I Became the Patron of Villains

3. Becoming the Hidden Hand of the Count’s Family (3)

The Palladio Count’s family in Psychedelia is depicted as a picturesque villain in a side quest that disappears as the protagonist’s experience points in the game.

In other words, they are just extras in the game, but the reason Alon has so much information about the Count’s family is because he has dealt with several side quests related to the Palladio Count’s family in the game.

The side quests related to the Count’s family were quite lucrative in terms of experience points.

In short, in the game, they were nothing more than extras to give the protagonist experience points.

However, that was only when viewed as a game. For Alon, who was now in a reality that was no longer a game, the feeling was quite different.

He had seen with his own eyes the introduction of the Count’s family, which in the game was just described as ‘selling prostitution and drugs and running an organization called Avalon.’

……He was even confirming it in real-time now.

“……”

Alon glanced forward.

In front of him was the corpse of Tonio, who had died this time, lying in a coffin.

‘The cause of death was a fall……’

It was an absurd and futile death for a big shot who sold drugs in the kingdom, but of course, Alon knew that Tonio’s cause of death was not a fall.

No, it would be strange if anyone present didn’t know.

“……”

Alon glanced to the side.

Next to him was Leo, the eldest son of the Palladio Count’s family, who had been fighting with Tonio for the position of head of the family for some time, bowing his head with a very deep smile.

‘His mouth is going to tear.’

Seeing that he didn’t even try to hide it and couldn’t manage his expression properly, anyone could predict that Tonio’s cause of death was not a fall.

But even though everyone knew it, no one raised any objections to Leo.

Neither the knights, the retainers, nor even Aldimore, the current head of the Palladio Count family, said anything to his eldest son.

‘Well, considering he’s lost his mind to drugs and prostitution, would he even think of talking about it?’

Even during Tonio’s funeral, Alon let out a small, bitter laugh as he watched the count, who seemed to care nothing for dignity, surrounded by drugs and women.

‘Dark fantasy indeed, the family’s a mess.’

Of course, that didn’t mean Alon had any special plans.

From the beginning, Alon’s plan had been progressing smoothly without him having to do anything special, and the only problem in this plan was the Five Great Sins.

‘I need to find the rest quickly.’

With that thought, Alon watched the final process of the funeral.

As the coffin containing Tonio was about to close.

“Hmm…?”

A question flashed through Alon’s mind.

‘…Was it set up that Tonio would be killed like this?’

When playing the Palladio Count family episode in the game, only Leo appeared, so Tonio’s death was not a difficult issue for Alon to predict.

Yet, the reason he now questioned Tonio’s death was because of what Leo had said while being disciplined by the protagonist.

‘…There was definitely a scene where Leo cried out that he had barely managed to kill him after years of suffering and had finally become the heir.’

Having played the game multiple times, and seeing Leo’s face now, which was quite comical for someone who had suffered so much,

‘Hmm…’

Alon, who remembered his end, tilted his head but eventually shrugged lightly.

After all, he wasn’t that curious.

A few days after Tonio’s funeral.

The Palladio Count family, which had been noisy due to the death of the second son, became surprisingly peaceful.

Because the fight for the heir had disappeared.

Of course, among the count’s sons, there was still the third son, Alon, but no one thought the family would fall into chaos again.

Unlike Tonio, who had the power to oppose the eldest son by selling drugs in collaboration with an organization, everyone knew that Alon had no power.

Even Leo, who was very sensitive about the issue of succession, showed no concern for Alon, not even paying attention to him.

Instead, he seemed busier devouring the drug business left behind after Tonio’s death.

Anyway, at this point when peace had returned to the count’s family.

Alon was reading a letter from Utia.

“Hmm.”

The letters exchanged for almost a year now were, as always, no different from before.

The contents inside were about the orphanage, mentioning that a few of the children there were growing up very well, along with a few stories related to Deus that he had sent last time.

“They are growing up well without any lack…”

Alon smiled satisfactorily as he read the short line in Yutia’s letter.

Perhaps because he had asked her to take extra care of Deus, who was a bit sick when he sent him, she always included a brief mention of Deus in her letters.

“…When I read her letters, she seems like nothing but a kind country girl A.”

He thought about visiting her, but Alon soon shook his head lightly and continued reading the letter.

As he was reading the end of the letter, Alon suddenly spoke.

“Evan.”

“Yes, sir?”

“…Do orphanages usually receive a lot of support?”

“Well, usually… they do receive some, but not that much, I suppose.”

“Right, I thought so.”

The reason Alon asked about the support was because of the list of sponsors written at the end of the letter.

“…Was it three months ago, or four months ago?”

Interestingly, someone had started sponsoring the orphanage that Alon had been supporting.

Of course, the letter only mentioned that a merchant named Malano had sponsored it, so he didn’t know exactly how much was donated.

“This month, including me, five people have sponsored the orphanage…”

He made a peculiar expression as he read the letter but soon thought nothing of it.

“Well, the more support, the better.”

Alon wrote a reply, appropriately agreeing with Yutia’s stories, and handed it to Evan.

“Are you going to deliver it yourself this time too?”

“No, didn’t I go a few months ago?”

“It was three months ago.”

“How was it… back then?”

“If you are talking about the orphanage, I believe I told you it was running well. Deus, whom we took there last time, had also improved a lot.”

“Really?”

Alon nodded with a satisfied expression at Evan’s words.

“Indeed, no matter how much of the Five Great Sins they are, they couldn’t have been the Five Great Sins from the beginning. It feels good to see the children growing up properly. It must have been because we created an environment where they had to kill people around them.”

Alon once again realized how important the growth environment of a person is and added.

“This time, there’s no need to go personally. Just have someone from the mercenary guild handle it.”

“Understood- Ah.”

Evan nodded as if he understood and was about to leave when he suddenly realized something and opened his mouth.

“And about what you mentioned last time?”

“What I mentioned?”

“The ancient book.”

“…Did you find it?”

“I’m not certain, but I did find a clue.”

“Tell me.”

At Alon’s words, Evan began to carefully relay the information he had obtained from the information guild.

“…Found it.”

He had found the location of the third sin.

The territory of the Margot family, located next to a small village in the eastern part of the Asteria Kingdom, is known for its beautiful glass crafts.

But that is only the outward appearance of Margot’s specialty. In reality, what brings money to the Margot family is drugs.

More precisely, an organization called ‘Palan’ uses Margot as a distribution point and pays the family handsomely for it.

And Palan, which has been steadily expanding its influence using Margot as a distribution point, has now become a massive organization with hundreds of members, each of its executives commanding over ten experts.

Therefore, Roton, the boss of Palan and an expert mercenary like the other executives, believed that Palan would grow even larger.

…Until yesterday, that is.

“……”

Roton looked around with fearful eyes.

What he saw in front of him were dozens of corpses lying in pools of blood.

“Ugh, s-save me! Save me!!”

“Please- Please-!”

“aaah!!”

The few remaining members were screaming madly.

“Ugh…”

Roton looked at the members with trembling eyes.

To them, the living members should have felt like a sturdy shield.

No matter how much weaker they were compared to Roton, the sheer number of members should have been enough to give him a sense of security.

However, even so, Roton felt fear as he looked at the members of the organization.

“Ugh, ugh…”

All the surviving members were holding their swords in reverse grip, aiming at their own necks.

“No! No, no, no, no-!”

“Ahhh-!!”

“Stop, stop- please stop! Please… please!!”

The faces of the members were all filled with pleading and desperation.

However, separate from that, their bodies naturally pushed the swords held in reverse grip into their necks.

“Gah-”

The last dozen or so members met their deaths by their own hands.

And then.

“!”

Now Roton’s body began to move on its own.

“N-no…!”

He gripped the sword in reverse.

“P-please-!”

No matter how hard he tried to stop, his body, once seized, no longer listened and trembled violently.

At the last moment.

“!”

Roton could see it.

In the dark, dark hideout, the purple pupils staring straight at him.

But the moment he saw it-

Thunk!

Roton had already plunged the sword into his own neck.

Thud.

With that, Deus, who had been in the darkness until just a moment ago, silently stepped forward.

“Well done.”

Likewise, Yutia, who had been with Deus, naturally followed him out.

“Is there any meaning in killing these guys?”

As Yutia walked out, Deus asked as if he had been waiting.

Unlike a year ago, there was a definite light of reason in his eyes.

“Are you pitying them?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s because I know these b*stards are grinding humans to make drugs.”

“Then?”

“…It’s just, does killing these guys really help in killing those damned b*stards?”

At Deus’s question, Yutia smiled and spoke.

“Of course.”

Yutia’s clean answer.

“This is the cornerstone for preparing the place for His return.”

Thud.

With her following words, a pattern began to form beneath her feet.

Engraved in the magic circle was a giant eye with a crescent moon inside.

“When He comes here personally, should the place be shabby?”

“…I understand.”

Deus, who was staring at the pattern drawn beneath her feet, seemed to have already grasped her intention, and nodded without saying anything further.

“Everything is according to His will.”

Muttering the words they had repeated hundreds of times, the two, having completed the pattern beneath their feet, disappeared into the darkness.

Thus, no one was left in Pallen’s hideout.