About twenty minutes later, Alon was able to cross into the border zone with two guarantors.

It was the first time such a thing had ever happened since the establishment of the border.

In any case, Alon successfully entered the border zone and was now facing the barren wasteland beyond. A strange sight caught his eye.

What he saw was the outer wall covered in countless monster corpses.

Of course, this scene wasn’t entirely unusual. After all, the purpose of the wall was to defend against both monsters and potential invasions from the Empire.

Nevertheless, Alon found it peculiar because this was the wasteland.

‘There are monsters in the wasteland, but it’s odd for them to swarm in such large numbers.’

There were easily hundreds, possibly thousands, of monster corpses scattered around.

Additionally, soldiers were actively clearing away the bodies on one side.

“Lord Marquis.”

Alon turned toward the voice and saw Kiriana, the commander of the border defense, approaching.

“I owe you my life for what happened before.”

“…Before?”

“Yes, in the northern region. If you hadn’t dealt with the Outer God back then, I wouldn’t be standing here now.”

“Ah.”

Alon nodded as he realized what she was referring to.

“It was nothing. I only did what needed to be done.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“You have great compassion.”

Kiriana’s remark made Alon pause for a moment.

He could roughly understand why she said that.

To Kiriana, who didn’t know the truth, it must have seemed like Alon had gone out of his way to the northern region to prevent casualties by dealing with the Outer God.

Since he didn’t have a suitable response, Alon decided to change the subject with a brief reply.

“By the way, may I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“There are many monster corpses here. Was there a recent attack?”

Kiriana tilted her head slightly.

“Yes, but didn’t you know about it?”

“No, I wasn’t informed.”

“Ah, I assumed you were already aware since you came with the other two.”

She then gave a brief explanation of the current situation at the border.

“A monster wave?”

“Yes. It’s been happening at regular intervals for over two months. At first, it was only a few dozen monsters, but recently their numbers have been increasing. That’s why we asked the saint and cardinal to help repair the main gate.”

Only then did Alon roughly grasp the situation.

‘So that’s what the main gate issue was about.’

He recalled Yuman mentioning their purpose yesterday, but since Alon didn’t know much about the gate itself, he hadn’t thought much of it.

In ‘Psychedelia’, the main gate had never been mentioned. Naturally, there hadn’t been any quests involving monsters swarming the border like this.

Moreover, this type of event had never been mentioned in the original storyline either.

‘Is this just something that happened before the main story started, and I didn’t know about it? Or is this some kind of distortion in the timeline?’

As he was lost in thought,

“So, Saint, you should handle the gate repairs. I’ll stay by my Lord’s side.”

“Cardinal Yutia, isn’t repairing the gate your responsibility?”

“Not at all. Shouldn’t the person with greater divine power handle it instead?”

At some point, Yutia and Yuman had approached, engaging in another argument behind him.

Both of them were smiling, but their eyes were cold.

‘They really don’t get along.’

Alon cast a brief glance at them before turning back toward Kiriana.

“So, what about the monsters?”

Kiriana had already left by then.

“Safe travels!” she called out from a distance.

Already nearing the entrance of the border, Alon saw her nod lightly with a relaxed smile, and beside her, Yutia and Yuman were engaged in conversation while a near-dead aide stood by. At that moment, Alon realized something.

‘…She didn’t come here to say thanks. She just slipped away when no one was looking and ran off.’

Just as the thought, ‘Clever,’ crossed his mind—

“Cardinal, your usual approach will suffice. Brother isn’t someone who wouldn’t understand your actions.”

“What do you mean?”

“Even when Brother was being slandered in the kingdom, didn’t you remain silent?”

“…As I said earlier, I’ve already made all the necessary preparations.”

“Still, back then, you weren’t physically present when it all happened, were you? I believe you understand, Cardinal, that assistance is a matter of timing and place.”

Alon realized one thing—Yuman, with his serene smile, was far more skilled at pushing people’s buttons than he had thought. Proof of this was evident in the stiff expression on Yutia’s face. Observing this, Alon broke out into a cold sweat in secret.

***

Shortly afterward—

Not long after setting off toward the border, Alon found himself separated from Yutia and Yuman. This was possible thanks to their consideration. Yutia, as if she had known beforehand, gave Alon a signal to act on his own as soon as the sight of the allied forces was obscured by the wasteland. Strangely, Yuman also allowed him to leave with a kind smile, saying, “You must have things to attend to.”

Thanks to that, Alon was able to act alone.

“Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“How did you become so close with the Saint?”

“I don’t know.”

“…Really?”

“Would I lie about something like that?”

Even Alon himself couldn’t understand it. Why was Yuman being so friendly toward him?

‘…What kind of misunderstanding is this?’

Before he could ponder further—

“…Let’s head down for now.”

“Yes.”

Recalling what Duke Komalon had said, Alon began walking toward the southern border.

—

By the time Alon and Evan had been heading south for quite some time, the sun had risen high in the sky, and Alon found himself lost in thought. As they neared the location the Duke had mentioned, suppressed thoughts began to surface.

He wondered how much of the Duke’s words were true and what might await them in the south. Curiosity grew about a place that had never been mentioned in Psychedelia before. Lastly, worries about the Five Great Sins also weighed on his mind.

Various emotions and thoughts swirled in his head. After walking southward for a while, Alon suddenly came to a realization.

‘I was only told to head south, but not how far I should go.’

The border stretched a long distance north to south, even if it wasn’t as extensive east to west. Despite the shorter connecting sections of the border, the vast expanse of wasteland between them made the journey daunting.

With a sigh, he wondered how much farther he would need to go before—

[How curious. A sorcerer, perhaps?]

A sudden voice rang out in Alon’s mind. It was a clear, masculine voice. Before Alon could respond—

[Since you’ve come to such a desolate place where no one else ventures, I assume you’ve come looking for me. How fortunate—I was bored. Shall we have a little chat?]

As soon as the voice in his mind finished speaking—

Wooooong~!!!

A magic circle formed beneath Alon’s feet.

“!”

It happened suddenly. Before Alon could take any action, the magic circle activated, swallowing him at an alarming speed.

In an instant, Alon was gone from the wasteland.

“…Marquis?”

Left alone, Evan, who had been trudging behind Alon while staring at the ground, stood there dumbfounded, gazing at the spot where Alon had vanished.

And then—

Suddenly summoned by the magic circle, the first sight Alon beheld was an eerily vast cavern.

And next—

“!”

Golden eyes.

Eyes so massive that they easily dwarfed Alon’s height, though they had lost their luster and appeared dull. Staring blankly at the vertically slit, reptilian eyes, Alon slowly shifted his gaze.

Beyond that, he noticed more details—golden scales, though dimmed to a brownish hue, and three large black spears embedded between the gaps of the enormous creature’s scales.

And the moment he took in everything, Alon realized what stood before him.

[Yes, why have you sought me out? I am the Golden Dragon, Lainisius.]

A legendary ancient dragon said to have once fought the Five Great Sins in Psychedelia’s myths.

That very being was now quietly gazing down at Alon.

***

Recently, as the situation began to settle, Filian Merkilane had officially passed on his position as successor to his younger brother, Gilan.

He had never intended to inherit the position in the first place.

Freed from responsibility, he devoted himself entirely to training in swordsmanship and magic. Spending entire days in rigorous practice, he found great joy in his current lifestyle. Swordsmanship had always been his forte, and while he lacked significant talent in magic, he still enjoyed learning it.

With each small advancement in magic, he felt as though he was getting one step closer to someone he admired.

As usual, after a morning of magic training, Filian headed to the center of the village in the afternoon. His destination was none other than the statue of Marquis Palatio in the village square.

Though other nobles, including his own brother, didn’t fully understand the establishment of the statue, Filian never regretted it. On the contrary, he took great pride in his achievement.

To Filian, Alon was already the very embodiment of admiration.

Thus, Filian visited the statue daily.

“…Huh?”

“?”

Today, he encountered an unexpected figure.

Deus Makalian, whom he had last seen at the royal conference, was quietly observing the statue of Marquis Palatio.

Why was he here?

Before he could voice his question, Filian unconsciously recoiled. Even though he lived a carefree life without much concern, the trauma from that conference was still vivid.

Caught in indecision—

“…It’s been a while.”

“It has indeed, Sir Deus.”

Filian, slightly flustered, returned Deus’s greeting.

Even with his dismal social skills, he knew one thing.

Deus Makalian disliked him.

“…I heard you were the one who proposed building this statue. Is that true?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes, that’s correct.”

Nodding absentmindedly at Deus’s follow-up question, Filian hesitated before awkwardly explaining,

“Because the Marquis saved our territory.”

“Is that all?”

“No, not entirely… It’s a bit embarrassing to admit now that I’m an adult, but I admired him after witnessing how he saved our land.”

“Hahaha,” Filian let out an awkward laugh and continued speaking.

“So, I suggested erecting the statue.”

“I see, you mean you came to admire him.”

“It’s embarrassing, but yes.”

“No, that’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“…Pardon?”

Before he realized it, Deus had stepped closer and placed a firm hand on Filian’s shoulder.

“That’s right. The Marquis is someone worthy of admiration, isn’t he?”

With a light smile, Deus sought Filian’s agreement. Feeling understood for emotions he had always thought too awkward to voice aloud, Filian’s heart softened, and he nodded fervently.

“Exactly…!”

“Now that we’re talking about the Marquis, it reminds me of an event in the North.”

As if it were a natural segue, Deus smoothly brought up the North.

“Oh…!”

Filian’s eyes sparkled more brightly than ever as he eagerly listened to Deus’s story.

Thus, about five hours later—

“…Kulan.”

“Yes, Duke.”

“Where is my brother?”

“He’s at the central square.”

“…Still?”

“Yes, as I reported earlier, he’s still conversing with Caliban’s First Sword.”

“…Didn’t you say they were talking five hours ago as well?”

“…Yes, it’s still ongoing.”

“Why didn’t you summon them for dinner?”

“Well…”

“Well?”

“…Both Lord Filian and the First Sword seemed to be enjoying their conversation so much that I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt. In fact, they appeared to grow more enthusiastic as time went on, so…”

After receiving Kulan’s report, Gilan couldn’t help but feel baffled—and curious.

“What on earth could they be talking about for so long?”

Curiosity gnawed at him.

“Still, they need to eat dinner, so go fetch both of them.”

“Understood.”

Like the proverbial cat killed by curiosity, Gilan made a foolish decision.

“I’m curious.”

A very foolish decision.