Chapter 15: Chapter 15

In the Kingdom of Asteria, there are three major clandestine families.

One is the Ducal House of Altia in the north.

Another is the Count’s House of Zenonia in the west.

And lastly, the Count’s House of Palatio in the east.

These three families, originally, divided the underworld of the Kingdom of Asteria into three parts, forming a massive shadow organization. By the time the original story begins, these families have grown powerful enough to subtly manipulate the kingdom from the shadows.

The House of Palatio, however, had long since fallen from power after the assassination of Leo, which led to the complete disintegration of their organization. Thus, only the Ducal House of Altia and the Count’s House of Zenonia remain as shadowy forces within the kingdom.

…At first glance, the alliance between the two doesn’t seem to be a major issue.

“Is that true?”

“Have you ever seen me lie, Count?”

“…That’s true.”

“Of course, since the agreement was made in the underworld, there might not be any obvious signs on the surface, but it appears that the alliance is genuine.”

The reason Alon was so alarmed was that he roughly understood the situation of the shadow forces at the beginning of the original story.

When the protagonist arrives in the Kingdom of Asteria, the three families possess immense power but are unable to wield it properly due to their constant checks on each other. However, with the House of Palatio now out of the picture, if the House of Zenonia and the House of Altia were to join forces, there would be no one left in the kingdom capable of stopping them.

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In other words, if things continue as they are, the two shadow forces could end up ruling the kingdom as if it were their own playground.

‘Hmm.’

As Alon pondered how the situation had reached this point, he suddenly recalled something he had said to Lady Zenonia a few months prior.

‘Could it be…?’

He wondered if the alliance, which should never have blossomed within the Kingdom of Asteria, had somehow come about because of something he said. But he quickly shook his head, dismissing the thought.

Even if he didn’t fully understand the character of Roria—the Duke of Altia—he knew Lady Kalia of the House of Zenonia all too well. She was the epitome of a villainess, the type who could not stand being on the same level as others or beneath anyone. She would stop at nothing, including committing the most brutal acts, to climb higher.

“Hmm…”

With that thought, Alon felt a bit more at ease. Knowing Kalia’s personality, the alliance was bound to be temporary.

“Evan.”

“Yes.”

“Bring me some stationery later.”

“Stationery?”

“Yes.”

Still, knowing that nothing in life is 100% certain, Alon decided to take some precautionary measures.

“Speaking of which, Count, I looked into the rumors about Seolrang you asked about earlier. It seems the rumors have been spreading recently.”

“Really?”

At Evan’s words, Alon turned his head.

“What kind of rumors?”

“I heard that he’s been very active recently in the Colony. He’s even earned the nickname ‘Golden Flash.'”

“The Golden Flash…”

With a brief sense of familiarity with the name, Alon sighed in relief. Although he had always believed that Seolrang would never die in obscurity, he had been worried, which is why he had included a note in his last letter to Yutia asking about Seolrang.

“I’m glad he’s doing well.”

“Indeed. In that place, if you gain enough fame as a fighter, you can be treated even better than a noble.”

“If you’re strong enough, you can even stand on equal footing with the king.”

With those brief thoughts, Alon accepted the stationery Evan handed him and spoke.

“Oh, and I’m planning to visit the tower in about a week.”

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“The tower?”

“Yes, it might take some time.”

“It’ll only be two weeks, right?”

At Evan’s puzzled question, Alon shook his head.

“It’ll probably take about a month.”

“A month? As far as I know, the Green Tower is only about a week’s journey from the Count’s estate.”

“I’m not going to the Green Tower; I’m going to the Blue Tower.”

“…If it’s the Blue Tower, then it will take a while, but is there a particular reason to go there? The Blue Tower is located between Caliburn and the Labyrinth City, isn’t it?”

As Evan said, the Blue Tower was much farther away, taking more than three weeks to reach.

“I have some business at the Blue Tower.”

Alon gave a brief answer and continued writing his letter, signaling that the conversation was over. Realizing this, Evan clicked his tongue in resignation and said.

“Then I’ll start preparing in advance.”

“Please do.”

With a light bow, Evan left the room.

For a while, Alon wrote a letter to Lady Zenonia in silence. Once he finished sealing the letter, he let out a light sigh.

‘It’s going to be tough living in a carriage for three weeks just to reach the Blue Tower.’

Although Alon inwardly grumbled about how exhausting it would be, he was determined to go to the Blue Tower because there was something there he needed to obtain.

‘I have no choice but to do this for the sake of my magic.’

At the Blue Tower, there was an item that could assist with his half-baked talent, which only allowed him to properly study magic once a day.

As Alon thought about this, he suddenly remembered the Labyrinth City next to the Blue Tower.

‘Labyrinth City…’

Labyrinth City Lartania. In the heart of this city, fitting its name, there lies an endless labyrinth extending underground. It was one of the few places in Psychedelia where players could grind for experience and items without progressing the story.

As the name suggests, the deeper one went into the labyrinth, the more experience and treasures they could obtain. However, no one who played Psychedelia ever reached the end of the labyrinth. Although it allowed players to level up without advancing the story, the game required players to return to the surface every five floors, which caused a day to pass in-game.

Even though the story didn’t progress, time still moved forward. If a player focused on exploring the labyrinth and neglected the story, they might one day emerge to find the world in chaos.

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To avoid this outcome, players had to advance the story while exploring the labyrinth. Naturally, as players balanced both, they usually reached the 70th floor of the labyrinth before the game ended. Thus, no one ever reached the end of the labyrinth in Psychedelia.

…There was a rumor that someone using cheats had made it to the 150th floor, but there were more floors beyond that…

As Alon recalled a vaguely remembered post from a community whose name he could barely remember, he switched his thoughts to Rine.

‘I hope she’s doing well.’

Alon had sent Rine to Lartania, not to make her a labyrinth explorer, but to train her as a magic appraiser. In Lartania, countless relics and artifacts were discovered daily in the labyrinth, making appraisers highly sought after.

Magic appraisers, who could identify even the most detailed abilities of an item, were highly respected professionals. Moreover, by obtaining a certification as a magic appraiser in Lartania, one could live a prosperous life without worrying about money. That’s why Alon had sent her there.

Like the other Five Deadly Sins, Rine possessed a unique talent—the “Library of Eternity”—which was well-suited for this role.

‘Well, with the gift I gave her, she should find appraising a bit easier…’

Alon mused with a slightly awkward expression.

‘Come to think of it, the gift I gave Rine seems a bit small compared to what I gave the others.’

Unlike the gifts he had given to the other Five Deadly Sins, Alon had only given Rine an item specialized for equipment appraisals, which made him feel a bit embarrassed now.

‘If it turns out to be insufficient, I’ll have to provide some additional support later.’

Accepting that there was nothing he could do about what had already passed, Alon shrugged his shoulders. It was a leisurely day.

***

Labyrinth City Lartania. In the southern district of this independent city, which had an overwhelmingly large number of explorers and mercenaries compared to other nations, there was an appraisal shop called “Merde.”

The shop, run by a magic appraiser who concealed their identity, wasn’t located in the best area. Even in a labyrinth city where appraisers were highly valued, the central area near the labyrinth was home to numerous appraisal shops.

In other words, there wasn’t much reason for people to visit Merde in the southern district. Yet, despite this, a steady stream of customers visited the shop every day.

Moreover, the types of customers were unique. Most were A-rank explorers who ventured deep into the labyrinth, and among Merde’s customers were nobles from other countries and even the lord of Lartania.

“The appraisals are complete, my lord.”

“Oh, how is this relic?”

“It’s a device that continuously generates flames when infused with magic.”

The lord of Lartania smiled broadly as he received the relic from the masked woman and glanced down, noticing the black eye emblem engraved at the bottom of the relic.

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“Oh, could it be that this relic has the ability to be engraved?”

“Yes.”

“How does the engraving affect its power?”

“The efficiency has improved dramatically. Now, even with just a small amount of magic, the flames will last for an hour.”

“That’s truly impressive. I’m always indebted to you.”

“Think nothing of it.”

With that, the masked woman gave a light response to the masked man’s words. The lord, with a delighted expression, vanished from sight as he left the room.

Once the lord had exited, leaving the office in silence, the woman, who was actually Rine, removed her crescent moon-adorned mask with a sigh. She gazed out the window at the engraving the lord now held in his hands.

That very engraving was the reason why the shop Merde, despite being located in the southern district, was earning more money than any other appraiser’s shop.

Rine could do more than just appraise relics brought by high-ranking individuals; she could also engrave certain relics to further enhance their abilities.

However, this was not Rine’s own ability. Her talent lay in using the “Library” to accurately identify the nature of relics and determine which specific relics could be engraved.

The ability to engrave was thanks to the gift from the Great Moon.

As Rine turned her gaze slightly and opened the door to the adjacent office, she entered a small room where a golden eye, surrounded by a blue halo, was operating.

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Looking at the display floating above the halo, Rine recalled the first time she had discovered this gift from the Great Moon.

At first, Rine, like the others, didn’t understand why the Great Moon had sent her to the Labyrinth City and made her an appraiser. Although she suspected it was related to dealing with the “Black Ones,” given her knowledge of their forgotten existence, she still couldn’t fully grasp the connection.

At the very least, she knew from her “Library” how powerful the “Black Ones” were, but she couldn’t see how becoming an appraiser was related to fighting them.

But after discovering the gift from the Great Moon, she had no choice but to change her thinking.

The gift was the “Eye of the Wanderer,” an artifact capable of appraising relics that contained a certain level of magic. However, Rine, with her “Library,” instantly recognized that this Eye was far from ordinary.

Even though it initially appeared as nothing more than a simple sphere, Rine unlocked the seals layered upon it—seals that even her “Library” didn’t recognize—and it revealed its true form, unlocking one specific ability.

That ability was “Engraving.”

Engraving allowed her to inscribe certain relics from the upper echelons, thereby enhancing their abilities.

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But ironically, the first thing the Eye of the Wanderer unlocked wasn’t an “ability” per se.

Rather than an ability, it was…… a means to offer sacrifices.

With each engraving, the relic’s power would increase, but Rine knew that the golden eye absorbed something unknown in exchange for the engraving, something even she couldn’t comprehend.

She could sense that the Eye was fundamentally changing each time this happened.

‘My task is to awaken this Eye.’

When Rine realized this, she came to two conclusions.

First, only she could awaken this Eye. The Eye only responded to relics with specific patterns from the upper echelons, and if she brought it a relic that didn’t meet these criteria, the accumulated power would diminish.

Second, the Eye would eventually grant her enough power to stand against the “Black Ones.”

Thus, Rine followed the will of the Great Moon, watching as the Eye gradually awakened with each relic it absorbed.

‘Everything is to kill the “Black Wolf.”‘

Muttering this to herself, Rine gently caressed the golden eye floating in the air.

‘And, to follow His will.’

A faint, inexplicable fanaticism gleamed in Rine’s eyes.

***

About three weeks later, as Alon had told Evan, he arrived at the Blue Tower by carriage. Originally, he had planned to meet the tower master as scheduled, but unfortunately, the tower master was absent, so he had to meet with the vice master instead.@@novelbin@@

But then…

“Come on, hurry up and state your business. I’m busy.”

Faced with this curt and dismissive attitude, Alon wore a bewildered expression.