Raising Villains the Right Way

Because they had talked until late at night, Alon had no choice but to spend a night in Teria, and only the next day was he able to leave Asteria’s capital and head for the central Mage Tower.

After finishing his audience with Siyan.

“Whew—”

“You’ve looked like you’ve had a lot on your mind since yesterday.”

Perhaps because he had been calling Alon “Marquis” for so long and it wouldn’t come off his tongue, Evan spoke to him somewhat awkwardly.

“Do I look like that?”

“Yes, you looked so serious that you barely opened your mouth yesterday.”

Alon fell into thought without replying.

‘The second round…. huh.’

The second round.

The conjecture Siyan had offered yesterday had brought Alon surprise in many ways, yet there were parts of it that left him unconvinced.

He had seen the Spear of Longinus with his own eyes, and he had heard from Siyan about the inherited ‘memories.’

Even so, it was not easy for him to readily accept that this was his second life.

Even if he had mastered such knowledge.

However, setting that aside.

The new puzzle Siyan had thrown at him fit far too perfectly into the empty spaces he had never been able to resolve until now.

Alon recalled the moment when the divine-blood had fallen.

Those who fell while speaking strange words.

At the time, Alon could not understand it.

Why the divine-blood already held certain emotions toward him.

As for how they knew him, he thought that might be possible.

It was only a guess, but they had been in the heavens and could have observed his actions at any time.

However, having emotions beyond mere recognition was another matter.

Whether it was hatred filled with rage.

Or, conversely, the blatant goodwill they showed toward him.

That was why Alon had always harbored doubts about it.

‘But if, just as Siyan said, this world really is in its second round, and even if the lower ranks don’t, the higher-ranking divine-blood remember it.’

Then it was not impossible to explain why the divine-blood had shown such reactions.

And that was not all.

“Evan.”

“Yes?”

“What about Eliban?”

“As far as I know, Eliban still hasn’t come out of his coma.”

“I see.”

Alon thought of Eliban.

Someone who looked as though he knew everything in advance and had prepared for it.

He was like the protagonist Alon had known.

Yet at the same time, different from the protagonist he had known.

Until now, Alon honestly had not been able to guess why Eliban had moved the way he did.

‘But if Eliban, like Siyan, remembers the first round.............’

Even if he could not know his exact intentions, the situation in which he had acted that way suddenly made sense.

And if he fit the puzzle together like that.

A certain existence naturally came to Alon’s mind.

‘My Lord, do you remember back then?’

‘...... ?’

‘Yes. When that Seraph of Jealousy appeared.’

At the time, he had passed it off without much thought, but she had naturally known the name of a sin he had not even explained.

‘Yes, probably before long, everything will return to normal.’

When all of Rosario’s believers were trembling with anxiety because the connection to Sironia had been cut off, she had confidently asserted that everything would naturally return to its original state.

‘.....Perhaps.’

Yutia Bloodia.

“Whew....…”

As Alon recalled her face, he wiped his own.

Because so many thoughts had flashed through his mind in that instant.

But.

‘......Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.’

Alon soon set that thought aside.

It felt, quite literally, like he was thinking too far ahead.

So Alon changed the subject.

There were still many things for him to think about.

However, separate from fitting mismatched puzzle pieces together.

Through his conversation with Siyan yesterday, Alon had gained several new questions.

Among them, the most prominent was his own emotions.

Naturally, Alon felt emotions in their entirety; they simply did not show on his face.

…… At least, that was what he himself believed.

‘The me of the first round and the me of the second round are different.’

According to Siyan, the self in her memories and his current self differed only in outward appearance, and their principles of action were similar.

But in the end, the point was that there was a difference.

Then where did that difference come from?

‘–The current you, no matter how I look at you, are devoid of emotion. As if your emotions have been forcibly restrained or stolen by someone.’

[‘You don’t even perceive the restriction beneath your own ‘eye,’ you of the black eye. ■■.’]

Two things came to mind.

One was what Siyan had said yesterday.

And the other was what he had heard at the very beginning, when he met the noise-filled individual presumed to have blue eyes in the East.

At the time, he hadn’t understood it at all.

But thinking about Siyan’s words, Alon carefully revisited those statements that now seemed faintly connected.

Just then.

“What were you talking about?”

Evan’s voice broke Alon’s reverie.

‘What I’m about to talk about will probably be a process of verifying speculation.’

‘.......Verification, you say.’

‘Yes. Everything I’ve told you so far is merely the most reasonable truth I could infer based on the information we have up to now, and it can’t truly be called the truth. But if what I say from here on actually happens.’

‘Then speculation becomes conviction?’

‘That’s right.’

‘I will listen carefully.’

‘First, before long, the Contract of Structure will be carried out.’

‘The Contract of Structure?’

At the question from the Alon in her memories, Siyan nodded as if she understood.

‘It must sound unfamiliar. I understand. After inheriting the memories, I also searched through old tomes for a long time before learning what it was. Simply put, the Contract of Structure is a contract made several hundred years ago by someone called the Arbiter, who mediated between the Allied Kingdom Alliance, the Empire, and us.’

‘Of course, even if it’s called a contract, the contents aren’t anything special. It just forbids baseless conflicts between the Allied Kingdom Alliance and the Empire, and states that if the continent faces the brink of destruction, everyone has the obligation to protect it.’

Siyan briefly explained the Contract of Structure, which Alon had only known in passing.

‘In other words.’

‘If the Contract of Structure truly comes into effect, then my speculation will be correct.’

‘I see.’

‘Ah, there’s also something else I should tell you.’

‘Is it about your speculation?’

‘Mm, this time, you could call it preparation.’

The her in his memories smiled gently.

‘You should create apostles.’

“......Apostles?”

‘Yes. More precisely, not ones that merely borrow your divine power and end there, but apostles and believers who completely consume your power and evolve.’

‘Why would you suddenly say something like that............?’

Despite Alon’s question, Siyan continued speaking without wiping the smile from her face.

‘In the inherited memories, you even complain about it. You say that if you had done so in advance, you could have blocked more divine-blood.’

Of course, she added the caveat that this memory might be something Alon had said when going from the future back to the past, so it was difficult to use it as solid speculation.

As Alon quietly recalled Siyan’s words, he murmured.

“Create apostles............... huh.”

“Hm? Did you talk about something like that?”

“Yes.”

In fact, he had heard a similar story from Rine as well.

She had told him to evolve the Divine Land in the first place.

Nevertheless, the reason Alon had left the Divine Land untouched was because of his divine power.

His divine power had changed strangely from the moment the divine-blood fell.

‘Ah, and if you’re troubled about your divine power, try visiting the Divine Land once. You’ll find the answer there.’

However, as if she already knew Alon’s concerns, Siyan had advised him of that.

“Hmm, I knew she had an interest in your affairs, Sir Alon, but it seems even greater than I thought.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, ah—”

As he spoke, Evan suddenly seemed to think of something and let out a sly chuckle.

“Could it be, perhaps, something like affection?”

Evan’s voice was tinged with mischief.

Then Penia, who had been quietly listening beside them, chimed in.

“Hmm~ I don’t think that’s very likely?”

“Really? For that, she seems awfully interested, doesn’t she?”

“Even so, if she’d had feelings for Sir Alon from the start, wouldn’t there have been plenty of chances to show it long ago?”

“Well, that’s true, but~”

Leaving the two of them bickering behind him, Alon recalled the final conversation he had shared with Siyan yesterday.

‘Thank you for telling me such precious information.’

‘For someone in your relationship with me, this much isn’t difficult.’

‘......Is that so?’

‘Yes. It’s still only speculation, so it’s hard to give you a definite answer, but if my speculation becomes conviction, you and I were quite close.’

‘Close, you say?’

At Alon’s question, the Siyan in his memories smiled and nodded.

‘Yes, we were close.’

‘...............What kind of relationship were we?’

‘Hmm—’

Siyan pondered briefly, then spoke as if she had recalled a certain moment.

‘Do you, perhaps, remember that time?’

‘.....That time?’

‘I once told you about Cardinal Yutia, didn’t I.’

‘Ah, I remember.’

‘Do you remember what Cardinal Yutia said then?’

‘Don’t touch him?’

At Alon’s reply, Siyan smiled and said.

‘Yes. That’s our relationship.’

She then pressed her index finger to Alon’s cheek, pushing up the corner of his mouth to form a smile.

‘If you think about why she said that, you’ll naturally come to understand.’

Our relationship, she added.

That image of Siyan smiling as if her speculation had already become conviction was vividly etched into his mind.

***

Two weeks passed after Alon moved to the central Mage Tower.

In Palantio, Alexion was gazing at the blueprints laid out before him in awe.

“This is truly incredible.”

“Isn’t it?”

At the words of the brown Mage Tower Master, Alexion nodded.

‘Honestly, when they first said they would build a castle for free, I was a bit suspicious.’ 

But contrary to that worry, the two Mage Tower Masters brought blueprints as if they truly intended to construct a proper castle in Palantio. And as he looked at them, Alexion found himself being amazed in real time. He didn’t know much about architecture either, but he could instinctively tell just how extraordinary the blueprints the two Mage Tower Masters had brought were. Just the magic circles engraved alone numbered in the hundreds.

A massive design that could practically be called a fortress rather than a royal castle.

While Alexion stood there blankly, the brown Mage Tower Master, who had been watching him with satisfaction, asked.

“By the way, why are you only looking at page one?”

“Huh? Page one? Isn’t this all of it?”

“Oh dear, I forgot to undo the magic.”

Realizing his mistake at Alexion’s words, the brown Mage Tower Master immediately waved his hand.

“!?”

At the same time, the paper Alexion was holding began to thicken in an instant.

To the point where Alexion had to spread his hands wide to hold it.

Alexion’s face grew even more stunned.

“......Is all of this blueprints?”

“Yes. They’re all blueprints for different districts.”

“Different districts?”

“That’s right.”

Judging by the scale of the blueprint Alexion had first read, the size of the castle drawn on that single page was comparable to that of the inner fortress.

So the frozen Alexion.

“So, you’re saying all of this is for different districts?”

Stammered out the question, and.

“Isn’t that obvious? There’s no need to draw the same thing twice.”

“Then if you build the castle following these blueprints as they are............”

“Well— probably a bit smaller than this territory?”

At the brown Mage Tower Master’s reply, as if the question had been obvious.

‘Are these people…. out of their minds......??’

Alexion gaped in shock.