Became the Patron of Villains Novel MTL - Chapter 284

C284. Deal (3)

Right after meeting with Historia.

“I deeply regret what happened!”

Alon contemplated the beastman or beastkin man who was prostrating himself before him in full penance.

The cynical attitude from a moment ago had completely vanished; now the man was literally prostrated on the floor with his entire body.

“Wow, this is too much…”

Evan, beside him, observed him with an icy gaze and murmured.

To be honest, Alon felt something similar.

After all, someone who was previously behaving like a villain was now unable to even lift his head.

Of course, it wasn’t Alon‘s strength that had put him in this state.

“Ria.”

“Yes, Deus.”

Historia instantly responded to Alon‘s call.

Her characteristic inexpressive —or perhaps slightly vacant— eyes stared fixedly at him.

“Aren’t you a bit close?”

Just as he said, Ria was extremely close.

More than close: she was physically pressed against him, wrapping her white tail around his waist.

“We were also this distance before.”

“And the tail?”

“It was also like this before.”

It wasn’t that Historia was lying.

Since Arculainisis used to wrap her tail around Alon’s waist, everyone with a tail, without exception, did the same when they were near him.

“Seriously, what does Mister Marquis do to have women like this always sticking to him…?”

“Well, it’s a bit complicated to explain… but in general, yes, it’s Mister Marquis’s fault.”

Evan and Penia were talking behind Alon‘s back, while Radan watched him with an uneasy gaze that he tried to ignore.

Alon thought about how everything had been resolved so quickly.

‘She called herself a magnificent race… then she acted as if she already knew me, and from that moment everything was immediately solved.’

With a single phrase from Historia, the soldiers retreated like a tide.

Alon spoke towards the beastman prostrated in front of him.

“Lift your head. As I said before, we didn’t come looking for a fight. First of all, could you tell us who you are?”

“Y-yes, yes!”

The man, tensing his whole body, introduced himself as Hao, the port manager of the Eastern Kingdom.

“I truly, truly am sorry… Really!”

Hao threw himself back onto the floor.

…By bowing like that, Alon didn’t even have the energy to scold him.

“Lift your head. To be honest, it’s not that I feel particularly happy… but I have no intention of blaming you.”

“Thank you…!”

Hao smiled with relief, as if he had been saved.

Still, he glanced sidelong at Historia again and again.

That made Alon curious about the real weight of her authority within the Eastern Kingdom, but he decided to get straight to the point.

“Could I ask you what the current situation of the Eastern Kingdom is? As I said before, we are outsiders and don’t know well what is happening here.”

“I-I will explain everything!”

After putting all his energy into it, Hao adopted a formal posture and began to enumerate the situation.

Thanks to that, Alon was able to understand well what was happening.

“…Revolt and terrorism?”

“Yes. In summary, humans dressed in red clothes who call themselves ‘The Ones Who Martyr Themselves’ have appeared, and they have caused a rebellion within the Eastern Kingdom.”

“‘The Ones Who Martyr Themselves’…”

Alon murmured, rubbing his chin.

Because it was a name he knew very well.

The Ones Who Martyr Themselves.

They appeared in the middle of Psychedelia.

They were an annoying group, hated by the entire gaming community.

If the player didn’t complete the emergency missions in time where these fanatics appeared at the lordship level, the lordship would collapse and leave all facilities unusable.

Furthermore, their reason for wanting to destroy the world was an incomprehensible goal: “to enthrone a new god.”

The players considered them an invention of the developer to forcibly increase the game’s difficulty.

In Psychedelia, where time was crucial, they were truly irritating enemies.

But now Alon had a doubt.

‘Aren’t they only supposed to appear in the Unified Kingdom?’

True, Alon never played the DLC.

That’s why he couldn’t predict what would happen in the Eastern Kingdom.

Still, it was strange that The Martyred were here.

While he was meditating, Alon nodded and looked at Historia.

Historia tilted her head, confused by his gaze.

“Ria.”

“Yes, Deus?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Why am I in the Eastern Kingdom?”

“Yes.”

Historia, after being left with her mouth open for a few seconds, replied:

“For a gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yes, I came for a moment for that.”

“…Did you come to receive it?”

“I did a favor.”

“You did a favor, and came to receive a gift. Is that it?”

She nodded.

The disconnected sentences didn’t quite fit together.

Alon tried to organize it mentally; Historia just nodded again.

…Alon, feeling that the conversation was once again out of sync, asked Hao again:

“Would it be possible to have an audience with the king of the Eastern Kingdom?”

“With His Majesty?”

“I came here because I heard the king wished to meet with me.”

Although the real reason he decided to come was what the goddess Sironia told him.

‘…Now that I think about it, Sironia only told me to go East, but never said what I should do.’

Perhaps he could ask when he met the king. Just as he was thinking that, when…

“Deus, is your purpose to see the king?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll take you.”

“You’ll take me?”

“Yes. I was planning to go after finishing my work anyway.”

Historia interjected into the conversation.

“If you go with Miss Historia to the place where His Majesty is, you will certainly be able to see him.”

Hao added.

With that decided, Alon left the room.

‘What a scare I went through…!’

As soon as Alon and Historia left, Hao let out a sigh of ten years of aging.

“!”

He felt a presence behind him and turned around, startled.

“H-Historia? Why…?”

It was Historia, who had supposedly left with Alon.

Hao paled, forcing a trembling smile.

Historia, coldly observing the trembling corner of his mouth, said:

“Remember this.”

With a completely emotionless expression:

“There won’t be a next time.”

Having said that, she turned around and left in silence.

After that, Alon was able to discover two more things.

First: the reason why Historia was here.

She had come by order of the king to eliminate The Martyred who were leading the rebellion.

And second:

“Historia…!”

“Wow… it’s Historia…”

“That is the Great Celestial White Wolf…”

Within the Eastern Kingdom, Historia’s reputation was incredible.

Alon observed the gazes of the beastmen.

Everyone looked at him with devotion and admiration, just like the faithful to Sironia.

‘This is certainly strange.’

The Historia he knew —in the past and in the game itself— was quiet, solitary even among the Seven Forts of the Unified Kingdom.

Before he could think further…

“Deus, wait here.”

Historia stepped forward one step.

“You want me to wait while you resolve the matter?”

“Yes. I won’t be long.”

“Did you locate everyone already?”

Alon said:

“We will help too.”

“Will Deus help me?”

“Yes. I also received your help.”

Although he could have left without her, it is true that without Historia the situation would have ended badly 100%.

Historia hesitated for a moment, then wrapped her tail around Alon‘s waist again and said:

“Thank you.”

“Then, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Glued together as if they were a single body, they started walking.

“…Isn’t she going to tell us anything?”

“I already explained the basics before, didn’t I?”

“I would have wanted something more detailed… Ahh, whatever, let’s go. It wouldn’t be the first time I don’t understand something.”

Evan sighed looking at their backs and followed them.

Penia was also about to move, but noticed that Radan wasn’t moving.

“Aren’t you coming?”

Radan, biting his lip with an unstable expression, murmured:

“This… might be dangerous… Maybe I won’t be able to… contain myself…”

He murmured something in a low voice.

‘What does that mean…?’

Penia looked at him strangely.

But Radan, ignoring her gaze, remained uneasy.

In his trembling eyes…

There was a red brooch.

---

Shortly after helping Historia, Alon arrived at the hideout of The Martyred.

No, more precisely…

“This is not a hideout…”

It was a gigantic fortress.

A place that a normal person could never approach, a valley beneath a mountain range so enormous it blocked the sun.

There, The Martyred had built their fortress, and just seeing it gave a bad feeling.

Everywhere Alon directed his gaze…

There were mutated monsters that always accompanied the appearances of The Martyred.

Monsters that possessed at least double the strength of normal ones.

And was that all?

The fortress before his eyes was much larger than the one that appeared in Psychedelia.

And the most worrying thing of all was…

“…Abyssal Cores.”

“They appear here too.”

Even here, like in the Unified Kingdom, there were Abyssal Cores.

Alon was thinking about what to do when—

Sss—

Historia, who was still embracing his waist with her tail, stood up.

“Ria?”

Alon called Historia.

She looked at him briefly and said:

“I’ll be right back. I won’t be long.”

Then she started walking forward.

“Wait, it would be better if—”

Alon extended his hand to stop her.

He knew that Historia was strong.

After all, she was one of the Seven Forts.

But her opponents were The Martyred.

Each one of them was grotesquely strong in the game.

Furthermore, these fanatics were capable of suicide or doing any outrage for their supposed “martyrdom for the supreme god.”

That’s why he wanted to stop her.

But then…

Alon saw it.

The enormous concentration of mana accumulating in Historia‘s body as she prepared to unsheath.

And then…

First Style.

Historia‘s sword was unsheathed.

Opening.

Nothing happened.

Clack.

Historia re-sheathed the sword and turned around.

The world hadn’t changed.

The Martyred were still there.

The monsters were still there.

Nothing had changed.

Evan frowned in confusion.

Penia too, and Radan tilted his head in bewilderment.

Alon also remained perplexed.

But…

[…]

“She’s… crazy.”

Only Basiliora, who was on Alon‘s shoulder, let out an incredulous curse.

Just as Alon was about to ask him why he was reacting like that—

Everyone heard a faint sound.

Like something scratching, an almost imperceptible sound.

KRRRRRR—…

And the next instant—

Alon saw it.

A blinding sun that completely devoured the sight.

He frowned, bewildered.

From this location, the sun could not illuminate because a gigantic mountain was blocking it.

So, why was there light…?

It didn’t take him long to discover the answer.

Under the sunlight…

“Ah.”

The gigantic mountain, cut horizontally…

Was falling directly towards the valley where The Martyred were.

The entire world rumbled with an indescribable crash.

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