Chapter 388 : Awakening (3)

If all had gone as planned, after talking in Rosario, Alon would have headed for the Mage Tower or Teria—but his destination changed to the Colony in an instant, and the next day came.

“From Rosario to the Colony…”

“Even at minimum, it’ll take about a month.”

“A month, huh…….”

A month. It was a span that could be long if long, short if short.

This time, Alon looked at Evan.

“Evan.”

“Yes, Marquis.”

“Have you obtained any additional information about what happened after that?”

“I did confirm with the Information Guild in the village a little while ago and got some information, but overall the situation isn’t very good.”

“Go on.”

At that, Evan reported, one by one, the information he had obtained from the Information Guild. And while Alon listened in silence—

“It’s kind of an unlucky thing to say, but… at this rate, isn’t the Allied Kingdom Alliance going to get torn apart as it is?”

Penia muttered with a slightly worried expression.

“Even I think… this situation looks pretty serious.”

Evan agreed as well.

Without giving any particular response, Alon calmly compiled and organized the information he had just heard.

If he broadly organized the information Evan had brought, there were three things.

First: as of yesterday, the anomalous individuals of the divine-blood had begun attacking the Colony. Second: it wasn’t only the Colony being attacked, but most of the Allied Kingdom Alliance. And third.

That in the face of those divine-blood attacks, each kingdom was being helplessly overwhelmed without being able to do anything.

“Hoo—”

Alon let out a sigh.

Just combining the information made it a very bad situation, but… it wasn’t completely the absolute worst, either.

From what he heard from Evan, the divine-blood that could be called the main bodies of the anomalous individuals still hadn’t moved, and the Allied Kingdom Alliance also hadn’t had every single kingdom attacked.

The island kingdoms, Raksas and Asteria, and the Duchy of Luxibl hadn’t been attacked.

Of course, the other kingdoms and smaller duchies were still suffering irreversible damage even now, and even the countries that were safe for the moment had no way of knowing when they would be attacked, but,

‘And among them, the one with the most severe situation is the Colony…, is it.’

Thinking that far, Alon looked at Evan.

“Evan.”

“Yes, Marquis.”

“The Colony—has the situation gotten very serious?”

“Yes. According to the Information Guild, I heard that for such a large country, the situation is extremely bad.”

“Are the individuals strong? Or is it a problem with the Babayas?”

Considering the Colony’s bizarre culture, it was a doubt he could raise easily enough. Then Evan answered.

“That may be part of it, but I’ve heard that the Colony’s situation is a bit strange.”

“Strange?”

“Yes. There were many careless mistakes that should never happen in wartime. Because of that, I also heard they suffered rather heavy losses in yesterday’s invasion battle.”

“Careless mistakes?”

“Yes. I didn’t ask for the detailed circumstances, but in any case, it’s true the situation is the most serious.”

At Evan’s report, Alon let out yet another sigh, as if he had lost count of how many times he had already done so.

“This won’t be easy.”

Then, Penia—who had been watching him from the side—called to him cautiously.

“Um, Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“……If I say this, it might feel a little lacking in compassion for humanity, but………… you don’t have to be that stressed out, do you……?”

“Why?”

“Because—right now, you’re doing your best, Marquis.”

Penia kept speaking, looking Alon in the eyes.

“As you know, Marquis, you only have one body. From the start, there’s a limit to what you can do with one body. And when the Milky Way fell, you already gave everyone ample notice, didn’t you?”

Her words weren’t wrong. After the Milky Way fell, in the meeting where the kings gathered, Alon had strongly emphasized that this kind of situation would happen and that they needed to prepare.

“I think it’s enough that you went that far. You did everything you could and everything you ought to do.”

Alon looked at Penia, and soon recognized the faint worry melted into her eyes.

“Thank you for saying that.”

Alon replied like that and nodded.

Her words were reasonable. In truth, Alon couldn’t save every kingdom. He had only one body, and it wasn’t something he could split into several.

However, the reason Alon felt burdened by this situation itself

wasn’t merely because of the self-reproach that he might not be able to save everyone.

Penia and Evan might think otherwise, but Alon himself didn’t possess that much agape-like love for humanity.

Even so, the reason Alon was stressed in this situation was because of the divine-blood’s nature, and the story he had heard from Sironia’s original.

—The current divine-blood have already internalized the fact that the lives offering faith don’t have to be ‘normal’ anymore.

Those very words.

The principle by which the divine-blood became gods in this world was fundamentally the same. They grew stronger by receiving faith from life.

And if the divine-blood had a way—by any method whatsoever—to force humans into “faith.” In other words, the more damage the divine-blood inflicted, the harder it would become for Alon to deal with them.

That meant Alon had to block the divine-blood as much as possible. If he couldn’t block them, he had to at least take measures so humans didn’t fall into the divine-blood’s hands.

After turning it over in his mind again and again…

“Penia.”

“Yes.”

“I think I need to send word to Divine Land.”

“Okay.”

He decided to do what he could right now.

***

After minimizing trips into towns and heading for the Colony for three weeks and two more days. There were two things Alon did. One was research into magic. And the other was gathering information.

In the meantime, Alon was able to obtain an astonishing variety of information through the Information Guild. Of course, most of it wasn’t good. Since the majority of it concerned the destruction of villages or fiefs.

The one saving grace was that Raksas and Asteria still hadn’t been attacked, and after the very early attacks by anomalous individuals, most kingdoms were defending far better than at the beginning.

Of course, there were rumors that even that was extremely precarious. If the divine-blood began moving personally, the situation would spiral out of control, but…

Either way, the situation was—somehow, somehow—being maintained.

“……With this, the basic framework is complete for now, Marquis.”

“I see.”

On the carriage running over golden sand, Alon was talking with Penia.

“Mm—still, it’s hard, as expected. Changing magic into a means went well, but control still matters a lot for now.”

“It’s even more so than I thought.”

“Well, it’s all part of the process. If we think of it as starting from here, it doesn’t seem bad. This process is basically close to practice anyway.”

“That’s true.”

As Alon nodded, Evan’s voice came from outside.

“Marquis, if we go a little farther, I think we’ll be able to see the Colony!”

“Understood.”

Alon turned his gaze and looked out at the endless stretch of golden sand. Then he turned his gaze toward the front of the carriage, and he could see the Colony, small within his field of view.

But only for a moment.

Alon, Penia, and Evan—as the distance to the Colony grew shorter and shorter, every one of their faces hardened.

The reason was—

“This is… the Colony?”

Unlike what it looked like from far away, the Colony seen up close was in a more serious state than they had imagined.

Alon stared blankly up at the sky. The sun shone down intensely, as if it embraced everything. Yet, as if contradicting that sun, the Colony beneath it laid bare a miserable reality.

The sturdy walls that had encircled the city had collapsed with enormous holes punched here and there, as if something sharp had gouged them out.

Harsh desert winds tore through those gaps, mercilessly scattering ash around the walls, and the once-glorious domed roofs and spires had shattered and sunk down, jagged fragments jutting up like broken teeth.

“This is… the Colony?”

Penia’s stunned voice scattered on the wind. Alon felt the same.

That was how ruined the Colony was. No—honestly, it was such a dreadful state that it wouldn’t be wrong to call it practically fallen.

So, after all of them stood blankly taking in the sight of the Colony only for a moment—

“Who goes there~!”

As Alon’s group approached the south gate—still tightly shut even if everything else was broken—they were met with strict guards.

“Ma, Marquis Palatio~!?”

“Hey, open the gate!!”

Before they could even call for Seolrang, the guards who recognized Alon first let them into the Colony sooner than expected.

“……This is.”

“Looks like it was breached once or twice.”

“Seems like it.”

The state of the inside was quite dreadful. Most of the area near the gate had been smashed to pieces, and some buildings couldn’t even keep their shape and had collapsed.

So while Alon stood there, at a loss—

“Master!”

A familiar voice rang out. From the distance, Seolrang was running toward Alon.

“Wow! It’s Master!”

The moment he turned around, Seolrang hugged him tight as if she’d been waiting. Alon naturally hugged Seolrang back and smiled faintly.

“Have you been well?”

“Yeah!”

Seolrang answered with a bright smile.

But only for a moment.

Huh?

Alon noticed bandages wrapped around Seolrang’s body, and Seolrang, catching Alon’s gaze, belatedly let go of him and explained.

“Ah~ this? It’s— I got a little careless. It’s not a big wound, so don’t worry.”

Seolrang awkwardly covered the bandages with both hands. As Alon was about to say something—

“Hello, Marquis.”

A powerless greeting came. It was Lime, who had approached Alon’s group a beat late.

“Right. It’s been a while.”

“You must be rather flustered since you just arrived, but could you follow me right away, by any chance?”

Lime whispered to Alon discreetly.

Alon had questions, but he also realized Seolrang’s expression had stiffened at some point, and so—

“Understood.”

Without asking anything, he followed Lime. And the group that headed to Seolrang’s guild building began going not to Seolrang’s office, but down underground.

“……Was there a place like this?”

“No, there wasn’t originally, but in case something happened…”

Lime answered Alon’s question. And just as Alon’s curiosity was about to swell further—

“This is it.”

Lime opened a door underground. Following her inside, Alon—

“Marquis.”

“Karsem?”

There, he was able to meet Karsem.

Seeing him with quite a lot of wounds here and there—

“……What happened?”

“Before we begin the story, if I tell you the conclusion first—”

Alon asked in shock, but instead of an answer—

“The First Prince killed his father and took the divine-blood’s side.”

“What?”

He heard a shocking story.