"That’s right."

"His Grace’s partner?"

"Yes—the partner of the Primordial Elf."

The rumor even reached the elven lands.

As Magrina and Rine enjoyed their tea, their secretary Mew delivered the news—and flinched.

For good reason.

"Sis, something urgent just came up. Mind if I head out first?"

"Sure. Actually, something just came up for me too."

The looks in their eyes were anything but ordinary.

And seeing that—

Mew instinctively felt it.

‘What... what is this?’

Something big was coming.