I Became the Patron of Villains

8. Misunderstanding (3)

The ostensible reason Alon came to the Estroban territory was to foster friendship, but the real reason he came to this place, which took more than a week to reach, was because of the labyrinth located south of Estroban.

“……Is this the place you mentioned?”

“Yes.”

“It took us two weeks to find this place… but there’s nothing here?”

As Evan slowly scanned the empty forest, Alon also looked around.

Indeed, there was nothing but an unpaved road and forest that seemed to have been neglected for a long time, with no distinctive features.

‘That’s why we struggled for two weeks.’

Alon’s expression was indifferent, but he sighed with relief inwardly.

Two weeks since the ball. In other words, nearly twenty days had passed, during which Alon stayed in Astrovan, investing his time to find this labyrinth.

‘I underestimated it because it was too easy to find in the game.’

Thinking that, Alon turned his gaze to a small canyon visible beyond the forest.

Alon moved towards the only clue that allowed him to find the labyrinth.

“Are you sure this time?”

Having already been disappointed twice, Evan grumbled a bit as he followed Alon.

Sensing Evan’s presence behind him, Alon quickly organized his thoughts.

‘The name of the labyrinth is ‘Labyrinth of Whispers’. It’s a labyrinth that can be entered in the mid-game, and the reward for clearing it is the equipment ‘Restriction’. Once you get that, there’s no more business in the labyrinth.’

Recalling the characteristics of the labyrinth he had visited hundreds of times in Psychedelia, Alon walked without hesitation and soon arrived at the small canyon beyond the forest.

“…This place looks strange, no matter who sees it.”

Evan spoke as soon as they arrived at the canyon.

As he murmured, the canyon was small but clearly had something strange about it.

Despite the sun being high in the sky, the inside of the canyon was excessively dark, as if it repelled the sunlight.

This aroused a sense of alertness and caution in Evan.

“Let’s go.”

“Young master!?”

On the contrary, this phenomenon made Alon feel a sense of joy.

The phenomenon occurring in the canyon was exactly the same as the field effect of the place where the Labyrinth of Whispers was located.

That meant the Labyrinth of Whispers was here, so he walked into the dark canyon without hesitation.

Evan looked at Alon with a surprised expression but soon followed him inside, as if he had no choice.

As they entered the canyon, it was as if the sun had never risen, and the inside was enveloped in darkness.

“……”

What they saw were not naturally formed, but artificially created stone piles with various patterns engraved on them.

Passing by them, Alon soon saw an entrance engulfed in pitch-black darkness.

Alon stared blankly at the door, which was clearly artificially made, with various patterns plastered all over it.

“……How did you even know about this place and find it?”

“I’ve been here often.”

“……What?”

He absentmindedly spoke his true feelings in response to Evan’s words, then quickly realized his mistake and lightly corrected himself.

“Just kidding.”

“……With that face, it doesn’t feel like a joke at all……. So how did you find it?”

“There are ways.”

“For something that has ways, didn’t it take you a bit long?”

“……I didn’t expect it to take this long either.”

As Alon briefly reminisced about playing Psychedelia, Evan asked a question.

“So, who exactly made this unpleasant place?”

“A friend named Palaon.”

The Labyrinth of Whispers.

Alon recalled that in some communities he frequented, it was also known as the Water Rocket Palaon’s Labyrinth.

“……Palaon?”

“Let’s go in.”

Without answering Evan’s question any further, he moved towards the entrance of the labyrinth, and Evan followed him with a face full of anxiety and vigilance.

Soon, no one was left at the entrance of the labyrinth.

Kieeeeeeeek-!!!!

Crash! Crackle! Crunch!

The Hell Gargoyle, which could only be killed around the mid-point of the story progression in Psychedelia, was a fairly strong monster, being slowly compressed to death as if being pressed by a giant stone descending from the ceiling.

Evan’s face turned pale at the sight.

“Ugh……”

The sight of that mighty monster, which he could never defeat alone, dying so futilely and brutally, was enough to scratch even his hardened demeanor, honed through years of mercenary life.

But what made Evan’s heart race even more in such a situation was the fact that the same giant stone that was brutally crushing the Hell Gargoyle was also hanging above their heads.

‘How on earth is the young master handling this situation……?’

Evan looked at Alon.

Even though he would face a brutal death like the gargoyle before him if he failed to answer even one question posed by this labyrinth, his expression remained indifferent.

In fact, he seemed to feel no sense of crisis in this situation, as if he were simply waiting for the door to open.

Watching Alon in this state, Evan felt his curiosity about him grow.

Usually, no matter how inscrutable a wizard might be, after spending four years together, one would expect to see some glimpse of their true nature.

Moreover, Evan had helped Alon with many tasks over the past four years.

Sometimes they rescued orphans.

Sometimes they eradicated evil organizations.

Sometimes they helped enslaved girls, repaid an old man’s debt, or delivered seemingly meaningless messages to acquaintances. They handled all sorts of tasks.

Yet, despite handling all these tasks, Evan still did not understand Alon.

It was because he couldn’t find any connection between the tasks Alon assigned and what Alon might be thinking.

The only connection he could find was that Alon seemed to take a slightly more sustained interest in a few of the children they had rescued and placed in orphanages.

Beyond that, there was much Evan didn’t know about Alon.

For instance, he didn’t know how Alon, who had never left the Palatio estate, knew about such places.

He didn’t know how Alon knew the workings of this eerie labyrinth and could answer its questions without hesitation.

Nevertheless, the reason Evan had built up a strange trust and confidence in Alon, enough to follow him into this suspicious place with only minor complaints, was that all the tasks they had handled so far had ultimately turned out to be ‘good deeds.’

‘…What on earth are you preparing for?’

But even though he trusted Alon, his curiosity did not disappear, so Evan looked at Alon with a mixture of admiration and curiosity.

Alon, with an indifferent expression, was looking around.

‘…I feel like throwing up.’

He was forcibly averting his gaze to avoid seeing the gargoyle being horribly crushed to death.

‘I knew it was going to be brutal, but not this brutal…’

Creeeak-!

As soon as the gargoyle’s execution ended, Alon confirmed the door opening and sighed.

The reason he, who could barely fight, confidently entered the Whispering Labyrinth, which one could only reach in the mid-game, was because he knew about this labyrinth.

‘Still, thanks to that, I cleared it comfortably.’

This labyrinth, consisting of a total of eight rooms, was designed so that each stage presented a riddle, and solving the riddle allowed one to pass through the room.

In other words, if one knew all the riddles posed by this labyrinth, there would be no need to fight enemies, and Alon remembered all the riddles posed by this labyrinth very precisely.

No, from the perspective of a player of Psychedelia, the riddles of this labyrinth were unforgettable.

This was because it was one of the few labyrinths where one could repeatedly challenge without receiving rewards, making it a place where one could grind levels by going in and out repeatedly.

Of course, having played countless rounds and always grinding through this mid-game section, Alon had memorized all the riddles, allowing him to comfortably reach the end of the labyrinth.

Dragging Evan, who was exhausted despite not having fought at all, they entered a small room at the end of the labyrinth. Alon soon picked up a ring placed on a shabby table in the center of the room.

A ring with no appearance, perhaps so devoid of any aura that someone might think it was only natural to express blatant disappointment.

But Alon smiled.

What he held in his hand was undoubtedly the ‘Constraint’ he had been searching for.

Moreover, he didn’t care much that the ring’s appearance wasn’t flashy.

“…Huh? Young master, the ring you were just holding-“

In the first place, this item didn’t function as an artifact but was more like an elixir that would be absorbed into the user’s body the moment it was used.

“We’ve got what we need, let’s go.”

As the ring on Alon’s hand disappeared, Evan, who had been surprised, soon turned to Alon, who seemed to have found everything he needed, with a bewildered expression, but quickly followed him out of the room.

And, as soon as they reached the end, the labyrinth, as if everything had ended, ceased all functions.

Alon and Evan, who had safely escaped.

“…Did you expect this too?”

As soon as they exited the labyrinth, they were faced with human-shaped golems, who had not been there just moments ago, all holding weapons.

“This is from earlier-“

Realizing through the patterns engraved on the golems that they were the numerous piles of stones they had passed earlier, Evan drew his sword with a tense expression.

“This time, I’ll do it.”

“…What?”

Evan responded with a blank expression to Alon’s ensuing words.

Before he could even answer his question.

“I invoke the Constraint.”

The declaration came from Alon’s mouth.

Sitting in the carriage returning to the duchy of Altia, Loria sighed with a face full of deep despair as she looked at the distant estate, then gave a self-deprecating smile.

‘As expected, I was a fool.’

Loria recalled the man she had seen at the ball.

Alon, the third son of the Count of Palatio.

But that was only a superficial label.

According to rumors among the nobles, he had killed his two brothers, who were big shots in the underworld, and had even wiped out Avalon, who had almost taken over the east, overnight.

He was the true mastermind of the count’s family, who had been hiding his power and waiting for the right moment to reveal his claws.

‘No. It’s not just a rumor.’

Loria, having met Alon, could easily tell that the rumor was true.

The restraint of emotions he displayed at the ball was something that could never come from a frivolous person.

‘It was like seeing my father…’

Loria thought of her father.

The Duke of Altia, known in the underworld as the ‘Nobleman’ for his ability to manipulate the royalists and aristocrats within the kingdom at will, and someone whom the nobles should never cross.

Her father’s eyes, which never revealed emotions carelessly and always judged and discerned matters coldly, were so similar to Alon’s eyes she saw five days ago.

That’s why, the moment Loria saw Alon, she knew he was her last lifeline and clung to him, but failed.

“……”

Honestly, it wasn’t unexpected.

The moment she saw Alon’s eyes, Loria realized that he was not someone to whom she could appeal for petty sympathy and compassion.

Yet, despite that, she appealed to his sympathy and compassion.

Because she had nothing else to offer.

The only thing she had was the hollow power maintained by the Duke of Altia’s mercy and affection.

No matter how hard she tried to grasp other things, her efforts were always thwarted by the cowardly trash who couldn’t even be called her kin.

In short, she was incompetent, and because of that, she couldn’t grasp the last lifeline.

No, she was probably the only one who thought it was a lifeline.

After all, no one would respond to a deal where the thread was more visible than the hand.

“……Hoo.”

It would be a lie to say she didn’t know.

Even though it was hollow power, she had gone through countless things to secure her position against the disgusting relatives who already had everything.

Therefore, even though she hadn’t reached the age of majority, her mind was already well-versed in the logic of the world.

She was all too aware that every relationship and story had its gains and losses.

‘Good things will happen.’

With a self-mocking smile, Loria recalled the meaningless words he said at the last moment and looked out the window reflecting the scenery of the estate.

About 30 minutes later, she returned to the mansion.

“……What did you say?”

“Lady Pailyn and Lord Kig have passed away……!”

From the maid, she heard the news that two of the four brothers who tormented her so much had taken their own lives.

And as she received the news and entered her room with a confused expression, Loria felt a sense of doubt about their deaths.

Her hateful family would rather stab another family in the back than choose suicide.

In other words, the fact that the two committed suicide from the beginning…

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

Loria, convinced that there was some kind of scheme, suddenly recalled the words of that man, the third son of the Count Palatio family—

No.

‘Good things will happen.’

Recalling the meaningless words of the true mastermind who killed all his brothers alone and ascended to the position of heir to the Count’s family.

“……!!”

She felt goosebumps all over her body.