I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 155 - On the Way Back (2)

Chapter 155 – On the Way Back. (2)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Penia Craisinne had always lived with a high opinion of herself.

She lashed out like a thug whenever she pleased, but that did not mean she was stupid or foolish.

In other words, she possessed strong self-awareness.

Because Penia understood her own position quite well, the correction letter itself had never really felt like a major issue to her.

Those letters were terrifying to nobles who lived deeply political lives.

But unless one was tangled in political ideology, there was little reason to fear them.

As long as one was not doing something utterly insane, like human experimentation tied to heresy.

Besides, even the Holy Kingdom was careful not to pick unnecessary fights with people from the Towers.

Neither side gained much from clashing directly.

That was why Penia had remained unimpressed when she heard that Cardinal Yutia had come looking for her over the correction letter.

In fact, when she first heard that a cardinal was visiting, she had half hoped the woman would make one small verbal slip.

Then Penia could release some of the work-related stress Marquis Palladio had piled onto her.

That was why she fixed Yutia with a poisonous glare when she entered.

At least, she did up until the moment Yutia stepped into the room and smiled deeply at her.

The instant that happened.

Penia found herself straightening in her chair without meaning to.

Because for a brief, tiny moment, she had seen something behind Yutia.

She had not seen it clearly.

But one thing was unmistakable.

It was the same kind of thing as that thing.

The one attached to Marquis Palladio’s back.

The kind of thing a human should never perceive.

The poisoned grail that would grant one everything in the world, but demand one’s life in exchange.

Cold sweat began pouring from Penia’s entire body.

If that thing was behind Yutia, then the person before her was not merely a cardinal.

She was something else entirely.

What is this? How? Why is something like that behind a cardinal of the Holy Kingdom?

Terrified and confused, Penia could do nothing.

Then Yutia apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

“Excuse me?”

Penia stared blankly.

“I judged that it would be difficult to talk to the Vice Tower Master unless I did this. So I only revealed it for a moment. I didn’t expect it to frighten you this much.”

“Hk.”

Penia hiccupped.

“You don’t need to react quite that strongly. I didn’t come here to harm you. It’s just that…”

Yutia kept her calm smile as she spoke.

Then she slowly raised one finger to her lips and whispered.

“You know, don’t you? This is a rather sensitive matter.”

“O of course. My lips are sealed. Yes. Very sealed.”

Penia nodded frantically.

Yutia folded her arms, tapped them lightly, and looked satisfied.

“Good. Very good.”

“Y yes.”

With a servile smile entirely unlike the face she showed when tormenting Pellin, Penia carefully opened her mouth.

“B but then, may I ask why you came to see me?”

“Hm. I heard an interesting rumor.”

“An interesting rumor?”

Yutia smiled.

“Yes. I heard a rather interesting rumor concerning our Vice Tower Master and Marquis Palladio.”

At those words, Penia instantly understood what rumor Yutia meant.

At the same time, the survival instinct screaming inside her head miraculously dragged up a memory she had crumpled and thrown aside.

The rumor that Marquis Palladio and Cardinal Yutia were in a close relationship.

The moment she recalled it, Penia examined Yutia’s face carefully.

Yutia was smiling.

But she was not smiling.

Her lips were curved, but her eyes were cold.

Penia struggled to survive.

“T that’s absolutely not true.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Absolutely. It’s nothing but nonsense. Completely a false rumor.”

“For something false, I heard you didn’t deny it when it spread.”

“N no. I denied it now. Recently. From now on there absolutely, definitely won’t be any rumor like that. Really.”

Penia explained desperately.

Maybe the explanation worked.

Maybe it didn’t.

But the shadow lingering in Yutia’s gentle smile gradually seemed to lighten.

Seeing that, Penia sensed that her lifeline was slowly reopening and tried to nail it down more firmly.

Unfortunately.

She may have gone too far.

“I mean, it’s not like the Marquis is especially my type either. Right? He’s always expressionless and all that. I don’t really like that sort of person…”

“What?”

The smile vanished from Yutia’s face instantly.

Penia’s eyes rolled wildly.

“Ah. W well. I mean…”

Sweat streamed down her face.

Why exactly did she have to suffer like this because of Marquis Palladio?

For a fleeting second she actually felt tears sting at the unfairness of it all.

Then.

“Vice Tower Master.”

Penia jumped.

Yutia, who had been seated across from her only a moment ago, was now sitting right beside her with one hand lightly on her shoulder.

Penia wanted to scream.

Instead she choked it back in a hiccup.

“It’s admirable that you’re trying to prove your innocence. But that statement went a little too far.”

“Hk.”

“Answer me.”

“Y yes. I’m sorry.”

“I’ll let it pass this time. But next time… you understand, don’t you?”

Then Yutia leaned to her ear and whispered in a chilly voice.

“I don’t have much patience.”

“All right, Vice Tower Master. Let’s get along from now on.”

“Y yes. Understood. Certainly Marquis Palladio does have some admirable points. H ha ha.”

But Yutia’s expression began cooling again.

“Does that mean you secretly wanted some kind of relationship with Marquis Palladio?”

Penia hurriedly tried to recover.

“N no. It’s not that. I mean he is admirable, but that doesn’t mean he’s my type…”

“So he isn’t your type?”

“N no, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that he’s definitely an admirable person.”

“So he isn’t your type, but because he’s admirable you’ve been taking an interest in him?”

“No, that’s not…”

Penia felt as though she had been trapped in an endless loop.

A madwoman.

What rhythm was she even supposed to match here?

But as already established, Penia possessed excellent self-awareness.

And she understood in her bones that she absolutely could not challenge the being in front of her.

So in the end.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being alive.”

She could only lower her head.

…It was a peaceful afternoon.

####

About three days later.

While crossing the desert.

[Hahaha. Victory is mine.]

“This bastard.”

[Kkyu?]

Alon watched from the driver’s seat as Evan, Basiliora, and Kkamangi became heated over some bizarre game.

What game were they even playing?

Leaving that idle thought aside, Alon reached into his robes and pulled out the gray cuirass they had obtained after killing Scorpirion.

Like the cast-off relic he had given Yutia, this one too had completely lost its power and now shone with a faded gray light.

An apostle.

This had been Alon’s first time seeing one.

They had not appeared even in the game.

But one fact was certain.

They were strong.

If Seol Lang had not awakened, then they likely would have lost.

That thought made Alon feel even more strongly that he needed to push his research into magic further.

Dealing with monstrosities was one matter.

Preparing for the apostles, who would soon begin appearing in earnest, was another.

Judging coldly, if every apostle possessed that level of power, then Alon had no realistic way of stopping them in his current state.

And if he could not stop them, the apostles would eventually create the Sins.

Fortunately, Alon already had people helping him with his research, and he had also thought of methods that could raise his own magical capability.

The real problem was information.

He knew nothing about the apostles.

Not even Rine knew much.

And when he spent several days in Colony and asked the dragonkin, the answer was not much different.

The most he gained was a vague statement that perhaps someone who survived the war to the very end would know.

Which meant.

Kailus.

Alon thought of that name again.

The goblin who had appeared as an Outer God in the present, but who, according to the golden dragon, had once been a magus.

Once he followed Elivan and obtained that item, he would need to go meet Kailus immediately.

That gave him one more reason, on top of learning how to use the Shadow Dragon.

As he organized those thoughts.

“Marquis.”

Evan’s voice pulled him back.

“What is it?”

“Come to think of it, I forgot to give you this.”

Evan pulled a glass vial from his clothes and handed it over.

“…What is this?”

A bottle full of black powder.

“I heard it’s the ashes of the apostle’s corpse.”

“…What?”

“Seol Lang’s secretary, I think? The one who gave it to me.”

At the explanation, Alon could only stare blankly at the finely ground apostle powder.

“…Why would I need this?”

####

At the southern end of the continent, in the sacred land touched by elven hands rather than human ones.

In the deepest part of the vast forest the elves called Greynif stood the elven kingdom of Fildagreen.

A dreamy kingdom built around the World Tree.

And in the great palace standing directly beneath that tree.

“…You found the Blessing of Lagierni?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

A man.

No, Perion, having removed his human disguise, stood before the queen with his head bowed as he made his report.

“…I never thought it could truly be found. You’ve done something extraordinary, Perion.”

Queen Magrina praised him in a voice filled with surprise and pride as her bright platinum hair rippled down to her waist.

Perion lowered his head even more deeply.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. However, there is one thing I need to say.”

“What is it?”

“The Blessing of Lagierni was not found by me.”

“…Not by you?”

Perion nodded carefully.

Then he began explaining what had happened in Lartania.

Magrina listened in silence for a long while.

Then she spoke.

“…So you’re saying that this person called Marquis Palladio not only discerned your identity at a glance, but even told you where the Blessing of Lagierni was hidden?”

“Yes.”

“And the room containing the Blessing of Lagierni had been made to resemble a Pagade safehouse.”

“…No one entered it except me. And as I said, there was a message written inside.”

“…It said, I hope this is delivered properly to my younger sibling?”

“Yes.”

Staring at the blessing Perion had brought back, Magrina fell silent with a disbelieving expression.

Her voice started trembling little by little.

“…Then, Perion. Are you trying to say that this Marquis Palladio might be the first elf, my elder brother?”

“…I cannot be certain, of course. But he easily discerned that I belong to Pagade, and he guided me straight to the Blessing of Lagierni. As far as I know, only that person should have been able to do such things.”

Magrina lost her voice again.

There was logic in Perion’s words.

Even so, she could not decide the matter on that alone.

As far as she knew, the first elf and her elder brother had died centuries ago.

And she knew very well that the dead did not return.

While silence still hung over the chamber.

“I’ll go confirm it quietly myself.”

At the voice that came from the side, Magrina turned her head.

There stood an elf in a mage’s robe.

Filde, her personal archmage.

“…Can that really be confirmed?”

“It’s not impossible. As you know, my eyes are somewhat special.”

Magrina let out a small sound of realization.

Filde possessed Spirit Eyes that could see souls.

If so, confirming Marquis Palladio’s identity would be simple.

“…Then please do it.”

“Understood. I’ll go with Perion.”

The task decided, Filde and Perion immediately bowed and departed.

Watching their backs, Magrina clenched her fist.

If her elder brother was truly alive…

She knew it was absurd.

She knew it made no sense.

And yet a faint light of hope still rose in her eyes.