I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 81 - Nod (1)
Chapter 81 – Nod (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“!”
As a resonant hum spread through the unseen Deep Sea, Alon felt instinctive fear begin tearing through his brain.
His whole body trembled as though a predator stood before him, his mind grew strangely numb, and the thought that he had to flee this place immediately began to dominate his head.
And the same was true for Radan.
No. Do not. If I run.
Do not run.
Run.
I have to run.
Radan’s thoughts twisted.
As though something had bewitched him, his mind moved unconsciously and kept outputting only one thought into his head.
I have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to runI have to run-
Like a man under a spell, Radan instinctively groped around nearby and seized something.
It was a piece of wooden wreckage from a pirate ship sunk by the merfolk.
Seeing that the end was sharp, Radan felt relieved without realizing it.
I can escape.
With that thought, he raised the splinter in his right hand and aimed it at his own neck without hesitation.
“Ghk-!”
At the very last moment, as reason returned, Radan bit down on his own tongue and twisted the piece of wood away from his throat, driving it into his own forearm instead.
A sharp pain flared and blood rose into the water.
That was close.
Seeing that, Radan gritted his teeth as he realized he had almost been taken by the being in the Deep Sea below.
But soon, he felt puzzled.
Because in the giant eye in the Deep Sea, which until just before had been dragging him downward while endlessly pumping fear into him, there now appeared an emotion that was obviously out of place.
So after staring blankly for a moment, Radan turned his gaze.
And soon realized that in the sea into which he had been dragged by the green scales, there was one other person besides himself.
The Great Moon.
Holding a blue-glowing potion in his mouth and preparing to form a seal.
Though he surely must have felt that impossible fear just as Radan had, no change could be seen on the Great Moon’s face.
It was merely indifferent.
As if the fear from a moment ago had from the start been incapable of affecting him at all.
So Radan, without realizing it, looked at Alon with reverence in his eyes.
And then.
Stop.
He realized that everything had suddenly come to a halt.
The green scales dragging Radan toward the Deep Sea stopped all at once.
The suspicious currents ceased.
And along with that.
The eye which, until just moments ago, had been looking at him with the same emotionless gaze as a merfolk.
Star-Bearer?
Was dyed with clear doubt and fear, something Radan could plainly see.
And then.
Together with a grotesque voice that sent chills through the skin.
How dare you-
The giant eye in the Deep Sea that had been dragging Radan down slowly began to close.
Emotions flickered through the closing eye.
Shock.
Fear.
And reverence.
If there had been time-
And finally, with the eye in the darkness of the Deep Sea shutting completely.
Kalak-Kul, which had been dragging him downward, vanished entirely.
“…”
Staring blankly at that, Radan then turned his gaze toward Alon.
No, toward the Great Moon.
And he could only stare blankly at him.
But in truth, Alon, who was receiving that reverent gaze from Radan.
What was that?
Did not properly understand what had happened either.
In the first place, while enduring the fear that chewed away at his mind, he had only just been about to form a seal and use magic to somehow stop Radan from being dragged away, when Kalak-Kul abruptly withdrew.
Besides Star-Devourer, I think I heard something else through the noise too-
So he wore a confused expression for a moment as he recalled the chilling voice he had heard.
I lived….
Alon decided that for now he would be satisfied simply with the fact that he had survived and moved toward the surface first so he could breathe.
####
About one week later.
In the end, Radan unified the Seven Isles, and during that same week Alon had to suffer through the aftereffects of mana depletion.
Of course, compared with mana intoxication, which took as long as half a year to heal completely, it was a fairly mild penalty.
From Alon’s perspective, it was not too bad.
That was all the more true because whenever he fought Outer Gods, he usually ended up, to exaggerate only slightly, half crippled.
Of course, the reason he had been able to deal with Kalak-Kul so comfortably was largely because Kalak-Kul had only just manifested and had inherited none of its own power yet.
And above all, because the human sacrifice had not been properly completed.
Still, what mattered to Alon at this point was simply that he had dealt with a demigod without receiving anything beyond moderate injuries.
…In any case, over the four days he spent recuperating in that way, two major changes came to Alon.
The first was the pirates’ gaze.
In truth, from the moment he arrived in the isles, Alon had been somewhat aware that the pirates were not looking at him kindly.
But after that day.
“G-good morning, Big Brother!”
“Have you eaten well, Big Brother!?”
“…Yes.”
The pirates had begun calling Alon Big Brother.
And not just the ordinary pirates.
“Hoh, is that not Big Brother? So your body is feeling better now?”
“Tariq.”
Even the pirate lords directly under Radan.
“If you need anything, just say it. I will have the boys move immediately.”
“Thank you.”
“Hahaha. This much is nothing. Of course I can do that for Big Brother.”
Watching the pirate lord of the fourth isle leave with hearty laughter, Alon made a strange face.
The pirates who only a few days ago had been looking at him with dissatisfaction were now showing him clear trust and respect that anyone could see.
And he had no idea where it started, but all of them were calling him Big Brother.
It is not bad, but it feels a little like I have become the boss of a criminal syndicate.
The other thing that changed was Pellin Kraisinne’s attitude.
Of course, aside from the moment they first met, Pellin had never particularly opposed Alon, but neither had he acted familiar.
If one had to define the relationship, it would have been most accurate to call it somewhat distant.
But Pellin too, ever since the previous incident, had been looking at Alon with eyes full of admiration.
…Honestly, from Alon’s perspective, it was a little burdensome.
Still, if one built a positive relationship with a talented mage, that was not a bad thing.
The way his attitude had flipped so suddenly left Alon, frankly, more than a little bewildered.
In any case, after feeling those changes for about four days while recovering his body, once his condition had improved enough, Alon immediately sought out Radan in order to head for the eastern shore that the dragonkin had mentioned.
“Big brother, is your body finally all right now?”
“Do you know anything about an eastern shore?”
“The eastern shore?”
“Yes.”
“Well… I am not sure whether it is the place you are looking for, but there is an eastern shore on one of the islands in the Siphra Archipelago.”
“Siphra?”
“Yes. It is about six hours from here. Do you know it?”
“Well enough.”
At Radan’s words, Alon nodded.
Because the Siphra he spoke of was a place Alon had always visited at least once whenever he played Psychedelia.
The Siphra Archipelago, also known as the Island of Criminals.
Like the underworlds of Asteria and Ashtalon in the Allied Kingdoms, Siphra was quite literally a place where every sort of criminal and pirate gathered.
Whenever Alon played Psychedelia, he often went there to use the black market.
Because Siphra’s black market sold quite a lot of unappraised relics.
Recalling that, Alon asked.
“I would like to leave immediately. Is that possible?”
“If big brother wishes to move, then we can leave right now.”
“Good. Ah.”
While nodding at the immediate agreement, Alon suddenly let out a small exclamation and then said.
“Come to think of it, I have still not given you this.”
As he spoke, Alon set a small box on the desk.
“It is a gift.”
“…A gift?”
“Yes. I originally meant to give it to you at the beginning, but it took time.”
At Alon’s words, Radan looked somewhat surprised as he stared at the box.
“If it is a gift from you, big brother, then I will gratefully accept it.”
Soon he accepted the box with a smile.
And then, Alon immediately set out with Radan for the Siphra Archipelago.
####
The voyage to the Siphra Archipelago was very calm, and this time Penia and Pellin followed not at Alon’s invitation, but by their own will.
From what Alon had heard, they had matters to investigate in Siphra as well.
After about six hours of sailing, by the time the sun stood high in the sky, they arrived at Siphra, and Alon first decided to move alone within the island.
Because going to the eastern shore was something he had to do alone in the first place.
Of course, it bothers me slightly that this is the Island of Criminals.
The island’s nature was a bit rough, but because it was still basically a town, he thought it should be safe enough and was the first to disembark.
Not long afterward, he regretted coming down alone.
The roads are absurdly complicated.
Siphra’s roads were much more complicated than he had expected.
Even though he was not usually directionless, he had already circled back to the same place several times.
No, how does it make sense that if I go left I come back here, if I go straight I come back here, and if I go right I still come back here?
It was ridiculous.
He stopped in front of the sign for Rum’s Abundance, which had now caught his eye several times, and on the off chance, asked the four men drinking together at the street pub.
“I want to ask something. Do any of you know the way to the eastern shore?”
It was a fairly polite question.
“Ha? How would I know that, you idiot bastard?”
“Puhahaha. He really does look like an idiot. Total softie. A softie. Hahahaha-”
But as expected from the reaction, Alon realized it would be difficult to get an answer from them and had no choice but to move on.
And then, after about twenty more minutes.
“…Ah.”
Alon let out a low exclamation.
Because although he had certainly moved elsewhere, what he saw in front of him was Rum’s Abundance for the fifth time already.
And just when Alon was beginning to think he might have to turn back.
“Hey-”
“?”
At the voice, Alon turned his head and soon saw a man.
At first he made a puzzled expression after recognizing him as one of the men who had been sitting in the corner of the pub and laughing at him earlier.
But unlike twenty minutes ago, the man, though smiling, now looked intensely anxious and soon spoke.
“Um, you were asking about the eastern shore, right? If you keep going straight down the road in front of you, then take the left path at the fork on the right, you can get there.”
“…”
The man was now smoothly giving the very answer he had not given when Alon first asked.
And on top of that, the smile did not suit at all the face of a man who looked as though he had probably drowned one or two people before, and that instinctively made Alon suspicious.
“I-it is true, really. Once you reach the fork on the right, you will be able to see the road leading down the hill to the beach anyway, so you can confirm it yourself.”
As if sensing Alon’s suspicion, the man hurriedly continued.
“…A little while ago you were laughing at me. Why are you telling me now?”
“Ah, well… when I thought about it, it felt like we had gone a little too far, so I just wanted to tell you.”
At the extremely awkward excuse, Alon made a small thoughtful expression.
Well, the road he mentioned is not some alleyway, but a broad main road, so it does not seem like much of a trap. I have been wandering for almost an hour anyway. I may as well try it.
Since Alon wanted to get out of this place where he had been wandering for nearly an hour, he decided to follow the man’s words once.
“For now, I will thank you.”
With that, Alon began walking exactly as the man had instructed, following the broad road.
And.
After confirming that Alon had left, the man finally dropped his smile, his face turning white with fear and anxiety as he slowly looked to the alley beside the pub.
There lay the companions who had been laughing and talking with him only moments earlier, beaten so thoroughly into lumps of blood that one could hardly tell whether they were alive or dead.
“…”
And there, staring at him with eyes so terrifying they could make a man wet himself just by meeting them, stood the pirate king.
And then.
Nod.
The pirate king gave one small nod, turned, and disappeared.
Thump!
And the man collapsed on the spot.
It was a terribly humiliating posture in which to collapse, but he did not care.
Instead.
I livedI livedI livedI livedI lived-
The man could only offer endless thanks to every god he knew for the fact that he was still alive.