Became the Patron of Villains

Alon had countless question marks pop up in his head.

Naturally, it was because of the word Yuman had just said.

Hidden Saint......? What’s a Hidden Saint?

First of all, Alon didn’t know what a Hidden Saint was.

And he had no idea why Yuman was calling him that.

Which made sense.

Because the term “Hidden Saint” wasn’t even mentioned in Psychedelia.

The best he could guess was—

Since the word “Saint” was attached, it must be something similar to a saint.

He quietly looked at Yuman.

There was still a strong sense of faith in the man’s eyes.

‘I figured he must be wildly mistaken, but...’

He had already expected it.

This wasn’t the first time such a thing had happened, and he had tried to clear up the misunderstanding before.

............... Though he failed because Yuman gave off that ‘yes yes, I already know everything’ attitude.

Still, he didn’t expect that misunderstanding to have continued all the way until now.

‘So that’s why he’s been so kind to me this whole time.’

Only now did Alon realize the reason Yuman had treated him so kindly, even calling him “Brother.”

And he began to wonder what he should do about this situation.

Although, it wasn’t really something to worry about.

He had received quite a bit of help from Yuman, but now that he realized the man was mistaken, he couldn’t just ignore it.

He could’ve played along and continued receiving kindness, but Alon felt uncomfortable in that kind of situation.

So, after calmly clearing his throat, Alon said—

“Saint.”

“Speak, Brother.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not the Hidden Saint you’re referring to.”

He said it with a bit of firmness.

“......Excuse me?”

Yuman’s face went blank for a moment.

It wasn’t like Alon had intended to mislead him, but seeing that reaction made his chest tighten with guilt.

“I mean it literally, Saint. I don’t know what part of me led you to that conclusion, but I’m not the kind of person you think I am.”

Once again, he stated it clearly.

And concisely declared that he was not the Hidden Saint.

After finishing his statement, Alon awkwardly turned his gaze away.

・・・・・・Because the situation was incredibly uncomfortable.

How much time passed?

“I see—”

Yuman, who had been quietly looking at Alon, nodded as if he understood.

“I’m sorry.”

“Excuse me......?”

“I was too careless.”

“Is that so?”

Yuman acknowledged his misunderstanding without much agitation, almost gracefully.

Alon was a bit confused, but internally let out a sigh of relief.

‘As expected of a saint, he doesn’t blame others for his own misunderstanding.’

Most people, when realizing they’ve misunderstood, either get angry or make the atmosphere awkward.

Alon, impressed that this wasn’t the case, thought—

“Indeed, I was at fault. Even in an emergency, I shouldn’t have told you to break the vow with the Goddess.”

"?"

The next words from the saint made Alon realize something was wrong.

“I apologize. Because of my personal feelings, I misspoke and told you to abandon the vow you've upheld all this time. That was my mistake.”

Yuman bowed his head politely.

Alon, dazed, quickly helped him up.

“......No, Brother. Please raise your head.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

He had to clear up the misunderstanding somehow, so he repeated the truth.

“More importantly, as I’ve been saying, I’m not the Hidden Saint you think I am.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Saint?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not the Hidden Saint.”

“I know. I was careless.”

Yuman only smiled and said he understood, and Alon felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

‘This feels... eerily familiar..................?’

As if he were saying, ‘Ah, my bad, that was just your setting? Sorry, I’ll protect you anyway—’

‘Ah.’

Alon realized it.

It was exactly like with Magrina.

Thinking of her made Alon sigh.

“Brother. But still, could you at least meet with that person just once?”

With a misunderstanding that showed no sign of being cleared—

・・・・・・All right.

He quietly nodded.

The day after finishing that conversation.

Alon headed to the place where the Chamber of the Holy Spirit was, in order to fulfill Yuman’s request.

“Ah! You’re here, Brother.”

“Yes, Saint. But who are these people~?”

There were already a few people gathered near the chamber.

“They are the Cardinals of Rosario.”

“......Is that so?”

“Yes. It seems they wish to personally confirm that you enter the room.”

Alon looked at the five cardinals.

Seeing their uniformly unfriendly expressions, Alon realized two things.

First, that he wasn’t exactly a welcome guest.

He was momentarily puzzled but quickly guessed the reason.

‘Is it because of the rumors?’

Aside from Yuman, who mistook him for the Hidden Saint, the current rumors labeled Alon as the lightning receiver, the Apostle of Kalannon, or even a god.

In other words, from the Cardinals’ perspective, it was no different from a heretical god entering their holiest place.

Their expressions were, perhaps, justified.

And the other thing he realized was—

・・・・・These Cardinals—they’re not the faces I remember?

He found the faces of the Rosario Cardinals unfamiliar.

In Psychedelia, the corrupt cardinals of Rosario appear as antagonists to the protagonist.

Which is why Alon knew most of their faces.

‘So nothing particularly bad must have happened in Rosario, then.’

Alon was simply relieved that Rosario seemed to be clearing up.

Just looking at how they were wary of him proved it.

Even if these people were corrupt too, surely they were better than the original cardinals.

While Alon was having a standoff—that wasn’t quite a standoff—with the cardinals, someone said, “You’re a bit late.”

“We are.”

The door opened, and Yutia and Sergius entered.

The two mingled among the cardinals.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Yuman opened the door as if he’d been waiting.

A rare look of displeasure appeared on Alon’s face.

With all these cardinals gathered here—

If nothing happened when he entered the Chamber of the Holy Spirit, it would be incredibly awkward.

‘Last time, it responded when I used magic first, so I’ll try that again.’

Alon reluctantly moved his feet, and the interior of the room he had seen years ago came into view.

A chamber built of pure white marble, as if not a speck of dust would be tolerated.

At its center stood a massive statue of the goddess Sironia.

Approaching it, Alon cleared his throat and, just like before,

“Perceive.”

He cast a spell using the keyword.

However—

There was no response at all from the statue.

‘As expected.’

While Alon stood awkwardly staring at the statue, Sergius, who had been watching the room from outside, rubbed his throbbing head.

Not because of what was in front of him, but because of his grueling recent schedule.

Cardinals typically have a lot of duties.

But Sergius had even more.

The obvious reason was Yutia.

She kept assigning him personal tasks, and he hadn’t had a break in days.

Of course, Yutia would smile and say, ‘If it’s too hard, you’re welcome to rest.’

But how could he possibly rest?

It was impossible to tell whether she meant he could rest for a little while...

Or rest forever.

To make things worse, Yutia had become even scarier lately.

She would be deeply focused on something, suddenly smile like she was in a great mood. Then, just as suddenly, twist her face into a scowl.

Sometimes, she’d puff her cheeks out in odd frustration.

In short, to anyone watching, she might seem to have mood swings or even bipolar disorder.

Sergius had always made an effort not to offend Yutia’s moods.

But now, more than ever, he felt he needed to tread extremely carefully.

At that moment—

“Sigh—”

A deep sigh came from beside him.

Feeling goosebumps all over, Sergius turned toward Yutia.

The face of the woman who had been so happy to meet her beloved Marquis Palatio had gone cold.

Then—

Her blood-red eyes gleamed.

“We should’ve crushed them from the start.”

She muttered something so quietly even Sergius, right next to her, couldn’t make it out.

And then—

Fwoooosh—!

Light began to flow from the statue inside the Chamber of the Holy Spirit.

*****

Lately, Hidan had been living quite comfortably.

All thanks to the return of the Great Moon.

When news of his death had first arrived, it felt like he’d been struck by lightning.

His responsibilities had multiplied ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) exponentially, and he had suffered greatly.

Which made his current relaxed lifestyle feel all the sweeter by comparison.

Enjoying this leisure, he moved a bit slower than usual, and as he was on his way to Rosario to report on a task Yutia had entrusted to him, he witnessed a strange sight.

A Lizardman and an Elf standing together.

The unexpected pairing made Hidan let out a small gasp.

Weren’t they once so hostile they’d practically bite each other on sight?

But even then, Hidan had no idea.

That he was about to witness an even stranger situation.

“I said let go.............”

He looked down upon hearing the commotion.

Down below, he saw a familiar face and a man.

Two of them.

One with golden eyes and the other with inverted pupils.

Before he could even question why they were there—

“Let go.”

“You let go.”

“I said let go, didn’t I?”

“You first.”

The sight before him made Hidan’s mouth fall open.

Gripping each other’s hair, foreheads pressed together as they growled and hurled curses at one another—

“You want me to rip out all your hair?”

“I’ll pluck out every one of your tail hairs.”

Though overwhelming killing intent radiated from their bodies, the way they were acting looked downright disgraceful, so Hidan gave up trying to understand the situation and just silently gaped in shock.