I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 19 - Somali Pirate (1)

Chapter 19 – Somali Pirate (1)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Selaim Micardo, the master of the Blue Tower and officially one of only five eighth-circle magi,

returned from a business trip to the barbarian north a few months later and immediately sensed that something had happened while he was away.

The first reason was that the presence of the Time Gate, something he always felt the moment he returned to the tower, had vanished.

The second reason was Penia, his disciple.

The Penia he had always known possessed a pride so great it nearly pierced the sky, a personality created by her dazzling talent.

Of course, in the past, she had at least maintained a minimum level of courtesy toward Selaim as her teacher.

But after reaching the sixth circle at a very young age and even taking the post of vice tower master, she had gradually begun showing him a rather cheeky attitude as well.

…In truth, he knew part of the reason was not that she looked down on her teacher, but that he left her an excessive amount of paperwork every time he went away on business.

In any case, even taking all that into account, Penia had achieved too much for her age and had become excessively arrogant.

But Selaim had never felt the need to correct that.

Arrogance was a dangerous emotion for a mage seeking knowledge, but Penia was not arrogant when it came to inquiry itself.

And he believed that once enough time passed and she reached the seventh circle, her personality would naturally be corrected to some degree.

No matter how talented and overbearing a mage might be, once they reached the seventh circle, they had no choice but to become humble.

That was because what a mage saw upon reaching the seventh circle was the realization that everything they had achieved so far was only one trivial fragment.

That was why he had left her alone, and yet…

“So you’re saying Count Palladio came here and closed the Time Gate?”

“Yes.”

Selaim looked at the dispirited Penia.

Even when facing her own teacher, the firm gaze that never lowered had gone slack, and she was now speaking cautiously, as if watching something’s expression.

It was quite a strange sight.

“…And you’re saying the count closed the Time Gate, but because of a mana oath, you can’t tell me exactly how he did it.”

“…That’s right.”

Penia muttered weakly.

At the unfamiliar sight, Selaim made a faintly interested expression and thought of Count Palladio, who had come up in this story.

Unfortunately, he knew very little about him.

The Blue Tower was quite far from the Kingdom of Asteria.

The most he knew was that several years earlier, when rumors spread that the current Count Palladio had killed all his brothers and climbed to the position of count as a hidden power, he had briefly heard the name.

Because of that, Selaim could not help growing even more curious about Alon.

He knew perfectly well that Penia was not the sort of person whose arrogance would be easily broken.

And that was not all.

The very talent she possessed supported that arrogance and let it endure.

To strip arrogance from someone whose talent was so overwhelming, there was really only one way.

‘…Magic beyond even Penia’s talent to properly understand. No, Origin.’

Having arrived at that conclusion, Selaim smiled.

He could feel his attention starting to gather around the count of a small kingdom he had never properly cared about before.

* * *

The next day,

Alon checked the letter from Yutia that had by now become completely familiar, arriving about once every month or two.

As he read it, he thought,

‘There’s nothing particularly special this time either.’

As always, Yutia’s letter this time contained no great event.

It was simply filled with ordinary stories from daily life.

How she was getting along at the monastery, and trivial bits of news about the current circumstances of the future Great Sins she had recently exchanged contact with.

But Alon preferred having those ordinary stories over letters containing particularly notable incidents.

If there was nothing especially worth mentioning, that meant the future Great Sins were all living very well.

…Of course, it still felt a little lonely that the others, even while living so well, had not sent him even a single letter.

Even so, Alon understood that too.

‘As expected, never showing my face must have mattered a lot.’

It was only natural.

Since he had never once gone to the orphanage, he had never met any of the five face to face.

He had certainly supported them with money, but from their perspective, Alon was probably no more than a generous older man.

…To be honest, he sometimes thought there was an even higher chance they saw him not as a generous older man but merely as some man who had been kind to them once in the past.

Still, that was fine.

His original purpose had never been to gain the affection of the future Great Sins.

His purpose had been to make sure they walked the proper path so they would not destroy entire kingdoms.

That purpose had already been achieved splendidly, so there was no need to feel regret.

“Ahem…”

Even so, the human heart was still the human heart, and Alon felt a trace of disappointment.

But as he looked at Yutia’s letter, inwardly he wore a pleased smile despite his outwardly expressionless face.

The others had never sent even a single letter from beginning to end, but Yutia alone had steadily written to him once a month even while living as a nun.

It was nothing extraordinary, and yet whenever he recalled that fact, Alon felt his heart grow warm.

It felt as though he had raised five sons and daughters, and all of them had forgotten the grace of being raised and never even written once, while only the eldest daughter recognized his effort.

‘As expected, Yutia really is the only one.’

While Alon was strangely experiencing the feeling of an affectionate father toward his daughter,

knock knock,

Evan entered with a brief knock.

“What is it?”

“Ah, I meant to tell you yesterday when I visited you at the training grounds, but then I realized I had forgotten. You asked me to look into that thing before, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

As Evan said, Alon had previously asked him to check with the information guild and find out whether the future Great Sins were living well.

In the past, Yutia’s letters alone had been enough to tell him what the others were doing, but recently even her letters had stopped including much about them.

“So, did you find out roughly what they’re doing?”

“Yes, though for some of them, the information guild didn’t even need to look. Their rumors are already everywhere. Especially Deus and Seollang.”

When Alon tilted his head for him to continue, Evan stepped fully into the office, as if organizing his thoughts, and then began.

“First, about Seollang. According to what I’ve heard, there’s a rumor she’s already become a fighter close to the level of a Baba Yaga. Apparently she’s on a thirty-two-match winning streak.”

“…Thirty-two wins in a row?”

“Yes.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Honestly, I don’t think it makes sense either, but from what I’ve heard, it seems to be true.”

“…”

“And among those thirty-two victories, there has apparently been only one fight that lasted more than ten exchanges. Because of that, the other Baba Yaga are said to be extremely tense right now.”

“That certainly does sound likely.”

As Evan spoke, Alon nodded while still looking blank.

In Colony, Baba Yaga was an honorable title held by only four people.

And that number never increased.

That meant that the moment Seollang accumulated one hundred victories, enough to challenge for Baba Yaga, one of the four current Baba Yaga would have to fight her.

“…If I remember right, wasn’t the fighter with the most consecutive wins in Colony the Lion King?”

“I believe so. I think it was forty-one straight wins.”

“…So if she wins nine more in a row, she surpasses the Lion King.”

“That’s right.”

As Evan nodded, Alon thought of the Lion King, a broken ally character who temporarily joined the party in the game.

That made him realize once again just how absurd the talents of the future Great Sins really were.

As far as he knew, some of the fighters active in Colony were mediocre, but many of them were anything but ordinary.

By the setting, Colony relied on its fighters for most of its military strength, to the point that other kingdoms could not easily start a war with it.

And in a place like that, maintaining a streak like this was itself proof of Seollang’s talent.

While Alon was making a fresh expression of realization, Evan continued speaking.

“There are rumors about Deus as well.”

“And what are those rumors?”

“The rumor is that Deus and the knight order he leads, Eclipse, have killed one of the eight barbarian chieftains, Kurga of the Snowfield.”

“…One of the eight chieftains?”

“Yes. One of the eight. You know them, right? Those monsters who, despite being barbarians, transformed into superhumans through ritual.”

Even if Evan had not explained it, Alon already knew about the eight chieftains.

More precisely, he knew through the game just how absurd their stats were.

To obtain the special magic equipment needed to become a glass cannon in Psychedelia, one had to fight the barbarians and deal with the god they worshiped.

‘Just thinking about it makes me dizzy…’

For an instant, Alon felt his head spin.

Even though it had been well over five years since he had fought Ultutus in the game, Ultutus was still strong enough to make his insides churn just remembering it.

Especially because the setting said that if Ultutus, who descended in a spiritual body, awakened and became a true divine body, he would gain power equal to that of the Great Sins.

In other words, if Ultutus ever awakened in the north, even without the Great Sins, entire kingdoms could be swept away.

Even so, there was a reason Alon remained relaxed.

‘At least I won’t have to meet him.’

As far as he knew, Ultutus would not appear unless the Great Sins descended.

In the first place, by the setting, Ultutus appeared when the god linked to the Great Sins came down and the laws of the world were broken.

In other words, unless the god who would create the Great Sins descended and shattered laws Alon himself did not even understand, there was no reason for Ultutus to come.

“…Deus is really doing well.”

“It’s more than just doing well. He succeeded in killing a chieftain that even Master Knights struggle with, so he’s basically being treated on the level of Reinhardt, the First Sword.”

Hearing that, Alon felt a slight regret.

‘…Should I have gone to see him three times a year or so after all?’

The crumbs that fell from a Master Knight’s table would probably have been sweet.

Swallowing that bitter thought, Alon then listened to Evan talk about Rine, who had followed the plan and was now working as an appraiser in the labyrinth city.

“Black inscriptions?”

“Yes. Apparently the shop Rine runs puts black inscriptions on relics that raise their abilities.”

“…That is interesting.”

He found it curious because it was a power he had never seen even in the game.

Then he asked about the one person still left.

“How is Radan?”

In truth, one reason Alon had told Evan to investigate rumors about the future Great Sins was because he was curious about Radan.

Though later than Seollang, Radan too had disappeared from Yutia’s letters around half a year earlier.

Of course, Alon was not especially worried because he had heard Radan arrived safely in Laxas and had been learning his work well before contact stopped.

Still, because there had been no trace of him at all after that, he was curious.

However,

“I still haven’t found that part. The information guild says they do have something, but they asked for a little more time. They said if we give them about a week, they can judge whether the information is reliable.”

“If that’s the case…”

At Evan’s words, Alon felt a slight doubt, but soon nodded.

* * *

About two weeks later,

Alon had, as usual, spent time studying phrases and returned to his office.

He was looking at the invitation to the Asteria social gathering held every three years, the event all nobles attended, and thinking over whether he should go or not when,

“Count…!”

“…?”

The office door flew open without even a knock.

Alon was about to say something at the sight of Evan barging in, but then Evan’s next words followed.

“It seems Radan has become a pirate…?”

“…What?”

At those words, Alon froze for a moment.

“Do you know the Seven Isles?”

“…You mean the place in front of Laxas where the seven great pirates stay?”

“Yes. Apparently he’s become the captain who rules the entire First Isle, the largest island among the Seven Isles.”

“Really…?”

“Yes.”

At Evan’s next words, an old internet post he had once seen flashed through Alon’s mind.

It was a post about a child someone had steadily sponsored through UNICEF for eight years, only for that child to grow up and become a Somali pirate.

“…”

For some reason, Alon felt as though he understood the heart of that original poster.

And with that feeling, he froze at the fact that Radan had become a great pirate.