Became the Patron of Villains Chapter 584: The Thing Called the Karma Seat (5)

“Elivan awakened?”

Yuman nodded at Alon’s question and was about to continue speaking.

However—

Wooooong—!

As though it had been waiting for that exact moment, the statue suddenly began emitting light, causing Yuman to stop mid-sentence.

“......Would it perhaps be better to continue this conversation calmly afterward, Brother?”

“Let’s do that.”

As soon as Alon nodded at Yuman’s words, Yuman gave a short murmur of “Then,” and left the room.

And then—

[......You’ve arrived.]

Hearing the Wanderer’s voice, Alon nodded.

“Yes.”

[I heard the news.]

“How much did you hear?”

[That you went to the academy, and judging by the circumstances, that you fought a Karma Seat. Since you are here now...]

The Wanderer trailed off quietly.

[...that must mean you were victorious against the Karma Seat.]

At those words, Alon made a subtle expression.

......Could that really be called a victory?

Well, in the end, Alon had survived, so calling it a victory was not exactly strange either.

[First of all, congratulations.]

At the voice, Alon raised his gaze again.

“......Congratulations?”

[I mean exactly what I said. Karma Seats are not easy opponents.]

“Hadn’t you already expected something like this?”

[Even if one expects something, the outcome can always change. The one you fought was not Divine blood. It was a Karma Seat.]

At the Wanderer’s words, Alon did not bother responding.

However, inwardly, he quietly agreed.

Certainly, just as she had said, the battle against the Karma Seat had been every bit as unpredictable as she claimed.

The Karma Seat of War’s ability alone had not been something Alon could easily deal with.

[Still, rather than discussing congratulations this time, I think we should speak about something else first.]

“......You mean the Karma Seats descending soon?”

[More precisely, the timing of their descent.]

“Wasn’t there still around two months left?”

[That would have been the case originally.]

“......? Originally?”

[Yes.]

“What happened?”

At Alon’s question, the Wanderer fell silent for a moment before speaking.

[I believe I mentioned it once before. About the “hole.”]

“......You said it was the space through which you descend.”

[Correct. There are several possible causes I can think of, but to summarize the conclusion—]

“The space widened. Is that what you mean?”

[You understand quickly.]

The Wanderer continued as though confirming it.

[Two weeks remain.]

“......Two weeks?”

[Yes. Two weeks. Once two weeks pass, the Karma Seats will descend.]

At the Wanderer’s calm explanation, Alon remained silent briefly before speaking again.

“......Excluding the Karma Seat of War, there should be around ten of them?”

At Alon’s words, the Wanderer paused momentarily before slowly continuing.

[Yes. However, realistically, it would be better to assume that only around four Karma Seats will remain in the end.]

“......Four?”

[Yes. It likely will not exceed that number. Even at most, perhaps five.]

“Don’t tell me... they’ll fight among themselves?”

[Correct. Especially because some of the Karma Seats still remember the past.]

“......Didn’t you say all of them remembered?”

[Yes. All of them are fully aware.]

But as you know, being aware of something and truly remembering it are different matters.

The Wanderer murmured that quietly before continuing.

[In any case, by the time you face them, the number of Karma Seats will likely have already decreased.]

“......And after that, you’re telling me to eliminate the remaining Karma Seats?”

[Correct. However... it would be best not to choose a direct confrontation.]

“......What do you mean?”

[You already know from experience, don’t you? Just how unreasonable the abilities possessed by Karma Seats are.]

At the Wanderer’s words, Alon fell silent.

Certainly, she was right.

If the other Karma Seats possessed abilities similar in nature to the Karma Seat of War—

Then her words were correct.

No, perhaps even the word unreasonable was insufficient to describe them.

“......That’s true.”

As Alon nodded, the Wanderer continued speaking.

[Right? And on top of that, no matter what, you will be forced to fight from a disadvantageous position.]

“Why?”

[Because if you engage them head-on, you will inevitably end up fighting at least three at once. And from here onward, there is something else I need to explain.]

“......Something else?”

[Yes. Because it will no longer be a situation where only the Karma Seats matter.]

Saying that, the Wanderer began her explanation.

####

[......That concludes the explanation.]

The Wanderer’s explanation only ended after quite a long time had passed.

And after hearing everything she had said—

“......Is that truly real?”

[I have absolutely no reason to lie to you.]

Hearing her words, Alon let out a hollow breath as though dumbfounded.

“Things have become troublesome.”

Clicking his tongue, Alon summarized aloud.

“So, in two weeks, the Karma Seats descend, and the Divine blood following them descend as well.”

[Correct.]

“The Karma Seats themselves will inevitably descend into the Empire because of the ‘space,’ but the Divine blood will mostly fall here due to the Empire’s sealing formation?”

[Yes. Perhaps not every single one of them, but most certainly.]

“And by the time all the ones that fell into the Allied Kingdoms are dealt with, the fighting among the Karma Seats will already be over... but by then, the victors and losers will already have been decided, and alliances between Karma Seats will have formed.”

[And finally—]

“If we fail to eliminate those Karma Seats quickly, they’ll destroy the Empire’s sealing formation one way or another and devour humans to grow even stronger, so they must be dealt with before that happens.”

[......It seems I explained things rather well.]

At the Wanderer’s words, Alon muttered as though he had a headache.

“......This is a complete disaster.”

Honestly, if the Divine blood were not involved, things might actually have been simpler.

Because in that case, all Alon would have needed to do was fight the Karma Seats.

But now?

‘......I have to defend against the attacks of the Divine blood while also defeating the Karma Seats before time runs out.’

Unlike before, there was now a clear time limit.

And because he did not even know when that limit would end, Alon let out a troubled sigh.

At that moment—

[Since I have delivered everything I needed to tell you, I will be leaving now.]

The Wanderer said that shortly afterward.

At the same time, the light began to fade.

“Wait, is there no alternative?”

Alon hurriedly asked.

However—

[Unfortunately, there is none. I am merely in the position of ‘delivering’ information.]

That was what the Wanderer said.

And just as the light was about to disappear completely, the Wanderer suddenly let out a short “Ah,” as though she had just remembered something.

[If possible, try meeting the Predator.]

“The Predator?”

[Yes. I was told that it would certainly be of help to you.]

“Wait, who exactly is—”

But before Alon could finish asking, the light vanished completely.

Left alone in the room, Alon wore an empty expression for a moment.

“......”

Eventually, he let out a helpless sigh and stepped outside.

“Did your conversation go well, Brother?”

The moment Alon stepped out of the room, Yuman’s voice greeted him as though he had been waiting.

For now, Alon pushed aside the chaotic thoughts filling his mind.

Certainly, what he had heard from the Wanderer was urgent, but he was not sure whether it was something he should tell Yuman.

“Yes, Saint.”

“Then let us go.”

Yuman spoke with a smile after Alon lightly nodded.

At first, Alon briefly wondered what he meant, but he soon remembered that Yuman was referring to Elivan.

......Because of the Wanderer’s words, the thought had momentarily slipped his mind.

Nodding to himself, Alon followed behind Yuman and asked—

“By the way, why is Elivan here?”

As far as Alon remembered, Elivan had originally been somewhere in the center of the Allied Kingdoms, not here.

At that question, Yuman answered.

“At first, he was not in Rosario. However, while his condition continued improving, his consciousness still did not return, so—”

“......He received concentrated treatment in Rosario.”

“Correct.”

As Yuman said that, he opened the gate leading into the underground prison beneath the temple.

Alon felt puzzled for a moment before understanding.

After all, regardless of everything else, even if Elivan had fought for the Allied Kingdoms until now—

He was still ultimately the person responsible for massacring dozens of nobles and destroying Ashtalon.

......Though separately from that, he had also saved the Allied Kingdoms from crisis time and time again.

And because of what Alon himself had said, Elivan had at least avoided execution.

‘......I suppose this really couldn’t be helped.’

Thinking that, Alon spoke.

“......Is Elivan being held in this underground prison?”

“Yes, Brother. However, there is something I was unable to mention earlier.”

“......Is there some kind of problem?”

“Yes. But since we have already come this far, I think it would be better for you to see it directly rather than hear an explanation.”

At Alon’s words, Yuman nodded before saying that.

Then—

“......Let us proceed farther inside.”

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Yuman’s expression seemed somewhat stiff.

Together with him, Alon began descending into the underground prison.

Unlike the scenery of Sironia outside, the underground prison twisted endlessly like a labyrinth.

How many times had they passed holy knights standing between the prison cells, saluting Yuman and Alon as they walked?

“......Is it here?”

“Yes. This is the place.”

Arriving at the deepest level of the underground prison, Alon soon saw an enormous gate sealed more tightly than anything else there.

And at the same time—

“......You are—”

“You......”

At the bottom of the underground prison sat a lone girl—

......No, a woman.

As though guarding the massive gate alone.

Elivan’s party mage.

Yan.

####

Around the time Alon descended into the underground prison to meet Elivan, over in Divine Land—

“♩-♬”

Sili was strolling through Divine Land with a rather cheerful expression.

There were two reasons for that.

The first was because she had finally received permission to build the Central Temple she had been postponing for so long.

And the second was because Alon had sent mages right as construction was beginning.

A great many mages, at that.

......Of course, rather than Alon truly sending them himself, the mages had mostly been swept up by Penia’s silver tongue, but regardless—

The mages had arrived suddenly and begun helping with every kind of work throughout Divine Land while also diligently offering prayers and tributes.

Sili was actually quite pleased with them.

After all, the temple she intended to build was no ordinary temple, so the assistance of mages was absolutely necessary.

Thus, while enjoying herself for a while—

Sili heard something rather strange from Seamus, who had been dispatched to control any sudden incidents the mages might cause.

“......Pardon? So you’re saying... they pray to Lady Penia too?”

“W-Well, yes— from what I heard in detail, apparently the two of them created some kind of child together...? Something along those lines—”

“......Eh???”

And because Seamus possessed exceptional talent with the sword but was utterly hopeless with magic, he ended up explaining what the mages had told him in an extremely bizarre way.