Chapter 91 - Man-Made (2)

Two days later, with only about two days remaining before the chief cardinal emerged from the two-week prayer gathering inside the temple, Alon spoke up while eating at a restaurant nearby.

“Evan.”

“What is it, my lord?”

“You used to go out often whenever we traveled somewhere. You haven't been doing that this time.”

Evan shrugged at the question.

“Actually, I did go out.”

“Did you?”

“Yes, but there was hardly anything to see or enjoy. The outskirts are much like any other territory, but there doesn't seem to be anything particularly distinctive about them.”

Alon nodded, thinking, 'The Holy Kingdom is rather like that.'

The view of the capital from outside its walls was extraordinarily beautiful. Whatever the outskirts might be like, the rows of white buildings within the walls made it clear to anyone that this was the Holy Kingdom of Rosario.

Beyond that, however, true to the Holy Kingdom's image, there was little to enjoy unless one was a traveler who worshipped Shironia.

“Evan.”

“Yes?”

“I'm only asking just in case, but is there something behind me?”

“Behind you, my lord?”

“Yes.”

Evan looked puzzled before answering.

“... I'm not sure what you mean.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. But you've kept asking that same question since yesterday. Did something happen?” Evan asked, bewildered.

Ever since his visit to the Chamber of the Holy Spirit, Alon had been struck by how closely the goddess's reaction resembled Heinkel's. Realizing that he had asked Evan the same question yesterday, he gave a slight shake of his head.

“It's nothing serious.”

“Well, there is something behind you, though.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“The saint.”

“The saint...?”

Alon turned at that reply and found Saint Yuman watching him with an intensely serious gaze.

“...?”

When their eyes met, Yuman casually turned his face away. The movement was remarkably unnatural.

'... What's wrong with him?'

Of course, it wasn't as though Alon had no idea why he might act that way. Yuman likely resented him for using Yutia's connections to enter the saints' chamber, a place he ordinarily could not have entered when he wasn't even a priest of Rosario.

Yet despite having a guess as to the reason, Yuman's behavior was what puzzled him now.

“My lord, did something really happen between you and the saint?”

“Nothing beyond meeting him once.”

“He's following you around an awful lot for that. Hasn't he practically been glued to you for two days now, since yesterday?”

Inwardly, Alon reacted to Evan's words with a peculiar expression. That was precisely why he found Yuman's behavior strange.

Since Alon had left the chamber of the saints two evenings ago, Yuman—who should have had no further dealings with him—had been following him around for two days. And he was being obvious enough for anyone to notice.

But he merely followed Alon without ever speaking to him.

'Did he discover that I took the Eye-Eater's Necklace out of the room? No, that shouldn't be possible. It didn't even have a tracking spell on it, and it was hidden...'

Just as Alon began considering other possible motives,

Yuman sprang to his feet. He had been sitting until a moment ago, but now, as though he had made up his mind, he walked over and stopped in front of Alon.

“May I have your ear for a moment?”

“... My ear?”

“Yes.”

When Alon nodded in confusion, Yuman discreetly glanced around before whispering quietly.

“You should be careful of Cardinal Yutia, Sai—no, Count Pallatio.”

“... Pardon?”

“She is not someone who believes in the goddess as we do.”

“...?”

He spoke with utter seriousness. Alon stared at Yuman in bewilderment, growing more confused by the moment.

Apparently having made his decision, Yuman looked at Alon with eyes blazing with some tremendous sense of duty.

“I'll be going, then.”

He bowed once, turned, and left.

Then Evan, looking dazed by what he had just witnessed, asked,

“... What was that, my lord?”

“... I have no idea either.”

Alon was every bit as bewildered.

####

While Alon was reeling from Yuman's abrupt change in attitude, an unexpected bout of shouting rang out in the Blue Magic Tower.

“It's not true, you bastards!!!!!!!!”

“All of you, get the hell out!!!”

“Y-yes, ma'am!!”

Startled by the nearly shrieked order to leave, the mages fled at lightning speed. She watched them go, huffing with anger, then let out a heavy sigh as though her head were throbbing and sat back down.

'Why on earth do I have to put up with this...!'

Penia clutched her dizzy head and sighed heavily again.

She had good reason: lately, she had been enduring an utterly overwhelming situation. All because of the rumor that had recently spread.

The claim that Penia Kraisinne was in love with Count Pallatio—a rumor with absolutely no credibility whatsoever—was making her life miserable.

What had just happened was a perfect example. One of her assistants, a mage who had spent more than ten months shut inside the tower doing nothing but research, had brought her a cake reading, 'Congratulations on Your Marriage, Deputy Tower Master!'

“Haa...”

In truth, if Penia were exceptionally generous about it, she could have laughed such incidents off with a little irritation, no matter how many times they occurred.

The reason she was reacting so strongly, however, lay in the habits of these creatures called mages. They commonly spent months, if not years, holed up in their laboratories doing research. As a result, they missed the news and came to congratulate her on her marriage every other day.

And that wasn't all.

They didn't even come simply to congratulate her. They decided, 'With something as happy as a wedding happening, surely I can sneak in a little remark today,' and spouted nonsense such as, 'You should rein in that temper now,' or, 'You'll scare the count away too if you get angry, Deputy Tower Master.'

It was driving Penia absolutely mad.

“Why the hell do I have to get mixed up with that—!!!”

She wanted to finish by shouting, “Bastard!!!!!” But she stopped halfway through and, without realizing it, turned to look at the magic tower's window.

It was far too high up for anyone to cling to, but thanks to Radan's performance(?) at the royal castle in Laxas, she had recently begun glancing warily at windows wherever she went, despite herself.

CLICK

Only after opening the window and checking above, below, left, and right to make certain no one was there did Penia slump weakly into her seat.

“...”

She looked exhausted.

That wasn't the only thing making life difficult for Penia lately. Though not quite to the same degree, she had also been strangely unlucky.

For example, of all the magical goods ordered from a merchant company, only hers had mysteriously been 'omitted.' Or, of the magical materials coming in from outside, only hers had been 'lost.' Five such mishaps had occurred in succession recently.

And so, looking close to tears, Penia muttered weakly,

“... Why has my luck been so rotten lately?”

“This is all that—”

She scowled and was about to unleash a stream of abuse, only to catch sight of the window and shut her mouth.

... In contrast to Penia's gloomy mood, the sky was clear.

####

In the saint's office inside Rosario's temple:

“Haa.”

Yuman, who had been speaking to Alon only a short while ago, recalled Count Pallatio's impassive face, which had betrayed no emotion.

'... Count Pallatio is a saint.'

Of course, Count Pallatio had not formally become a saint. After all, he had only received a holy relic unofficially, rather than through a public ceremony.

But even if it was unofficial, there was no doubt that he was a saint. A saint was someone who had received a holy relic from the goddess Shironia as a sign of her recognition.

Moreover, when Yuman had prayed to Shironia to ask her directly, the goddess herself had acknowledged personally giving him the holy relic. His sainthood was already an indisputable fact.

What Yuman had failed to understand was why Shironia had appointed him a saint in secret, without holding a ceremony. By now, however, even that question had been resolved to some extent.

“...”

Yuman cautiously lowered his gaze to the book in his hands. The ancient volume, passed down only among successive saints, contained the following words:

[Even the great nation founded by the goddess cannot save all people, and evil, fearing the goddess's dawn, conceals itself deep within the darkness.]

[To aid those whom even her nation cannot save, and to destroy the evil that hides from her dawn, the goddess sent forth Hidden Saints.]

[The Hidden Saints shall be the blades of dawn, saving those whom the light does not reach within the shadows cast by the goddess's dawn, and destroying the evil entrenched in darkness.]

[Within the dawn that remains unrevealed, they are those who bestow the goddess's grace.]

“Hidden Saints...”

Murmuring the words from the ancient book, Yuman thought of Count Pallatio. If he had been appointed a Hidden Saint, it would explain why he had received only a relic from the goddess without undergoing a ceremony.

Thus, a small sense of duty sprouted in his heart.

'If Count Pallatio is a Hidden Saint, I must separate him from Cardinal Yutia.'

He did not know why the goddess Shironia had chosen Count Pallatio as a Hidden Saint. Yet Yuman knew that he must accept her decision rather than question it. He must not commit the folly of finding fault with the goddess's choice.

And now that Alon had been appointed a Hidden Saint, he must not be allowed to remain at Cardinal Yutia's side. The woman Yuman knew was no different from a corrupt official who abused her power at will rather than revering the goddess.

Therefore,

'I must help the Hidden Saint walk the right path. I must...!'

With determination in his eyes, he closed the ancient book.

... An exceedingly peculiar set of gears had begun to turn.

####

Two more days passed, and at last the day of Alon's investiture arrived. He hurried toward the temple to attend the ceremony, which would begin early that morning.

“?”

Soon, a puzzled expression crossed his face.

There were a great many paladins escorting Count Pallatio on the way to the temple. In itself, that was nothing particularly strange.

Those whose armor bore ink-black shoulder insignia were all paladins serving directly under a cardinal—in other words, they were guarding Yutia, who was currently walking beside Alon.

What puzzled him, however, were the paladins walking on his left. They wore white armor with blue shoulder insignia.

Rather than serving a cardinal, they served Saint Yuman directly, and they were accompanying Alon just as Yutia's paladins were.

... More precisely, they were following Yuman, who was beside him. And doing so as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

“...?”

Alon gave Yuman a puzzled look, then turned his gaze back to Yutia.

But...

“...??”

Yutia looked just as bewildered, her expression all but saying, 'What's with this bastard?'

'... What's going on?'

Somehow, he understood the situation even less than before...