I Became the Patron of Villains

89. The Moon God Sironia

Alon knew about Cardinal Sergius.

No, it didn’t make sense not to know Sergius in the first place.

When playing Psychedelia, he was one of the main villains who appeared when you came to the Holy Kingdom, and he was also the first to inform the player of the corruption within the Holy Kingdom.

He already knew that Sergius’s power within the Holy Kingdom’s Rosario was quite strong, and he also knew how eccentric his personality was.

In Psychedelia, he had once sentenced dozens of innocent believers to death for not believing in God, simply because they disobeyed his words.

In short, from Alon’s perspective, who knew that Sergius was a trash with a broken personality.

“Yes, so you move here like this, yes that’s right. Move like this. When the Chief Cardinal arrives-“

Sergius, who was explaining the current situation while nervously watching Alon, was inevitably very awkward in many ways.

‘I thought meeting him would be exhausting, so I wanted to avoid it as much as possible.’

Alon pondered the unexpected sight that had been on his mind since earlier.

‘…What on earth did he do to end up like this?’

Alon, not being a fool, knew that the reason Sergius was bowing to him was because of Yutia standing behind him.

However, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a reason why Sergius would be so cautious.

At least the Sergius Alon saw in Psychedelia was a corrupt villain who never abandoned his pride until death.

Therefore.

‘…’

He subtly rolled his eyes to look at Yutia, who was still smiling brightly in the distance, and expressed his doubt, but only for a moment.

“Did you understand everything…?”

At the following question from Cardinal Sergius, Alon nodded.

“Thanks to you, I understood everything.”

“That’s really fortunate.”

“By the way, you don’t need to be so formal.”

Alon’s words.

Even though he was a noble of Asteria, the other party was practically the highest authority unless he was a saint chosen directly by the Pope and the Goddess.

In other words, there was no need for Sergius to be so formal with Alon.

Therefore, he spoke cautiously.

“No, no, no, no, no, no- How could I? We are merely messengers of God, how could we?”

The excessive refusal, to the point where he couldn’t count how many times he said no, felt extremely dissonant.

‘…Is this really the same villain who despised humans every time we met in the game?’

[Why should I show respect to lowly beings who don’t even believe in God, now or ever!]

Recalling the line Sergius used to say in the game without a second thought, Alon awkwardly responded.

“Is that so?”

“Of course, absolutely!”

With a laugh that anyone could see was awkward, Alon cleared his throat and spoke.

“Anyway, thank you for taking such care. You didn’t have to come out and explain it yourself, Cardinal.”

“No, it’s my duty as the manager to do this…!”

Knowing that such trivial explanations were not the manager’s job, Alon nodded without asking further.

“I see.”

“Yes, yes-“

Sergius bowed his head.

Where had the corrupt cardinal of the Holy Kingdom gone? Alon, watching him bowing, felt a curiosity arise.

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“But, are you very close with Cardinal Utia?”

Of course, they wouldn’t be close, but just in case? Alon asked with a hint of hope.

However.

“Of course, sir, Cardinal Sergius and I often talk a lot about Sironia.”

It was not Sergius who answered his question, but Utia.

“Right? Cardinal Sergius?”

As if to confirm, Utia asked with a bright smile, and Sergius, frozen in place, nodded his head madly.

“Yes, yes, yes!! That’s right!!”

“Why are you nodding so vigorously? It might seem a bit strange to the teacher, as if I made up a story because of your reaction.”

“Hahaha! Was I a bit awkward? I just wanted to express that I am close with Cardinal Utia, but I guess I was a bit too enthusiastic…!!”

Sergius desperately explained.

“Yes, yes, next time just do it as usual. You know well, right?”

“Yes, I know…!”

“Relax. Relax.”

“Yes!”

Utia, satisfied with Sergius’s soldier-like response, nodded and turned to Alon with a smile.

“See? We’re close, right?”

It was as if he was witnessing a scene where a bullied friend and the bully pretended to be close in front of the teacher.

“I see…”

Alon could only nod quietly.

…He suddenly recalled that Utia was one of the Five Great Sins.

####

Shortly after meeting Sergius and receiving a brief explanation about the ceremony.

Alon, conversing with Utia, soon asked the question he couldn’t ask yesterday.

“Abyssal creature…?”

“Yes, do you know anything about it?”

It was information about the abyssal creature that Deus had brought.

Having heard that most of the Abyssal Bodies on the market had gone to the Holy Kingdom, Alon asked Yutia if she knew anything about it.

“Hmm, I’ve heard of the Abyssal Bodies… but I didn’t know about that.”

Yutia seemed to be pondering something deeply before giving that answer.

“Did you know about the Abyssal Bodies?”

“Yes, given the effects of the items, it’s only natural.”

“Ah.”

Alon let out a low exclamation.

Indeed, the Abyssal Bodies were items that the Holy Kingdom would clearly be interested in.

Even though the Abyssal Bodies and Abyssal Gems were very weak, they were items that could bestow divinity upon a person.

In other words, it wasn’t strange that Yutia knew about them, as they were essentially very heretical items to the Holy Kingdom of Rosario.

“First of all, given what you said, if someone in the Holy Kingdom is using the Abyssal Bodies, it would be a huge problem, so I’ll investigate.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“No, this is something the Holy Kingdom must handle.”

Nodding, Yutia continued.

“Oh, and it seems you’ll be able to enter the Chamber of the Holy Spirit tomorrow, teacher.”

“…Tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

Alon was greatly surprised inside at Yutia’s words.

‘…Honestly, I thought it would take more than two weeks to get in.’

As far as he knew, it took a long time for priests below the rank of bishop to be allowed into the Chamber of the Holy Spirit.

That was only natural.

The Chamber of the Holy Spirit was essentially designated as a relic by the Holy Kingdom.

Anyway, it was unexpected news for Alon, who had been prepared to wait quietly for about two weeks.

…Of course, it didn’t show on his face.

“Isn’t it too much?”

“Not at all.”

Watching Yutia speak with a smile, Alon felt uneasy.

…For some reason, he recalled the appearance of Sergius from earlier and asked once more.

“Yutia.”

“Yes, teacher.”

“Just to ask, you didn’t use any improper methods for my sake, did you?”

Alon subtly rephrased his question, as saying “violence” might sound too blatant. Yutia smiled faintly and replied.

“Of course not. Why would I do such a thing?”

“Is that so.”

“Yes, I just had a ‘talk’, so don’t worry too much about what you’re thinking.”

“……”

Alon simply nodded in response.

####

The next evening.

Alon followed Yutia into the Holy Spirit’s room inside the Rosario Temple, and soon, from within the temple.

“Cardinal Yutia.”

“How are you, Yuman?”

They met a man.

A young man in holy robes, still bearing a youthful appearance rather than that of an adult.

However, despite his young age, none of the holy knights or priests guarding the temple could look down on him.

In front of Yutia and Alon, he wore a dissatisfied expression. He was known as a saint in this holy kingdom of Rosario.

A man personally chosen by the goddess Sironia.

“……”

Yuman’s eyes turned to Count Palatio.

“……Allowing a commoner, not even a believer, into the Holy Spirit’s room, you have gone too far.”

His tone was blatantly hostile.

However, Yutia maintained her smile.

“I believe the decision has already been made in the vote.”

“Ha, wasn’t it Cardinal Yutia who exerted her influence?”

“The vote was conducted transparently, as you well know, Saint.”

“So that vote itself-“

Yuman, who was about to protest, closed his mouth.

On the surface, Yutia was right. The proposal to allow Count Palatio’s entry was decided by a vote.

Thus, Yuman sighed softly and frowned.

“……Acting in such a manner is not right, Cardinal Yutia.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

With that warning, he glanced at Count Palatio and brushed past him.

‘…It seems I’ve earned his hatred.’

Alon felt a bit uneasy at the sight of Yuman’s obvious hostility, but soon shrugged it off.

In truth, even if Yuman bore malice, it wasn’t particularly frightening.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t worrisome because Yuman’s nature wasn’t violent.

He was a strict principlist based on faith, but his nature wasn’t evil. If he were the protagonist, he would have the kind of personality that would earn him all sorts of curses from players, befitting the name of a saint.

Thus, Alon was able to reach the saint’s room with Yutia without much concern.

“Take care, teacher.”

Soon, he stepped inside the room of the Holy Spirit.

“…Oh.”

He naturally let out an exclamation as he looked around the interior.

The room was entirely covered in white marble, just as he remembered.

But the reason for his exclamation was the statue of the goddess Sironia at the end of the room.

The statue of Sironia, made to fill more than half the room, was enough to overwhelm Alon.

‘Originally, that statue should emit a brilliant light, allowing one to converse with the goddess.’

But that was something only the original protagonist, Elevan, the saint, and high-ranking bishops with strong faith could do.

‘…Ah, come to think of it, even bishops and cardinals couldn’t make the statue of Sironia emit a brilliant light?’

Alon recalled the setting that the stronger the light from the statue, the clearer the connection with the goddess, but it wasn’t something that concerned him.

“Hoo.”

To obtain the desired item, Alon very slightly drew upon his magical power and formed a seal.

“Perception.”

He uttered the phrase.

The moment the magic began to manifest.

Wooong-!!!

“?

A white light began to burst forth from the statue of the goddess.

In the Kingdom of Rosario, there were only two saints.

A man who received fervent support from the people within the kingdom, Yuman did not like Count Palatio.

No, to be precise, he had recently stopped liking it.

It was because he had used his connections to enter the Holy Spirit’s room, even though he was not a follower of Sironia.

Moreover, he had manipulated the cardinals at his own will through Cardinal Utia, who was controlling the Holy Kingdom.

However, despite knowing this, Yuman could do nothing because the goddess Sironia said nothing about Utia.

‘Why does the goddess leave her alone?’

Yuman sighed briefly.

But only for a moment, Yuman soon moved his body to another room.

It was a very small room next to the Holy Spirit’s room.

A small confessional, allowed only to saints, where one could peek into the Holy Spirit’s room right next to it.

He looked inside to monitor Count Palatio, who might steal something from the room full of relics.

“……Huh?”

Soon, he could only make a dumbfounded sound as he saw Count Palatio standing in the middle of the room.

It was because the statue of the goddess Sironia was emitting a brilliant light.

……Even more brilliant than when he, a saint, heard the goddess’s words.