I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 157 - Why Are You So Strong

Chapter 157 – Why Are You So Strong?

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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(1)

Among the elves of Greynif, Filde was counted as the greatest mage of them all.

The Spirit Eyes she had possessed since birth allowed her to see the souls of all things in the world.

From the weakest living creatures to the strongest.

If a being was alive
then it naturally possessed a soul.

And Filde could see it.

Even so, she had never paid especially close attention to that blessing.

First
because she was not a necromancer who dealt with souls or dark magic.

And second
because she did not find most souls particularly interesting.

Souls differed from person to person.

But not enough to stand out sharply.

A soul was simply a soul.

When she was very young, she had seen unusual souls in gods and Outer Gods.

But that was because they were gods.

The souls of ordinary living beings were all much the same.

That was why Filde had no choice
but to be astonished when she saw the soul of Marquis Palladio.

Because the Marquis’s soul resembled the souls of the gods she had seen long ago.

It was not the ordinary blue sphere common to most beings.

It was faint
yet clearly dyed in gold.

That was not the sort of soul one could ever see in a normal human.

If a soul appeared golden, it meant that being was either close to a god.

Or a god itself.

And there was another reason she had been shocked.

The soul did not fit the body.

Filde had never seen a case like that before.

As she had told Perion, every soul fit its body.

But Marquis Palladio’s soul only looked like it fit.

In truth, it did not.

Which meant that the soul inside that body was not the original Marquis’s soul at all.

It belonged to someone else.

The moment Filde recognized that, countless questions erupted inside her head.

And above all of them hovered Perion’s old voice.

The voice that had said Marquis Palladio might be the first elf.

Could it really be true?

Until now Filde had not believed Perion very much.

Her decision to come see the Marquis had only been an excuse to escape stifling Greynif for a while
and enjoy a brief little rebellion.

She had never truly considered the possibility that Marquis Palladio could be the first elf.

But now her thinking was wavering.

The soul she saw in him shone more golden than anyone else’s.

Like the first elf who had once been revered like a god.

And because
that soul did not fit the body, it almost looked as though it were openly proclaiming that someone else had taken that body.

While staring blankly at him, Filde was struck by yet another question.

If that man truly was the first elf
then why was he hiding his identity?

From Filde’s point of view, he would have had no reason to conceal it.

Even if he had possessed a human body
if he truly were the first elf
then he should have had more than enough ways to prove it.

Why?

The question only deepened.

Then, in the next instant, Filde noticed something writhing behind Marquis Palladio.

Her gaze naturally turned toward it.

The movement vanished as if it had never existed.

But Filde had clearly sensed that brief distortion.

And so, in order to confirm what was behind the Marquis
she opened the Spirit Eyes fully and looked through a mage’s sight refined to the highest realm.

What she saw.

Was not a black abyss.

No.

It was a pupil.

An abyssal pupil so vast that it filled her entire vision.

And then.

Silence.

At the same instant the voice tore through her head.

Filde vomited blood.

Perion jolted in shock and rushed to support her.

But blood kept pouring from Filde’s mouth.

And not only from her mouth.

Blood ran from her eyes, her nose
and her ears as well.

This was the price of looking directly at something that should never have been seen.

Perion shook her urgently, trying to bring her back.

But Filde continued coughing up blood until at last she collapsed face-first into the pool she had created herself.

And as consciousness began slipping away.

She understood.

Why the first elf would never come to Greynif.

If something like that reached the World Tree…

Filde recalled that thing she had seen for only an instant.

She did not know what it was.

Not even the tiniest fragment.

She must not try to know its identity either.

But one truth she understood with perfect certainty.

It must never be allowed to approach the World Tree.

Her instincts told her it was something even worse than whatever beings lay below the roots, blocked by Pagade.

At the same time
she remembered that the first elf had ultimately died in battle against the black things.

As
that fragment of memory surfaced, the scattered truths in her mind began fitting into place one by one.

Then she used the last of her strength.

“Pe. Rion.”

Perion bent close in alarm.

And Filde told him.

It looked like his suspicion had been right.

That person might really be the first elf.

Perion’s eyes widened as far as they could.

####

At that same time.

“Left or right?
Left?
Right?
Here?
Here?
Hyah.
Hyah.”

“Stop screwing around and hit already.”

“Left?
Right?
Here I go.”

Smack.

Basiliora screamed.

Evan burst into delighted laughter.

And Basiliora, thoroughly fired up, demanded another round of cham cham cham at once.

Watching Evan wrap Kkamangi around his hand and use it to smack Basiliora’s head while laughing like a lunatic
Alon could only think.

That it was remarkable they could enjoy themselves so much with a single hand game.

####

Two weeks later, exactly one month after Alon returned to House Palladio.

He let out a breath as he dispelled the current spell formation.

Penia, standing beside him, immediately spoke.

“How was this one?”

“Hm.
We reached around the fourth stage.”

“Promising.”

“But from the fifth stage onward, the density gets too deep and the molecules break apart.
If that’s the case, the thing you originally wanted may be somewhat difficult.”

“Is there no method?”

Penia thought for a moment.

Then answered that in her opinion he either needed to pour in much more mana
or else adjust the density more carefully.

Alon nodded.

Then told her they would try again.

Over the last month, the two of them had continued researching sigils together.

The main area of study was the way molecular structures changed
and combined when sigils were layered on top of one another.

The more precisely they stacked sigils in the proper sequence, the more new structural forms emerged.

They still had not fully succeeded
but they had even found a way to reshape the molecular structure of one spell until it resembled another
and amplify its force to an absurd degree.

So in many ways, the research had been going very well.

Another attempt failed by a hair because of a slight structural mismatch.

At last, Alon called an end to the day’s work.

Then he immediately picked up a sweet potato from beside him and started eating.

Penia asked cautiously whether he really liked sweet potatoes that much.

Alon nodded.

He did.

He did not get tired of them either.

To be honest
even he himself did not understand why he could keep eating them so much without getting sick of them.

At this point he should have grown bored of anything.

Looking at the sweet potato in his hand, he found it oddly fascinating.

Maybe these were more delicious because Yutia had brought them.

A month earlier, during his absence, Yutia had visited Penia and left sweet potatoes behind.

Thinking of that, Alon finished the one in his hand.

When he returned to the office, he absently patted Kkamangi
which was stretched out asleep on one corner of the desk
and sat down.

Immediately after he sat, Evan came in as well.

“Marquis.”

“What is it?”

Evan told him that in two months there would be the royal ball
and asked whether he intended to attend.

Alon was a little surprised that so much time had already passed.

Then
after a short pause, he nodded.

There was only so long he could keep refusing to attend.

So yes, he would go this time.

Evan accepted that and then reminded him that he had also mentioned going somewhere soon.

Alon answered that he was planning to move shortly.

The time he had been waiting for had come.

By now, the tutorial phase of the original story should have ended
and Elivan should have already gathered his companions.

If so, it should be possible to join up with him naturally.

The weather outside had already begun to move from warm spring toward the approach of summer.

Judging roughly from the season, Alon estimated the protagonist’s current point in the story.

Then he made up his mind.

It was time to go obtain that thing.

And exactly one day after he came to that decision.

A servant came to report that someone had arrived.

Not a noble.

A man introducing himself as Elivan.

And saying he wished to see the Marquis.

The protagonist of Psychedelia had come in person.

####

Beyond the sea of Laxas, on the peninsula.

Yuna finished her report.

Radan
who had just started to rise from his seat after hearing it, stopped when she added
that there was one more thing she wished to say personally.

She explained awkwardly that it concerned the Great Moon.

The instant
that title came up, Radan reflexively snatched up the trident beside him as though ready to jump out the door.

Yuna had to calm him down and explain that no one was slandering the Great Moon.

What she actually meant.

Was his birthday.

The Great Moon had not shown any outward sign of caring
but Evan had mentioned it
and Yuna felt she should report it.

At that, Radan tapped the desk and thought for a while.

Then a deep smile spread across his face.

Once he heard that the date was September 20
he immediately stood up and declared that he needed to go obtain a gift worthy of the Great Moon.

He sounded genuinely excited.

And on another side
after Yuna shared the same story with Hidan, Hidan relayed it to Deus.

Deus became serious at once.

Then announced that he had made his decision.

He would gift the Great Moon an enormous statue befitting him.

When Hidan pointed out that such a thing would cost a great deal of money
Deus answered with absurd seriousness that he would simply extort it from the second prince.

It was completely transparent nonsense.

When Hidan dryly pointed out that Deus just wanted to build the statue because he personally wanted to
Deus almost admitted it.

Then his gaze drifted toward the place where a statue had once stood.

Hidan followed that gaze.

And was forced once again into silent shock at how serious Deus truly was about statues.