I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 17 - The Blue Tower (3)

Chapter 17 – The Blue Tower (3)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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It would not be an exaggeration to say that Alon had already accomplished everything he wanted at the Blue Tower.

His purpose had been to obtain the artifact that came out of the Time Gate in the basement of the tower.

There had been nothing else he wanted, so he decided to leave the Blue Tower immediately.

There was no reason to stay any longer.

And besides, the already irritable Penia might pick a fight with him for no reason.

Of course, he knew she was not so irrational a person that she would really do that.

Still, there was always the chance of an unexpected situation.

That was what he had thought.

…That was what he had thought, but.

“This is…?”

“A potion I made.”

After looking once at Penia, who was forcing her sharp eyes into a smiling expression, Alon lifted the potion bottle from the desk.

A deep blue liquid that gave off white light with the slightest shake.

‘…A mana recovery potion. And a very expensive one at that.’

In this world, even if one drank a mana potion, the effect did not appear instantly the way it would in a game.

It appeared gradually.

In that sense, it would be more correct to call it a mana recovery rate improvement potion rather than a mana recovery potion.

But among such mana potions, the five bottles Penia had placed in front of Alon were the only ones worthy of truly being called mana recovery potions.

The top-grade potion in his hand restored at least a little mana the moment it was consumed.

That meant it was absurdly expensive in a world where a mere mana recovery rate booster was still called a mana recovery potion.

At one point Alon had considered buying some because using magic only once a day was inconvenient, and the price had nearly made him clutch the back of his neck.

‘If I remember right, two of these cost as much as a small villa…’

He stared at the potion for a long moment, then looked back at Penia.

Wearing an awkward smile with anxiety mixed into it, she spoke the instant he turned to her.

“Do… do you like it?”

“…I can tell it’s a high-grade potion, but why are you showing me this?”

“I’m giving it to you.”

“You’re giving me this potion?”

“Yes.”

“…?”

A question mark rose in Alon’s mind.

In truth, he could somewhat understand why her attitude had changed the moment after he closed the Time Gate, even though she had seemed ready to devour him alive before that.

After all, at this point in time, nobody knew how to close a Time Gate, so it would not have been strange for her to feel gratitude or a little awe.

But at least as far as he could see, what Penia was showing now was not the expression or behavior of gratitude or awe.

‘Is this another misunderstanding like that mage who came with the daughter of Xenonia last time?’

Thinking that, Alon spoke.

“…I’ll tell you in advance. I’m a second-circle mage.”

“Yes, I know. Of course. A second-circle mage.”

He had spoken in case she had made some mistake, but Penia only nodded immediately as if she had been waiting for him to say it.

This time, he was the one who looked confused.

Because the way she kept nodding as though it were the most obvious thing in the world made him wonder whether she was mocking him in some roundabout way.

But Penia’s expression did not look like she was joking at all.

In other words, Penia was not misunderstanding things in that sense.

That only made Alon more confused.

“What I saw earlier, I’ll absolutely keep it secret. I really will.”

At Penia’s next words, Alon replied,

“You don’t need to make that promise.”

“No, I do. Please let me promise. I want to promise. If you want, should I make a mana oath? I’ll do it right here.”

“No, wait.”

Before Alon could finish speaking, Penia instantly drew up her mana.

An overwhelming wave of mana spread through the office with enough force to make his heart drop for a moment, and before Alon could say anything, Penia performed a mana oath.

‘She’s going this far just to promise she won’t reveal how to close a Time Gate? Well, I guess the Time Gate is still a mystery to them right now, but still…’

Outwardly, his face remained completely expressionless, but inwardly Alon felt thoroughly dumbfounded.

He could tell she was clearly misunderstanding something.

“You saw that, right? I keep my promises well. I’ll absolutely stay silent. I really will…!”

“…All right.”

As soon as she finished the oath, Penia spoke with an extremely desperate expression.

Seeing her like that, Alon had no choice but to nod calmly in the end.

…There was no sign at all that she was going to clear up the misunderstanding.

And so, Alon left the Blue Tower having obtained five mana recovery potions and the artifact he had wanted.

* * *

Riding in the carriage back to the count’s estate, Alon naturally lowered his gaze to the bracelet on his wrist.

That item, which he had taken with Penia’s permission after closing the Time Gate, was the thing he had originally come to the Blue Tower to obtain.

The Bracelet of the Profane.

Its design was not especially refined.

If he had to compare it to something, it resembled a cheap bracelet one could buy for less than ten thousand won.

The only unusual thing about it was that black jewels were set into it here and there, as though they could swallow all light.

Other than that, it looked plain.

But unlike its crude and unimpressive appearance, the bracelet’s ability was more than enough to compensate for his small mana core.

“…”

Alon turned his wrist slightly and looked at the black jewels.

They looked ordinary at first glance, but if one examined them closely, a faint blue current could be seen flowing between them.

‘It’s working well.’

The Bracelet of the Profane absorbed mana from the air, stored it, and allowed the user to draw on it when necessary.

Of course, the amount of mana it could store was limited, and that limited amount was not all that large.

But laughably enough, even that limited amount was greater than the size of Alon’s own mana core.

“…”

For a moment he entered a strange state of enlightenment at the fact that an item from Psychedelia, meant only to assist a mage, could store more mana than his own body.

“Hoo.”

Soon he calmed himself and thought,

‘This much is enough. It’s not as though I’m going to fight battles myself.’

The reason he had come looking for the Bracelet of the Profane in the first place was simply to study magic a little more efficiently and to protect himself in case of danger.

Seen from that perspective, the amount of mana the Bracelet of the Profane provided was not lacking.

If anything, it was sufficient, even more than sufficient.

Of course, more was better than less.

‘There were some phrases that forcibly adjusted power and reduced mana consumption too. I should study those sometime.’

With that thought, Alon let himself relax a little and looked out of the carriage window.

As he looked outside, he suddenly remembered Penia bowing politely before him right up until the moment he had gotten into the carriage.

‘What on earth was that about?’

After thinking over Penia’s strange behavior that had begun the moment he closed the Time Gate, Alon soon gave a small shrug.

He probably had no reason to see her again anyway.

He looked for a while at the forest outside, swaying in a soft green under the loose sunlight.

It was a warm spring.

* * *

Around the time Alon was heading back to House Palladio,

two women sat facing each other in the office of House Altia.

The first was the current duke of House Altia, Roria, who had now entirely taken in the power left behind by the previous duke.

The second was Kallia Xenonia, publicly still only the daughter of a count, but in truth the one who had ruled House Xenonia for years.

“It’s been a while.”

“It has.”

The two exchanged a few casual words.

Strictly speaking, it was not a proper attitude.

Roria was the actual ruler of a ducal house.

Kallia, meanwhile, had not even formally inherited her family’s title yet.

Even so, Roria showed no discomfort at all with Kallia’s casual manner.

There were several reasons for that.

One was that Roria knew perfectly well Kallia had already turned her father into a puppet and had effectively taken control of House Xenonia.

Another was that in the underworld, House Xenonia currently carried slightly more weight than House Altia.

And most of all, it was because Roria had accepted Kallia as a kind of equal.

After all, whether they wanted it or not, both of them were already moving in response to Count Palladio.

Of course, at first the two had not understood that his suggestion that she seek out Duke Altia had meant they should form an alliance.

But once they actually met and spoke, and realized that both of them had already become pieces moving around the same absolute first place, that meaning became clear.

If there was an unreachable first place above them anyway, then there was no real point in the ranks below fighting among themselves.

“So what brought you here today? The next time we’re supposed to meet isn’t until next month.”

At Roria’s words, Kallia quietly took a letter from inside her clothes and set it on the desk.

“He sent this.”

“…This?”

“Yes.”

After replying, Kallia watched as Roria picked up the letter.

Its contents were, aside from a brief greeting, a few remarks about noble families.

It gave several noble houses as examples, mentioned that some nobles had once grumbled at him, and ended with the comment that there were not many nobles he got along with well.

It was certainly a letter Alon had sent roughly a month earlier.

In truth, it was only a sort of rationalizing explanation he had written because he felt a little bothered about having spoken somewhat bluntly to Kallia.

If one summarized Alon’s intention, it would amount to something like this:

I don’t only act that way toward you. I also speak a little sharply to other nobles. I wasn’t only complaining to you.

If an ordinary noble had received that treatment from Alon and then later received a letter like this, they probably would have come fairly close to understanding what he meant.

But there were three things Alon had failed to take into account.

First, the people receiving and reading this letter were figures active as major powers in the underworld.

Second, they believed Count Palladio occupied a position of absolute first place, beyond anything they could oppose.

And third, because of that second point, they naturally believed there had to be some kind of command hidden inside even this ordinary letter.

And then,

true to their status as major players of the underworld, Kallia’s exceptional mind instantly began fitting together a puzzle that did not exist.

“Baron Kenia belongs to the aristocratic faction. Marquis Malantino is aligned with the royal faction.”

“Viscount Billanda is also royalist. Duke Paldion is one of the major aristocratic figures.”

As they sorted the noble houses Alon had casually mentioned by political affiliation, the shape of a bizarre puzzle began to turn on its own.

And as for Alon at that very moment,

“Hm…”

in a forest where the sun had already dropped early and the air had grown colder,

he was eating a roasted sweet potato.

“…Tasty.”

Knowing absolutely nothing about what was going on, his tiny impression after taking a bite quietly sank into the forest.