The labyrinthine city of Lartania is divided into eight sections, four inside and four outside. Among these, the eastern district on the outskirts of Lartania, colloquially known as the slums, is referred to by mercenaries and adventurers as the ‘Street of Scum’. Initially, it was merely a nesting ground for scavengers, but now it has become an area so treacherous that even the lord of Lartania treads carefully.

This district, adjacent to the city walls, might as well be outside the law due to the formidable figures hidden in its streets. Consequently, most mercenaries strictly avoid it unless necessary. The Street of Scum is dominated by three organizations.

The first is led by Su-rode, head of the Ji-ha-jik-dan. The second, under the leadership of Kokan, is called Punkcal, located in the northeastern district—a gathering place for Lartania’s refuse. The third, Salamandra leads the Dark Mud, which, despite officially being one of three powers, effectively rules over the Street of Scum.

Previously, these three factions had equally divided the district, but at some point, Dark Mud seized control, overpowering the others due to the unforeseen and immense strength of their boss, Salamandra. The other organizations do not understand how Salamandra rapidly ascended to a completely different level.

They only witnessed Salamandra, exuding dark magic, tearing apart a swordmaster-level adversary from Laksas with bare hands.

Since that day, no one in the Street of Scum dares defy Dark Mud. Inside their headquarters, a scene resembling a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood unfolds. Everywhere you look—inside buildings, outside on the streets, the ground, the sky, the exterior walls, the main gate—corpses are all that can be seen. A unique aspect is the massive golden pipes piercing through the bodies, creating chaos like a jungle gym, gleaming under the blue moonlight.

Salamandra, the leader of Dark Mud, looked nervously at the being before her under the clear blue moon. Her green eyes sparkled behind her as a woman—or rather, a high-ranking member of Lartania named Rine, issued a command: “Restore it.”

The moment the command was given, the golden pipes moved at incredible speed, seemingly melting into nothingness and erasing the macabre jungle gym.

As a rain of corpses began to fall, creating a blood flower, Rine, seemingly pleased with the power bestowed upon her, nodded repeatedly, saying, “Well, it seems all the nuisances are gone now. Shall we have a talk?”

She smiled at Salamandra, who furrowed her brow unknowingly, glanced at Rine, and suddenly turned to flee, certain that he could not overcome her presence—at least not yet.

Upon deciding, Salamandra entered the building without hesitation and rushed to the basement to use ‘that’ against the formidable opponent. Upon reaching the basement, she quickly opened a box prepared for this day—her only hope, her lifeline. Unfortunately, as soon as she opened the box, she could no longer reach out her hands. All she could do was watch as a golden pipe, which had killed all her subordinates, burst through her heart from behind.

“Oh, this is troublesome. I shouldn’t kill her.” As Rine’s voice, dripping with regret, became a funeral march, Salamandra instantly died. Licking her lips as if disappointed, Rine approached and noticed something.

“What’s this?”

Her voice echoed faintly in the dark basement, spotting a vast amount of abyssal entities soaked in Salamandra’s blood.

***

Lately, Evan had nothing particular to do. What could there possibly be to do at the central tower where the magic conference was ongoing? While Alon didn’t particularly restrict Evan’s movements, allowing him to wander around if he felt bored, he had chosen not to do so recently. The reason was simple: since a week ago, the number of magicians clinging to Evan had increased exponentially. If this attention had been purely due to his looks, he would have been ready to enjoy it. Concern? What’s that? Evan enjoyed being in the spotlight.

Unfortunately, the reason was different. It was due to the head and deputy head of the Blue Magic Tower being associated with Alon. Evan only had to think of stepping out of his room to recall the magicians swarming him, each offering enticing artifacts or relaying messages to the Marquis, hoping to establish a connection through these offers. It seemed as though their lack of social skills, developed from being cooped up in the tower focusing solely on magic research, made them oblivious to his rejections or ignorance.

They clung to him even more, chattering like penguins. Honestly, Evan had no clue what Alon was up to that caused such a stir.

“No, it doesn’t seem like he’s doing anything.”

Of course, he knew that Alon wasn’t particularly active. Essentially, Evan was just accompanying Alon, who didn’t engage in anything unusual during their travels, except maybe eating sweet potatoes for over two weeks without getting tired of them.

But given the circumstances, Evan couldn’t help but suspect Alon might be up to something secretly. Alon, being who he was, would only sincerely feel wronged if asked about it. Although it was hard to tell with his expressionless face, having served him for almost ten years, Evan had learned to read some emotions through his impassiveness.

So, after days of staying indoors, Evan finally went out, walking inside the magic tower. He figured enough time had passed for the rumors to have died down. Shortly after, he felt satisfied, realizing his judgment was correct. As he walked around, the magicians only glanced at him instead of crowding around, leading him to believe the gossip had been quelled. Just as he was starting to enjoy his leisurely tour of the tower, he encountered someone.

“It’s been a while.”

“Oh, Felin?”

“Yes.”

Evan ran into Felin Crysinne, whom he had met in Laksas. Initially aloof, they had developed some friendship while traveling together in Laksas.

“What brings you here?”

“A magician attending a magic conference? I’d like to say there’s nothing unusual, but that’s not why I came.”

“Then?”

“I was dragged here.”

“Dragged? By whom?”

“By my sister, because of the rumors.”

“Ah.”

Evan immediately understood Felin’s words.

“Is she very upset?”

Evan had heard from Alon that Penia Crysinne had spoken harshly about Alon. Felin paused for a moment, then spoke, “I asked her just in case.”

“And?”

“I got slapped.”

“Hmm…?”

“Oh dear.”

“It’s a bit harsh to say, but she’s become quite violent,” said Felin, his voice tinged with fear. Evan noticed that the respect Felin once had for his sister during their time in Laksas had significantly faded. This indirect evidence of the hardships Felin had endured at Penia’s hands stirred a sense of sympathy in Evan.

“So, she came here because of that rumor?”

“Exactly. She said she’d come to find the head of the tower, who’d been spreading those rumors, and have a word with him—or rather, give him a piece of her mind.”

It sounded like a misunderstanding…?

“Ahem, so could the deputy have come alone?”

“She decided to bring me along thinking the head of the tower might hide.”

“Oh.”

Realizing he had been drafted into a search party, Felin felt momentarily relieved that his sister wasn’t around.

“So, have you just arrived?”

“No, we got here late yesterday. My sister went to look for the head of the tower, and I started from the first floor with others today. She should be arriving soon. By the way, where’s the Marquis?”

“He’s probably somewhere in the tower attending a lecture. But considering how angry she got over a mere rumor, she must really dislike him…huh?”

Suddenly, they heard murmurs among the magicians and saw Alon in the distance, reading a book he hadn’t seen before. Behind him was Penia Crysinne, watching him with a serious expression.

“Penia, over here,” Felin called just as he spotted her.

“Marquis!”

“Ah, hello…!?”

Evan and Felin saw Penia, who had just been looking serious, approaching Alon with a bright smile and a nasal voice. At that sight, Evan doubted his own eyes.

“…Deputy?”

“Eh-eh, don’t call me that, just Penia, Marquis!”

“????”

Penia’s sudden shift to coquettishness baffled all the magicians present.

“What?”

Felin, who had just been about to call his sister, was at a loss for words, his mouth agape.

Thud—

In such an absurd situation, a droplet of saliva dripped from Felin’s mouth.

“…Has my sister gone mad?”

He muttered, unable to comprehend the situation.

Penia does not like Alon. It was a well-known fact. From the beginning, there was no reason for her to like Alon, and she was stressed out whenever rumors related to him spread.

Wasn’t the very reason she came to the tower to find and deal with the Blue Tower Master who had spread those rumors?

However, the reason she was now showing a bright smile to Alon was, naturally, because of Heinkel. She turned her gaze to the sky. Although invisible to other magicians, Penia could clearly see Heinkel, in spirit form, looking down at the situation, as if to confirm that Alon and Penia were indeed involved.

This realization prompted Penia to throw herself at Alon and act nonsensically. Despite the immense stress it caused her, she was eager to receive teachings from Heinkel, who was treated like a hero among the magicians. Therefore, she asked Alon with a desperate smile, “Why are you looking at me like that, Marquis?”

The recipient of her nasal-voiced speech, Alon, was internally bewildered by Penia’s sudden approach, as the Penia he knew would never act like this. So he wondered, ‘Did she eat something wrong?’ and looked at her seriously.

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

“Ahahaha, what do you mean all of a sudden? We’ve always been like this, haven’t we?” Penia replied.

“…Haven’t we?”

What a strange syllable that was. While Alon was shocked behind his expressionless facade, the rumor that the Marquis Palatio and Penia Crysinne had been involved, which had been violently squashed in the Blue Tower, began to resurface.

“Was it true that they were involved after all? She must be too embarrassed to speak. If the Blue Tower Master himself acknowledged it, there must be no mistake in the rumor.”

Thanks to Penia twisting herself in flattery (?) to learn Heinkel’s magic, the rumors reignited.

***

“Cardinal, there’s a new rumor about the Marquis—”

“Yes, what is it, Cardinal Sergius?”

“A rumor has started that the deputy of the Blue Tower and the Marquis Palatio are really involved.”

“Oh, that rumor, wasn’t it debunked last time?”

“Well, this time it seems not to be just a rumor. In fact, several witnesses have come forward at the magic conference—”

“What?”

Just 3 days later, the rumor about the Marquis Palatio reached the ears of the cardinal of the Holy Kingdom, who was paying attention to such matters.

As Yutia’s fingers brushed against the texture of the paper, she felt the familiar touch of the stationary used for sending letters.