I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 145 - Toward Colony (2)
Chapter 145 – Toward Colony (2)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“You may look forward to the present.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“…Then I suppose I will.”
“Please do.”
Evan, who had been standing beside Alon and watching Rine smile faintly, whispered quietly,
“My lord, that must be nice for you.”
“Why?”
“Because you seemed a little disappointed last time when you did not receive a birthday present.”
“…That was not the case.”
Alon answered in an even tone.
…Even so, what Evan said was not entirely wrong.
In truth, he had felt a little bitter.
If I had never heard about it in the first place, I would not have expected anything.
Of course, Alon had absolutely no intention of blaming Rine.
A birthday present depended on the heart of the one giving it.
It would have been absurd for the person whose birthday it was to demand one.
At that moment…
“So you really were looking forward to it.”
“Do not mind him. Evan is just talking nonsense.”
Rine laughed softly.
“Do not worry, Godfather. This year, I really do intend to give you something.”
After that small exchange, Alon was finally able to bring up the main reason he had come here.
“Rine, I did read the letter you wrote, but… do you happen to know anything more about Death Shadow Dragons?”
At that, Rine’s eyes turned toward Kkamangi, which was tucked into Alon’s chest pocket.
“That is the Death Shadow Dragon, correct?”
“It is.”
“Hmm…”
After considering for a moment, Rine slowly began speaking.
“After you asked me about Death Shadow Dragons, Godfather, I did investigate them a little more. But there was not much more information available to me.”
“I see.”
At Rine’s answer, Alon’s expression became a little strange.
I already expected this when I received the letter, but it seems Death Shadow Dragons are even more dangerous than I thought.
The reason he had wanted to ask Rine about them from the very beginning was simple.
He knew there was a library inside her head.
That library contained most kinds of information, except for information that should not be known.
To be even more precise…
Even the information that should not be known did exist inside Rine’s mental library.
It was merely sealed away in the forbidden section, and by the setting itself Rine could not read it.
Of course, Alon did know how to open that forbidden section.
But he had absolutely no intention of allowing that to happen.
Because the method was to accept one of the Five Great Sins.
While Alon recalled that fact, Rine added,
“Even so, it is not as though I found absolutely nothing.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Though I do not know how useful the information actually is.”
Then she told him the rest.
Alon listened quietly.
After some time passed…
“That is all.”
“Hmm…”
Alon nodded without meaning to.
As she had warned him beforehand, not everything in it was useful.
But he had learned two things from it.
“If a Death Shadow Dragon reaches the end of its growth and fulfills certain conditions… it becomes a god?”
“I do not know the exact details either, but according to the information I found, unlike a normal dragon, if a Death Shadow Dragon overcomes its destructive urges and grows by devouring impure things, it can eventually gain divinity.”
That meant that if Kkamangi grew well, it could become a god.
And then there was the second fact.
“…Kkamangi is different from other Death Shadow Dragons?”
“Yes. I cannot know for sure since I only found the information itself, but ordinarily a Death Shadow Dragon cannot change form away from its original state. Even after regaining reason, that does not change.”
“…So ordinarily it should not be able to stay in a form like this cat’s.”
“That is right, Godfather.”
That meant Kkamangi itself was special.
Alon looked down blankly at Kkamangi.
[Squeak?]
Kkamangi tilted its head with a completely harmless face.
It still does not feel very real.
Of course, Alon had seen it.
He had seen what sort of form Kkamangi took when it attacked another being.
But because in front of him it always looked like this, the idea of its true original form still felt unfamiliar.
After observing the black cat for a while, one memory surfaced.
Then when it devoured Rikrakkamur… was that perhaps part of this as well?
He recalled that scene only briefly.
Then he let out a small breath of relief.
If Rine was correct, then a Death Shadow Dragon merely devoured impure things.
That meant Kkamangi would not be affected by a monstrosity’s disposition.
Even so, it does seem a little different from a normal Death Shadow Dragon… Still, for now I should be satisfied with having learned this much.
After stroking Kkamangi’s head once, Alon looked back toward Rine.
“It could not have been easy to find that information. Thank you for telling me so much.”
“It was your request, Godfather.”
Rine smiled brightly.
Watching her, Alon cleared his throat softly.
That was because he had one more request to make.
“It is a shameless request, but may I ask one more favor?”
“Yes. What favor?”
Rine answered positively without a shred of hesitation.
That made Alon decide to be a little bolder.
“Would it be possible for you to arrange a meeting with Perion?”
“…By Perion, do you mean the captain of the Kalts Mercenary Company, the one who settled in Lartania two years ago?”
“That is right.”
“Why him?”
Rine tilted her head curiously.
Naturally, she had reason to be curious.
Until now, there had been no point of contact whatsoever between Alon and Perion.
Even so, Alon wanted to meet him because Perion currently had something he needed.
Perion, captain of the Kalts Mercenary Company.
In Psychedelia, he was someone the player could meet after progressing a fair distance through the quests in the labyrinth city of Lartania.
Outwardly, he acted as though he were human.
In truth, he was an elf who had come north from the lands of the other races in the south.
If I remember correctly… it sounded as though he came to Lartania to find something.
Unfortunately, Alon could not remember any more than that.
To begin with, Perion definitely counted as a strong figure in the range of things Alon knew.
But he stood slightly outside the player’s direct main storyline.
I think he became one of the major figures only if you added the DLC.
But Alon had never played the DLC.
He had heard that while it did add new content, it also weakened the feel of the main story considerably.
In any case, because of that, Alon’s image of Perion was very simple.
A person who gives the item needed for mage play.
“There is something I want to negotiate with him over.”
Originally, Alon had intended to meet Perion without asking Rine for help.
But there was one fact he had overlooked.
Perion was much harder to meet than he had expected.
When he was just a player, he had met Perion naturally while resolving major incidents in the labyrinth.
So only after entering Lartania in person did Alon realize that Perion, despite being a mercenary, was not someone who met others easily.
Rine, however, answered simply,
“If it is what you want, Godfather, I will arrange it for tomorrow.”
“It can be done that easily?”
“Of course. If it is what you want.”
She answered with a smile as if it were no trouble at all.
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Meanwhile…
Beyond the window of Merd, Rine’s shop, Yuna was hiding herself on a tree branch and watching Alon’s face intently.
Hmm. He does not really look all that special. Then why are the moons so fanatical about him?
Soon she even tilted her head a little.
The reason she happened to be watching through the office window at all was purely coincidence.
She had only come to pass Yutia’s words along to Rine.
Then, by chance, the timing overlapped, and she was able to see Alon together with Rine.
As she continued watching the two of them, Yuna remembered what Alon had said earlier.
A birthday…
The word itself did not stir any especially strong emotion in her.
And yet, at the moment, it felt oddly significant.
Because she had just heard that the Great Moon, whom the moons all fanatically worshipped, had been slightly disappointed because he had not received a birthday gift.
Of course, that had only come from the knight beside him. The Great Moon himself had not shown any expression at all.
Still, whether it was only the joke of a knight who maintained a very close relationship with the Great Moon, or the truth, Yuna could not tell.
After thinking for a moment…
I should at least tell the other moons as well. I need to make the rounds anyway.
So Yuna decided to inform the other executives that the Great Moon seemed to feel a little disappointed when his birthday was not properly observed.
…A decision that might prove rather dangerous.
####
Inside Alon’s head, the image of Perion, captain of the Kalts Mercenary Company, was that of a knight with strong convictions despite disguising himself as a mercenary.
Because he was disguised as a mercenary, outwardly he looked like the sort of knight who drifted through life carelessly.
Even so, no player had ever really seen him that way.
It was funny.
He bothered to disguise his appearance, but did not really bother matching his conduct to that appearance.
Because of that, Perion always came across openly as a man with extremely firm convictions, and the players’ reading of him had not been wrong either.
In truth, among elves he belonged to the class called Pagade, which in Caliburn’s terms would place him slightly above even the Master Knights.
In any case, because Alon knew something of Perion’s circumstances, he intended to negotiate with him for the item he wanted.
If I want the thing Perion wants, I will have to go down into the labyrinth and come back, so it will take a few days. Still, considering how useful it will be later, it is worth doing.
He finished calculating that spending a few days on it would be acceptable.
And the next day, moving according to the arrangement Rine had made…
“…I am Perion of the Kalts Mercenary Company.”
“I am Marquis Palladio, a noble of the Kingdom of Asteria.”
“Ah, yes. I have heard… quite a lot about you.”
“I see…”
At last, Alon was able to meet Perion.
Not in the image Alon already knew, the principled knight hidden beneath a rough exterior.
But rather…
“Th, that…”
“Yes, yes. Please, go ahead.”
A man who looked thoroughly cowed.
Even while they spoke, Perion kept flicking his eyes aside and avoiding things.
Naturally, Alon turned his head to follow where Perion was looking.
“What is it, Godfather?”
“…No. It is nothing.”
“Please speak freely, Godfather. Perion will have a great deal of time today. Is that not right, Perion?”
“Ah, yes. That is right. I have… plenty of time today.”
There stood Rine, smiling.
Seeing Perion nod frantically while Rine calmly watched him, Alon suddenly remembered the rumor Evan told him a week earlier.
The rumor that every senior councilor had died until only Rine remained.
“…”
Alon felt as though he had just learned a fact he really did not need to know.