C449. Return (5)
The southeast of the Empire.
A place that had once been a prosperous and brilliant commercial city, but had now become a complete desert due to the Divine Bloods.
And in that place where the vast majority of the citizens of the Empire were nothing more than tools of the Divine Blood…
[…]
Rarely, dozens of Divine Bloods were gathered.
However, there was something too particular about them to simply call them Divine Blood.
Except when, through their stages, they gradually transformed into humans, Divine Bloods usually had completely different appearances from one another: shapes, sizes, everything varied from individual to individual.
Naturally, the Divine Bloods gathered here were no different.
Appearances of all types.
But there was only one thing in common.
Their armor.
They wore a grotesquely long helm, similar to what a plague doctor would wear, and over their bodies they wore dark-toned armor, adapted to their own anatomy.
They were lined up like knights, and in front of them…
[Hoo—]
An existence stood.
His body was no larger than that of other Divine Bloods.
In fact, it was absurdly small. Almost like a human.
But although his size was that of a human, his appearance was far from it. And unlike the gathered Divine Bloods, he did NOT wear dark armor.
Instead, what was seen was ash-gray skin, gaunt as if he were malnourished, and there where the heart should be… there was a hole. As if there had never been anything there from the beginning.
And finally—
Two spears were stuck in his shoulders.
One black and one white.
The blades of both spears pierced his lungs and protruded between his ribs, making that man look, at first glance, more like a condemned criminal than a leader.
Even so, all the Divine Bloods with dark armor bowed their heads before him.
After some time…
The one who was sitting on a shattered stone throne in front of the crowd, exhaling a lazy breath,
[Oh, warriors of the great Astarote.] [The time has come.]
Suddenly opened his mouth.
[It is time to fulfill our mission.]
[The blood of the heretics flows from death to offer us a chance to obtain power. It is a holy revelation that will allow the Great One to descend to earth—]
A serene and solemn voice…
[Gather the blood of the heretics— and obey Astarote's orders. Make our Lord descend to this world.]
Resonated everywhere.
[Ah… Astarote.]
[We are his spear, his sword, and his shield.]
[We are his unbreakable body.]
Inside the plague doctor helms, red eyes shone with a disturbing glow in that ashen world.
Silent.
Icy.
Alon did not particularly enjoy luxury.
It's not that he didn't like money.
On the contrary, he was closer to being someone who appreciated it very much.
But not for luxury, but for the satisfaction of being able to live a comfortable life.
In any case, from Alon's perspective, the fact that the mages of the Two Towers were building him a castle was not a bad thing.
Of course, seeing the size of the castle under construction, he thought: “Isn't this a bit excessive?”, but…
In conclusion, the cost-benefit was so high that he didn't reject it.
Although…
—“Yes.”
“…Was there anything like that in the blueprint we saw earlier?”
Alon looked up with a blank expression.
A raised island was still floating in the sky.
To be exact, it wasn't really a castle, but something closer to a small house with a suspended garden.
But in the end, it was still a floating island, so he asked:
“…That… didn't exist originally, right?”
“Yes. Something like that never existed from the beginning.”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“Penia, had you seen it before?”
“I don't remember seeing anything like that either…”
Penia shook her head, just like Evan.
The floating island was NOT in the blueprints.
Actually, if the island just floated, Alon might have let the surprise slide.
It was shocking, yes… but such an addition could be considered a change in the work.
The initial plan and execution always differ.
…Although of course, a floating island wasn't something to be “added” just like that.
But what truly prevented Alon from accepting the situation was:
“Alon… don't you think… the castle is a little bigger than what was said?”
Because Penia was right: the castle itself had GROWN.
“…You noticed it too?”
“Yes. Following the blueprints… that shouldn't be possible.”
“Could it be that since there were leftover materials, they decided to add things?”
Evan gave a hypothesis, but…
“To build just that part that doesn't appear in the blueprints, they would have to sell a couple of the kingdom's territories… at minimum.”
Penia cut him off sharply.
Evan shut his mouth.
At that moment—
“Ho— Is this human magic? Has it advanced so much in a few centuries? And it is a different method from the Mages. Most of it seems to be built with this formula…”
The golden dragon Lainicius observed the magic circles embedded in the castle, his eyes fascinated.
While everyone reacted in different ways, Alon organized the situation.
“Anyway… let's go in.”
They had finally returned to their territory.
As soon as they returned to Palantia, Alexion, looking pale but smiling broadly, received them.
After a brief greeting, Alon was able to meet with the two Tower Masters.
“Ah, you have come!”
“Welcome!”
Both were striving to behave as respectfully as possible.
Alon looked at them bewildered.
He had been away from the territory for a while, yes, but he still remembered their conversations.
“…Didn't we agree to speak without formalities?”
Why had they gone back to formal address? He thought for a moment, but dismissed it.
The Masters of the Purple Tower (Norton) and the Brown Tower (Manram) greeted him.
“It's been a while.”
“Yes, sir!”
“We are doing our best to build your castle.”
“All the mages of the Purple Tower are working on it!”
“The Brown Tower too! Almost all our staff is involved!”
What he received was an avalanche of exaggerated reports, almost competing with each other.
The two looked at each other cautiously and—
“We at the Purple Tower have improved the magic circles using the new alchemical materials.”
“We at the Brown Tower have raised the quality of the materials to supreme grade.”
They seemed to be trying hard to get Alon's attention.
To him, it was as if unpaid slaves were competing to see who worked more.
But even so—
“Calm down a little first.”
Once calmed, he asked:
“The castle you are building seems different from the previous blueprint—”
“Ah! That part shouldn't worry you! We are doing it on our own!”
“Why…?”, Alon thought, but didn't dare say it.
He organized his words.
“I think you are being too kind to me…”
Alon had a conscience.
He knew the kindness was excessive and he also sensed where that kindness came from.
But he couldn't believe that just for that they were doing such ridiculous things.
“Well… it's just that I want to maintain a good relationship with Your Majesty.”
“Me too.”
Both smiled significantly.
Alon insisted:
“Just for that?”
“Of course!”
“We don't want anything else!”
They responded even more exaggeratedly.
And immediately—
“Then, we will return tomorrow. We still have work left.”
“Yes, we will give you more details tomorrow.”
And they ran off as if saying “I'm going to work voluntarily!”
“…What the hell?”
Another day with accumulated doubts for Alon.
The next day.
Before going to Divine Land, Alon rested and did magic research as usual.
Then Penia approached.
“Alon-nim.”
“Penia?”
“…I think I already know why they are acting like that.”
“The Tower Masters?”
“Yes. I think they saw it.”
“What?”
“…That I used one of your Phrases.”
“Ah.”
Alon let out a slight exclamation.
At that moment.
Capital of the south of the Empire.
The most brilliant and majestic city of the Empire, with the largest imperial palace.
“So Contanias saw that king of the frontier and called him ‘Father of the Guardian Dragon’?”
“That is correct, Princess.”
Irene Polanticia was listening to a report from a knight.
Although it was shocking, her expression did not change.
She reflected briefly and then—
“That idiot probably misunderstood.”
She dismissed the report absurdly and sighed.
“How can he go around bowing to the king of a frontier country for that nonsense? I am ashamed to share the same blood.”
The knight spoke carefully:
“…To be honest, I also thought it was that, but…”
“But what? Is there something else?”
“According to espionage information, the Princess of the Eastern Empire also reacted strongly to those words.”
“…To that absurd comment?”
“Yes. It seems that, upon finishing her business, she plans to head to the frontier country.”
Irene fell silent.
Contanias's exaggeration didn't affect her. She treated him like the well-blooded idiot he was, nothing more.
But if Serdea reacted, it was different.
Serdea wasn't a fool, and above all she had sharp intuition. So good that it couldn't be ignored or considered a simple hunch.
…Remembering it well, in the Tower she also proposed to him, didn't she?
Irene had also had some interest in him at the time.
If Serdea's intuition had chosen him…
But even so, “Father of the Guardian Dragon”? It didn't make sense.
After reflecting—
“…Dark.”
“Yes, Princess.”
“I will need to use your ability.”
“With pleasure, for you.”
“I think we must verify the king of the frontier. And besides…”
Her voice lowered.
“…It will be a good opportunity to test the ability I recently obtained.”
Her iridescent jade eyes, different from her usual gold, opened and closed softly.
