I Became the Patron of Villains

45. What’s Going On? (1)

Five days later.

The news of Kalman and Mariam, the Baba Yagas, targeting Seollang’s life spread rapidly throughout the colony.

With the testimonies of Lian Aculus, the daughter of the Red Tower Lord, and the mercenaries who survived the attack, the news spread like wildfire.

The public, outraged by the fact that the Baba Yagas had cowardly joined forces to deal with another Baba Yaga, pulled down and destroyed the statues of Kalman and Mariam that were installed in the east of the colony.

Similarly, the guilds that belonged to the factions of those two Baba Yagas quickly disbanded, and within a few days, all traces of Mariam and Kalman disappeared from the colony.

Instead, it was Seollang who filled the void left by Mariam and Kalman.

Despite being ambushed by Mariam and Kalman, Seollang managed to deal with them and return, gaining immense support from the public.

As the testimonies of the daughter of the Red Tower Lord and the mercenaries gradually proved to be true, Seollang’s support soared to unprecedented heights.

Seollang, who had been around longer than Kalman, was now being hailed as the first Baba Yaga by all the public.

In addition, Count Palatio, who was known to have played a significant role in helping Seollang deal with the two Baba Yagas, was also receiving tremendous attention.

And now he was.

“…….”

He had come to the forgotten city of Kahara once again, to check something at the eastern end that he had missed last time.

It was the writing on the eastern stone tablet that he had mentioned.

“Hmm.”

Alon, who had read all the writing on the stone tablet in a time that could be considered long or short, suddenly had a question.

‘……Come to think of it, how am I reading this?’

It was the language.

Despite the fact that the writing on the stone tablet was in words he had never seen before, not in the common language of the continent, he could naturally decipher it.

As if he had been able to read the sentence from the beginning.

With a peculiar expression on his face, Alon decided to visit the central tower before returning to ask about this part.

He then turned around and started walking, recalling the contents he had read on the stone tablet.

‘……Outsiders and gods.’

The eastern stone tablet, which had been recommended by the mysterious ‘it’ as a place where he could roughly see the situation, contained stories related to outsiders and gods.

However, what was a bit peculiar was that there were a few parts that were slightly different from the information he had obtained while playing Psychedelia.

‘……Why are outsiders and gods written in reverse?’

In Psychedelia, outsiders and gods are separated.

Outsiders refer to gods who did not originally exist on this continent, but came from people’s beliefs or from another world.

Gods refer to those who existed from the beginning when there was nothing on the continent.

As far as Alon knew, the ones called gods in Psychedelia were the five great sins, and the strange god he had met in the north a while ago was called an outsider.

However, on this stone tablet, ‘outsiders’ were referred to as ‘gods’, and the five great sins were referred to as ‘outsiders’, completely different from what he knew.

Of course, the names of the five great sins and the outer gods were not directly expressed in the stone tablet.

The names of the gods in the stone tablet were interpreted metaphorically, such as ‘one who values honor,’ ‘one who searches for forgotten death,’ or ‘one who gazes too deeply into the mysteries of magic.’

However, Alon, who had played Psychedelia several times, knew exactly who these metaphorical expressions referred to.

He also knew that metaphors like ‘one with many hands’ and ‘one who harbors greed and envy’ referred to the five great sins.

“Hmm-“

After thinking for a while, Alon decided to neatly fold that information into one corner of his mind.

Except for the fact that outer gods were expressed as gods and vice versa, there was no overlap between what Alon already knew and the information he could read from the stone tablet.

This was because the content mainly described in Psychedelia was about the future, not the past.

‘It would be nice if I could ask about this part too.’

Alon organized the contents of the stone tablet in his mind and moved towards the central tower.

In conclusion, Alon never met it again.

This was because the door that had been in the center of the tower when he first came to the city had disappeared as if it were a lie.

He thought about destroying it and going up, but since he didn’t think he would be able to meet it even then, Alon eventually came out.

“Eunsa!”

As soon as he went outside, he could see Seolang, who was welcoming him more lively than anyone else.

Seolang, who had shown a bored expression when Alon was not there, smiled brightly as soon as he came out.

Alon, who got on the carriage with her.

“Shall we get married?”

“……”

……For about five days, Seolang’s proposal, which had already surged nineteen times, made him look dizzy.

Alon looked at Seolang, who had placed both hands on his knees.

Unlike before, the distance between them had gotten closer day by day.

Of course, Alon had stayed still, but Seolang had unilaterally shortened the distance.

“Yes?”

Seolang perked up her ears and tilted her head slightly to the side.

Alon, who was looking at her tail swaying behind her face, let out a shallow sigh.

At first, it felt emotionally satisfying, like a cute daughter saying, ‘I want to marry daddy!’ but now it was a bit troublesome.

“……As I said before, I think of you as family.”

It was the nineteenth answer.

“But we’re not real family!”

…It was the nineteenth time she had protested.

“So if we get married, all the problems will be solved!”

“What problems?”

“We’ll become a real family!”

Seeing Seolang’s face full of the expression “I’m a genius!”, Alon thought that this conversation felt like a repetitive dialogue in a game.

“…Do you know exactly what it means to get married?”

Alon asked, trying to push the conversation a bit further, which had ended with the same conclusion nineteen times.

“Of course I know! I have the confidence to make Eunsah happy!”

“…”

However, realizing that continuing the conversation would only lead to the same repetitive content, he decided to stop.

“Seolang, marriage is important, so think about it a bit more seriously.”

“I’m serious!”

“…Try to be a bit more serious.”

With those words, he closed his mouth.

At this point, he had no intention of marrying anyone.

Moreover, even though he hadn’t raised her himself, Seolang felt like a beloved daughter to Alon.

‘…In a few years, she’ll stop saying such things.’

After some time had passed, and Seolang’s slightly pouting cheeks had returned to normal after being rejected several times, they arrived at the colony, and Alon immediately prepared to leave.

Although he wanted to depart a bit later, it was much safer to move with the caravan that departed at specific intervals due to the nature of crossing the desert.

Therefore,

“See you next time.”

“Okay! You have to answer me then!”

“…Alright.”

Leaving an empty promise, Alon left the colony.

Seolang watched Alon leave with the caravan from afar, and only when the carriage was no longer visible did she return to the guild.

“…”

The guild, from which Ralga and the blood relatives who had betrayed her had disappeared, remained the same.

The betrayal of Ralga enraged the blood kin she had gathered, and among them were many who genuinely worried about the shocked Seolang.

The organization, which she thought was gradually becoming more ideal, should have been quite satisfactory as always.

…Should have been.

“Hoo-“

Seolang let out a shallow sigh.

Instead of the smile that always graced her lips, a blank expression took its place.

It was because she had come to a realization through this incident.

No matter how hard she tried again, she could never regain the happiness she felt when she was young.

“I hate it-“

Seolang’s murmur, devoid of interest, quietly echoed in the empty room.

It sounded ordinary, but in truth, it was a slightly gloomy voice.

The fact that the happiness she believed she could feel by creating a ‘family’ she had unwaveringly trusted until now was a mirage, brought her a sense of loss.

She had sincerely thought that if she gathered her kin and returned to the way things were, she could feel happiness again.

But even amidst such a sense of loss, the reason her lips slowly curved into a smile was because of one person.

“……”

Alon.

At this moment, Seolang recalled.

Despite the fact that he could have lost his life in an instant due to Kalman’s attack, he trusted Seolang and prepared his magic without moving a single step-

-Even when Ralga launched a surprise attack, he threw himself without hesitation to save her.

…The image of the great moon, who showed the ideal family she had envisioned through actions without any words.

Sway- Sway-

Seolang’s tail swayed pleasantly.

In the approximately one week she spent with the great moon, she saw the path to ‘happiness’ that she had not seen in the blood kin she had gathered over two years.

The path to the ‘happiness’ she pursued.

Of course, he was not family, but that did not matter at all.

If he was not ‘yet’ family, he would become family.

“I want to marry him-“

Seolang muttered the words she had already said several times, smiling pleasantly.

Her heart pounded with anticipation of the happiness she would regain if the great moon became her family.

But unfortunately, Seolang was also aware that she could not achieve it immediately.

For now, she had the task of protecting the Great Moon and forming a personal guard that would move for him.

“……”

In fact, Seollang hadn’t thought deeply about that task originally.

After all, she believed that the more she gathered her kin, the more the task given by the Great Moon would be solved on its own.

But now, it was different.

Now, to her, the Great Moon was not just a benefactor, but someone she couldn’t live without.

Therefore.

‘I must create it.’

Seollang.

‘A personal guard that can protect the benefactor from any threat, in any situation.’

She quietly resolved.

Her golden eyes shone brightly.

The night they left the colony.

“By the way, did you check?”

“The ones included in Seollang’s guild? I checked them all, but except for Ralga and the ones dealt with this time, there were no suspicious movements.”

Listening to Evan’s report, Alon nodded.

In fact, after returning from the ruins, Alon had ordered an investigation through the information guild to see if there were any others in Seollang’s guild plotting suspicious acts like Ralga.

The reason was obvious, it would be troublesome if Seollang got hurt again.

‘It wouldn’t be good if a problem arose for no reason.’

It was fine this time, but he wasn’t sure if it would be okay if it happened again, so Alon planned to deal with any factors that might provoke her in advance.

“That’s a relief.”

“I’ve told them to keep briefing us continuously if any unexpected situations arise, using the money you gave.”

“Good job.”

Answering Evan, Alon sighed and leaned against the carriage, feeling that the work in the colony was almost done.

In fact, it seemed like the work was over, but unfortunately, his work was not completely finished.

‘……Deal with one more foreigner……was it.’

Besides that, the new knowledge he had gained this time was floating around in his head.

Starting from the reversed foreigner and god. The thing that the unknown entity had been talking about.

And above all.

‘…So this is the natural order.’

Alon, who had never heard or seen even a fragment of this world’s hidden truth, not even while playing Psychedelia, thought.

‘Is it time to go there?’

As he continued to think about the destination, which he should have visited long ago, filled with countless phrases.

[I-]

In the regular meeting, which all members of the Blue Moon, including the Colony, must attend, the peaceful atmosphere that had persisted until now-

[I’m going to marry the Great Moon!!]

[Huh…?]

[…]

[…]

[…]

-Instead, a storm was raging.

A slightly fierce storm.