Chapter 84 - A Nod (4)

Inside a dark room.

["He said that?"]

"Yes."

At one of the secret locations Blue Moon had established throughout the kingdom, Hidan was reporting on what had happened the other day.

"... He was a black-haired man with blue eyes."

["Was he?"]

"Yes. I remember his voice being husky, rather at odds with his appearance."

["Hmm..."]

Yutia furrowed her brow at the detailed description, as though considering something. But only for a moment.

["Don't concern yourself with him."]

At that simple instruction, Hidan replied.

"... Are you sure that is all right?"

["Yes."]

Though still uncertain for a moment at Yutia's assurance, Hidan soon bowed his head.

"I shall obey the Red Moon's command."

Orders were absolute, after all.

That did not make his curiosity disappear, however. Once he confirmed that the communication device had switched off, Hidan remained lost in thought for some time.

'... Who was that guy?'

####

The next day.

"Well, thank you for bringing me this far."

"Not at all, Big Brother. It's only what I should do."

Having reached the forest to the right of the Kimin domain, Alon patted Radan's shoulder.

"I'll see you again, then."

"Yes, Big Brother."

"Oh, and look after those two for me. They say they have business in Laxas."

He turned his gaze toward Penia and Pelin.

Penia wore an awkward smile, while Pelin looked at her with a peculiar expression. They had decided to part ways here. Unlike Alon, who no longer needed to remain in Laxas, the two of them had told him they still had business here.

"Yes. Since you've asked, Big Brother, I'll make sure of it."

"Good."

"Oh, but Big Brother. May I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Um... I thought I'd ask just in case. Is there anything you need?"

"Anything I need?"

"Yes."

Alon tilted his head at Radan's question, then answered.

"Nothing."

"Nothing...?"

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just that you came all this way."

Alon considered Radan's words with a hum.

"Well, there is nothing I need. Seeing you is enough. As I said, I thought I might not get to meet you."

"Is... that so?"

"Yes. I'll be going, then. Take care."

With that, he disembarked.

The ship set sail again immediately afterward.

"They're gone."

"They are."

After watching the ship grow smaller in the distance, Alon and Evan headed into the Kimin domain to find their carriage. It was time to return to House Pillatio.

'... Star eater, huh.'

As Alon watched the scenery outside the carriage begin to drift past, he recalled his conversation with the Observer yesterday.

["A star... eater?"]

["Yes. Do you happen to know anything about it?"]

["... To be honest, I don't know either, but it is a deeply unsettling term."]

["Is it? Why?"]

The Observer had not answered his question, and he had not pressed her further. After talking with her for a while, he had realized that whenever she refused to answer, it meant there was something she must not speak of.

'Why is there so much information I can't make sense of?'

Alon sighed. Still, he was not irritated by that fact. All he had to do was remember the blood streaming from his eyes, nose, and mouth yesterday—

'... It's better than dying.'

His goal was to stay alive and live in peace, even if that meant a lifetime of unanswered questions, rather than stick his nose into danger just to satisfy his curiosity about one truth of the world.

'Of course, that doesn't mean I intend to sit back and do nothing... More accurately, I suppose I'm in no position to do that.'

He recalled the words he had heard from the being he encountered while looking into the bronze mirror yesterday.

'Execute the dispossessed one... was it? It was definitely called an Outer God.'

He had heard it clearly.

'In hiding. An Outer God is... in hiding...'

Those were words he could never ignore. An Outer God hiding itself carried a great many implications. First, there was no knowing what it was preparing while concealed. Second, if it was hiding so successfully, that was as good as saying it had already fully manifested.

In other words, to Alon, it meant there was a fully assembled bomb concealed in some unknown location, with no telling when it would explode.

'I have to deal with it, no matter what.'

The problem was that he had no way to find where the Outer God was hiding. After pondering it for some time, Alon let out a long sigh.

"Whew..."

He leaned back against the carriage seat. Since thinking about it now seemed unlikely to yield any viable solution, he decided to stop for the moment and rest.

"..."

How long had he been staring vacantly through the window? As he gazed into space, Alon suddenly posed a question to Evan.

"Evan."

"What is it, my lord?"

"I'm fairly decent-looking, aren't I?"

"... Pardon?"

Evan looked somewhat taken aback by a topic that had never once come up before. Still, he gave it earnest consideration before answering.

"Well, of course you are."

"I thought so."

"Did something happen?"

At Evan's question, Alon recalled Penia yesterday. More precisely, he recalled the voices he had heard while approaching to greet her and her companion after spotting them by chance on the street.

"No, well... Something prompted the question."

"Something?"

"Yes."

Muttering that, Alon recalled what Penia had said as she beat Pelin yesterday.

["Ow! Ow! Sister!? Why all of a sudden?!"]

["Like him? Do I like him? Are you seriously asking me that!? Why would I like Count Pallatio!?"]

["No, I just— You act so demure whenever you're next to Count Pallatio...!"]

["You little shit, I've always been demure!"]

["No, normally you aren't—"]

["Bullshit. Why the hell would I like that man?! How on earth did you come to that conclusion?!"]

["Then... you don't?"]

["There's no reason for me to like him in the first place! As for Count Pallatio, I—"]

The conversation was still vivid in his memory. Of course, Alon had never once imagined from the outset that Penia might like him. Nothing had ever connected them romantically in the first place. So even rejecting Penia would only have made things a little awkward; he bore no particular ill feeling about it.

There was just one reason he felt rather sour about the whole situation.

'Even so, surely there's no need to be so disgusted that she'd beat her brother for suggesting it.'

Whatever Penia's actual feelings might be, from his perspective she had seemed utterly repulsed. Enough to beat up the brother who had said it, no less.

"Well, I don't know what happened, but don't let it bother you, my lord. A man's ability matters more than his looks, doesn't it?"

"... That's true."

"Just look at me. See how popular I am?"

"..."

Based on everything he had witnessed, Alon wanted to say, 'You're not popular at all.' But he held it in and nodded.

"Yes, well. Quite."

"So don't let it bother you too much."

Alon nodded once more at Evan's words. Yet despite his nodding head, he felt gloomy.

... It was autumn, and the leaves were changing color.

####

Having united all the Seven Fleet Isles and effectively gained complete dominion over the eastern sea, Radan sat in his office aboard the pirate ship and sighed. He now ruled every isle and had avenged himself on the men who killed his family, but it was not over yet.

He still had a task to complete: catching the 'black fish.'

"..."

Lost in thought, Radan eventually took a small box from inside his clothes. He stared blankly at the box Alon had recently given him as a gift before leaving, then opened it to inspect its contents.

"... A monocle?"

The object inside the box was a monocle—a single-lens eyeglass. Nor did it have any distinctive features. It was the sort of ordinary monocle one could find anywhere.

As Radan stared at it in puzzlement, he noticed a slip of paper inside the box and took it out.

* * *

This should ease your compulsive need for order, at least a little.

* * *

The paper bore only that simple message. Yet Radan could not help being astonished by its contents. Though the members of Blue Moon knew he was somewhat sensitive, none of them knew that he had an extreme compulsion for order. Radan himself had never let it show.

Of course, one might have guessed to some extent upon seeing how neatly he had arranged the isles he ruled, but Alon could not have prepared a gift at that point. He had been with Radan the entire time since arriving in the isles.

Astonished, Radan put on the monocle.

"!"

He was even more surprised to feel his sensitivity lessen—the intense irritation he felt unless everything he saw was balanced on both sides. But that surprise soon gave way to another thought.

'How does Big Brother know so much?'

Thinking of Alon, who had given him the gift, Radan could not suppress his renewed curiosity. Alon—the Great Moon—had always been like that. He knew that the captains of the Seven Fleet Isles were the ones who had killed Radan's parents. He even knew about Radan's severe compulsion for order, something Radan had never told anyone.

It was just as Yutia always said: he knew everything.

Radan found it wondrous beyond endurance.

And that was not all.

'... I was certain Big Brother needed fighting strength.'

Radan knew this world was not so beautiful. Fundamentally, it ran on give-and-take. For everything given, something came in return, and Radan understood that rule very well. So, despite his trust in and gratitude toward the Great Moon, he had believed there must be something the man wanted.

No kindness in this world came without a price.

"..."

Yet no matter how he considered it, the Alon he had seen did not appear to need fighting strength. That had been true when he faced the Outer God, and equally true when he plunged in without hesitation to save Radan after the Outer God dragged him under.

"..."

Radan found himself recalling that moment. The instant the Great Moon began forming a hand seal, unmistakable terror had appeared in the eye that had been watching him greedily yet indifferently from the depths.

He remembered the awe and shuddering wonder he had felt then.

"... Whew."

Radan sighed.

From witnessing that scene, and from their final conversation today, Radan had realized two things. First, Alon's kindness came with no price. Second, Radan did not currently possess the ability to repay the kindness he had received without anything being demanded in return.

And so—

'I need more strength. As I am now, I can't even serve at Big Brother's side.'

Radan resolved to grow strong enough to stand beside the Great Moon and protect him.

Having reached that conclusion, he suddenly murmured,

"... Hypnosis magic... huh."

He scoffed at the idiotic thought he had entertained not long ago. Perhaps he had not known better then, but now that he had met the Great Moon, he realized how foolish and stupid that thought had been.

And so Radan murmured quietly,

"Everything for the Great Moon."

'It seems the time has come to retrieve it.'

Recalling an object buried in the depths of the sea, his expression filled with resolve.

####

After spending roughly three weeks in the carriage and returning to House Pallatio, Alon enjoyed a thoroughly leisurely rest that night. He had spent years traveling from place to place by carriage and ought to have grown accustomed to it by now, but sleeping in one still left him terribly fatigued.

The day after arriving home and indulging in a long rest, Alon received a call from Duchess Altia for the first time in a while.

["... You truly are remarkable. We were preparing as well, but we couldn't find the right opportunity to act. To think you disposed of more than eight nobles at once."]

["...?"]

["I thought you weren't particularly concerned about it. You really surprised me."]

For some reason, he was being mistaken for the mastermind who had killed eight nobles without batting an eye.

'What is it this time...?'

Alon let out a quiet groan.