I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 132 - Egg (2)
Chapter 132 – Egg (2)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The black eye floating in empty space had not actually left the hidden side of the world.
To begin with, it never appeared unless Alon was using magic.
Even so, the reason the dragon could perceive that eye was because its level of existence was far higher than that of ordinary life.
And that was true of the Death Shadow Dragon as well.
It carried the name Death Shadow Dragon, but in the end its essence was still that of a dragon.
That was why it saw the eye that should have remained in the hidden side.
And because it had only just been born, it had not even realized that it was not supposed to perceive such a thing.
As a result…
Tremble.
The Death Shadow Dragon froze solid.
It understood by instinct.
The eye before it belonged to something fundamentally different from itself.
The difference between them could not even be described merely as a difference in rank.
It was too vast.
And that absurd difference in status restored the dragon’s wisdom and intelligence, the very things that had been washed away when it consumed human blood.
So even though it had only just been born, the Death Shadow Dragon began to think.
How could it survive here?
With black shadow dripping from its body, the first thought that came to it was simple.
Should it fight?
Its violent nature had not vanished just because its intelligence had returned.
But it immediately abandoned that thought.
Even if it fought, if the master who had poured mana into it had a being of that level at his side, then it had no chance of winning.
The Death Shadow Dragon turned its mind furiously.
Soon it found the method that gave it the highest chance of survival after having openly shown hostility.
Submission.
The moment it made that decision, it began looking around its master’s room.
It had been alive only a short time, but it still understood that if it wanted to submit to an overwhelmingly stronger being, it had to gain that being’s favor as much as possible.
The Death Shadow Dragon rolled its dozens of red eyes around.
Soon its gaze landed on a single ornament set on one side of the desk in Alon’s bedroom.
The cat figurine that Alon had received as a gift from the Sound Oil Merchant Company head earlier that day.
[…]
The Death Shadow Dragon’s eyes gleamed.
And so, the next morning…
“…?”
The first thing Alon saw when he woke up was a black cat sleeping on top of him.
####
A little later.
“So… that’s the dragon?”
“It is.”
A cat, or rather the Death Shadow Dragon, was walking around the office with obvious curiosity.
“…That’s a cat.”
“Yes.”
“…How is that a dragon? No matter how I look at it, it is a cat.”
Confusion floated across Evan’s face.
But only briefly.
Soon he noticed that the black cat’s silhouette was wavering like heat haze.
“…It definitely doesn’t look normal. Still, no matter how I look at it, it seems more like a cat than a dragon. How is that a Death Shadow Dragon?”
“Because the egg is gone.”
“…The egg?”
Only then did Evan realize that the black egg that had been behind Alon had disappeared completely.
“Ah. You’re right.”
Whether the two men paid attention to it or not, the creature continued looking around with red eyes.
“It really does just look like a cat.”
“It does not look like an ordinary cat.”
“…That part is true. Its fur is drifting around like that.”
Alon himself was expressionless, but inwardly he felt something strange.
It is definitely a Death Shadow Dragon.
The cat’s eyes were red.
That alone was enough for Alon to be sure.
Even so, the reason he still had doubts was the essential nature of a Death Shadow Dragon itself.
Even if I accept the appearance of a cat, it doesn’t seem violent at all.
As far as he knew, a Death Shadow Dragon slaughtered every living thing around it with overwhelming force the moment it was born.
But the one before his eyes showed not even the slightest sign of that.
If anything…
Tap. Tap.
It carefully batted at a book tucked into the bottom shelf with one forepaw.
No matter who saw it, the sight was not frightening.
It was merely pitifully small and harmless.
After thinking for a while, Alon slowly called the dragon.
“…Kkamangi.”
[Squeak?]
The Death Shadow Dragon spun around at once and came running straight to him.
“…Kkamangi?”
“That is its name.”
Evan looked at Alon with renewed surprise.
It was an unexpectedly sweet name.
“…Isn’t that a little odd for the name of a Death Shadow Dragon? Also, separate from that, its cry really isn’t that of a cat.”
Evan sounded unconvinced.
But regardless, Kkamangi, about the size of a kitten, reached Alon’s side.
It listens well too.
Alon watched the Death Shadow Dragon with an increasingly strange look.
No matter how he looked at it, this Death Shadow Dragon was completely different from the information he had read in manuals about the dragon egg or heard from Rine.
For a moment, a thought crossed his mind.
What if Evan is right and this is actually some other creature?
But he shook his head.
The thing that looked like a cat was definitely a Death Shadow Dragon.
He could confirm that abnormal, or rather extraordinary, nature even now.
“Hmm.”
Alon quietly looked at it, then slid his hands under its armpits and lifted it up.
At once…
its body stretched.
“…What?”
Evan blurted out in shock.
Of course he did.
Alon had lifted the cat, so its feet should have left the ground.
Instead, its paws remained planted on the floor while only its body elongated upward.
In an instant, a creature that had been only the size of a forearm stretched until it reached Alon’s waist.
The dragon glanced around as if belatedly noticing the problem.
Then it finally lifted its feet.
Sliiide.
Only then did it rise properly into Alon’s hands.
Alon set it down and lifted it again.
Again its body stretched.
After repeating that several times, the small creature began recovering its shape a little faster each time, as if it were catching on.
“…It really is a Death Shadow Dragon.”
“Right?”
“Yes.”
The two of them had reached certainty.
[Squeak?]
Still held in the air, the creature tilted its head cutely.
Alon watched it for a moment, then set it down and stood.
“Where are you going?”
“Just in case, I am going to read the letter again. I fell asleep after agonizing over the contents beyond that point yesterday. Bring me the letter. Watch it while I am gone.”
“Yes.”
Tap. Tap.
[Squeee?]
####
After Alon left.
Evan watched the Death Shadow Dragon, or rather the cat Alon called Kkamangi, with a strange expression.
Once Alon was gone, Kkamangi went back to looking around with its red eyes, occasionally tapping whatever object caught its interest with a forepaw.
Even Evan, who had no special interest in pets, found himself paying attention.
Because however dubious its appearance might be for a cat, it was still undeniably cute.
So he eventually went over and, just like Alon, picked Kkamangi up.
“Oh.”
Watching the body stretch out, he let out an impressed sound without thinking.
It seemed as though it would stretch forever.
Compared to when Alon had lifted it earlier, Kkamangi’s body extended almost twice as far.
It was a little bizarre, but the bright eyes staring directly at him were cute enough that he was still only impressed.
Then…
“…Huh?”
Evan saw it.
Bulge.
Along the elongated body that had been smooth just moments before, red eyes began to open all at once.
That was not all.
In the middle of that long body covered in dozens of eyes, a giant mouth split open together with rows of sharp teeth.
Screeeech.
Kkamangi opened that grotesque mouth wide toward Evan and let out a horrible cry.
Evan stared blankly for a moment.
Then, very quietly, he bent down and lowered Kkamangi back to the floor.
Patter patter.
As if nothing at all had happened, Kkamangi began looking around again with innocent eyes.
And shortly after that…
“…Why are you standing like that?”
Alon returned to the office.
As Kkamangi padded over and rubbed its head against his feet, Alon bent to pet it and looked at Evan, who had stopped in place while half crouching.
Evan answered in a dazed voice.
“My lord.”
“What is it?”
“I think… that really is a Death Shadow Dragon.”
“…Why the sudden change?”
“It was very, very scary.”
He sounded completely shaken.
Alon looked at Kkamangi as if to ask what nonsense that was.
[Squeak?]
Kkamangi merely looked up at him with eyes even larger than those of an ordinary cat and tilted its head.
####
Some time later.
In the end, Alon decided to postpone any decision about disposing of Kkamangi.
There were two reasons.
The first was that Kkamangi was far gentler than expected and followed Alon very well.
Though from a certain point on, Evan seemed unwilling to go anywhere near it.
The second reason was something Rine had written near the end of her letter.
If he somehow succeeded in subduing the Death Shadow Dragon and forming a ritual bond with it, then there was no need to dispose of it.
“…”
Alon looked down at Kkamangi sleeping on his lap.
Then he turned his eyes to the tiny mark drawn beneath his right wrist.
Before Kkamangi was born, it had not existed.
Since it appeared immediately after the Death Shadow Dragon’s birth, it was clearly a submission mark.
That meant the chance of Kkamangi becoming a threat to him had vanished.
But…
When did it happen?
Whether through the game knowledge he already possessed or through the magical knowledge he had learned in this world, everything he knew said that a submission mark always required at least some degree of preparation.
But Alon soon pushed that concern into a familiar corner of his mind.
The important point was simply that Kkamangi was no longer a threat to him.
And there was nothing he could figure out by thinking about the mark now.
I should ask Rine about this when I reach the border.
Once he finished organizing his thoughts, Alon spoke.
“Evan.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“We leave now.”
“Ah, for the border?”
“Yes. The work here is all finished.”
Evan nodded.
“That’s true. But didn’t you say you wanted to study the Death Shadow Dragon a little more? The magic, I mean.”
“I can figure it out while moving.”
“In that case, I will make the preparations.”
Alon watched Evan leave the room, then lowered his gaze.
Kkamangi was still asleep.
Unity of Shade, was it.
He recalled the sentence written when he obtained the dragon egg and quietly found himself intrigued.
####
Around the time Alon was preparing to leave for the border, Yuna finally got to attend the Blue Moon meeting she had dreamed about for so long.
Filled with anticipation, she suddenly remembered Hidan.
More specifically, she remembered what he had told her.
Do not expect too much.
He was her irreplaceable friend and comrade, someone who had worked beside her as a member of Blue Moon for more than ten years already.
What could he have meant?
At first, Hidan had been full of admiration too.
Had he not bragged excitedly about being able to attend the meeting?
Yuna recalled only for a moment the worn, exhausted look he had shown last time.
Then she entered the meeting at the appointed time.
There sat the five moons, every one of them noble and imposing, figures admired by everyone who belonged to Blue Moon.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Tense, Yuna bowed her head while at the same time feeling that this was exactly the sort of meeting she had imagined.
Why did he tell me not to expect too much? It looks exactly the way I pictured it.
She cast a puzzled glance toward Hidan, who was standing in one corner wearing a calm expression.
Then about thirty minutes passed.
[…Rejected. We cannot build a statue.]
[Why not?]
[If it were like Merkillan territory and we had been saved from a crisis, that would be one thing. But if we set one up recklessly, it will be too obvious.]
[Then if we are rescued by the Great Moon when we fall into danger the way Merkillan did, there is no problem. Hidan, how many abyss entities have we recovered?]
[What are you trying to do?]
[For now, if we hold a suitable one and build the proper plausibility…]
Purple Moon began saying bizarre things as if they were completely normal.
[…??]
Yuna realized that something was wrong.