Chapter 304 : Knights' Order...? (4)
Alon, who headed to the garden with Yutia—who seemed to be in an unusually good mood—was able to hear why she had stopped by the Marquis' estate.
"A meeting?"
"Yes, as you know, there's been a surge of rioters and bandits lately."
Alon nodded as he recalled what Siyan had said a few days ago.
"... It seems the situation is more serious than I thought."
"You didn't know, My Lord?"
"No. I knew to some extent."
The recent events were not something Alon could have been unaware of.
'Even if it wasn't my intention, I am benefiting from it, after all.'
Unlike the other territories that were in chaos because of the bandits, the Palatio territory had strangely remained free of bandit activity, resulting in an increase in visiting merchants.
"So, you stopped by on your way to that meeting?"
"That's right. But I also heard that something is happening within the Empire as well."
"The Empire?"
"Yes. I heard that a war has broken out inside the Empire."
...
The Empire.
A nation that had been hostile toward the Allied Kingdom for a long time, and also the setting of Calypsophobia, another game made by the same company that created Psychedelia.
Was there ever a war within the Empire at this point in time?
Alon pondered for a moment but soon shrugged.
In truth, the wars within Calypsophobia weren't something Alon particularly needed to worry about.
As far as he knew, unless one or two countries in the Allied Kingdom were on the brink of collapse, the Empire would never declare war on the Allied Kingdom.
Besides, Calypsophobia also had its own protagonist.
If I recall correctly... was the name Ner?
Ner.
Much like Psychedelia, the protagonist of Calypsophobia, who could be either male or female, saves the chaotic Empire from destruction.
In other words, Alon didn't need to worry about the Empire's affairs for now.
The protagonist of Calypsophobia would handle it somehow.
'And unlike here, that protagonist is pretty much overpowered… If I remember right, they could probably take out one of the four factions of the Empire on their own.'
That thought crossed his mind briefly.
"And besides that, I also have something to tell you, My Lord."
At Yutia's words, Alon pushed his thoughts aside and continued the conversation.
"Something to tell me?"
"Yes, I was thinking—how about building a church on the Marquis' estate?"
"A church?"
"Yes, but only if you're okay with it."
"Hmm—"
Alon hesitated for a moment.
Since he needed to establish a new Divine Land soon, building a church on the Palatio estate could potentially create some awkward situations.
But at the same time, he wasn't particularly inclined to refuse, so after a moment's thought, he nodded.
"If you want to, go ahead."
"Thank you for allowing it, My Lord."
"But why suddenly build a church on the Marquis' estate?"
"The reason for building the church?"
Yutia placed a finger on her cheek thoughtfully, then smiled and asked in return:
"Well, would you like to guess, My Lord?"
"Me?"
"Yes."
Yutia smiled brightly.
After thinking for a moment, Alon replied.
"Expansion?"
"Nope."
"Then...?"
He couldn't quite figure out the reason.
When Alon asked again, Yutia held up two fingers and answered.
"There are two reasons. One is that there are more cats around than we expected."
"Cats?"
Alon involuntarily glanced over at Blackie.
Not long ago, the little black cat had been napping comfortably on the Sea King's back, but now its pupils were trembling.
As if to say, "Me…? You mean me?"
"And the second reason is—"
Without looking at Blackie, Yutia cautiously moved closer to Alon's side.
"I thought it was about time I started being a little more proactive."
She whispered quietly in his ear.
"Proactive?"
"Of course. I'm talking about missionary work."
Yutia smiled.
To that—
...
"I see."
Alon didn't quite understand, but he nodded quietly for now.
After asking Alon to stop by Rosario when he had time, Yutia left the estate.
A few days later.
'Come to think of it, I wanted to ask her how she knew about the Sin… but I never got the chance.'
Feeling a bit regretful, Alon called out to Evan, who was walking ahead.
"Are all the preparations for the Divine Land trip ready?"
"Yes, everything is complete. We can depart right away."
"How long will it take to get there?"
"Hmm—based on what I checked last time, it should take about a day."
The two chatted casually as they walked.
Before long, Alon had exited the outer walls.
"What do you think?"
...
"... More than I expected."
Seeing the soldiers and knights packed tightly in front of the castle gates, Alon couldn't help but exclaim.
Fifty knights and six hundred soldiers were preparing to head to the Divine Land.
Seeing them with his own eyes made the number feel even larger than it had sounded.
And… even though it's only been a few days, their training seems quite solid...?
The soldiers and knights stood in precise formation.
And Deus watched them with a satisfied expression.
Alon glanced over the faces of the knights.
There were too many to check each one, but here and there, he spotted familiar faces from the interviews, including Seamus.
After a brief inspection, however, Alon began to wonder.
The knights' expressions looked unusually resolute.
Of course, Seamus seemed happier than before, and since their commander—Alon—was present, that was understandable.
But as for the others, he grew more curious as to why they looked that way.
Just then—
"Marquis, shall we depart?"
"Yes."
At Evan's words, Alon headed toward the carriage.
"What do you think?"
"They look very determined."
As they walked toward the carriage, Evan asked a question, and Alon replied.
"Well, isn't it a good thing? It seems Deus is doing a good job."
Evan nodded in satisfaction.
"It just feels like an army preparing for war rather than a simple defense force for Divine Land."
"Well, the better trained they are, the better, right?"
"That's true, but…"
It felt almost like watching a knights' order preparing for an actual war.
It made him feel a bit uneasy.
At that moment, Evan exclaimed as if he remembered something.
"Now that I think about it, when Deus trains the knights, he also conducts one-on-one interviews with them. And after those talks, their attitudes become noticeably more serious."
"Interviews?"
"Yes."
What on earth is he telling them?
That thought crossed Alon's mind, but he quickly pushed it aside.
As Evan had said, having good discipline was certainly not a bad thing.
Soon after getting into the carriage, Alon began calmly organizing his thoughts on what he needed to do next.
'First, I'll establish the Divine Land. As for the matter of citizens, I should talk to Sili about it—there were things I wanted to ask anyway. Of course, I'll need to stop by Raksas first.'
Recalling what Rine had said, Alon finished mapping out his plans regarding the Divine Land.
Then he thought back to the events that had happened recently in the East.
'Meet the Observer... was it?'
He absentmindedly stroked the magatama tucked in his robe, recalling the entity he had seen then.
A being whose mere presence made him bleed from his eyes because he couldn't withstand its gaze.
An unknown being that seemed to possess knowledge capable of explaining all the things he himself did not understand.
'Maybe this time, I'll be able to learn something.'
With those thoughts swirling in his mind, Alon looked out the window.
It was an afternoon just like any other.
***
When Seamus had first arrived at the Marquis Palatio's estate, he had been crushed by low self-esteem.
But recently, he had slowly begun to regain his confidence.
Contrary to what his master had told him, there were actually many Master Knights within the Marquis' estate.
All of the five squad leaders in the knights' order had reached the rank of Master Knight, and Seamus himself was vice-captain of the Fifth Order.
The reason Seamus was able to regain his confidence despite this?
It was because the squad leaders and vice-captains—also Master Knights—acknowledged him.
In other words, it wasn't that Seamus had misunderstood things—rather, it was that the Marquis' knights' order was abnormally strong.
Moreover, Deus, who was passionately training the knights, had also acknowledged Seamus' talent.
As a result, his self-esteem was steadily recovering.
However, the arrogance that had once defined Seamus was now almost entirely gone.
Though it had only been a week, the many sparring sessions—and especially his matches against Deus—had taught Seamus humility.
Or more accurately, humility had been forcefully drilled into him.
No matter how talented Seamus was, everyone recognized that Deus' abilities and level were on an entirely different plane.
To the point where it was impossible to even feel inferior—so vast was the gap.
In any case, thanks to this, Seamus was learning humility while continuing to develop his talent smoothly.
At the same time, he was convinced that he was inching closer to achieving his original dream—to become the most admired knight, returning in glory.
At least, that had been his mindset until just moments ago.
Seamus now looked at Deus with a bewildered expression.
But Deus, with an extremely serious face, didn't even blink.
"Wha—?"
Seamus unintentionally dragged out the word, replaying in his mind how he had ended up in this situation.
This morning, he had set out for Divine Land with the Marquis.
After stopping early, they had set up camp and immediately began training.
Then—
Instructor Deus had announced that he would be holding individual interviews.
Curious about what was said during these talks—especially since the other knights had emerged looking far more serious—Seamus had come to see him after training.
And then, he heard it.
Deus' words.
"You will become the King's Sword. A sword that can crush anyone."
"Does that mean—?"
"You've already understood without me having to say it, haven't you?"
At those words, Seamus instinctively looked into Deus' eyes.
Eyes that held not even the slightest hint of deception—only pure truth.
Seamus realized that Deus' words were sincere.
Without meaning to, Seamus thought of his original dream.
That dream of becoming a knight so admired by all that he would return home in triumph.
It had been a bright and noble dream.
A dream.
Then why…?
Before he knew it—
He had boarded a ship where failure would mean treason and success would mean revolution.
A ship from which there was no disembarking.
"I will train you so that you will never lose to anyone."
Seamus found himself trapped on that ship.
'I… I just wanted to become a knight who would be admired by all…'
Seamus' wandering thoughts slowly dispersed into the air.