I Became the Patron of Villains

84. Nod (4)

In the dark room.

[Did you say that?]

“Yes.”

In one of the secret places scattered throughout the kingdom created from the blue moon, Hidan was reporting on the events that had transpired previously.

“……He was a man with black hair and blue eyes.”

[Is that so?]

“Yes, I remember his voice being a bit husky, which didn’t quite match his appearance.”

[Hmm—]

Yutia furrowed her brow, as if pondering something over the detailed description.

But that thought was fleeting.

[Don’t worry about that.]

A simple word was spoken, and Hidan responded.

“…Is that alright?”

[Yes.]

Although Yutia’s affirmation made Hidan hesitate for a moment, he soon bowed his head.

“I will follow the command of the Red Moon.”

The order was absolute.

However, that did not mean his curiosity disappeared, so after confirming that the communication sphere was turned off, Hidan thought,

‘…What is that guy?’

He pondered for a while.

####

The next day.

“Well, thank you for bringing me this far.”

“No, brother. It’s something I must do.”

Alon, who had reached the forest on the right side of the Kimin territory, patted Radan on the shoulder.

“Then, let’s meet again next time.”

“Yes, brother.”

“Oh, and please take care of that side. I heard you have business in Raksas.”

Then he turned his gaze to Fenia and Felin.

Fenia, who was smiling awkwardly, and Felin, who was looking at her with a peculiar expression.

They decided to part ways here.

Unlike Alon, who no longer needed to stay in Raksas, the two of them still had business to attend to here.

“Yes. Since you said so, I will make sure to do that.”

“Alright.”

“Oh, by the way, brother. Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Um… I was just wondering if you need anything?”

“Need anything?”

“Yes.”

At Radan’s question, Alon tilted his head and answered.

“Nothing.”

“Is there nothing…?”

“Well, is there a problem?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that you’ve come all this way.”

At Radan’s words, Alon pondered for a moment and then said,

“Well, I don’t need anything. Seeing your face is enough. As I said, I thought I might not be able to meet you.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, then I’ll be off. Take care.”

With that, he disembarked from the ship.

Shortly after, the ship set sail again.

“He’s gone.”

“Indeed.”

Alon and Evan, watching the ship grow smaller in the distance, then headed to the Kimin estate to find a carriage.

It was time to return to the Count of Pilatio.

‘…The Star Eater.’

As the scenery outside the slowly moving carriage began to flow by, Alon suddenly recalled the conversation he had with the observer yesterday.

‘The Star Eater?’

‘Yes, do you know of it?’

‘…To be honest, I don’t know, but it’s a very unsettling term.’

‘Is it? Why so?’

The observer did not answer Alon’s question.

Nor did Alon ask further.

He had already realized, through their conversation, that if she didn’t answer, it meant there was something she shouldn’t say.

‘Why is there so much unknown information?’

Alon sighed.

But he wasn’t annoyed by it.

Just recalling the sight of blood streaming from his eyes, nose, and mouth yesterday was enough to-

‘…It’s better than dying.’

Alon was the type of person who would rather live peacefully with curiosity than risk his life to satisfy it by delving into the truth of the world.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit idly by… It’s more like I can’t afford to.’

He recalled the words he heard from the entity he encountered while gazing at the capital yesterday.

‘Punish the one who was deprived… was it? It was definitely the foreign god.’

He heard it clearly.

‘Hiding, the foreign god, hiding…’

To him, these words were absolutely not to be ignored.

The fact that the foreign god was hiding implied many things.

First, it meant that he didn’t know what the foreign god was preparing while in hiding.

Second, if the foreign god was hiding this successfully, it was almost as if he had already perfectly manifested.

In other words, to Alon, it was like having a completed bomb hidden somewhere, not knowing when it might explode.

‘I have to deal with it no matter what.’

The problem was that there was no way to find out where the hidden foreign god was.

Therefore, after pondering for a while, Alon,

“Phew-”

Let out a long sigh and leaned back on the carriage seat.

Since he couldn’t think of any suitable alternatives at the moment, he decided to stop thinking and take a rest.

“……”

How long had he been staring blankly out the window?

Suddenly, Alon, who had been staring blankly into space, asked Evan a question.

“Evan.”

“Yes, Count.”

“Am I, well, do I look decent?”

“……Pardon?”

Evan, who had never encountered such a topic of conversation before, was a bit taken aback, but soon thought sincerely and answered.

“Well, of course, don’t you think?”

“Right?”

“Did something happen?”

At Evan’s words, Alon recalled Penia’s appearance from yesterday.

To be precise, the voice he heard while on his way to greet Penia’s party, whom he had met by chance on the street.

“No, well… something like that.”

“Something like that?”

“Yes.”

Alon muttered to himself, recalling the conversation Penia had with Felin yesterday while beating him up.

‘Ouch! Ouch! Sister!? Why all of a sudden!?’

‘Do you like it? Do you like it? Do you call that talking!? Why would I like Count Palatio!?’

‘No, I just- because you act so modestly whenever you’re next to Count Palatio…!’

‘You fool, I’ve always been modest!’

‘No, you weren’t originally-’

‘Nonsense. Why would I like that person!? How did you come to that conclusion!?’

‘So, you don’t, right?’

‘There’s no reason to like him in the first place! Why would I like Count Palatio-’

The conversation still vividly remained in his memory.

Of course, Alon had never once thought that Penia would like him from the very beginning.

They had never been entangled in that way even once.

Therefore, even if Penia rejected him, it would only be a little embarrassing, not particularly bad.

However, there was one reason why he found the situation itself a bit more awkward.

‘No matter what, isn’t it too much to beat up your brother while being so disgusted?’

Alon didn’t know about Penia, but at least from his perspective, she seemed extremely repulsed.

Even to the point of beating up her brother who said that.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but don’t worry about it, Count. It’s not about looks, it’s about ability.”

“…That’s true.”

“Look at me. How popular am I?”

“…”

Alon wanted to say, ‘You’re not popular,’ based on the results he had seen so far, but he held it back and nodded.

“Yeah, well. That’s true.”

“So don’t worry too much.”

Alon nodded again at Evan’s words.

However, contrary to his nodding head, he felt a sense of melancholy.

…It was autumn, with the leaves turning colors.

Having unified all the Seven Islands and effectively dominating the eastern sea, Radan sat in his office inside the pirate ship and sighed.

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He had become the ruler of all the islands and avenged those who killed his family, but it wasn’t over yet.

Because he still had a task left to do.

The task of catching the ‘black fish’.

“……”

Lost in thought, Radan soon took out a small box from his pocket.

He stared blankly at the box that Alon had given him as a gift not long ago, and soon opened it to check its contents.

“……Monocle?”

The item inside the box was a monocle, a single-lens eyeglass.

It was a common monocle, with no distinctive features, something you could find anywhere.

So, with a puzzled expression, Radan soon noticed a piece of paper inside the box and took it out.

–

It will help reduce your obsessive-compulsive disorder a little.

–

The paper had only a very simple message.

But Radan couldn’t help but be surprised by the contents of the letter.

Even though he knew he was somewhat sensitive, no one in the Blue Moon organization knew he had extreme obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Because Radan himself had never shown it.

Of course, one might have guessed it from the way he kept the archipelago he ruled meticulously clean, but it was impossible for Alon to have prepared the gift at that point.

Because Alon had been with Radan ever since he entered the archipelago.

So, surprised, Radan put on the monocle.

“!”

He was even more surprised to feel his sensitivity, which had been extremely irritated if the balance of what he saw with his eyes was not right, decrease.

‘How does he know so well?’

Radan couldn’t help but feel a new surge of curiosity as he thought of Alon, who had given him the gift.

Because Alon, the Great Moon, had always been like that.

He knew that the captains of the Seven Archipelago had killed Radan’s parents.

And he even knew the fact that Radan had severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, which he had never told anyone.

As if, like Yutia always said, he knew everything.

That was something Radan found incredibly fascinating.

And that wasn’t all.

‘……I thought he needed force.’

Ladan knew that this world was not so beautiful.

This world is fundamentally give and take.

There are things that go and things that come, and Ladan understood that law very well.

Therefore, while Ladan had trust and gratitude towards the Great Moon, he also thought that it must have something it wanted.

Because there is no such thing as a favor without a price in this world.

“……”

However, no matter how much he thought about it, Alon, whom Ladan saw, did not seem to need force.

That was the case even when dealing with foreign gods.

It was the same when he saw him jump in without hesitation to save himself from being dragged in by the foreign gods.

“……”

Ladan unconsciously recalled that time.

As soon as the Great Moon tried to form a seal, the eyes that looked at him greedily and indifferently from the depths of the sea were vividly engraved with fear.

The awe and thrill he felt at that time.

“……Hoo”

Ladan sighed.

From the moment he saw that scene and from the last conversation they had today, Ladan realized two things.

One was that Alon’s favor came without a price.

And the other was that he did not have the ability to repay the favor he received without any price right now.

Therefore.

‘I need more power. As I am now, it is impossible to even assist my brother by his side.’

Ladan resolved.

To grow strong enough to protect the Great Moon by his side.

Suddenly, as he thought that far.

“……Hypnosis magic……”

He laughed at the foolish thought he had a while ago.

He didn’t know it then, but at least at this point, after meeting the Great Moon, he realized how foolish and stupid his thoughts were.

Therefore.

“Everything is for the Great Moon.”

Ladan, quietly murmuring.

‘It seems like it’s time to bring that out.’

He recalled an object buried in the deep sea and wore a determined expression.

####

After spending about three weeks in the carriage, Alon returned to the Count Palatio’s estate and took a very leisurely rest that night.

Although he had been traveling here and there in the carriage for several years, he still found sleeping in the carriage to be extremely tiring.

Therefore, the next day after arriving at the Count’s estate and taking a long rest.

Alon, who had received a message from Duke Altia after a long time.

[……You are truly amazing. We were also preparing, but we couldn’t find the right time to attempt it. To deal with more than eight nobles at once.]

[……?]

[I thought you weren’t paying attention, but I was really surprised.]

For some reason, he was misunderstood as the mastermind who killed eight nobles without batting an eye.

‘What on earth is this……’

Alon sighed softly.