Raising Villains the Right Way Novel - Chapter 298

Chapter 298. Divine Land (1)

The day after saying goodbye to Rine.

“Master!”

“Brother!”

“Seolrang, Radan.”

Alon went to visit Seolrang and Radan, who were now able to get out of bed.

“Are you two okay?”

“Yes, thanks. If you hadn’t warned us, it would have been a disaster!”

“Warned? Ah, that.”

“Yes, about using magic!”

At Seolrang’s words, Alon let out a brief “Ah.”

Certainly, just as she said, when the Mother of Greed first appeared, Alon had explained the general nature of the Sin of Greed to her.

“In any case, I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Were you worried about me?”

“How could I not be worried?”

Alon asked in return.

Seolrang giggled “hehe” and—

“Master, my ear—”

She simply brought her face close to him.

Alon gently pulled on her ear as usual, and Seolrang, humming with satisfaction, hung onto his arm.

Alon smiled at the scene, when—

“Brother?”

“What is it?”

“Where is the brooch?”

“Brooch?”

At Radan’s question, Alon finally noticed that the brooch he usually wore on his chest was missing.

And he remembered what happened yesterday.

“Ah, right… I left it stored in my chest pocket.”

“… I see.”

“But why do you ask?”

Radan hesitated for a moment.

As if he didn’t know how to answer.

When the silence stretched on and Alon began to find it strange—

“It’s nothing, it just looked very good on you, but suddenly you stopped wearing it and it made me curious. Haha.”

Radan spoke quickly.

“Yes, yes, it’s true. Master, the red brooch suits you very well.”

Seolrang, who was listening silently, nodded energetically.

At their reactions, Alon frowned slightly.

Because, until a second ago, Seolrang seemed happy, but her pupils were trembling.

“I suppose I should put it back on.”

Alon, not giving it much thought, placed the red brooch back on his chest.

Seolrang and Radan exhaled an almost imperceptible sigh.

“Have you seen Rine?”

At Alon’s question, both of their expressions returned to normal.

“Ah, yes! We saw her!”

“We saw her, Brother.”

“She seemed to be fine, which is a relief,” Radan added.

Hearing that, Alon remembered what Evan had told him in the morning and asked:

“Now that I think about it, I heard you two are leaving soon. Is that true?”

“Ah, yes, it’s true. I suddenly remembered I had pending matters.”

“Yes, Brother. Me too.”

“… Aren’t you resting too little?”

“Maybe so, but there are things we must do, so we can’t help it.”

“Me too, Master. Although… I would like to spend more time with you—”

After expressing their regret, Seolrang and Radan said a light goodbye.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yes. See you later, Master!”

“I will see you again as well.”

“Alright.”

They left so quickly it was like a gust of wind.

“… Like the wind.”

Even though they seemed full of nostalgia moments before, they disappeared immediately, leaving Alon with a strange expression.

“Sir.”

“Ria.”

Now Historia appeared in front of Alon.

Compared to the last time he had seen her, she looked clearly better.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Yes.”

As they conversed, Alon noticed the small load Historia was carrying on her back.

“By the way… where are you going?”

Historia nodded.

“Yes.”

“Shouldn’t you rest more?”

“I’m fine. And I’ll be back soon.”

“… Soon?”

“Yes.”

With a simple “see you later,” she left.

Three people had left far too suddenly.

Alon could only remain even more bewildered.

At that moment.

On the outskirts of Fildegrin—no, of Greynifra.

Until the moment they left Fildegrin, Seolrang and Radan maintained a cheerful demeanor.

But now their faces were completely downcast.

They walked in silence without saying a word.

And when they were about to reach the boundary zone of Greynifra—

“We couldn’t help at all.”

Seolrang murmured in a low voice.

A slightly depressed voice.

Radan, who had also kept silent, responded calmly.

And so they walked for a while longer without speaking, until they finally reached the boundary.

Then—

“I’m leaving.”

It was Seolrang who moved first.

“… Are you returning to Colony?”

“Yes. I’ll go back to Colony and prepare for what’s coming.”

“What’s coming?”

“Yes, if something like this happens again—”

As she murmured that she wanted to be capable of protecting the Master next time, Seolrang looked at the gauntlet on her arm.

“See you.”

And she disappeared in an instant in front of Radan.

Radan watched the spot where Seolrang had been for a while, and let out a long sigh.

Recent memories appeared clearly.

Even more than Seolrang, he had been unable to help.

“… What should I do?”

Radan whispered as if the wind were carrying it away. His hands clenched.

At that same moment.

Historia was also walking her path.

‘I must… recover it.’

Toward the Ronobelly jungle.

… The footprints she left were deep.

Thus, after the departure of the three—

“Brother, are you sure you shouldn’t keep resting?”

“Yes, I’m fine. By the way, how is the situation?”

Alon toured Fildegrin together with Magrina, who had visited him yesterday as well, and was able to assess the situation quickly.

‘It’s not good.’

Literally.

Fildegrin was not in good condition.

During the attack of the Sin, half the domain had been completely torn out.

The soldiers and citizens had evacuated in time, so there were no casualties.

But rebuilding the city would require more than a year, even mobilizing all the wizards.

“Phew… it is worrying.”

Magrina sighed with a somber face.

After thinking about it for a while, Alon called her.

“… Magrina.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“Would it bother you to rely on the help of human wizards?”

“Human wizards?”

“Yes.”

Although he knew elves detested humans…

In this situation, the priority was to restore the domain as soon as possible.

Magrina considered it for a moment and then nodded.

“If we could really bring in wizards, it would be the best option. But… how do we contact them?”

“If you allow me to use certain authority you gave me, it is very easy.”

“Authority?”

Alon explained it to her calmly.

A while later—

“… If it’s just that, it’s not difficult. But, will it really attract wizards?”

“Yes.”

After reassuring her, Alon went to see Penia.

And—

“Hah—! So you’re telling me that, if we want, we can transcribe the contents of the grimoires…?”

“Yes, although only the outer floors, not the ones below. With that condition, do you think you can attract wizards—?”

“Bring them and put them to work, right!? Of course! Without a doubt! If I open a quota of fifty, it will fill up in a day!”

“… That many?”

“Of course! They know that thanks to the information from here I published my theses.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

Labor force secured. Not slaves. “Labor force”.

As Alon nodded, Penia looked at him cautiously.

“By the way, my Lord…”

“What is it?”

“If I bring the wizards, maybe… could I obtain… something?”

Rubbing her fingers, she asked timidly.

Alon replied:

“I’ll see if I can get you access to the underground floors of the archive.”

“I’m going to prepare everything right now!”

Penia ran out with her eyes shining like stars.

Alon thought her eyes were like those of certain idol manga characters that ruined the endings.

After organizing everything, Alon sat down for a moment to rest.

“Godfather.”

“Rine.”

Now it was Rine who had arrived.

“Did you rest a bit?”

“Not much.”

It was true.

Today Alon had hardly rested at all.

In the morning he had said goodbye to Seolrang, Radan, and Historia.

In the afternoon he had inspected Fildegrin nonstop.

‘… Technically it’s not something I should do.’

But, given that he had received the title, he considered that he should minimally fulfill his duties.

“Shouldn’t you rest?”

“Maybe… but tell me, Rine, what will you do now?”

“Me?”

“Yes. Will you return to Lartania?”

Rine made a thoughtful gesture, then shook her head.

“No. I think I’ll stay here for a while.”

“… For a while? Why?”

Rine hesitated, as if thinking whether she should say it or not.

“Actually…”

She began to tell him.

And Alon—

“… You are creating an artifact using the Agu?”

“Yes. It is still down there.”

He was surprised by the revelation.

“So, in summary: while being sealed, you summoned the Sin by looking at forbidden knowledge and the Agu manifested…”

“Yes.”

“Then you eliminated the Sin, but left its power…”

“Actually, at that point I had already completely defeated the Agu, so turning it into an artifact was easy. But stabilizing it completely is taking a long time.”

“So in conclusion, as long as the artifact isn’t stable, you cannot move away from Greynifra.”

“That is correct, Godfather. If the connection is cut, it will go out of control.”

“… Is that artifact so important?”

“Well… without it, I wouldn’t have been able to summon what I summoned that time.”

“Then it is very important.”

“Yes. It took me 600 years to perfect it. But—”

Rine smiled with crescent moon eyes.

“If you tell me to give it up, I’ll give it up.”

“… Suddenly?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t mean it in that sense. And after so much effort, do you think I would ask you to abandon it?”

“No, actually I knew you wouldn’t ask me to. That’s why this is…”

Her smile widened.

“… a sort of declaration.”

She looked at Alon with her emerald eyes.

Alon turned his face away unintentionally.

Rine watched him, amused.

A long silence followed.

Days later.

When Alon had already healed completely and was about to return to his domain—

Late one night.

With Rine’s return, the Great Moon Meeting was convened again.

Normally it should be held every six months, but since Rine’s disappearance, it hadn’t been held.

Even though it wasn’t the time, Yutia summoned everyone.

Six participated:

Yutia, Seolrang, Rine, Radan, Deus, and Hidan.

Excepting Hidan…

The other five were so rowdy together that it was almost impossible to hold a meeting.

And, furthermore, Rine had returned.

But on this occasion—

“………”

No one dared to open their mouth.

Seolrang moved her golden eyes nervously.

Deus, who at the start had tried to show off his sister with a “ahem~”, finally understood the atmosphere and looked away into nothingness.

Radan was the same.

And Hidan, in charge of leading the meeting—

“Kh—gh…”

He made choked noises every few seconds, unable to breathe properly, glancing sideways at the two culprits of that suffocating atmosphere:

Rine and Yutia… and averting his gaze immediately.

Save me…

That is what everyone thought, except Rine and Yutia.