In the northern lands, where the harsh cold and gray earth stretch endlessly, lies the place where a battle was recently fought between an Outer God and the Count of Asteria. Now, it has become a field of countless graves, the final resting place of those the expedition couldn’t retrieve.

Clunk—

Clad in a black sacred robe, with ominous black accessories jangling at his waist and hands. Though his face was hidden beneath a hood, he seemed to scan his surroundings.

“…?”

“…?”

He twisted his mouth, as if he didn’t understand the situation. However, soon after, as he continued to glance around, a faint, amused smile crept onto his face.

“Interesting.”

His voice, strangely cheerful, was ill-suited for the gray landscape. It echoed, layered with multiple tones, making it unclear whether the speaker was a man or a woman. As he slowly surveyed the area, his gaze finally landed on the ground. It was the very place where the Outer God had vanished, and where, through a rightful duel, Alon had landed his blow.

Silently staring at the spot, he muttered, “Let’s see how far this will go. Shall we watch?”

With those cryptic words, he turned without hesitation, as if there was no more business to be done here. And so, the gray land, home only to graves, was left utterly desolate once more.

***

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Five months had passed since gifts had been arriving endlessly at the Palatio County, and now the time had shifted from spring to the clear, warm days of summer. Though the breeze was warm, it was still more aptly described as “pleasant” than “hot.”

At this time, when the flood of gifts accompanying Alon’s magical studies was beginning to slow down, two major tasks arose for him. 

The first was the reappearance of the forgotten city of Kahara. After continuously seeking information from the guild, Alon had quickly obtained word that the lost city had been discovered in the desert. Though the guild’s report only mentioned that explorers had found a hidden city, Alon, based on his prior knowledge, easily identified it as the forgotten city of Kahara. In other words, all that remained was to depart from the colony, and he could finally acquire the information he had sought.

However, instead of heading to the desert city, Alon was currently traveling in the opposite direction, towards the capital of Asteria, Teria. The reason for this was his second task: the Grand Assembly, held every three years, which nobles were obligated to attend.

“Are we there yet?”

“We should be arriving soon,” replied Evan, who was riding in the carriage with Alon, looking up at the sunny sky.

“I hope we’re not close.”

“But if we push the pace any further, it’ll be difficult.”

Alon nodded at Evan’s words. The carriage, now speeding along an unpaved road, was moving unusually fast for such a vehicle.

‘I don’t want the attention from arriving late…’ 

Calculating time poorly, Alon found himself in danger of arriving late to the Grand Assembly. Behind his expressionless face, he sighed deeply. He was tempted to abandon everything and turn the carriage back toward the colony, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. Like the social gatherings he’d attended previously, the Grand Assembly was a mandatory event for all Asterian nobles, held once every three years.

‘Why do such rules even exist?’ 

While Alon had looked through documents for a way to avoid attending, he knew the reason such regulations were in place. 

‘Is this a communist country…? Oh, it’s a monarchy, so maybe it is…?’

Yet, knowing the reason for the rule didn’t change his mind. He had no interest in joining Asteria’s political factions, not before and certainly not now. Joining a political faction was essentially making enemies within the kingdom, something Alon had no desire for. 

Of course, making enemies could bring benefits, but none of those were things Alon wanted. Money, for instance, had become abundant due to his “ever-grateful” servant, Deus.

‘…There was a time when receiving too many gifts felt burdensome, but now, things are quite comfortable.’

In any case, Alon saw no benefit to joining a faction given his current dreams, so he had stayed away from them from the start.

“Evan.”

“There, you can see the capital now.”

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As if waiting for Alon’s words, Evan quickly responded. Alon shifted his gaze outside the carriage and saw the capital of Asteria, Teria, coming into view.

“Oh.”

Teria’s level of development was impressive, better than any other kingdom Alon had seen so far. Though he had only visited about five estates and one other capital, Caliban, the difference in development, aside from the size of the land, was not significant.

As he gazed absentmindedly at the view of the capital…

“There it is.”

Seeing the building for the Grand Assembly in the distance, Alon couldn’t help but feel the same nervous anticipation as a university student running ten minutes late for a lecture. His face tensed with anxiety at the thought.

“Hmm…?”

However, as soon as he entered the assembly hall, Alon tilted his head in confusion. Despite the fact that the meeting should have already started, a large number of nobles were still outside, casually socializing instead of entering the hall.

‘What’s going on…?’

Alon briefly wondered but quickly dismissed the thought. Instead, he felt relieved that he wouldn’t have to endure the cold stares of arriving late. He hurriedly stepped down from the carriage, eager to get inside.

*** 

Soon after…

“Phew—”

Evan, who had driven the carriage to the assembly in such a tight time frame, sighed with relief as he watched Alon.

Alon, walking toward the Grand Assembly at a slightly hurried pace, seemed to be in a rush. However, to others, it might have simply appeared that his strides were naturally long.

But Evan, who had been by Alon’s side for over seven years and approaching eight, could tell that Alon was in more of a hurry than he let on.

‘Well, that’s about the only thing I can figure out about him.’

Despite having spent many years with Alon, there were still many things Evan didn’t know about him, which left him feeling a bit frustrated.

“Huh?”

Evan soon wore a puzzled expression. The nobles, who had been chatting amongst themselves just moments before, began following Alon into the assembly hall as he walked briskly ahead of them.

Of course, this wasn’t entirely unusual. It was possible that they had simply lost track of time while talking and only now realized they were running late.

However, that wasn’t the reason for Evan’s confusion.

‘Wait, are they all following the Count?’

The nobles scattered near the Grand Assembly building weren’t standing together; they had been spread out all over the place, from the stairs to the entrance. In other words, the nobles who realized they were late only needed to head for the entrance.

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But…

‘No way… is this really happening?’

Alon, too absorbed in his own thoughts about not wanting to be late and feeling relieved he didn’t have to deal with the anxiety of a tardy university student, didn’t seem to notice. But all the nobles were now walking in behind him.

Clunk—

“…???”

When Alon finally reached the top of the stairs and entered the assembly, it looked as though he was leading all the nobles inside. Evan, watching from behind, could only stare in bewilderment.

***

Meanwhile, as Alon entered the assembly hall, feeling relieved, he finally took in the view of the interior for the first time. It resembled the round shape of a parliamentary building he had seen on TV in his previous world.

The only noticeable difference was that the seats were divided into three distinct sections, likely to separate the factions from one another.

‘The left must be the Royalists, and the right the Nobles’ faction?’

Alon glanced at the nobles seated on the left and right sides, before noticing the numerous empty seats in the middle.

‘It seems like this is where the unaffiliated nobles sit… but are there really this many unaffiliated nobles?’

Alon’s face showed confusion, but only for a moment. Realizing that eyes were gradually turning towards him, he instinctively moved to sit in the furthest seat at the back. However, as he turned his head in response to the gazes he felt from behind, he was startled.

For there, staring directly at him, were the nobles. They were all looking at him with expressions that seemed to ask, ‘What are you doing right now?’

‘Wait, weren’t all of you just outside…???’

With a bewildered expression, Alon started to move forward, intending to sit in a seat somewhere in the middle.

“…Ah.”

Seeing the nobles still wearing those expressions of ‘What exactly are you doing?’, Alon finally realized why the nobles had been waiting outside the assembly hall despite the passage of time.

‘Could it be because they didn’t want to sit at the front?’

It was an almost ridiculous thought, something that had made sense back when he was a university student. Never having attended a grand assembly like this, either in the game or in real life, Alon had no choice but to sit at the point of the triangular seating arrangement—the spot clearly meant for the leader of a faction.

As soon as Alon sat down, the sound of nobles following suit filled the hall, confirming his suspicion.

‘…I can see why they wouldn’t want to sit here.’

Alon subtly glanced to the sides, looking at the two faction leaders who were also seated at the points of the triangle, just like him. On one side was Duke Limgrave, leader of the Royalist faction, and on the other side was Marquis Filboid, leader of the Noble faction. They could be described as a gracefully aging middle-aged man and a middle-aged man weathered by the storms of life, but the aura they exuded was formidable.

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Of course, it wasn’t magical energy. Rather, it was the gravitas of people who had led their factions for a long time, having faced countless trials.

‘They’re staring a lot.’

Just as Alon was coming to understand why the nobles avoided sitting at the front, the man in the center, who looked more like a clergyman than a noble, glanced at Alon and the other faction leaders and began to speak.

“Let us now commence the Grand Assembly.”

‘I hope this ends quickly…’ Alon thought to himself as he turned his head. In doing so, he spotted Duke Altia seated behind him. She had been seated directly behind Alon, and unlike the last time he had seen her, she now radiated an aura of mystery and intrigue.

“And before we begin the assembly, we would like to announce that the newly established faction, ‘Kalpha,’ will now have voting rights in Asteria’s Grand Assembly.”

It was one of those rumors that Alon had pushed to the back of his mind, convinced it was something that wouldn’t matter in the long run. But now, he remembered—it was the day the faction of Lady Zenonia and Duke Altia was officially launching.

“And now, Count Palatio, as the representative of the Kalpha faction, do you have anything to say?”

“…What?”

At that moment, Alon realized that he had somehow become the leader of the shadowy faction created by Duke Altia and Lady Zenonia.