I Became the Patron of Villains

52. Labyrinth City Lartania (1)

Archmage Heinkel.

The first archmage to appear among humanity since the forgotten age of gods, and in Psychedelia, she was known to players as the Witch of Rit.

The reason she was called the Witch of Rit was simple.

If you play as a wizard, most players will almost inevitably encounter her.

Although she does not directly influence the story, the items you can obtain from her over time are of great help to wizard players.

However, the problem is that her personality is extremely eccentric, unlike her doll-like appearance, and if you choose the wrong dialogue options during the process of obtaining items, you will be mercilessly killed.

By the third meeting, you might become friendly enough that she won’t kill you for choosing the wrong options, but during the first and second meetings, there’s no mercy.

Moreover, if you choose any dialogue option that suspiciously defends milk, she will become extremely upset and kill the player without fail, earning her the nickname “Milk Witch.”

Anyway.

Because of this, Alon was very nervous.

Even though he knew the words or sentences she disliked, her character was so eccentric that anything could happen.

He had even made some preparations in case things went wrong.

But.

[Hik…!]

This situation was completely unforeseen.

Alon stared blankly at the Archmage Heinkel, who was looking at him with a very fearful expression.

Then he realized one thing.

‘She’s, quite short.’

Now that he looked, the white wizard’s pointed hat only made her look taller, but in reality, she was shorter than Alon.

Quite a lot shorter.

“Um… I want to solve the riddle.”

…In the game, he had only ever seen illustrations of her sitting, so he didn’t know this fact. Anyway, Alon, who had acquired new information that wasn’t particularly useful, spoke to Heinkel first.

He had to solve her first riddle through conversation to receive the item.

However.

[Ju,]

“Ju?”

[Ju, I’ll give it to you, I’ll give it to you…!]

Heinkel suddenly said this and then handed Alon a jewel box that had flown in from somewhere, even though he hadn’t solved the quiz.

Then.

[Is, is that enough?]

Despite appearing noble and proud under the blue moonlight, she kept glancing at Alon like a frightened mouse.

[I’m, I’m leaving!]

She quickly turned around, ran off, and disappeared into blue magic.

……Unlike her entrance, her exit was extremely undignified.

“……Hey, Heinkel?”

A bewildered Alon called out to her, but she did not reappear, as if she had no intention of showing up again.

Alon, who was standing there blankly holding the jewelry box, wore a puzzled expression and canceled the magic he was about to cast in case of an unexpected situation.

Ssssss-

As soon as Alon released the seal in his pocket, the magic power scattered like dust.

He stood there with a bewildered expression for a while, then finally came to his senses and opened the jewelry box she had left behind.

“……It’s here.”

Inside was the item he was originally supposed to obtain by solving the riddle.

‘……What on earth?’

Even though it was an item he was supposed to obtain by solving the riddle, he thought of her, who had simply handed over the item and quickly disappeared in a manner different from the game.

‘……Behind?’

Suddenly, he thought that her gaze had been looking slightly behind him, not at him, and he glanced behind himself.

“…….”

There was only the library bathed in blue moonlight.

“…….”

In the end, Alon obtained the item he wanted.

……It was nice to get the item he wanted easily, but a small question arose.

####

For the next few days, Alon attended the magic academy, listening to various presentations and satisfying his curiosity.

For Alon, who had been learning magic on his own until now, the theories presented at the academy were quite helpful.

In addition, the experience of always discussing magic with Riyan at night greatly helped to further develop his magic.

Unlike Alon, who had a deep understanding of magic control, she had a talent for constructing the framework of magic itself, so to speak, the implementation of magic.

Thus, Alon began to think that he might be able to challenge the 4th level magic.

……Of course, since he lacked the magic power to use 4th level magic properly, he didn’t use it immediately.

And on the exact fourth day of Alon’s stay at the magic academy.

“……An outsider appeared in the labyrinth of Lartania?”

“Yes. I heard that the entire labyrinth has undergone a mutation of monsters.”

Alon received news that an outsider had appeared in the labyrinth of Lartania.

“……How long since the outsider was discovered?”

From noble mtl dot com

“I’m not sure, but they say it’s about five days. The information guild thinks it’s been about a week since the foreign news appeared.”

“How far is it to Lartania?”

“From here, it shouldn’t be too far. Roughly… five days?”

At Evan’s rough estimate, Alon pondered for a moment before immediately taking out a letter paper and starting to write a letter.

And soon, after some time had passed, Alon had finished writing the letter.

“Send this to Lartania and move immediately.”

“What? Immediately?”

“Yes.”

Without hesitation, he left the central tower and began preparing to move to Lartania.

####

Liyan, who was a bit disappointed that he left earlier than expected.

On the other hand, Penia, who happened to meet him before getting on the carriage and seemed strangely lively at the news of his departure, finished their farewells and headed straight to Lartania.

So, five days.

Alon, who had been moving continuously without missing a single day, soon arrived at the labyrinth city of Lartania.

“Oh… It’s much more different than when I came before? It’s more fascinating.”

As Evan naturally exclaimed, the labyrinth city of Lartania had a very fascinating appearance compared to the territories he had visited so far.

The city walls, which defined the interior and exterior of the city, were not high enough to overlook the buildings within the city.

Most of the buildings in the city were very luxurious and unique, not matching the name of a city of mercenaries and explorers.

To put it metaphorically, it was as if buildings of architectural styles from all over the world had gathered in one place.

Of course, because of that, it felt more like the city’s exterior was peculiar rather than giving off a mysterious feeling or impression.

‘…It was set up that way because people from all over the continent, except the empire, built the buildings they wanted?’

Recalling the setting of Lartania, Alon immediately entered the city.

“It’s unsettling.”

“Indeed.”

The state of the city was a bit chaotic, as Alon had expected.

Immediately, rumors that foreign news was coming up from the labyrinth had spread, and some mercenaries seen on the streets were leaving the city.

Driving the carriage through Lartania, Alon reached his original goal, the southern district, and soon arrived at the store ‘Merde,’ owned by Line.

As soon as he arrived, he couldn’t help but be amazed.

“…Is this really Merde?”

“Uh- Yes, it seems so…”

The reason Evan spoke in confusion.

It was because the shop was incredibly large.

If you were to ask how large, the surrounding 4-5 story buildings could be considered mere child’s play in comparison.

“…Wasn’t it a shop?”

“It should be.”

Alon looked at the building with a feeling of bewilderment behind his expressionless face.

As he looked at the enormous building, which seemed more like a temple than a mansion, Evan spoke up.

“Uh… I heard the shop was big… but honestly, I didn’t expect it to be this big.”

Alon nodded in agreement at Evan’s words.

He had heard that Evan’s business was doing extremely well, but he hadn’t expected it to be this successful.

‘Honestly, I was amazed that a magic appraiser could have such power… Is this why they were able to gain power in Lartania…’

Alon nodded unconsciously.

He knew that the truth that money could buy anything applied in both the previous world and the current one.

‘That’s also why I came to ask for a favor.’

Even though Alon’s job was to handle foreign affairs, the reason he came to see Rine, who was a magic appraiser, was because he needed to borrow her power.

“Let’s go in first.”

So, Alon started walking towards Merd’s building with Evan.

As soon as they arrived at the enormous door.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“…Do we need an appointment?”

They were stopped from entering the building by a person who appeared to be a secretary.

“It’s a bit urgent, can’t we meet right away?”

“To meet right away, you need to pay a fee.”

“…A fee?”

“Yes, if you want to meet Lady Rine without an appointment, it will cost 3,000 gold coins.”

“…3,000 gold coins?”

Alon was momentarily taken aback by the price, which was enough to buy a mansion in the surrounding territories, if not the capital of the Kingdom of Arteria.

“…If we make an appointment, when can we meet?”

“If you make an appointment now… 10…”

“10?”

“It should be possible in about 10 months.”

Dizzy from the unimaginable duration, I hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“…Then, can you perhaps convey a message to Rine? The Count of Palatio has arrived-“

“Oh, shut up, will you? Get lost.”

His words were cut off.

As Alon turned his gaze, I saw a man who seemed to flaunt his wealth, probably a noble, looking at him with a disdainful expression.

“Why is a penniless beggar loitering around like this?”

Behind him, a man who seemed to have no intelligence at all, accompanied by numerous mercenaries, spat out harsh words, and Alon momentarily wore a dumbfounded expression.

The man, as if Alon was of no concern to him, casually approached the guide and lightly tossed a money pouch.

“Open the door.”

He spoke, and soon after confirming the money pouch, she nodded politely and began to manipulate something.

With a rumbling sound, the massive door began to open.

And as the man was about to enter through the now open door, he looked back at Alon and, as if to provoke him, gave a blatant sneer.

“Beggar.”

He started walking into the building, and at the same time, Alon could see.

The faces of the mercenaries following the man were also filled with sneers.

Without even checking who the other party was, they displayed blatant contempt, making Alon frown unconsciously at their seemingly unintelligent behavior. Soon, he realized the man’s identity.

‘He’s the son of the lord of the labyrinth city.’

He couldn’t remember the name.

But he did recall the appearance of the lord’s son from the illustrations in Psychedelia, with his obese body and scraggly beard.

Even in the game, he acted like a complete scoundrel towards the player, but experiencing it in reality was beyond absurd.

Just as Alon was about to say something.

“You don’t need to come in.”

Through the open door, Rine walked out, her green eyes shining.

“Oh, Rine! Did you come all the way here because of me?”

As soon as he saw her walking out of the building, the scoundrel approached her with the brightest smile.

However.

“Get lost.”

Thud-!

Rine pushed the scoundrel’s shoulder away without a care and cursed as she walked past him and the mercenaries, exiting the building.

Pushing aside the secretary who had hastily bowed to him, she approached Alon, unlike when dealing with the scoundrel.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Godfather.”

She spoke while bowing politely.

Everyone present stared blankly at Count Palatio.