The day after Seolgak’s attack on the colony, the entire place was in disarray, looking as if it had just been hit by a bomb.

Although Seolrang had killed Seolgak and Rine had stopped the Scorpion, the damage sustained was far from insignificant.

For starters, the city walls were gone.

Buildings along the Scorpion’s path had collapsed into ruins, and the area around Seolrang’s guild had been devastated by Seolgak.

Moreover, over 50% of the royal palace within the colony’s inner city had crumbled due to the Scorpion’s rampage, leaving the atmosphere inside the palace understandably grim.

In the midst of this chaos—

“…First, let me express my gratitude, Marquis Palatio. We’ve received your help once again.”

“It’s nothing. The credit belongs to Seolrang, not me.”

Alon was having an audience with Carmaxes III.

“Likewise, I thank you as well, Rine Groff. Truly, thank you.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was only able to act because of Godfather.”

“…? Godfather? Are you referring to Marquis Palatio?”

“Yes.”

Carmaxes shifted his gaze back to Alon.

“…Wasn’t Marquis Palatio with Seolrang?”

“Well, once that monster started causing trouble, I figured the Marquis wouldn’t want to be inconvenienced.”

“….”

Rine smiled, and Carmaxes sighed heavily, realizing with a resigned expression, ‘Ah, she’s one of those types too.’

It was already the fourth time he had sighed since meeting Alon.

After suppressing his frustration, he finally spoke again.

“Apologies. As you can imagine, the situation is quite the headache.”

“…I understand.”

Alon sympathized with Carmaxes III.

For the king of the colony, this entire ordeal had been nothing short of a disaster.

A natural disaster, really—one without anyone to blame.

As a result, the financial damage to the royal palace alone would be astronomical, even when accounting only for restoration costs.

Of course, there were options that didn’t involve spending beyond palace repairs, but those weren’t exactly ideal.

In short, the king’s mind was likely overwhelmed with stress.

He’d have to revise the government’s annual plans and scramble to reallocate the budget for the rest of the year.

Alon silently offered a brief moment of sympathy for the king.

Soon after, he left the temporary audience chamber and made his way to the ruined palace’s center.

“Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“Is it really okay for us to collect the corpse like this?”

Evan, walking behind him, asked the question.

Despite having been near the battleground where Seolgak and Seolrang fought, Evan didn’t have a single scratch on him.

Alon stared at him intently, prompting Evan to tilt his head in confusion.

“…? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Ah, I’m just still amazed you’re completely unscathed.”

“Did you expect me to be injured…?”

“Well, not exactly.”

Of course, Alon knew why Evan was perfectly fine.

‘He said he broke through a window and escaped the moment he heard the commotion outside.’

Alon found himself once again impressed by Evan’s quick decision-making, then belatedly answered his question.

“In most other kingdoms, I wouldn’t be sure. But in the colony, there’s a tradition that grants all rights to the one who slays the monster. So, yes, it’s allowed.”

“Is that so?”

“Probably.”

To be honest, he wasn’t entirely certain of the tradition, but it had been mentioned a few times in the game, so he wasn’t wrong.

Anyway, thanks to Rine, Alon had secured the rights to the Scorpion’s corpse.

Before long, they arrived at the site where the body remained.

“…Wow. I saw it before, but it’s still ridiculously huge.”

“Indeed.”

They stood before the enormous corpse of the Scorpion, which filled most of the courtyard.

Its head was half-crushed, lying lifeless.

“…Rine.”

“Yes, godfather?”

“You said you took it down in one hit?”

“Hmm—not exactly one hit, godfather. Its outer shell was sturdier than I expected.”

She added that it probably took about three hits.

Alon looked back at the Scorpion.

‘Should I be impressed that it held out that long, or that Rine managed to take it down?’

In fact, Alon had been quite surprised when he first heard that Rine had defeated the Scorpion.

Taking down such a beast was no easy feat.

Although not as large as Rikrakamur, the Scorpion’s claws secreted an incredibly strong acid that could melt through any weapon.

Moreover, the dozens of venomous stingers it fired from its tail were instantly lethal if even one hit its target.

The sheer volume of projectiles alone made it deadly, and even surviving those attacks meant facing the risk of severe poisoning.

In other words, the Scorpion was, in some ways, an even tougher boss than Rikrakamur.

The reason Alon thought the Scorpion might’ve just endured well was because of what happened the night before.

When Alon, dumbfounded, asked how she managed to defeat the Scorpion, Rine casually summoned Pluto.

‘…If this thing withstood three hits from Pluto, then maybe the monster was impressive after all.’

Just imagining Pluto’s massive fists slamming into the ground was enough.

“Amazing. It’s not a creature that can be easily taken down.”

Alon praised Rine once again.

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s thanks to the power you gave me, godfather. Honestly, I’m still not fully familiar with how to use it. I can only summon it about three times before reaching my limit.”

“…That’s you not fully knowing how to use it?”

“Yes. Right now, I only know the activation phrase and some basic controls.”

“…So, if you eventually learn to ‘fully’ use it, could you summon the weapon itself?”

“Maybe?”

Hearing that, Alon felt an odd sense of envy.

‘…That’s kind of cool.’

Clearing his throat to regain focus, Alon asked,

“…Are you really okay with me taking this corpse?”

“Do whatever you like, godfather. It’s useless to me.”

Grateful for her easygoing permission, Alon approached the massive corpse.

[Meow?]

As he neared the body, close enough to touch it, Blackie emerged from Seolrang’s grasp.

Unlike when playing with Seolrang, Blackie’s bright eyes sparkled with anticipation as it stared at the corpse.

It glanced at Alon, tilting its head as if waiting for permission.

Unlike last time, when it absorbed a monster without asking.

Seeing this, Alon thought, ‘…Is Blackie getting smarter?’

‘…If Blackie absorbs the corpse, will it also absorb the Sin Artifact?’

Truthfully, Sin Artifacts weren’t items Alon needed to acquire personally, as long as they didn’t fall into the hands of the Five Great Sins.

After a moment’s thought, Alon gave Blackie a slight nod.

Sssssss!

Blackie immediately darted toward the corpse and began absorbing it.

The massive body turned to dust in an instant.

“Huh?”

Evan, witnessing this for the first time, was stunned, while Rine watched with interest.

Before long, Blackie had completely devoured the corpse even faster than it had with Rikrakamur.

With a satisfied ‘meow-meow’ sound, it climbed back onto Alon’s shoulder, rubbing its head affectionately.

‘The artifact wasn’t absorbed.’

Where the Scorpion’s body once lay, a gray exoskeleton armor remained.

Alon had successfully acquired the Artifact of Pride.

***

A few days after retrieving the artifacts.

Once Alon confirmed that Seolrang had recovered to some extent, he began preparing to leave the colony. He had already completed everything he needed to do, and since he planned to visit the colony again in two months anyway, there was no reason to stay longer.

“I should’ve pretended to be sick a bit more.”

While Alon and his party were getting ready to depart, Seolrang grumbled with her tail drooping. Alon gently coaxed her.

“I’m planning to visit again in two months.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

When Alon nodded, Seolrang quickly regained her bright smile and stood right in front of him.

“Master! Do that thing for me!”

Her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Looking down at her childlike face, Alon now naturally pressed both of her ears gently.

“—”

Seolrang hummed a tune, clearly in a good mood.

Since the Seolgak incident, Seolrang had stopped asking for head pats and instead preferred this gesture. Alon complied without complaint.

A conversation they had a few days ago flashed through his mind.

‘Seolrang.’

‘Hmm? What is it, Master?’

‘…Why do you keep asking me to cover your ears?’

‘Hmm~ you know, it just feels nice. I can feel your heart.’

‘…Heart?’

‘Like how I cherish you, Master, it feels like you cherish me too.’

‘Is that so?’

‘Yep.’

Cherish, huh.

“?”

Lost in thought about their conversation, Alon suddenly became aware of a sensation on his own ears.

Seolrang was reaching up, struggling to cover both of his ears with her small hands.

“What are you doing?”

“Mm— I wanted you to feel it too.”

“…To feel that I’m cherished?”

“Yep. Do you feel it?”

Amused by her playful smile, Alon let out a small chuckle.

“…What are they doing?”

Evan appeared, looking at them with disbelief, and Rine stood nearby, visibly annoyed.

And then—

“Master! See you in two months!”

“Yeah.”

With Seolrang’s cheerful farewell, Alon left the colony.

***

The second office of the Marquis Palatio—essentially used as Penia’s laboratory—was usually incredibly noisy.

Every day, without fail, it echoed with various terrifying screams. The furious shrieks of a woman mixed with the sorrowful wails—or rather, cries—of a man.

Because of this, the office had earned the grim nickname “The Room of Despair” among the staff, though no one found it particularly funny.

But today, it was unusually quiet.

Not even the usual clattering sounds or the noise of something being tightened could be heard.

It was so eerily silent that it would’ve shocked anyone familiar with the place.

Of course, Penia did have a visitor.

But even so—was it possible for ‘that’ Penia Crysinne to be this quiet?

She was someone who maintained the same attitude regardless of who came to see her.

The servants of the Marquis household glanced curiously at the so-called “Room of Despair” from afar.

Inside were two women—not the usual Crysinne siblings.

One of them was Penia.

Normally, if things didn’t go her way, she’d take it out on Felin and curse like a sailor, omitting even the title of “Marquis” from her tirades.

But now—

“……”

She was silently darting her eyes around, deliberately avoiding making eye contact.

In front of her stood—

“Hello, Penia Crysinne.”

The Cardinal of the Holy Kingdom,

“…I sent you a letter, but you never responded.”

A figure now rumored to be one of the top three most powerful people within the Holy Kingdom.

“So, I decided to come in person.”

Yutia Bludia stared at Penia Crysinne, her crimson eyes glowing faintly.