Chapter 86 - Investiture Ceremony (2)

"... There's a rumor like that going around?"

"Yes. You know how the allied kingdoms held a conference recently?"

"Did they?"

"... Sometimes I really think you have no interest in what's going on around you, my lord."

"That's true enough."

As Alon nodded, Evan promptly continued.

"Anyway, apparently it came up there. That Penia Kraisinne and Count Pallatio might end up together."

"... Was Penia Kraisinne there, by any chance?"

"Of course not. It's a gathering exclusively for royalty to strengthen their friendships and keep the alliance between the allied kingdoms going."

"Then why would a rumor like that start?"

"I don't know either. I've only heard about it myself."

Evan shrugged, and Alon looked genuinely bewildered.

Understandably so. There was absolutely nothing between him and Penia that could have given rise to such talk. In fact, recalling how Penia had acted recently only made him wonder why the rumor had started.

'What's going on...?'

His puzzled expression lasted only a moment before he decided to stop worrying about the rumor.

Distorted stories spread among nobles often enough, so he thought it would naturally fade with time. Most of the baseless rumors he had seen so far had disappeared quickly.

"Well, it's hardly worth worrying about."

And so Alon brushed it aside.

At least, until he arrived in Teria a few days later.

A modest banquet was held before the investiture ceremony for the nobles attending it.

"Congratulations, my lord!"

"... What are you congratulating me on?"

"I heard you're romantically involved with Penia Kraisinne."

"..."

Question marks kept popping up in Alon's mind. He was starting to feel dizzy.

He had barely arrived, yet this was already the fifth time he had heard the same thing.

"Thank you for the congratulations, but unfortunately, that rumor is false."

After dismissing the noble's claim, he was eating an egg tart in a corner of the banquet hall when Duchess Altia appeared before him.

"It's been a while, my lord."

Alon nodded as she smiled and bowed her head, but the respite was brief.

"It has."

"Is that rumor true, by any chance?"

"Which rumor?"

"I've recently heard rumors that you're romantically involved with Penia Kraisinne, the Blue Magic Tower's master."

"..."

That made six.

False rumors might fade quickly, but until they did, they burned fiercely.

Alon sighed and answered.

"I've said this several times already, but that rumor is nonsense."

"Is it?"

"Yes. It couldn't possibly be true in the first place."

"I thought it was true, though."

"... Why?"

"Well...marrying the Blue Magic Tower's master would have an extremely positive impact on your house, and on our faction. For instance—"

As Duchess Altia proceeded to give a clear, orderly explanation of the advantages of marrying Penia Kraisinne, Alon inwardly recoiled.

Watching her meticulously distinguish every advantage and disadvantage, from the greatest to the most trivial, reminded him once again that she had been one of Asteria's three masterminds.

'... Not that she's much different now.'

Just as that thought crossed his mind, she continued.

"... With that many benefits, I thought you would have ample reason to consider marriage. Was I wrong? Besides, I thought you had started this rumor yourself."

"... Me?"

"Rumors are surprisingly powerful. If you spread one like this, people sometimes end up tied together for the benefit of their respective groups, even if the other party dislikes the match."

The duchess had casually painted him as a sleazy, morally bankrupt schemer. Alon answered,

"... Even I wouldn't go that far."

"Oh, really...?"

Her astonished expression left Alon wondering just what these people thought of him. Meanwhile, after some careful consideration, Duchess Altia said,

"Come to think of it, perhaps you're a romantic when it comes to such things."

She gave him a gentle smile, exchanged a few more words with him, and left.

That day, Alon received congratulations roughly nine times.

... It was more trying than he had expected.

####

The following day, the coronation and investiture ceremony began.

Before the assembled nobles, Critenia Siyan, the eighth monarch, declared that Count Pallatio had been granted the rank of marquis.

The ceremony itself was over in practically no time.

Yet despite the ceremony's conclusion, Alon was still a count.

There was one reason for this: to officially use the title of marquis, he had to receive a blessing from an archbishop belonging to the Holy Kingdom of Rosario.

Thus, as soon as the event ended, Alon began preparing to leave for Rosario.

"Then have a safe journey."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."

Critenia Siyan stared at Alon as he bowed in response to her wishes. Then, with a thoughtful look, she approached him and, just as she had last time, used her index finger to gently stretch the corner of his mouth upward.

"Did I not tell you that a smile suits you rather well?"

"My apologies, Your Majesty."

Alon bowed his head.

"Well, never mind. Return once you have finished the investiture. Let us at least sit down and talk face-to-face."

Siyan gave a soft chuckle, waved a hand, and turned away.

Alon stared after her blankly, once again finding her somewhat different from what he had expected. Then he began preparing to head to the Holy Kingdom.

####

The journey from the Kingdom of Asteria to the Holy Kingdom of Rosario was fairly long, taking roughly two to three weeks.

Still, travel was easier than it had been on the way to Laxas, since there were plenty of villages and domains where they could stop between Teria and Rosario.

As a result, Alon's journey was distinctly more comfortable than his trip to Laxas.

About a week after setting out for Rosario, Alon was resting at an inn in Nenda, a village along the way, when Evan spoke.

"My lord—no, should I be addressing you as a marquis now? I can't get used to this."

"I'm not a marquis yet. Address me as you normally would."

"Then, my lord, I've obtained one of the pieces of information you asked me to look into."

"... Here?"

"It turns out there's an information broker in this village too. I stopped by while I was at it."

That was what Evan had come to tell him.

"... So, what did you learn?"

"Ah, it's nothing major, really. But the Abyssal Gems and Abyssal Cores you mentioned seem to have been appearing on the black market frequently of late."

"... Does that mean they're circulating in large quantities?"

"No, apparently not in large quantities, but I'm told they turn up often."

"Hmm..."

Alon considered this carefully.

'... That's not good.'

The spread of Abyssal Gems or Abyssal Cores through this world was hardly a good sign.

Abyssal Cores bestowed divine stature on powerful individuals, transforming them into even stronger beings. If they were beginning to circulate in secret, the likelihood of the world descending into chaos was plainly skyrocketing.

Furthermore, the original story had only mentioned that Abyssal Cores were being distributed from somewhere; it had never specified the channels through which they circulated.

In other words, he could not cut off their distribution using the knowledge he possessed.

"... Did you happen to find their source?"

Alon asked on the off chance, but Evan shook his head.

"No, unfortunately, I didn't. But I did find out where a large number of them have gone."

"Where?"

"The Holy Kingdom."

"... The Holy Kingdom?"

"Yes. That's the Information Guild's assessment for now, at least."

Alon wore an odd expression.

The Holy Kingdom was precisely the sort of place that did not fit with Abyssal Cores.

'They're certainly more than a little corrupt, but I don't think they were so far gone that they'd dabble in Abyssal Cores.'

Tilting his head at the thought, Alon considered his options.

'... I'll have to ask Yutia to look into this too, if she can... But that makes two favors I'll be asking her for. Should I buy her a gift?'

He had already planned to ask Yutia for a favor while he was in the Holy Kingdom. After some deliberation, he reached a decision.

'If possible, I should stop somewhere along the way and buy her something.'

A little later, he said,

"It's nearly evening. Let's go downstairs for dinner."

"Sure."

Alon went down to the inn's ground floor with Evan to eat dinner.

"Wahahaha!"

"Drink! Come on, drink!"

"Man, that thing was so squishy, it was just—!!"

He stared blankly at the ground floor, which, unlike the empty room he had seen upon arrival, was now so boisterous that the noise hurt his ears.

"Mercenaries?"

"It looks that way."

"... The soundproofing is quite good for an inn."

"It is. I'm a little surprised myself."

Alon headed toward an empty table in a corner of the inn.

No matter how noisy it was, they still had to eat.

But as he approached the table...

"Heave-ho!"

"Huh?"

Just before he could sit down, a mercenary suddenly claimed the seat, leaving him bewildered.

"What are you looking at? This is my seat!"

One of the mercenaries who had been carousing with the others moments earlier had picked a fight with him out of nowhere.

"..."

Alon and Evan looked incredulous.

Could even a mercenary ignorant of the ways of the world be stupid enough to provoke someone who was obviously a noble at a glance?

Knowing that was utterly inconceivable, they could not help making those faces.

"Go sit somewhere else, huh?"

Then Alon caught the powerful reek of alcohol coming from the mercenary before him and realized that the man's stupor had severely diminished his intelligence.

Just as he was considering what to do...

"...?"

Alon suddenly realized his surroundings had gone quiet and looked around.

The mercenaries were still there. But the men who had been so boisterous moments before had turned toward him and the mercenary, falling silent with somewhat horrified expressions, as though frozen in place.

Just as he began to wonder why...

"Didn't you hear me!? Just get—"

Someone appeared behind the mercenary who had been causing a scene.

CRASH!

A liquor bottle smashed against his head.

THUD!

The mercenary hit the floor and lay there trembling.

Alon was still looking flustered by the sudden turn of events when he heard,

"S-sorry! Count Pallatio!"

He saw the beastfolk woman who had just struck the mercenary standing with her head deeply bowed, the shattered bottle still in her hand.

Her appearance was somewhat familiar, and he soon realized who she was.

"... Myaon?"

"I'm really sorry...!"

Myaon, guildmaster of the Seekers of Antiquity, one of Lartania's five great guilds, stood with her head bowed.

####

Blue Moon's regular meeting.

Normally, only Blue Moon's five officers attended these meetings, but this time an exception had been made for Hidan.

The reason was that he had uncovered several pieces of information about the forces that had recently tried to slander the Great Moon.

In other words, he was attending solely to report his findings, but in truth, Hidan was a little excited.

He held deep respect for the Great Moon and the other Moons, whose strength was fundamentally different from his own.

And so Hidan entered, excited at the prospect of meeting the Moons, only to hear...

["I'm getting married!"]

["No!"]

["I'm getting married!!"]

["No!!"]

["I'm getting married!!!"]

["No!!"]

["As I've said, I think this is far too unfair. It's about time you let us send letters too—"]

["I think that's a fair point too!"]

["Looking at the Moon like this reminds me of that time. It happened years ago now, but I still remember it vividly. The sight of the Great Moon facing an Outer God was truly awe-inspiring. Ah, come to think of it, Hidan, have you not heard the story? Then allow me to explain it to you from the beginning."]

["..."]

... He could hardly help feeling dizzy.