Became the Patron of Villains

[Do you think that makes any sense?]

After a brief silence, the One Who Soars High let out a snort at the One Who Spits Arms’ objection.

[You can’t believe it?]

[Isn’t that obvious? The abilities used by Divine blood are no different from identity itself. And yet you’re saying someone can absorb them at will and then use them again? Do you really think that makes sense?]

[But didn’t you also hear about the Star Eater from that One? Including why that One descended to this earth.]

[I did, but... wasn’t that only about absorbing power?]

At the One Who Spits Arms’ retort, the One Who Soars High nodded several times as if it understood.

[True, I can’t say I don’t understand your reaction. To be honest, even for Divine blood, absorbing the power of other Divine blood is an unusual ability.]

[...Knowing that, how can you sound so certain?]

[Because—]

To that question, the One Who Soars High answered without the slightest hesitation.

[—I saw it.]

[...You saw it?]

[Yes. It was a little rude, but when that One came by last time, I asked to see some divine power.]

[Don’t tell me that’s where—]

[That One possessed two divinities. The divinities of the Devourer and the Poison Eater, cleanly at that.]

[...This is fucking insane—]

The One Who Spits Arms fell silent for a moment.

Its black tentacles writhed in a creepy shudder.

Then it opened its mouth again.

[H, however, even if that One can absorb power, you still don’t know whether it can pass it back on or not...!]

[Yes, maybe so.]

The One Who Soars High nodded as well.

Even among Divine blood, the Star Eater’s ability was clearly irregular.

The One Who Soars High had seen it display two divinities, but that did not tell whether the Star Eater could actually hand those divinities over to someone else.

Even so, there was still a reason the One Who Soars High could speak so confidently.

[But I heard it.]

[You heard it...?]

[Yes. From that One who gave us our orders.]

Because it had heard it directly.

The One Who Spits Arms’ single eye widened as if it might split apart.

[That One... said so?]

The One Who Soars High recalled that moment.

The words spoken after calling over the one who, among Divine blood, would be the first to fall.

‘Serve the Star Eater well, and a great blessing will surely come to you.’

‘If by a great blessing, you mean—’

‘That one is capable of making you as strong as it pleases. And it’s quite moody, too.’

It had only been a few short lines.

But that brief exchange—

[T, then really?]

[Yes.]

—was more than enough to convince the One Who Spits Arms.

[N, now think about it carefully. In ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) the end, that One cast aside its true self for achievements and put on the shell of a lowly human. And for someone like that, an ability no greater than the likes of ours is—]

[Nothing more than a crossing point for passing through?]

At the One Who Spits Arms’ response, the One Who Soars High curled up the corner of its mouth.

[Correct. For one headed to the same place as the One we serve, anything gained along the way would all be unnecessary things. And those unnecessary things—]

The One Who Soars High said no more and simply stared into the white eye gazing at it from within the abyss.

Then the One Who Spits Arms murmured as if entranced.

[—are handed down to those beneath?]

[Yes. And if that happens—]

At the One Who Soars High’s nod, the One Who Spits Arms’ tentacles began twisting strangely.

Tentacles writhing as though trembling with exhilaration.

And then—

[—even if we don’t bust our asses gathering faith, it wouldn’t be strange for us to reach the Heavenly Law.]

With that conviction-filled statement, a strange set of gears began to turn among the Divine blood.

Gears made of truth and lies, cunningly fused together.

####

As expected, the banquet on the second day was held in a much quieter atmosphere than the first day.

...It definitely was, and yet—

‘Isn’t this way too empty?’

Alon was baffled.

Unlike yesterday, when the banquet hall had been so packed it had felt genuinely hot rather than just metaphorically so,

the number of attendees today had visibly dropped.

“I expected fewer people, but... the difference is really obvious?”

At Penia’s words, Alon agreed.

“It certainly is.”

“Mmm... well, that’s normal, usually, but it’s dropped off even more than I expected.”

Penia thought for a moment, then tilted her head.

“But it is a little strange.”

“What is?”

“For it to be like this, there should normally have been a lot of people leaving in the middle yesterday too, but hardly anyone slipped out yesterday.”

“...Really?”

“Yes.”

Then what is it...? Alon tilted his head for a moment, then shrugged.

Honestly, separate from being curious why so many people were gone, fewer people were still much more comfortable than more people.

“Godfather.”

While Alon was thinking that, a voice came from beside him.

He turned his gaze and found Rine standing there.

Only—

“Rine?”

“Yes.”

“...You changed your hairstyle.”

“Yes. Come to think of it, I haven’t really paid attention to my hair lately.”

...with a different hairstyle.

Rine had changed her part to the right and even pinned on a small decorative hair clip.

Seeing her like that, Alon let out a low hum and nodded.

“It suits you.”

“Does it?”

“Yes. It doesn’t look bad.”

“That’s a relief.”

Rine let out a small breath at Alon’s positive response.

But only for a moment.

“Boss—!”

“You changed your hairstyle too?”

“Yeah, what do you think?”

Just like Rine, Ryang-a came over with a change in style as well, and Alon tilted his head.

‘...Why does everyone suddenly seem to be changing their style?’

Penia, Rine, and now Ryang-a had all done it just today.

Right as Alon was wondering whether today was some sort of special day, Evan was moving under Alon’s orders to find out what Sili was up to.

And he was able to find Sili in the detached building where she had been waiting when Alon began the procession.

“...”

Even so, Evan could not easily speak to Sili.

The reason was—

‘...What is this?’

—because he was extremely far away from her.

Or rather, more accurately than that, beyond simply being far away, there were an enormous number of people all staring at Sili, who stood up on a stage.

A suffocatingly silent stillness.

Pressed down by the strange atmosphere, Evan also fell silent and quietly observed the situation.

And then—

“First of all, to everyone who gathered here today. Thank you so much.”

Sili’s smiling voice spread outward.

At that, even the slightest murmur vanished, and the stage became completely quiet.

There on that stage, Sili was so perfectly peaceful—

“I would love to greet each and every one of you personally, but unfortunately, everyone gathered here is very busy, so I’ll get straight to the point.”

—and promptly pulled out a sheet of paper from her bosom.

A plain, unimpressive sheet folded into quarters, with the number “1” written in the middle.

Yet the moment that paper appeared, the crowd began to stir, and a question mark rose over Evan’s head.

‘...What? Is that paper infused with magic?’

Just in case, Evan poured magic into his eyes.

But he saw nothing unusual.

What Sili was holding was merely paper, utterly worthless.

So just as Evan was making a baffled face—

“All right! Then from this moment on, we will begin accepting donations! And our great first donor shall be—”

Sili shouted,

“—granted the right to be the very first to ‘purchase’ a statue of His Great Excellency, the living sage and divine man, the King of Palantia himself—guaranteed in the name of Saintess Sili Makalian, who speaks in the name of that great one!”

From Evan’s point of view, it was the sort of statement that made his brain stop for an instant.

And then—

“I, I’ll donate!”

“M, move, it’s me! Me!”

“I’ll donate—! I’ll make a donation!”

“I’ve been waiting for this very moment!”

“You idiot! You have to name an amount! Five thousand! Five thousand gold!!”

In this detached building, with no actual goods present at all, with nothing but a single “place in line” to receive a statue, Sili had, under the name of “donations,” instantly stirred up a tremendous uproar.

Staring at her—

‘Is this... the creator economy...?’

—Evan suddenly found that phrase coming to mind.

####

“Hoo...”

Hidan let out a deep sigh and rubbed at his head.

Honestly, if he thought about it coolly, escorting the Great Moon was not a particularly exhausting task.

Partly because he considered moving for the sake of the Blue Moon the most natural thing in the world, but more than anything, the Great Moon did not actually need Hidan’s protection.

The ones surrounding him were at a level where no harm whatsoever would be tolerated unless literal Divine blood came charging in.

Even so, Hidan was tired.

The reason was pure tension.

Ever since the Great Moon had mentioned the person in his heart yesterday, a strange tension had begun hanging around nearby.

And since Hidan had once witnessed the clash between the Red Moon and the Green Moon, even if only from afar, he could not help feeling on edge, so he was more exhausted than usual.

‘Still... with the Great Moon nearby, I’m sure they won’t go that far, but...’

Even so, he could not help being uneasy.

He kept himself tense the entire time he worked.

Honestly, he wanted to rest a little, but instead he headed for the Red Moon’s room.

He meant to use this brief lull in the banquet to give the report he had not been able to deliver yet.

‘...Is the Red Moon all right?’

As he walked, a sudden worry crossed Hidan’s mind.

It was not that the Red Moon had fallen gravely ill.

She was still acting nearly flawlessly, both as the Red Moon and as the Great Moon’s close aide.

And yet, lately, something about her had changed.

So Hidan had been quietly worried.

A very slight change, but one Hidan, who regularly received orders from her, could feel clearly.

‘...It feels like she hasn’t been remembering things well lately.’

The Red Moon’s memory had been terrifyingly sharp.

She was thorough in all things and never forgot an order once given.

But lately, there had been strangely many things the Red Moon failed to remember.

That was what Hidan found odd.

Before long, he arrived at the door to the room where the Red Moon was staying.

“...”

After briefly checking the area around him, Hidan quietly slipped inside so no one would notice.

And then he saw it.

The great Red Moon, standing before a full-length mirror, holding up her white hair with both hands, making twin tails, then tilting her head.

And then—

as he stood there with his mouth hanging open at the sight, the next thing he saw was—

those red eyes reflecting him.

Perfectly clearly.

“...Ah.”

Hidan saw his life flash before his eyes.