275. Proclamation (3)

The name of the labyrinth Alon found this time near Rosario was the “Labyrinth of Whispers,” a place that, for Psychedelia users, never had a good reputation.

This was because the labyrinth’s mechanics were so malicious that players used to describe it as “really nasty.”

Of course, just as Alon had told Evan, there were no monsters in the Labyrinth of Whispers.

Was that all?

There weren’t any traps either that you’d accidentally trigger with a wrong move to die instantly.

It wasn’t even a particularly complicated labyrinth.

Even so, most, no, all players unanimously rated it as “nasty.”

The reason was the special effect called “Illusion” that befell anyone who entered.

The moment you entered the Labyrinth of Whispers, all characters fell into an Illusion state.

Whether it was Eliban or any other strong character following him, it didn’t matter.

Just by setting foot there, all characters certainly entered that state.

Illusion was an altered state where you saw multiple hallucinations, and the character no longer obeyed the player, moving on their own however they wanted.

It was a situation totally out of control.

And this was the reason why almost all players said the Labyrinth of Whispers was “nasty.”

The structure of the labyrinth, in reality, was almost completely straight.

But the only thing the player could do after entering was…

Watch the character move on their own and press “end turn” again and again.

And so:

“……Terrible.”

Alon had also directly experienced that horror, and finally reached the end of the labyrinth.

Alon looked back.

[Kyuuu-]

[GyaaAAaak–]

Further back, Blackie was clinging to Basiliora and licking him with all his might, while Basiliora, trapped, emitted strange sounds.

And furthermore…

“Ahem… I appreciate your feelings, but I cannot accept your love……”

Beside him, leaning against the labyrinth wall, Evan murmured with nostalgic eyes, staring into the void.

Who the hell was he talking to…?

The absurd question only lasted for an instant.

Alon averted his gaze toward the stone door at the end of the labyrinth and toward the round circle in its center.

The second reason why the labyrinth received such a bad reputation:

Unlike other labyrinths, here you needed a key to obtain the reward.

That is, if you didn’t have the key, even if you made it there after passing turns tediously… it was all in vain.

Players simply hated the Labyrinth of Whispers.

“Huu—”

Remembering that opening the door would remove the Illusion state, Alon quickly took out a ring from inside his clothes.

It was the “Ring of the Nameless Swordsman,” one of the artifacts that Nangwon had given him as part of his recent shower of gifts.

Without hesitating, Alon inserted it into the center of the stone door.

Wuuuuung—!

A sound of magic reverberated strangely.

With a thud, the thick stone door began to open to both sides.

Then…

[Kyu?]

[Hm…………?]

“……Ah?”

With exclamations scattered around him,

Alon could see the object hiding behind the door.

It wasn’t so much a doll as a sculpture, but it couldn’t be called a sculpture entirely either; it also looked like a doll.

“I found it.”

Alon took the figure, shaped like a bipedal beast worthy of a fantasy. The size was smaller than he expected. He nodded with satisfaction.

It was undoubtedly the object he was looking for.

“The Beast of Possibility… right?”

The Beast of Possibility.

The effect of the item obtained in the Labyrinth of Whispers was simple:

Summon, for a limited time, the strongest version of the “user.”

Although it had a time limit, bringing out a user’s most powerful moment was extremely useful.

Of course, just like the lotus he obtained before his fight with Ulthultus —that is, the Monstrous Wild Power—, it was disposable, so he couldn’t use it lightly.

But even so, it was reliable.

In the game, activating the Beast of Possibility altered the character’s appearance, brought them to level 99, and unlocked all their skills.

…Although, since this isn’t a game now, I don’t know exactly how the effect will appear.

Anyway, it was an artifact that could save his life, so Alon carefully stored it in his chest.

[Kraaaah— Let me go!]

[KyuUUU—!!]

Regaining his composure, he saw Basiliora having a fit while Blackie swiped at him like a cat.

And then:

“My lord……”

“What is it?”

“Give him back to me.”

“……Mm? What should I give back to you?”

“Give me back my Aneta!!”

Evan, who had stood up leaning on the wall, suddenly knelt down and shed some tears.

What on earth did he see…?

Alon could only turn his head away.

With the desired artifact in hand, Alon headed to the Palatio Marquessate.

Actually, he would have liked to go immediately to the Eastern Country that Hazard had told him about.

But before that, he wanted to organize his magic system properly.

Until now, Alon had used magic by improvising according to the circumstances.

“Especially, I need to establish the system between divinity and magic well, and adjust ritual-words and designs. I also have to listen to what Sparrow wants to say about the methods, and train with Kylus.”

Since he had been moving from one place to another nonstop, he felt he wasn’t dedicating energy to what was truly important.

This time he planned to take some time to put everything in order.

“First I’ll adjust the schedule with some margin… Then maybe I’ll go to Laksas to see if I can get a ship with Radan. Or maybe it’s better to go directly with Hazard.”

While Alon mentally organized his next tasks on the way to the marquessate…

In the palace of the capital of the Kingdom of Ashtalon:

“Long time no see.”

“True. I never thought we’d meet like this. Your son really made quite a mess.”

King Stallian V and the man covered in dark black armor, Kurak, were conversing.

“…I deeply regret that matter.”

“Really? Well, the one who should regret it is your son, not you.”

“I am sure he feels it very well.”

Stallian V’s firm declaration.

Kurak stared at him for a few seconds and then let out a chuckle, nodding.

“Well, I suppose. I heard his life was in danger every other day. A valuable experience and difficult to obtain.”

The mocking tone filtered from inside the helmet made the king’s face tense up slightly.

But he didn’t contradict Kurak.

Stallian V had witnessed firsthand how far a conflict could go just because of a wrongly spoken word.

“Anyway… you should consider yourself lucky.”

At that moment,

Stallian V asked:

“What do you mean?”

“Literally that. It’s good that what happened was at that time.”

“……Explain.”

Kurak tilted his head.

“Ah… right, I forgot that news couldn’t have spread here yet.”

He muttered to himself and then looked at the king.

“If that kid had said such nonsense now, the long-eared ones would run over to turn him into a hedgehog.”

“……Long-eared ones? You mean the elves?”

“Yes.”

Stallian V felt even more confusion.

He vaguely knew, from Kurak’s comments, that Alon had some relationship with the elves…

But for them to come and turn his son into a hedgehog…

The king was going to keep asking when:

“That man will soon become a member of royalty.”

“…What?”

“Didn’t you hear? He will soon be a member of elven royalty.”

Hearing this, Stallian V opened his mouth unconsciously.

“He will be… elven royalty?”

“Yes. That’s what they say.”

Kurak shrugged.

The king put his hand to his head, dizzy.

Marquess Palatio, a member of elven royalty…?

He recalled Alon’s face, trying to verify if he had long ears.

But…

I’m sure he doesn’t…

Alon’s ears weren’t long like an elf’s.

They were clearly human.

“…Can I ask you one more question?”

“Which one?”

“Is Marquess Palatio an elf?”

Stallian V asked, doubting if Alon had hidden his identity.

“Ha? How is he going to be?”

“He… isn’t?”

“Obviously he’s not an elf.”

Kurak’s irritated tone only increased the king’s confusion.

Kurak stood up.

“Well, I have work piled up. See you in a few months. The Rifts must have increased quite a bit.”

“Ah… yes, of course.”

Stallian V remained thoughtful… and suddenly:

“!”

He reached a conclusion.

Even if Alon wasn’t an elf, there was a way for him to become a member of elven royalty.

He remembered hearing that the leader of the elves was… a queen.

After thinking about it desperately, the king’s jaw dropped.

Until recently, nothing made sense.

But if he thought about it that way…

It can’t be…

All the pieces fit.

That’s why Stallian V reached an absurd conclusion:

Will Marquess Palatio… be the Elven Queen’s consort…?

A simple misunderstanding.

……But a misunderstanding capable of shaking the entire United Kingdom.

And while this strange misunderstanding took shape…

“This toasted bread is quite good.”

“Better than the sweet potato?”

“Maybe the sweet potato is a little better than the toasted bread.”

“Does it make sense to compare? If you’re eating bread with sweet potato inside, basically you’re eating sweet potato…”

“It’s different.”

[…]

[…]

Alon,

“……Delicious.”

He was enjoying a new —or rather, familiar— culinary delicacy.