Raising Villains the Right Way

On the night when Tolenis had a conversation with Palmarion IV about Alon that was 10% truth and 90% lies.

At an outpost on the outer perimeter of the Caliban royal castle, built so that guards could rush out at any moment to protect the royal castle if an intruder appeared.

A man was silently slipping out of the place.

The man’s name was Gusuan.

He was a guard of the Kingdom of Caliban, who had been on duty at the royal castle until late at night and had only just returned to the outpost to rest.

However, not long after clocking off, he carefully slipped out of the outpost so no one would see him, and headed toward a warehouse complex in the western corner of the royal castle, still within Caliban Castle grounds but no longer in use.

Soon, Gusuan hid himself inside one of the many warehouses.

“Phew—”

As if accustomed to pitch-black darkness, he instead let out a sigh of relief and began feeling around the warehouse floor.

Click—!

With a small sound, a secret floor hatch opened.

Without hesitation, he pushed his body inside and soon infused mana into the magic orb in the basement.

Wooooong—!

The magic orb connected, emitting a bright light.

And not long after that.

[Under the moon of the open sky.]

“The end of night shall come.”

After completing the verification process by exchanging a passphrase known only to themselves, they began their conversation.

[It’s been a long time since we used this magic orb.]

“Yeah, since we don’t use it unless it’s an emergency.”

[Did something happen? Or was your identity exposed?]

At the man’s words from within the orb, Gusuan shook his head firmly.

“That’s not it, so don’t worry. My cover is perfect.”

Royal castle guard Gusuan.

In truth, his real identity was a member of the information guild that sold information, ‘End of Night.’

The information guild ‘End of Night.’

Naturally, anyone using the proper noun ‘information guild’ in the current era was bound to have some blemishes, but despite that,

It was quite a famous organization.

Unlike other information guilds that selectively provided information, this was a place notorious for providing information to figures of the underworld.

Because both the direction of the information they handled and their customer base were different, they had been able to survive in this cutthroat world until now.

[Then why did you use the magic orb? I told you to only use it when it’s important.]

The reproach came from beyond the magic orb, and Gusuan responded calmly.

“I obtained important information.”

[Important information?]

“Yes.”

[Let’s hear it.]

At that, Gusuan glanced around cautiously, as if wary that someone might overhear even though the warehouse was empty.

“I obtained information that Marquis Palatio is ‘divine-blood.’”

He spoke carefully.

[....What?]

The man beyond the magic orb, the leader of End of Night, stared blankly with his mouth open.

[...............What are you talking about right now?]

To the leader who asked back as if he couldn’t believe it, Gusuan spoke calmly.

“Exactly what it sounds like. Marquis Palatio is divine-blood.”

[...............Is that reliable information?]

“It’s certain. While standing guard this time, I overheard a conversation between the King of Caliban and the prince.”

Caliban has heavy soundproofing magic, so it was hard to hear—if it weren’t for me, no one would have heard it, he added with a brief boast.

[.....This is insane. Then that really means it’s true?]

“Yes.”

The leader was horrified.

Gusuan agreed.

He had felt the same way when he first overheard it.

[Then by what you’re saying, the divine-blood who protected Caliban is actually beneath Marquis Palatio?]

“That’s right. And from what I heard, more divine-blood descended into the Allied Kingdom Alliance to serve that marquis.”

[More divine-blood...............?]

“Yes.”

[...Ha.]

After hearing that far, the leader pondered for a moment.

[As you said, this was worth using the magic orb for.]

“I told you.”

[If this information is true, we can use it as a foothold to advance not only into the underworld, but into the light as well.]

He murmured with a faint thrill in his voice.

[Thank you.]

“You’re welcome. Instead—”

[I know. We’ll make sure to secure your position properly. I should go right away.]

With that, he disappeared along with a final farewell.

Watching the magic orb gradually lose its light, Gusuan let out a sigh.

‘Marquis Palatio is divine-blood.................?’

Gusuan suddenly recalled Marquis Palatio he had seen from afar.

The marquis who had passed by him with an unsettling aura and an expression that made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

And then, the next thing that came to mind was.

The enormous giant who had protected Caliban not long ago.

Thump thump thump thump—!!

Whenever he thought of that time, his heart pounded violently on its own.

It was only natural.

The fear of facing a monster that seemed impossible to defeat with human strength had been deeply etched into Gusuan’s mind.

However, the reason Gusuan could replay that scene again was because of what happened right after.

A giant appeared who could casually tear apart such an unbelievable monster, and he had witnessed that overwhelming sight with his own eyes.

That was why Gusuan had been even more shocked when he heard the story.

When he heard that the overwhelmingly powerful giant had knelt before Marquis Palatio.

That meant nothing less than proof that Marquis Palatio was even stronger than the giant.

‘Just what is Marquis Palatio hiding?’

For some reason.

Gusuan’s body began to tremble without him realizing it.

Meanwhile, at that moment.

“Why is my ear itching so much?”

Seeing Alon fiddling with his ear after stopping mid-bite of a sweet potato, Evan spoke.

“Isn’t someone talking about you, my lord?”

“What would anyone even have to say about me?”

“Wouldn’t there be something? It’s not like there are only one or two things related to you.”

“Hmm~ That’s true.”

As Penia nodded in agreement beside him, Alon scratched his head.

“But still, my lord.”

“What is it?”

“Could you stop eating sweet potatoes and eat the stew instead?”

“No.”

“Is it because there’s no sweet potato in it?”

“If there were, I’d eat it.”

“You do know you’re obsessed with sweet potatoes, right?”

At Evan’s question, Alon argued back.

“Adding sweet potatoes doesn’t ruin the taste.”

“Instead, it causes some friends to have seizures. You saw it yesterday, didn’t you?”

At those words, Alon looked at Basiliora and Blackie.

Just yesterday, simply because sweet potatoes were added to the stew.

[Kraaaaaaak—!!]

[Meowww—!]

They had convulsed as if poisoned by sweet potatoes.

But today, they were gobbling down the stew as if it were delicious.

Alon looked at the sweet potato with a strange expression.

‘Sweet potatoes............... are delicious though..’

It was autumn.

***

Two weeks had passed since Alon headed for the marquisate, and there was still some distance left before reaching it.

“My lord, I’ve contacted everyone here and there.”

“Have you?”

“Yes. It looks like we’ll be able to hold the proclamation ceremony about a week after arriving at the marquisate.”

“Hmm~”

“What is it?”

“No, I was just thinking that once I become king, it might be a bit hard to move around like this.”

At Alon’s words, Evan thought for a moment before answering.

“Well, does it really matter?”

“Does it not?”

“The reason kings don’t move around is because wandering around is dangerous. But compared to that, my lord.............. you don’t have that issue at all, do you?”

“What about state affairs?”

“We have Alexion, don’t we?”

“Is it really okay to keep leaving things to him even after it becomes a country?”

“Well, to be honest, even if we call it a country, we don’t have much territory.”

“That’s true.”

“It won’t be exactly the same as before, of course. And from the start, you’ll have to keep paying attention to the Divine Land side as well. Ah—”

Evan suddenly let out a low exclamation and continued.

“Come to think of it, we also got a message from Sili’s side.”

“What kind?”

“Didn’t we talk last time about the believers?”

“We did.”

“They said everything is properly prepared, so you don’t need to worry.”

“......”

“Really?”

“Yes. They were very confident.”

“Could it be?”

Alon, who was about to ask if she had done something, soon shook his head.

No matter what, Sili wouldn’t go that far.

“Ah, and is there any other news?”

“Other...... Ah. If it’s about divine-blood, there’s nothing major yet.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Right? At first, I thought everything was really going to go to hell. Well, the empire side is still noisy, though.”

As he briefly watched Evan shrug his shoulders.

“My lord.”

“Penia, what is it?”

“Well, um, we got a message.”

“A message?”

“Yes, from the King of Palmarion.”

Penia delivered the news.

At that, instead of being surprised, Alon.

“......?”

Responded like that.

Over the past two weeks, the King of Palmarion had contacted them a total of three times.

And each time, it hadn’t been anything urgent.

“......Why does he keep doing this?”

“I don’t really know either................”

As Penia and Alon tilted their heads at the same time in confusion, Evan proposed a hypothesis.

“Maybe he’s trying to provide financial support for the kingdom proclamation this time?”

Normally, Penia would have snapped back with a ‘what nonsense are you spouting,’ but this time, she was quiet. No—rather, she.

“Could that really be it?”

Agreed with Evan.

In fact, Penia’s reaction was only natural.

In this short period, all three times Palmarion contacted them, Alon had received quite a lot of support.

“Hmm.”

Of course, it wasn’t open support.

But it was clearly goodwill anyone could see.

‘What on earth is it.?’

Alon’s doubts deepened, but for now, he went inside to receive the king’s communication.

***

Around the time Alon was receiving inexplicable goodwill(?) from Palmarion.

In the royal castle of Raksas, the maritime city also known as the land of pleasure.

“Then, please say it once more.”

Queen Torimavia of Raksas was hearing an unbelievable report from Duke Kolban, who could be called her right-hand man.

“Are you saying that the true identity of Marquis Palatio is divine-blood?”

“That is correct.”

“Does that even make sense?”

“As I said, the giant who saved Caliban called Marquis Palatio divine-blood, and Palmarion IV witnessed the marquis affirming it.”

“Is this reliable information?”

Torimavia asked suspiciously.

In response, the duke answered with his head bowed.

“After confirming through our informants, Palmarion IV has been contacting the marquis periodically ever since he left.”

“That means the probability of the information being false is low, at least.”

“Yes. Considering Palmarion IV’s personality................”

At the duke’s words, Torimavia also nodded.

Indeed, he was right.

Marquis Palatio being divine-blood.

As Torimavia fell into thought.

“Your Majesty, there is one more thing I must tell you.”

“......Is it something even more important than this?”

“It concerns the follow-up information... it may be even more important to us.”

“What is it?”

At the duke’s additional report, Torimavia asked back.

“It seems Marquis Palatio can control divine-blood.”

“......!! Control divine-blood?”

Soon, into the queen’s ears.

“Yes, that is to say…… if we can form a friendly relationship with Marquis Palatio…”

The information flowed in.

Information with a meaning slightly different from how it had first spread.