I Became the Patron of Villains

Chapter 62

62. It Was There. (3)

On the fifth day since departing for the royal castle.

With about two days left to reach Terea, the capital of Asteria, Alon was looking at a list inside the carriage.

‘It would be good to take care of the other guys if possible.’

The list was of villains from Psychedelia that he had compiled over the past few days, not just minor villains, but ones that would become a headache if they started acting up.

‘Thanks to Duke Altia and Count Zenonia conquering the underworld, a few have disappeared.’

Unfortunately, in Psychedelia, the ones to be wary of were not the underworld organizations themselves, but the ones rooted there and operating secretly.

They didn’t appear at all at first, but once the player started to act, they would appear as if by magic and cause trouble. They were strong and posed a significant threat to his safety.

However, it didn’t make sense to deal with all these villains just because they seemed to threaten his safety, so Alon decided to eliminate the two most threatening organizations.

‘The Agents and the Ghost Castle.’

In fact, from Alon’s experience, the Agents and the Ghost Castle were not particularly concerning when playing from the player’s perspective in Psychedelia.

The Agents, composed of a small elite group, were strong but could only be encountered if one entered a specific route.

The Ghost Castle was similar to the Agents but could only be encountered if one pursued a side quest in the Kingdom of Ashtalon.

But the reason Alon considered these two organizations the most necessary to eliminate was that, as a noble of Asteria rather than a player, these organizations would later plot to overthrow the nation.

Of course, Alon had never seen their goals succeed.

By the time they were diligently preparing their plans, the Five Great Sins would appear and destroy the kingdom, making it unnecessary to overthrow the nation.

However, in the current world line where the Five Great Sins had been eliminated, he didn’t know what would happen.

…Moreover, the ‘Agents’ and the ‘Ghost Castle’ assassinated many nobles to achieve their goals, so he thought they must be eliminated.

‘…Including the Empire, there’s the ‘Bone Eater’.’

Alon glanced eastward where the Empire was and shrugged.

The United Kingdom and the Empire were far apart, and most of the events happening in the Empire would be handled by the protagonist over there anyway.

‘Since the timeline in the story is the same, the protagonist on the Empire’s side will probably move in the same way when the original work begins.’

Alon, who was reminiscing about the past that was not long left, thought unconsciously.

‘The protagonist’s name over there was… Palian, right?’

The protagonist on the Empire’s side.

To be precise, at the start of the original work of Psychedelia, the story of ‘Calypsophobia,’ another game by the makers of Psychedelia, unfolds on the Empire’s side.

In other words, the game dealing with events in the United Kingdom is ‘Psychedelia.’

And the game dealing with events in the vast Empire next to the United Kingdom is ‘Calypsophobia.’

“Hmm…”

Alon, who had thought that far, soon stopped thinking further.

Since he had only played the early part of Calypsophobia and then quit, he had no information, and in fact, Alon didn’t need to worry about the Empire.

In the first place, the Empire and the United Kingdom were thoroughly divided, and the only things shared were a few items.

And the events happening in the Empire were all going to be resolved by Palian, the protagonist of Calypsophobia, and his party.

Therefore.

‘The agent and the ghost castle… How should I deal with these two?’

Alon continued to ponder while sitting in the carriage for a while.

And when the next day came.

“Count, you can see Teria in the distance. We’re almost there.”

“Did we arrive a day early?”

“Right? It’s fortunate we came leisurely.”

At Evan’s words, he looked at the scenery of Teria visible beyond the window.

He had seen it before, but the scenery of Teria was still magnificent.

High and sturdy walls befitting the image of the capital of a country.

Alon, who was staring at it blankly, smacked his lips.

If he had come to casually tour the capital, his heart would have been rich and broad, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

‘…I hope nothing serious happens.’

Alon slowly entered the inside of Teria’s capital, looking at the flowing street scenery, and unconsciously wished so.

Of course, he wasn’t really expecting that to be the case.

In the first place, the fact that the king had personally called Alon meant that he had special business with him, and it was likely about Kalpa.

‘…Will things go as I wish?’

In fact, Alon had come up with a decent story on his way to the royal castle this time.

‘If the king here says he will moderately increase his power, I could pretend to be somewhat appeased and slightly reduce Kalpa’s power… Then, by tugging back and forth with the king, it might be a good way to continue the faction…’

Of course, it was just a delusion of his own, without considering anyone’s advice or the situational aspects, but still, among the ideas he could think of now, it was quite a decent story.

In the first place, no matter what, the faction could not be in a situation where it could antagonize the king, so if it worked out that way, there was a high probability that Alon moving lukewarmly within the faction itself would be a great strength.

‘Hoo-’

He let out a low sigh as he saw the royal castle getting closer.

####

It was quite late at night.

Ladan was still waiting in his office, even though the moon was high in the sky and it was time to sleep.

The reason was that today was the regular meeting of the Blue Moon.

Even though it was still 20 minutes before the meeting started, most of the members of the Blue Moon, except for Deus, were already gathered.

It wasn’t because of any special reason.

Originally, all members of the Blue Moon always gathered 30 minutes before the meeting started.

Rather, at the point where there were still 20 minutes left until the meeting, it was a bit more peculiar that Deus was not yet waiting, but if there was something even more peculiar than that.

[I’ll get married!]

[I told you last time, no!]

[I will!]

[I said no!]

Unlike the silent meetings, Yutia and Seolang had been arguing for over 10 minutes even though the meeting hadn’t started yet.

[Why not! You don’t have the right to say that!]

[Still no!]

[It’s unfair!]

Seolang, who was insisting on getting married somehow, and Yutia, who was desperately blocking it.

In fact, Ladan thought that if they wanted to get married that badly, it would be better to just get married secretly and report it later.

‘…Surely, that might be a bit difficult.’

Considering Yutia’s personality and unique fanaticism, no one knew how she would react afterward, so he kept his mouth shut.

How much time had passed like that.

[Line! Yutia is being too unfair!]

About 5 minutes before the meeting time, when Seolang asked for help with a very unfair expression, Ladan turned his gaze to Line, but.

“…”

She seemed to be deep in thought, as if she couldn’t hear Seolang’s words.

Watching her, Radan shrugged his shoulders.

In fact, Radan didn’t think she would react to Seolang’s words at all.

But.

[Don’t take it too hard, Seolang. Yutia has been serving the Great Moon for a bit longer than us.]

Radan looked surprised at Rine’s words that followed.

He knew well that she hadn’t intervened in their argument during the last meeting, as if it wasn’t worth her time.

[Eh-!]

From noble mtl dot com

[See? Just listen quietly.]

To be honest, he didn’t quite understand what serving the Great Moon for a long time had to do with the current story.

Anyway, he relaxed as he saw Rine’s rather new attitude.

[Ah, come to think of it, Yutia, I have a suggestion.]

[Hmm? What is it?]

Rine proposed to Yutia, who was smiling pleasantly, seemingly happy to have someone on her side.

[How about I start sending reports and letters too?]

[Is it necessary? I’m already summarizing and sending all your briefings.]

[I know, but I have something to report about the ‘Eyes of the Wanderer’.]

[If you tell me about it-]

Yutia still maintained her smile.

But.

[Wouldn’t it be better if I delivered it directly, rather than through you?]

As Rine continued, the smile that had been on Yutia’s face began to slowly fade.

[I’ve been doing the reports well so far.]

[This is about the Eyes of the Wanderer. I want to discuss it personally. And also, to give my report.]

[!]

Rine’s slight smile surprised both Radan and Seolang.

They had spent nearly nine years with Rine since childhood, but they had never seen her smile before.

They were stunned for a moment.

[Hehe-!]

[?]

[Ah, excuse me, I just had an amusing thought.]

Suddenly, with a subtle smile, Rine grinned broadly, revealing her fangs, leaving everyone gaping in astonishment.

‘……To the Great Moon…… Could it be some kind of hypnotic artifact?’

Radan couldn’t help but think that way, seeing how drastically Rine had changed.

It was understandable, as both Seolang and Rine had changed significantly after meeting the Great Moon, starting with Deus.

……Their reverence for the Great Moon was almost as intense as Yutia’s, making Radan seriously wonder if the Great Moon possessed some kind of hypnotic artifact.

While everyone was still dazed by the grin Rine had shown.

[Sorry. I’m a bit late.]

Deus entered, just in time for the regular meeting of the Blue Moon.

[……?]

He was momentarily bewildered by the sight of the other members all wearing blank expressions.

[Sorry, but I have something urgent to convey before the meeting starts.]

He opened his mouth as if recalling what he had originally intended to say.

The members, who had been staring at him, turned their attention to Deus.

[It seems that an organization called the Executors is targeting the Great Moon.]

At his words.

[Huh?]

[What?]