I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 92 - Artificial (3)
Chapter 92 – Artificial (3)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Rosaria had a total of eight cardinals.
Unless something truly exceptional happened, they were the ones who governed Rosaria in place of the pope, who almost never emerged from the confessional chamber at the top of the temple.
And they were divided into three factions.
One was the pureblood faction led by Cardinal Mirania.
Another was the political faction led by Cardinal Gumanian.
And the last was the faction led by Cardinal Yutia.
For that reason, the pureblood faction led by Mirania and the political faction led by Gumanian did not think very highly of Yutia.
Yutia Bloodia, backed by the support of countless believers, had swallowed up surrounding influence in an instant.
And despite having only two cardinals, she had managed to build a faction with considerable strength.
Was that all?
Even though Yutia’s faction was clearly not the largest among the cardinal factions, the other cardinals still could not treat her lightly.
And the reason was simple.
Inexplicably, she held one compromising weakness after another over cardinals who should never have had such weaknesses exposed at all.
Not enough to strip them of their cardinal seats outright.
But enough to weaken their power greatly.
Thanks to that, the factions within Sironia’s church did not like Yutia.
And because of that, recently the two factions other than hers had been working together on a secret plan to push her aside.
Up until yesterday, at least.
Unfortunately for them, that plan was shattered at today’s investiture ceremony.
Because
The saint!?
Why is the saint here all of a sudden…!?
the saint was walking at Yutia’s side as she entered the temple where the ceremony was being held.
The four cardinals who were absent due to outside duties were one thing.
But the remaining cardinals present all wore stunned expressions.
Showing the two of them together in public like this, in whatever meaning one chose to assign to it, was no different from openly declaring an alliance between them.
And even if this was not an official state affair of Rosaria but merely a noble investiture ceremony, the impact did not change.
More than anything, the cardinals gathered here knew something.
There was no connection at all between the saint and Count Palladio.
Normally, the work of bringing in the noble receiving the title during an investiture was handled by priests who at least knew that noble personally.
So from the moment the saint inserted himself into escorting Count Palladio, a man with whom he had no connection whatsoever, the cardinals had no choice but to conclude that the saint had gone over to Yutia’s side.
…If the saint is attached to her, then there is no way the plan can proceed any further.
How in the world did she get the saint involved?
Haa. This has become troublesome.
Silent sighs spread through them.
And at around that same time,
Alon himself, walking in for the investiture ceremony,
…No, seriously, what is this? Am I supposed to ask?
was struggling inwardly as he watched Yuman walking beside him, then turned his eyes toward Yutia.
“…?”
Naturally, her expression looked no different from his own.
So Alon could only grow even more puzzled.
* * *
“-With this, the investiture ceremony is concluded.”
The boring ceremony ended.
“Congratulations, Count Palladio. No, now I suppose I should call you Marquis.”
“Thank you.”
Alon clasped the hand extended by Anderde, who wore a knowing smile, gave a slight nod, and thought,
That was insanely long.
Of course, Alon had heard enough from Sergius to expect that the investiture ceremony would take quite a while.
Even so, he had never imagined it would take four hours.
It was enough to make him click his tongue inwardly.
“Then let us meet again the next time there is an opportunity.”
With that, Anderde inclined his head slightly.
And the people gathered in the temple began leaving one by one.
Watching them go, Alon heard the voices of Yutia and Evan beside him.
“Congratulations, Teacher. You are a marquis now.”
“Indeed. I will have to be careful not to keep calling you Count now.”
Alon nodded at their congratulations.
“Yes. Thank you for congratulating me.”
“Then now that your business here is finished, what are you planning to do?”
The next schedule, hm.
After thinking for a moment, Alon answered,
“My business here is done, so I should return.”
To the cozy and comfortable home where I can roast sweet potatoes.
“Is that so? You are not planning to enjoy the Festival of Birth?”
“…The Festival of Birth?”
“Yes. Today is Lady Sironia’s Festival of Birth.”
At Yutia’s words, Alon looked blank for a moment.
“Today was the Festival of Birth?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, it does not seem as though anyone has done any preparation at all.”
Recalling what the area around the temple had looked like over the past two days, Alon said so, and Yutia answered,
“Sironia’s Festival of Birth begins its actual preparations only after the pope announces the start of the festival on the night when the full moon rises.”
Then she added,
“Of course, the pope is busy praying in the holy land, so Chief Cardinal Anderde will probably handle the actual opening of the festival.”
At those words, Alon nodded and thought,
The Festival of Birth…
Sironia’s Festival of Birth.
It was an event that also appeared in Psychedelia when one came to Rosaria.
But it only appeared in the early part of the game.
And unfortunately, Alon had hardly ever come for the festival.
In terms of levels and experience, raiding labyrinths scattered across the land or grinding in Lartania had been much more profitable than coming for the festival.
Still, even if he had not attended the festival much, that did not mean he did not know the items one could obtain only when the festival event was active.
…Since I am here anyway, should I pick that up before I leave?
With that thought, Alon spoke.
“Well, in that case, staying a day or two to enjoy the festival before leaving would not be a bad idea.”
“Oh, really, Count, no, Marquis?”
“Yes.”
Evan and Yutia both nodded as though they liked that choice very much.
Well, if I can get the item, investing a day or two is hardly a bad trade.
Around the time Alon reached that conclusion,
“Marquis Palladio.”
a somewhat familiar voice called from behind.
When Alon turned, Yuman was there.
“Saint.”
“Congratulations.”
At the immediate congratulations, Alon answered with slight surprise.
“…? Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Unlike when he had previously warned Alon to be careful of Yutia, Yuman’s voice now almost seemed to carry kindness in it.
…He really is impossible to read.
As if he knew nothing of what Alon was thinking, Yuman smiled in satisfaction, then slowly shifted his gaze toward Yutia.
“…”
“…”
It was an expression that did not hide hostility in the slightest.
He held her gaze for a while, then said,
“Then I will be on my way. Ah, and I hope you have thought carefully about what I told you.”
Throwing Alon a fierce look, as though delivering some grand warning, Yuman soon disappeared.
And then, staring blankly after him,
“Marquis.”
“What is it?”
“…I know it is terribly irreverent of me to say this about a saint, but… do you not think he might have a little of that?”
“…A little of what?”
“Mood swings.”
At Evan’s very reasonable suspicion, Alon fell silent for a moment and recalled Yuman’s behavior.
How every time Yuman looked at Alon’s face, he seemed to go from anger to seriousness to smiling.
At last Alon’s head slowly nodded.
“That is possible…”
…It was a cold assessment.
Meanwhile, Yuman, having no idea even in his dreams that Alon was assessing him like that,
I absolutely must save the Hidden Saint from Cardinal Yutia’s clutches.
was burning alone with passion and resolve.
* * *
That night.
“Wow, this is really spectacular.”
“It is.”
At Evan’s admiring voice, Alon too looked out over the scenery visible from the room and inwardly admired it behind his expressionless face.
It is more beautiful than in the game.
A blue moon was hanging in the sky.
Around the giant temple below, blue torches had taken the place of red ones.
And at the center of the great temple, an enormous number of priests had gathered at once and were praying, waiting for the start of the Festival of Birth.
The scene truly was magnificent.
So while Alon stood there staring blankly at the temple,
“It is starting.”
at Yutia’s words he shifted his gaze toward the platform.
Soon Anderde ascended it and the Festival of Birth began.
Not long after that, Alon saw Yuman step up onto the platform as well and thought,
…Well, I was uncomfortable because it seemed as though we had fallen out, but now that things worked out, perhaps it does not matter.
Of course, Alon knew that even if he had fallen out with Yuman, the saint would not physically or politically harm him so long as he was no heretic.
Still, by nature, Alon did not like being at odds with people.
And above all, in the original story Yuman would one day become one of the companions who protected this world together with Psychedelia’s original protagonist, Elivan.
Which meant there was nothing to gain from having a bad relationship with him.
In any case, the burden in Alon’s heart had lifted, so he watched the Festival of Birth in a comfortable mood.
At that same moment,
Yuman, who had gone up onto the platform in order to give the birthday sermon before the believers together with the chief cardinal according to the usual rite,
suddenly,
“…?”
felt that something was strange.
The person in front of him was definitely the Anderde he knew.
And yet something about him was subtly different.
If asked to explain exactly what was different, Yuman could not have done it.
But he was definitely feeling a sense of dissonance from the Anderde in front of him.
And at that moment,
“As expected, it seems the saint can feel it.”
Chief Cardinal Anderde, smiling benevolently, opened his mouth.
“Pardon?”
Yuman asked back.
But instead of answering that question, Anderde looked at Yuman and said,
“I truly envy you, saint.”
It was an unfamiliar line, one completely outside the original order of events.
Naturally doubt rose in Yuman’s eyes.
“You are blessed simply by being alive.”
And those words soon caused puzzled looks to appear on the faces of the cardinals and bishops seated in the prepared places on the platform.
“Not the priest who has prayed for decades, not the child who has gone hungry for a day, not the believer who chose ascetic hardship in order to fulfill God’s will, but you.”
“…”
“I think that is unfair.”
And now,
even the believers who had been praying only moments earlier realized that this was not the usual rite and looked up toward the platform in confusion.
Yuman saw it then.
Still maintaining that benevolent smile,
“So on this occasion, in this place where we behold a new god, I would like you to die as the symbol of unfairness.”
Kwajujijik!!
Anderde’s arm, which had been perfectly normal only moments earlier, swelled as though it were about to burst and transformed into something grotesque.
The enormous arm, like hundreds of tree trunks twisted together into one mass, swung in an instant to sweep across the cardinals and Yuman on the platform.
It all happened far too quickly.
And at the same time, everything began to look slow to Yuman.
The cardinals and bishops on the platform trying to rise in horror.
The holy knights drawing their swords too late.
The shock blooming across the faces of the many priests.
All of it slowly filled his vision.
Ordinarily, from the moment Anderde’s ambush succeeded, none of those on the platform would have survived.
Holy power took a long time to use.
No matter how deep a person’s faith or how great their holy power, everyone had to offer prayer to God in order to use holy power.
That was simply how it worked.
But there was one person here who was free from that restriction no one else could escape.
Saint Yuman.
Directly chosen by God to become a saint, he could use holy power without any particular prayer.
Kagagagagak!!!
So even against an attack that had happened utterly without warning, he was able to raise holy power instantly and block it.
“Tch!”
Even after pouring in an enormous amount of holy power, the impact was so strong that Yuman could not help frowning.
Still, as expected, the barrier Yuman made from his tremendous holy power blocked Anderde’s ambush.
But,
“-!”
Anderde’s arm traced along the outer edge of Yuman’s barrier and then continued downward toward the priests below the platform.
“No!”
Yuman cried out without thinking and enlarged the barrier.
But despite his effort, Anderde’s grotesque arm was already falling toward the heads of the young priests below who had not even reached adulthood.
And in that instant,
Yuman saw them.
The eyes of the children, trembling in fear, looking at him as though trying somehow to cling to hope.
But those eyes only gave Yuman an even greater despair.
And as he shut his own eyes tightly without meaning to,
“Raijin Form.”
a low voice rang out.
And soon he saw it.
A dark coat whipping through the children who had been trembling in fear just moments earlier.
“…!”
The instant Yuman realized it, a terrible chill was already lodged in his chest.
The next thing he saw was blue lightning crackling from the hem of the violently whipping coat.
And the final thing he saw was that Anderde’s grotesque arm, which moments earlier had been swinging down to crush everyone on the platform, had vanished as though it had exploded.
And then,
as the eyes of everyone present, Yuman included, turned toward the figure of the man,
no,
toward the Hidden Saint standing against the blue moon,
“What exactly do you think you are doing?”
he opened his mouth.