I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 100 - Mysterious Jungle Ronovelli (2)

Chapter 100 – Mysterious Jungle Ronovelli (2)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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[I’m sorry…!]

Seeing Tobet hang his head in tears before him, Alon could not say anything.

To be honest, even he had not expected this situation at all.

‘Can this… actually happen?’

Alon stared blankly at Seollang.

Unlike the moment earlier when her eerie golden eyes had been blazing, she was now meeting his gaze and smiling brightly as if to say, I did well, right?

‘…No, but how did she catch him?’

Inwardly, Alon could do nothing but be surprised over and over again.

Because catching Tobet was, in practical terms, supposed to be impossible.

In game terms, Tobet was a fairy who could move over a hundred spaces in a single turn.

“How did you catch him?”

The question came out before he could stop it.

At that, Seollang looked puzzled.

“I just caught him.”

She answered with unbelievable ease.

“…I see.”

‘Yes, well, that is true, but…’

Far too much had been omitted from that explanation.

‘…No, seriously, what was that?’

Of course, from the last experience, Alon already knew that Seollang was fast.

But he had not known she was this absurd.

‘At this level… could she cross the desert in under two days? No, more than that… just like Deus, she seems to have completely surpassed any ordinary standard already.’

Once again, he found himself marveling at the talent of one of the Five Sins.

‘…Looking at it now, maybe she is not strong because a god descended into her. Maybe she was simply born with ability like this from the start.’

Thinking that made his own body, saddled as it was with such a tiny mana hole, feel rather pitiful.

He felt briefly depressed.

But he soon shook it off and looked at Tobet again.

After all, the situation before him was still in progress.

Perhaps being grabbed by the throat in an instant and then threatened by Seollang had been too great a shock.

Tobet looked terrified.

Looking at that expression, Alon asked.

“…Does this count as catching you?”

[Count…]

“…”

[It does.]

Tobet glanced timidly at Seollang, who was smiling, then lowered his head.

“Then now it is our turn to run. Is that right?”

[Yes? Yes.]

Tobet nodded awkwardly.

“Seollang. Can you do it?”

“Of course I can, Teacher. I’m fast.”

Seollang placed her hands on her hips proudly, as if full of confidence.

At her answer, Alon looked at Tobet, who was watching their mood.

“Then let us begin at once.”

[Yes. Once the hourglass above your head starts turning, it begins. The time you need to run is one minute.]

Even while watching Tobet act somewhat timid, Alon was inwardly tense.

Tobet looked, on the surface, like nothing more than a child who had not yet finished growing.

But in truth, he was a fairy who had lived for several hundred years.

‘And by a fairy’s nature, even if he dies, he comes back to life, so he should not feel threatened by death either.’

Knowing all that, Alon suspected Tobet was only pretending to be afraid in order to catch them off guard.

Then the hourglass Tobet had summoned in the center of the cavern slowly began turning over.

‘As expected.’

And despite the gloom in his eyes, Alon saw the corner of Tobet’s mouth curl up.

It was a thoroughly nasty smile.

While staring at Tobet in preparation for the contest, Seollang suddenly called out.

“Ah, Teacher.”

“What is it?”

“If we get caught, can we try again?”

“Try again?”

Alon looked at the hourglass, now turned about ninety degrees, and replied.

“Hm, probably.”

“Oh. So retries are allowed.”

“Yes.”

Alon nodded, recalling that in the setting, fairies were obliged to grant a trial whenever a human requested one.

And the moment the hourglass fully turned and the test began.

“?”

Tobet did not move.

Seollang also did not move.

‘…Are they moving so fast that I simply cannot follow them with my eyes?’

The thought sprang to Alon without thinking.

But of course, that was not it.

Neither of them was moving at all.

“?”

Alon only grew more confused.

And yet, while they remained that way, the sand in the hourglass continued falling little by little.

After one minute had passed.

“Wow. I won.”

“…”

Alon could see Seollang posing with both hands raised in triumph and smiling radiantly.

And.

“…”

Though he had no idea what Tobet had seen, the fairy was standing there with his head bowed, looking slightly frightened as he stared at Seollang.

And that day.

Alon was able to obtain the Hand of the Wanderer.

“It is thanks to you.”

“For you, Teacher, I can do at least this much.”

Seeing Seollang practically radiate proud confidence, Alon felt a warm softness inside for no reason.

“If there is something you want, I will grant it.”

“Really!?”

“Yes. Though if it is something too difficult, I may need to think about it.”

“Mm. Then can I think about it and tell you later?”

“Yes.”

Exchanging such small talk, they walked out of the cavern.

When the entrance to the underground prison came into view, Alon suddenly grew curious.

“By the way, why were both of you standing still earlier?”

“Hm? Earlier?”

“Yes.”

“Mmm. Don’t know? He was standing still, so I stood still too. I was going to move when he moved.”

Alon looked at Seollang at that calm answer.

“Hm? Why?”

In the end, faced with her utterly innocent expression, he merely shrugged and left the cave.

It was something that had happened at dawn, when not a single person was around.

#####

The three days in Tern passed in the blink of an eye.

From the fourth day onward, the summit was completely over.

After that, it was effectively just a period for socializing without further meetings.

Therefore.

‘If I am going to move, then I should move quickly.’

Alon decided without hesitation to depart.

After all, he had already obtained everything he had come for.

“Teacher, you’re leaving already!?”

“I have something I need to do.”

“Ehh…”

At the news that he would leave first, Seollang’s tail drooped visibly.

It was not as though the world had collapsed.

But anyone could see that she was full of disappointment.

Seeing it felt almost like watching a daughter’s cute sulk, and Alon said.

“Well, I will come visit you sometime next time.”

“Really!?”

“Yes.”

It was an empty promise, but in any case, before long he would need to move once to meet the dragonkin.

Having soothed her as best he could, Alon left behind his brief farewell with Seollang and immediately got moving.

A little later, he went to say goodbye to Deus as well.

“Ronovelli, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Then I will go with you as well.”

…He was unable to say goodbye.

“Go with me?”

“Yes. As it happens, I also now have business in Ronovelli.”

“…What sort of business?”

When Alon asked, Deus explained.

“Reinhardt entered Ronovelli a year ago and has not returned at all.”

“…So you are going to look for him?”

“Yes. More precisely, there are clues, but the knights were unable to bring him back.”

“There are clues, but the knights could not bring him back.”

“According to what I heard, he is presumed to be within the Selvanus sector.”

“Ah.”

Until a moment earlier, Alon had not understood why the knights had failed to bring Reinhardt back.

But at Deus’s words, he could not help nodding.

‘That does make sense. If it is the Selvanus sector, ordinary knights would not be able to enter.’

The Selvanus sector.

It was one of the three surveyed sectors of Ronovelli, that vast jungle which had still not been fully explored, and it was inhabited by aberrant monsters.

There was a high chance that an ordinary knight would not even come back out with his bones intact once he entered there.

Even in Psychedelia, the Selvanus sector was somewhere one only entered from the middle to latter part of the game.

‘You can make use of the ruins’ blessing, but naturally the knights would have no way of knowing that.’

Recalling the game information, Alon nodded lightly.

“Then let us go together.”

“Yes. I will accompany you.”

That day, Alon departed for Ronovelli together with Deus.

####

After traveling toward Ronovelli with Deus for several days, Alon found the trip considerably more pleasant than he had expected.

When they first rode in the carriage together, he had worried that things would be awkward again, with Deus sitting there in silence as before.

But this time, Deus actually spoke quite a lot.

Therefore.

“…It should be about time.”

“I believe so as well.”

As the dampness in the air made even the fabric of his clothes seem heavy, Alon realized they were nearing the outskirts of the jungle and organized the things he needed to do while in Ronovelli.

‘First, I need to go to the Malaka Ruins the king mentioned.’

Alon nodded lightly.

Going to the Malaka Ruins was not difficult in itself.

That was because, while playing the game, he had learned where the Malaka Ruins were through one of the side quests.

However, in the game, even when one found the ruins, the entrance had collapsed, so he had never actually gone inside.

‘Second, I need to find the other side of the bracelet.’

Alon reached into his clothes and took out a bracelet.

It was the very thing he had obtained recently in Tern.

By itself, it had no function whatsoever.

‘…It was at the Hermit’s Hideaway.’

But if he obtained the matching bracelet at the Hermit’s Hideaway, then the moment the two were joined, it would become an item that the current Alon desperately needed.

As for the third and final thing.

‘The Forgotten One.’

He intended to find one item here that would help prepare for the Forgotten One.

Unlike the Outer Gods he had faced until now, he knew that the Forgotten One had already fully incarnated into this world.

“Whew.”

How long had it been since he finished organizing his thoughts with that soft sigh?

“We have arrived.”

Alon realized they had reached Kaslot, a small territory of the Principality of Luxible adjacent to the jungle, and stepped down from the carriage.

From here, they would have to walk directly to the jungle itself.

More precisely, to the exploration camp established there by mages and adventurers.

The three of them, Alon, Deus, and Evan, immediately headed for the south gate that led toward the jungle.

And the moment they passed through it.

“Sir, you look like first-timers here. Wouldn’t you need a guide? Just tell me where you want to go and I can take you there right away.”

As if they had been waiting for them, touts began swarming around.

‘…I knew there would be many, but there are far more than I expected.’

Aside from the exploration camp, most of the nearby places were ruins.

It was an area where many relics were excavated.

So explorers and ambitious mercenaries naturally visited often.

Alon stepped back from the tout.

“That will not be necessary. I already know my destination.”

“Come now, sir. It is easy to get lost in a jungle like this.”

“Even so, I will be fine.”

Alon refused.

Only then did the tout turn away and disappear, as though he had no choice.

“There are a lot of touts.”

“There really are.”

Just as Alon and Evan were speaking.

“Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“Shall I kill that one from earlier?”

“…What?”

At Deus’s declaration that he would kill someone, Alon was bewildered.

“Why?”

“He insulted you, Marquis.”

“…Did he?”

“Yes. I heard it clearly.”

“Uh…”

‘Being insulted is certainly unpleasant.’

Even so, killing someone over that alone felt like a bit much, did it not?

Thinking exactly that, Alon shook his head.

“There is no need.”

“Understood.”

Watching Deus nod, Alon added.

“Still, thank you for thinking of it.”

He nodded in good humor, assuming Deus had said it out of consideration for his feelings after being insulted.

But exactly five minutes later.

“Marquis.”

“…What is it?”

“Shall I kill the tout from earlier?”

“…And why?”

“When you refused him, he cursed and left.”

“…Do not.”

“Understood.”

By the time they reached the south gate connected to the jungle, Deus had proposed murder exactly eight times.

Watching him fiddle with the hilt of his sword while staring regretfully toward the place where the tout had vanished.

‘No, he has not awakened to something strange, has he?’

…Alon began to feel a rather peculiar unease.