I Became the Patron of Villains

187. Grayniff (3)

Gilan, the younger brother of Philian, who is now called the Duke of Merkiland.

He should have been in the ducal house.

The reason, of course, was to manage the territory.

Although it had been several years since the external affairs of Duke Komalon occurred, and all the damage had been restored.

There was still the issue of the ducal succession, which had been carried out in a very hasty manner.

The sudden death of the duke.

Because of this, the proper succession process could not be followed.

The full power was not transferred to Gilan.

There were still some vassals who had not yet come under his influence.

Moreover, the fact that Gilan was the second son was also a good prey.

Even if the eldest son Philian acknowledged him, it was still a valid political justification to extend their claws to the weakened ducal house.

Anyway, due to a series of circumstances, Gilan was leading a very busy life.

He should have been wrestling with documents in the ducal house today as well.

He should have been, that is.

“Hmm, the Duke of Palatio has temporarily left?”

“I heard he will be away for more than a month.”

The current Duke of Merkiland was at the Marquis of Palatio.

Because the order of Stalian V had been issued.

‘Go and confirm the identity of the Marquis of Palatio.’

A somewhat absurd command that anyone would question, ‘What are you talking about?’

It was just that one sentence.

There was no detailed explanation.

It was a royal command, so it had to be followed, but from Gilan’s perspective, it was bewildering.

Moreover, since the time of Duke Komalon, Gilan had continuously received help from Stalian V.

He couldn’t refuse even more, and so he came to the Marquis’ house.

Not alone, but with the dark knight who had been accompanying Stalian V for some time.

‘What on earth is this…’

Gilan, or rather Duke Merkilan, sighed and waited for the knight’s answer.

Absurdly, he had also received an order from Stalian V to treat the knight before him with respect.

‘…What on earth is his identity?’

From beginning to end, nothing made sense.

The dark knight pondered for a moment and then spoke.

“Hmm- but let’s wait a little longer.”

The Duke asked again.

“Do you intend to wait?”

“Yes, since we are here, we should confirm it, shouldn’t we?”

The knight’s voice carried a hint of amusement.

Gilan sighed as if he had no choice.

In fact, from the moment he received the order from Stalian V, there was nothing he could decide for himself.

“Let’s do that.”

At this point, he could no longer contain his curiosity.

“But, may I ask you something?”

“If it’s something I can answer.”

“I received an order to confirm the identity of the Marquis of Palatio.”

“And?”

“Is the Marquis of Palatio, well, not actually human or something? Like a hidden race, or if not, a monster-”

“Puhahahahahaha-”

“?”

The knight burst into laughter at the question.

The Duke of Merkiland’s brow furrowed slightly.

“…Are you laughing?”

“Ah- I apologize. Hearing something like that out of the blue made me a bit cheerful.”

From within the unseen helmet, a continuous chuckle flowed out-

“Of course, if the Marquis were an alien or a monster, I wouldn’t need to be here.”

“Then, what exactly is the Marquis?”

The laughter abruptly stopped.

And then.

“A god.”

“…What did you say?”

A single word echoed vividly through the air.

“A god, I am here to confirm whether the Marquis of Palatio is a god.”

At those words.

The Duke of Merkiland’s mouth fell open.

“The Marquis of Palatio-“

As if he had heard an unbelievable story.

“…Did you say a god?”

“Of course, it’s not confirmed yet. I haven’t checked it myself. But, well, almost.”

The Duke’s mouth could only gape wider.

####

Even if Recon hadn’t warned him.

Alon knew to some extent.

That elves were fundamentally very hostile to humans.

Because when playing Psychedelia, the setting of elves would briefly be revealed when meeting Perion.

Of course, it doesn’t properly explain why they hate humans.

Anyway, the important thing is.

That elves hate humans more than one would think.

But.

“……Waiting, you say?”

Alon was clearly bewildered by the current situation.

“Yes. I have been waiting.”

A young elf with a gentle smile.

No, beyond gentle, even courteous.

An elf being this kind to a human?

……Something is definitely wrong here.

‘Could it be that they are mistaking me for someone else?’

Even so, Alon is human.

There’s no way they could mistake him for another elf…….

No matter what assumptions he came up with, nothing seemed to fit.

“Please, come inside. They are waiting for you.”

“No, wait-“

Alon waved his hand to stop the elf who was trying to guide him inside.

“?”

The elf looked puzzled.

But from Alon’s perspective, it was unsettling to follow this elf blindly.

What if, after entering the kingdom of the elves, the misunderstanding was cleared up?

By then, the situation would become even more complicated.

‘There’s no other choice.’

Worried about hostility, but he had to clear up the misunderstanding from the start.

Sometimes, the straight path is the shortest.

“What is the name of the person you were waiting for?”

‘……There are at least a hundred of them.’

Just in case.

With his hand in his pocket, Alon formed a seal.

Alon’s magic, which lightly disturbed the molecular structure, infiltrated the surrounding space so subtly that no one noticed.

Realizing Alon’s intention, Evan also tensed his body, ready to draw his sword at any moment.

And then.

“Of course, it’s-“

The moment the elf’s answer fell.

“-It’s Marquis Palatio.”

“…Eh?”

Alon, without realizing it, released his grip.

Evan did the same.

He even let go of the hand he was holding in vain.

With a face that seemed to say, ‘Why is the Marquis’s name coming up here?’ he looked at Alon.

“Waiting for me?”

“Yes. We were waiting for you, Marquis.”

Me? Why? For what reason?

Did he really say my name?

All sorts of questions flashed through his mind,

But without time to organize his thoughts, the elf grabbed Alon’s hand again.

“Let’s go first, he’s waiting.”

“…”

With the ambiguous word ‘waiting,’ he led him inside.

####

After boarding the carriage escorted by the elves.

“Marquis.”

Alon whispered softly.

For once, his face was filled with surprise.

“…Speak.”

“I mean, I’ve never been surprised by the Marquis going somewhere to find something or dealing with some enemy or anything like that.”

“But?”

“…This, no matter how many times I think about it, it’s astonishing.”

“I’m surprised too, but…”

Evan made a face that showed he didn’t trust Alon’s words at all.

Alon felt wronged.

Even if he didn’t know about anything else, this time he had no idea either.

‘I haven’t even played the DLC in the first place.’

For a moment, he felt wronged inside.

“We have arrived.”

As the door of the carriage opened, Alon slowly got off, glancing around.

“…Oh.”

He couldn’t help but exclaim.

A gigantic tree filled his view.

Not just gigantic, but truly enormous, enough to easily cover an entire territory.

As Alon stared blankly at the tree for a moment, he heard a voice in his ear.

“Welcome back.”

He heard strange words, but Alon did not respond.

Instead, he realized even more.

Whatever it was, they were under a grand misunderstanding…!

It wasn’t that they mistook him for another elf or person.

They knew him correctly as the ‘Marquis of Palatio.’

But he couldn’t grasp what or how they were misunderstanding.

He hadn’t even had the chance to do anything that could cause such a misunderstanding.

“When did you visit the elf village?”

“Does it seem like I have ever been there?”

“Well, certainly not.”

Even as he was guided by the elf into the grand palace situated under the World Tree.

“Wow…! That’s the first elf-“

“Indeed-“

The murmurs about Alon continued to be heard.

‘…The first elf?’

Only then did Alon discover a piece of the puzzle related to the situation he couldn’t understand at all.

It was difficult to deduce perfectly with just that.

But it gave him a faint idea of what kind of misunderstanding had been triggered, a very small piece.

As he thought blankly about it, Alon…

‘No way.’

He thought of the staff used by the primordial elf that was fitted into his hand.

Before his thoughts could extend any further.

“The Queen is waiting for you.”

He was guided to the most splendid place.

There.

“……It’s been a while.”

An elf was waiting for him.

An elf who emitted a light on a different level from any elf he had seen before.

Welcoming Alon with an overwhelming appearance that could literally be called the essence of beauty-

The Elf Queen.

####

Without even having time to properly grasp why the elves were misunderstanding.

Alon was swiftly dragged to an audience with the Queen.

After a moment of contemplation, he slowly opened his mouth.

“……Before we start talking, I need to say one thing.”

“What is it?”

The Queen responded with a gentle smile.

……In fact, what Alon was about to say was something he didn’t necessarily have to bring up from his perspective.

No, whether he brought it up or not.

Alon didn’t know exactly why or how the elves were misunderstanding.

But if he continued to converse with the Elf Queen like this.

He didn’t know when or how the worst situation might occur.

“……I’m sorry, but it seems you are misunderstanding something.”

“What part?”

He decided to tell the truth.

“It seems you are mistaking me for the primordial elf. But I am not such a being.”

However.

“I see.”

“……?”

What returned was an incredibly calm reaction.

Alon, with a bewildered expression, asked,

“…Did you really understand what I said?”

“Yes. Didn’t you say it wasn’t the primordial elf?”

“That’s right.”

But again.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll take it as that kind of feeling.”

“…That kind of feeling?”

“Yes, that kind of feeling.”

“…???”

Still a calm(?) reaction.

Alon realized that something was strangely off in the conversation.