I Became the Patron of Villains

211. The North…? (2)

Recently recognized for his skills and newly admitted to the Solar Knights, the rookie Onel felt immense pride in belonging to this order.

In fact, that pride was well-deserved.

There are truly countless knight orders in Caliban.

However, none could ultimately compare to the orders led by Caliban’s Five Swords.

Among the Five Swords’ orders,

The Solar Knights, led by Caliban’s First Sword, Deus Macallian, were overwhelmingly admired and revered by all.

Caliban’s First Sword, Deus Macallian.

The order he led was thus called Caliban’s First Order.

Therefore, Onel felt great pride in becoming a member of the Solar Knights.

Yes, he certainly “felt.”

Although it had become a thing of the past.

That didn’t mean he had suddenly abandoned all admiration for the Solar Knights.

He still wanted to be a member of the Solar Knights.

Yet, the reason Onel had such thoughts was

because of his senior.

No, to be precise, it was because of his seniors.

“…Senior.”

“Yes, Onel. What’s the matter?”

Senior Vidin responded immediately to Onel’s call.

He boasted a robust physique befitting a knight, yet his impression was disarmingly gentle.

“Um, may I ask you something?”

“You don’t need to be so formal. If you’re curious, just ask anytime.”

Hahaha- Vidin burst into hearty laughter.

In front of him, Onel stammered for a moment before speaking.

“Why, why are you praying?”

Prayer.

In fact, prayer was not such an unusual act in Onel’s common sense.

There had been seniors in the Solar Knights who prayed before meals or training.

But Onel had to ask now.

There was only one reason for that.

‘Why is everyone doing this…?’

Because everyone who had returned from the jungle with the commander.

Had started praying devoutly since yesterday.

Not just casually, but so devoutly that even the priests of Sironia would be put to shame.

Onel had been in a daze all night after witnessing the scene upon returning from his mission.

And as the atmosphere continued today, he cautiously asked.

Vidin answered without a second thought.

“Of course, it’s a prayer to God.”

Haha- he laughed cheerfully again.

God.

Onel also knew who the seniors were praying to.

No, it was impossible not to know.

Since yesterday, the seniors had been talking non-stop about one person.

“…When you say God, you mean Marquis Palatio, right?”

“Yes, it’s a prayer to him.”

“…”

At the too obvious and unhesitant answer.

Onel was at a loss for words.

…To be honest, Onel couldn’t easily sympathize with Vidin’s words.

If all these people were praying to the ‘Goddess of Sironia’, it would be one thing.

But the object of their prayer, the one they called ‘God’, was the human ‘Marquis Palatio’.

“…….”

Of course, Onel was well aware of Marquis Palatio.

The Marquis was certainly worthy of respect.

He had dealt with no less than two foreign gods.

In fact, he was the one who prevented the artificial god incident that almost led to the downfall of the Stalian Kingdom.

When considering all the various big and small rumors.

Even Onel sometimes wondered, ‘Is this really something one person can do alone?’

Moreover, he had shown incredible prowess in the jungle this time as well.

After that, the seniors began to blindly believe in him, as Onel had heard from his peers.

He could roughly grasp how all these events had started.

But no matter how much he thought about it.

The idea of ‘worshipping a living human’ seemed a bit problematic to Onel’s mind-

“Uh, senior.”

“Speak.”

“No matter how great he is, he’s still a living human-“

Just as he was about to gently raise an issue about the current situation.

Bang-!

“Emergency-!! The Knights of Rebirian insulted the Marquis, calling him a heretic god!”

Suddenly, a knight burst into the dining hall and shouted loudly.

The dining hall, which had been filled with quiet conversations until a moment ago.

“…….”

In an instant.

A chilling silence descended.

And then.

“Those b*stards-“

“Where is that b*stard now.”

“Lead us to him immediately!”

Before Onel could even ask anything.

In an instant, all the knights in the dining hall rushed out.

And Onel, who was staring blankly at this scene.

‘……It was a good thing I didn’t ask.’

He quietly closed his lips, which he couldn’t quite shut, and sighed in relief.

‘……It was really good that I didn’t tell the story.’

Even within the order, the senior knight Vidin was known for his kindness.

The image of him rushing out with his sword like a vengeful spirit was still vivid.

‘……At this level, isn’t this more like a holy knight order rather than just a knight order?’

If they had experienced the events in the jungle together, it might have been different.

But for Onel, who couldn’t understand the situation, the actions of his seniors only raised more questions.

For a brief moment.

‘Should I at least hint at this to the commander?’

With that thought, he stood up.

Onel knew.

That the first sword of Caliburn, whom he admired, was very close to Marquis Palatio.

But he also knew another thing.

That Deus Macallian was a person who strictly separated public and private matters.

Of course, that was.

What the knights said, seeing Deus’s indifferent attitude towards the additional benefits he could gain by not expressing any dissatisfaction with the kingdom’s budget allocation.

For Onel, who was recognized for his talent without any other experience.

He could only know that Deus was ‘very strict about separating public and private matters at all times.’

The moment he stepped out of the dining hall to inform the commander of the current situation,

“Ah, Commander-”

Very fortunately.

He could see Deus Macallian heading somewhere.

“Dare, who dares to-!”

……With eyes blazing, he drew his sword.

Deus Macallian, walking ominously with purple magic swirling around him.

“…….”

Onel closed his mouth once again.

……It was early winter.

####

Alon, who was heading to the Magic Society to take Fenia before going to the Marquis’ house.

“……It’s here too.”

“Indeed.”

“So, what’s the score this time, Marquis?”

“……If I had to give it a score, about 9 points.”

“Oh, that’s 1 point higher than yesterday. Why is it higher?”

“……Because the tree is straight?”

“Hmm- Is that so? Now that you mention it, it does feel like it’s stretched out in a straight line.”

Having such a conversation with Evan, they looked at the tree in front of them.

No, to be precise, the artificially landscaped tree.

A tree boasting lush green leaves, unseasonably so for early winter.

Looking at it, Alon made a peculiar expression.

“So, how many days has it been?”

“Well- I think it’s been about two weeks? Since we left Caliburn, the trees have been like this from the day after.”

Evan looked up at the beautifully landscaped tree, as if in admiration.

“By the way, who on earth is placing these? No matter how I think about it, it seems like they’re being placed to match wherever we move.”

“I think so too.”

Alon nodded as well.

Honestly, when he first saw the trees once or twice.

He thought, oh, they’ve placed such trees even in this path.

But even after two weeks.

Every path he took naturally unfolded with different landscaping every day.

‘What on earth is this?’

Alon wondered, recalling if there had been such a thing when he did psychedelia.

But soon shook his head.

Although his memory was faint now.

He could easily recall that there had never been such a thing.

So, after pondering for a while.

‘Well, it doesn’t seem like a big deal, so I guess it doesn’t matter.’

####

Alon knew well how careful one had to be in this world, even with the smallest things.

“Is it arriving today?”

“That’s right?”

Alon thought of asking Fenia about this landscape as soon as he met her.

As Alon led the carriage and moved towards the remaining distance to the tower.

“Ugh-“

“It’s unfair…”

“This is unfair.”

Beyond that landscape.

The voices of grieving elves.

“Hmph-“

And the light laughter of Draim, nodding confidently with a smile, briefly passed by.

####

After moving for a few more hours and arriving at the tower.

Fenia joined Alon with a slightly sullen expression.

“No, sister- why on earth?”

“Are you not going because I’m going?”

“I have something the tower lord specifically ordered me to handle…”

“You can leave it to someone else.”

Taking Pellin, who didn’t really want to come along.

“No, I-“

“Shut up and get in!”

“Argh-!”

Fenia kicked Pellin’s back hard and shoved him into the carriage.

Watching that, Alon greeted her, recalling her personality anew.

“Long time no see.”

“Oh, yes,”

As soon as Alon spoke, Fenia quickly withdrew the fierce aura she had just been exuding.

Seeing his sister suddenly become kind, Pellin, who had been kicked, wore a mixed expression of resentment and astonishment.

Fenia tapped her leg and closed the carriage door.

“I’m sorry, honestly, I wanted to keep you in the tower a bit longer, but something urgent came up and I need your help.”

“Help?”

“Yes.”

With that, Alon lightly revealed the divine power of Kalanon in front of Fenia.

Crackle-!

“!”

Fenia’s eyes widened in surprise as soon as she saw the lightning crackling in Alon’s hand.

As if to intuitively show her genius.

As soon as she saw the lightning flicker from Alon’s hand, Fenia seemed to realize something and shouted.

“This, could it be-“

“It’s divine power.”

“…Wow.”

At Alon’s affirmation, Fenia, who had been expressing her reluctance to go with her whole body just moments ago, now had her eyes sparkling.

She looked like a graduate student who had found a useful thesis topic, and she grabbed Alon’s hand eagerly.

“Show me again…!”

“Alright.”

Without hesitation, Alon used the divine power once more.

In fact, it was somewhat burdensome for Alon to make even a few small crackles with his current divine power, but it didn’t matter much.

The reason he had planned to take Fenia to the Marquis’ house in the first place was to show her the divine power and get her help with his magical research.

So, Alon showed Kalanon’s divine power as many times as she wanted.

At some point, he realized that Fenia was closer than he had thought.

Her hands and face were focused on Alon’s hand.

From the side, it looked like she was almost snuggling up to him.

“Marquis- again, again!”

But Fenia, seemingly oblivious to such things, urged Alon.

“Got it.”

Just as Alon was about to cast it once more.

Snap-!

Fenia, who had been bouncing around excitedly just moments ago, suddenly stopped moving.

Step- step-

In that state, he stepped back exactly two steps.

“?”

Alon made a puzzled expression, not understanding the sudden action.

However, Penia took two more steps back.

“…Show me.”

She said.

Even the anticipation she had shown a moment ago had disappeared.

With tears welling up in her large eyes.

“Is something wrong?”

Alon asked.

“No, it can’t be…”

Penia shook her head timidly and gave an awkward smile.

In the end, Alon, who was looking bewildered, used his divine power once again.

But Penia’s eyes.

Were no longer focused on Alon’s hand, but on the brooch he was wearing.

…It was the day of the first snowfall.

A few weeks later.

Alon, who had suddenly arrived at the Marquis of Palatio with the strangely behaving Penia.

“Greetings to the friend of the great one!”

“Hello. The primordial- no, Marquis! I apologize for the sudden visit, but I came to discuss the matter of escort.”

He was greeted by Kurak, whom he had seen before.

And Lim, who had guided him in Greynif.

“…Escort?”

“Yes, it’s about who will escort the primordial elf- no, the Marquis, between the elf and the lizardman.”

At the ensuing agenda.

“…???”

You? Escort me?? Why???

With that expression, he couldn’t help but stare at them.

…It was a lively return.