“Is that really true?”
The voice of Queen Torimavia of Raksas trembled.
At her question, Duke Kolban nodded with a grave expression.
“According to the information we obtained, the giant who saved Caliban knelt before the marquis while showing him respect.”
“My heavens.”
Torimavia exclaimed in shock as she recalled the divine-blood she had seen before, even if only from a great distance.
That kingdom-sized entity with a bizarre, insect-like form was something Raksas could never hope to stop with its own forces,
And that remained true even after the pirates allied with Raksas—among them Radan, who had surpassed the level of a mere human—had joined the fight.
Torimavia felt as though the hope and despair she had experienced back then were resurfacing once more.
The might Radan had displayed at the time had been more than enough to inspire awe.
The blue rift that opened across the entire sky and the weapons that poured out of it had overwhelmed her.
Yet even against Radan’s full-on assault, the divine-blood remained unscathed.
And she had felt despair.
Because if it could withstand even that inhuman onslaught, she had thought there was no hope left for Raksas.
But at that moment.
She had seen it.
Something enormous emerging from the sea.
With just one tentacle-like limb, it looked capable of crushing all of Raksas, and it dragged the insect floating in the air straight down with it.
And that was the end of it.
The massive divine-blood that she had been certain would erase Raksas without a trace had instead vanished without a trace itself, erased by another divine-blood.
‘And yet, a being that stands above even that......... Marquis Palatio?’
Torimavia forgot all decorum and let her mouth fall open at the shocking truth. Yet she did not believe it was a lie.
After all, it was Marquis Palatio.
Torimavia knew of Marquis Palatio, and she also knew the path he had walked until now.
A superhuman course of action that made it hard to believe he was an ordinary human.
And the way he handled any incident as if he had already known it would happen made it feel more unnatural to think of him as a normal human.
And yet, if one assumed that Marquis Palatio was in fact a divine-blood hiding his true identity—
‘Everything falls into place...............!’
As Torimavia realized that everything suddenly fit together with plausible coherence, she recalled some information she had heard before.
“Duke.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Last time, when the giant-type divine-blood appeared in Caliban, there were rumors that it had come because Marquis Palatio sent it, weren’t there?”
“Yes. It was information that even the information guilds demanded a fairly high price for. Of course, by now, each country has likely already gathered it.............”
“Then it seems the claim that Marquis Palatio can control divine-blood was true after all.”
“Yes.”
As she listened to the duke’s reply, Torimavia shifted her gaze.
There stood the statue that Marquis Palatio had sent as a gift.
Somewhat burdensome to look at.
A statue that had been difficult in many ways—one that had even made her consider whether to somehow deal with it despite having Radan, who had formed a cooperative relationship with Raksas. Yet after secret information spread later on, it had become a statue everyone desperately wanted.
“Duke.”
“Yes.”
“When did you say Marquis Palatio’s proclamation ceremony would be held?”
“There is about one month left.”
“One month from now.”
Torimavia frowned deeply as she fell into thought.
“Marquis Palatio is still without a consort, correct?”
“That is correct.”
“Without a consort...............”
As if having made up her mind.
“That’s good.......”
“Your Highness…. are you referring to the princess?”
“For a king who reigns over the heavens, there must be someone to support what lies beneath his feet—what he cannot look down upon himself.”
She nodded firmly.
***
Some more time passed, and just as Alon’s group was about to reach the marquisate.
“As expected, it won’t work.”
“Is that so?”
“What’s the problem......?”
Alon and Penia were talking about magic.
“Hmm, this is— a bit troublesome. It’s not something that can really be expressed as a spell.”
“That’s true. Or is it just impossible?”
“To be honest, I do think that might be the case.”
After thinking briefly, Penia continued.
“No matter what, your magic always requires some kind of means.”
“So that’s how it is.......?”
What they had been focusing on for the past few months was research related to those ‘means.’
They had already converted chanting into magic and changed the ‘means’ to allow faster spellcasting. However, this was only an intermediate step.
What this research aimed for went beyond that. Being able to chant without speaking at all.
In other words, being able to chant using thought alone.
Unfortunately, despite a month of effort, progress had not come easily.
“Hm— should we give up and dig into something else?”
“I think it would be better to first build one more intermediate bridge. Since we don’t even know whether it’s possible, continuing to waste time like this doesn’t seem very productive.”
“That sounds right.”
As Alon agreed and let out a deep sigh, Evan spoke up.
“My lord.”
“What is it? Are we arriving soon?”
“No, not yet, but it won’t be long.”
“I see. Then why?”
“Lately, I’ve been hearing some rumors, and it made me think of something.”
“What is it?”
“Well, it’s not really that important or anything.”
Evan went ‘hmm’ in thought before speaking.
“I was just wondering how the Allied Kingdom Alliance hasn’t been swallowed up by the Empire.”
“Isn’t it because they banded together into an alliance so they wouldn’t be?”
“Well, sure, but honestly, I was thinking whether the Allied Kingdom Alliance could really stand up to the Empire.”
“Why?”
“Think about it. After divine-blood started appearing, the Allied Kingdom Alliance has basically been helpless, but the Empire has been holding out pretty well, hasn’t it?”
“The Allied Kingdom Alliance has been holding out too, hasn’t it?”
“......Honestly, doesn’t it just look like they survived because of you, my lord?”
Alon thought for a moment.
In a way, it could indeed look like that.
“And the Empire has way more divine-blood than here, too. Seeing all that, it feels strange that such a powerful Empire has left the Allied Kingdom Alliance alone until now.”
As Alon fell into thought, Penia, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.
“Haah, you’re seriously asking that?”
“Why? It’s something you could be curious about.”
“The answer comes out immediately if you just think about it a little, you know?”
“Does it?”
Penia seriously pondered where to begin, then started explaining.
“There are a lot of reasons why the Empire leaves the Allied Kingdom Alliance alone. Both positive and negative.”
“For example?”
“Alright, look. Let’s say the Empire attacks the Allied Kingdom Alliance. Who gives the order?”
“The Emperor?”
“No. The Emperor wouldn’t give such an order.”
“Why not?”
“From the Emperor’s perspective, he wants the Allied Kingdom Alliance to remain.”
“Huh? Why?”
As Evan asked in confusion, Alon answered slowly.
“......Because an external enemy is needed?”
“That’s exactly it.”
As if confirming the correct answer, Penia continued.
“From the Emperor’s standpoint, the Allied Kingdom Alliance is a very convenient existence—like a source of ‘plausibility.’ It’s an excuse that’s useful when controlling the people or the nobles. You know those small border states around the Empire?”
“Ah, I’ve heard of them.”
“The Empire doesn’t leave border states alone for no reason. They’re not much of a threat, but they’re easy for the Emperor to make use of.”
“So there’s no reason to deliberately touch the kingdoms,” Penia added, continuing her explanation.
“In the end, the only people who would try to strike the Allied Kingdom Alliance are those who need achievements. Like imperial princes or princesses.”
“To become the next Emperor?”
“Yes. But even for an imperial prince or princess, the Allied Kingdom Alliance is hard to attack. First, the troops they can use would be limited, and there’s a high chance of failure. Maybe if one or two kingdoms fell, but still.”
“Hm.”
“And if they were to fail, they’d immediately be pushed out of the line of succession.”
“Aren’t there other border states in the Empire?”
“Conquering border states that can be dealt with anytime wouldn’t count as achievements. They wouldn’t get praised by the Emperor either.”
“Ah.......”
At Penia’s words, Evan nodded.
Only then did Alon understand as well.
‘So that’s why the Empire pushed in whenever one or two kingdoms fell.’
While Alon organized his thoughts, recalling the game, Penia’s voice continued.
“And this one’s kind of nominal, but it’s probably also because of a promise.”
“A promise?”
“Yes. I heard that the Empire and the Allied Kingdom Alliance made something called the ‘Promise of Structure’ several hundred years ago.”
“......What is that?”
“I don’t know the details either. I read it a long time ago in an old book out of pure curiosity.”
“Promise of Structure......?”
Alon murmured the words and thought.
For some reason, it felt like something he had heard before.
So after thinking for a while.
‘I’m pretty sure there was a setting like that.’
Alon recalled that he had seen it in the game.
‘Right, I remember that whenever the Empire invaded and you got a bad ending, it said the Empire was destroyed for breaking the Contract of Structure.’
Of course, it wasn’t like Alon had been particularly interested in that topic.
The only reason he remembered it at all was because he had seen so many bad endings where the Empire invaded.
As Alon reached that point in his thoughts.
“Ah, we’re just about there—”
Evan, who had been focused on the conversation until just a moment ago, spoke.
“?”
He didn’t manage to finish his sentence.
“?”
“?”
Alon was confused.
“What’s wrong?”
At Evan’s strange reaction, Penia tilted her head and then looked past the carriage, and soon.
“......Huh?”
She let out a blank exclamation just like Evan.
Thinking something might be wrong, Alon also stuck his head out of the carriage.
“?”
He couldn’t find anything strange.
The sky was still blue.
Lowering his gaze, beyond the castle wall, he saw his statue standing in the posture of the North Korean lord, and it was something that felt embarrassing to look at with a sane mind no matter when.
Lowering his head further, he saw people outside the seemingly sturdy castle walls.
An enormous number of people.
“?”
And then, what came into view next was a shantytown.
A shantytown that covered the entire hill where green grass should have been visible beyond the castle walls.
“Hm.......”
Alon quietly leaned out for a moment, then pulled himself back into the carriage.
“Evan.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“....What is that?”
That was all Alon could say.
To that.
“Uh.......”
Evan, who had been staring blankly at the countless makeshift houses.
“Citizens......?”
He finally answered.
“......Ah.”
Only then did Sili’s words that Evan had relayed not long ago flash through Alon’s mind.
Her confident claim that there was absolutely no need to worry about believers or citizens.
‘Certainly...... there’s nothing to worry about anymore, but…’
But................
‘Isn’t this….. a bit too much? Just what on earth did you do, Sili............?’
