I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 104 - It Works (1)
Chapter 104 – It Works? (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The day after Alon returned from the Malaka Ruins.
“It really is black.”
“It is.”
“And you are saying the dragon, or whatever that Shadow Dragon is, is inside this?”
“Yes.”
“Then when is it supposed to hatch?”
“Hm…”
At Evan’s question, Alon fell silent.
Naturally, he did not know when the Shadow Dragon would hatch either.
‘If it had ever appeared in the game, I could at least make a guess.’
No matter how long he had played Psychedelia, and no matter how thoroughly he had wandered through every sort of place, he had never once heard of or seen anything called a Shadow Dragon.
Which meant he knew absolutely nothing about it.
“…Would the information guild tell us if we asked?”
“Who knows. I do not think that side is especially confident in this sort of field.”
“Is that so?”
“To begin with, they gather and sell stories about how the world is moving. They are not the sort who sell ancient information like this. Of course, if it were the sort of story already circulating as rumor, that would be different.”
At Evan’s words, Alon thought for a moment.
Then he let out a sound of realization.
“Ah.”
“Did you think of some good method?”
Alon nodded.
“Yes. I thought of someone I can ask.”
“Who?”
“Rine.”
“…Rine?”
Evan looked utterly puzzled.
But Alon knew she possessed the Library of All Ages.
‘Rine might know.’
He knew that her mind held most forms of information other than that which she was not allowed, by setting, to perceive.
‘I should go see her.’
He rose at once.
“? Marquis? Where are you planning to go?”
“I am moving to the next destination immediately.”
“What? We only got back from the ruins a day ago. Should you not rest a little?”
Given that Evan had seen how much strength Alon had consumed, the surprise was understandable.
But Alon was firm.
“No. I intend to finish the schedule as quickly as possible.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to rest. It is too humid here.”
“Ah…”
Evan nodded as though he understood.
“You certainly do hate humidity, Marquis.”
“I do. It is uncomfortable enough here that resting is difficult.”
Evan looked at him as though to say, Is it really that bad?
But Alon was serious.
‘I really cannot rest here.’
Alon was not the sort who particularly fussed over where he slept.
Before the carriage was changed, he had camped continually during carriage travel.
He had also endured the desert without particular complaint.
The port city had been much the same.
But humidity alone was genuinely difficult for him to endure.
‘I need to finish things as quickly as possible and get out of the jungle.’
Alon rose with that resolve.
Right around then.
“Marquis, are you perhaps here?”
“…Riyan?”
“Ah, yes.”
Riyan had come to see Alon.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
Watching Riyan awkwardly smile while turning her gaze aside slightly, Alon said.
“So, what is it?”
“Ah, well, actually, we are heading back now.”
“…Already?”
“Yes. Given what happened yesterday, after all.”
Certainly, it would have been unreasonable to continue the investigation.
Alon nodded as if he understood.
“…That is true.”
“And on top of that, I heard that something strange happened near the tower this time as well, so we need to rejoin the tower as quickly as possible.”
“Something strange?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Then let us meet again next time.”
At that farewell, which promised another meeting, Riyan’s face brightened.
“Yes, I would like that. Ah, and the next time we meet, would you perhaps like to share a meal with me?”
“A meal?”
“Yes. You saved our lives this time, and I would like to treat you properly.”
Alon thought for a moment, then nodded again as if in agreement.
“In that case, very well.”
“Then please be sure to stop by the Red Tower someday…”
“I will.”
Having received his answer, Riyan bowed her head deeply once, then turned and left.
Watching that, Evan spoke.
“She is definitely more favorable than before.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Maybe it is because your magic looked impressive.”
“That topic again?”
“Not that topic exactly. More that it definitely left an impression.”
At a reaction based entirely on personal taste, Alon quietly laughed behind his expressionless face.
“Let us say that is what it was.”
He began preparing to leave in earnest.
‘…Was it really that impressive?’
…Such a thought crossed his mind for no reason.
####
After finishing his preparations, Alon left alone for the Hermit’s Hideaway, leaving Evan behind.
That was because someone needed to stay and guard the newly obtained Shadow Dragon egg.
“…”
When Alon told him to remain behind and guard the egg, Evan had naturally lifted the corners of his mouth and nodded enthusiastically.
With a faint smile, Alon then started walking toward the northeast, where the Selvanus sector lay.
The Selvanus sector.
Of all the areas people had explored, it was unquestionably one of the most dangerous, a place inhabited by all manner of mutated monsters.
Ordinarily, it was not a place Alon could have even considered entering alone.
Yet the reason he was not worried was simple.
The blessing.
‘The Blessing of Imariana.’
Alon looked toward the giant statue standing at the boundary that effectively marked the division of the Selvanus sector.
Like the other ruins, the statue, which seemed to imitate some nameless goddess, was thick with moss.
But that posed no real problem.
Alon approached it, pressed his hands together, and bowed his head.
After about five seconds.
“Great goddess Imariana. If you grant me the chance to see this region with my own eyes, I will find your belongings and offer them to you.”
At that, a faint light began to emerge from the statue that had been covered in moss only a moment before, and it sank into Alon.
A satisfied smile rose to his lips.
From the moment he received the Blessing of Imariana, the Selvanus sector was no longer a dangerous region for Alon, but no different from an ordinary forest.
As far as he knew, once one received the Blessing of Imariana, monsters could not recognize the blessed unless that person attacked first.
That meant he could effectively wander the forest in comfort.
‘…Well, there is the penalty that I have to find items scattered through the forest and offer them in exchange for the blessing, but that is not difficult either. I can just take a few things from the Hermit’s Hideaway and offer those.’
If he remembered correctly, everything in the Selvanus sector was, by setting, one of the goddess’s lost possessions.
For that reason, he entered the region in a somewhat lighter mood.
Then a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
‘Come to think of it, Deus did not return yesterday. I wonder if he is all right.’
He worried for a moment.
Then shook his head.
Coldly speaking, there was no real chance that Deus would die here.
‘…A man who can beat even Swordmasters around like dogs in midsummer is not going to die in this forest.’
If Deus had entered the territory of the Hundred Ghosts, that might have been a different matter.
But if he had not gone that far, there was nothing to worry about.
Having cut off his concern for Deus, Alon kept moving northeast.
At some point, among the grotesquely overgrown trees of the Selvanus sector, he found one tree that stood out for its size.
Two trunks had grown together as if twisting around each other, forming one enormous body.
‘From here, fully to the right.’
Using that as his reference point, Alon began walking to the right.
How long had he been moving through the forest like that?
“!”
As he realized he was nearing his destination, Alon could not help being startled.
Near the Hermit’s Hideaway, the corpses of monsters had been piled into a mountain.
The mound rose higher than even the giant trees of the Selvanus sector, whose growth already exceeded that of the surrounding jungle.
And within that mountain of corpses were countless mutants.
From bloated lizard-like beasts that looked capable of flattening a village with ease, to other mutant species, each one of which would be extremely difficult to kill individually.
Alon stared blankly for a moment.
Then.
“Hm?”
At the sound of a voice, he turned his head.
There, he found a middle-aged man standing.
A middle-aged man in a blue robe entirely unsuited to this jungle.
He smiled at Alon with not the slightest trace of wariness.
“Entering such a forest alone. You must be rather confident in your skill as well.”
“…Was this your doing?”
“It was. I wanted to investigate at my leisure, but the mutants kept getting in the way whenever I tried to investigate.”
The middle-aged man said that while looking at the corpses.
“If I pile them up like this, nothing but insects comes sniffing around.”
Sensing instinctively that this man was no ordinary person, Alon asked.
“May I ask your name?”
“Selaim Mikardo.”
“…Selaim Mikardo?”
Alon repeated the name quietly.
Then, behind his expressionless face, his mouth opened slightly as he spoke.
“…The Blue Tower Master?”
“That is indeed my position. Though in practice my disciple handles nearly all the work.”
Selaim, who laughed with a vigor that felt remarkable for a middle-aged man, then looked at Alon and asked.
“And who might you be?”
“Forgive the delay in introducing myself. I am Alon Palladio.”
“…Alon Palladio? …Marquis Palladio?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
At that introduction, Selaim’s smile brightened further.
But it was the sort of smile one wore after discovering a new toy.
For some reason, Alon felt a chill.
####
Immediately after that, while they were speaking in an atmosphere that carried a strangely keen goodwill.
“Come to think of it, why did you come here?”
“I have business over there.”
“…By over there, do you mean the Hermit’s Hideaway?”
“Yes.”
“Ho.”
Selaim continued the conversation as if he found it amusing.
“Then did you come to investigate it as well?”
“…Hm, not exactly. More precisely, I came because I have business with an item inside.”
“An item inside?”
“Yes.”
At that answer, Selaim looked slightly bewildered.
“Then you mean… you did not come for investigation, but to retrieve an item from within?”
“Yes.”
“Hm.”
After a short moment of thought, Selaim spoke.
“Very well. Since I have heard that you use magic close to the primitive kind, it would make sense for you to be interested in what is inside. But may I offer some frank advice?”
“Please do.”
“For the sake of your peace of mind, it would be better to give up and turn back.”
Selaim was firm.
This was not something he said because he looked down on Alon.
Selaim, by nature, respected all mages.
He merely knew how absurdly sealed that Hermit’s Hideaway was.
‘The base itself is already layered with triple magic, and to enter one must reverse-calculate all of it. Only then can one pass the first gate.’
Selaim himself had needed a full year just to open the first gate and reach the second.
That was why he gave the advice.
“It took even me a full year just to open the first door.”
“…Even so, I have come this far. I will at least try.”
“I will not stop you by force.”
In the end, he stepped back.
It was not pleasant to have sincere advice ignored.
Still, there remained a small amount of goodwill in him toward Alon.
Fundamentally, to Selaim, a true mage was one who investigated.
Conversely, he did not consider mages who neglected inquiry to be real mages at all.
Compared with other young mages who did not intend to go anywhere themselves and simply scrambled among themselves to acquire whatever information the society produced, Alon looked better to him.
‘He is different from mages these days.’
And so Selaim, with the heart of a man encouraging a junior mage still growing, watched the younger mage stand before the impossible problem that Selaim himself had only barely solved after a year of hardship.
About thirty seconds passed.
Rrrrrrk.
With a harsh grinding noise, the first gate of the hideaway opened.
“?????”
Selaim’s mouth fell open of its own accord.