I Became the Patron of Villains

119. Half (1)

The labyrinth city of Lartania is divided into eight sections, four internal and four external.

Among them, the eastern section on the outskirts of Lartania is commonly known as the slums, referred to by mercenaries and explorers as the ‘Street of Filth’.

The Street of Filth.

At first, it was just a place where scavengers nested, but now it has become an area even the lords of Lartania are reluctant to touch.

Though it clung to the outer walls of the castle, it was practically an extraterritorial zone.

Because there were many strong individuals hiding in the streets.

Thanks to this, most mercenaries never ventured there unless it was their own territory.

Three organizations divided and controlled this street of filth.

One was the underground Zikdan led by Surod.

Another was the Punkkal led by Kokan, located in the northeastern area where all sorts of Lartania’s trash gathered.

And lastly, though it was called a three-way battle, it was practically known that the Dark Mud led by Salamandra ruled the street of filth.

Of course, there was a time when the three equally divided the street of filth.

But at some point, the Dark Mud seized hegemony, and the other organizations could no longer raise their heads.

The reason was that Salamandra, including his officers, had become unbelievably strong.

Of course, the other organizations did not know how Salamandra had suddenly risen to a different level.

But they saw it.

Salamandra, who wielded dark magic.

Tearing apart a strong man close to a sword master from Raxas with his bare hands.

Since that day, it could be said that there was not a single person who could ignore the words of the Dark Mud in the current street of filth.

In the hideout of the Dark Mud, which could practically be called a kingdom,

“……”

A sea of corpses and blood was spread out.

All that could be seen were corpses.

Whether inside the buildings.

Whether outside the buildings.

The ground, the sky, the outer walls of the buildings, the main gate.

Wherever one looked, it was filled with nothing but corpses.

There was only one peculiarity, the enormous golden pipes piercing through those corpses.

The golden pipes, which had turned the hideout of the Dark Mud into a mess like a jungle gym, shone brightly under the blue moonlight.

The master of the Dark Mud, Salamandra, was staring at the presence before him with a very tense expression.

Under the blue moon, with green eyes shining brightly, and behind her, a woman with golden eyes creaking-

No.

Lartania’s high councilor, Line.

“–Re҉st҉or҉e҉”

The moment the command fell from her lips.

The golden crown that had been piercing through the corpses just moments ago moved at an incredible speed, dismantling the jungle gym.

At the same time, the crown melted into her eyes as if it had never existed.

And then.

Thud-! Thududududuk-!

Even as the rain of corpses fell chaotically, creating a blood flower.

“Hmm- as expected, the power given to me by that person is… truly magnificent.”

Rine nodded several times, as if immensely satisfied.

“Well, now that all the nuisances are gone. Shall we have a chat?”

She smiled sweetly at Salamandra.

“……”

Salamandra furrowed her brows involuntarily.

But soon, she glanced at Rine-

“Tsk!”

And turned around to flee.

The reason was clear.

She was certain she could never defeat the being before her.

At least not now.

Bang!

The moment she made up her mind, Salamandra entered the building without hesitation and darted underground.

She thought that if she used ‘that’ which was underground, she might somehow be able to resist the being before her.

Upon reaching the underground, she immediately opened the box she had prepared for that day.

Her only hope, her only lifeline.

But unfortunately, the moment she opened the box, she could no longer reach out.

All she could do was,

“Gah-!”

Lower her head to look at the golden crown that had pierced through her heart from behind.

The golden crown that had killed all her subordinates.

“Ah- this is troublesome. I wasn’t supposed to kill you.”

With a voice dripping with regret, Rine’s lament became a requiem, and Salamandra died instantly.

Soon, Rine approached, smacking her lips as if in disappointment.

“…Hmm?”

She could see it.

The massive amount of abyssal creatures drenched in Salamandra’s blood.

“What is this…?”

Rine’s voice echoed softly in the dark basement.

####

These days, Evan had nothing much to do.

What could there be to do in the central tower where the magic society was in progress?

Of course, Alon didn’t particularly restrict Evan’s actions, so he could wander around if he was bored, but he didn’t bother.

…To be more precise, he hadn’t been doing so since a while ago.

The reason was one.

The number of wizards clinging to Evan had increased exponentially since a week ago.

If it was purely due to his appearance, he was ready to enjoy it.

Burden? What’s that? Evan was the type to enjoy the attention.

But unfortunately, the reason was different.

It was because of the master and vice-master of the Blue Magic Tower, who were entangled with Alon.

‘Hoo-‘

Evan thought of the wizards flocking to him whenever he stepped out of his room.

‘By any chance, what is the relationship between the Blue Magic Tower master and Marquis Palatio- no, the Marquis?’

‘Is it true that Fenia Crysinne and Marquis Palatio are dating?’

From noble mtl dot com

‘If you give me a hint, I’ll give you a good artifact, how about it?’

‘Can you deliver this to the Marquis? It’s very good for the body-‘

Wizards who rushed to Evan as soon as they saw him, trying to confirm rumors and push items to establish a relationship.

Moreover, as if to emphasize that they were under-socialized from being cooped up in the magic tower doing research, they didn’t know how to back off even when Evan refused or expressed ignorance.

They clung to him like penguins flocking together, squawking even more.

‘What on earth is the Marquis doing…’

To be honest, Evan couldn’t understand at all what Alon was doing to cause such a situation.

‘No, it doesn’t seem like he’s doing anything-‘

Of course, he knew that he wasn’t doing anything in particular.

Basically, Evan was traveling with Alon.

When they were together, he didn’t do anything particularly unusual.

If he had to point out something, it would be that Alon ate nothing but sweet potatoes for over two weeks during their journey, without getting tired of them.

But, given the situation, he began to suspect that Alon might be doing something behind his back.

…Well, knowing Alon’s nature, even if he asked, Alon would only feel genuinely wronged.

‘…It’s hard to tell because of his expressionless face.’

Having served him for over nine years, almost ten, Evan had learned to read Alon’s emotions even through his expressionless face.

Anyway, thanks to that, Evan, who hadn’t been able to leave his room for several days, finally came out and was walking inside the magic tower.

He judged that enough time had passed for the rumors to die down.

And soon after.

‘That’s right.’

He was satisfied to realize that his judgment was correct.

Even when he walked around, the wizards only glanced at him without gathering, so he thought the gossip had been suppressed.

Just as he was leisurely starting to explore the magic tower.

“Long time no see.”

“Oh, Pellin?”

“Yes.”

Evan encountered Pellin Crysinne, whom he had met in Raxas.

At first, they were distant, but after traveling together in Raxas, they had built some degree of familiarity.

“What’s going on?”

“A wizard coming to the magic academy, what could be the reason? I’d like to say that, but that’s not why I’m here.”

“Then?”

“…I was dragged here.”

“Dragged? By whom?”

“I was dragged here by my sister. Because of the rumors.”

“…Ah.”

Evan immediately understood Pellin’s words.

“Is she very angry?”

He had already heard from Alon that Penia Crysinne had slandered him.

At this, Pellin pondered for a moment before speaking.

“I just asked on a whim.”

“On a whim?”

“I got slapped.”

“Hmm…”

“Five times…”

“Oh dear.”

“I hate to say this, but… she’s become quite violent.”

A voice tinged with a bit of fear.

Evan noticed that the respect he once had for his sister during the time of Raxas had significantly diminished.

…It was a passage that indirectly revealed how much he had suffered at the hands of Fenia, and Evan felt a pang of sympathy.

“So, you came because of that rumor?”

“…To be precise, he said he would find the Tower Master who spread that rumor and… well, have a word with him.”

Did I hear that wrong…?

“Ahem, then couldn’t the Deputy Tower Master come alone?”

“He thought the Tower Master would hide, so I was dragged along too.”

“Oh.”

…So he was drafted as a search party member. He felt relieved that his sister wasn’t around, but only for a moment.

“So, have you arrived now?”

“No, we arrived late yesterday, and only my sister went to find the Tower Master. From today, we decided to search together from the first floor. She should be here by now. By the way, where is the Marquis?”

“Well, I suppose he’s somewhere in the Tower attending a lecture. But seeing how angry she got over a mere rumor… she must really dislike him… huh?”

Suddenly, the two looked ahead at the sound of wizards murmuring.

They could see Alon in the distance, reading a book they had never seen before.

Behind him was Fenia Crysinne, watching him.

A strange two-shot.

Unlike Alon, who hadn’t noticed Fenia at all, she had a serious expression as if she was contemplating something.

“Sister, here-“

The moment Pellin opened his mouth to call Fenia-

“Marquiiis-“

“?”

“Ah, hello…!?”

Evan and Pellin saw it.

Just a moment ago, Penia, who had a serious expression, approached Alon with a bright smile and a nasal voice.

““?””

Evan doubted his eyes.

“…Tower Lord?”

“Eh-hey, don’t call me that, just call me Penia, Marquis-“

““????””

With Penia’s continued… cuteness, all the wizards present were bewildered.

“What-?”

Pellin, who had been raising his hand to call out to the person who was his sister just a moment ago, was dumbfounded and opened his mouth.

Plop-

It was so absurd that a drop of saliva dripped from Pellin’s mouth.

“…Has my sister gone mad?”

He muttered unconsciously.

####

Penia does not like Alon.

That was too obvious.

There was not a single reason for her to like Alon, and rather, she got stressed whenever rumors about him spread.

The reason she came to the tower was to find and punish the Blue Tower Lord who spread such rumors, wasn’t it?

But the reason she was smiling brightly at Alon was, of course, because of Heinkel.

She turned her gaze to the sky.

Other wizards couldn’t see it, but Penia could clearly see Heinkel in spirit form, looking down at the current situation.

As if to confirm that Alon and Penia had such a relationship, he was watching closely.

Having confirmed that, Penia rushed to Alon and did something ridiculous.

…Even if it caused her immense stress, she wanted to be taught by Heinkel, who was treated as a hero among wizards.

Therefore.

“Why are you looking at me like that… Marquis?”

Penia looked at Alon with a desperate smile.

The person who actually heard her nasal-tinged words.

‘Hey, what on earth is going on…?’

was inwardly very flustered as they watched Fenia suddenly rush at them.

At least the Fenia they knew would never react this way.

Therefore.

‘Did she eat something wrong?’

They looked at Fenia with a serious expression.

“Why- why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

“Hahaha, all of a sudden? We’ve always been like this, haven’t we?”

“…Haven’t we?”

What a strange syllable that was.

While Alon was horrified behind his expressionless face at Fenia’s nasal voice.

The rumors that Marquis Palatio and Fenia Crysinne had caused a commotion and killed in the Blue Tower.

‘Was it true that the two of them were in such a relationship?’

‘They were just too embarrassed to say it.’

‘Since the Lord of the Blue Tower himself acknowledged it, it couldn’t be a false rumor.’

Thanks to Fenia’s coquettish(?) behavior, twisting her whole body to learn Heinkel’s magic, the rumors began to flare up again.

“Cardinal, there’s a new rumor about the Marquis-”

“Yes, what is it, Cardinal Sergius?”

“…The rumor that the Deputy Lord of the Blue Tower and Marquis Palatio are really in such a relationship has started to spread.”

“Ah- that rumor, wasn’t it a false rumor last time?”

“This- this time it doesn’t seem to be a false rumor. Apparently, there were several witnesses at the Magic Society-”

“…What?”

Quite, quite fiercely.

In just three days, the rumor about Marquis Palatio had reached the ears of the Cardinal of the Holy Kingdom.

“……”

The texture of the letter paper brushed past Yutia’s fingers.

…It was the letter paper used to send reform letters.