I Became the Patron of Villains

24. The Grand Cathedral (4)

“So suddenly? No, more importantly, why Caliban all of a sudden…?”

Evan, with a thoroughly bewildered expression on his face, spoke. After a moment of thought, he opened his mouth with a look of disbelief.

“Surely, you’re not thinking of going to the North?”

Evan spoke, recalling that Caliban was the closest country to the northern barbarians.

“I’ll explain on the way, so get ready first. The information I mentioned earlier is accurate, right?”

“…If you’re looking for the person I mentioned last time, yes. According to the information guild, they are in that village.”

Evan spoke with a somewhat uneasy expression.

“Then we’ll stop by there and head straight to Caliban.”

However, at Alon’s firm words, Evan looked at him with his characteristic curious and resigned eyes, but soon left the room to follow the order.

“Sigh…”

He let out a deep sigh and covered his face with his hand, as if just thinking about it made him tired.

The descent of the Outer Gods was a major disaster that he hoped would never happen.

Outer Gods.

In the continent of Psychedelia, they were called by many names, and like the Five Great Sins, their mere descent brought harm to the world.

Moreover, for Alon, their mere descent could shatter his future plans.

If they began to descend and rampage in earnest, one or two kingdoms would be easily wiped out.

Of course, since there were six kingdoms on this continent, the probability of being affected by the disaster was about one-third.

In the end, thinking rationally, there was a 33.3% chance of losing his noble title and living as a beggar.

…In fact, at that point, living as a beggar might be a relief. If the Outer Gods attacked Asteria, his chances of survival were incredibly low.

If, by any chance, the Outer Gods destroyed two other kingdoms instead of the Asteria Kingdom, the situation might be slightly better, but it was still not the best outcome.

If two kingdoms were destroyed, the United Kingdom would collapse in an instant, and the surviving kingdoms would start fighting madly to occupy the now useless lands, each tainted by the power of the otherworld.

In a situation where tens of thousands of casualties and over ten heroes had already been sacrificed by the Outer Gods, the kingdoms would naturally weaken, and the probability of being devoured by the Empire was 100%.

In other words, whether it was a long or short time, when the Outer Gods descended upon the United Kingdom, he would have to give up his noble title.

In some ways, the latter might be more painful than the former.

The former would end in one blow, but if the latter happened and the war began in earnest, he would have to step into the war as well.

Of course, some might hope that the United Kingdom would unite more firmly.

But Alon, who had played this game for a long time and seen hundreds of scenarios, could firmly shake his head.

In hundreds of scenarios, the moment a kingdom was destroyed by the Outer Gods or the Five Great Sins, the probability of the union collapsing was 100%.

Even if other minor things changed, the dissolution of the alliance never did.

In other words, from Alon’s perspective, he had to stop the foreign god from descending upon the kingdom to prevent his life plan from collapsing.

“……Hmm.”

Of course, there was a way, as he had thought of moving the moment he heard that the foreign god had descended.

‘Somehow, it must be done within two months.’

When the outer gods first descend to the earth, they cannot use all their original power as spirits, and only after a two-month stabilization period can they awaken as present gods and use their power.

In other words, it would be a bit easier to stop the outer gods before they become present gods.

……Of course, that doesn’t mean they are weak before becoming present gods.

He quietly recalled the information from the game, now covered in dust except for the necessary details.

‘In the north, it would be the god of duels, Ultutus, and before becoming a present god, he wouldn’t be able to use the formation, so it would be a bit better. Normally, to purely suppress him with force, five sword masters and one archmage would be absolutely necessary…….’

Alon quietly shook his head.

Naturally, it was impossible to gather such power in the current situation.

But even so, Alon’s expression did not crumple.

Since the moment the monster was possessed by the god, he had already anticipated this situation and had a plan to annihilate the foreign god.

‘I don’t know if it will go as planned…….’

It wasn’t a situation to worry about such things, so Alon opened a drawer in his lodging, took out a piece of stationery, and immediately began writing a letter.

Ten minutes later.

‘……I should prepare a gift.’

After writing all the letters to Master Knight Deus Macalian in Caliban, Alon stood up.

Late in the afternoon.

With about two days left until the banquet, Count Palatio left the Duke of Rotegre’s castle.

That night.

In the annex of the Duke of Rotegre’s mansion, which had been personally given to her by the Duke, who rarely moved, she finally arrived today and was talking with a man.

“Count Palatio has already left, you say.”

“Yes.”

When Marquis Mardanio nodded, Duke Altia, Loria, spoke.

“So, how did it go?”

“Fortunately, they accepted the gift well.”

At the marquis’s words, Altia smiled.

“That’s a relief.”

In fact, for nobles, gifts are generally ceremonial and don’t hold much significance.

However, that’s only for very light gifts; expensive items like relics always carry meaning.

And when someone who wants to join a faction gives a gift to the head of the new faction, as in the case of Marquis Mardanio, it means only one thing.

It signifies, ‘May I join your faction?’

Of course, asking directly would be much more straightforward, but noble society is fundamentally a society of face.

For example, if you ask directly and get rejected, you lose face.

Therefore, both the questioner and the recipient convey their intentions metaphorically with gifts, which are practically bribes, making it easier for both parties to respond.

Receiving the gift means acceptance; otherwise, it means rejection.

Of course, Count Palatio, that is, Alon, knew nothing about this.

He had only attended a ball once, had no friends, and his father died of drug overdose at the end of his life, so he was ignorant of such matters to the point of not being considered a noble.

Thus, Alon received the gift with the simple thought, ‘Even if I realize it later, I won’t meet them often, and it’s a bit awkward to ask for it back after giving it.’

“Now we can officially share the same intention.”

“It’s an honor.”

“What about the others?”

“They accepted the gifts from those who said they would share the same intention.”

Anyway, thanks to Alon’s intention to freeload, he received the gifts from the nobles who had been hinted at by Duke Altia, who thought it necessary.

“……Then we can start moving in earnest now.”

She smiled slightly and began to prepare for the full-fledged birth of the faction.

On the exact day one week after Alon left the territory of Duke Rotegre,

He arrived in the small village of Parkran, located in the northern part of the Kingdom of Ashtalon, far from the Rotegre territory, for one reason only.

“Hello!”

It was to meet the protagonist of this dark fantasy roguelike game, Psychedelia.

“……Do you know who I am?”

“Um, no?”

Even though the five great sins had disappeared and the protagonist was no longer needed, Alon wanted to meet the protagonist Elivan for a simple reason.

Even without the five great sins, the protagonist would become famous, and it wouldn’t hurt to win the protagonist’s favor in advance.

……Of course, with the outer gods descending at this point, he brought a bunch of items to help the protagonist grow quickly, hoping for his early growth.

“……Elivan, right?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

Alon thought as he watched the boy speak with a smile so bright it could be considered refreshing.

‘He’s excessively handsome for a guy… but he looks just like the illustration.’

The protagonist of Psychedelia could have their gender arbitrarily manipulated based on the player’s choice, so Alon only briefly considered this before feeling a strange cognitive dissonance.

‘…Was the protagonist always like this?’

Given that Psychedelia is a dark fantasy game, Alon recalled that the protagonist, Elivan, was certainly lively for a dark fantasy character, but not to this extent. He felt a moment of doubt.

But only for a moment.

“Take it.”

Alon, with a nonchalant expression, naturally pulled out a few gold coins from his pocket.

“Huh? This?”

Receiving the gold coins, which could support an average household for about two months, Elivan’s eyes widened like lanterns.

But Alon, as if he had no intention of stopping there, soon took him along and began explaining each item he had prepared to give him over the past week.

After a long explanation and handing over all the items he had collected,

“…But why all of a sudden to me?”

Elivan, with a puzzled expression, asked, and Alon, after some thought, replied.

“An investment.”

“An investment?”

“Yes, because you’ll be great someday.”

In truth, Alon hoped that Elivan would handle any unexpected foreign affairs that might arise, but he didn’t bother to mention that.

“I am Count Palatio.”

Finally, he revealed the name of the patron Elivan should thank when he succeeded and climbed into the carriage without hesitation.

“Thank you, sir, no- Count!”

Elivan, unable to grasp the sudden meeting and parting, soon bowed to the departing carriage.

Shortly after,

“…I roughly understand what you’re trying to do, but isn’t this a bit too hasty?”

Evan spoke, watching Alon, who had handed over everything to the protagonist like a sudden downpour.

“There’s no time. And he’ll understand it well enough. He’s smart.”

Alon spoke, recalling Elivan’s character settings.

In fact, Alon had thought it would be better to stay in the village for a few days and build some rapport, but unfortunately, he didn’t have much time, so he made this choice.

Evan nodded in agreement.

“Yes, well, it seems like he has an incredible amount of talent, doesn’t he? Even though he’s just a kid, you can see the magic power surging through him.”

“…Huh? Magic power?”

“? Yes, magic power. Didn’t you see it? It seemed to be creeping out slowly. And his attire is that of a village boy, but he also seemed to be wearing artifacts.”

At Evan’s words, Alon briefly recalled Eliban.

‘It did seem like there was a bit of magic power… Wasn’t Eliban just a village boy A before he started his adventure…?’

Alon tilted his head, recalling the first setting that always comes up when starting Psychedelia.

Indeed, when he thought of that setting, it was strange that Eliban had magic power and artifacts, but he pondered.

‘…Well, he’s the protagonist, so he can have a bit of talent.’

With that thought, Alon stopped paying attention to Eliban.

He had given him everything he could, and there was nothing more he could do. If the protagonist was strong, it was good for him too.

Eliban, the protagonist of Psychedelia, was one of the few kind-hearted individuals in this harsh dark fantasy world.

Therefore.

“How long will it take to get to Caliban from here?”

“Hmm… It will take about a week. If we’re late, maybe 10 days.”

“…It would be nice if we could get some help.”

Alon headed towards Caliban, listening to Evan’s words.

Meanwhile, in the mansion in the southern part of Caliban, Deus, who had returned from the northern expedition and was resting, preparing to head north again tomorrow due to ‘outer gods’,

“!”

After reading the letter,

“Vice-captain.”

“Yes.”

“The northern expedition is postponed for two weeks.”

He immediately gave the order.

“May I ask the reason for this?”

After a moment of silence at the vice-captain’s question, he muttered,

“…Soon, a benefactor will come.”