Raising Villains the Right Way

After Kalannon’s story ended.

Alon, who had been pondering for some time, finally opened his mouth.

“I think I understand the general idea.”

“Is that so? That’s a relief.”

“There’s just one thing I want to ask.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“I fully understand how one can create a god. But isn’t a god’s power supposed to grow stronger only when ‘faith’ gathers?”

For some reason, at any rate, thanks to his evolved divine power, Alon had become capable of creating gods.

Up to that point, he thought it was fine.

But even if one could create a god, whether that god could be of practical help was another matter entirely.

Fundamentally, while gods were strong because of their unique individual abilities, the essence ultimately lay in faith.

From the very beginning, the abilities a god possessed, the magnitude of that power, all came from faith.

In other words, no matter how one obtained abilities and became a god, if there was little faith, they would not grow that strong.

“Mm, that’s true.”

Kalannon nodded.

Alon’s question was reasonable.

However.

“But~! I’ve thought about that part too!”

“……Have you now?”

“Of course!”

Kalannon made a slightly sly smile, then raised one hand again and wove divine power. Soon, she formed a human-shaped figure on the opposite side.

“Alright, then I’ll explain from here.”

She drew Alon’s focus.

“First, you pick one apostle you like and pour divine power into them.”

Just as she said, a small fragment of divine power split off from the planet and slipped neatly into the human-shaped form.

“By receiving our great grace like this, they obtain the power of a god.”

At that, it began to shine.

“Then the person who became a god by receiving divine grace would feel gratitude toward us, right?”

“……Well, probably.”

“That gratitude turns into faith toward us. And—”

A small thread formed from the human-shaped figure.

The thread pierced into the divine power, and from the slightly enlarged divine power, a small portion was split off again and poured back into the human-shaped figure.

“In that way, we pass back about 80% of the faith offered through belief. Perpetual energy, success!”

Kalannon nodded firmly with a look that said it was perfect.

When Alon momentarily went blank, she asked.

“Huh? Is there something you don’t understand? I thought it was about the level even a cat could understand.”

“……No, it’s not that I don’t understand.”

“Then is there some kind of problem?”

“No, there isn’t. If anything, it’s perfect. But—”

After thinking for a moment, he asked.

“Why only return 80%? Wouldn’t it be better to just return all the faith you received?”

A simple and reasonable point.

If they returned 100% of the faith instead of 80%, they would grow much stronger much faster, so when Alon asked—

“Eh—”

Kalannon shook her head as if he didn’t know anything.

“We don’t live by digging into the ground and eating dirt, you know. You’ve got to leave some profit behind~”

That was what she said.

Seeing Kalannon with an expression like, this isn’t the first or second time, why are you acting like an amateur?, Alon felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

“Huh?”

“Kalannon.”

“Do you, by any chance, talk with Sili often?”

“Um— no? Not often, just once or twice………………? But why do you ask?”

Kalannon tilted her head.

Alon fell silent.

‘Has Kalannon been assimilated by Sili, or has Sili been assimilated by Kalannon………………’

That was what he thought.

***

“I’ve grasped the overall context, but it looks like we’ll need some preparation.”

“That’s true, right? You’ll probably need to relearn how to draw out divine power, and more importantly, we’ll need to automate it.”

“Automate?”

“Yes. Rather than checking frequently every single day and scattering divine power manually. Wouldn’t it be better to set it up in advance so that when faith naturally comes in, about 20% is reclaimed and the rest is distributed?”

At that, Alon let out a short “Oh—” of admiration and nodded.

“That’s a good idea.”

“Right?”

“How do you do that?”

“Well, I don’t know either.”

“?”

After that, silence briefly enveloped the two of them.

“….Why don’t you know?”

“Uh…………… well, I’m really weak in this kind of area…?”

“You’re the one who suggested it.”

“That’s true, but how should I put it……… um…… it feels like I gave you creativity?”

With an expression that said, you don’t know anything beyond that?, Kalannon—

It was like…a designer proposing a Bluetooth shower that produced water without being connected to any pipes………

Alon looked at her with the heart of an engineering major for a moment.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Yep.”

With that, he stepped out.

“—”

When he returned to reality, Kalannon was shaking her head side to side and rubbing her face against Alon’s hand.

As Alon stood there blankly without stopping her—

[Meow?]

“Meow?”

Smack—!

Suddenly, Blackie sprang out from his chest and landed a clean nyang-nyang punch on Kalannon’s head.

“Meow—!?”

Kalannon fled in a hurry, with Blackie stubbornly chasing after her.

Alon watched the two for a moment and let out a sigh, intending to rest briefly, but—

“Sir Alon!”

Evan burst in, looking urgent.

“What is it?”

“Outside……………! It’s a bit strange to explain……………!”

“Something strange?”

“P-please, first hurry outside……………!”

Though puzzled, Alon stood up and headed outside the tent.

The moment he stepped out, he saw—the soldiers of the Divine Land.

Soldiers holding their respective weapons, their faces tense.

Among them stood Historia, Ryanga, and Sili, wearing expressions like wary children, and at the very center of them all……… there was something bizarre.

What it wore was a pitch-black, ink-dark cloak.

Next was a massive horned skull shaped like a cow, with glowing blue eye-light within.

And then.

“Greetings, King Alon Palatio of Palantio.”

That unidentified something, despite the tense standoff, showed composure and, the moment it confirmed Alon, bowed politely in greeting.

“Who are you?”

Alon spoke while forming a seal inside his pocket, preparing for any contingency.

However, the skull mask maintained its courteous demeanor, pulled something from within the pitch-black cloak, and—

“Please do not worry. I did not come to engage in battle.”

It politely handed it toward Alon.

Naturally, it floated in midair and drifted toward him.

Alon easily grabbed it.

‘A letter?’

He realized that its identity was a letter.

“King of Palantio, a member of the Allied Kingdom Alliance, the time has come for you to uphold the ancient continental contract.”

“What……?”

With that—

“Then I shall take my leave.”

Leaving behind its final greeting, the skull mask vanished from the spot in an instant.

As the skull mask evaporated in the blink of an eye, murmurs spread through the area.

Alon, without hesitation, opened the letter he had received.

And—

[The primordial pact summons you, two months from now, to the Central Tower located at the heart of the continent. You who shine upon your respective thrones shall heed this call and gather at the appointed place.

This is an unavoidable command and a sacred duty for the continent. Any who defy this edict and fail to attend shall be deemed betrayers of the pact, stripped of the abilities gained through participation, and exiled.]

“!”

The hand holding the letter trembled, if only for a moment.

He could not help but be shocked.

For what was written in the letter was content regarding the Contract of Structure.

But that was not the only reason Alon was shocked.

The fact that the Contract of Structure had actually proceeded carried another meaning for him.

The Contract of Structure was a story born from Siyan’s inference……………

And the fact that this had been carried out meant—

‘……Second run.’

It meant that the probability that this world was truly in its second run had risen even higher.

Countless thoughts that Alon had previously set aside came cascading down like a waterfall in his mind.

If it was the second run.

If it truly was the second run.

If this was a repeated life—

Those tangled assumptions began to mix, and he started filling in the puzzle pieces that had not aligned until now, one by one.

But only for a moment.

Alon forcibly shut off the torrent of thoughts. At least for now, it was not the time to sink into contemplation.

It was not as though there was a conclusion he wanted to infer either. ……

***

Right after the situation was settled.

“So, are you planning to go?”

At Penia’s question, Alon, after thinking for a long time, nodded.

“I plan to go for now, but is there anything bothering you?”

“No, not really. I just find it a bit fascinating.”

As Penia muttered that she had heard of it but never thought it truly existed, Evan beside her asked.

“Then where exactly is this Central Tower of the continent? We need to know in order to go.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. It seems this letter itself is the guide.”

“……The letter is the guide?”

“Yes, if you tear the letter, it’ll probably guide the way naturally.”

“Oh—”

Evan was amazed, and Penia examined the letter closely.

Watching them, Alon briefly closed his eyes.

From the moment the Contract of Structure arrived, all sorts of thoughts had continuously pressed into his mind.

Up until now, he had thought Siyan’s words were not entirely false, but now that inference had stepped one pace closer to the truth.

However.

“Mm— since it’s about two months away, we do have time. What are you planning to do?”

At Penia’s voice pulling him out of his thoughts, Alon naturally pushed those topics aside again.

No matter how important the matter was, it was not something that was important ‘right now’.

“If we assume the Central Tower is truly at the center of the continent, how long would it take?”

“Mm— if we go as usual, about a month…………… maybe a little more.”

“Then that leaves about two weeks?”

“Is there something you need to do?”

At Penia’s question, Alon nodded.

“There’s something I need to experiment with.”

“An experiment?”

“Yes.”

Alon told her about his conversation with Kalannon.

Penia listened quietly for a while, then reacted with great surprise.

“So your goal is to create an automated magic circle?”

She quickly arrived at the conclusion.

Alon shook his head.

“Huh? Is that not it?”

“No, that’s correct. But there’s one more thing I want to test.”

“Mm?”

Seeing Penia’s puzzled expression, Alon thought.

At first, when he heard from Kalannon that it was possible to create gods, the first feeling that came to him was doubt.

Then, when Kalannon proposed a realistic method.

He suddenly thought of Babylonia.

A nation created by a being who had sought to become a god, existing even before the forgotten age of the past.

A nation of mages.

As far as Alon knew, any citizen belonging to Babylonia could become a mage.

The god set the laws, but the use of them was permitted to anyone.

In other words, the divine-blood who created Babylonia was very different in form from now, and even if it differed greatly from what Alon imagined, it meant that he could plant the possibility called a ‘seed’ in all who believed in him.

And according to what the blue eyes had said.

Alon, too, was ‘divine-blood’.

If that was the case.

If it truly was so—

‘Then it’s not something I can’t do.’

It meant that Alon, too, might be capable.

Not of granting power individually, but of inevitably planting a ‘seed’ in all those who believed in him.

A small resolve settled in Alon’s eyes.