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Raising Villains the Right Way
Chapter 503 ·Guardian Dragon (3) · Nov 04, 2026
Chapter List (504)
Two weeks and five days after Alon began his journey toward the Empire.
“Mm—”
As usual, after flying until just before sunset, Alon landed and prepared dinner.
Then he suddenly realized an unexpected inconvenience that came with traveling by air.
Information gathering.
Back when he traveled by carriage, he could regularly stop by villages and gather information.
But when flying, that became impossible.
Because he spent nearly all his time in the sky, there was little reason to enter settlements.
Of course, stopping by a village itself wasn’t difficult.
The problem was that Basiliora looked far too intimidating to ordinary villagers.
[Hmm-hmm~]
“What is it, Basiliora?”
[Aren’t we going to a village again?]
Alon looked at Basiliora with a strange expression.
Ever since the time he had casually tried entering a village only to watch the villagers flee in terror after seeing Basiliora, the creature had occasionally asked him that question.
“..Why do you want to go to a village so badly?”
[Isn’t sleeping in a village more comfortable than camping outside?]
“You’re a snake. It doesn’t matter where you sleep.”
Evan, who had been listening nearby, pointed that out.
[Maybe for me, but not for all of you.]
At Basiliora’s rebuttal, Evan smirked as though he could clearly see through its intentions.
“It’s not because you want us to sleep comfortably. It’s because you want to satisfy your desire for recognition, isn’t it?”
[Ha! Are you doubting my pure intentions?]
“Pure intentions, my ass. Did you think nobody would notice how you deliberately doubled the lightning every time we passed near a village?”
At Evan’s words, Basiliora subtly rolled one eye away.
Watching the exchange, Alon spoke.
“Well, we should stop by one at least once.”
[Exactly! Continuous camping exhausts the body, erodes the spirit, and—]
“Of course, I have no intention of flying into the village.”
[.....Eh?]
Basiliora looked at Alon as though he had just said something unbelievably cruel.
Despite being a snake, its emotions were painfully obvious.
Blackie let out a small ”meow” and looked at Basiliora with utter disappointment.
After thinking for a moment, Evan spoke.
“Mm—stopping by a village now isn’t a bad choice. Once we pass this one, we’ll be entering the wastelands. You’re stopping for information, right?”
“Yes. Though that means we’ve crossed the Allied Kingdom Alliance in less than three weeks?”
“That’s right. Thinking about it now, it’s incredibly fast. At this rate we’ll probably arrive in just over two months.”
As Evan expressed his amazement, Alon nodded.
“It really is fast.”
“I agree.”
Rine and Penia, who were eating sweet potatoes nearby, nodded as well.
And so, the next day.
Following their plan, Alon spent a day in a village before entering the wastelands.
Then—
“Lord Alon.”
“Did you gather some information?”
“Yes. Though there was a lot of interesting news.”
“......Interesting?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“I have news from the Empire and news from our side. Which would you like first?”
That was what Evan reported.
“Let’s hear about the Empire first.”
“Apparently, a massive defensive barrier has appeared in the Empire.”
“A defensive barrier?”
“Yes. It was established a few days ago.”
“Across the entire Empire?”
“Every region except the eastern territories. That’s unusual enough on its own, but what’s even stranger is the barrier’s performance.”
Alon tilted his head.
“How effective is it?”
“Well, even though the reports claim it’s confirmed, it’s hard to believe... Apparently divine-bloods cannot break through it.”
“To that extent?”
“Yes. Not only that, but it reacts exclusively to divine-bloods, and the barrier supposedly remains active twenty-four hours a day.”
Even Evan looked puzzled while explaining it.
Naturally, Alon looked puzzled as well.
At least as far as Alon knew, divine-bloods were not entities that could be blocked so conveniently.
No, more accurately—
Defensive barriers weren’t supposed to work like that in the first place.
The larger and stronger a barrier became, the more absurd the mana cost.
And that wasn’t all.
There were spells capable of distinguishing between physical attacks and magical attacks.
But Alon had never heard of a formation capable of distinguishing divine-bloods from non-divine-bloods.
‘...No, more importantly, how did they even construct the magic formation?’
A barrier of that scale would normally require a magic formation of comparable size.
As Alon pondered this—
“I think it’d be best to investigate it personally once we arrive in the Empire.”
Penia commented.
“I agree.”
Alon nodded.
If the Empire had truly developed a defensive barrier capable of stopping divine-bloods to that extent, then reproducing it by any means necessary would be worthwhile.
“So, what’s the next piece of information?”
At Alon’s question, Evan continued.
“The next topic concerns the Divine Land. It seems Lainisius has finally started speaking seriously with Sili.”
“Ah.”
Alon nodded.
He had indeed told Lainisius to seek Sili’s help after the research was complete.
‘Come to think of it, I should’ve contacted Lainisius myself.’
He had considered checking on him several times.
But he felt that contacting him solely to ask if things were going well might come across as unnecessary pressure.
So he had refrained.
“Is everything going well?”
“Hmm, hard to say. But according to rumors, an enormous statue has been erected in the center of the Divine Land.”
“An enormous statue?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Alon immediately realized it was likely the gigantic statue Sili had shown him before.
Well, once I return from the Empire, the results should become clear one way or another.
Having reached that conclusion, Alon glanced toward Blackie.
[Meow?]
Blackie looked back and tilted its head.
After patting Blackie, Alon suddenly asked:
“Penia.”
“Yes?”
“Just hypothetically. If there were a duplicate capable of using roughly fifty percent of my power, would that significantly strengthen our side?”
“Eh...... Suddenly?”
Though surprised by the question, Penia quickly began thinking seriously.
“Mm—it wouldn’t be overwhelmingly helpful, but it’d definitely help.”
“Would it?”
“Yes. But why are you asking?”
“Come to think of it, I never told you.”
Alon realized he had never explained his conversation with Lainisius.
So he recounted everything.
“So, to summarize, Blackie can use your powers, Lord Alon?”
“Yes.”
As Alon nodded, Penia looked at Blackie with fascination.
“That’s quite an incredible set of abilities.”
Rine also watched Blackie with interest.
“I think so as well.”
“But is it impossible for Blackie to perfectly replicate your strength?”
Penia asked.
Alon shook his head.
“As I said before, unfortunately that’s impossible. The only thing it can perfectly replicate is my original appearance.”
.....?
“......? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just that you said it can perfectly replicate your original appearance...?”
“I mean exactly what I said. The output is only around fifty percent, but it can completely copy my appearance.”
“Uh...... So that means Blackie can...... transform into Lord Alon?”
At Penia’s question, a question mark practically appeared above Alon’s head.
“Presumably? Was my explanation confusing?”
“N-no, it’s not that. I understood the part about using fifty percent of your power. I just didn’t realize it could transform into you.”
Penia answered.
Alon felt somewhat puzzled but continued.
“Well...... That’s not really the important part.”
“Ah, that’s true. It just sounds interesting.”
As she spoke, Penia stared at Blackie.
“Of course, I haven’t seen it myself. But according to Lainisius, it can perfectly replicate my appearance.”
Alon clarified.
“Oh.”
“O......”
At those words, both Rine and Penia let out strange little sounds of admiration without even realizing it.
While staring at Blackie.
.....?
Naturally, Alon could only tilt his head in confusion.
[???]
Blackie suddenly shivered.
For some reason, it sensed a strange chill.
Even the red brooch attached to the upper part of Blackie’s chest emitted an unusual glow.
***
Three more days passed.
Alon’s group fully crossed the Allied Kingdom Alliance and entered the wastelands.
Late that night.
After flying until dark as usual and setting up camp.
Blackie, who was sleeping beside Alon as always—
Suddenly woke up.
The reason was a faint trace of mana brushing against its body.
So subtle that no ordinary person could ever have noticed it.
[Meow?]
Blackie naturally opened its eyes and tilted its head.
Looking around, it eventually realized the mana was coming from behind a nearby cliff.
Even after Blackie noticed it, the mana did not disappear.
If anything, it seemed to intentionally remain there, guiding Blackie.
And so, taking small toddling steps, Blackie followed the lingering mana.
After some time, Blackie reached the far side of the cliff.
And there—
“Shh—”
It found one member of Alon’s party.
Someone who should have been asleep.
Yet was mysteriously awake this late at night.
“Need to keep quiet?”
She glanced around nervously.
After confirming the campsite remained silent, she let out a small sigh of relief.
[?]
Then she looked at the head-tilting Blackie.
Reaching into her clothes.
“Don’t you like this?”
[!]
She held out a piece of meat.
Meat Blackie had not seen for an entire week due to Alon’s recent sweet-potato regime.
More specifically—
Palantio Beef.
A specialty that could only be eaten at a Palantio restaurant called Burdi, where merchants had recently begun seasoning beef with various spice blends.
Back when Blackie was in the Palantio Kingdom, it had repeatedly charmed the maids into secretly giving it some.
And now—
That very same beef sat in her hand.
Without realizing it, Blackie’s paw lifted.
But—
Whoosh—
She smoothly raised the beef out of reach.
Then cleared her throat.
“Well, actually, I brought this for myself............. It’s just that the food has been............. a little too repetitive lately................ You understand, right?”
[Meow-]
Regardless of any complaints, Blackie certainly understood the suffering caused by the sweet-potato regime.
So it nodded.
Seeing that, she carefully glanced around once more.
Then—
“I’ll give this to you. But in return, could you do me one favor?”
[Meow?]
“It’s not anything huge or anything~”
She fidgeted with her fingers.
Then quietly asked:
“Could you transform into Lord Alon just once.....?”
As she spoke.
Carefully brushing aside her blue hair.
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