I Became the Patron of Villains

35. Leader…? Me…? (3)

In the middle of the vast territory of Malteon, located in the southern part of the Kingdom of Ashtalon, two men were sitting in the basement of a large mansion.

One of them was Carmine, the third son of Duke Comalon, the owner of this mansion.

The man standing in front of him was smiling leisurely, even in the presence of Carmine, who was known as a tyrant and a scoundrel.

“Agent. Is that correct?”

Carmine asked as if to confirm.

The man with the narrow eyes quietly smiled and took out a quill from his bosom without saying a word.

The quill looked like it had no special abilities.

However, soon, with a buzzing sound, an aura blade appeared at the tip of the quill.

With the aura released, he raised his arm above his head and drew a line in the air with a light smile.

Even though it was clearly empty air, a black line remained where the quill had passed.

Carmine, who was watching it, soon realized that the line drawn in the air was seeping into the air as if ink was flowing.

The moment the black ink drawn in the air disappeared,

Splat-!

Blood burst out in the basement where there were clearly only two people, and corpses that had not been visible until a moment ago fell to the ground, blooming with blood flowers.

There were as many as nine corpses.

The man who had created the fishy smell of blood in the cleanly organized space put the quill back into his bosom and spoke again.

“I think this answers your question. What do you think?”

At the sight of the man with the mischievous smile, Carmine momentarily had a blank expression but then smiled grimly.

“Indeed. A swordmaster with a unique ability. As expected, you are a member of the ‘Agents’. Your level is different…!”

Despite his subordinates being killed in one blow, Carmine admired without caring at all.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Seeing the agent with a beaming smile, Carmine nodded in satisfaction.

‘This was indeed the right choice.’

Agents.

They were assassins operating with a base in the United Kingdom.

Carmine didn’t know their exact number, but he was certain that each individual belonging to the Agents had the skills of a swordmaster.

Carmine, who knew that the commission fee was exorbitantly high and that the assassination target was selective, also knew that once the commission was accepted, it had never failed even once.

“Well then, let’s get straight to the point.”

Carmine responded as if he had been waiting for the agent’s words to get straight to the point.

“I want you to kill a noble.”

“The name of the noble?”

“Earl Palatio of the Kingdom of Asteria.”

The agent, who had momentarily closed his mouth at Carmine’s words, seemed to ponder something for a moment before speaking.

“I’m sorry, but it seems a bit difficult to accept that commission.”

A blatant refusal.

However, Carmine had already somewhat expected a refusal from him, so he spoke up.

“……Is it a matter of the commission fee?”

“That’s right. As you know, our hiring fee is quite high. And there would be quite a few additional fees for Earl Palatio.”

“So, if I pay the commission fee, you can definitely kill Earl Palatio?”

“Of the commissions we have accepted with the right fee, we have never failed a single one. Whether it’s taking the head of a noble.”

He chuckled.

“Or taking the head of a royal, for that matter.”

At the agent’s words, which exuded overwhelming confidence, Carmine spoke.

“I will pay the fee.”

“……I’m sorry, but it would be difficult to afford the fee we propose, wouldn’t it?”

“Indeed, if it’s money, it would be difficult. But-“

Carmine, with a confident smile, took something out from his bosom and showed it.

“How about this?”

“……”

What Carmine held in his hand was a black cube.

The agent, who was staring at the cube that seemed capable of absorbing even light, began to show interest in his eyes.

“Ho, it’s not Abyssal Jade, but Abyssal Cube……is it?”

“Yes.”

Carmine nodded.

The agent, who had been silently looking at the object for a while, showed a fleeting glimpse of greed in his subtly visible eyes, but after pondering for a while, he shook his head as if it was still not possible.

“Hmm, it is certainly attractive. But with just one Abyssal Creature-“

The agent spoke as if it was truly regrettable.

However.

“What if there are three Abyssal Creatures?”

At Carmine’s following words, the agent’s mouth closed.

And then.

“……Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“Hah.”

The agent let out a hollow laugh.

“……Let’s finish the request as soon as possible and return.”

With those words, the agent vanished as if disappearing from the spot.

Left alone in the place where only the fishy scent of blood remained, Carmine finally smiled brightly.

‘Finally-!’

Five months ago, Carmine had been constantly striving for revenge since he failed through Vilan, but he had been failing continuously until now.

This was because rumors had spread that Deus Macallian, one of Caliban’s Master Knights, was deeply involved with Count Palatio.

And the more delayed the revenge, the more Carmine began to hate Alon obsessively.

Not a rational emotion, but a terribly irrational hatred.

Due to that unnecessary hatred, he consumed more Abyssal Creatures than needed, and even though he was in a situation where he didn’t know what his father would do to him, he was still smiling darkly.

‘Did you think you could ignore me and live comfortably? ……That won’t do, never.’

The hatred born out of twisted inferiority and wretchedness was directed at Alon.

For some reason, the phrase “I became the leader of the Kalpa created by the Dark Alliance,” which seemed like a title from a web novel of the previous world, flashed through his mind.

[Do you have nothing to say?]

Seeing the host ask another question, seemingly unaware of Alon’s complicated feelings, he wanted to ask back.

What? Me? The leader of the Kalpa created by the Dark Alliance?

[Hmm, then since it seems you have nothing to say, let’s move on.]

But before the confused Alon could ask that, the host naturally moved on, and the words that had been stuck in Alon’s throat remained in his mouth.

Trying to understand the situation as best as he could, Alon-

He turned his gaze to Duke Altia.

Nod-!

Unlike the young days he had seen a while ago, Duke Altia, now in his full dark form, nodded confidently.

Similarly, Lady Zenonia—no, Countess Zenonia, who had officially announced the death of Count Zenonia a few months ago and formally succeeded the title—was also smiling beside him.

‘…Is this a hidden camera prank?’

It was a thought that crossed his mind, but Alon knew very well that this was no prank.

He was just trying to organize his confused thoughts.

‘Ah.’

Only then did he understand the situation from earlier.

When he tried to sit behind the chair, the expressions of the nobles who had seen him had momentarily turned to doubt.

Moreover, he understood why the two men facing him, with eyes that had seen many battles, were looking at him with deep wariness.

‘Ah.’

And that understanding once again clearly informed Alon that he had become the leader of the dark faction.

‘…’

Alon closed his eyes tightly, holding his dizzy head.

About two hours had passed since the grand council ended.

Many stories had been exchanged during that time, but Alon could not remember a single thing that was said in the grand council.

From Alon’s perspective, why he had become the leader of the Kalpa was far more important than the nobles’ fierce arguments with their contradictory logic.

Thus, Alon, who had been pondering the unsolvable riddle for about two hours, came up with a hypothesis just as the meeting was about to end.

‘…Could it be, a puppet leader?’

For him, it was the worst, but a highly plausible hypothesis that could not be dismissed entirely.

However, after the grand council ended, he was dragged to the banquet for the birth of the Kalpa as if possessed.

As the banquet began and he naturally faced Countess Zenonia and Duke Altia, he realized that his hypothesis was wrong.

However,

“How is it? I think it’s perfect.”

…From Alon’s perspective, the current situation was flowing into an even more incomprehensible direction.

To Lady Zenonia, now Countess Zenonia’s words, Alon did not easily open his mouth.

To be precise, he could not.

Because he could not understand a single word of what Countess Zenonia was saying.

“I think it was made just as Count Palatio wanted.”

“Huh? Me?” Alon thought he could float dozens of question marks above his head at the words of Duke Altia, which seemed to come out naturally.

Of course, he maintained a terribly expressionless face on the outside.

“……”

Alon turned his gaze to look at Duke Altia and Count Zenonia.

Their eyes held a small expectation, as if waiting for his story.

Seeing their eyes, Alon began to seriously consider whether he had a split personality.

Alon was not particularly close with Duke Altia and Count Zenonia.

In fact, he had only met Duke Altia a few years ago and exchanged just a few words.

Even those few words were not particularly pleasant.

At that time, it was a negative conversation, as he refused Loria’s request for help.

Similarly, Alon was not particularly close with Count Zenonia either.

He had only met her twice, and during the second meeting, he had even issued an expulsion order to Zenonia, who had come to the count’s house.

Therefore, Alon, who was contemplating, realized that he had dragged his answer too long and opened his mouth.

“I see.”

In fact, he wanted to ask what on earth was going on, but Alon was also perceptive.

If he asked “What on earth is going on?” to the two who seemed to think that Alon had created the faction ‘by order’, the situation would not turn out well.

Therefore, Alon decided to first gather information on what the situation was, and where their understanding had gone astray.

If he could find out how their misunderstanding started, he could solve the problem.

However.

“I’m glad I could repay the favor of saving my life.”

As soon as Alon affirmed, Duke Altia’s words followed.

“……”

Alon involuntarily closed his eyes tightly.

‘What on earth is he talking about!?’

He screamed inwardly.