Chapter 178 - Those Who Realized (4)

Draim, head of the Dark Leaves, had withdrawn from Marquis Pallatio after his recent encounter with a certain man. But withdrawing did not mean he had stopped guarding the marquis.

He had questioned the assignment to guard Marquis Pallatio from the outset, and the suspicious man had even threatened him. Nevertheless, the Dark Leaves owed absolute obedience to the queen. Until she rescinded her order, they had to protect Marquis Pallatio, whether they liked it or not.

Instead, Draim decided to watch the marquis from a distance. Close protection was standard practice, of course, but he had no choice.

'He is no ordinary man.'

The man who had so swiftly threatened him was someone even Draim could not be certain of defeating. His strength was impossible to gauge. Moreover, he protected Marquis Pallatio with a bizarre degree of fanaticism—even greater than that of the queen's own personal guard.

To avoid the possibility of repeated, needless conflict, Draim had decided to watch the marquis from a distance so great that even someone that powerful could not detect him.

Ultimately, Draim believed he had made the right decision. The crazed man could no longer detect him. That was only natural, since they were guarding Marquis Pallatio from three times the distance.

That was why Draim had never imagined he would be discovered.

"Ghk—"

His eyes trembling, Draim stared at the being before him: a beastfolk woman radiating golden lightning in every direction beneath the blue moon, regarding him with an eerily expressionless face that seemed capable of freezing the world.

'How in the world did she find me?'

He could not comprehend the situation. More precisely, he could not understand how he had been discovered. But he could not pursue that thought.

"Ghh—"

The longer he remained silent, the tighter the hand around his throat became.

"W-wai—"

On the verge of passing out, Draim hastily tried to speak.

"I heard."

"... What?"

"From Deus. I heard about you. You're those elves, aren't you? The ones secretly following Mentor."

The beastfolk woman, Seollang, spoke, her voice still devoid of emotion.

"I'll keep this short. Stop lurking around Mentor."

"We have no intention whatsoever of harming Marquis Pallatio—"

"I don't care about that. Just having suspicious vermin near Mentor disgusts me. Or—"

Seollang's distinctive golden eyes flashed like lightning.

"—shall I kill you and everything behind you?"

"..."

Her murderous intent made every hair on his body stand on end. Yet even in the face of it, Draim forced out a derisive remark.

"... How...arrogant."

Seollang did not answer. Instead, she silently activated Thunder God Transformation.

CRACKLE!!!!

In an instant, the golden flashes coursing over her body gathered within her, compressing together. As though unable to contain that vast energy any longer, the condensed light burst outward in every direction, bathing her body in gold.

Unlike during her previous battle with the apostle, Seollang maintained Thunder God Transformation with remarkable stability. Draim's eyes widened at her radiant appearance. The waves of mana emanating from her were anything but ordinary.

Then she spoke.

"Remember what I said, elf. This is your last warning."

"..."

"Stay away from Mentor, and never let me see you again. Otherwise, I'll kill you and everything behind you."

"... You think...you can?"

Draim challenged her supremely arrogant declaration.

"Yes. I'll take action myself, but—"

The corners of Seollang's mouth, bathed in gold, curled into a bright smile.

"Yutia will take action too."

A moment later—

CRUNCH!

Draim's neck was crushed.

"Ah...what a shame."

As his severed head fell to the ground, the world overturned in his vision. Amid that desolate scene, he saw it.

"If you weren't a shadow, I could just kill you all to make an example of you."

Those chilling golden eyes followed him beneath the blue moonlight in the middle of the desert.

And then—

"Gah—!"

Draim awoke, coughing up blood.

"Commander?!"

"Are you all right?"

"The backlash from the shadow art—!"

His alarmed subordinates rushed over. With their support, Draim rose, then laboriously leaned back against a rock and clutched his throbbing head.

"None of you do anything rash."

"Our apologies."

His subordinates bowed at his words, but every one of them looked bewildered. They, too, knew what it meant that their commander had awoken coughing up blood.

"Whew..."

Feeling the damage within him, Draim let out a strained breath.

'Not only did she find me in that desert, she knew I was a shadow. How in the world?'

Questions filled his mind. Suddenly, his face contorted. Until now, only one person had ever seen through his shadow art at a glance.

Then that wolfkin woman he had just encountered was—

"... Fuck."

Draim cursed before he could stop himself.

His subordinates all flinched at this unprecedented behavior from their commander. But Draim's thoughts were focused entirely on Marquis Pallatio.

'... Just what is that man?'

Someone whom such absurdly powerful beings fawned over and acted cute for, hoping to earn his praise.

'Should I return and report first?'

Draim sank deeper into thought.

####

Alon's bewilderment at Karmakses III's sudden deference was short-lived.

"Ahem. My apologies. I've been reading a book on etiquette lately, you see."

Noticing Alon's reaction, Karmakses III immediately reverted to his less formal manner.

Alon wondered, 'Does a king need to read books on manners?' But he accepted the explanation for now.

Even after that, however, the dinner remained one uncomfortable moment after another.

"Is the food to your liking?"

"It's delicious."

"If anything tastes off, tell me. I'll have it remade at once."

"Ah, yes..."

He fussed over the food, something he had never asked about before.

"Ah, that reminds me. Are you comfortable at the guild? If staying there is inconvenient, you're welcome to stay at the royal castle."

"The royal castle?"

"Yes. Would you be interested?"

"I'm truly grateful for the offer, but I must decline."

"Is that so? A pity. But do tell me if you change your mind. I'll receive you as an honored guest."

"Of course."

He suddenly tried to offer favors, inviting Alon to stay at the royal castle. And by the end—

"Marquis."

"Yes?"

"Is anything troubling you lately? Anything you need?"

"... Anything I need?"

"Yes. Whatever it is, tell me. I'll spare no expense in supporting you."

"I'll let you know if anything comes to mind."

He seemed positively desperate to do something for Alon.

'... Has he done something wrong? Or does he want to ask me a favor?'

Questions and suspicions naturally arose. Yet—

"Then I'll take my leave."

"Hahaha, yes, of course. And if you ever need my help, please! Don't hesitate to come see me."

"I understand."

The dinner ended without the king asking a single favor. Alon barely managed to shake off Karmakses III, who remained glued to him(?) right to the end, and climbed into the carriage.

"My lord."

"What is it?"

"Have you, perhaps, found some leverage over him? Some embarrassing secret of Karmakses III's, for instance..."

Evan, who had accompanied him, had apparently noticed the strangeness too. But Alon shook his head at the question.

"Of course not."

"I thought not."

"Indeed."

"Then why is he acting like that?"

"I don't know either."

"Even you don't know, my lord?"

A hint of suspicion crept onto Evan's face. Alon shrugged to show he meant it.

"Yes, I really don't know."

"... Hmm. How strange."

In truth, Alon himself found it strangest of all. He had absolutely no idea why Karmakses III was behaving that way.

Carrying those unanswered questions, the carriage soon arrived at Seollang's guild building.

"Seollang."

"Oh, Mentor! You're back?!"

The moment she spotted Alon, Seollang wrapped both arms around his neck and both thighs around his waist, clinging to him like a cicada. No longer even surprised by her enthusiastic greeting, Alon asked a question.

"You weren't at the royal castle when I arrived. Where did you go?"

"Oh, I was on my way there, but I remembered something I'd forgotten and took a detour."

"Something you'd forgotten?"

"Yes! There was something I needed to do, and I only remembered it then."

Seollang nodded vigorously. Like a father respecting his growing daughter's privacy, Alon asked no further questions.

The next day, after he had rested off the fatigue of the dinner—

"Good morning!"

Karsem visited Alon early that morning with soldiers in tow.

"... Karsem. It's been a while."

"Yes, sir!"

Not only had Karsem lost weight, he seemed to have been training: his bulging muscles were now making their presence known even through his clothes. Beside Alon, Evan muttered, "Wow, life's unfair."

Just as Alon found himself agreeing—

"I heard you're going to the ruins. I'll escort you!"

Karsem's booming voice rang out.

"Escort...me?"

"Yes, sir!"

Alon paused as he surveyed the soldiers lined up behind Karsem.

"... That seems rather excessive for an escort."

He was not merely being polite. Even at a glance, Karsem appeared to have brought hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers.

But Karsem replied,

"Not at all! For a journey with you, my lord, this much is only natural!"

"?"

Once again, Karsem answered energetically, without the slightest hesitation. He had always been boisterous, but something about him felt different to Alon today.

'... Somehow, his eyes seem even brighter.'

Karsem's eyes seemed filled with an even deeper reverence than before. It was different from his former admiration. Alon found himself wondering what on earth had happened to this one as well.

"... Then I'll leave it to you."

"Yes, sir!"

It would have been awkward to ask about that too, so Alon set off for the ruins without further comment and reached his destination before long.

As the sun began to rise, Alon followed the now-familiar path through the ruins toward the Central Tower. Soon, he entered the tower and climbed to the upper floor.

After some time, what came into view was not the dragonkin, but—

"... Huh?"

A red pendant and a letter.

####

Around the time Alon discovered the red pendant in the ruins, Kurak, who was with Shtalian V at the royal palace of the Kingdom of Ashtalon, received a letter from a strange creature that flew in through the window.

"Is that a letter from them?"

"Yes."

"... Is that a spirit?"

"A servant of those we serve."

Even the letter's outline was indistinct. Kurak took it and immediately opened it to read its contents. Soon—

"Heh heh."

His thick, ink-black armor began to shake lightly.

"What is it?"

As amused laughter escaped him, puzzlement appeared on Shtalian V's face.

"Sorry, but I'll have to go off on my own for a while."

"... So suddenly?"

"Yes. Traveling together would be difficult, after all."

"What has happened?"

"Something has come up that I need to verify properly."

"Something to verify?"

"Yes."

Shtalian V shrugged and turned his attention back to the documents. Their work had not properly begun yet, so Kurak's absence would not pose much of a problem. Thus—

"Very well. It must be important."

Having replied casually, Shtalian V reached for a document—

"Yes. I'm going to confirm whether Marquis Pallatio truly is a close friend of the one we serve."

"I see. Marquis Pallatio is a close friend of the one you serve—"

"Yes."

"I see...??"

—but stopped short and reflexively looked up.

"What did you just say?"

Before he knew it, he could not help asking that question.