I Became the Patron of Villains

Chapter 95

95. Union Conference (1)

“…….”

Alon remained silent at Yuman’s words.

To be precise, he was thinking.

‘……What is he talking about?’

He recalled Yuman’s words, hiding his bewilderment behind a blank expression.

‘Bearing the same burden as him? Perhaps even heavier……? What is this about?’

Alon looked at Yuman.

Seeing the clear respect and reverence in his eyes, it was obvious that he was not joking but sincere.

“……???”

Alon became even more perplexed.

‘Was I that impressive, or something?’

He thought about the recent goodwill shown by the priests towards him but soon shook his head.

No matter how much he thought about it, Yuman’s words were not expressions of such respect or reverence.

Therefore.

“……Excuse me, but what are you talking about??”

“Pardon?”

“The same burden as the Saint, you say?”

Alon asked the question.

Since he didn’t seem to understand the roundabout way of speaking, this time he asked directly, and Yuman spoke without hesitation.

“It means exactly what it says. We are in the same situation, but you bear a heavier burden than I do.”

“…Me?”

From noble mtl dot com

“Yes.”

Even though he explained it clearly, Alon still couldn’t grasp his intention.

Instead, one thing became certain.

‘…He seems to be misunderstanding something?’

There was definitely some misunderstanding…

At a glance, Alon had nothing in common with Yuman.

In terms of rank alone, Alon was born into the Count of Palatio, while Yuman was born an orphan and raised in an orphanage.

In terms of upbringing, Alon lived leisurely in a noble family, slicing meat on the dining table as he pleased, while Yuman was selected as a Saint and became one after living in an orphanage from a young age.

In addition to personality, disposition, and even values.

From Alon’s perspective, knowing Yuman, there was not a single thing they had in common.

‘Should I say this?’

He pondered inwardly.

At the same time, he realized one more thing: Yuman’s kindness stemmed from some misunderstanding.

In other words, if he cleared up the misunderstanding here, that kindness would disappear, so Alon hesitated.

‘Let’s say it.’

He finally decided.

To correct the misunderstanding.

Of course, Alon didn’t particularly want to worsen their relationship.

After all, Yuman was the right-hand man of Elivan, the protagonist of Psychedelia, and the Saint of the Holy Kingdom.

However, from long experience, Alon knew that the longer such misunderstandings were left unresolved, the more problems could arise when they were eventually cleared up. So, after a small resolution, he opened his mouth.

“Saint.”

“Yes, Marquis.”

“I think you are misunderstanding something, but I am not in the same situation as you.”

Alon spoke without hesitation to clear up Yuman’s misunderstanding.

However.

“Yes, I know. You, Marquis, bear a greater burden than I do. Perhaps you are walking a path that no one can acknowledge.”

“…???”

At the words that came out of Yuman’s mouth, as if he knew well, Alon opened his mouth once again.

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“…I mean it literally. I’m not trying to belittle myself, but truly, I am not in the same position as you, Saint.”

After clearly conveying the fact that he had misunderstood, Alon felt a slight headache.

He didn’t know what kind of misunderstanding it was, but usually, when misunderstandings were resolved in this way, it often led to awkwardness between them.

Alon, who disliked that peculiar awkward atmosphere, was worried.

“Ah, I see.”

Yuman, on the contrary, nodded lightly, showing even more evident respect in his eyes, as if he had understood something.

“I was too insensitive.”

“Yes?”

“I apologize for this part. I still have many shortcomings.”

“No, did you really understand? As I said, I am not in the same position as you, Saint…”

“Yes, I understood correctly.”

The Saint spoke with a smile.

Contrary to Alon’s expectation that it would be awkward once the misunderstanding was resolved, the reaction was lukewarm.

At that, Alon instinctively realized one thing.

‘He doesn’t seem to believe it?’

While thinking that, Yuman opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry. I had no intention of distorting the will you hold, Marquis.”

“…No, I mean, the misunderstanding-“

“Yes, I understand well, Marquis.”

Before Alon could say anything, Yuman spoke as if to reassure him, “Oh, I know everything, don’t worry.”

As if he was pretending not to know what he knew, nodding as if he understood everything.

‘No, the person involved says it’s a misunderstanding, what is this…’

Alon was dumbfounded inside.

“Then, I will pray that the blessing of the goddess Sironia be with you, Marquis.”

Yuman left the hospital room after saying those words.

And Alon, who was staring blankly at the door Yuman had exited through.

“……”

Could not say a single word.

####

Three days had passed since then, and by the time Alon’s symptoms of magical depletion had almost subsided, Yutia came to visit.

“Are you feeling better, teacher?”

“Yes.”

She, who had shown her face every day along with Yuman, smiled as if relieved when she saw Alon nodding.

Then she took out a black fragment from her bosom and handed it to Alon.

“……Is this an Abyssal Fragment?”

“Yes. As you said, it seems Anderede used Abyssal Fragments. There are 40 of them.”

“……40, you say?”

“Yes, and that’s just what we’ve found so far. There might be even more.”

At Yutia’s words, Alon looked at the empty, gray cube that had lost its power and thought.

‘……So, you can create foreign entities with Abyssal Fragments.’

Of course, Alon had no idea about this.

In the first place, the release of Abyssal Fragments in Psychedelia was something that would happen years later, and even in the game, Abyssal Fragments were only treated as a setting to raise the level of monsters to match the player’s level.

In other words, Psychedelia did not deal with information about Abyssal Fragments at all, so Alon had no knowledge of this related fact.

‘Well, even if they were created foreign entities, there was a clear difference.’

Even so, the fact that you could create foreign entities with Abyssal Fragments was not something to be ignored.

After all, as long as Abyssal Fragments were distributed, this could happen anywhere.

So, after finishing his thoughts, he said.

“Yutia.”

“Yes, teacher.”

“If you find out anything about where these Abyssal Fragments are being distributed, could you let me know?”

“Understood.”

First, he decided to give Yutia a hint about where the Abyssal Fragments were being distributed.

This was because he knew that the Holy Kingdom did not use the information guild but had its own informants directly.

‘Those guys are quick to handle issues related to heresy, so if I leave it to Yutia, I should be able to get news faster than through the information guild.’

While listening to Yutia’s additional information about the Abyssal Entity, Alon suddenly came up with a hypothesis.

‘…Could this be the “Forgotten One”?’

For a moment, Alon thought it might be possible, but he soon shook his head coldly.

It was clear that a perfectly manifested foreign god wouldn’t be so sloppy.

With that thought, about two days had passed since he had various conversations with Yutia.

“Are you leaving now, sir?”

“Well, I’ve finished my work.”

“That’s true.”

Alon immediately prepared to leave the Holy Kingdom.

That too.

“Ah, hello…! Marquis!”

“Myaon…? What a coincidence. We’re leaving together as well.”

Along with the mercenary group, whom he hadn’t seen at all during his stay in the Holy Kingdom for the title conferment ceremony.

“Y-Yes…!”

“It’s been a while… Why are you suddenly speaking so formally?”

“Ah- well, that’s- Ah, ah! Now that you’ve become a marquis, the difference in rank suddenly feels so… significant…?”

As she gave her reason, Alon was puzzled, wondering if it was a valid one.

“Please take good care of the teacher.”

“Yes.”

“Understood?”

“Yes…!”

Seeing Myaon respond energetically to Yutia’s words,

Alon instinctively looked at Yutia.

“Then, I’ll be waiting for your letter.”

“Alright, I’ll write it when I get back.”

With her calm farewell,

‘Well, it should be fine.’

Alon left the Holy Kingdom with a light farewell.

####

Right after Alon left the Holy Kingdom.

Inside Yutia’s office.

“Three more have been found.”

Sergius was reporting to Yutia.

“The numbers?”

“If we include the ones we found this time, it totals 43, but there are likely many more buried in the underground waterway.”

Despite both being cardinals, Sergius used formal language, and Yutia accepted it without any discomfort.

However, neither of them felt uneasy about this relationship.

On the contrary, Sergius felt a strange comfort in this situation, as if it were natural.

Perhaps that was why.

“…Yutia.”

“Yes?”

“May I ask you a question?”

Sergius, who had never asked a question until now, finally did.

“What is it?”

“…Why did you watch until the chief cardinal did such a thing?”

Sergius knew.

He knew that Yutia had already figured out what the chief cardinal was plotting.

After all, she had ordered him to investigate what Ander was doing in the underground waterway a year ago.

Was that all?

She had even managed to steal several of the abyssal entities they were gathering inside the statues through Sergius.

In other words, the reason the Makina that appeared a week ago couldn’t fully form and remained in an unstable vine-like state was because they lacked abyssal entities.

Originally, Yutia could have stopped the chief cardinal before he started this.

That’s why Sergius, without realizing it, asked the question.

“Ah…”

He realized he had made a mistake and looked flustered.

“Why didn’t I stop him…”

Yutia smiled as if amused, then opened her mouth.

“First, let me tell you this.”

She slowly opened the drawer on her desk.

Wooong-

What rose with him were the nine Abyssal Fragments brought by Sergius.

Utia confirmed it once as it floated in the air.

Crack- Crackle!

Without hesitation, she shattered it.

“…….”

Utia, who had instantly destroyed the Abyssal Fragment that would cost an enormous amount of money, enough to sell an estate just to obtain one from the black market, opened her mouth.

“It’s not to steal this. This kind of trash means nothing to me.”

As she flicked her finger, the fragments of the Abyssal Fragment fell to the floor of the office.

Sergius, who was unconsciously swallowing as he stared at the shards, was called by Utia.

“Hey, Sergius.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what gods eat and grow on?”

“Gods… you mean?”

“Yes. All gods, including the great goddess Sironia.”

To Utia’s question, Sergius answered.

“…Aren’t gods complete and perfect beings in themselves?”

A cautious answer.

Utia smiled and shook her head.