Chapter 341 : This Wasn't in the Plan (4)

Alon remained in Divine Land for about a week.

Of course, it wasn't because Alon had something important to do.

In fact, Alon had been planning to head to the Marquisate.

But he couldn’t.

It was because of Sili.

While Alon was away, Sili had been working hard to develop Divine Land and now insisted on showing him everything, dragging him around.

Because of that, another two days had passed.

The surprising part was that those two days had been absolutely packed.

Only yesterday did he finally finish being introduced to all the factions in Divine Land.

Alon recalled what Sili had said to him yesterday.

"Now, this is the Holy Knights!"

"I see—"

"This is the Blue Knights!"

"...?"

"This is the Order of Anguish!"

"Uh... is there some difference between all these knight orders?"

"Well, first of all, the Holy Knights are—"

Since they all wore similar armor, his question had triggered nearly an hour-long explanation on each order.

"Hmm—"

‘How did my little Divine Land tycoon project get to this point?’

As Alon pondered this for a moment, he heard something and looked down.

[Meoww–!!]

Smack!

[Meow–?!]

Blackie smacked Kalannon, who had been slyly trying to settle next to Alon, with a rubbery kitty punch.

Then, as if it were obvious, Blackie stared wide-eyed and claimed Alon’s lap.

Kalannon’s face showed injustice.

She looked as if to say, “That’s my spot.”

But Blackie turned his head away with a haughty flick, clearly not intending to yield.

‘He seemed okay before, but I guess they don’t really get along.’

As Alon recalled how Blackie had repeatedly swatted Kalannon on the head over the past two days—

“Marquis, the preparations for departure are ready.”

"Really?"

“Yes.”

He heard Evan’s voice.

Alon immediately nodded and stood up with Blackie in his arms.

Now that everything in Divine Land was done, it was time to return.

Naturally, Alon tucked Blackie into his chest pocket.

As he rose, Kalannon promptly jumped into the now-vacant chair, as if she’d been waiting for it.

Alon gave her a gentle pat on the head.

Hisss–!

Kalannon hissed in protest.

She seemed to be expressing her dissatisfaction that he hadn't scolded Blackie.

[Meoww–!]

Smack!

But then, Blackie popped out from his chest and delivered a punch that instantly subdued Kalannon, who shrank back down.

Alon let out a bitter smile at the sight of the two and made his way to the carriage.

"Ah, Marquis! May I accompany you this time?"

"You have something to do?"

"Yes! Something came up briefly!"

"I'm going too."

"...Well, I don't mind."

Sili and Deus both offered to join him.

Though puzzled, Alon nodded.

After all, they weren’t the only ones heading to the Palatio Marquisate with him.

"Shouldn’t you stay behind to guard Divine Land?"

"Nope."

"Why do you get to decide what I do?"

"You’re both knights, aren’t you?"

"Hmph—we’re escort knights."

"Agreed. If anyone should be returning, it’s you."

"Right, that Colo—what was it? Anyway, go back to the desert."

"No thanks. I’m on an official journey with Master, unlike you guys who just tagged along with excuses.”

“!? This is a legit mission!"

By now, Seolrang, Historia, and Ryanga were already arguing near Alon’s carriage.

Ever since they disappeared after showing their faces on the first day, the three had been constantly bickering.

Alon watched their now-familiar squabbles.

Historia suddenly realized Alon had arrived and swiftly moved to stand by his side like a ghost.

Swoosh—

She naturally wrapped her tail around his waist.

Sway—

The tip of her tail trembled slightly as if she were pleased.

Then, seeing this a moment too late, Seolrang hurried over and wrapped her tail around Alon’s waist from the other side.

In an instant, Alon was caught by two tails.

Ryanga, left alone, ran up with a betrayed expression and shouted,

"What are you guys doing?! You’re annoying Chief!"

"Hmph! Master doesn’t mind stuff like this!"

Seolrang shot back triumphantly.

...For a moment, it felt like their roles had reversed from the earlier conversation between Historia and Seolrang.

In the end, since there were too many people, they split into multiple carriages.

Only then could Alon peacefully watch Divine Land slowly fade into the distance.

“No matter how I think about it, this has all gotten too big.”

“I think so too,” Evan agreed, also gazing toward Divine Land.

“At this point, aren’t we being blatantly checked?”

"Hmm~"

Alon nodded before realizing it.

Indeed, even to him, Divine Land's military power had reached a point that couldn’t be ignored.

If Siyan suddenly messaged him tomorrow asking, “What kind of scheme are you pulling?” he wouldn’t be surprised.

As Alon wondered what to do about it—

“Should I just invite the kings?”

“Invite them?”

“Yeah, just to say something like ‘Don’t worry, nothing dangerous will happen.’”

He came up with a rough plan.

Of course, it wasn’t perfect.

But it was enough of a surface-level plan to prevent ridiculous rumors like “he’s preparing for war.”

As long as it could dispel misunderstandings, that was good enough.

After all, the reason he had built Divine Land was purely for divine power.

‘Speaking of which, I need to ask how to handle divine power… Should I go see Rine?’

As Alon was lost in thought, Evan, who had been silently mulling things over, finally spoke.

“I understand your reasoning, but… would the kings actually come if invited?”

“Of course not.”

“…? Then what’s the point of inviting them?”

“I told you. The invitation itself conveys the message.”

Naturally, Alon didn’t expect the kings to accept.

If someone were to invite a monarch and seriously expect them to show up—

Everyone involved would have to be half-mad.

Even so, Alon insisted on calling it an ‘invitation’ because—

It was the gentlest way to say, “I have no intention of causing any trouble. Feel free to come see for yourself.”

‘I’ll just pack a few extra gifts and send them along.’

Having come to his own conclusion, Alon said,

"Ah—I get it now.”

He nodded as Evan seemed to understand what he meant.

“Make sure that’s conveyed.”

“Understood.”

Alon tried once more to gaze out at the vast expanse of Divine Land.

“Ah, Marquis. Please take this as well.”

“This is…?”

Evan handed him a book.

“It’s a scripture.”

“Oh, that?”

“Yes, it’s what I received from Sili yesterday.”

Alon looked down at the book with a strange expression.

He had good reason to.

This scripture was the biography of Kalannon written by Sili.

In other words,

This book essentially contained the life story of Alon himself.

Alon briefly worried—or rather, wondered—what might be written inside.

He could have just opened it and checked, but he didn’t quite have the courage to open it hastily, so he hesitated for a moment.

“You’re not going to open it?”

“...You haven’t looked either?”

“I wanted to see it with you, Marquis.”

Eventually, Alon carefully opened the scripture.

And then—

“Let there be lightning.”

“...?”

The phrase boldly written on the first page filled Alon with a strange feeling.

Because he had seen a phrase like that somewhere before.

He flipped through a few more pages.

“The one who receives lightning, Kalannon, spoke thus:

To the one who believes in me, you shall be free from hunger and find a place to rest your feet.

Your life shall shine with glory, for this I promise you.

To the spirit who believes in me, I shall share the lightning of my power.

This is my holy covenant.”

“And also—”

Flip—thud.

Alon quietly closed the scripture.

Then he hunched over slightly.

It felt like his fingers were curling in embarrassment.

“Did you really say stuff like that?”

“Do I look like someone who would?”

Evan chuckled beside him.

Alon snapped back curtly, then looked at the scripture (which was clearly a dubious text masquerading as holy literature) with mixed emotions.

He couldn’t help but wonder—what on earth did Sili think of him?

A thousand thoughts raced through Alon’s mind.

And they all led to one conclusion:

He was starting to get a little worried about Sili.

***

A day later, the group returned to the Palatio Marquisate.

Though it had been a while, the Marquisate hadn’t changed much.

The territory was bustling with merchants, and the atmosphere was rather pleasant.

Still, there were a few surprises in store for Alon.

The first of which was—

“Yutia?”

“My Lord.”

Yutia was at the Marquisate.

“It’s been a while.”

“It has. Have you been well?”

“I’ve been fine.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“So what brings you to the Marquisate?”

“Hmm—I had some work to do.”

“Work?”

“Yes. Do you remember? I said I wanted to build a church.”

“Oh, that? So you’re here for that?”

“Hmm—I also just wanted to see you, My Lord.”

“Me?”

When Alon asked again, Yutia smiled.

“Yes. It’s been a while since I saw your face.”

She adjusted the slightly crooked red brooch on his chest as she spoke.

“I’m glad you seemed to like the gift.”

“...Yes, I do.”

The brooch she had given him a long time ago.

It felt like she was suddenly bringing it up again, which made him curious—but only briefly.

“Ahem, Brother—”

“Ah, Nangwon.”

“Have you been well?”

“Yes.”

As soon as the greetings with Yutia ended, Nangwon naturally stepped in beside her.

But Nangwon’s presence wasn’t too surprising.

He had already heard about it last time.

The person who did surprise Alon was—

“Hello, Brother.”

“...Magrina?”

“Yes, Brother.”

It was Magrina.

“And I’m here too, Godfather.”

—And Rine.

When had these two arrived at the Marquisate?

“Rine, are you able to move now?”

“No. This is an artifact projecting my body, Godfather.

It can only be used twice, and after one use, the effect lasts about three months.”

“Was there something important enough to use it for?”

“Yes. Several things.”

Rine answered with a smile.

Was it really something that important?

As Alon nodded, he looked around the office out of habit.

The office, which usually only had Evan in it, was now packed with people.

On Yutia’s side were Seolrang, Rine, and Deus.

On the opposite side, with Magrina, stood Nangwon, Nangyeon, Ryanga, and Historia.

They didn’t seem to be glaring at each other.

In fact, everyone wore light smiles.

But for some reason—

Despite so many people gathered, the office—

Felt strangely quiet.

‘What is this?’

Amid the odd atmosphere, with everyone smiling only with their mouths, Alon began to feel more and more bewildered.

***

At that moment, Alexion—

“What’s going on.”

“Lord Alexion. There are many noble ladies visiting today.”

“Already?”

“Yes. There are eight ladies scheduled for interviews this evening.”

“Didn’t we only send six letters?”

“Yes...”

“Then why are there eight?”

The secretary couldn’t answer Alexion’s question.

He simply shifted his gaze unnaturally elsewhere—

“But each of those eight letters was delivered by different people. All from different women.”

He simply stated the facts.

And Alexion—

Shivered momentarily from a spine-chilling sense of dread.