Chapter 350 : Voting (5)

“It’s really fine.”

In the end, this strange dispute was settled with Alon desperately blocking the wallets of the princes who wanted to sponsor him.

Yet Alon’s feelings after fending off their support were nothing short of perplexing.

‘…No, something’s off here.’

Alon had done everything he could to stop the sponsorship from the princes and princesses.

And in the end, he managed to block it.

Of course, from Alon’s perspective, being sponsored wasn’t exactly a bad thing.

But it wasn’t something worth reaching out his hand for either.

On top of that—what if he accepted their sponsorship, only to be forced later to grant all sorts of favors under that pretext?

That would be a headache in its own right.

Anyway, with that reasoning, he refused their support.

But, looking at it more simply—Alon would have benefitted from receiving it.

And conversely, they would’ve profited by not giving it.

After all, providing sponsorship in a place with no commercial value whatsoever?

Such sponsorship could hardly hold any meaning.

Yes, that must be the case.

“…”

Alon recalled the expressions of the nobles who had been watching him earlier.

Every one of those faces had been filled with hostility.

At that moment, Evan’s voice reached his ears.

“So the marquis was the one trying to draw in sponsorship, and they were the ones refusing, right?”

Alon answered without hesitation.

“The opposite, Evan. I was the one trying to block it, and they were the ones insisting on sponsoring.”

“Ah, so I wasn’t mistaken after all.”

“That’s right.”

“But why on earth would they want to sponsor you?”

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be so troubled.”

Alon pondered.

Why had the princes and princesses looked at him with such betrayed expressions?

“Well, roughly speaking, maybe they thought by pouring in money they could use this place like a mercenary company or something?”

“Is that… possible?”

“Hmm, I only said it in passing. This place isn’t a mercenary band, so it doesn’t really fit. Which means there’s only one other explanation left.”

“And what would that be?”

“That the knight who introduced this place talked it up so well, he managed to charm them.”

Alon stroked his chin with a thoughtful hum.

“Evan.”

“Yes?”

“What do we have here in Divine Land?”

“Hmm… let’s see. A barracks, maybe?”

“And?”

“Another barracks, perhaps?”

“And?”

“A rather large barracks?”

“Besides barracks.”

“Right, just being persuasive doesn’t explain much after all.”

Evan nodded as if he understood.

Alon shrugged lightly.

Whatever their expressions had meant—

The bottom line was that he had achieved his goal.

‘I openly revealed all our shortcomings, so suspicion of us starting a war should be cleared away.’

Though the situation was unfolding completely differently from what he intended—

Unaware of that, Alon felt satisfied and said to Evan,

“Evan, later, see that Seamus gets some personal reward.”

“Seamus—?”

“The knight who introduced Divine Land this time.”

“Ah, understood. I’ll make sure it’s taken care of before we leave. By the way, once we head back, the day isn’t far off, is it?”

“The day?”

“Yes. After we return, there’ll only be about a week left, won’t there?”

Only then did Alon nod, as if just realizing it.

“Now that you mention it… how is the voting going?”

“The voting, you mean?”

“Yes. Didn’t you say there were all sorts of things happening?”

At that, Evan fell into thought.

“What are you thinking so hard about? Choosing your words?”

“No, not choosing—just that there’s so much to explain, I don’t know where to start. That’s how it feels.”

“I’ve been here a little over two weeks… but really, just two weeks.”

“Exactly.”

“And you’re saying in just two weeks, that much has piled up?”

“More than you’d expect.”

“Now you’ve got me even more curious. Just give me the short version, whatever comes to mind first.”

Evan organized his thoughts for a moment before speaking.

“First, Yutia and Rine formed a union.”

“…What?”

“Then Seolrang and Magrina united. After that, Ryanga joined Yutia, only to declare independence and pull out.”

“Wait.”

“Then Historia teamed up with Magrina, who had stabbed Seolrang in the back, and with Rine, who had betrayed Yutia. But that union dissolved too. And then—”

“Wait.”

Listening quietly, Alon felt his head spin.

He covered his eyes with his palm and let out a low groan.

“…Am I hearing about a partner vote right now?”

“Yes.”

“Then why does it sound like political alliances instead?”

“Well, my lord, I only pass along the information I hear. How should I know?”

“…Fair enough.”

It was natural Evan didn’t know the details.

But why in the world were terms like “unification” popping up in what was supposed to be a partner vote—words Alon associated with the world he came from?

While Alon puzzled over it, Evan, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke again.

“But there’s one thing I know for certain.”

“And what’s that?”

“My lord has no intention of returning right away.”

“You know me well.”

“Shall we slow down a little?”

Alon immediately nodded.

It was autumn.

***

Duchess Altia regularly paid a significant amount of money to the Information Guild and received intelligence at set intervals.

Of course, there were times when the quality of information didn’t measure up to the money she paid.

Even so, Altia had never once thought the expense was a waste.

To her, information was—

‘Like hidden gold that, depending on how you used it, could create overwhelming value.’

And at present—

She had gathered an immense stockpile of information she could use.

The problem was—

Even though she was clearly accumulating it, she found herself unable to use it.

No, to be exact—

It was more accurate to say the information was being used before she herself could make use of it.

“Duchess, here.”

Altia blankly stared at the bundle of papers her secretary handed her.

At a glance, it was easily dozens of pages thick.

She silently read the phrase written at the very top.

[Yutia Bloodia at least 2,800 years old, territory residents ‘shocked’]

Not just the content, but the words were painted in striking red to catch the eye.

It was a flyer clearly distributed with the intent to tear down Yutia Bloodia.

Altia naturally turned to the next page.

[Yutia issues statement calling it “utter nonsense,” territory residents ‘relieved’]

[Babayaga Seolrang once endangered Marquis Palatio, residents ‘aghast’]

[Leader of the Four Great Powers’ Hundred Ghosts declares, “Marquis Palatio is our Chief,” residents ‘scandalized’]

[Magrina, when asked about being over 600 years old, counters, “In human years, I’d be about twenty,” residents ‘puzzled’]

[Residents vanish—is this the petty work of a jealous elf? Public ‘horrified’]

Each page she turned revealed another dizzying remark.

This was the volume of flyers spread throughout the territory in just four days.

What’s more, each flyer wasn’t a single sheet but nearly hundreds of copies flooding the land.

The territory was, quite literally, saturated with them.

“Why do all these end with words like ‘relieved’ or ‘aghast’…?”

“I’m sorry, Duchess. That part I don’t know.”

“No need to apologize. I didn’t ask expecting an answer.”

Altia let out a sigh.

“…This is only three days’ worth, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

In only three days, dozens of different flyers circulated.

Meanwhile, the partner candidates formed alliances, betrayed each other, and repeated the cycle endlessly.

As she thought about this utter chaos, Altia began to feel something instinctively.

‘Should I really be part of this?’

Of course, it wasn’t that Altia wasn’t serious.

From the moment she received the letter and decided to come to the marquisate, she had prepared herself wholeheartedly for this battle.

But there was one thing she had overlooked.

The partners were far more earnest than she had imagined.

No, not just earnest—they were deadly serious.

Altia quietly looked out the window of her residence.

The hour had already fallen into darkness.

Naturally, the scenery outside should have been nothing but dim.

Yes, darkness was what she should have seen.

And yet—

Altia’s eyes caught deep blue-golden flashes streaking across the distance, golden halos scattering in every direction.

Not only that—

Sacred light unmistakably radiated from the Rosario Martyrs, filling her vision.

From all over the territory came the sounds of explosions, large and small.

Above all—

“Historia? Didn’t I tell you? In human years, I’m only twenty.”

“Yeah, except you’re still over six hundred.”

“And older than me, too.”

“So what you’re saying is… let’s settle this?”

Magrina exhaled crimson magic so fierce it made Altia’s skin crawl.

“If you can.”

Historia replied casually, drawing a blade taller than herself with ease.

Before Altia even realized it, both had vanished with a tremendous boom.

This was nothing new.

Every night, without fail, the marquis’ estate was plunged into chaos like this.

Altia gazed blankly out at the madness beyond the window and wondered.

‘Am I really supposed to be part of something this inhuman?’

But only for a moment.

She forcibly clutched at her fading confidence.

‘Yes, I knew from the beginning this would be difficult.’

She had expected the challenge.

Of course, not to this extreme—but she refused to quit without trying.

And so—

‘Now that I’ve grasped the general situation, from here—’

Just as Altia tried to steel herself again—

BOOOOM!!

The window of her room shattered as someone crashed into the wall.

“!?”

Altia stared in shock at the intruder lodged in the rubble.

From the cloud of dust, she saw Seolrang clenching her teeth as she forced herself upright.

“Rine, you’re old too!!”

She shouted indignantly, then transformed into radiant golden light and disappeared once again.

Altia could only stare blankly at her retreating figure before surveying the wrecked room.

For a while—

She sat in silence, listening to the sounds of countless battles raging across the territory, her room a shambles.

‘Enough.’

In the end, her resolve broke.

***

And some time later—

“Marquis, isn’t arriving the night before the vote a bit too late?”

“There were… matters to attend to.”

“…Matters, you say?”

“Magical research is a matter of great importance.”

The voting to select Alon’s partner had begun.