Became the Patron of Villains Chapter 554: A Flash (3)

“According to the ancient text, Palaon didn’t die.”

“Ah.”

At Rine’s words, Alon let out a low exclamation.

Then suddenly, one memory surfaced in his mind.

Something that had now become a very distant past.

Yet at this moment, it rose vividly inside his head—

‘A friend named Palaon supposedly made it.’

—The memory of himself mentioning knowledge he had obtained from the game while looking back at Evan.

The moment he remembered that, Alon unconsciously lowered his gaze toward his hand.

Toward the ring fitted around his finger.

Staring blankly at it for a while, Alon eventually came back to himself and looked ahead again.

“......Is that true?”

“I don’t know for certain whether it’s true either, but if what’s written in the ancient text is accurate—”

“Then it’s true.”

“Yes. Of course, ancient texts sometimes contain false information or distortions...... but the name Palaon couldn’t have been distorted.”

At Rine’s explanation, Alon fell silent for a moment.

Eventually, he spoke again.

“I’ll ask just in case, but... could you tell me what happened after that as well?”

But after looking at Alon once, Rine hesitated slightly.

“If I’m being honest, I’d like to, but......”

“There’s no information?”

Rine gave a small nod.

“To be precise, I don’t have detailed records about Palaon either. More accurately, I’d probably find something if I explored the Forbidden Book Zone further, but it would take time.”

“So for now, there’s no way to learn what happened to Palaon afterward.”

“......”

Rine had been about to answer yes.

But she suddenly stopped speaking.

Because of Alon.

Truthfully, there was no particular rise or fall in his voice.

It wasn’t a voice blaming or reproaching her.

To begin with, Alon rarely revealed emotions through his face or tone.

And yet despite that, Rine stopped speaking.

Because she could feel it.

Even if it didn’t show in his voice.

Even if it didn’t appear on his face, Rine could feel it.

The dense emotions flowing from Alon.

“......Huu.”

Alon let out a sigh.

A sigh she had seen many times before.

Not all that different from the past.

Just a little longer than before.

Yet somehow, she could feel the deep sorrow contained within it.

“......”

Without realizing it, Rine placed a hand on Alon’s shoulder.

Alon reflexively raised his head.

His expression remained horrifyingly emotionless.

And yet, sensing what he must have been feeling, Rine fidgeted with her lips.

The words would not come easily.

Because she knew that no matter what she said, it would not comfort Alon.

Rine knew that.

No matter how many comforting words she offered, Alon would never use those words as an escape.

And at least from the memories she possessed, Evan—

“......”

For a moment, Rine’s mind became dizzy.

She could not think of what to say.

Or how she was supposed to respond.

And so—

“I’ll try to find out as quickly as possible.”

That was what Rine said.

......And somehow, even she herself thought those words sounded shallow.

She knew how irresponsible her own words were.

And yet despite that, she still said them.

Because she didn’t want to simply stand there watching his sorrowful expression.

Because she wanted to do something for him.

So she spoke.

With shallow words.

Clinging to a single possibility that had surfaced in her mind for an instant.

......A possibility absurd enough to be laughable.

And as Alon stared quietly at Rine after she had struggled so hard to speak—

“......Thank you.”

He thanked her.

Calmly.

And seeing him like that—

“......Yes.”

Rine could only answer quietly.

####

The dark night after Rine left.

Alon stood absentmindedly atop the empty castle wall, gazing over the territory below.

The territory was peaceful.

Unlike the past Alon had just returned from, it was unbelievably peaceful.

“......”

Of course, Alon knew this peace could shatter at any moment.

Even with the barrier in place, if a Karma descended, there was no telling what would happen afterward.

He had already fought against a Karma before.

And he knew exactly how absurdly beyond all standards their power was.

He knew that clearly.

He knew this peace could break at any time.

But despite understanding that perfectly, one thought would not leave his mind.

If Alon had never hired Evan back then—

Wouldn’t he perhaps have been living peacefully now?

That thought wandered chaotically through Alon’s head.

“......”

Of course, he knew how meaningless that thought was.

Just as spilled water could never be gathered again.

Time was the same.

And Alon also understood how biased his thinking was.

Even if he had never hired Evan, Evan had still been a mercenary of the Allied Kingdoms.

And mercenaries of the Allied Kingdoms faced life-threatening situations far more often than most people imagined.

Meaning that even if Alon had never hired him, Evan still could have died at any moment.

And yet Alon still kept thinking about it.

What if, because of me, that possibility disappeared?

Even though he knew such assumptions held no meaning at all.

And just as Alon let out another sigh—

[Why do you look so miserable?]

A voice spoke.

Turning his gaze, he saw Basiliora standing along the outer edge of the wall, looking at him.

“Basiliora.”

[Tch.]

Clicking its tongue briefly at Alon’s voice, Basiliora stared at him before speaking.

[......I roughly understand the situation. Is that bastard alone now?]

Alon briefly frowned at the question before soon understanding what Basiliora meant.

‘Back then, the ring had definitely hardened like stone.’

He had expected it, but this confirmed that Basiliora had not only been unable to come out, but had been completely unaware of the outside situation.

When Alon nodded, Basiliora quietly watched him before asking:

[Then why are you so depressed?]

“......Do you think I should be happy instead?”

It was a slightly crooked answer, unlike usual, but Basiliora replied firmly.

[Do you think that’s what I’m asking?]

“......Isn’t it?”

[Of course not. I’m simply asking you something.]

Alon looked at Basiliora.

Not the one who always spoke arrogantly and haughtily—

[That bastard gave up many things.]

[He risked his life to save you, and gambled his return to save you.]

[More than that, he must have chosen to shoulder loneliness and misfortune.]

[And not only that. That bastard gave up everything to save you. I’m certain of it—]

But Basiliora, looking at him with endlessly serious eyes.

[So why are you denying that?]

“......!”

Alon’s eyes widened.

But Basiliora continued speaking.

[Don’t dilute his choices into guilt.]

[Don’t diminish what he chose to shoulder with your pitiful little possibilities.]

[Don’t deny the nobility of the bastard who gave up everything to save you by drowning it in your own misery.]

Calmly.

[What you should be doing right now isn’t that.]

As though stating a simple fact.

And then—

[Now then, let me ask you once more.]

Basiliora spoke.

As the serpent that had once been born long ago.

[What is it that you should be doing right now?]

As the being who once ruled over the forbidden zone of the jungle.

[Alon.]

And finally—

As a guardian deity.

It posed the question.

Alon looked at Basiliora.

It was still in the form of a tiny spirit.

And yet somehow, Alon saw an enormous serpent within that small spirit.

A gigantic being that even he would have to look up toward—

“......”

—A guardian deity correcting Alon’s path.

A guardian deity offering comfort in its own way.

“......”

Looking at Basiliora like that.

Alon deliberately said nothing.

He merely stared quietly into its eyes.

And yet.

As though that alone had conveyed his answer—

[Good.]

Basiliora smiled.

####

Inside a dark and gloomy cave.

Within that cavern built so deep underground that perhaps no one would ever find it.

“Huff— huff—”

A man with ash-gray hair breathed heavily.

As though his breathing could stop at any moment.

His crimson eyes trembled violently with fear.

And in the place where that ash-gray-haired man—

No, where the eldest was—

“Hello?”

A young girl stood there.

The one who had killed the creator that made her.

The one who had personally murdered the father who created her.

And—

“Why are you doing this? Why? Was killing him not enough for you— why are you doing something like this too......!”

As the eldest looked at the girl now trying to slaughter even her own kin after killing their father, he finally spoke.

And at his words, Sia—

No, Yutia—

Stared directly at the eldest.

Then suddenly burst into laughter.

The eldest frowned.

But Yutia simply shook her head.

“Ah, sorry. It was just kind of funny.”

“What exactly is funny?”

“Well—”

She answered with a smile.

“—during the ‘previous’ time, you were the first one to suggest killing him, and everyone worked together to do it, remember?”

“What......?”

At Yutia’s words, the eldest looked utterly unable to understand.

But only briefly.

“......!”

The eldest’s eyes widened as though he had suddenly realized something.

Truthfully, the eldest had never understood her.

Why she acted this way.

Why she alone could move freely outside Father’s ‘restrictions.’

Why she possessed power far beyond what she originally should have had.

He had understood none of it.

No—more accurately, he had failed to deduce it.

But at this moment—

The single piece of information she had spoken became a fragment of inference, chaotically assembling itself inside the eldest’s mind.

“......No way—”

At last, the eldest arrived at a hypothesis.

A conclusion that explained every one of his questions.

And then—

“So you’ve already reached it?”

As though she had known from the start that he would arrive there, Yutia smiled leisurely.

And at her words—

“......Why?”

The eldest asked the question.

His deduction had essentially reached the correct answer.

And she herself was acknowledging it.

Even the eldest knew there was no other explanation capable of resolving all these contradictions at once.

Yet despite understanding that, the reason the eldest still questioned her—

Was her motive.

“You should have already reached the end— so why?”

It was not truly a question.

Just a mutter that escaped unconsciously.

And together with it, another chain of deductions began.

If the eldest’s reasoning was correct, then her actions were bizarre.

She didn’t need to do this.

If it was before the ‘next’ arrived—

If she wished, then even now she could—

“Looks like you’re curious?”

Hearing her voice interrupt his thoughts, the eldest quietly turned his gaze toward her.

“Curious why I’m going through all this trouble when I don’t have to.”

“......”

Still smiling, she looked down at the eldest while seeming to think for a moment.

Then—

“It’s simple.”

She began speaking.

“The reason I’m leaving the other siblings alive except for you.”

“And beyond that, the reason I’m waiting for the ‘next’ to begin as the ‘humans’ and the ‘Ilanef Empire’ prosper.”

“The reason I’m leaving alone the god of Babiloia, the one most likely to come closest to ascension during the ‘next.’”

“The reason one of the siblings calls itself Monster blood and plans to arrogantly attempt ascension right around the time the war between humans and Divine blood ends.”

“The reason I’m only stopping those siblings appropriately instead of killing them immediately, while planning to kill them eventually—”

“The reason I’m killing you and deliberately beginning the alteration from this point onward so I’ll be remembered as the ‘eldest’—”

Her voice stopped briefly.

And then—

“The reasons are all different, but ultimately they all come down to one thing.”

“One... thing?”

“Yes. One thing. To begin with—”

She smiled.

And together with those strangely gleaming crimson eyes.

Those crimson eyes overflowing with indescribable madness.

“For the sake of that, I came all the way here.”

Crumble—

That was where the eldest’s memories ended.