Became the Patron of Villains

Alon went down underground and met Karsem again.

After hearing the rough outline of the plan, Alon organized his thoughts.

“If I just state the conclusion, it means he intends to continue a war of attrition like this and then occupy the place at the point when all combat forces have died.”

“That’s correct.”

“If this plan becomes known and people, including Babayaga, try to flee, then there will be no choice but to release the anomalous entities in advance.”

Watching Karsem quietly nod, Alon continued speaking.

“You said battles with the anomalous entities occur at three-day intervals?”

“That’s right.”

“How strong are the entities?”

“Ah, that I think I can explain roughly.”

This time, Lime, who had been silently listening beside them, answered Alon’s question.

“First of all, for the anomalous entities, you can think of them as being at a level that Babayaga could deal with without much difficulty.”

“Even if multiple entities gang up on her?”

“……I think up to five would be possible.”

“And the warriors below that?”

“If they’re A-rank, I think one entity would be manageable, but from B-rank onward………… they’d need two or three working together.”

“How many anomalous entities appeared in the last battle?”

“I couldn’t count the exact number, but it was roughly between 100 and 150.”

Alon, who pondered the mismatched numbers for a moment, arrived at the answer without much difficulty.

“Did Seolrang handle the rest?”

“Yes.”

At Lime’s reply, Alon mulled things over based on the information he had gathered so far.

‘What’s the best method here.’

When he considered the methods up to now, there really weren’t that many plans Alon could come up with at this point.

No, in the first place, there were too many things he had to take into account.

The Colony he had to fight in was filled with countless people.

Of course, if he ignored them, devising a plan might be easier, but at least for Alon, there was no desire to do that.

That wasn’t the only thing Alon had to consider.

If anomalous entities appeared right away, how many would there be?

He also had to consider what form the divine-blood would take.

More than anything, the most important thing he had to think about was this.

‘Even though I’ve moved, there’s no particular reaction from Karaan.’

Alon wasn’t particularly self-aware about his own standing, but thanks to constantly hearing about it from Penia and Evan, he was able to catch this level of unease without difficulty.

‘There’s no way he doesn’t know that I’ve entered the kingdom.’

Was it confidence, or was some additional scheme hidden behind it?

After only a brief moment of worry,

Alon asked Karsem a question, just in case.

“Just to ask, Karaan has noticed that I’ve entered the Colony, right?”

“Probably.”

“Then do you think there’s a reason he isn’t moving despite that?”

“……That much, I can’t be sure of.”

At Karsem’s answer, which failed to reach an easy conclusion,

Alon thought, as expected, and pushed that line of thought aside for the moment.

Karaan’s intentions were certainly important, but right now, there was no time to pour into figuring them out.

The time given to Alon was only about two days.

‘While protecting the people spread throughout this city, deal with the divine-blood…………… huh.’

Returning to the main issue, Alon continued to deliberate.

How much time had passed like that?

Alon, who until now had been lightly tapping his fingers in silence, said,

“Let’s try it like this.”

He began to voice the plan he had been forming in his head.

***

After Alon finished his explanation,

“All right. Then we’ll proceed that way.”

“I’ll also start moving with Seolrang from late tonight.”

“Much obliged.”

Karsem and Lime immediately set their bodies in motion.

Alon likewise headed aboveground.

“Seolrang?”

As soon as he came up, he saw Seolrang, who hadn’t participated in this meeting.

‘So she’s back now?’

Alon recalled what Lime had said about Seolrang going out briefly.

Seolrang, wearing her usual bright smile, shouted out.

“Master!”

“Where were you?”

“Ah! I had a quick errand outside!”

She then ran toward Alon in a patter, and—

“Ah!”

She stopped short, as if something had suddenly come to mind.

“Master! Sorry! I’ve got something I still need to do, so I’ll head out for a bit!”

“You have more things to take care of?”

“Yeah! I should’ve finished this along with everything else, but I haven’t yet!”

At that, Alon stared at Seolrang, who was smiling brightly.

“All right.”

He soon nodded.

Leaving behind the words, ‘See you in a bit, Master!’, Seolrang ran off far into the distance.

“She’s always bright, no matter when you see her.”

“Seolrang?”

“Well, yeah. Normally, when the situation is this bad, you’d expect someone to be a bit gloomy.”

“Mm—maybe it’s because for her, as long as the Marquis is around, everything’s good?”

“That’s definitely part of her character.”

Evan and Penia chatted while watching Seolrang.

But Alon didn’t join their conversation.

He merely gazed in the direction Seolrang had left, recalling her appearance from just moments ago.

Seolrang had definitely been smiling.

A bright smile, just like always, anyone could see that.

And yet, strangely enough.

A different impression surfaced in Alon’s mind.

“Did something happen?”

It could have just been Alon’s imagination.

However, in Seolrang’s smile, Alon felt not her usual cheerfulness, but a peculiar sense of unease.

An awkward anxiety, as though she were trying to hide something.

For a long while, Alon silently stared at the place Seolrang had disappeared to.

***

The next day.

After confirming that the morning sun rose earlier than anywhere else, Alon asked Lime,

“Did the plan proceed smoothly as scheduled?”

“Yes. It was a bit tight, but we managed to finish everything during the dawn hours. We also received cooperation from the other Babayagas.”

“Then all that remains is what comes after.”

“Yes.”

Lime nodded firmly.

After thinking for a moment, Alon rose from his seat.

“Let’s go to the royal palace.”

“Yes. As you instructed, I sent word in advance.”

“Just in case, I’ll ask—was my entrance to the palace permitted?”

“Yes. ……Rather, it was as if they had been waiting for you.”

The two of them headed straight for the first floor and met Penia and Evan, who had been waiting in advance.

“Marquis, just in case, should I come with you?”

“No. Just in case, you should stay and be part of our combat strength.”

“Alright. Still, just in case, please don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Understood.”

This time, Alon looked at Evan.

With a sly grin, he said,

“Have a safe trip.”

“You’re not saying you’ll follow me?”

“Come on—how could I follow you to a place like that? If I went, I might get split in half and die before you could even save me, Marquis.”

“Hm~”

For a moment, Alon considered dragging Evan along out of spite, but he soon shook his head.

“Anyway, have a safe trip, Marquis.”

“Alright.”

“If you get hurt, Marquis, someone might burst into tears, waah~!”

“Please shut up.”

Penia sharply pinched Evan’s side as he acted shamelessly.

Ending with his scream, Alon boarded the carriage headed for the kingdom.

Not long after, the carriage arrived at the royal palace.

Alon entered the kingdom naturally, without receiving any sort of restraint, and headed for the audience chamber where Carmaxes III was.

“……”

Nothing had changed.

The expensive treasures hanging along the way to the audience chamber, the unusual architectural style, even the distinctive marble.

Not a single thing had changed.

“….You’ve come.”

“It’s been a while.”

Even Carmaxes III himself, who greeted Alon upon his arrival at the audience chamber.

Nothing had changed.

For a moment, Alon even suspected that Karsem might have been mistaken or suffering from delusions.

However, that thought was shattered not long after.

“Karaan.”

“That you remember me—what an honor.”

The reason was this.

Like he was his secretary, the First Prince Karaan was standing right beside Carmaxes III, and from him emanated a bizarre power.

‘No, that’s not it.’

Alon realized it.

The aura emanating from Karaan’s body wasn’t magic.

“As expected.”

Had he noticed Alon’s gaze?

Karaan’s cold voice came crashing down.

At some point, a deep smile had settled on the prince’s face.

“You came knowing everything. Just as expected—so that rat bastard was hiding in the animal brats’ hideout, huh?”

For a moment, Alon considered denying it, but he nodded honestly instead.

“Yes.”

“Tsk, what a nuisance.”

Clicking his tongue as if he had already expected it, Karaan continued speaking without losing his composure.

“So, what did you hear from that rat bastard?”

“Roughly everything.”

“So, did you come to deal with me?”

Karaan sneered.

Seeing that smile, which revealed absolute confidence in this situation, Alon obtained the information he wanted in his own way and replied.

“Before that, I’d like to talk.”

“Talk?”

“Yes. There are a few things I’m curious about. Would that be possible?”

At that, Karaan looked at Alon with an unreadable expression, then said,

“Well, fine.”

Nodding, he lightly poked the body of Carmaxes III, who was seated on the throne, with his index finger.

Then—

Chiiiiik~!

The body of Carmaxes III, which had been sitting solemnly on the throne just moments ago, began to melt with a horrifying sound.

His eyeballs flowed down like candle wax, his gums vanished, and his teeth fell out.

In the end, all that remained on the throne was what appeared to be the skin of Carmaxes III.

Karaan openly grimaced as if it were grotesque, then flicked the skin aside.

Thud thud—thududuk—

The skin of Carmaxes III rolled down the steps just like that.

Alon silently watched the scene.

“Ah—well, I’d prefer if you didn’t look at it like that. It’s just skin, after all.”

Saying that, Karaan sat down with a relaxed expression.

“What did you do with Carmaxes III?”

“As you can see, the skin is there, and the body devoted itself to the Great One.”

He crossed his legs as if it were nothing.

“……”

Alon lowered his gaze and looked once more at the skin of Carmaxes III, the skin casually rolling about on the steps.

Then, suddenly, he felt grateful for his own condition—a face that revealed nothing outwardly, no matter what he felt.

“Now then, shall we start our conversation?”

Karaan’s slick voice rang out, and Alon lifted his gaze.

“Ah, but before that, there’s something I’d like to ask as well.”

And then.

“You—just what exactly are you?”

“……What do you mean by that?”

“I mean it literally.”

Suddenly, to Alon,

“I’m curious as to why you’re called the ‘Star-Eater’ among those Great Ones.”

Karaan’s question fell.