Chapter 166 - The Ball (1) (Illustration Included)

Two weeks had passed since Alon set out for Teria to attend the ball.

“Finally here, are we?”

“Looks like it.”

The capital was coming into view in the distance. Beside him, Evan let out a long breath, as though feeling the heat.

“Are we going to Lartania after the ball again, then straight on to Coloni?”

“Most likely.”

“I see.”

“... You look rather disappointed.”

As Alon studied Evan's face in puzzlement, Basiliora cut in.

[“Hmph. With that look on his face, like a mongrel desperate to piss, it must be a woman.”]

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

[“Am I wrong? I saw you pull a letter out of your coat a few days ago and leer at it.”]

“Ugh—you! When did you—!”

[“Ah, a night when I long for your eyes, Sir Evan...”]

“Aaaaaah!!”

The moment Basiliora raised his voice and began reciting the letter, Evan let out a scream. Alon gave his scarlet face a peculiar look. Evan caught his breath in embarrassment, then quickly managed an awkward laugh.

“Haha... Well, when we visited the ducal House Xenonia last time, I met a lady knight, and... we got along rather well.”

“So you've been exchanging letters.”

“Yes, yes. That's right.”

Watching Evan fidget bashfully, Alon asked quietly,

“... You're much shyer than I expected. Haven't you been in a relationship or two already?”

“Well, yes, but...”

This was Evan, who had diligently followed him everywhere while still finding time to smile and chat with all sorts of women. Yet there was something aggrieved in his voice.

“This feels a little different from that.”

“In what way...?”

“That was just casual conversation. This is, how do I put it... a little more serious than a fling? Something like that.”

[“Hmph. What a load of crap.”]

“Don't ruin it, you snake-headed bastard! You flirt with the maids at our estate yourself!”

[“What?! Flirt?! When have I ever done that?! They were worshipping me so devotedly that I merely deigned to speak with them a few times!”]

“Oh, bullshit. A maid brought you a snack or two, and you started doing every cute trick you knew.”

[“Graaagh!”]

Basiliora began squirming all over at the sudden exposure of his embarrassing past(?), while Evan went on the attack, delighted to have ammunition.

[“Mew...”]

Drawn by the noise, even Blackie poked its head out from Alon's chest to watch the two squabbling away. Before long, the party had reached the capital.

'Teria hasn't changed a bit.'

Their carriage crossed Teria's well-maintained, prosperous streets and entered the inner citadel.

When Alon stepped out of the carriage in front of the ballroom, a guard approached as though he had been waiting and delivered a message.

“Marquis Pallatio. Before you attend the ball, Her Majesty requests an audience with you.”

“...? Very well. Let us go.”

Alon tilted his head in puzzlement, but soon followed him.

####

At the monarch's invitation, Alon entered her private office for the first time in a while and found Siyan greeting him with the same inscrutable smile as ever.

“It has been some time, Marquis Pallatio.”

“Have you been well, Your Majesty?”

“Sit down first.”

The queen indicated the chair directly before her. Once Alon sat, she once again brought out sweet potatoes and set them in front of him.

“You may eat.”

“Ah... yes. Will you be joining me, Your Majesty...?”

“I shall simply watch.”

“... Yes.”

The sweet-potato eating show soon began. He ought to have grown accustomed to it by now, but he simply couldn't...

For a while, nothing but the sound of chewing sweet potatoes filled the office.

“You still eat well.”

“My apologies.”

Unsure whether Siyan's remark was a compliment or something else, Alon cautiously bowed his head, only to stop at the sight of a statuette at the edge of his vision.

“... Hm?”

The statuette stood on one side of the office. He was certain he had never seen it before, yet it looked remarkably familiar.

“Ah, this?”

Noticing his gaze, Siyan picked it up.

“This statuette came from Luxible.”

“... Luxible, Your Majesty?”

“Yes. I hear they worship the figure depicted in this statuette as a god. Let's see...”

Siyan paused briefly, then spoke a name.

“Was it ‘Kalanon, Receiver of Lightning’?”

“... I have heard that news as well.”

“Then have you seen this statuette before?”

“No, this is my first time seeing it.”

At Alon's reply, Siyan regarded the statuette in her hand with amusement.

“This is my first time seeing it too. The Principality of Luxible brought it as a gift.”

“I see.”

“So, what do you think?”

“... What do you mean, Your Majesty?”

“This statuette. To my eye, this god called Kalanon looks rather like you, Marquis. What do you think?” she asked.

####

Sergius stared blankly ahead. Before him stood Elivan's party, facing Cardinal Yutia—the party that had dealt with numerous Monster Gates outside the papal headquarters.

“You've done splendidly once again.”

“It is all thanks to the power bestowed by that exalted one.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Of course, without that power, I could never have accomplished so much.”

Amid the many priests, Cardinal Yutia and Elivan exchanged pleasantries, wholly absorbed in their conversation. Some time passed.

“Then I shall see you again, Cardinal Yutia.”

“Yes, Chosen One. I shall visit you again another time.”

Cardinal Yutia handed Elivan the reward for dealing with the latest Monster Gate.

“All for that exalted one.”

“Yes, all for that exalted one.”

After exchanging those farewells, the Chosen One led his companions out of the papal headquarters.

Once the proceedings were over and Sergius had made sure the priests were dispersing, he followed Cardinal Yutia, as had now become customary, and cautiously spoke.

“... Excuse me.”

“Hmm? What is it, Cardinal Sergius?”

Yutia regarded him with her usual gentle smile. He fell silent briefly under that calm gaze before continuing slowly.

“... Lady Yutia. May I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.”

Yutia gave her permission. Yet Sergius hesitated, his lips working without words. Though she had allowed it, he honestly wasn't sure whether he should ask.

He knew better than anyone how utterly foolish it was to question Cardinal Yutia—no, he had experienced it firsthand. Even so, he ultimately failed to suppress the curiosity and doubts that kept welling up in his mind.

“... About the Chosen One.”

“Yes?”

“... Isn't he someone who has not received power from Lady Shironia?”

Sergius recalled the “Chosen One” he had seen moments earlier, whom Cardinal Yutia had previously acknowledged as chosen by Lady Shironia. His power did clearly resemble the divine power Lady Shironia bestowed. Even the divine power he unconsciously emanated resembled the soft radiance shed by a saint.

Indeed, the priests who had watched Elivan earlier seemed convinced by the radiance he shed that he had been chosen by Shironia. The other cardinals were no different.

But Sergius alone—

'It was definitely different.'

—had noticed that the divine power Elivan emanated was not Lady Shironia's.

He recalled Elivan's divine power in detail: pure, silvery white, yet with a faint blue light interspersed throughout. It only looked like Lady Shironia's divine power. It was something entirely different.

In response, Yutia gave a low, amused hum.

“... Hmm.”

Sergius became certain that he was right.

“How perceptive of you. I was a little concerned because he is still inexperienced, but I thought he'd fooled everyone except the saint.”

Sergius fell silent at Yutia's matter-of-fact admission.

Normally, Sergius should not have recognized the truth either. The divine power that “Chosen One” used was almost identical to the power bestowed by Lady Shironia. In fact, aside from the saint, who was currently away doing relief work, the other cardinals had noticed nothing amiss at all.

There was only one reason Sergius had been able to sense the difference: Cardinal Yutia herself. Having long been treated as her servant, he knew that she used not only Lady Shironia's divine power, but another divine power as well.

Of course, he had only seen Yutia use that other divine power a few times. But for Sergius, who held the rank of cardinal, those few occasions were enough to recognize that Elivan's divine power resembled Yutia's “other” power. Thus, he had reached his conclusion.

'... The Chosen One was not chosen by the goddess Shironia.'

“How did you notice?”

At the chilly question, Sergius calmed his anxiously pounding heart.

“... The divine power you have occasionally shown for brief moments was identical to his, Lady Yutia.”

“Hmm. I see. So that's how it happened.”

Yutia nodded as though she had grasped the gist of the situation. Her red eyes turned toward Sergius once more.

“Still, it seems you haven't figured everything out yet.”

“Pardon...?”

“Never mind. In any case, you needn't concern yourself too much with this.”

“... Is that... so?”

“Yes. After all—”

The corners of Yutia's eyes curved softly.

“—soon, they will become ‘identical.’ So much so that even you won't be able to tell them apart, Cardinal Sergius.”

“... Become... identical?”

“Yes. Everything will become the same. The divine power, this, that—everything. They may look a little different now, but in the future, everything will be identical.”

“...”

... Sergius could not understand a single word. What exactly would soon become identical? What did she mean by “this” and “that”? What would happen in the future, and how? Above all, what was Cardinal Yutia plotting?

There was only one thing he could infer from what he knew so far.

... Perhaps Cardinal Yutia was involved in the recent silence of the goddess Shironia.

Surely she was.

Yet even if that was true, there was nothing he could do.

“... If anything, things may become a little better. Rosario is corrupt as it stands. When that time comes, it will probably improve.”

No. He was incapable of doing anything.

“Corruption and wrongdoing will disappear. Every paladin will act for ‘that exalted one,’ every believer will offer worship to ‘that exalted one,’ and everyone will devote their faith to ‘that exalted one.’”

He—Sergius—had already been overwhelmed by the suffocatingly intense fanaticism swirling in Cardinal Yutia's eyes.

“But before that happens... if word spreads, it could become a little troublesome... so, please—”

He had been overwhelmed time and time again, until at last he had surrendered.

And so.

ut166

“—keep quiet. Would you do that for me, Cardinal Sergius?”

Inside the papal headquarters, now shadowed by the setting sun, Yutia held her index finger to her lips with the shimmering red light behind her. To her whispered request, there was only one answer Sergius could give.

“I... understand.”