I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 90 - Artificial (1)
Chapter 90 – Artificial (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Beneath Rosaria, the capital whose name was also the name of the Holy Kingdom itself, there was a man in the vast cavern at the center of the labyrinthine underground waterways.
He wore a benevolent smile that did not fit such a dark place.
At his throat hung a pendant marked with the moon, signaling that he was one of Sironia’s servants, and he wore dark priestly robes.
That man was Rosaria’s chief cardinal, Anderde.
“You have arrived.”
He spoke in a soft murmur.
At that, from the rear of the otherwise empty cavern, a man wrapped in a black robe began to walk forward.
“As expected, I cannot deceive the cardinal’s eyes.”
The masked man, whose only visible feature was the playfully curved line of his eyes, came to a stop before Anderde and gave a light wave.
Thunk.
At the same time, a box fell in front of Anderde.
It was neither especially small nor especially large.
Anderde looked at it.
“Please, take a look.”
At the masked man’s words, Anderde knelt and opened the box.
“Ohhh…”
The moment he saw the many Abyssal Cores inside, admiration slipped out of him before he could stop it.
There were easily fifty of them.
After admiring the quantity for a moment, Anderde closed the box, stood, and bowed his head politely.
“Thank you, brother. Thanks to this, we will be able to proceed on schedule.”
“That is fortunate. I believe you said it would be during the Festival of Birth. Is that correct?”
“Yes. If the plans do not change, that is when it will happen.”
At Anderde’s answer, the masked man shrugged, then paused before turning away and asked,
“May I ask one thing?”
“Please, speak freely.”
Anderde smiled kindly as he answered.
The masked man hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
“I am curious why you would go this far. Of course, if you think it is too personal a question, you need not answer.”
At those words, Anderde seemed to think for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“Because I wish to receive salvation.”
“…Salvation?”
At the masked man’s repeat, Anderde continued.
“What do you think of gods, brother?”
“Hmm… I do not know. I have never thought about it in detail.”
“I find gods unfair.”
It was a remark that sounded profoundly out of place coming from the chief cardinal.
“Let me ask you a question.”
The masked man listened silently, so Anderde continued.
“There are believers who pray to the gods every day. Some come to the temple daily to offer prayers. Some go out to battle to defend the name of the goddess. Some walk thorn-covered roads without complaint in order to fulfill divine missions.”
“Others leave behind a sick old woman and head for a holy site because the commandments demand it, while others commit killings they do not want in order to preserve what they believe is divine will.”
“Some pray because they have gone without food for days and want even moldy bread. Others pray so that they can heal the sick old woman.”
Anderde’s words went on.
Stories of this person, that person, and yet another kept pouring from his lips, and at last he gave the masked man his final question.
“All of them believe in Sironia and pray to her. Then to whom do you think she will extend her hand?”
“…”
The masked man considered the question, but Anderde, still wearing that benevolent smile, spoke again.
“Do not trouble yourself too much. None of the choices I presented has a correct answer.”
“…Pardon?”
The masked man looked bewildered at the sudden statement, but Anderde went on.
“As I said, there is no correct answer. She, no, Sironia, extends no saving hand to anyone. She merely acts however she wishes.”
Anderde wore a bitter expression.
“That is what gods are. How long someone has believed does not matter in the least. Even if someone has believed in Sironia for decades, if they do not please her, they will receive neither power nor blessing.”
“But on the other hand, if they do please her, then she grants power even to those who do not believe in her. As though faith itself means nothing. As though sincerity, sacrifice, and martyrdom are meaningless.”
“Gods are such beings. Rather than cherishing true prayer, faith, sacrifice, and martyrdom, they simply wield power however suits them.”
When he finished speaking, Anderde fell silent for a short while, then smiled again.
It was a deeply benevolent, almost holy smile.
“That is why I made this decision.”
“And so I intend to try it.”
At that moment, the masked man found his gaze drawn past Anderde and into the vast cavern behind him.
“A god that discriminates against no one.”
The cavern was dark, but the torches burning here and there made it possible to guess at its scale, and beyond the cardinal there were countless people.
“A god that grants power fairly to anyone who believes.”
Men, women, old people, children.
Commoners, priests, inquisitors, nuns.
All of them were praying devoutly toward a single point.
“A god meant only for those who believe.”
At the far end of that space stood an enormous statue that anyone could see had been made by human hands.
A huge stone figure in the shape of a human being.
“A human god.”
“…”
The masked man looked at him.
Anderde was still smiling.
A warm and benevolent smile.
In the darkness cut by torchlight, that smile felt profoundly alien.
“…”
The masked man felt a nameless fear.
The shadows cast by the torchlight at either side of Anderde’s benevolent smile made it seem deeper still.
Like a madman.
* * *
Alon was deeply flustered by the sudden fierce burst of light the moment he used magic.
Why is that shining? The statue of Sironia should not react just because someone used magic.
On the chance that it mattered, Alon immediately stopped manifesting the spell.
But even after he stopped, the light pouring from the statue of Sironia did not go out.
And then,
[Wh-what is…]
A very flustered young woman’s voice began to ring in his ear.
There was no body.
He could hear only the voice, and all he could see was the brilliant statue of Sironia.
Because of that, Alon immediately realized that the voice belonged to the goddess Sironia.
Though bewildered, he also thought he ought to observe proper etiquette first, so he started to bend his body in a bow.
[W-wait!]
At the hurried voice, Alon halted awkwardly halfway into dropping to one knee.
“?”
He looked at the statue with a puzzled expression.
But then,
[What… what are you exactly…?]
“…??”
Only then, hearing the goddess’s trembling voice, did Alon realize that Sironia was wary of him.
Why me…?
That was what he thought, but he could hardly keep a goddess waiting long for an answer.
“I am Count Palladio of the Kingdom of Asteria, great goddess Sironia.”
He gave the response that came to mind first, borrowing the protagonist’s introduction from the game for the moment.
[No, that is not what I was ask… ngh.]
Sironia, sounding as if the answer was frustrating, suddenly drew in a sharp breath and then fell silent for a time.
At last she spoke again.
[Count Palladio. What purpose brought you here?]
Unlike the earlier urgent voice, this one was somewhat calmer.
Even so, Alon could still hear the haste buried under it.
He hesitated over how to answer, then finally went to the point.
“…I came in hopes of receiving the Necklace of the Eye-Devourer.”
It was the artifact he had been seeking in this chamber, the only one among the many relics here that was hidden and not marked with tracking magic.
The instant he named it,
Click.
The marble floor to the right of Sironia’s statue, which until then had looked ordinary, opened slightly.
[Hold out your hand.]
Sironia’s voice rang out.
Alon did as he was told.
Thunk.
A white necklace dropped into his hand.
“This…”
[Is this what you came here for?]
“It is, but… why suddenly give it to me…”
He had more or less grasped her intention, but asked anyway, just in case.
Sironia answered,
[Take it.]
“…May I really do that?”
[Yes. Then is your business here finished?]
“It is.”
[Th-then leave.]
With that, she vanished in an instant.
The white light disappeared as abruptly as if a blackout had struck.
Although her tone had grown calmer in the middle, anyone hearing it would still have thought she sounded extremely rushed, and even the way she vanished felt almost like fleeing.
Alon stood there wearing a puzzled expression.
…Wait. This situation feels strangely familiar.
It closely resembled the moment he had met Heinkel at the magic conference, and remembering Heinkel’s warning, Behind you, Alon turned his gaze slightly and looked back.
“…”
Naturally, there was nothing there.
What is this…?
Feeling a strange sense of dissonance, Alon left the Holy Spirit Chamber with the Necklace of the Eye-Devourer he had originally wanted.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that same time, Yuman, a saint of Rosaria, was staring with his eyes so wide in shock that no one could have blamed him.
There were several reasons for his astonishment.
First, he was shocked by the fact that Count Palladio could converse with the goddess Sironia at all.
Second, he was shocked that the goddess statue had shone more brightly in Count Palladio’s presence than it ever did in his own.
But above all else, the reason Yuman stood there with his mouth hanging open was this.
The goddess… personally bestowed a holy relic on Count Palladio…?
The goddess Sironia herself had granted Count Palladio a sacred relic.
And not only that, she had done so in the very manner used only when the goddess personally chose a saint, as if it were a sacred rite itself.
…Of course, in truth it had only happened because Count Palladio had asked for an item.
Yuman, unable to hear the statue’s voice unless he was inside the Holy Spirit Chamber itself, reached a different conclusion.
Did Count Palladio notice I was watching and use some strange trick?
That was the explanation he settled on.
Normally, when the goddess Sironia conducted the rite of choosing a saint, it did not happen in such a rushed way. It was performed according to proper procedure.
So the moment Count Palladio left, Yuman entered the Holy Spirit Chamber at once, dropped to his knees, and offered a prayer.
After some time had passed,
Woooong.
The statue of Sironia began to shine.
[What is it, my child?]
The voice of the goddess Sironia rang out.
…It sounded very slightly tired.
But because Yuman had already seen her present a relic to Count Palladio, he failed to notice the subtle difference in her voice and hurried to speak.
“I report to the great goddess Sironia that I confirmed Count Palladio took an object from within the chamber…”
[Enough.]
Sironia cut him off.
[I gave that to him, so you need not concern yourself with it, my child.]
“Pardon? Truly?”
[Yes. And if you witnessed what happened today, pretend that you did not.]
With those words, Sironia disappeared again.
And then,
still kneeling blankly in the Holy Spirit Chamber,
So the goddess truly bestowed a relic on Count Palladio herself…?
Yuman could arrive at only one conclusion.
“…Then Count Palladio is… a saint like me…?”