Archmage Heinkel.

She was the first archmage to appear among humanity since the forgotten age of the gods and was known to players in Psychedelia as the Witch of Rit. The reason she was called the Witch of Rit was simple. If you played as a mage, almost every player would inevitably meet her. Although she didn’t directly influence the story, the items you could obtain from her after a certain amount of time were incredibly useful for mage players.

However, the problem was her personality. Contrary to her doll-like appearance, she was extremely irritable. If you made the wrong choice during dialogue while trying to obtain an item, she’d kill you without hesitation. By the third meeting, you might be close enough that she would only insult you for a wrong choice instead of killing you, but in the first and second meetings, there was no mercy. Worse yet, if you chose to defend milk even a little in any of her suspicious dialogue choices, she’d get highly offended and kill you on the spot. This earned her the nickname “Milk Witch.”

Thanks to all this, Alon was very nervous. He knew the words and topics she disliked, but given her notoriously unpredictable personality, anything could happen. He had even made some preparations in case things went wrong.

But.

This situation was entirely unforeseen.

Alon stared blankly at Archmage Heinkel, who was looking at him with an expression of fear. He then realized one thing:

‘She’s really short.’

The white wizard’s pointy hat made her seem taller, but in reality, she was much shorter than Alon. Quite a bit shorter.

“Um… I want to solve your riddle…”

Since in the in-game illustrations, she was always seated, he had never noticed this fact. It wasn’t really useful information, but still, it was something new. With that in mind, Alon finally spoke to Heinkel. He needed to solve her first riddle to receive an item.

However.

[I’ll…]

“Huh?”

[I’ll give it to you… I’ll just give it…!]

Suddenly, Heinkel blurted out those words and handed Alon a jeweled box that had flown in from somewhere, even though he hadn’t solved the riddle yet.

Then.

[Good enough, right?]

For someone who had appeared so majestic and arrogant under the moonlight, she was now acting like a frightened mouse, nervously glancing at Alon. 

[I… I’m leaving!]

With that, she quickly turned around and scurried away, disappearing in a burst of blue magic. It was an unexpectedly undignified exit compared to her entrance.

“…Uh, Heinkel?”

Alon called out in confusion, but there was no response, as if she had no intention of returning. Holding the jewel box, Alon stood there with a puzzled expression and decided to cancel the spell he had prepared for potential emergencies.

Ssss- 

As soon as he undid the seal in his pocket, the magical power dissipated like dust.

After standing there bewildered for a while, Alon finally regained his composure and opened the box she had given him.

“…It’s here.”

Inside was the very item he had intended to get by solving the riddle.

‘What’s going on?’

Although it was supposed to be something he had to earn through solving the riddle, she simply handed it over and disappeared in a completely unexpected way. Thinking back to the moment, he recalled that she hadn’t been looking directly at him but slightly behind him.

‘Was she looking… behind me?’

He glanced over his shoulder but saw nothing but the library bathed in blue moonlight.

In the end, Alon had obtained the item he wanted. He was glad to have gotten it so easily, but at the same time, a small doubt began to form in his mind.

***

For the next few days, Alon attended the magical conference, listening to various presentations and satisfying his curiosity. The theories presented at the conference were quite helpful to Alon, who had been learning magic through self-study until then.

In addition, the nighttime discussions with Liyan about magic were a significant help in advancing his magical abilities. Unlike Alon, who had a deep understanding of mana control, she had a talent for constructing the magical frameworks needed to manifest magic itself. This gave Alon the confidence that he might soon be ready to attempt Fourth-Rank magic.

Of course, Fourth-Rank magic required so much mana that it was difficult to use even once properly, so he didn’t plan to attempt it immediately. 

Then, on the fourth day of Alon’s stay at the magical conference, he heard the news:

“A foreign entity has appeared in the Labyrinth of Lartania?”

“Yes. I’ve heard that it caused mutations throughout the entire labyrinth.”

Alon learned about the appearance of the foreign entity in Lartania’s labyrinth.

“How much time has passed since the foreign entity was discovered?”

“It’s uncertain, but it’s believed to be about five days now. The information guild suspects that it’s been around a week since it first appeared.”

“How far is it to Lartania?”

“It’s not too far from here. It should take around… five days?”

After hearing Evan’s estimate, Alon thought for a moment, then quickly grabbed some paper and began writing a letter. It wasn’t long before he finished, and as soon as the letter was ready, he said:

“Send this to Lartania, and then I’m heading out immediately.”

“Immediately?”

“Yes.”

Without hesitation, he left the Central Magic Tower and began preparations to travel to Lartania.

***

After bidding farewell to Liyan, who was disappointed he was leaving earlier than expected, and Penia, who seemed to give off a strange energy of disappointment despite her lively response when she heard he was leaving, Alon headed straight to Lartania.

Five days passed.

Traveling nonstop by carriage, Alon finally arrived at the labyrinth city of Lartania.

“Wow… it’s changed a lot since the last time I was here. It’s even more fascinating now.”

Evan spoke with a tone of admiration, and indeed, Lartania was a much more impressive sight than any other territory Alon had passed through so far.

The city walls, which defined the interior and exterior of the city, were not particularly tall—short enough that you could easily see the buildings inside. The majority of the buildings within the city were unexpectedly luxurious and unique, quite at odds with the image of a city of mercenaries and adventurers.

It was as if architectural styles from all over the world had been gathered in one place. Because of that, the city didn’t evoke a mystical feeling but rather just seemed visually unusual.

‘Wasn’t the setting that people from across the continent, except the Empire, came together and built whatever buildings they wanted?’

Recalling Lartania’s background, Alon entered the city.

“It feels uneasy here.”

“Yeah.”

Just as Alon expected, the atmosphere in the city was somewhat chaotic. Rumors of the foreign entity emerging from the labyrinth had spread, and some mercenaries were already seen leaving the city.

After navigating through Lartania by carriage and reaching his destination in the southern district, Alon soon arrived at a shop called “Merde,” owned by Rine. Upon arriving, he couldn’t help but be amazed.

“…Is this really Merde?”

“Uh… yes, it seems like the right place…” Evan stammered in confusion. The reason was simple—the building was enormous. If you asked how big, well, compared to the surrounding four- or five-story buildings, they looked like mere toy houses in comparison.

“Isn’t this supposed to be a shop?”  

“It should be,” Evan replied. 

Alon, though maintaining a blank expression, was clearly taken aback as he looked at the building. It was so massive that it seemed more like a temple than a store. Seeing this, Evan spoke up.

“I… I had heard the shop was big… but honestly, I didn’t expect it to be ‘this’ big.”

Alon nodded in agreement. He had heard that the shop was doing extremely well, but he hadn’t expected it to be this successful.

‘To think a magical appraiser could hold so much power… Is this why she’s managed to gain influence in Lartania?’

Alon found himself nodding unconsciously. He knew the universal truth from both the previous world and this one: money could solve anything.

‘That’s one of the reasons I’m here to ask for a favor.’

Although his primary task was dealing with the foreign entity, Alon had come to see Rine, the magical appraiser, because he needed to borrow her influence.

“Let’s go inside,” Alon said, and together with Evan, he began walking up toward the Merde building. As they reached the massive front doors—

“Do you have an appointment?” asked a person, who appeared to be a receptionist, standing in front of the door.

“…Do we need one?” Alon asked.

“If it’s urgent, you can meet her right away by paying the fee.”

“A fee?”

“Yes, if you wish to meet Lady Rine without an appointment, it will cost 3,000 gold coins.”

“3,000 gold coins?!”

The price was enough to buy a mansion in one of the nearby territories, if not the capital of the Asterian Kingdom. Alon, stunned, responded with disbelief.

“…And if I make an appointment now, how long would the wait be?”

“If you make one now… let’s see… about 10…?”

“10?”

“10 months, approximately.”

The staggering time frame made Alon feel dizzy. After a moment of contemplation, he continued.

“Could you at least deliver a message to her? Tell her that Count Palatio is here.”

“Ugh, you’re so noisy. Get lost already.”

Before Alon could finish his sentence, a voice interrupted. A man who exuded an air of wealth—probably a noble—looked at him with disdain.

“Why is a penniless beggar loitering around?”

Behind the man were a group of mercenaries, and he spoke with such crude arrogance, it was as if he lacked any intelligence whatsoever. Alon’s expression turned incredulous, but the man, paying him no mind, approached the receptionist and casually tossed a pouch of money in front of her.

“Open the door,” the man said. The receptionist checked the pouch, nodded respectfully, and immediately began manipulating something. With a loud rumble, the massive doors started to open.

Before stepping inside, the man glanced back at Alon and smirked, clearly trying to provoke him. His sneer was blatant.

“Pathetic beggar,” he sneered.

The man walked into the building, and as Alon watched, he also noticed the mercenaries following him, their faces filled with mockery. They were so openly showing their contempt without even knowing who Alon was that he couldn’t help but frown.

Soon, Alon realized who the man was.

‘He’s the son of the lord of Lartania.’

Though he couldn’t recall the name, he remembered the man’s appearance from the illustrations in Psychedelia—a bloated figure with a sleazy mustache, the infamous son of the labyrinth city’s lord. In the game, he had acted like a scoundrel toward the player, but experiencing it in person was even more outrageous.

Just as Alon was about to speak—

“No need to go inside.”

A voice came from the now-open doorway. Rine emerged, her green eyes glowing as she walked out.

“Oh, Rine! You came all the way here for me?” The scoundrel’s face lit up with a bright smile as he approached her.

But.

“Get lost.”

Without hesitation, Rine pushed the scoundrel’s shoulder aside and cursed at him. She walked right past him and his mercenaries, heading outside. Ignoring the receptionist, who had bowed her head in embarrassment, Rine approached Alon.

Unlike how she had treated the scoundrel, Rine spoke to Alon with the utmost respect.

“I’ve been expecting you, Godfather.”

She bowed her head politely, and everyone present stared at Count Palatio in disbelief.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep