In a dark room.

[Did you really say that?]

“Yes.”

In one of the secret locations scattered throughout the kingdom created by the Blue Moon, Hidan was reporting the recent events.

“It was a man with black hair and blue eyes.”

[Is that so?]

“Yes, although I remember his husky voice didn’t quite match his appearance.”

[Hmm-]

Yutia furrowed his brow as if contemplating the detailed description.

But only briefly.

[Don’t worry about that.]

With a simple command, Hidan responded.

“…Is that really okay?”

[Yes.]

Though reassured by Yutia’s affirmation, Hidan hesitated for a moment before lowering his head.

“I will obey the command of the Red Moon.”

The command was absolute.

However, that didn’t mean his curiosity faded, so after confirming the communication device was off, Hidan wondered:

…Who is that guy?

####

The next day.

“Thank you for bringing me this far.”

“It’s nothing, brother. It’s my duty.”

Upon reaching the forest located on the right side of Kimin’s territory, Alon patted Radan’s shoulder.

“Well, I’ll see you next time.”

“Yes, brother.”

“Oh, and please take care of things over there. They said they have business in Raksas.”

He then turned his gaze toward Penia and Felin.

Penia wore an awkward smile, while Felin stared at her with a strange expression.

This was where they were to part ways.

Unlike Alon, who no longer needed to stay in Raksas, the two had remaining matters to attend to there.

“Yes, since you’ve requested it, I will certainly do so.”

“Good.”

“Oh, but brother, may I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Hmm… I was just wondering if you needed anything.”

“Need anything?”

“Yes.”

At Radan’s question, Alon tilted his head before responding.

“No, I don’t.”

“You don’t…?”

“Why, is there a problem?”

“No, not exactly. It’s just that you’ve come all this way.”

At Radan’s words, Alon paused thoughtfully.

“No, there’s nothing I need. Seeing your face is enough. As I said, I wasn’t sure if we’d meet again.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, now I’ll be on my way. Take care.”

With that, he disembarked from the ship.

The ship soon departed again.

“He’s gone.”

“Yes, he has.”

Watching the ship grow smaller and smaller in the distance, Alon and Evan headed toward Kimin’s territory to find a carriage.

It was time to return to the Count of Palatio’s estate.

‘Star Eater.’

As he watched the slowly changing scenery outside the carriage, Alon recalled the conversation he had with the Observer yesterday.

‘Star Eater?’

‘Yes, do you know of it by any chance?’

‘Honestly, I don’t, but it’s quite an unsettling term.’

‘Is it? Why so?’

The Observer didn’t respond to Alon’s question.

Alon, too, didn’t press further.

He had already had enough discussions with her to understand that if she didn’t respond, it meant there was something unspeakable involved.

‘There’s so much obscure information, it’s ridiculous.’

Alon sighed.

Yet he wasn’t irritated by this fact.

After all, just recalling yesterday’s incident, when blood had flowed profusely from his nose, mouth, and eyes, reminded him—

‘It’s better than dying.’

Alon was someone who would rather live with lifelong curiosity than stick his neck out to uncover one truth of the world.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean I intend to do nothing… maybe it’s more accurate to say that I can’t do nothing.’

He then remembered the words spoken by the entity he encountered when looking at the mirror yesterday.

“Execute the Deprived One… was it? It was definitely called an Outer God.”

He heard it clearly.

“Hiding… an Outer God, hiding…”

To him, these words could never be ignored.

The fact that an Outer God was hiding implied a great deal.

First, it meant that the Outer God was preparing something while remaining concealed.

Second, if the Outer God had managed to hide so successfully, it was almost as if it had fully manifested.

In other words, to Alon, it was like having a fully constructed bomb hidden somewhere, one that could explode at any moment.

“I have to handle this, no matter what.”

The problem was that there was no way to locate the hidden Outer God.

After pondering this for a while, Alon let out a long sigh and leaned back against the carriage seat.

Realizing that no immediate solution was forthcoming, he decided to rest for the moment and pause his thoughts.

How long had he been staring blankly out of the window?

Suddenly, Alon, who had been gazing into empty space, turned to Evan and asked,

“Evan.”

“Yes, Count?”

“I’m rather good-looking, aren’t I?”

“…Pardon?”

Evan, who was startled by this topic—one that had never been broached before—quickly collected himself and, after some consideration, answered,

“Well, of course, you are.”

“I thought so.”

“Did something happen?”

At Evan’s question, Alon recalled Penia’s behavior from the previous day.

Specifically, it was a voice he heard while on his way to greet Penia’s group, whom he had run into by chance on the roadside.

“Well… something like that.”

“Something like that?”

“Yes.”

Alon mumbled as he recalled the conversation he overheard when Penia had been hitting Felin.

“Ow! Ow! Sister!? Why suddenly!?”

“Like? Do I like him? Is that even a question!? Why would I like Count Palatio?!”

“No, I just thought you always seem so reserved when you’re around him…!”

“You idiot, I’ve always been reserved!”

“No, you weren’t always—”

“Stop spewing nonsense! Why on earth would I like him?! How did you even come to that conclusion?!”

“So, you don’t like him?”

“I have no reason to like him in the first place! Why would I like Count Palatio—”

The conversation was still vividly clear in his memory.

Of course, Alon had never once thought that Penia had feelings for him.

After all, there had never been any indication of that.

Therefore, even if Penia were to reject him, it would only be slightly awkward, and he wouldn’t harbor any negative feelings toward her.

But there was one reason that made him feel more uncomfortable about the situation.

“No matter how you look at it, she didn’t need to beat up her brother with such disgust.”

Alon wasn’t sure how Penia felt, but from his perspective, it looked like she was utterly repulsed.

And that, while hitting her brother for making such a remark.

“Well, I don’t know what’s going on, but don’t worry about it, Count. For men, it’s more about capability than appearance, right?”

“…That’s true.”

“Look at me. See how popular I am?”

Alon, having seen enough evidence to suggest otherwise, wanted to point out, “You’re not popular,” but he restrained himself and simply nodded.

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

“So, don’t let it bother you too much.”

At Evan’s words, Alon nodded again.

However, despite his nodding, he still felt a sense of melancholy.

It was autumn, the season of turning leaves.

####

Radan, who had unified all the Seven Archipelagos and essentially gained control of the eastern seas, sat in the office aboard his pirate ship, letting out a deep sigh.

He had become the ruler of all the Archipelagos and avenged his family’s death, but it wasn’t over yet.

He still had a mission left to complete.

He had to capture the “Black Fish.”

Lost in thought, Radan pulled out a small box from his coat pocket.

It was a gift Alon had recently given him before departing.

Radan, staring blankly at the box, soon opened it to check its contents.

“A monocle?”

The item inside was indeed a monocle, a single-lens eyeglass.

It wasn’t anything distinctive, just a common monocle one could find anywhere.

Still puzzled, Radan noticed a piece of paper inside the box and took it out.

“This will help reduce your perfectionism a bit.”

The note contained only a simple message.

However, Radan couldn’t help but be surprised by its content.

It was because, while people knew that Radan was somewhat meticulous, no one in the Blue Moon’s organization knew about his extreme perfectionism.

Radan himself had never shown it.

While one could guess it from the way he kept the territories under his control tidy, Alon couldn’t have prepared the gift with that in mind.

From the moment Alon arrived on the islands, he had been by Radan’s side.

Surprised, Radan put on the monocle, and for the first time, he felt his compulsive need to balance his field of vision decrease significantly, leaving him astonished once again.

“How does Brother know me so well?”

Radan couldn’t stop his growing curiosity as he thought of Alon, the one who had given him the gift.

After all, Alon— the Great Moon—had always been this way.

He knew that the captains of the Seven Archipelagos were the ones who had killed Radan’s parents.

He also knew a fact that Radan had never shared with anyone: his extreme perfectionism.

It was as if, just like Yutia always said, “He knows everything.”

That was what Radan found incredibly mysterious.

And that wasn’t all.

‘…I was sure Brother needed power.’

Radan was aware that this world was not so beautiful.

The world operates on give and take.

Where there is a departure, there is a return, and Radan understood this principle very well.

As a result, Radan felt trust and gratitude towards the Great Moon, but he also believed that Alon must want something in return.

Because in this world, there is no such thing as a favor without compensation.

However, no matter how he looked at Alon, Radan could not see any need for power.

That was true even when dealing with the Outer God.

Even when Alon leapt in without hesitation to rescue him from the Outer God’s grasp.

Unconsciously, Radan recalled that moment.

As the Great Moon tried to seal the pact, the greedy and indifferent eyes gazing at him from the depths of the sea suddenly became imprinted with fear.

The awe and chills he felt back then.

“…Whew.”

Radan let out a sigh.

From that moment, and from their last conversation today, Radan realized two things.

One was that Alon’s favor came without any demand for compensation.

The other was that he currently lacked the ability to repay that favor.

Because of that.

‘I need more power. In my current state, I can’t even stay by Brother’s side to support him.’

Radan made up his mind.

He decided to become strong enough to protect the Great Moon from nearby.

Suddenly, as he reached that point in his thoughts, he muttered,

“…Hypnosis magic… huh.”

He laughed at the foolish thoughts he had entertained not long ago.

He might not have known back then, but since meeting the Great Moon, he now realized just how foolish and naive his thinking had been.

Because of this.

“Everything is for the Great Moon.”

Radan quietly murmured to himself,

‘It seems it’s time to bring it out.’

He remembered an item buried in the depths of the sea and put on a resolute expression.

####

After spending about three weeks in the carriage, Alon finally returned to the Palatio estate and took a very relaxed rest that night.

Though he had spent years traveling here and there by carriage and should have been used to it by now, sleeping in a carriage was still extremely exhausting for him.

So, after arriving at the estate and indulging in a deep rest, the next day, Alon received a call from Duke Altia for the first time in a while.

[…Impressive, as expected. We were preparing too, but we couldn’t find the right moment to make a move. But to deal with over eight nobles at once…]

[…?]

[I thought you weren’t paying much attention to this matter, so I was really surprised.]

For some reason, Alon was mistakenly being regarded as the mastermind who had killed eight nobles without batting an eye.

‘What is this about now…’

Alon muttered a low sigh.