I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 99 - Mysterious Jungle Ronovelli (1)

Chapter 99 – Mysterious Jungle Ronovelli (1)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The allied kingdoms were made up of eight kingdoms, three duchies, and four cities in total.

However, among them, only five countries could participate as the core powers in this summit.

The Kingdom of Asteria.

The Kingdom of Ashtalon.

The Kingdom of Caliburn.

The Kingdom of Colony.

And the Kingdom of Laxas.

Of course, aside from those, the Holy Kingdom of Rosaria could also participate in the summit.

However, Rosaria had traditionally not attended such gatherings.

Even if it did participate, it only did so when some particular matter required it, and even then not with the pope but with someone beneath him in rank.

So for all practical purposes, these five countries were the core of the allied kingdoms.

“Hm. I do not think that is something we can solve from this side.”

“Thirty percent of the monsters crossing over come from your border. And you would still overlook that?”

“Should we not seek coexistence? Among the goods traded, certain particular items…”

In truth, after the kings exchanged only a few simple formal greetings and took their seats, they began discussing matters of state in such detail that even Alon could barely understand it.

The only thing he could really make out was that everyone was working very hard to gain political advantage from this summit.

‘Every time the subject changes, allies and enemies switch in an instant.’

When they discussed the first subject, Asteria and Caliburn were allies.

Yet when they discussed the second, they turned on each other as if that first alignment had been a lie.

Then by the time the third matter came up, they had become allies again.

Watching that kind of politics, he thought inwardly.

‘Looking at this, I wonder whether there can even be such a thing as a truly incompetent king.’

He looked toward Karmakses III, whom he had seen before.

Gone was the man who had once shown a cheerful laugh and a slightly airheaded manner.

Now he was engaged in political battle without a hair’s breadth of wavering.

‘…There may be emotional kings, but there are no foolish kings.’

He spent a while simply admiring the way conclusions were reached and subjects changed too fast for him to properly follow.

Then.

“Let us stop here for today. In any case, we will all be seeing each other’s faces for the next three days.”

The first day’s summit came to an end.

####

After that.

“You worked hard.”

“Not at all.”

At Siyan’s words, Alon shook his head.

In truth, he had not really done anything arduous.

After all, the only thing he had done as an aide was enter the summit alongside her and listen to the kings speak.

He had not actually done anything in particular.

“How was it?”

“What do you mean?”

“The summit.”

At her question, Alon gave a brief hum and thought.

More precisely, he pretended to think.

…Because in truth, there had not been a single thing he had properly understood.

It was not that he could not understand the words themselves.

It was that he could not interpret all the political intent hidden within them.

If anything, Alon had spent less attention on following the kings’ political exchanges than on watching Siyan.

That was because the Siyan he had seen during this session of statecraft was different from the one he knew from the game.

‘…In Psychedelia, she was described as someone who could not be bothered to govern and left everything to the nobles… And in reality, she did seem like that.’

Yet unlike the figure he remembered, Siyan had clearly taken part in the struggle over interests, even if not to the same degree as the other kings.

“…Forgive me, but someone of my level would not dare to judge it.”

In any case, because that was the actual situation, and because he had stopped really listening at some point, he gave a vague answer.

At that, she snorted lightly.

“You are feigning humility.”

Siyan spoke as if it amused her that he was pretending modesty when she clearly knew better.

Behind an expressionless face, Alon hid his awkwardness.

“Well, that is fine. I have another favor to ask of you anyway, so let us move on.”

“…Another favor?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

At Alon’s question, she spoke.

“If it would be acceptable, could you go to Ronovelli?”

“Ronovelli… you say?”

“Yes. Do you know it?”

“I do.”

Ronovelli.

He had never actually gone there yet.

Even so, he knew the region well.

That was because Ronovelli was one of the areas he had visited many times while playing Psychedelia.

It was also the place he had intended to go as soon as this summit was over.

“There is a place there called the Malaka Ruins.”

“The Malaka Ruins?”

“Yes. You only need to go there and return.”

At her words, Alon fell silent for a moment, then asked.

“…Um, is there some message I need to deliver to someone there, or perhaps some item I need to bring back?”

“No. You only need to go there and come back.”

“Only go there and come back?”

“Yes.”

Alon found the king’s words hard to understand.

“Well, once you go there, you will understand why I said this. From the third day of the summit onward, you need not continue following me around. Move as soon as you wish to move.”

After saying, “Then rest,” Siyan returned to her room together with her attendants.

“…”

Alon stood in place for a while with a slightly strange expression.

####

After returning to his room, Alon stared blankly out the window for a while.

Then he suddenly recalled something the Observer had said before.

‘…Do they seem beautiful to you?’

Alon looked absentmindedly up at the sky.

The dark night sky was filled with countless stars forming the Milky Way.

Some shone brightly beside the moon.

Others were small, yet still cast off certain light.

‘Now that I think about it, that expression seemed oddly bitter.’

As he idly wondered what it was that had made the Observer wear such an expression.

Pop.

“Teacher!”

A familiar face suddenly sprang up beyond the window, and Alon had to calm the startle in his chest.

“Seollang.”

“Yes.”

“You startled me.”

“Eh? That’s a lie. Teacher, you weren’t startled at all.”

No, he really had been startled.

But Alon did not bother to say so and simply continued.

“So, what is it?”

“Hm? Nothing in particular. I just came.”

“Just because?”

“Yes. Because I wanted to see you.”

Smiling brightly and swaying her tail, Seollang perched on the window frame like a dog greeting its master.

“Is that not allowed?”

“It is not that it is not allowed.”

Alon turned his gaze slightly and saw a blue crescent moon hanging among the stars.

Then, after thinking for a moment, he said.

“There is somewhere I need to go now. Will you come with me?”

“Yes!”

Without even asking where they were going, Seollang spun once in place and landed on the floor in a flourish.

Watching that, Alon rose from his seat.

The place Alon intended to visit from here was somewhere that held an item obtainable only in Tern.

So he hesitated slightly.

‘Well, it should be fine. If I tell her, she will keep the secret.’

Thinking it through, there would be no problem with taking Seollang along.

“But the place we are going from here is a secret.”

“A secret?”

“Yes.”

“Just between the two of us?”

“That is right.”

“Wow.”

“What is it?”

“I love that so much.”

Seollang repeated the words the two of us several times.

Then she broke into a broad smile, spun her tail like a windmill, and perked up her ears.

Looking at that, Alon smiled inwardly with the look of an indulgent father.

Then he started walking.

####

The place Alon headed to was Tern’s underground prison.

The place was so pitch-black, like an abyss, that there was not even a magic lamp.

As he was about to use magic.

“Shall I light it up, Teacher?”

“…Can you?”

“That is easy.”

Seollang spat out lightning with a crackling sound.

At once, the space around her brightened.

“How is that?”

“…You can do that too?”

Together with Seollang, who nodded proudly, he moved deeper into the underground prison.

Soon, they reached its far end.

‘It should have been around here.’

He felt around the bricks in the wall there.

Before long, he found that one particular brick moved very loosely.

He pressed exactly that brick.

Then.

Rrrrrrk.

With the sound of some device activating, the bricks of what had been a wall just moments ago began sliding away one by one, forming a path.

“Oh…!!”

Seollang marveled at the sight of the bricks moving with a clattering mechanical rhythm and assembling themselves into a doorway.

Even Alon, who had seen this scene over and over in the game, felt his heart pound at witnessing it in reality.

It felt like a real expedition.

Thunk.

With a somewhat heavy sound, the door finished forming.

Once they passed through it, they found a cave shining brilliantly from end to end with beautiful green light.

“We need to go a little farther.”

“Okay.”

Alon and Seollang walked into the cave.

After they had gone some distance.

When what felt to Alon like about ten minutes had passed, he reached a green-lit cavern at the end of the cave.

And there.

[Hm? A human?]

“Ah.”

Inside the cavern, they encountered a fairy about the size of a child, dressed in blue, looking at them in mild surprise.

Alon let out a low exclamation.

‘…Tobet? Then this is hopeless.’

The combination-type artifact hidden beneath Tern’s underground prison, the Hand of the Wanderer, was guarded by five different fairies, who took turns every two days.

To obtain that artifact, one had to pass the trial of whichever fairy happened to be on duty upon arrival.

And.

“Hiss.”

The Tobet before his eyes was infamous for having an especially difficult trial.

No, strictly speaking, the trial itself was not what was difficult.

Tobet’s trial was simply tag.

The problem was that Tobet’s speed far surpassed not only a Swordmaster’s, but even that of a mage continuously using Blink.

…To put it simply in game terms, whereas a player could move about eight tiles per turn unless using a special skill, Tobet could move a full hundred and six.

‘And it would be one thing if all we had to do was catch him, but we also have to keep away from him for over a minute. It is basically impossible.’

Even in the game, Tobet’s trial had been designed to be passed not by the orthodox method, but by using fairy honey from Ronovelli as bait.

‘…If only it had been Gepetto or Kemita. No, if only it had been anyone except Tobet.’

Alon decided cleanly to give up on getting the artifact today.

In any case, three days still remained until the summit ended.

If he came back tomorrow or the day after, the fairy guarding the artifact would have changed.

Turning toward Seollang, Alon said.

“Let us go.”

“Okay.”

Seollang nodded without any particular question.

[Hah? You came all the way here, so you came for the treasure, right? And now you’re just leaving? You really are pathetic.]

The moment they turned around, the fairy mocked them as though genuinely baffled.

Alon did not bother replying.

He knew that if he took the blue fairy’s bait and forced a trial here, he would only become entertainment.

[Tsk, tsk. This is why humans are all the same. Goblin-like creatures who just want to gulp down whatever they can eat, with no will at all.]

Perhaps disappointed that the humans he had wanted to toy with during tag were leaving without hesitation, Tobet continued provoking them.

Naturally, Alon still did not react.

But.

“Hey.”

[Hm?]

“What did you just say?”

Unfortunately, Seollang could not ignore Tobet’s words.

[Why? Did I say anything wrong?]

“I asked what you said to Teacher.”

[Teacher? Ah, that thing running away because he’s scared he’ll lose without even taking the test?]

Snicker.

[Pathetic. That’s what I called him.]

Tobet laughed even more openly, delighted.

Seollang looked exactly like someone who had taken the bait and was about to join in his little game.

[Well, if you want to deny it, then starting now, why don’t you play tag with me and see if you can even touch the tip of my wing…]

Then Tobet vanished from the spot as if to show off that he held the overwhelming advantage.

[Though I doubt you could touch even the tip of my wing.]

He moved too quickly for the eye to follow, laughing scornfully as he did.

Knowing that the more Tobet needled her, the worse Seollang’s mood would grow.

“Seollang, let us just go…”

Alon tried to stop her.

“…Huh?”

What he saw the next instant was.

A golden flash sparked brightly.

And then.

“Gurk!?”

Tobet’s throat was in Seollang’s hand.