I Became the Patron of Villains

39. Seollang (1)

A-rank warrior Balam.

Among the warriors ranging from F-rank to A-rank, he was considered one of the top warriors in terms of strength. He was having a normal day, leisurely drinking at a pub he frequented, as he didn’t have any scheduled duels.

Until a nobleman was caught in his sight.

The nobleman, who seemed to be new to this city, was moving along the street without even properly hiding his wealthy attire, and as expected, he got caught by Adigo’s gang.

By Adigo, an A-rank fighter who held a rank one step higher than him.

In fact, up to that point, it felt like just another ordinary day.

Because he had seen Adigo extorting money or goods from merchants or nobles who entered the colony several times before.

“Look at those antique clothes, we hit the jackpot.”

“We’re going to make a lot of money.”

The fighters next to him made idle comments as they watched the nobleman surrounded by Adigo’s gang.

None of the fighters in the pub or nearby shops had any intention of helping the nobleman.

Even though there was another A-rank fighter present, they just watched Adigo extorting the nobleman’s goods with leisurely eyes, without taking any action.

It was only natural.

After all, there was nothing to gain for the fighters by helping that nobleman.

Even if the nobleman realized it and offered to pay the fighters immediately, not a single one of them would step forward.

Because no one was foolish enough to antagonize Adigo’s gang – more precisely, to antagonize Baba Yaga, who was backing Adigo’s gang, just for a bit of money.

Knowing that Adigo was acting so boldly because he trusted the monstrous creature Maliam, who was a Baba Yaga, the fighters just sipped their beer, using the situation in front of them as a side dish.

The moment Adigo lightly tapped the nobleman’s head.

Boom-!

An anomaly occurred.

“Tell me, what happened.”

Suddenly appearing, one of the only four Baba Yagas in the current colony.

“Hey.”

Due to the appearance of the golden flash, Seolang.

Crackle-!

The trademark electric current sparked from her body-

“Which b*stard…?”

Even though he was slammed into the wall, Adigo, who was getting up with great momentum, looked bewildered at the sudden appearance of Seolang.

“Se, Seolang?”

As if he couldn’t understand the situation at all, but clearly recognizing the presence in front of him, he muttered.

However.

“What did you do to my mentor?”

Adigo’s eyes shifted from confusion to terror at the following words.

“Ugh-!?”

Seolang, who had appeared out of nowhere, slammed Adigo’s head into the ground.

Crack-!

A chilling sound echoed in the ears of the warriors.

But it didn’t end there. With an indifferent expression, Seolang grabbed Adigo’s leg and flung him away.

Crash! With a loud noise, Adigo was thrown into the pub. He hurriedly tried to get up and open his mouth.

“W-wait, I didn’t know, I didn’t-“

Crack-!

Seolang grabbed his head and slammed it into the counter.

“Really-!”

Again.

“aaah-!”

Again.

“If you do this to me, my brother will-“

Again.

“P-please-“

Again.

Drip- Drip-

All the warriors fell silent and stared at the wrecked pub.

The pub owner, who should have been angry about the destruction, was trembling in fear, holding his breath.

A customer, who had been sitting at a shattered table, remained motionless with a heavy beer mug in hand.

And then.

Thud-

Seolang, having lost interest, let go of Adigo’s blood-soaked head. All the warriors felt a renewed sense of awe.

Her speed was such that she was almost invisible, and the way she handled an A-rank warrior like a ragdoll was enough to earn their reverence.

With that, Seolang glanced at the thugs surrounding Alon, who couldn’t even breathe properly.

Bang-! Crackle-!

In the moment Alon blinked, she had already sent the thugs flying.

They were pinned to the walls and windows, trembling before collapsing.

The warriors who had once again felt a shiver watching the golden flash that had become Baba Yaga by ruthlessly crushing all the fighters in the colosseum without showing any mercy or emotion.

“Master! You’re here!? If you’re here, you should say something~”

““?””

Everyone momentarily stopped thinking at the sight of Seolang, who was smiling with a wagging golden tail, hugging Alon’s arm.

“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time because you said you were coming! I’ve prepared a lot of things, so let’s go quickly!”

However, regardless of whether the warriors’ thoughts stopped or not, Seolang, who was smiling and wagging his tail, soon began to move somewhere, pulling Alon’s hand.

The warriors, who had been staring at the nobleman disappearing into the distance with Seolang, had a bewildering question in their minds.

‘Who is that man…? Who is he that the mad dog…’

The question of who the nobleman, whom Seolang called Master, was.

However, Alon, who was being dragged away by Seolang’s blood-stained hand, was also.

‘I’m not dead, am I…?’

Although he felt gratitude and a strange sense of pride, he was just as bewildered as the warriors.

Since Alon arrived at the colony late in the afternoon, the sun was already setting when he reached the building led by Seolang.

“This is the place!”

Following Seolang, who entered the building with perked ears, Alon had a low impression.

‘It’s big.’

As Alon stared blankly at the building that rose more than nine floors, unlike other buildings, he heard Evan’s admiring voice next to him.

“Wow- it’s big.”

Of course, the building itself didn’t feel as spacious as Deus’s mansion, but in this city, high-rise buildings were rarely seen. So the contrast felt even stronger.

Admiring with Evan, Alon soon began to head to the top floor.

“Ah, welcome back, boss.”

“Boss!”

As they started heading to the top floor, the beastmen who appeared.

Seeing the beastmen with golden hair like Seolang, who used the title of boss and bowed their heads with military discipline, Alon.

“Boss, you’re here.”

Soon, when they reached the top floor, they saw another beastman bowing his head as if he had been waiting in front of the door.

A beastman with a long scar on one side of his face, also with golden hair.

“Yes, nothing happened, right?”

“Nothing happened.”

Seolang, with a lively smile, spoke and then opened the door and went inside.

Alon and Evan followed Seolang inside as well.

“……?”

In the meantime, Alon felt the gaze of the beastman standing in front of the door and tried to turn his eyes away.

“Indeed, it’s a bit different from the rumors.”

“Rumors?”

Alon couldn’t help but make a puzzled expression at Evan’s following words.

Evan spoke while looking at her walking ahead.

“Yes, actually, I know that Seolang’s rumors aren’t very good.”

“How?”

“There were rumors that her personality was extremely cruel. Wasn’t she called a mad dog? Of course, they said she was a bit more amiable to her own kind.”

“……Seolang?”

Alon looked at Seolang.

“Master! You can sit here!”

Seolang, wagging her tail excitedly, sat cross-legged on the meaningless floor prepared in the office and patted the seat of honor.

‘……Her appearance earlier was a bit creepy.’

Alon briefly recalled the appearance Seolang had shown earlier. But soon, he shrugged his shoulders and sat down, looking at her bright smile. And with that, a place was created where he could properly talk with Seolang.

In fact, from Alon’s perspective, he had concerns about how to lead the conversation with Seolang.

Even though the conversation with Deus ended well, he didn’t know how the conversation with Seolang would flow.

But compared to Alon’s worries-

“Great!”

“……Huh?”

“Great!”

-The conversation with Seolang was, in some sense, easier than with Deus, leaving Alon bewildered.

“Did you really listen to the story?”

“Yes! And you can speak informally to me, Master!”

Seolang spoke energetically.

Even in normal times, she couldn’t stay still, and while sitting cross-legged, she sneakily placed her arms on the ground and started doing a handstand.

Looking at her, Alon, who had a blank expression, spoke.

“……Still, isn’t there a lot to think about? I heard you’re running a guild too.”

In the short conversation with her, Alon asked, having heard that Seolang had gathered her kin to form a guild, aside from becoming a Baba Yaga in the colony.

“Hmm-“

She began to ponder in a strange handstand position.

“It’s okay!”

“……Really?”

“Yes! Even if we’re not family, you’re my- no, my benefactor!”

Seolang answered energetically, and Alon nodded slightly awkwardly, but felt a sense of pride deep inside, similar to when he looked at Deus.

It was because Alon, who knew that he had never properly contacted or sent letters, did not expect Seolang to help him so actively.

‘Honestly, I didn’t expect her to go this far.’

From Alon’s perspective, who needed help, it wasn’t a bad thing, so he felt a fatherly affection welling up inside as he chatted with her about various things.

Of course, most of the conversation wasn’t particularly special.

Alon asked Seolang about Deus and how she had been doing so far.

Seolang also told Alon about her life in the colony.

Then, as if she remembered something, Seolang sighed softly and spoke.

“Thanks to my benefactor, I was able to gather our scattered kin!”

“……Because of me?”

“Yes, this!”

Seolang showed a bright smile and displayed the glove on her right hand, and Alon easily recognized it as the essence of the Golden Mane Tribe.

“I see.”

‘……They say that meeting the Golden Mane Tribe unlocks their true power, so there really was something to it,’

Alon felt a sense of realization as to why she was so favorable towards him and continued the conversation for a moment.

“Come to think of it, the desert is indeed dangerous.”

“Huh? Why?”

At Evan’s words, Seolang tilted her head and asked.

“We were attacked.”

“……? Attacked?”

“Yes.”

At the word “attack” mentioned by Evan, Seolang’s cheerful smile momentarily froze, but Alon nodded in agreement with his words.

“We were attacked by the Blood Sand Bandits. Even though we moved during the day when bandits don’t usually roam.”

“Really? Bad guys, huh…?”

“Honestly, they’re not the kind of people I’d want to meet again.”

Recalling that moment, Alon shrugged his shoulders and looked at Seolang. She quickly put on a smile, as if her momentarily hardened expression was a lie, and continued the conversation a bit more.

“Ah, first of all, rest today! You must have had a hard time coming all the way here, right?”

With those words, she gave Alon and Evan each a room just below the top floor.

And after providing rooms for Alon and Evan, Seolang went back up to the top floor and spoke with a smiling face.

“Ralga.”

“Yes.”

A beastman with a scar on his face appeared instantly at Seolang’s words.

“Where are the bad guys?”

“…The Blood Sand Bandits are located in the northeast, but there’s one more thing I need to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“The Blood Sand Bandits, as far as I know, are secretly connected with Kalman, one of the other three Babayagas.”

Ralga’s words carried a sense of concern.

“Really? But still-“

However, upon hearing those words, Seolang’s tail, which had been still, swayed once.

“-We can’t touch the benefactor.”

She answered as if Ralga’s information wouldn’t change her future actions.

“If he finds out, I’ll definitely get scolded, right?”

She muttered softly, so even Ralga couldn’t hear, while looking towards the northeast.

“Anyway, wait.”

-With a face that was now completely expressionless, different from her usual smiling self, her golden eyes gleamed ominously.

“-I’ll kill them all.”

And then she disappeared from the spot.

Leaving behind a crackling golden flash.