Raising Villains the Right Way

Right after confirming the theory that if Ryanga’s body feels good (?), the mind feels at ease.

Alon decided to leave the White Ghost’s hideout.

“It’s been hundreds of years since we last met, so it’s a bit sad to leave after just one day…”

“If you want, should I stay a little longer?”

Alon asked Ryanga, who looked like she was about to cry.

But she shook her head.

“No, if I miss you again, I’ll come find you myself.”

She said with a smile.

“Then see you next time, Chief!”

“Yeah, see you next time.”

“See you again, Ryanga!”

Just as they were about to finish saying goodbye.

“Oh. Chief, can I ask you something?”

As if she had just remembered, Ryanga stopped Alon from leaving.

“What is it?”

“Didn’t Blue Ghost go to find you? I didn’t order him to, but he suddenly disappeared.”

“...Ah.”

Alon let out a quiet sigh without realizing it.

It had passed by so naturally that he hadn’t even thought about it, and indeed he hadn’t talked about Blue Ghost.

So, he paused for a moment to tell her.

Should I tell her this?

Alon hesitated.

Of course, he had to tell her that Blue Ghost came to find him, but he wasn’t sure how to answer where he was now.

Should he just tell the truth that Blue Ghost liked Divine Land and decided to stay there?

That didn’t seem right.

He felt like it would end up completing a world where everyone got hurt, so after a short thought, Alon answered.

“He did come looking.”

“Really? Then where is he now?”

“He’s helping me with some work at Divine Land for a bit.”

“Divine Land?”

“Yeah.”

As Alon nodded and roughly explained Divine Land.

Ryanga looked amazed as if she had heard something fascinating.

“Anyway, he can’t come right now because he’s helping there, so I’ll tell him when he gets back.”

“Hmm~ Nah, it’s fine to leave him be.”

“...Really?”

“Yeah, I’ll just tell him myself next time I go visit.”

She said it as if it was no big deal.

“Well then~”

Leaving that conversation behind, they exited the forest.

And so, after Alon’s group left the White Ghost’s hideout.

“Boss—”

“Yeah, what?”

Red Ghost, the red-skinned man who was second only to Blue Ghost and ranked third among the White Ghosts, spoke up as he watched Ryanga, whose fresh expression had already turned into a bored one.

“You must be disappointed, Boss.”

“Yeah, why?”

“You waited so long, but he only stayed for a day before leaving.”

At that, Ryanga chuckled lightly and replied.

“It’s fine.”

“It’s fine?”

“Yeah, just meeting and confirming was enough for me. And— Chief must be busy with his own work too, so holding him back just because we met after a long time would only bother him.”

Hearing Ryanga say this so easily, Red Ghost felt a renewed sense of admiration.

‘She may act childish sometimes, but she’s definitely mature mentally.’

After slightly revising his evaluation of the boss from ‘a purely strong and kind girl’ to ‘someone who doesn’t look it but is actually mature mentally.’

Then he spoke as if he just remembered something else.

“Is it okay to leave Blue Ghost like that? He was the one who managed the guys best, right?”

“Hmm~”

Ryanga put her hand to her chin and made a sound.

As Red Ghost said, it was Blue Ghost who managed the subordinates well.

“That’s true.”

“Then shouldn’t we bring him back now?”

“Don’t worry. I was going to bring him back anyway.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Then we can just tell that person to pass the message, right?”

“There’s no need to bother Chief with that kind of errand. It’s better if I just go myself.”

‘Bother?’ Red Ghost couldn’t help but find this strange, but only for a moment.

“So, Red Ghost, when Chief arrives at the territory, it’ll probably be about a month later, right?”

“Well, probably?”

“Then I’ll just go and bring Blue Ghost back around then.”

“Wouldn’t it be faster to just go now?”

“He’s helping Chief, so it wouldn’t feel right to just take him away, right?”

Knowing Ryanga’s style of making anything happen if it was something she wanted to do, even in impossible situations, Red Ghost expressed his doubt.

“You got it? I’ll go about a month later.”

“Huh? ...Yes.”

“And I’ll greet Chief properly too.”

It wasn’t hard to figure out her intention.

‘She acted so cool when sending him off.’

She’s totally planning to see him again…

Only then did Red Ghost notice the faint smile at the corner of Ryanga’s mouth.

And in his mind, his evaluation of Ryanga changed once again.

From a strong and cool person pretending to be indifferent…

***

About a day after leaving the White Ghost’s hideout.

Alon purposely took a detour through the ruins area instead of where the mutants appeared, as he didn’t want to trouble Ryanga.

While spending an extra day moving like that.

“It worked…!”

“Right!”

Alon and Penia shared their joy of success.

They had succeeded in the first step of extracting information from Tiered magic, which was lightening it.

“Now all we have to do is piece together the information and it’s done! Of course, this is really just the beginning though.”

“Still, I didn’t expect the speed to be this fast.”

Just as he said.

When they first tried extracting information from the magic bolt.

They had no idea what to even start touching.

So, they were happy for a moment.

“But… is this really implemented properly?”

At Penia’s follow-up question, Alon made a strange sound as he looked ahead.

There was the magic bolt that Alon and Penia had created together over the past few weeks.

“Well, at least the array itself is a magic bolt, so I guess you could say it is.”

”Still, the form is a little different.”

Penia’s doubt was valid.

Basically, the shape of the first-rank magic bolt that wizards refer to is just condensed mana, but it generally takes the form of a circle.

However, the magic bolt that Alon and Penia had created.

“It’s a line—”

It was in the shape of a straight line.

Looking at the magic bolt that glowed faintly in a thin rectangular shape like a plain arrow, Alon continued speaking.

“Last time, Heinkel said that depending on what you take out, the shape might change, so I guess this is still within expectations.”

“Well, that’s true too.”

“For now, let’s keep going like this. I think this is probably correct.”

Alon recalled what Heinkel had said.

‘Like I said, if it’s not a process of altering the magic but extracting information, as long as you don’t extract it completely, the magic won’t activate. Tiered magic can adapt easily to alterations, but it’s designed to never allow extraction completely because it’s for information transmission.’

“Heinkel also said that the magic would only activate if all the information was extracted perfectly.”

While calmly organizing his thoughts, Penia nodded.

“That’s true.”

As they were watching the arrow-shaped magic slowly fade away.

“Marquis, we’ve arrived.”

The carriage arrived at the camp.

There, Alon soon heard some disturbing news.

“Is it true? Three strong warriors have died?”

That those who had gone to handle the problem in the Kingdom of Ashtalon had died.

***

Palmarian IV, the king of Caliban, had been having a headache lately.

Of course, there were many reasons.

The northern barbarians, who had been quiet, had started moving again.

The sudden large number of knights who left Caliban.

And even his three sons, who had already started making preparations to fight over the throne.

There were many other complex issues, but what amplified Palmarian IV’s stress the most were his sons.

Yes, at least up until a few months ago.

“Marquis Palatio has created Divine Land!”

When Palmarian IV first heard this, he didn’t pay much attention.

Even when he heard that Marquis Palatio had hired quite a few soldiers and knights, it was the same.

The scale was certainly large, but he didn’t think it posed a threat.

After all, the reason he even received this report was because there was a rumor that Caliban’s first sword was personally training the soldiers and knights.

Yes, up to that point, that’s how it was.

Three months ago.

“Reporting. Currently, knights and mercenaries are flocking to Divine Land.”

“...Knights and soldiers?”

“Yes. And the momentum is incredible.”

“How many...?”

“At this rate... enough to even wage a war.”

Up until he heard that report from his secretary.

At that, Palmarian IV did wonder, ‘Could Marquis Palatio be planning something…?’ but soon brushed it off.

Because he knew that no matter how capable the marquis was, he wouldn’t do something so foolish.

Of course, he acknowledged the marquis’s potential.

But he didn’t think he could overcome the allied kingdoms.

War wasn’t fought with individual strength but with numbers.

That’s why Palmarian IV readily dismissed his doubts.

‘Come on— just a private force? That’s not enough.’

He felt even more assured after hearing that knights and mercenaries were withdrawing in the middle.

Then, two months ago.

“The Saint of Kalannon has taken her followers and knights to Divine Land.”

“What?”

“And now, soldiers and mercenaries aren’t even leaving anymore.”

At that point, a genuine suspicion began to grow in Palmarian IV’s mind.

For those who even built a temple near Caliban to abandon it and move to Divine Land — no matter how hard he thought about it, there was no reason.

But even then, Palmarian IV remained skeptical about the idea that Marquis Palatio would wage a war.

He felt strongly, ‘No way.’

Marquis Palatio? No way?

However.

“So, all those rumors spreading... they’re all being orchestrated by Marquis Palatio?”

“Yes, according to the intelligence unit’s investigation report.”

“The marquis is even bothering to control public sentiment that he doesn’t need to care about?”

“Yes. And there’s one more thing to report.”

“What is it...?”

The report from the intelligence unit continued.

Finally.

“One of the Seven Strongest, the Sword God, has entered Divine Land.”

When he heard that.

...!!

Palmarian IV’s pupils trembled uncontrollably.