Two more weeks passed, and Alon arrived at the Marquis’ estate.

“We’re here!”

As soon as the estate came into view, Seolrang shouted excitedly.

Alon, who was watching the estate while absentmindedly playing with her ears, said,

“Wow! The statue of Master has changed!”

“Hmph.”

Seolrang admired the statue with two horns, and Alon felt a little embarrassed for no reason.

At that moment.

“Ah!”

As if she had just remembered something, Seolrang clapped her hands.

“Master! Come to think of it, I heard a rumor—do you really use lightning!?”

They had already spent a month together, yet she was only now asking.

Alon chuckled but nodded.

“Not for long, but I can use it.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“That’s great~”

Seolrang grinned and hugged Alon tightly.

“What exactly is so great about it?”

He was puzzled.

Why would Seolrang be happy about him using lightning?

“Because it’s the same power as mine!”

A pure and innocent exclamation.

‘…Is that so?’

Well, if he looked into it deeply, it wasn’t exactly the same power.

But in broad categories, it was similar enough, so Alon nodded.

“I see.”

“That’s why I like it! It feels like we’re a bit closer now!”

“I suppose that’s one way to see it.”

“Right!?”

“Yes.”

As he continued responding to Seolrang’s delighted questions, before he knew it, they had entered the Palatio Marquis’ estate.

“?”

Soon, he encountered an unexpected sight.

“Where is he… Ah!”

A beastman rushed toward the carriage as soon as she saw it.

Something about her seemed quite familiar.

‘…Seolrang’s secretary?’

Alon quickly recognized her.

At the same time, the other beastmen, who had been searching for someone, all turned their eyes toward the carriage.

‘Her name was Lime, wasn’t it?’ Alon tried to recall their past encounter in the colony.

“Lady Seolrang! How could you just run away like that!?”

A voice pierced into the carriage.

Alon glanced down at Seolrang.

Just moments ago, she had been burying herself in his chest, peeking up at him.

But now— She slowly turned her head away, avoiding eye contact.

Then, she rolled her eyes, gauging whether she was about to be scolded.

Alon couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

###

After briefly confirming that over thirty beastmen were present,

Alon sat in the office and heard the truth from Lime, Seolrang’s secretary.

“So, originally, you were traveling to establish diplomatic relations with the Ashtalon Kingdom, and you were part of the escort team, but then you suddenly disappeared midway?”

“Yes, that’s correct, Marquis.”

At Lime’s words, Alon glanced at Seolrang.

She was still looking away, pretending to be distracted.

Glance.

Even so, she must have been worried about whether Alon was angry, as her eyes flickered nervously between her drooping ears.

Alon turned back to Lime and said,

“But how did you manage to find her here?”

“It wasn’t hard to predict where Lady Seolrang would go.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, besides, Lady Seolrang disappeared right after hearing that you were in Caliban, Marquis.”

When he looked at Seolrang again, she was now whistling for no reason.

—Not that she could actually whistle; only a weak breath of air came out.

“If you knew I was in Caliban, shouldn’t you have just gone there?”

“If we had gone and found you there, it wouldn’t have been a problem. But if you left before we arrived, it would’ve taken even longer to track you down.”

“…”

“So you figured I’d eventually return to the Marquis’ estate and waited here?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Lime nodded weakly.

Alon offered some words of comfort to her, who seemed exhausted.

“You must have had a hard time.”

“Thank you…”

Lime looked as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

She had likely suffered a lot because of Seolrang’s unpredictable nature.

Just as she was trying to compose herself—

“Alright, now let’s go, Lady Seolrang!”

“No way~”

“At the very least, you need to be there when we return…”

“We’re returning anyway, so what difference does it make if I go or not~”

As Lime tried to drag her away, Seolrang whined and showed her reluctance.

“But we already accepted their goodwill… We have to do at least this much. If we cause unnecessary trouble now, it’ll only make things harder for us.”

“It’s fine. If they make a fuss, I’ll just fight them.”

“Well, they might let it slide, but still, that’s a bit…”

As Alon watched Lime’s desperate attempts to convince Seolrang, he finally spoke.

“Seolrang.”

“Ah, Master…”

She had been blatantly showing her annoyance, but at Alon’s call, her ears immediately drooped.

Her expression turned anxious, as if she had completely forgotten he was there.

“For now, follow Lime.”

“But—”

“I’ll come find you soon anyway, so we can meet there.”

“Hmm, that’s true~”

At Alon’s words, Seolrang nodded.

However, she still looked oddly dissatisfied.

Seeing her sulky expression, Alon thought for a moment and then said,

“…Next time, let’s go on a trip together.”

“A trip?”

“Yes, if you have time.”

He offered her a carrot.

Seolrang’s tail started wagging happily again.

“Alright!”

With a cheerful response, she immediately stood up.

“Then, Master! See you at the colony!?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go, Lime.”

“Huh? Wait, wait—Kyaaah—!”

She grabbed Lime around the waist and leaped out the window.

“Thank youuuuuu!”

Lime’s voice echoed in the distance.

Alon sat down, thinking once again that she had quite the cheerful personality.

“She disappeared in an instant.”

As soon as Alon sat down, Evan spoke as if he had been waiting.

“I see.”

The moment Alon nodded—

[Meow?]

With a swoosh, Blackie, who had been practically erasing his presence until just now, suddenly emerged from Alon’s chest.

[Phew, I thought I was going to die!]

At the same time, Basiliora, who had been inside the ring, also burst out as if he had been waiting.

[That girl—! Staying away for over a month, I thought I was going to die from frustration!]

[Meow-w]

[Next time, please take me with you within a week!]

[Meowww-!]

[If not that, at least stay apart only one out of every three days!]

[Meowwwww-!!!!]

Blackie and Basiliora started complaining in perfect harmony.

Usually, they were always fighting—no, it was mostly Basiliora getting beaten up.

But today, seeing the two chattering nonstop like lifelong friends was quite a fresh sight.

Perhaps this was what people meant by “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

After indulging their complaints, the next day—

‘As expected, this is comfortable.’

Having finished processing the neatly organized documents prepared by Alexion, Alon once again visited Penia to continue their magic research.

“Oh! I was actually going to visit and greet you, Marquis!”

“For someone saying that, you didn’t even show your face.”

“Well, the thing is… I recently got caught up in a magic research that required a lot of time… hehe.”

Penia scratched her head awkwardly as they exchanged greetings.

A little later, as he was observing his internal energy for an experiment,

‘…It’s grown again.’

He confirmed that the newly emerged Ashen Divinity had expanded, similar to the other divinities.

Of course, gaining new divinities was a great thing for him.

However, he still couldn’t understand why this Ashen Divinity kept forming.

For a while, he wore a puzzled expression.

Then, as he refocused and examined his other divinities one by one,

his gaze landed on Kalannon’s divinity, and he showed a slightly surprised expression.

It had grown even larger than before.

‘Seems like Sili has been working diligently… Wait a moment—shouldn’t she still be in the North by now?’

His curiosity lasted only a moment before Alon simply shrugged and surrounded himself with Kalannon’s divinity.

“You haven’t been practicing during this time?”

“No, I’ve been practicing steadily.”

“But it feels different from when you used your power before.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Penia stroked her chin while carefully observing Alon’s divine power.

“With this much, we might be able to go beyond our current research and even experiment with the nature of magical power itself.”

“You mean synchronization assimilation?”

“Yes, that. We couldn’t proceed before due to a lack of divine energy.”

With her characteristic curiosity-filled expression, Penia quickly approached him.

She leaned in close, her face right in front of him, exclaiming, “Ooooh~.”

Then—step—step—

As if realizing something, she suddenly took a few steps back.

“…Why are you suddenly backing away?”

Alon tilted his head in confusion.

But Penia only said,

“No… I just suddenly… felt like I should… hahaha.”

She gave an awkward laugh, like a creaking wooden puppet.

Her gaze seemed to keep drifting towards his chest.

“Just, ahaha—hiccup!”

Alon thought, ‘If she says so, then that must be it.’ and let it slide without much concern.

###

The next day.

After finishing his usual magic training with Penia, Alon headed to his office to handle the reduced workload Alexion had organized.

“Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“I heard an interesting rumor, and I got curious. May I ask?”

“What is it?”

“Is Kalannon, the lightning receiver, also a god of knights?”

Evan’s sudden question made Alon raise an eyebrow in puzzlement.

“…What do you mean by that? A god of knights?”

“Normally, gods have a single attribute, but there are also gods with multiple attributes. That’s why I asked.”

“Hmm~”

Evan had a point.

Some gods didn’t just have one attribute but multiple ones.

Even the Moon God Sironia wasn’t only a god of the moon but also symbolized life.

However, as far as Alon knew, Kalannon’s divinity was strictly limited to lightning.

“Kalannon’s divinity is solely lightning. But why are you asking?”

He questioned Evan.

“Well, there’s a rumor circulating in Caliban that Kalannon isn’t just the lightning receiver but is actually being revered as the god of knights.”

“…What?”

He had just received some completely unexpected news.

“A god of knights?”

“Yes.”

He had no idea how such a rumor had started.

###

That evening.

–Wooong

Hidan infused his mana into the magical sphere twenty minutes earlier than usual to participate in the Blue Moon’s regular meeting.

As he watched the gradually forming screen, he looked slightly surprised.

Unlike usual, Yutia and Seolrang were already inside.

Feeling a small sense of curiosity, Hidan prepared to greet them as he normally would.

“Hello th—”

Or rather, he tried.

[Let me see too!]

[No!]

[Let me see too!!]

[Seolrang? As I’ve told you many times, that was something given to protect the Great Moon, and it was not meant to be used so frivolously.]

[…Then I’ll tell Master.]

[…Three times a month.]

[Ten times.]

[Seven times.]

[Ten times!]

“..?”

If not for the bizarre conversation flowing between Yutia and Seolrang, which made absolutely no sense—