I Became the Patron of Villains

81. Nod (1)

“!”

With a resonant sound spreading throughout the invisible deep sea, Alon felt an instinctive fear starting to tear through his brain.

His whole body trembled as if facing a predator, his mind became cozy, and the thought that he should flee from this place immediately began to dominate his mind.

And that was.

‘No-no-don’t-run-’

‘If you run-’

‘Run……’

‘You must……run!’

Radan was no different.

His thoughts twisted.

As if possessed by something, Radan’s thoughts unconsciously activated, continuously outputting a single thought in his mind.

‘Must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run must run-’

Instinctively, as if possessed, Radan flailed his hands around and grabbed something.

It was a piece of wood from a sunken pirate ship caused by the mermen.

Seeing the pointed end, Radan unconsciously felt relieved.

‘I can escape.’

With that thought, without hesitation, he lifted the piece of wood with his right hand and aimed it at his neck.

“Gah-!”

Radan, regaining his senses too late, bit his tongue and twisted the piece of wood that was moving instinctively, driving it into his forearm.

With the sharp pain came the rising blood.

‘That was close.’

Seeing it, Radan realized that he had almost fallen victim to the deep-sea entity below and gritted his teeth.

Soon, he felt a sense of doubt.

It was because, until just a moment ago, the giant eye in the deep sea that had been pulling him in and constantly outputting fear showed an emotion that anyone could see was alien.

So, with a blank expression, Radan turned his gaze.

Soon, he realized that there was another person in the sea, pulled in by the green scales, besides him.

With a blue-glowing potion in his mouth, preparing to form a seal, was the Great Moon.

Despite surely feeling the same absurd fear as him, the Great Moon’s face showed no change.

Just, indifferent.

As if saying that such fear had never affected him in the first place.

Thus, Radan, unconsciously looking at Alon with a reverent expression,

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Suddenly-!

Realized that everything had stopped.

The green scales that had been dragging Radan into the deep sea all stopped moving at once.

The ominously moving currents come to a halt.

Along with it.

[-!]

The eyes that had been looking at him with a gaze devoid of any emotion, like that of a merman,

[Star, bearer-?]

Radahn could see them fill with clear doubt and fear.

And then.

[-̷̛̪͕͓͚͕̐̔̆͂̿̽̉̓Yoǔ̦̱̥̟͔͖̈̑̉͒͗̏͗̕͜͝,̴̧̩͍͚͈̤̜̓͆̏͘͟͟͠ͅ Feeļ̶̧͇͖̹͈̲̹̻̀̋̓͛̂̑̑̊̀̕͜,̶̞̥͎͎̻͈͙̖̀̌͗̌̊,̷̢͙͓̭̬̰͗̒̈̉͆͡ͅ Fear̴̛̠̜͈̜̹͙̹͔͊͌̌͆̎̾̓͟-̷̢̢̥͙̙̜́͗̎̔̅͢ͅnȃ̡̩̭̫̖̜͙̈̂̇̉̔͊̕.̸̧̡̧̭̝̘̗̞͑̓́͐̒̽͐]

Along with a chilling, eerie voice.

The giant eye that had been pulling Radahn into the depths of the sea began to close slowly.

As it started to close, emotions flickered across the eye.

Astonishment.

Fear.

……Reverence.

[Ti͔̰̜̠̝͍͙̞̗͙̓̄̎̔͝me̢͎̺̟̘͎͓̽̇́̈̂̍͗̇͟͡,͈̻͙͐̍͛̎͆͌͢͝ͅ Ex̡̤͇̭͇̝̤̭͊̓̄̄̅̿͢ͅisted̙̣͕̫̟̻̱̪̻̉̂͊̾̄̾ͅ,̵̨̛̥̣̖̠̣̙̳͍͗̍͂̒̀̑͢͞ If̴͎̫̹͙̩̲̑̃͐̎̂́-̷̦̜̥̺̜̬̮̘͙͔͐͒̎͠͞]

And finally, as the eye that had been in the darkness of the deep sea completely closed.

The Kalak-Kul that had been pulling him in completely vanished.

“…….”

Radahn, who had been staring at it blankly, soon turned his gaze to Alon-

No, to the Great Moon, staring blankly.

However, Alon, who was receiving Radahn’s awe-stricken gaze, also.

‘……What?’

……In fact, he hadn’t fully grasped what had happened.

After all, he had been trying to cast a spell to stop Radahn from being dragged away in the midst of a fear that gnawed at his mind, when the Kalak-Kul suddenly retreated.

‘Besides the Star Eater, I think I heard something with a noise-’

So, recalling the chilling voice he had heard, he was momentarily bewildered.

‘I’m alive…….’

Alon decided to be satisfied with the fact that he was alive for now and moved his body to the surface to take in some oxygen.

####

About a week later.

In conclusion, Radan eventually unified the Seven Isles, and Alon had to suffer from the aftereffects of mana depletion for a week.

Of course, compared to the symptoms of mana addiction, which takes a whopping six months to fully recover, it was a rather mild penalty, so it wasn’t too bad for Alon.

It was even more so because he always ended up half-crippled when dealing with foreign envoys.

The reason he could handle Kalak-Kul so easily was largely because Kalak-Kul had not inherited his abilities properly, having only recently manifested.

Moreover, the fact that the human sacrifice was not properly carried out played a significant role, but at this point, what mattered to Alon was that he had dealt with a demigod without sustaining any serious injuries.

…Anyway, during the four days of recuperation, Alon experienced two major changes.

One was the gaze of the pirates.

In fact, since coming to the archipelago, Alon had somewhat noticed that the pirates’ gazes were not very kind.

But since that day-

“Ah, hello! Big brother!”

“Did you eat well!? Big brother!”

“…Yes.”

-The pirates were calling Alon ‘big brother.’

Not just the regular pirates, either.

“Hey, isn’t this big brother? Are you feeling better?”

“Tarik.”

Even the pirate lords directly under Radan.

“If you need anything, just say the word, and I’ll have the boys move right away.”

“Thank you.”

“Hahaha- It’s nothing-! Of course, we can do this for big brother!”

Watching the pirate lord of the Four Isles leave with a hearty laugh, Alon had a peculiar expression.

Just a few days ago, the pirates who had been sending him discontented looks were now showing him clear trust and respect.

Moreover, although he didn’t know where it started, all the pirates were calling him ‘big brother.’

‘…It’s not bad, but it feels like I’ve become a gang leader.’

And the other change was the attitude of Felin Crysinne.

Of course, except for the first time they met, Felin had never been particularly hostile to Alon, but neither had she been friendly.

If one had to define their relationship, it would be most accurate to say they were somewhat distant.

However, Felin, too, was now looking at Alon with eyes full of respect since the last incident.

…Honestly, it was a bit burdensome for Alon.

‘Well, it’s not bad to build a positive relationship with a talented mage.’

Alon was honestly a bit bewildered by the sudden change in attitude, as if flipping a palm.

Anyway. After feeling such changes for about four days and recovering his body, Alon, as his body recovered to some extent, immediately moved to the coast at the eastern end that it had talked about.

“Brother, is your body okay now?”

He found Radan.

“Do you know anything about the coast at the eastern end?”

“The coast at the eastern end?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m not sure if it matches the place you’re looking for, but I’m talking about the eastern coast on the island of the Cyphra Archipelago.”

“Cyphra?”

“Yes, it’s about six hours away from here. Do you know it?”

“To some extent.”

Alon nodded at Radan’s words.

It was because the Cyphra that Radan mentioned was a place that Alon always visited at least once when playing Psychedelia.

‘Cyphra Archipelago, also known as the Island of Criminals.’

Like the underworld of Asteria and Ashtalon in the United Kingdom, the Island of Criminals, Cyphra, was literally a place where all sorts of criminals and pirates gathered.

Alon often visited there to use the black market when playing Psychedelia.

Because quite a lot of unidentified relics were sold in the black market of Cyphra.

Recalling that, Alon asked.

“I want to go right away, is it possible?”

“If you want to move, we can go right now.”

“Please. Ah.”

Alon, who nodded at the immediate consent, let out a brief exclamation and spoke.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t given you this yet.”

Saying so, Alon placed a small box on the desk.

“It’s a gift.”

“…A gift?”

“Yes, I originally intended to give it to you at the beginning, but it took some time.”

At Alon’s words, Radan looked a bit surprised and stared at the box.

“If it’s a gift from you, brother, I’ll gladly accept it.”

Soon, he smiled and accepted the box.

Eventually, Alon began his journey to the Syphra Archipelago with Radan.

####

The journey to the Syphra Archipelago was quite peaceful. Besides Radan, Penia and Phelin also joined this time, not at Alon’s urging, but of their own accord.

Alon had heard that there was something to investigate in the Syphra Archipelago.

After about six hours of sailing, when the sun was at its zenith, Alon arrived at Syphra and decided to move alone on the island.

After all, going to the eastern coast was something he had to do alone.

‘Of course, it’s a bit tricky since it’s an island of criminals.’

Although the island’s nature was a bit rough, Alon thought it would be safe since it was essentially a village. He was the first to disembark from the ship.

Soon, he regretted disembarking alone.

‘It’s terribly complicated.’

The Syphra Archipelago was more complex than he had imagined.

Even though he wasn’t bad with directions, he found himself circling the same place several times.

‘No matter if I go left, forward, or right, I end up back here. How is that possible?’

It was absurd.

He stopped in front of a sign that read ‘Rum’s Abundance,’ which he had already seen several times, and asked a group of four people drinking in a street pub.

“I want to ask something. Do you know how to get to the eastern coast?”

A rather polite question.

“Huh? How the hell would I know, you idiot!”

“Hahahaha! You do look like an idiot, a complete greenhorn. Greenhorn! Hahaha!”

As expected, Alon realized it would be difficult to get an answer from them and moved on.

About 20 minutes later.

“…Ah.”

Alon let out a low sigh.

Even though he had moved to a different place, what he saw was the sign for Rum’s Abundance for the fifth time.

Just as Alon was thinking about heading back.

“Hey-“

“?”

Alon turned his gaze to the voice and saw a man.

He recognized him as one of the men who had laughed at him in the pub earlier. Though he was smiling, he looked extremely anxious.

“You were looking for the east coast, right? You can get to the east coast by following the road ahead and taking a left at the fork on the right.”

“……”

The man, who hadn’t answered Alon earlier, slowly began to speak.

Moreover, his smile, which didn’t match his impression of having drowned a person or two, instinctively made Alon harbor a small suspicion.

“Yes, really. If you go to the fork on the right, you’ll see the road leading to the beach over the hill, so you can check it out.”

The man hurriedly continued, as if he had grasped Alon’s thoughts.

“……You seemed to be mocking me earlier, so why are you telling me this now?”

“Oh, that- I thought it was a bit harsh, so I’m just letting you know.”

Alon made a ‘hmm’ expression at the very awkward explanation.

‘Well, the road he mentioned is a major thoroughfare, not an alley, so there shouldn’t be any traps… Let’s give it a try.’

Alon, wanting to get out of this place where he had been wandering for nearly an hour, decided to follow the man’s words.

“Thanks for now.”

With those words, Alon began to walk along the main road as the man had told him.

And.

After confirming that Alon had left, the man finally erased his smile and turned his gaze to the alley of the pub, his face filled with fear and anxiety.

His companions, who had been laughing and chatting with him just a moment ago, were now lying in a state so miserable that it was impossible to tell if they were dead or alive, completely covered in blood.

“……”

The place where the pirate king, who was staring at him with a chilling gaze that could make one wet their pants just by meeting his eyes, was.

And.

Nod-

The moment the pirate king nodded once and turned away.

Thud-!

The man collapsed on the spot.

He sat down in a very embarrassing position, but he didn’t care.

Instead.

‘I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive-‘

The man could only offer infinite thanks to the gods for being alive.