I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 83 - Nod (3)

Chapter 83 – Nod (3)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The gods of this world had their thrones stolen.

A voice rang in Alon’s ears.

A bizarre sound threaded with strange noise, impossible to tell whether it belonged to a man, a woman, a child, or an old person.

Alon, who was certain he had experienced something like this once before, soon realized that his body was floating alone in a place like the Deep Sea he had seen earlier.

The voice, wrapped in static, continued in a low tone.

The original gods who had their thrones stolen lost many things.

Some lost their names.

Some lost their bodies.

Some lost their minds.

Some lost their honor.

They lost much, and had much stolen.

The black things stole much.

As Alon focused on the unidentified voice that felt as though if he relaxed even a little he would lose consciousness entirely, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

As far as he knew, the moment he looked into the mirror, he should have been forced to face the truth.

And yet his sight held nothing but a void darker than the Deep Sea, and only the noise-filled voice could be heard.

What in the world is this?

Alon tried to speak, but unfortunately his voice would not emerge as he intended.

And the instant he felt that strangeness.

The voice became even more violently drowned in static, like something tearing itself apart.

“!”

Startled, he raised both hands to cover his ears.

But unfortunately, that shriek, as though it could rob him of his hearing, continued to pound directly into his head.

And then.

Apparently, not yet.

Together with that low sound.

Destroy the stolen ones hidden across the continent.

As that meaning came through once more.

Predation.

At last, Alon was able to see.

For what he was facing.

Was not the Deep Sea.

Nor was it the abyss.

Countless nebulae hung at the edge of his sight.

For your sake, I spare words.

Alon stared blankly ahead.

At that thing he had thought until now was the abyss, as though enchanted.

And at the same time, as he truly recognized what had looked like the abyss.

Noise began to flood even his vision.

One point of his vision.

Half of it.

Then all of it.

Filled with noise.

And Alon saw.

An eye.

Looking at him.

An eye of the abyss, as though holding nebulae within it.

And then.

Close your eyes.

At that command.

“Hah-!”

Alon gasped sharply and opened and shut his eyes several times in shock.

And found himself back in the observatory in the Deep Sea.

The Observer standing before him.

“A-are you all right?”

Was looking at him with a deeply flustered expression.

For a moment Alon looked puzzled by her face.

Then he realized the area around his eyes was wet and looked toward the mirror.

And there.

“…”

He saw himself bleeding from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

####

A little later.

“…I expected it, but this really is not an ordinary situation after all.”

“No.”

After wiping away the blood that had been flowing, Alon heard that answer from the Observer.

She wore a strange expression, as though unsure how to explain it, and then said.

“So, what you mean is that you looked into the mirror and someone spoke to you?”

“Yes.”

“And you heard a story there.”

“Yes. It definitely had to do with the gods-”

“Wait. Do not say any more than that.”

“…Is that not something to say aloud?”

“No. Not here, and not elsewhere either. If you do not want to see the things clinging to the roots crawl out, it would be best not to speak of that topic.”

The Observer let out a low sigh.

“In any case, what you saw inside the mirror was some huge thing wrapped in noise, correct?”

“That is right.”

At Alon’s nod, she thought for a moment and opened her mouth.

“…First, I should explain this. The mirror you looked into earlier is the Bronze Mirror that Records History. Its effect is exactly as its name says. It shows preserved history.”

“Then ordinarily-”

“Ordinarily, you should have seen the history that the bronze mirror shows. In the first place, that is the only power the mirror has. But you-”

The Observer fell silent briefly as if choosing her words, then continued.

“-seem to have seen something else.”

“…And what is that something else?”

“I cannot explain it. Even if I am the Observer, there is no way I could identify a being capable of prying into the Bronze Mirror’s power and wielding it according to its own will.”

At those words, Alon looked once more at the Bronze Mirror in his hand.

He wondered if perhaps this time its power might activate.

But unfortunately, after witnessing that thing, staring into the Bronze Mirror no longer caused anything to happen again.

As though it were refusing to allow him to see it.

So when Alon finally let out a sigh and lowered the mirror, the Observer continued her explanation.

“What is certain is that you saw a being beyond what you can endure. You bled heavily, and every word was covered in noise.”

“…Is that what happens when you see something you cannot bear?”

“If your rank is far too low, yes. What in the world kind of situation is this.”

The Observer moved the gaze she had been keeping on the Bronze Mirror back to Alon.

“For the moment, if it has come to this, I do not think there is anything more I can do for you.”

“…That is unfortunate. I did not even learn half of the information I wanted.”

“There is one thing I can infer from what you told me.”

“…What is it?”

“Most likely, the stolen one that thing mentioned refers to an Outer God. And… whatever it was that you saw may have been trying to protect you.”

“Protect me?”

That was not a word that came naturally to mind from what had just happened.

As Alon looked bewildered, the Observer fell silent, then continued as though organizing her thoughts.

“I told you, did I not? That this Bronze Mirror shows history.”

“Yes.”

“But not everyone sees the same history. The starting point differs.”

“The starting point differs?”

The Observer pointed toward the Bronze Mirror.

“Basically, most who look into this mirror see history beginning from what you commonly call the Age of the Forgotten Gods. But a few special people can see a past that stretches even before that.”

As Alon listened, he asked.

“…So you are saying there is a past even older than the Age of the Forgotten Gods?”

“In truth, I have not seen it myself, but I am sure there is.”

“Why?”

“…Because the previous Observer, my teacher, saw that past and died, leaving behind final words.”

Do not ever look upon the past before the age of the gods.

After murmuring that, she clicked her tongue bitterly.

“It was an absurd death. To think that after using the Bronze Mirror dozens of times and never seeing it, that past would suddenly appear and kill her.”

“…Looking further into the past alone can kill you?”

“Yes. If your rank is not sufficient, without exception.”

She continued.

“If you had really seen the past, it would not have ended with just blood flowing from your eyes, nose, and mouth. Most likely you would have died, spewing blood from your entire body in that exact state, or if lucky, survived as a cripple.”

“…”

“Of course, I do not know exactly what determines how far into the past one can see, but if you are able to peer all the way into the primordial past as my teacher did, then in truth, whatever intervened was no different from saving your life.”

“Could it not be unrelated?”

“No. I think it is related.”

The Observer looked at the Bronze Mirror in Alon’s hand and spoke.

“When my teacher died looking into the beginning, the Bronze Mirror also lost its power for about a year. Just as now.”

“…”

In her eyes there lingered a small, unreadable mix of anger and longing.

After a while.

“For now, I will take you outside again. With the Bronze Mirror having lost its power, there is nothing you can do here any longer. Perhaps in a year, but not now.”

“…Please do.”

After returning outside the cavern and boarding once more the sphere created by the Observer, Alon spoke.

“There is one thing I want to ask. May I?”

“What is it?”

“…This is not something I heard just now, but something I heard while dealing with an Outer God. Do you know the term Star-Devourer?”

He asked her that.

####

After Alon disembarked, Pellin and Penia likewise landed on Siphra.

Not only because they were investigating merfolk, but also because Blue Tower goods were secretly being supplied into the Siphra Archipelago.

By default, Blue Tower goods were supposed to be handled only through places under lawful contract.

So besides investigating merfolk, Penia and Pellin had come to Siphra to determine where the illegal goods were being distributed.

“Ah, this is so annoying. Why in the world am I, the vice tower master, doing this…”

The moment Count Palladio disappeared, Penia had instantly returned to normal and was dragging her staff behind her, wearing a face exhausted with life itself.

Seeing her like that.

As expected.

Pellin thought of Count Palladio.

In truth, by now most of the doubts he had about Count Palladio had disappeared.

Because the magic the count had shown a week ago in the battle against the merfolk had been so impressive that even Pellin could not easily grasp it.

But the reason Pellin was thinking of Count Palladio while looking at Penia was no longer, Why does she bow so low before that count?

It had moved one step beyond that, into a question, no, a certainty.

So after watching Penia for a while, Pellin finally opened his mouth.

“Sister.”

“Why are you talking to me? It is hot enough to die.”

Penia answered irritably.

“Can I ask just one thing?”

“What is it?”

Looking at her.

“Do you perhaps like Count Palladio?”

Pellin asked it as though it were nothing.

And then.

Whack!

“Aagh!”

He was struck in the back of the head exactly as they were walking.

Pellin looked at Penia in shock, and at the same time with complete bewilderment.

“No, why did you suddenly hit-”

But before he could continue, Penia hit the back of his head once more.

“Ah, seriously. I am already dying from the heat, do you want to die too, you bastard!?”

Like a volcano had suddenly erupted on the spot, she grabbed Pellin’s hair and began mercilessly hammering his side with her other hand.

“Ow! Ow! No, sister! Why all of a sudden!”

“Like? Like him? Do you think that makes any sense? Why in the world would I like Count Palladio!?”

“No, I just- because you only ever act all proper around Count Palladio…!”

“You bastard, I was always proper!”

“No, you really were not-”

“Bullshit. Why in the world would I like that man? How do you even reach a conclusion like that!?”

“Then you do not?”

“There is no reason to like him in the first place, so what do you mean like? I Count Palladio-”

As though Pellin’s blank confusion only made her angrier, Penia quickened the pace of her punches.

Only then did Pellin instinctively realize he had touched the wrong nerve and try belatedly to beg forgiveness.

“-do like him.”

“…?”

When Penia suddenly stopped her fists and said that, Pellin rubbed his throbbing side and looked at her in bewilderment.

“I do like him. Yes, I really do.”

And then he realized that her trembling eyes were fixed in one direction.

“…”

Turning his head, he saw Count Palladio standing there.

The count stood motionless, expressionless, quietly looking at Penia and Pellin.

And then.

“I-I love him…?”

…Penia’s sorrowful, mournful voice reached Pellin’s ears.