Chapter 338

C338. This Wasn’t in the Plans (1)

The next day.

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yes, I’ve finished all pending matters.”

“Ahaha, wow, I couldn’t be of much help again. I feel really sorry, brother.”

Radan, laughing with embarrassment as if he didn’t have the face to look at him, was observed by Alon with his typical expressionless look.

“Don’t think like that. If you hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have even been able to start the fight. You were undoubtedly helpful.”

“Really…?”

“Really.”

After chatting a while longer with Radan, Alon said:

“Right, then I’ll be going now.”

He left his farewell and turned around.

“Understood, brother. See you later!”

Radan also said goodbye to Alon for the last time… and then stood watching his back as he walked away.

When Alon’s figure finally disappeared from his field of view, the smile Radan had kept on his face vanished instantly, returning to a sober expression.

“Fu…”

Looking at the empty spot where Alon had been, Radan returned to his room and ran a hand over his face.

A deep sigh followed.

‘I couldn’t be of help this time either.’

Radan frowned, recalling the battle against the Sin of Sloth.

Back then, to be honest, he hadn’t been of much help.

Sure, thanks to the item his brother had given him, he was able to temporarily bring out a “stronger self,” and in the end, it did seem to have been a great help…

But that wasn’t some hidden talent of his.

If Alon had used that on Seolrang or Eliban, the result would have been the same.

Suddenly, Radan thought of Seolrang.

Although they looked alike, Seolrang had changed since the last time.

No, not just that.

‘She definitely became stronger.’

That was it. Stronger.

Although it wasn’t too noticeable yet, Radan could feel it clearly.

She was becoming stronger.

And he could also feel that she would continue to get even stronger.

And him? Radan remained the same.

Ever since he fought the Sin after being called by Alon in Greynifra, he had been continuously striving to become stronger.

It wasn’t that he didn’t try: he sought out more relics and studied how to use them.

He trained more than ever.

But no matter what he did… Radan couldn’t manage to get stronger.

Of course, by obtaining relics and learning to use them, the things he could do increased. But that didn’t make him “stronger” in essence: it only diversified his abilities.

That was where the helplessness came from.

The other companions were moving forward, but he felt he couldn’t keep up.

That thought began to fill his heart like black mud.

[Eh-] “!”

A voice identical to his own resonated in the empty room, filling his face with tension immediately.

But only for a moment.

[Don’t get so nervous.]

Radan realized the voice was coming from his own chest. He reached into his pocket and took out the object where the sound originated.

The sound came from a blue gem. The blue gem Alon handed him after finishing the battle with the Sin.

Radan stood staring at it intently.

When he received the blue gem that his “future self” had given to Alon, he thought it might contain some special power.

But he was wrong: it had nothing special. It was just a gem that shone.

Although he didn’t understand why his future self had given him something like that, he carried it with him anyway.

[Have you relaxed yet?]

The voice spoke to him again, provoking a strange sensation.

It didn’t take long until he discovered where that sensation came from. No, it was impossible not to realize.

“Me…?”

The voice from the gem. A voice similar to his.

No. It was exactly—

Radan’s voice.

[Correct.]

The blue gem replied lightly.

[And I’m warning you in advance: I’m not going to answer questions like “how did you do this?” or anything like that.]

“What?”

[I didn’t have enough time to record much thought into this. The remaining time is… at most five minutes.]

No, probably less.

The gem, murmuring, continued quickly.

[From now on, I will tell you how to become strong. Because right now you are worried. Wondering what a useless person like you should do to become stronger here… or rather, how not to get left behind, right?]

It was something like that, although the situation might vary, so he couldn’t be sure.

Faced with the voice from the gem, which he couldn’t tell if it was murmuring or complaining, Radan asked:

“…Will I really be able to become stronger than now?”

And the gem replied:

[Of course.]

Letting out a cheerful laugh.

[If you follow my instructions—]

And then:

[—and revive the Sin… to devour it.]

He whispered.

—

After saying goodbye to Radan, Alon went to greet the others.

“Then, see you later, Saint.”

“Yes, brother. I hope you can visit Rosario soon.”

“Did you say the goddess Sironia called you?”

“That is correct.”

“Understood.”

After Yuman, Alon met with—

“I want to go too, Master!”

“…You too?”

“Yes! They gave me a long leave and told me that when all this was over, I could go out and have fun.”

It was Seolrang, with her ears practically perked up with excitement.

“I don’t have a major problem with it.”

“Then let’s go together!”

“As you wish.”

“Yes!”

As soon as Alon gave her permission, Seolrang opened her arms enthusiastically.

And as soon as Seolrang moved a bit away to tell the others…

[T-this is impossible! What did you just do!?]

[Kyuuu! Kyu-kyu-kyuuu!]

As if they had been waiting, Basiliora and Blackie jumped violently out of the ring and the pocket.

[It can’t be! It can’t be! How dare you treat me like this, me who fought so much and so hard in that great battle?!]

[Kyu! Kyukyukyuuuu!]

Exactly! This should never be allowed!

Blackie was stomping his little feet energetically in protest, and Alon could only look uncomfortable.

‘…Is taking Seolrang that serious?’

He remembered for a moment what Seolrang had done to Basiliora and Blackie before.

…It was understandable.

For an instant, he recalled the past.

And as soon as Seolrang returned, Basiliora and Blackie disappeared again as if they had never been there.

Alon clicked his tongue at their speed.

“Right, let’s go, Master!”

Seeing Seolrang shout with energy, Alon nodded calmly.

“It is time to depart.”

“Yes. Penia said she would go to the Blue Tower for a moment this time too, so we can head out.”

Shortly after, the carriage departed for Marquis Palatio’s house.

One week later—

“Zzz…”

Seolrang was sleeping happily using Alon’s leg as a pillow.

While patting her head, Alon heard good news from Evan.

“Did you find information about the Gem of The One with Closed Eyes?”

“Yes, I heard it in the last town. I spoke with the information guild.”

“Did they find its location?”

“No, not that. But they discovered a book that contains information about it.”

“A book, huh?”

Alon nodded.

“That’s enough, that’s already something good.”

It was much more than they had at the beginning when they knew absolutely nothing about the gem.

Satisfied, he asked:

“And where do we get that book?”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. They already secured it and will bring it to us.”

*…I feel like I only receive help.*

“Well, yes, it seems so.”

Alon was about to think about doing something about it, when Evan added:

“Ah, I also have another thing to inform you.”

“What is it?”

“You asked me to find out if there was any strange movement from the Empire, remember?”

“Ah, that…”

Although it was unlikely that the Empire would attack if Ashtalon wasn’t completely destroyed, he still asked Evan to verify just in case.

“Did anything come up?”

“No. The information guild says the Empire is quiet, without any major movements.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“…I’m glad.”

Alon let out a sigh of relief.

Although he knew the possibility of an Imperial attack was low, as long as it wasn’t zero, he couldn’t help but worry.

‘If I caught the Empire’s spy, the problem would be solved…’

When the Empire invaded, the main reason was that an Imperial spy had infiltrated an important position in the kingdom.

When the Union of Kingdoms was in danger, the spy finally sent the signal and the invasion began.

But even knowing that…

The reason Alon didn’t catch the spy beforehand was simple.

He didn’t know who it was.

In all routes except the Destruction of the Empire route, the spy’s identity is never revealed.

And furthermore, it changes every time.

So no matter how much he investigated or even used the guild, he couldn’t find him with certainty.

‘In the game, there were some side missions halfway through the story to catch the spy… following the chain, one could catch him.’

But since he wasn’t even Eliban, he couldn’t do those missions.

After thinking about it for a while, Alon put the matter aside.

—

Alexion was exhausted.

It wasn’t his fault.

The Marquis’s work was extremely hard.

At first, he suffered from having to take care of everything without receiving anything in return, and on top of that, he had to do it well.

But by now, those complaints had disappeared long ago.

The money the Marquis paid him was too much.

…So much so that when he received his salary, he couldn’t help but smile.

Thanks to that he earned a lot of money, but he was also sad because he had too much work. Alexion sighed.

“Looking for a partner…”

He could imagine why Marquis Palatio had asked him to find a partner.

“Was it in three months? The ball where all the kingdoms of the Union will gather.”

Alexion began to think about how he would find the right partner.

Since they had contacted him, he had to handle it somehow.

But soon he realized there was no need to complicate things.

“…Now that I think about it, there were many young ladies interested in the Marquis.”

Actually, since the Marquis had said he didn’t have to deliver letters outside of official matters, he didn’t show him the inopportune letters so as not to bother him.

But even so, there were so many.

It was normal.

The man he served was **Marquis Palatio**.

So—

“I simply must ask some of the interested young ladies. Of course, only those whose status is at his level.”

Mentally recalling the list of those who sent letters—

“…Then, if I pass a preliminary interview with them, the Marquis won’t have problems. Yes, that will be better.”

He took out paper to write a letter.

Without imagining that someone would come to visit him…