I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 143 - Inquiry (3)

Chapter 143 – Inquiry (3)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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That place was alien.

Even though it was the middle of the day, the sky was drearily dark.

And the ground beneath it was not ordinary earth.

It was made of something like a hard shell.

Uneven.

Yet never breaking apart.

On top of that nameless ground stood a temple.

Not a normal temple, either.

It had been built from black bricks.

It matched the dark sky above it all too well.

And inside…

There were two figures.

Their exact appearances could not be judged.

The two sat facing each other across the black round table at the center of the temple.

Both had hidden themselves inside robes, as though they were concealing their identities from one another.

If there was a difference between them, it was this.

One of them had even wrapped bandages around itself beneath the robe.

The other had lips visible beneath the shadow of the hood.

And it was the one with visible lips who spoke first.

“I cannot tell how much longer we are expected to keep doing this.”

The speaker sounded openly dissatisfied.

Then he continued.

“Look here, Wrath. Is this not just a waste of time? Let us finish this quickly. To begin with, even without Their descent, we can handle it at our level, can we not?”

His voice was relaxed.

Bored.

And yet impatient.

The other figure, which had remained silent until then, answered.

“And what exactly do you think you can do, Pride?”

Wrath’s voice was different from Pride’s.

Pride’s was clearly a man’s voice.

Wrath’s was not.

It was too distorted to tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman, an old person or a child.

Even so, Pride did not find that especially noteworthy.

He simply continued.

“What do you think? Destruction. If all of us apostles moved at once, it would end, would it not? The fools outside are all complacent idiots who only think they are strong.”

Wrath, who had been staring quietly at Pride, answered.

“There are some who are not.”

“You are not actually thinking that we, who have received power from the Great Original Sin, could lose to creatures like them, are you?”

“…Pride. We need only do our own work.”

“Ha. And what work would that be? Sitting around forever? We planted the seeds, and because of that strange barrier that only recently disappeared, we have spent more than ten years doing little but wait.”

Pride let out a breath that made it very clear he despised the current situation.

Then he stood.

“Where are you going, Pride?”

“Where would I go? Since none of you will move, I will move myself.”

“…I do not recall giving permission for that.”

That was Wrath’s response.

At those words, Pride, who had been wearing a deep smile just moments before…

…was suddenly standing in front of Wrath.

Crackle.

At the same time, black lightning dropped from above in a way that made the skin crawl.

Dozens.

Then hundreds.

The black bolts split and hung suspended over Wrath’s head.

That was not all.

The black temple, which had been perfectly intact, turned into a devastated ruin in an instant because of Pride.

And the hand Pride had extended before Wrath’s face from atop the round table was also crackling with lightning.

“…I do not think you were ever my superior, Wrath.”

“…”

A terrifying expression.

A cold voice.

And yet Wrath gave no reply.

Only looked up at Pride.

“Tch.”

After the two remained in that standoff for a while, Pride was the one who withdrew the lightning first and turned away.

“Where are you going?”

Wrath asked the question calmly.

At that, Pride returned to the same leisurely attitude as if nothing whatsoever had happened.

“Since none of you will do it, I will. I do not know what you, or the other apostles, are thinking, but I want to see Him as soon as possible. So…”

A grin spread over his face again.

“I am going to retrieve the seed.”

He then strode out of the temple without hesitation.

As he went, he pulled back the hood he had been wearing.

Beneath it were revealed silver-gray hair and, between that hair, a pair of ears.

“So then…”

As he made his way toward the exterior of the black temple, he slowly rubbed his chin.

“Has it been ten years? No. Twelve.”

He let out a small laugh after muttering to himself.

A strange light gathered in his eyes.

“Shall I go see how well the seed… no, my younger sibling… has grown?”

Murmuring that, he vanished from where he stood.

Leaving behind only a single line of black lightning.

####

About three weeks had passed since Alon made his odd arrangement with Penia Craisinne.

“Ah, judging by the way the mana arrangement changes here, I think it bends like this.”

“Then that means…”

“It is an amplification seal.”

“I see.”

Alon was currently in an extremely good mood.

That was because the magical research he was conducting with Penia was progressing extraordinarily well.

Not merely well.

Far beyond that.

“Then what about this one…”

“Ah, judging by the arrangement shifting into a decomposition structure, I think this is not amplification but reduction.”

“It deliberately lowers the power?”

“Yes. But in exchange, the mana’s particle structure becomes tangled. More precisely, I think it takes on a hook-like structure. In that case, even magic that normally cannot be used in combination might become possible in a limited way.”

Compared to when he explored magic alone, it was providing vastly greater value.

That was why, even today, after nearly five hours of magical discussion and research, Alon finally said,

“…Let us stop here for today.”

“Ah, yes…”

Watching Penia nod vigorously, Alon found himself thinking again,

Who would call this person morally broken?

Just as that reevaluation began to take shape…

“Sister.”

“What is it?”

“The magical reagents on the way here were stolen by bandits.”

“What? Those damned bandits again.”

The moment she heard the report from her younger sibling Pellin, Penia let out a full shriek.

Alon immediately withdrew his reevaluation.

That fits better.

“M, my lord?”

“What is it?”

“If it is not rude, may I leave the marquisate for about a day?”

Penia asked with the face of someone pleading for a tremendous favor.

Alon gave a light nod.

“…I do not mind.”

“Ah, is that so? The magical reagents coming here were just looted by bandits, so I need to go deal with them…”

Despite Alon’s casual response, Penia immediately began making excuses at length.

During the period in which they had carried out magical research together, Alon had thought that some small degree of camaraderie had formed.

Yet even now she was struggling over something as simple as this.

That made him feel awkward for no particular reason.

“…Go, then. And when you leave here, you do not need to ask my permission every time.”

“Ah, is that so? I was certain I had to…”

“…”

Penia hunched in on herself and fidgeted.

Once again, Alon had the strange sensation that he had become some criminal running coding slaves somewhere in Southeast Asia.

“It is not like that, so go.”

“Ah, yes…”

At once, Penia grabbed Pellin by the back of the neck and strode out.

“Why am I…”

Pellin’s oddly mournful voice echoed out.

But helplessly, he vanished as Penia dragged him away.

A little while later…

“My lord.”

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I only thought we were ending rather early today.”

“Well, today was more of a day for organizing things.”

After answering Evan, Alon lowered his gaze to the papers again.

The stack contained countless hand seals.

Alongside the seals Alon had already known, it also described the seals discovered during his work with Penia, along with the effects, arrangements, and applications of each.

“You did all of that in only three weeks?”

“Yes.”

“…There really is a lot here.”

Evan stared with his mouth open.

Alon shrugged.

“It is not finished yet.”

“Even with this much? It still is not over?”

“That is right.”

He lowered his eyes to the papers once more.

What he had been able to determine with certainty over the last three weeks were the mana flow paths and mana arrangements corresponding to individual hand seals.

But the more important realization lay elsewhere.

It was in the structural changes of mana particles according to the seals.

That was also where he had found the true clue for the multi-seal application he had been considering.

Until now, when more than one seal was formed for a single spell, the result was usually failure, or the spell itself collapsed.

That had still been true even after he heard from Rainisius that it might be possible to use multiple seals and began researching seals in earnest.

But recently, even if it was only the faintest clue, Alon discovered that among the mana bonding structures altered by hand seals, there were some seals that matched each other properly.

And that once those seals were joined, they produced a structure completely unlike anything he had seen before.

“…There is a great deal to do from here.”

His voice was indifferent, but his eyes, while scanning the research journal slowly, were full of satisfaction.

Until now, he had never understood it.

Why the mages in novels would walk into lands no different from hell just to obtain a single research journal.

Now, he felt as though he could.

“But my lord, should you not be going soon?”

At that moment Evan’s voice broke his train of thought.

“Going where?”

“To Lartania. Did you not say before that you were going to stop there? And that you also had to go to Colony.”

“Ah. That is right.”

“You even sent letters ahead, did you not?”

“Ah.”

Alon nodded without realizing it.

Right. Around the time he first began the research with Penia, he wrote to Rine and Seollang telling them he would stop by soon.

Only now recalling that fact, he said,

“…By now, those letters should have reached them.”

“Then we should move as well.”

I should at least finish this much first, and prepare something for Penia to work on too.

Looking regretfully at the magical journal in his hand, he added,

“…We will leave in two days.”

“Understood.”

####

In the desert city of Colony…

Unlike the streets, which were always noisy with the heat of the colosseum, Seollang’s office was usually quiet.

That was because, unless she was training guild members, Seollang generally slept whenever she had nothing to do.

She had never deviated from that pattern until now.

That was why Lime of the Golden Mane clan, who also served as Seollang’s secretary, found the sight before her unfamiliar.

Seollang had received some letter and was now visibly excited.

“Guild Master?”

“Hm?”

“You seem excited.”

“Of course I am.”

“…May I ask why?”

She was curious.

What kind of letter could make Seollang hold it so carefully and twitch her ears like that?

Seollang lowered her eyes to the letter for a moment.

Then…

“It is finally time for me to hear the answer.”

“An answer…?”

“Yes. The answer. My teacher promised me two years ago.”

A bright light spread across her face.

It was an answer that omitted every important detail, which only made Lime more confused.

And behind the bewildered secretary…

“I hope he comes quickly.”

Seollang smiled sweetly.

Her golden tail swished eagerly behind her.