I Became the Patron of Villains

99. Mysterious Jungle Ronoveli (1)

The United Kingdom consists of a total of 8 countries, 3 duchies, and 4 cities.

However, among them, only five countries, which are the main pillars of the United Kingdom, could participate in this meeting.

The Kingdom of Asteria.

The Kingdom of Ashtalon.

The Kingdom of Caliban.

The Kingdom of Colony.

The Kingdom of Raxas.

Of course, the Holy Kingdom of Rosario could also participate in the conference, but Rosario had never attended such conferences before.

Even if they did participate, it was only when there was an issue, and even then, it was not the Pope but a lower-ranking official who attended. So, it was fair to say that these five countries were the core of the United Kingdom.

“Hmm. I don’t think that’s something we can handle on our end.”

“Thirty percent of the monsters crossing the border come from your side. And you want to ignore that?”

“Shouldn’t we coexist? Among the trade goods, certain items-“

In reality, after the kings sat down and exchanged simple pleasantries, they discussed state affairs in such detail that even Alon could barely understand.

The only thing he could grasp was that everyone was making considerable efforts to gain political advantage from this conference.

‘Allies and enemies change with each topic.’

When discussing the first topic, the Kingdom of Asteria and the Kingdom of Caliban were allies, but when discussing the second topic, they turned into enemies as if it were a lie.

And when discussing the third topic, they became allies again. Watching this, he thought to himself.

‘Seeing this, I wonder if there can even be such a thing as an incompetent king.’

He looked at Carmaxes III, who had appeared before.

The cheerful smile and slightly dazed look he had shown before were nowhere to be seen, and he was engaging in political maneuvers without a single tremor.

‘…There may be emotional kings, but there are no stupid kings.’

He marveled for a moment at how quickly conclusions were reached and topics changed, making it hard to follow the conversation.

“Well, let’s call it a day. After all, we’ll be seeing each other for the next three days.”

The first day’s conference ended.

####

Afterwards.

“Good job.”

“No, not at all.”

Alon shook his head at Sian’s words.

In reality, he hadn’t done anything strenuous.

All he had done as an aide was to attend the conference and listen to the kings’ discussions, and he hadn’t actually done anything significant.

“How was it?”

“What do you mean?”

“The conference.”

At her question, Alon pondered briefly.

He pretended to ponder more precisely.

…In fact, he hadn’t understood a single thing properly.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand the words themselves, but he couldn’t interpret all the political intentions hidden within them.

Instead, Alon was focusing on Siyan rather than paying close attention to the political exchanges of the kings.

The appearance of Siyan in this state affair was quite different from what he had originally seen in the game.

‘…Surely, in Psychedelia, it was depicted as if he was too lazy to manage the country and left everything to the nobles… It actually seemed that way too.’

Unlike the image he had seen, Siyan was definitely participating in the power struggle, even if not as much as the other kings.

“…I’m sorry, but I dare not judge with my rank.”

Anyway, since he hadn’t been listening properly from a certain point, he roughly glossed over it.

At Alon’s answer, she chuckled.

“Feigning humility.”

Siyan, who spoke as if it was funny to pretend to be modest when she knew everything, hid her awkwardness behind a blank expression.

“Well, but it’s fine, as I have another favor to ask anyway.”

“…A favor, you say?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

At Alon’s question, she opened her mouth.

“If it’s alright, could you go to Ronovelli?”

“Ronovelli… you say?”

“Yes. Do you know it?”

“I do.”

Ronovelli.

Although he had never been there before, he knew the area well.

That was because Ronovelli was one of the regions he had visited countless times while playing Psychedelia, and it was also the place he was planning to go right after this meeting.

“There will be a place called ‘Malaka’s Ruins’ there.”

“Malaka’s Ruins… you say?”

“Yes. You just need to go there.”

At her words, Alon paused for a moment before asking.

“…Uh, is there something I need to convey to someone there, or something I need to bring back?”

“No. You just need to go there.”

“Just go and come back, is that all?”

“Yes.”

Alon felt puzzled by the king’s words, whose intentions were unclear.

“Well, once you get there, you’ll understand why I said this. From the third day of the conference, you won’t need to follow me back. Move as you wish.”

Siyan left the words, “Then rest,” and returned to his room with his servants.

“……”

Alon stood there for a while with a somewhat peculiar expression.

####

Back in his room, Alon stared blankly out the window for a while, then suddenly recalled the words of the observer he had heard before.

‘……Does it look beautiful to you?’

Alon unconsciously looked up at the sky.

The dark night sky was filled with countless stars, painting the Milky Way.

Some shone brightly beside the moon, while others, though small, emitted a definite light.

‘Now that I think about it, it seemed like a strangely bitter expression.’

What could have made the observer wear such an expression? Alon wondered blankly.

Suddenly-!

“Master!”

A familiar face suddenly popped up beyond the window, and Alon had to calm his startled heart.

“Surlang?”

“Yes!”

“You surprised me.”

“No way! Master! You weren’t surprised at all, were you?”

No, I was really surprised.

But Alon didn’t bother to answer and continued speaking.

“So, what’s the matter?”

“Huh? Nothing special. I just came.”

“Just?”

“Yes, I wanted to see you.”

Surlang, wagging his tail and smiling bashfully, perched on the window like a dog welcoming its owner.

“Is that not okay?”

“It’s not that it can’t be done.”

Alon glanced sideways and confirmed the blue crescent moon rising between the stars. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke.

“There’s a place we need to go from now on. Will you follow?”

“Yes-!”

Without even asking where the destination was, Seolang, who was sitting, immediately performed a dazzling spin and landed gracefully on the floor.

From noble mtl dot com

Seeing this, Alon stood up.

The place Alon was about to go was a location where he could obtain something that could only be found here, in Tern. He hesitated slightly.

‘Well, it shouldn’t matter. If I tell her, she’ll keep the secret.’

Thinking about it, going with Seolang wouldn’t be a problem.

“However, the place we’re going to from now on is a secret.”

“A secret?”

“Yes.”

“Just the two of us?”

“Correct.”

“Wow.”

“Why?”

“It’s so great!?”

Seolang, who repeated the word ‘two’ several times, soon beamed with a wide smile, her tail spinning vigorously like a windmill, and her ears perked up.

Seeing this, Alon smiled inwardly and began to walk.

Alon’s destination was the underground prison of Tern.

Confirming that it was pitch black like an abyss without even a magical lamp, he tried to use magic.

“Shall I light it up, Master?”

“……Can you?”

“It’s not difficult!”

With a crackling sound, Seolang spat out lightning, and soon her surroundings were brightly lit.

“How’s this!”

“……You could do that too?”

He nodded confidently and walked further into the underground prison with Seolang.

And soon, they reached the end of the underground prison.

‘I think it was around here.’

Fiddling with the bricks there, they soon discovered that one of the bricks moved very loosely and pressed it precisely.

Then.

Rumble-rumble-rumble-!

With the sound of some mechanism activating, the bricks that had been a wall until just a moment ago began to clear away one by one, creating a path.

“Oh……!!”

Seolang marveled at the sight of the bricks aligning like a machine to form a door.

Even Alon, who had seen this scene several times in the game, felt a thrill as if he were on an adventure, seeing it unfold before his eyes.

Thud-!

With a slightly loud sound, the door was completed.

Entering through the door, there was a cave that shone brilliantly with a beautiful green light.

“We need to go a bit further.”

“Okay.”

Alon and Seolang began to walk towards the cave.

How long had they walked?

When Alon felt they had walked for about ten minutes, they reached a green-lit chamber at the end of the cave.

[Huh? A human?]

“Ah.”

Inside the chamber, they met a fairy, about the size of a child, dressed in blue light clothing, looking at them with a slightly surprised expression.

Alon let out a low exclamation.

‘……Tobetra, this is bad.’

The combined artifact hidden in the underground prison of Tern, ‘The Hand of the Wandering One,’ was guarded by a total of five fairies, taking turns every two days.

To obtain that artifact, they had to pass the test of the fairy on duty at the time of their arrival.

And.

“Hiss-”

The Tobetra before them was famous for having a very difficult test.

No, to be precise, the test itself wasn’t difficult.

Tobetra’s test was ‘hide and seek.’

The problem was that Tobetra’s speed was so fast that even a swordmaster, let alone a wizard using continuous blinks, couldn’t keep up.

……If we compare it to a game, while a player can move about 8 squares per turn unless they use a special skill, Tobet could move a staggering 106 squares.

‘Even if we catch it, we’d have to chase it for more than a minute, so it’s practically impossible.’

In the game, Tobet’s trial was designed to be passed not by straightforward methods but by using the fairy’s honey in Ronovellie as bait.

‘……It would have been better if Geppetto or Kemita were here……. No, it would have been better if it wasn’t Tobet at all.’

Alon decided to give up on obtaining the artifact today.

There were still three days left until the end of the conference, and if he came back tomorrow or the day after, the fairy guarding the artifact would have changed.

Alon looked back at Seolang and said.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay!”

Seolang nodded without any doubt.

[Huh? You came all the way here to find the treasure, right? But you’re just leaving? You’re really pathetic.]

As soon as we turned around, the fairy sneered as if slightly flustered.

Alon didn’t bother to respond.

He knew that if the blue fairy picked a fight and he took the trial, it would only be a source of amusement.

[Tsk tsk, that’s why humans, without any will, just gobble up whatever they want like goblins.]

Tobet, who seemed disappointed that he couldn’t tease humans by playing tag, provoked them.

Of course, Alon didn’t react to those words.

“Hey.”

[Hmm?]

“What did you just say?”

Unfortunately, Seolang couldn’t ignore Tobet’s words.

[Why? Did I say something wrong?]

“What did you say to my mentor?”

[Mentor? Oh, that one who’s running away without even taking the trial?]

Snicker-!

[I called him pathetic.]

Tobet laughed even more mockingly.

Seolang’s face clearly showed that he had fallen for the provocation and was ready to play along with Tobet’s amusement.

[Well, if you want to deny that, why don’t you compete with me in a game of tag-]

Tobet soon disappeared from the spot as if to prove his overwhelming superiority.

[But, do you think you can even touch the tip of my wings?]

He moved so quickly that it was impossible to follow with the eyes, letting out a mocking laugh.

The more he scratched, the worse Seolang’s mood became.

“Seolang, stop-“

Alon tried to stop him.

“-uh…?”

What he witnessed in that moment was.

A crackling! golden flash shone brightly.

“Guh-!?”

Tobet’s neck was in Seolang’s grasp.

And, Tobet’s vision was the same.

“Speak.”

Golden eyes filled with murderous intent were right in front of him.

“What did you say?”