I Became the Patron of Villains

167. The Ball (2)

Alon stared intently at the statue of ‘Kalanon, the Thunder Receiver’ that Sian was holding.

‘Indeed, it does seem similar.’

Of course, the statue had no face, so the resemblance of the face itself was unknown.

But the reason Alon thought so was because, no matter how he looked at it, the clothes Kalanon was wearing were very similar to his own.

‘Well, the coat is different now since I’m wearing the one given by the Red Tower Lord, but if I consider the old coat… there do seem to be many similar parts.’

With a peculiar expression, Evan pondered for a moment before answering.

“…The attire does seem a bit similar.”

“The attire, huh… Hmm-.”

Sian stared at Alon for a moment before shrugging and placing the statue on the desk.

“Well, it’s certain that you, a marquis of the Asteria Kingdom, are not the newly believed Kalanon of the Luxible Principality. Just take it as a light joke.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Satisfied with Alon’s plain acceptance, Sian nodded a few times and changed the subject.

“So, I’ve heard you’ve been involved in various things recently. Can you tell me what you’ve been up to?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Why is he asking?

Alon was a bit puzzled but reported faithfully.

And then.

“…Hmm, a selector.”

“Yes.”

Having unraveled the whole story, Alon now asked in return.

“May I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“Did you call me because something came to mind?”

The last time he met Siyan in the office, she had clearly said,

‘I’ll call you if something else comes up.’

“No, not particularly.”

“…Is that so?”

“This time, I just purely wanted to see you. It’s been a while since we last met.”

An unexpected answer.

“I see.”

“Do you have any complaints?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Siyan stared intently at Alon, who denied it indifferently.

“Huhu-“

“…?”

She soon let out a gentle laugh.

A look of puzzlement appeared on Alon’s face.

“I’m joking.”

“Yes…?”

“I didn’t call you for no reason.”

“Ah.”

“Your reaction is a bit weak.”

“I apologize.”

Alon, who bowed his head, soon thought, was Siyan always this kind of character?

“There’s no need to apologize.”

She smiled, seemingly pleased with teasing Alon, and soon rested her chin on her hand as she spoke.

“As you said, there was one more thing that came to mind.”

“What is it?”

“In the inherited memories, you went to the World Tree of Greynif. They said you obtained something necessary there.”

“The World Tree of Greynif… you say?”

When Alon asked again, Siyan nodded.

“Yes. Perhaps you don’t know? The country where various races gather in the south, among them, the land of the elves is called Greynif.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Alon realize why the word Greynif felt unfamiliar.

‘…If it’s the land of the elves, it’s true that I wouldn’t know much about it.’

Of course, it wasn’t entirely new to Alon either.

Nevertheless, the reason why the word Greynif felt unfamiliar to Alon was because the land of the elves is in the DLC area of Psychedelia.

He hadn’t purchased the DLC.

In other words, although he had heard the name Greynif a few times while playing the game, he had never actually been to the area where the countries of different races were located.

Moreover, the relationship between the United Kingdom and the countries of different races wasn’t very good, though not as bad as with the Empire, so it wasn’t mentioned at all.

As a result, Alon had even less information about it.

‘There is something necessary there… huh.’

As Alon was quietly thinking, Siyan added.

“Of course, there’s no need to go right away.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, to be more precise, you don’t have to go at all. It’s funny that I’m saying this after bringing it up, but that place isn’t very friendly to humans.”

“…Indeed, I understand that to be the case.”

As Alon nodded, recalling the relationship between the United Kingdom and the countries of different races, Siyan shrugged and leaned back in her chair.

“So, take your time to think about it. But if you do go, I’d appreciate it if you could report back.”

“Understood.”

After a bit of small talk, Alon left the office.

After his figure completely disappeared.

“……”

Siyan, who had been staring at the door and lost in thought for a while, touched her chin.

“Well, I guess this will do.”

He left behind a smile of unknown meaning and stood up.

####

Alon, who attended the ball, inwardly clicked his tongue at the much larger crowd than last time.

However.

“Greetings, Marquis-!”

“Greetings-!”

“I am-“

Without a moment to look around, a barrage of greetings from the nobles poured in.

After over 30 minutes of individually receiving greetings from the Calpa nobles, led by Duke Zenonia and Count Altia, he finally found some freedom.

Alon sighed and thought.

‘Balls are indeed tiring.’

As Alon moved to one side of the ball and grabbed an egg tart from the outer edge of the ball, eating it casually.

“It’s been a while, Marquis Palatio.”

“……Hmm?”

A man approached.

A face that was not immediately recognizable but strangely familiar.

In that very short moment, he racked his brain to think of who the man in front of him was.

“……Duke Merkilian?”

Only then did he remember the man’s identity.

The second brother of Filian and the current head of the Merkilian family.

Duke Merkilian smiled and slightly bowed his head.

“It’s an honor that you remember me.”

“……There’s no way I wouldn’t remember.”

It wasn’t an empty statement.

Although he didn’t immediately recall, Alon couldn’t help but remember the Merkilian family.

Not only because Filian, who could be recruited as a companion of the protagonist, was in the Merkilian family, but more importantly-

Because it was where Alon’s statue was located.

A statue of Alon that didn’t even exist in the Palatio family.

“……That’s true.”

With an awkward expression, Duke Merkilian answered.

Alon looked around and thought.

‘They said many nobles from other countries would come, and it seems to be true.’

At first, he was busy greeting the nobles of Kalpa, but when he looked around, he saw many unfamiliar faces at this ball.

Among them.

‘……Stallion V?’

King Ashtalon was also present, and the knight sticking close behind him caught his eye.

Even at a glance, the overwhelming figure seemed to be over 2 meters tall.

It was an alien sight at the ball, but no one could guess his identity.

From noble mtl dot com

Because he was wearing a helmet that obscured even his eyes.

But Alon could easily tell who he was.

Kurak, the Engraved.

He was the one who had crossed over from the land of the different races, as Sian had mentioned earlier, and had risen to the position of a ‘strongman’ who would be a major force in Psychedelia when facing the Five Great Sins.

‘Moreover, he’s a character that stimulates the desire to purchase DLC.’

In Psychedelia, when facing the Five Great Sins, NPCs are the basic members of the party.

Depending on the country where the sin occurred or the actions the player has taken so far, related NPCs join as companions to help.

Kurak, the Engraved, is also a character who helps in battles when the Five Great Sins appear in Ashtalon, and he is differentiated from other NPCs.

In other words, he is strong enough to lower the difficulty of smashing the controller with the Five Great Sins to some extent.

……Though it’s just an adjustment from Hell Mode to Very Hard Mode, in Psychedelia, where there’s no way to lower the difficulty, even that is amazing.

And Psychedelia’s DLC allows Kurak, who helps only once during Ashtalon, to be summoned during battles with the Five Great Sins.

Moreover, if you clear the DLC story, you can additionally summon strong characters from different races comparable to Kurak in battles with the Five Great Sins.

Therefore, most users who wanted to enjoy the game a bit more comfortably purchased the DLC.

……Except for users like Alon, who had a trivial pride in the game.

‘To think it would grow this big.’

Kurak, who had been looking ahead until a moment ago, turned his head.

Although it was obscured by the helmet, it was clear that his gaze reached Alon.

For a moment, Alon thought about creating a connection, but unfortunately, he knew nothing about Kurak.

From the reason he helps the protagonist in battles with the Five Great Sins to his purpose or motivation, nothing is revealed in the basic pack.

In other words, there was no clue to create a connection, so Alon neatly gave up on building a connection and turned his eyes away.

Flinch-!

“`

“……?”

Alon saw it.

The slight movement of Kurak’s massive body clad in knight’s armor.

He wondered for a moment.

“……Marquis?”

At the call of Duke Merkilian, Alon remembered that he was in conversation with him and gave a slight nod.

“Ah, my apologies.”

“No, it’s fine. But may I ask you a favor?”

“……A favor?”

“Yes. It’s not a difficult request…….”

Alon tilted his head slightly behind his expressionless face and replied.

“Go ahead.”

“……It’s just that. Could you write a letter to my brother……”

“By brother, you mean……Fillian?”

“Yes. It’s that-“

Duke Merkilian hesitated a bit, then confessed his thoughts, and Alon, having heard the whole story, summarized it.

“So, you want to hand over the current statue to Deus Macalian of Caliban and erect a new statue of me…… but you think he’s spending too much money.”

“Yes, that’s right. My brother seems to lack a sense of money, and this time he even suggested making it out of gold…… But he doesn’t listen to me.”

Merkilian muttered, ‘I think the reason he handed it over to Deus was to create an excuse to erect a new statue,’ and sighed deeply.

Feeling the anguish in his breath, Alon was at a loss for words.

‘……Why is he so determined to erect my statue?’

Of course, he had helped Fillian, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand why he was going to such lengths.

……He probably never would.

Alon nodded as if he understood.

“Thank you. Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

The duke sighed in relief.

Alon hadn’t done anything wrong, but he felt a subtle sense of guilt…….

####

Late at night, as the first day’s ball was coming to an end, Alon also prepared to return to his quarters.

……In fact, he had wanted to leave several hours ago.

“`

However, he felt exhausted, as if he had spoken for half a year without rest, being held by the nobles.

Barely escaping, he was passing through the corridor to go to his assigned quarters.

“Huh…?”

Alon encountered a very familiar face.

“…Sirkal?”

It was the swift Sirkal and her younger sister, Jenira.

For a moment, Alon tilted his head in confusion, but soon he guessed why they were here.

‘Did the Thunder Serpent tribe join hands with the Luxible Principality?’

While recalling the rumor he had heard in passing from Evan last time, the two had already approached Alon.

“Long-“

Before Alon could fully open his mouth.

“We greet the Lightning Receiver, Kalanon.”

“We greet the Lightning Receiver, Kalanon.”

They uttered such words.

Bowing very politely.

“Huh…?”

An infinite hook floated above Alon’s head.

And behind one of the pillars in the hallway.

‘…What, did you say?’

Today, following quietly to make a secret proposal to Marquis Palatio that no one else should ever hear, was also Karmakses III.

‘Marquis Palatio… a god?’

His mouth dropped open in disbelief at the incredible truth(?), watching the situation unfold.