I Became the Patron of Villains

60. There Was (1)

Although there were repeated statements from Yutia, Rine had recognized from the beginning that the Great Moon was fundamentally different from them.

He was a friend of the great Palaon who existed in the forgotten age of gods.

He freely used the phrases and sentences of the forgotten era that could only be used if understood.

He noticed that she had a ‘library’ and bestowed upon her the ‘Eye of the Wanderer.’

But more than anything, what made Rine feel the difference with the Great Moon was the eye behind his back.

That which was not recorded even in his library, that which distorted cognition just by looking at it, made Rine realize more clearly than anything that the Great Moon was a different being from them.

Thus, Rine had faith in the Great Moon, and she did not think it was strange.

She thought it was not strange at all to offer faith to someone fundamentally different from them.

Because of that belief, Rine did not doubt at all that the Great Moon would win this fight.

In Rine’s heart, he was already the one who would fulfill her only wish, just wearing the guise of a human.

“`

“……”

Rine gazed at the lord’s castle of the labyrinth city visible beyond the office and continued her thoughts.

‘……Family, huh.’

In truth, she had sensed her own death the moment the foreign god used magic on her.

Indeed, at that moment, the foreign god’s magic was unavoidable.

Of course, she was able to survive thanks to the Great Moon, who created a scenario where she could be saved even in the face of death by the foreign god.

She couldn’t understand the actions of the Great Moon.

She didn’t think her life was valuable enough for the Great Moon to risk a scenario where he could be defeated.

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At least, her perception of herself was that she was a useful tool raised by the Great Moon to deal with the dark ones, nothing more, nothing less.

So she couldn’t understand.

Even though the Eye of the Tracker was not yet complete and still had some use, the actions of the Great Moon seemed utterly irrational to her.

After pondering alone for a long time, Rine finally asked him, and he said those words.

The word ‘family.’

“Family……”

Rine muttered bluntly.

To her, the word family didn’t hold much meaning.

From the beginning, she had no concept of family, having been born with the library.

“Family……huh.”

But even so, at least for now, it was different.

Of course, she still didn’t place much significance on the concept of ‘family.’

She felt nothing ideologically or psychologically from that simple word.

Nevertheless, the definition of ‘family’ had changed for Rine because it was the Great Moon who said it.

To her, who admired and revered the Great Moon from a distance, the word family, uttered by him, sounded incredibly sweet.

Because the Great Moon called her family?

No.

Because she was tied to the Great Moon with the title of family?

That wasn’t it either.

The reason Rine felt sweetness in the word family was-

‘It allows me to get a little closer to him.’

-Because it was a rational way to get closer to the Great Moon, a path he himself acknowledged.

“`

‘A little closer, no… as close as possible, closer than anyone else, so that-’

Therefore.

‘If the Great Moon- no, if the Godfather needs me more than anyone else… more than the Red Moon-’

By the time she recalled her new purpose, she turned her gaze from the fiefdom of the labyrinth city to one place.

There, a full-length mirror reflected Rine’s figure.

“……”

The reflection in the mirror was smiling.

It wasn’t a shallow smile.

It was a bright smile, revealing her fangs, with a faint blush on her cheeks, a smile she had never seen before.

A smile she had never shown even in front of the members of the Blue Moon.

A smile unfamiliar even to Rine herself.

Rine, staring blankly at it,

Hee-juk-!

Muttered with an even brighter smile.

“……Godfather.”

At first, it was just a hastily made-up word to honor the Great Moon.

However, that hastily made-up word had now become the most precious word to Rine.

Because that word had already become the very relationship that symbolized her connection with the Great Moon.

Therefore, she muttered that word several times.

“Nice.”

She closed her eyes and opened them again with a murmur.

In Rine’s eyes, fanaticism gleamed.

A clear and distinct fanatic faith that anyone could see.

####

In the forest path that one must pass through to reach the desert city of Colony from the Kingdom of Asteria, there was a man.

With a giant kama on his back, the man was looking down at a corpse.

A corpse with its neck twisted twice, holding a quill in its right hand, killed without even realizing what had killed it.

Even though it had been a month since it was killed, there was no sign of decay, as if it was under a spell.

“Ha-”

The man looking at the corpse-

“I came to check on you since I hadn’t heard from you in a while, but I never imagined you’d actually be dead.”

The ‘agent,’ who resembled a lifeless corpse, chuckled dryly as he squatted down and touched the man’s body.

Sssssss-!

As soon as he did, the lingering traces of magic dispersed.

The agent realized that preservation magic had been cast on this corpse and instinctively licked his lips.

There was only one reason to cast such anti-decay magic on an already dead, decayed body.

“A threat.”

It was a threat, warning others not to come if they didn’t want to end up like this.

“Did he get caught while trying to deal with Count Palatio?”

The man recalled the request the deceased had received about two months ago and began to ponder.

When, how, and in what way to exact revenge.

Agents didn’t have much camaraderie among themselves.

The only reason he thought of revenge was because of the agent’s reputation.

Their identity, with a 100% mission success rate, had to be maintained at all costs.

“……”

But unfortunately, the agent wasn’t planning to go after Count Palatio right away.

“……He must be strong.”

He recalled the rumors about Count Palatio.

For the past few years, Count Palatio had been wandering outside the Kingdom of Arteria, building a somewhat absurd reputation.

First, there were rumors that he had made significant contributions in dealing with the northern foreign invaders.

Then, there were rumors that he had helped deal with two Baba Yagas in the colony.

And finally, there were rumors that he had dealt with a foreign invader that appeared in the labyrinth city.

“……So it wasn’t just nonsense.”

To be honest, the agent thought that the reputation Count Palatio had built was somewhat exaggerated.

He knew that nobles often played tricks to enhance their own reputation.

But seeing that one of the agents had died without even being able to put up a fight, it seemed that his strength wasn’t just a rumor.

“……Someone who can easily kill a Master Knight and deal with foreign invaders mentioned only in literature……”

“Then I’ll need at least five people……. But right now, I can only gather three. And I don’t even know the exact abilities of the Count……”

As he pondered over Count Palatio’s strength and how to proceed, he made a decision.

“Since I can’t gather maximum strength at this point, I’ll have to find someone who knows the Count’s abilities in detail and ask them.”

The agent looked at Caliban with a deep smile.

Deus Macalian, one of the Master Knights who maintained a benefactor relationship with Count Palatio.

‘By the way, I should also let Count Palatio know who he’s messing with.’

In fact, if someone were to read his thoughts, they might think he was purely insane.

But he was smiling confidently.

And for good reason, as all agents were as strong as the Master Knights.

‘One Master Knight is not difficult at all.’

With that, the man suddenly disappeared from the spot.

####

After taking a little over a week, Alon leisurely returned to the Count’s estate and took a solid rest for over three months.

In truth, he had wanted to move immediately after dealing with the foreign god, but unfortunately, his body, afflicted with mana addiction, did not recover easily.

Of course, he recovered quickly enough to not be completely unable to use magic, but it took three months to fully regain his mana.

By the time the hot summer had passed and the cold winds of winter began to blow, he could finally say his body had somewhat recovered.

And during those three long yet short months, Alon did three things.

One was handling the internal affairs of the territory that had been put off.

Another was exchanging delayed letters sent by Yutia.

And the last was exploring magic.

Although he couldn’t use magic properly for about three months and approached it academically, for him, exploring magic was more in the realm of fun than study.

Especially the brief moment of self-manifestation he reached while dealing with the foreign god had piqued his interest even more.

‘…Now that I’ve recovered, I should go back to the colony soon… But first, it might be good to activate the ring Heinkel gave me… Or should I rest a bit more?’

In fact, Alon’s body was not fully recovered.

The symptoms of mana addiction had been significantly treated, but he was still not completely cured.

Therefore.

‘…I need to think of a way to increase my mana somehow.’

As Alon was thinking that.

“Count.”

“What is it?”

“A letter has arrived. It’s from Duke Altia.”

“Ah.”

Alon received a letter from Evan, who had snow piled on his head.

“`

“……Come to think of it, that’s right.”

Although he hadn’t been thinking about it due to his poor health, Alon suddenly remembered that he was the leader of the faction Kalpa, created by the masterminds, only after receiving her letter.

When he opened the letter.

“……Hmm?”

There was a small crystal ball inside.

The moment he lifted it.

Wooong-!

A small vibration of magic occurred.

Thanks to that, he realized that this crystal ball was for communication.

Soon, without much time passing, Duke Altia’s face appeared beyond the crystal ball.

[It’s been a while, Count.]

Despite holding the title of Duke, Duke Altia bowed his head very politely, leaving Alon momentarily pondering how to respond.

“It’s been a while.”

He nodded slightly and answered.

[It’s nothing special, but it’s time for a report, so I contacted you.]

“A report?”

[Yes.]

Before Alon could even ask what it was about, Duke Altia began to earnestly give a literal ‘report’ in front of him.

[Ah, I heard the news. That you made a significant contribution in handling the foreign press in the labyrinth city of Lartania.]

……Before the report, Duke Altia spent about 20 minutes praising Alon for what happened in Lartania.

[Ah.]

Realizing his mistake, he cleared his throat and got to the main point.

There weren’t any major issues in the current state of Kalpa as reported by Duke Altia.

……Except for the last report.

[Ah, and as you mentioned, all the tasks have been completed.]

“……Tasks?”

[Yes, the underworld of Asteria has come under our Kalpa’s control as of yesterday.]

“?

[Now, there is no one in the underworld of Asteria who can stop us. Congratulations, Count.]

“…….???”

“`

At Loria’s words, Alon momentarily wore a blank expression.

…Alon had merely breathed, and he had become the king of the underworld.