I Became the Patron of Villains (Novel) - Chapter 98 - Allied Summit (4)

Chapter 98 – Allied Summit (4)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Selaim Mikardo, the Blue Tower Master, had returned to the tower for the first time in a very long while. In fact, if counted in years, it had been almost two full years.

Ordinarily, he had planned to leave again the very same day he returned.

That was because three years earlier he had discovered a highly interesting magical structure.

It seemed to date back to the era of the Forgotten Gods.

And, perhaps, it might even be capable of pushing his rank beyond the Eighth Circle, where he was currently stuck.

Because of that, Selaim Mikardo had been busily traveling all across the world, aside from the empire, which no one could currently enter.

And this time too, he had intended to gather only the supplies he needed and then leave again.

Had it not been for the news given to him by one of the Blue Tower professors who was on quite friendly terms with him.

“Tower Master, I have some interesting news.”

“What sort of news is it?”

“It seems Vice Tower Master Penia has someone she is in love with.”

“…Ho?”

“Tell me in detail.”

Soon, the professor began to lay out everything that had happened.

“…And that is how it ended up.”

“Ho.”

As soon as the professor finished telling the whole story, Selaim Mikardo nodded several times with a deeply interested expression.

Then he asked in a puzzled voice.

“But in the end, does this not simply mean that Penia denied it all the way through?”

“That is true, but do they not say that strong denial is strong affirmation?”

“Strong denial is strong affirmation…”

Selaim stroked his beard and thought.

‘If it is Penia… could that actually be the case?’

Without meaning to, he pictured Penia in his mind.

…To be honest, she was a cherished disciple whom even Selaim had no choice but to acknowledge as a genius.

But considering her overbearing nature, her fierce personality, and the subtle sense of superiority that lay at her core.

He found himself thinking.

That perhaps, really, it could be true.

If it was Penia, she might very well dismiss even feelings that came naturally to her as nothing more than, If I like him first, I lose.

“Certainly… If it is Penia, then yes, that really might be possible.”

“Right?”

“Indeed.”

Once he additionally recalled how, when it came to winning and losing, she was the sort who would refuse to lose by any means necessary, Selaim nodded as though the professor’s words made perfect sense.

…If Penia had heard this, she would likely have foamed at the mouth and blasted magic all across the tower.

However, Selaim had no way of knowing that.

After thinking about something for a moment, he opened his mouth.

“Then should I help a little somehow?”

“Well, that might not be a bad idea.”

At the professor’s reply, Selaim let out a small hum and began to think.

Even for a man who had spent his entire life interested in little besides magic, the idea that a disciple with a personality that could only be called self-sovereign under heaven had developed feelings for someone was quite amusing.

‘Penia’s beloved, hm. Come to think of it, had they not been entangled for quite a while now?’

Selaim recalled a very old memory he had forgotten while pursuing magical inquiry.

‘Now that I think of it, I am fairly sure it was that noble who erased the inscription… And Penia had looked terribly sullen at the time, had she not?’

Recalling that old memory he had set aside long ago, Selaim smiled in enjoyment at how entertaining the situation looked even from the perspective of a middle-aged third party.

“In that case, perhaps I will help in my own way as well. First… I should meet him myself.”

He smiled as though he had reached a decision.

Meanwhile.

Penia, who had no idea that the Tower Master had slipped into the tower in secret.

“Again!?”

“Th-that is right.”

“Again!? It was lost again!? Again!?”

“No, well, I checked everything. It was definitely there until the time we left.”

“I told you to check every single day, did I not!?”

“Of course I checked every day. But then today, the very day it arrived at the tower, it suddenly disappeared…!”

“No, how does that make any sense!!!”

The repeated loss of goods, which had now gone beyond two months and was pushing into a third, had thoroughly shredded her mental state.

“Grrrr…!”

As Penia’s fury rose all the way to the top of her head, the face of a certain expressionless man passed uselessly through her mind.

“Aaaaaah!”

Penia screamed out her resentment.

…Outside the window, the weather was still bright and sunny.

####

Alon was left briefly bewildered by the sudden appearance of Seollang and Deus.

“Hm? Oh!”

Seeing Seollang and Deus appear behind Alon, Filian Merkillan first looked momentarily confused, then immediately seemed to realize who they were and exclaimed.

“Wow, could it really be Caliburn’s First Sword and Colony’s First Baba Yaga?”

As if he could not even see how frighteningly stiff their expressions were, Filian’s eyes shone brightly as he spoke, almost as if confirming it.

“I have wanted to meet both of you. This is great.”

A cheerful smile spread across his face.

However, when Seollang and Deus’s expressions remained hard, Filian looked puzzled.

“What is wrong?”

The one who had been silent until now, Deus, opened his mouth.

“Did you not say that my benefactor, no, that Marquis Palladio looked weak?”

“Uh, yes?”

“Marquis Palladio is not weak.”

“Is that so?”

Filian glanced over at Alon, then turned back and said.

“To me, he looks weak.”

“…Do you wish to die?”

In an instant, Deus released a fierce pressure.

‘No, to this extent?’

It was not Filian who was startled by that intense reaction.

It was Alon.

Certainly, hearing someone say he looked weak was not exactly pleasant.

But it was hardly enough to justify openly releasing killing intent.

“No, there is no need to go this far…”

So he tried to calm the situation first.

However.

“Not at all. I would simply like to spar a little with Caliburn’s First Sword. Would that be possible? If Lord Deus wins, I will accept cleanly that Marquis Palladio is strong.”

“Fine.”

Before Alon had even finished speaking, the two of them headed outside the banquet hall without either waiting for the other.

“…”

It had all happened in an instant.

####

Thus a duel was arranged to protect Alon’s honor, though not a trace of Alon’s own will had actually gone into it.

As Alon made his way toward the training ground, a softly swaying tail followed at his side.

“…As an aide?”

“Yes. I was not going to come, but then I heard my teacher would be here, so I decided to come.”

How is that? I did well, right?

Seollang smiled brightly with exactly that feeling.

After hearing why Seollang and Deus were here, Alon found himself nodding.

Certainly, it made sense that both of them would be attending this conference.

After all, Deus was Caliburn’s First Sword.

And Seollang was the First Baba Yaga of the desert city of Colony.

Still, one part of it bothered him slightly.

‘…Is it really all right to cause this sort of commotion?’

He looked toward Deus and Filian standing ahead.

…Of course, there were not many people around and the banquet hall itself was quiet, so in reality it was not yet noisy.

But whether there were people around or not, even if it was only a duel, the very fact that aides were about to fight could become controversial.

At first, he had intended to stop them.

But the timing had been bad.

Because he had been listening to Seollang’s chatter as they walked over, by the time he looked ahead the preparations seemed complete and both men had already drawn their swords.

Regrettably, he had missed the point where he could intervene.

So.

‘…Well, since it is just a straightforward duel, it probably will not cause too much trouble.’

Alon decided to simply watch the fight.

At the same time, a question occurred to him.

‘Who will win?’

No.

A moment later, he changed the question.

‘How long will he last?’

Of course, he knew that both were Swordmasters.

But the outcome looked obvious.

Even among Swordmasters, there were levels.

And Alon could not imagine Deus, who had even defeated Reinhardt, losing to Filian, who had only just become a Swordmaster.

‘That one probably is not even thinking of winning… Ah, no. Maybe he is?’

Filian was staring at Deus with eyes full of fighting spirit and desire for victory.

Seeing that, Alon unconsciously nodded.

Yes, Filian was showing exactly the same side of himself that Alon had seen in Psychedelia.

Even faced with an overwhelming gap in skill, he would never give up.

He would continue fighting until the very moment his life ended in order to somehow defeat his opponent.

‘When I was playing the game, I accepted it for what it was. But seeing it in reality, his personality really is unusual.’

While making that assessment and looking at Filian’s shining eyes.

“The rule is until one side admits defeat. Now then, once this dagger I throw hits the ground, the duel will begin.”

Smiling, Filian pulled the dagger from his waist and threw it high into the air.

The dagger rose toward the sky, caught the handle in the slowly tilting sunset, and fell back down.

And.

Thunk.

The instant the handle struck the ground.

Crack.

The duel was over.

“Huh?”

Filian, wearing a confused expression, assessed his own situation.

Once he came to his senses, he found himself sprawled awkwardly on the ground.

What was more, he did not even know what had happened.

And when he looked forward after regaining his senses.

There stood Deus Makalian, sword in hand, looking down at him.

Filling his eyes with puzzlement, Filian soon felt the pain in his cheek and realized one fact.

He had lost.

Without even swinging his sword once.

Without even being able to put up a hand.

“Hah…”

Upon realizing that, Filian let out a hollow laugh.

If he had been some ordinary mediocre swordsman, then the instant he crossed swords with Deus and lost, he would have either collapsed or denied reality.

Those who collapsed would be rendered powerless by the knowledge that the sword they had built all this time had been defeated so emptily.

Those who denied it would deify the existence called Deus Makalian and rationalize their own loss as inevitable.

Because if they did not do that, they would break.

But.

“Ha… hahaha.”

Filian chose neither collapse nor denial.

He chose a third path.

That path was.

“Wow, seriously… I don’t even know what to say.”

Fighting spirit.

It had been a single strike.

Even after realizing that he was not an opponent at all, Filian instead burned with fighting spirit and raised his sword again.

And as Filian’s blood began to boil.

‘…What is this?’

Alon looked at Deus with an extremely shocked expression.

He had known.

He knew Deus was strong.

He knew that Deus had beaten Reinhardt.

But even so, he had never imagined that Deus would dispose of Filian, who was stronger than most Swordmasters, in a single instant.

‘…This is talent?’

For a moment he could only click his tongue in disbelief at Deus, who in just a few short years had grown absurdly strong, to the point where he seemed to have surpassed the bounds of ordinary superhumans.

Then, after that, he felt proud.

…To be honest, from Alon’s point of view as someone who struggled even to fire a single spell, that overwhelming talent was enviable.

But on the other hand, it felt a little like watching his son grow up splendidly.

Yet only for a moment.

Soon, Alon found himself impressed by Filian as well.

“Ghk!”

Even after fighting more than five times already and losing to a single strike each time, Filian kept rising again and again as though the word give up did not exist.

After five bouts.

“Again!”

Alon could still see the vivid fighting spirit shining in Filian’s eyes.

After ten more.

“Again…!”

After fifteen more.

“Wow, you really are stron…”

After twenty more.

“Wait, just a second?”

Filian raised a hand for the first time.

But Deus sent him flying without listening.

“No, I…”

Crack.

“Wait…”

Thud.

“Let me just say…”

Crack.

After another thirty or so bouts, with Filian unable to even get his words out.

“…Deus, it would be best to stop now.”

“Yes.”

…No, more precisely, by the time Alon hurriedly spoke up after realizing that Filian’s fighting spirit had gone out and the duel with Deus had degenerated into one-sided beating.

Alon saw it.

“…”

Filian, who according to the game settings was the sort who, even against an overwhelmingly stronger opponent, would never stop displaying fighting spirit until the moment he died.

“IamsorryIwasrashIwillneverdoitagain…”

Had broken.

And that night.

At the summit where the six monarchs representing the allied kingdoms gathered.

“…Where did that spirited Swordmaster of yours go? You boasted about him so much.”

“…Ahem.”

Standing behind Critenia Siyan, Alon witnessed Shutalian V of Ashtalon wearing an extremely displeased expression.

And.

“…”

The moment their eyes met, he had no choice but to quietly look away.