Chapter 360 : What Must Be Done (3)

He was a knight of Caliban and a member of one of the Master Knights’ orders.

Leo stood blankly, recalling what had happened until now.

There had been nothing unusual until yesterday morning.

As always, he began his day training with the order.

The problem arose in the afternoon.

A disturbing telegram arrived—an aristocrat from Caliban had been murdered at the birthday party of the so-called Hero, the Chosen One.

That was when he was dispatched.

In truth, it wasn’t something he needed to personally involve himself in.

He was, after all, a knight belonging to the Master Knights.

But there was one reason he still chose to move.

The noble killed at the Chosen One’s birthday party was the father of the Master Knight himself.

So, without even hearing the full details, he hurried to depart.

And came to Tern.

And there, he saw it.

That was all.

That was all there was to it.

Or so he thought.

“...Ah.”

A dazed sound escaped Leo’s lips.

Before him stood a single knight.

Just looking at him made Leo’s skin crawl.

The man held a sword in hand, clad in armor that looked almost like blood vessels woven together.

But despite that grotesque appearance—

Leo couldn’t feel anything from him.

Nothing at all.

There was no pressure one would feel from facing an overwhelming opponent.

No disdain one would feel toward someone weaker.

Not even the tension of meeting an equal.

He felt nothing at all.

Leo looked at the sword in the knight’s hand.

It was worn down, old to the point that cutting didn’t seem possible—ripping might have been a better word for it.

It carried no menace.

Perhaps not even a hint of danger.

Then why?

Why were the Master Knight and the knights who had gone ahead of him—

—lying dead?

Corpses were strewn across the ground, forming a circle.

There were no screams, no signs of struggle.

As if ripened fruit had simply fallen from the branch, their lives had been cut off far too easily.

The scene was disturbingly simple—and all the more horrifying.

And that wasn’t all.

Beyond them, countless soldiers and knights had piled up into a mountain of corpses.

Leo tried to think.

He hadn’t seen the knight before him swing his sword.

All he’d seen were the charging knights, the Master Knight—

—and their pitiful remains.

It was a situation that should have filled him with terror.

It would’ve been normal to fear what was in front of him.

A Master Knight, stronger than he, was dead.

His comrades were dead.

Behind him rose a mountain of corpses.

Fear would have been natural.

And yet—

Strangely, Leo still felt nothing toward the knight.

As though the very emotion of fear had been stripped away from him.

It was strange.

Utterly strange.

Even so, Leo drew his sword.

Feeling the contradiction within himself, he charged forward toward the knight—toward plain, unadorned destruction.

He ran forward.

Like a moth to the flame.

Calmly.

To the very end.

***

The next day, after receiving several reports from Evan,

Alon went straight to Divine Land without rest from the Marquis’s estate.

He had originally planned to rest a little, but something had come up that he needed to ask about.

Since he had no mana orb, he had no choice but to visit in person.

“I should’ve brought one in advance.”

“You mean the communication orb?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it is a little odd that you didn’t, considering how far we’ve come. I’ll make sure to handle it next time.”

As he spoke with Evan, Alon’s eyes wandered to the opposite side.

Ryanga and Historia were leaning against each other, asleep.

And beneath them—

[Graaaah! That’s impossible! That’s cheating!]

[Meow–!]

Basiliora and Blackie were playing a board game they’d learned from the others.

Basiliora shouted nonsense as if in disbelief, while Blackie only shook his head, looking at him in pity.

Watching the two enjoy their freedom, Alon suddenly remembered Seolrang.

“She said she had something to do, didn’t she?”

Just yesterday, right after finishing her strange match against Ryanga, Seolrang had told Alon she had something to take care of and would be back later.

Thanks to that, Basiliora and Blackie, who had been hiding for so long, finally showed themselves.

[Wait! Let’s redo that round! I misunderstood the rules from the start!]

[Meow]

While the two bickered in the background, Alon was lost in thought, and Evan asked quietly,

“Are you thinking about Seolrang?”

“...How did you know?”

Evan shrugged.

“I could tell from your expression.”

“My expression?”

“Yes. Maybe others wouldn’t notice, but when you’re thinking about the kids, it always shows a little on your face.”

“...Me?”

“Yes. It’s faint, but it’s there. I saw the change and guessed you were thinking about Seolrang disappearing yesterday.”

“Well... you’re not wrong.”

As Alon rubbed his face, Evan tilted his head.

“But, my lord,”

“Yeah?”

“Come to think of it, shouldn’t Seolrang be leaving, not returning?”

Evan was right.

“That’s true.”

Unlike Ryanga or Historia,

Seolrang technically belonged to the Colony.

And she wasn’t some optional member—they relied on her heavily.

The longer she stayed outside, the more anxious the Colony would become. Evan’s point made sense.

“Well, she said she was on leave, so I suppose she’ll go back when she’s ready.”

“True. Even if she acts childish sometimes, she’s not really a kid.”

After some light conversation, the group continued traveling.

The next day, as usual, Alon arrived at the cliff overlooking Divine Land.

And when he saw the sight before him, countless hooks popped up over his head.

“...Evan.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“You said this was supposed to be small-scale, didn’t you?”

“...Excuse me?”

“Because it doesn’t look small-scale to me.”

To the east of Divine Land, rows upon rows of houses were being built—densely packed, stretching far beyond sight.

“...You’re right. It doesn’t.”

“That’s all you’ve got to say?”

“Wow, Chief was right. At this rate, even my subordinates could fit in there.”

“Yeah.”

As Alon and Evan stood there dumbfounded, Ryanga and Ria joined in.

Alon raised his hand.

He tried to count the number of houses, as if studying a strategic map—

—but gave up halfway.

There were simply too many to count by hand.

Even by rough estimation, the scale was far beyond what he could have imagined.

It was a level that could never be sustained with ordinary sponsorship funds.

Alon stared blankly at the massive construction site for a while.

Then, regaining his senses, he headed toward Divine Land.

“Ah, my lord!”

There, he was greeted by Sili’s bright smile.

***

Alon took Sili with him to the temporary office.

He thought about what to ask her first, but decided to begin with the matter that had brought him here in such haste.

“I heard the news. You’re building residential houses?”

“Yes, though it’s on a small scale.”

“...Small scale?”

“Yes, right?”

Sili tilted her head cutely, as if she didn’t understand what the problem was.

Alon felt like holding his head.

“It looked like there were easily over several dozen houses...”

“Well—Divine Land’s population is a bit large, after all.”

“So you’re saying it’s small relative to Divine Land’s population?”

“That’s right.”

That wasn’t how scale worked, but—

He decided to let it slide for now and continued the conversation.

“...Fine, but what about the money?”

“The money?”

“Yes. A project of this scale must cost a fortune.”

When Alon finally got to the point, Sili nodded as if just realizing what he meant.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that at all! Thanks to you, my lord, we have more than enough from sponsorship funds to cover everything!”

“...What?”

She answered cheerfully.

Alon blinked, momentarily stunned, before asking again.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Hm?”

“...Didn’t you just say it was thanks to me?”

“Yes! Because it’s the money you squeezed out of those arrogant kingdom guys!”

“...What?”

Alon stared at her, confused.

Sili blinked back at him, equally puzzled.

But only for a moment.

“Ah.”

Realizing how things had turned out, Alon sighed.

“Sili.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“Do you happen to have a sponsorship ledger?”

“Of course! I’ll bring it right away.”

He immediately checked the ledger—

—and froze behind his blank expression.

Except for Asteria, every kingdom had donated an astronomical amount to Divine Land.

‘I distinctly told them they didn’t need to contribute. Did the Allied Kingdoms all go insane together?’

Thinking that, Alon began counting the amounts.

At this rate, it wasn’t just a small housing district—they could practically build a minor territory.

He recalculated multiple times to be sure.

And each time—

—the result was the same.

His hands trembled as he realized the numbers weren’t wrong.

Even the Marquisate of Palatio, which had practically grown into a merchant territory, had never seen sums like these.

All of it was sponsorship money.

In disbelief, he looked at Sili.

“...Sili?”

“Yes, my lord?”

“This is... written correctly, right?”

“Uh... yes?”

Sili hesitated, then suddenly gasped in realization.

Alon thought for a second that maybe the numbers had been miswritten and let out a deep sigh— only for Sili to clear her throat and point to the ledger.

“So, should I tell each kingdom to double their current sponsorship?”

“...What?”

She said it with a straight face.

“Sili... what are you even talking about...”

“Oh, then should I make it triple?”

Sili smiled innocently as she raised the number.

Was entrusting Divine Land to her really the right decision?

Or should he have taught her basic financial sense first?

He was thinking both at once when—

“My lord.”

Deus entered the tent.

“Deus.”

Alon turned toward him—and froze slightly.

Deus’s expression was even grimmer than usual.

So—

“What is it?”

Deus answered quietly.

“Eliban... has become a Sin.”

“...What?”

The news was completely unexpected.