I Became the Patron of Villains

169 The Sorcerer Kylas (1)

Rine suddenly looked ahead.

The scenery was extremely alien.

A world where everything appeared murky.

But within it, there was a small hut emitting the only warm light.

As soon as she saw the hut, Rine realized she was in a dream.

For over ten years, she had been having this dream consistently.

The thought of not wanting to go crossed Rine’s mind.

She had already had this same dream hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

Naturally, she knew what was in the hut ahead and didn’t want to go there.

But soon, she moved her body.

Unless she entered the hut, this dream would never end.

“……”

She walked silently.

With each step Rine took, the hut grew closer.

And finally, when she reached the hut and quietly looked at the door before opening it.

Creeeeak-!

What unfolded before her eyes was a gruesome sight.

The corpse of a woman with her throat torn open.

The corpse of a man with his limbs twisted in all directions.

And the sight of three children, dead, with blood pouring from every orifice.

It wasn’t pleasant, but it was a familiar sight to Rine.

Not only had she seen it many times, but she had also created such corpses with her own hands.

However, despite that—

“Haa—haa—”

Her once calm eyes were now filled with fear.

Her heartbeat was gradually speeding up.

As if she had returned to that time, ten years ago.

……The day she saw the corpses of her parents and siblings.

And—

And—

And—

“!”

Rine opened her eyes and looked around.

The scenery had changed before she knew it.

Clearly visible was the room where she had fallen asleep.

There were no corpses, no blood, no warm-lit cabin.

It was just a room bathed in the morning sunlight.

“……Haa.”

“Whew-”

Stallion V, who had boarded the carriage to return to the kingdom, rubbed his eyes with a tired expression.

‘This is not something I can keep doing.’

In fact, he didn’t really want to attend this ball.

But he had no choice.

There were political reasons, but more than anything, it was because of the aftermath of Duke Comalon’s remnants.

……To be more blunt.

He attended this ball to elevate the status of the King of Asteria and to save the king’s face, thereby trying to reduce the compensation scale of the artificial foreign god incident even a little.

In other words, he was paying with his body.

Therefore, Stallion V sighed deeply once again.

“King of humans.”

He turned his gaze to the voice that soon followed.

There stood a man covered in armor.

A man brought through a secret contract with a mysterious race for future tasks.

He suddenly asked a question.

With a tone that was very arrogant for addressing a king.

But Stallion V did not feel the slightest displeasure.

Because he knew.

The being inside that armor and helmet was strong enough not to need to use honorifics with the king.

“……It’s fine when we’re alone, but I’d appreciate it if you could be more careful with your words when others are around.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll play along.”

“So, what do you want to ask?”

Kurak, the marked one, was silent for a moment before he spoke.

“Do you remember the man in the black coat at this ball?”

“……Black coat? Weren’t many nobles wearing black coats?”

“The man whose face showed no emotion.”

Stallion V easily recognized the person he was looking for.

“……Are you talking about Marquis Palatio?”

“Is that his name?”

“Yes. He’s quite a famous figure in the United Kingdom.”

“Seems like you’ve built quite a reputation. Can you tell me about it?”

“I don’t really want to, but it’s not that difficult.”

Stallion V began to tell stories related to Marquis Palatio.

After a little while.

“Well, that’s about it.”

“Is that so?”

“But- to be honest, some of it might be exaggerated.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Of course, Marquis Palatio’s abilities are beyond doubt, but apart from that, it might have been purely exaggerated in the process of being conveyed. For example, the rumor that he single-handedly dealt with the northern foreign press.”

At first, it was just that Marquis Palatio gave a lot of help.

Then it got embellished into a rumor that ‘the Marquis defeated the foreign press.’

Kurak, who had been quietly listening to Stallion V’s story, said.

“In my opinion, if anything, it’s even more impressive. It doesn’t seem particularly exaggerated.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“Just what I said. The rumors about Marquis Palatio don’t seem particularly distorted.”

“…You sound quite confident. Why is that?”

Kurak grinned at Stallion V’s question-

“Because he is, indeed, worthy of it.”

“Worthy of it…?”

He answered concisely.

Stallion V asked again in a voice full of doubt.

But Kurak didn’t respond and just recalled the Marquis Palatio he had seen a few days ago.

With an indifferent gaze, he met his eyes.

…A being who carried something grotesque on his back that made blood tears flow from one’s eyes just by recognizing it.

Kurak originally wasn’t the type to take such an interest in others.

Of course, there was a threatening presence behind him, but even so, it was the same.

There were more urgent matters, and he had come out into the world to cooperate with humans for that purpose.

The fundamental reason Kurak took an interest in Marquis Palatio was-

‘…How on earth is he wearing the gloves of the Primordial Elf- no, the gloves of the Holy Spirit’s Primordial Ancestor?’

Because he was wearing the gloves of the Primordial Ancestor.

Taezon (太尊).

The gloves used by the savior, whom the elves arbitrarily called the primordial elf, who once saved the alien races abandoned by the gods.

At first, he thought he was mistaken.

But there was no doubt that the man was wearing the gloves used by Taezon.

The memories engraved in the imprint passed down through hundreds of generations told him that those gloves were unmistakably Taezon’s.

That wasn’t the end of it.

He wouldn’t have been convinced that the Marquis of Palatio was Taezon just by looking at the gloves.

…If it weren’t for the dark leaves around the Marquis of Palatio.

‘There were at least six of them.’

Kurak recalled the six elves who were lurking near the Marquis of Palatio.

Each one of them was an existence with the power of a sword master, organized solely to protect the high elves.

They were operating covertly around the Marquis of Palatio.

If the black leaves, which only the queen could move, were protecting him, there was only one possibility.

“…Ha.”

Kurak let out a hollow laugh as if it was absurd.

Even he thought it didn’t make sense.

The dead had returned?

There was no way-

It couldn’t be.

Even though it couldn’t be.

The being that made him imagine such an unrealistic assumption had appeared before him.

Kurak, who had been lost in thought for a while, broke the silence.

“Prepare a letter when we return.”

“…I understand it’s not the reporting period.”

“It’s not, but there’s something that needs to be sent. If- if what I’m thinking is true-“

He smirked.

“-Everyone needs to be prepared.”

Because the world might be shaken.

####

About four days had passed since Alon and his party departed from Teria to Lartania.

Alon, who had been moving leisurely.

“……Marquis?”

“Deus?”

Unexpectedly, he met Deus in a village not far from Lartania.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yes, have you been well?”

Deus quickly approached and bowed deeply as soon as he saw Alon.

“But what brings you here?”

Deus answered, looking puzzled behind his expressionless face.

“I was on my way to Lartania.”

“……To Lartania?”

“Yes.”

“……Then there’s no need to stop here, is there?”

As Alon pointed out, Deus indeed had no reason to be here.

Considering Lartania as the center, Asteria was to the east and Caliban was to the west.

In other words, if Deus was heading from Caliban to Lartania, there was no reason to pass through here, which made Alon question.

“Ah, actually, I had something to get around here, so I came this far.”

“Something to get?”

“Yes.”

“……Ah, now that I think about it, I heard you were making something, is it because of that?”

“Yes, I was making a gift for you, Marquis.”

“A gift for me?”

From noble mtl dot com

He heard new news.

“Yes.”

“……Was that what you were making?”

“That’s right.”

Deus nodded vigorously with a confident expression.

Seeing his pure look filled with anticipation, Alon couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed.

Although he thought, “Suddenly?”

Hearing that he was making a gift made him feel good for no reason.

But seeing him running around like this made me feel a bit sorry.

…Well, the good outweighs the bad.

“Where are you headed, Marquis?”

This time, Deus asked.

“I’m going to Lartania too.”

“Then let’s go together.”

“…Let’s do that.”

Deus joined Alon and his party.

The next day.

Alon met Deus’s younger sister for the first time in a long while.

“Say hello, Silly.”

“…Hello.”

“…? Sure.”

Alon was inwardly pleased, but Silly-

“……”

She had a very complex and subtle expression, with a hint of resentment mixed in…

####

Underground on the outskirts of Lartania.

Ron, the person in charge of the Information Guild’s Lartania branch, was silently staring at the hooded woman in front of him.

Srrk-srrk-

Every time the woman nodded her head and moved her hand, the paper turned to the next page.

Next page.

And the next page.

After reading all the way to the last page, the woman placed the paper on the black wooden desk and spoke leisurely.

“Hmm- This isn’t enough. Do you have more?”

“More?”

“Yes.”

“If you want deeper information, the money you brought isn’t enough.”

“Really? Wasn’t it quite a lot?”

“…10 gold coins is already a generous price for this. Information about the senior councilor Line is expensive.”

In response to Ron’s calm answer, the woman, who had been calculating something intently, raised the corners of her mouth slightly and shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, fine. Actually, it would be nice to get more information, but this is enough.”

“Then leave.”

“Aren’t you being too cold to a woman like me?”

“Your face is hidden by the hood, so I can’t see it properly, and this is a workplace.”

At Ron’s cold attitude, she smiled faintly.

“Then how about we talk business?”

“…As I said, to talk business, you need money.”

“I heard you also buy useful information?”

“Hmph, do you think you have such useful information?”

“Of course. At this point, no one else knows this information but me.”

Ron looked down at the woman with a doubtful expression.

However.

“Let’s hear the information first and then decide the price. If it’s something we already handle, I can’t pay for it.”

He couldn’t miss the possibility.

“Fine – well, I don’t know if you can pay the price.”

“…?”

He gave her a chance.

Slowly, the woman approached Ron and brought her face close to his ear –

“There’s a demon lurking below.”

“…?”

She whispered quietly.

And at the same time, Ron felt a sense of realization.

In front of his eyes, where he had clearly seen the woman’s face, a black mist began to form.

As the strange object started to take shape –

The moment the eyes of the strange object slowly opened.

Pop-!

Ron’s head exploded.

In an instant, the black darkroom was stained red with blood.

And then.

“See, I told you you couldn’t handle it, didn’t I?”

The woman – no, the Apostle of Greed – looked down at Ron’s corpse, whose head had burst open.

With a twisted smile, she pushed the blood-stained paper on the desk into the air.

“Now that everything is ready-“

As the paper was sucked into the air with a ripple, a sinister presence briefly revealed itself.

“-Shall we get moving then.”

Soon, the Apostle of Greed quietly left the darkroom, leaving no one behind.