Alon wore a blank expression.

Wondering if he’d been mistaken, he blinked twice. But the man in front of him still looked at him with a cheerful smile and an adoring gaze.

“......You are Prince Karsem, right?”

“Yes? Ah, yes, that’s me, «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» haha. I’ve changed a bit.”

Watching Karsem scratch his head awkwardly, Alon barely managed to close his gaping mouth.

Seolrang looked uninterested, but Evan—who had still been unsure—couldn’t hide his shock and gaped.

People could change, but this was too much.

Alon recalled the Karsem he’d known half a year ago.

Back then, Karsem was, frankly, nothing more or less than a walking pig.

His clothes looked like they were about to burst, and his face was constantly twisted with irritation and inferiority.

And that wasn’t all.

His personality was so arrogant that the word “rascal” fit him better than “troublemaker.”

But Karsem now?

That triple chin that used to stand out?

Gone.

No—it had vanished completely.

Those eyes that had been full of annoyance and inferiority?

Now they looked clean. So clean they almost seemed kind.

And for some reason, he even seemed significantly taller.

“......You’ve changed a lot.”

“That’s right. And it’s all thanks to you, my lord—no, Marquis!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes......!”

Alon still couldn’t process it.

No matter how he looked, he couldn’t make sense of this transformation.

‘......This feels like something out of a web novel.’

Without meaning to, he thought of the web novels he used to read.

Usually, the protagonist—an ordinary person—would possess a spoiled royal or noble who was fat and lazy. After working hard to lose weight, they’d become handsome and earn the servants’ admiration.

Honestly, he hadn’t fully understood it back then.

Even if someone lost weight, wouldn’t their face and frame still be the same?

But now Alon could truly understand those servants in the novels, clapping enthusiastically.

‘......It makes sense now.’

While he was lost in thought—

“Please have a seat. My father will be here soon.”

“All right.”

At Karsem’s invitation, Alon’s group naturally took their seats. A little later, King Carmaxes III arrived.

Alon, who had finally regained his composure, began to enjoy the banquet.

Even so, the atmosphere felt oddly burdensome.

“It’s impressive that you’ve already reached the first rank.”

“No, it’s all thanks to the marquis’ teachings.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes!”

......The reason was that Karsem praised Alon nonstop throughout the banquet.

“......He keeps talking about the marquis.”

“I see.”

“If it weren’t for the marquis, I’d probably still be living a miserable life...... That’s why I’m always grateful!”

A lot.

“No, I didn’t do much. You achieved this on your own. There’s no need to credit me for it.”

“No! As I said, if it weren’t for you, I would’ve stayed the way I was!”

Too much.

Under the table, Alon felt his hand curl on its own under Karsem’s passionate gaze.

......Karsem seemed truly, genuinely sincere.

*****

The next day, after what was quite literally a banquet that did nothing but embarrass Alon.

“Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“I looked into it, and it seems Karsem’s evaluation has changed significantly.”

“To that extent?”

“Yes. Surprisingly, he’s being evaluated more favorably than the First Prince.”

Hearing Evan’s report, Alon asked—curiosity flickering under his indifferent expression.

“Really? To that extent?”

“Yes. Apparently, because of that, the atmosphere inside the Royal Castle is becoming a bit strange.”

“Carmaxes doesn’t seem to be managing it separately?”

“I heard that even the king is staying silent.”

Even the king was silent?

Alon let out a low sound.

‘So that’s why Karan looked at me like that.’

He remembered the look Karan had given him.

It hadn’t been friendly at all—even on a first meeting—which had puzzled him at the time.

But if the atmosphere in the kingdom had turned strange, it made sense.

The fact that King Carmaxes III wasn’t controlling the situation in the palace essentially meant he was tacitly allowing a power struggle for the throne.

‘......From the king’s perspective, it isn’t entirely incomprehensible.’

The First Prince, Karan, was better than the Second Prince, but he still wasn’t exactly a promising candidate for a good king.

He was only relatively better.

So it was natural for the king’s heart to waver if the Second Prince began showing more promise over time.

After all, Carmaxes III might be a father, but he was a king first—someone who thought more like a ruler than a parent.

‘......The interesting part is how a power struggle between the First Prince, who’s long been recognized as the heir, and the Second Prince, who’s only recently been acknowledged, is even possible now...... but that’s not something I need to worry about.’

Either way, once Alon put everything together, he could understand the recent events.

‘So Karan thinks Karsem changed because of me.’

From Alon’s perspective, though, it was baffling.

He hadn’t done anything particularly special for Karsem.

“Marquis, what do you plan to do now?”

Evan asked, perfectly timed.

Alon answered without hesitation.

“Since I’ve finished my business in the Colony, I’ll wrap up the remaining tasks and return.”

“Tasks? Oh, are you talking about the monster you mentioned last time?”

“Yes.”

“Am I going to wait here again?”

“That’s right...... though you look happy about it.”

“No way.”

Evan’s face openly showed relief—Oh, yes, lucky me! No hard work!

Alon felt oddly annoyed.

For a moment, he considered taking Evan along.

Only for a moment.

He let out a light sigh and dropped the thought.

In truth, this trip wasn’t meant to deal with the desert monster directly. It was only a preliminary expedition.

Alon recalled the desert monster, Scorpion.

‘I wish I could deal with it while I’m here.’

Unfortunately, that wish was unlikely to come true.

For now, he didn’t even know Scorpion’s exact location.

Unlike the other monster, Rikrakamur, whose location was clearly identified, all they knew about Scorpion was that it was somewhere in the vast desert, with no distinct landmarks.

Even in the game, tracking down Scorpion took time.

You had to clear the temple that provided a guide, which took about three months of preparation before you could even attempt to confront Scorpion.

Of course, you could wander the desert without the guide and manually search for Scorpion’s lair.

But why didn’t people do that?

Because finding Scorpion’s cave in the desert was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

And there were also the “Scorpion Soldiers.”

They were the guards of the monster’s cave.

That was Alon’s second reason for focusing on preliminary work now.

They were called scorpion soldiers, but if you played as a mage, they were even more troublesome than Scorpion itself.

Hundreds of scorpion soldiers, made of sand.

They regenerated endlessly after death, and in terms of in-game level, each one was expert rank—an absolute nuisance.

And all their weapons were coated with poison, so even a single hit could be fatal.

However, there was a strategy to bypass those scorpion soldiers entirely—if you obtained the guide through the temple’s preliminary quest, they would all turn into sand and disappear.

“I plan to move tomorrow.”

Alon made his decision.

“I’ll be waiting here.”

Looking at Evan—who somehow managed to be irritating again—Alon thought,

‘......Should I just take him along?’

*****

At that moment.

Somewhere in the vast desert, in Scorpion’s cave.

Or rather, in a space so vast that calling it a cave felt inadequate, scorpion soldiers—who should only have awakened in the presence of intruders—had risen.

But they didn’t move.

No—more accurately, they couldn’t move.

The hundreds of soldiers that had awakened to repel the intruder—

Crackle! Crackle-crack!

All of them were skewered by black lightning, trembling as they hovered between life and death.

Amid the immobilized scorpion soldiers, a Beastman with silver-gray hair strolled forward at an easy pace.

His gait was calm—utterly relaxed.

With that same leisurely pace, he passed through the ranks of hundreds of scorpion soldiers and eventually reached the center of the cave.

Ssshhh-!

More soldiers began awakening from beneath the ground.

But that wasn’t all.

Shriiiiik-!!!

Far more than before erupted from the sand in an instant, surrounding the man.

Soon, the monstrous roar of Scorpion—dormant within the cave—echoed loud.

Yet there wasn’t the slightest tension on the intruder’s face.

“Ho—”

Instead, as if amused, the man let out a small exclamation.

Crackle-!

He cloaked himself in black lightning.

In the next moment—

Zzt-!

His figure vanished.

When he reappeared, there were no scorpion soldiers near him anymore.

Instead, what stood before him was—

A monster.

The scorpion, Scorpion, which had lived for nearly a thousand years while harboring one of the five great relics of sin.

Yet even as the scorpion drooled and stared at him, the man wore a cheerful smile.

“Well, fine. When I returned to the surface, I was disappointed the seeds hadn’t sprouted as well as I’d hoped...”

He lightly tapped the creature’s head with a finger.

“You can help with that.”

The moment black lightning flowed from his hand—

!!!!

Scorpion thrashed violently.

Soon, the monster’s brown hue began to change.

It darkened into a shade as deep as the abyss.

Watching the transformation, the man—

“Now, shall we go greet him?”

No—the apostle of Pride turned his gaze toward the Colony.

“And while we’re at it, let’s pay a visit to my younger sibling.”

*****

The next day.

Alon prepared to set out for the preliminary work as planned, feeling somewhat more at ease.

There would be battles, but with Seolrang and Rine agreeing to help, he felt reassured.

‘......Rine said she’d briefly visit the Royal Castle, so we’ll leave once she returns.’

So,

Alon was chatting leisurely with Seolrang, who was holding a drooping Blackie.

Until suddenly—

BOOOOOM-!!!!

A massive noise erupted.

It was distant, yet distinct to everyone’s ears—a tremendous explosion.

Alon sprang to his feet and looked out the window.

And at what he saw, he couldn’t hide his shock.

“Scorpion?”

The massive monster was tearing down the Colony’s walls and forcing its way inside.

And then—

“B-brother?”

Alon heard Seolrang’s incredulous murmur beside him.