In the dark of night, at the front of the Merkiliane estate.

Despite having occurred weeks ago, the traces of a fierce battle still linger in the estate.

Under the blue moonlight, ‘that thing’ wearing a black robe appeared.

Like before, he quietly looked towards the outer castle, which was unguarded, then turned his gaze and calmly walked on.

Thud, thud—a pace neither too large nor too small, neither too fast nor too slow, just right.

The first place it reached was where the artificial Outer gods and Basiliora had fought.

Next, it went to the spot where Marquis Palatio had been, and finally, it stopped where Duke Komalon had been lying down and vanished into dust with his eyes closed.

Staring at that area, its face, which had always carried a smile, now showed a mix of expressions.

It maintained a blank expression but also let out a small laugh.

Then, its expression turned cloudy before twisting into a strange smirk.

“And so, the half-baked mage only made it this far,” it muttered in a tone that could be a sigh.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. There’s a new character of interest now, so I might as well keep watching.”

It turned and disappeared into the darkness.

“Is he really the material or not,” an odd language vanished with the wind, leaving no one behind.

***

After everything, on the way back to the Palatio estate.

Alon looked out the window at the arriving winter with a relaxed expression.

‘There’s still cleanup to do, but that’s not my concern.’

“My lord.”

“What is it?”

“You’ve been quite pensive lately,” said Evan, who had entered the carriage for the night.

Alon shrugged.

“I have a lot to think about.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Now that his body had recovered and he had been busy immediately responding to a summons from Tern, he finally had time to think about what needed to be done.

“Duke Komalon, the dark ones, the border, magic… Which should I investigate first?”

Or rather, he needed to understand what Duke Komalon meant by ‘they are coming’.

According to all the information Alon had gathered, the identity of ‘they’ seemed to be the ‘Five Great Sins’.

“Hmm.”

It was an important issue for Alon.

He had made efforts to prevent the Five Great Sins from descending into this world.

‘Honestly, I didn’t struggle to the death, but I did raise the children who could become the Five Great Sins well so they’d grow up normally.’

“Well, I raised them right, right?”

He suddenly felt anxious recalling the sins he had encountered, but soon calmed his mind and continued his thoughts.

What was crucial for Alon at this point was the fact that despite raising the kids well, the Five Great Sins might still appear.

‘Honestly, it’s dubious.’

Could such a thing happen?

He was slightly skeptical.

The Five Great Sins were supposed to appear because the villains who served as their vessels had turned evil.

Since, according to the game information Alon knew, Yutia and others had mostly not turned evil and grew up fine, it seemed there was virtually no chance for the Five Great Sins to appear.

However, Alon couldn’t just ignore Duke Komalon’s words.

Having glimpsed a bit of this world’s hidden fragments, Alon knew that things didn’t operate like the game settings suggested.

“…”

Alon recalled his conversation with Duke Komalon.

The look in Duke Komalon’s eyes wasn’t that of a madman believing in delusions, but rather of someone facing a grim reality.

‘Was it the south of the border…’

He recalled the words Duke Komalon had spoken.

The south of the border.

Literally the stage of Psychedelia, between the Union Kingdom and the Empire of Calypsophobia, Alon had originally planned to visit it at least once.

‘…If the Five Great Sins were to descend, it would be a must-visit place.’

As he recalled the wasteland the users called Badland, he revisited Duke Komalon’s words.

—Go to the southern border of the east end. With the crest you received, you might get some help. You might also see the truth.

After pondering with a sigh, he made up his mind.

‘I’ll move as soon as my body recovers.’

The issue related to the Five Great Sins was extremely important.

Additionally, he grew curious about Duke Komalon.

‘Well, first I’ll recover, and when I go to the border, it will almost be two years… Then I can visit the Colony and ask about the rituals Duke Komalon mentioned.’

With that thought settled,

“Lord.”

“What?”

“Would you like some sweet potatoes?”

“Yes.”

As he ate the sweet potato handed over by Evan, Alon watched the white snowflakes falling outside the carriage window.

“Oh, it’s snowing.”

“Indeed.”

He chewed on the sweet potato as the first snow fell.

Whether because of the snow or not, the sweet potato tasted even better than usual.

And as time passed,

About two weeks later, Alon arrived at the Palatio estate.

The next day.

He briefly received a report from Evan on the situation of the estate, and his eyes widened.

“Is this all the treasures sent from the Merkiliane estate?”

“Yes.”

“All of it?”

“Yes, all of it.”

This was because, when he had arrived at the estate the day before, he had not fully seen the carriages filled with treasures, more than five in total.

Alon, with a blank expression, went forward and opened one of the carriages.

Chrrrrrrr~

As soon as he opened the carriage, treasures spilled out.

Watching the coins quickly turn the white snow into gold,

“Wow~”

Evan, watching by the side, involuntarily let out a gasp, and Alon did the same.

Though his expression was usually unreadable and calm on the surface, Alon was quite astonished at the moment.

“This is… a lot?”

Of course, it wasn’t the first time Alon had received such gifts.

He had received similar presents from Carmaxes III in the Colony and also rewards from the Kingdom of Rosario.

But usually, while he received treasures, he had never received so many coins.

‘How much is this, really? Why so much?’

Alon, with his mouth agape, was puzzled.

Of course, it was true that Alon was the hero who saved the Merkiliane estate.

If he hadn’t, the estate would indeed have vanished.

But this seemed a bit too much…

‘Filian, now that I see, you’re indeed a friend who makes sure to repay.’

He gratefully accepted the gold coins.

Having more money is always better, and it’s a virtue not to refuse gifts given.

‘Well, after all, the Merkiliane estate is wealthy.’

Knowing the situation, Alon decided to accept the gift without any burden.

“Lord.”

“What is it?”

“If it’s not too much trouble, may I have one gold coin?”

“Granted specially.”

After giving Evan a gold coin, Alon hummed to himself for a while as he looked at the carriage filled with gold coins.

He was hungry and his fingertips were tingling from mana addiction, but now he felt somewhat healthier.

A smile naturally came to his face.

This was the first day Alon returned to the estate.

At that time, in the office of the Merkiliane estate:

“I wonder if the gifts arrived safely?”

“Yes, they probably did.”

“That’s good.”

As Filian nodded, his secretary Kulan soon opened his mouth.

“But sir, Duke, are you sure it’s okay?”

“What is?”

“The gifts. In the situation where we need to restore the estate right away, is it really okay to send so much money…”

The secretary’s worried murmuring.

His concern was valid, but Filian shook his head decisively.

“Merkiliane estate would have perished if Marquis Palatio had not stopped Duke Komalon. Then, Kulan and I wouldn’t have been able to sit here like this.”

“……That’s correct.”

“Moreover, a favor must be repaid properly. Even if that amount of money disappears immediately, we still have enough to manage this situation, right?”

“That’s also true, but still, there might be unforeseen circumstances.”

“Kulan.”

“Yes.”

“We don’t need to calculate when repaying a favor. If we can repay it now, we just do it. Father would have done the same.”

With those resolute words, Kulan, who had been silent for a while, said,

“I misspoke.”

He bowed his head in apology and went out to attend to his duties.

After sending Kulan off, Filian leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

“It’s tough-”

His face, relaxed now, contrasted with the stern expression he had just shown.

In truth, his demeanor while dealing with Kulan had been nothing more than an act.

‘I really don’t want to do this.’

Frankly, Filian wanted to quit acting as soon as possible.

However, he continued because of his younger brother Gilan Merkiliane.

Initially, Filian had intended to pass the dukedom to his brother.

Despite his appalling social skills, he was quite good at self-assessment, aware that he was not the right person to lead the estate.

Filian had planned to transfer the dukedom to his brother immediately,

‘But the estate needs a core until it stabilizes,’ he thought after hearing his brother’s words.

So, he decided to act as the successor until the estate stabilized.

Even he, who was not very perceptive, knew that the estate’s condition right after being attacked by the artificial Outer gods was not good financially and otherwise.

—If the estate is all sorted out later and my brother wants to pass the dukedom to me, then I will follow in his footsteps.

Filian recalled Gilan’s words as he looked out the window.

And suddenly thought, ‘Ah, I want to learn magic.’

He hadn’t been interested in magic until now.

Why?

He simply hadn’t been interested in the discipline of magic, and he was so absorbed in swordsmanship that nothing else caught his eye.

But lately, Filian had been very interested in magic.

It was all because of Marquis Palatio.

“……”

Filian closed his eyes.

What appeared as soon as he closed them—

The image of Marquis Palatio summoning a deity after dealing with the artificial Outer gods.

And the Marquis blocking a meteor shower in the sky.

Lastly, the splendid, radiant line created from Marquis Palatio’s fingertips.

“Wow~”

Filian marveled again, recalling that moment.

It was his 23rd sigh of admiration just for today.

Lately, he had been spending his days admiring and revisiting the magic used by Marquis Palatio.

He thought about it almost all day long, and far from getting tired of it, these days, recalling the Marquis’s image made Filian feel like a young child who had just picked up a sword, full of childlike innocence.

To that extent, Filian had come to admire Marquis Palatio.

Not just admire, lately Filian had even been looking up first-tier magic books.

Because he wanted to learn magic.

So, Filian also wanted to become like Marquis Palatio.

Of course, as he was not really a child, Filian knew that as a Sword Master, he could become strong like the Marquis because he had the talent.

But what Filian wanted wasn’t just ‘to become strong.’

He simply wanted to be like the Marquis.

Like the Marquis using magic in that ashen world.

“……”

Of course, Filian knew well that it wouldn’t be easy.

The Marquis’s magical skills were fundamentally different from any wizard he knew, and above all, the two eyes behind the Marquis assured him that the Marquis was a very powerful wizard.

Yet still, Filian wanted to excel as a wizard.

Despite knowing how difficult the path might be, or that he might not even reach it at all.

That’s why, even though he had reached Sword Master, he had started learning magic.

“……If only I had talent in magic as well.”

At that moment, as he murmured this wish,

“Ah.”

Filian suddenly thought of something.

‘……Should I erect a statue?’

It was a sudden thought that came to him because he had come to admire Marquis Palatio so much.

However,

“……That might not be a bad idea.”

Considering that it was true that Marquis Palatio had saved the Merkiliane estate, allowing it to continue, Filian unwittingly hummed and nodded his head, and in a short moment, a not particularly logical or rational conclusion formed in Filian’s mind.

“Well, it should be fine to do this much before handing over the position to my brother, right…?”

He seemed to have made up his mind as he rose from his seat.

And exactly one month later, in the central square of the Merkiliane estate, a statue of Marquis Palatio using magic was erected, and it wasn’t long before the news reached Alon, who was suffering from mana addiction.

“……My statue?”

“Yes.”

“……Why would they erect my statue in the Merkiliane estate…?”

“Well, I don’t really know either……………?”

Alon was at a loss for words, and most of the nobility who heard the news were just as baffled.

Even though the Marquis had saved the estate, erecting a statue seemed a bit excessive.

However, that was merely the standard of other nobles.

“……A statue?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm-”

Deus Maccalian, one of Caliban’s Swords, muttered,

“I’m envious.”

“Excuse me……?”

“Should I do it too…………….”

“Excuse me……???”

He genuinely muttered, as if he was truly envious.

The vice-captain, upon hearing Deus talking about the Marquis, once again found himself at a loss for words.