Became the Patron of Villains

A man who was a knight of Caliban, and also belonged to one of the knight orders within the Master Knights.

Leo stood blankly facing forward, recalling what had happened up to now.

Up until yesterday morning, nothing unusual had happened.

As always, he started the day’s routine in the knight order and trained.

The problem started in the afternoon.

A troubling telegram came in saying that a Caliban noble who had gone to the birthday party of the one called the Selector had been murdered, and Leo set out.

In truth, it wasn’t something he absolutely had to move for.

In the first place, he was a knight belonging to the Master Knights.

But even so, there was only one reason he moved.

Because the noble murdered at the Selector’s birthday party was the father of the Master Knights.

So without hearing the detailed circumstances, he hurriedly marched out, and came to Tern.

And then, he saw it.

That was all.

"......."

That was all.

That should have been all.

Clearly.

"......Ah."

A dazed sound spilled from Leo’s mouth.

A single knight had entered his sight.

Just looking made chills crawl up his skin.

A knight standing there blankly, holding a sword, wearing armor that looked like blood vessels.

But unlike that terrifying appearance, Leo couldn’t feel anything from him.

Yeah, he couldn’t feel anything at all.

Not the pressure you feel when you meet an overwhelming powerhouse.

Not the contempt you feel when you meet someone weak.

Not even the feeling you get when you meet someone on the same level.

He didn’t «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» feel anything.

Leo looked at the sword the man was holding.

The sword was so worn-out, that rather than “cutting something,” it felt more fittin to call it “tearing.”

And it didn’t give off any intimidation.

Maybe it didn’t even let you feel threatened.

Then why, exactly?

Why were the Master Knights and the knights who had run ahead of him first—

...corpses?

"......."

Where Leo looked, corpses were strewn in a circle.

There were no screams, no traces of desperate resistance.

Like ripe fruit dropping from a branch, in a place where lives had been cut off so simply, it was too monotonous, and cruel.

And that wasn’t all.

Even aside from them, countless soldiers and knights were already piled up into mountains of corpses.

Leo thought for a moment.

He hadn’t seen the knight in front of him swing the sword.

All he’d seen was the Master Knights and the knights running forward.

And the miserable corpses.

It was a situation he should have been afraid of.

It was normal to fear what was in front of him.

A Master Knights stronger than him had died.

Comrades had died.

Behind his back was a mountain of corpses.

It was normal to be afraid.

...And yet.

Strangely, Leo still couldn’t feel anything from the knight.

As if the emotion called fear had been cut out of him.

It was strange.

It was really strange.

Even so, Leo drew his sword.

Feeling a bizarre contradiction inside his own emotions, toward the knight—no, toward plain, simple ruin, he just ran forward.

Just like that.

A moth threw itself into the fire.

To the very end, calmly.

The day after receiving multiple reports from Evan, Alon didn’t rest at the marquisate and moved straight to the Divine Land.

Originally, he planned to rest a little, but something came up that he needed to ask about, and since he didn’t have a communication magic orb, he had no choice but to go in person.

"I should’ve stocked up in advance."

"Do you mean the communication magic orb?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it’s already been this long, so it would’ve been strange not to have one. This time, I’ll make sure to pay attention to it."

While talking with Evan, Alon suddenly looked across.

Ryang-a and Historia sleeping, leaning against each other.

And.

[Kraaaack-! No way! This is a scam!]

[Kkyu-!]

Below them, Basiliora and Blackie were playing a board game they’d learned from those guys.

Basiliora starting to spout nonsense like it couldn’t be real, and Blackie looking at Basiliora like it was pathetic, shaking its head.

Watching the two of them enjoying their freedom, Alon recalled Seollang again.

'......She said she had something to do, right?'

Just yesterday.

Right after Seollang finished the bizarre showdown with Ryang-a, Seollang left behind words that she had something to do and would come back after a little while, then disappeared.

Thanks to that, Basiliora and Blackie, who’d been hiding for a long time, finally showed themselves.

[Wait! Let this one go! I misunderstood the rules from the start!]

[Kkyu-ukkyu-uk]

As Alon sank into thought with Basiliora and Blackie’s voices as background, Evan asked.

"Are you thinking about Seollang?"

"......How did you know?"

When Alon asked back in surprise, Evan shrugged.

"I could tell from your expression."

"Expression?"

"Yes. Maybe not other people, but when you’re thinking about the kids, it shows in your expression to some degree, my lord."

"......Me?"

"Yes. Well, it’s very slight, but...... anyway, there was a tiny change in your expression, so I roughly guessed you were thinking about Seollang, who disappeared yesterday."

"Well...... that’s true, but."

While Alon fiddled with his face, Evan tilted his head.

"But, my lord."

"Yeah?"

"If you think about it, Seollang shouldn’t be coming back—she should be going, shouldn’t she?"

Evan was right.

"......That’s true."

Unlike Ryang-a or Historia.

If you talked about affiliation, Seollang belonged to Colony.

And she wasn’t the kind of force where it would be nice if she was there and fine if she wasn’t—she was very important.

The more she wandered outside, the more uneasy Colony would feel, so Evan’s opinion was valid.

"Well, she said she got leave, so I figure she’ll go back on her own."

"Well, even if Seollang has a childish side, she probably isn’t just a child."

After moving while chatting about this and that kind of trivial stuff, the next day, Alon arrived at the cliff where the Divine Land could be seen, as usual, and at the sight spread out in front of him, countless hooks started floating over his head.

"......Evan."

"......Yes."

"Didn’t you say it was... small-scale...?"

"Th... that’s what you said...?"

"But no matter how I look at it... it doesn’t look like that."

Based on the eastern side of the Divine Land, housing was being built so densely it was packed tight.

"......That’s true, yeah."

"......No, is that all the reaction you’ve got?"

"Wow, it’s like the boss said. If it’s that much, even all my subordinates could fit in."

"Yeah."

While Alon and Evan blankly traded words, Ryang-a and Ria chimed in too.

"......."

Alon quietly lifted a finger.

Then he tried to count the number of houses, laid out clearly like a strategic map...... and gave up.

There were too many to count with his fingers.

And even trying to estimate with a glance, the scale was beyond imagination.

A level you could never handle with ordinary donations.

Alon stared blankly at the massive construction site, then finally snapped out of it and headed into the Divine Land, and—

"Ah, my lord!"

There, he was able to meet Sili, smiling brightly.

Alon took Sili and headed to the temporary office.

He wondered what he should ask first, but first, he brought up the reason he’d made himself come here quickly.

"I heard. You said you’re going to build a housing district?"

"Yes, it’s small-scale, though."

"......Small-scale?"

"Yes, it is, right?"

Sili tilted her head cutely, like she didn’t see what the problem was.

At that, Alon wanted to grab his head.

"It looked like it easily went past dozens of houses......."

"Um— I guess the Divine Land’s population is kind of big."

"So you mean it’s small-scale compared to the Divine Land’s population?"

"That’s right."

That isn’t how you divide scale.

—He wanted to pick at it, but for now, he decided to let it slide and continued the conversation.

"......Fine, but what about the money? Is it okay?"

"Money?"

"Yeah. If you’re doing work on this scale, it seems like it’d cost quite a lot."

When Alon got to the point, Sili finally seemed to realize something and nodded.

"You really don’t have to worry about that part at all. Thanks to how well you handled it, my lord, it’s enough that we can cover it with donations!"

"?"

Sili answered brightly.

Alon, who’d gone blank for a moment, barely asked back.

"What are you talking about?"

"Huh?"

"......Didn’t you just say it was thanks to me?"

"Yes! Because it’s money you got by pressing those arrogant kingdom bastards down and taking it!"

"?"

"?"

Alon stared at Sili with a bewildered expression.

Sili also blinked and looked back at Alon. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

But only for a moment.

"Ah."

Alon, who grasped how things had gone without much difficulty,

"Sili."

"Yes?"

"Do you, by any chance—have something like a donation ledger?"

"Of course I do! I’ll bring it right away."

Alon checked the donation ledger right away, and behind a blank face, was shocked.

Because the kingdoms other than Asteria had donated a truly enormous amount to the Divine Land.

'I definitely said they didn’t have to donate back then? ......Did the Allied Kingdoms all go crazy as a group?'

Thinking that, Alon counted the amount.

If it was as written in this ledger, it wasn’t small-scale housing construction—he could practically make a small territory.

So he added it up again and again, and again.

And.

The result of the calculation was.

......The same, again and again.

Sh-sh-sh-

The moment he realized the answer wasn’t wrong, his hands trembled.

Money he couldn’t have seen even in the Palatio marquisate, which had effectively grown into a merchant territory, had come in as donations.

In this unbelievable situation, he looked at Sili.

"......Sili?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"This—did you write it correctly?"

"Uh...... yes?"

Hesitating, Sili soon made an ah! sound, like she’d realized something.

At that, Alon, thinking, 'Was the amount written wrong?' was just letting out a deep breath—

"Hmhm-"

Sili pointed at the ledger like she understood everything, and—

"Should I tell each kingdom to offer twice the current donations?"

"????"

She said something insane as if it were nothing.

"No, what are you talking about, Sili......."

"Ah, then should I ask for three times?"

Sili raised the number with a bright face.

Was leaving the Divine Land to her the right choice?

No, should he make her study financial sense first?

—While those thoughts hit him at the same time.

"My lord."

Deus entered the tent.

"Deus."

Turning his head, Alon paused slightly.

Because Deus’s expression was stiffer than usual.

So.

"......What is it?"

Alon asked carefully.

"......Elivan has become a sin."

"......What?"

News he didn’t expect.

Was delivered.