Became the Patron of Villains Novel MTL - Chapter 226

[Six times.]

[Nine times!]

[………… Let us not be excessively greedy, don’t you agree, Seolrang? Six instances is a rational number.]

[But it was nine times!]

[Reflect on this carefully, Seolrang. As I previously stated, this apparatus is not merely a tool for spying on the Lord. Its primary purpose is to ensure the Lord’s safety. Therefore, we cannot simply utilize it for voyeurism, correct?]

[But Yutia, you have definitely taken a look!]

[…..When exactly did I do such a thing?]

Yutia played innocent, acting as if she couldn’t comprehend what Seolrang was accusing her of.

Witnessing this denial, Seolrang’s cheeks swelled with indignation as she yelled out.

[You have consistently watched whenever Master was asleep! By now, I am capable of sensing even the faintest fluctuations in mana!]

[Hmm? That is merely a figment of your imagination.]

The argument between the pair dragged on.

Hidan, sandwiched between them, felt slightly awkward—

No, that wasn’t accurate.

At this very moment, he was feeling excruciatingly uncomfortable.

And there was a valid cause for this distress.

The two, who were bickering with such intense passion, appeared to have completely forgotten that Hidan was currently present in this conference.

Because of this oversight, Hidan harbored a desperate desire to flee from this location immediately.

It wasn’t just that he had zero interest in listening in on such a private discussion, but—

Even if Seolrang didn’t care, he was acutely aware that if Yutia discovered he had heard this, handling the repercussions would be no simple task.

Given how much she despised revealing this hidden side of her personality, he might literally have to gamble with his life…

A shiver ran down Hidan’s spine merely imagining it.

However, regardless of his fear, he couldn’t force himself to exit the meeting.

This magical video conference system was peculiar.

Upon joining, the screen would illuminate in silence.

There was no audio cue.

Regrettably, however, disconnecting caused the distinctive resonance of magic to gradually dissipate, generating an audible sound right as the session terminated.

And therein lay the problem—

If Hidan were to forcibly sever the connection now to make his escape, it would be functionally identical to announcing that he had been eavesdropping on their entire exchange.

Consequently, he held his breath and crouched down slowly, attempting to completely erase his presence.

In the meantime, the dialogue between Yutia and Seolrang persisted.

[Yutia, I am aware that you have observed Master while he slept.]

[You are incorrect.]

[I witnessed that smirk of yours when Evan was praising you to Master.]

[You are incorrect.]

[I know for a fact you have stared intently at Master every time he was casting magic!]

[……You are incorrect.]

As Hidan continued to listen, the expression of fear on his face morphed into something altogether different.

Because if the accusations made by Golden Moon were factual—

…….Wouldn’t that classify Yutia as a stalker?

A specific term bubbled up in his consciousness.

Hidan raised his eyes and covertly studied Red Moon, who continued to refute every claim with the phrase, “You are incorrect.”

[Hmph! Yutia, back when Master was taking a bath—]

[……………Let us agree on eight times.]

The instant Red Moon finally capitulated at Golden Moon’s final statement,

“……!”

Hidan clamped his hands over his mouth in an instant.

He understood better than anyone else just how loyal Red Moon—no, Yutia—was to the Great Moon.

However, judging by the flow of their conversation, if he extrapolated what Golden Moon was on the verge of revealing before being interrupted…

Wow, this was truly on another level.

Upon grasping the shocking(?) reality concerning the devout Red Moon,

Hidan could not help but feel a sense of horror.

‘Essentially, the Moons are convening to barter… chances to spy—no, to peep at the Great Moon?’

His jaw dropped in astonishment before he hurriedly pulled himself together.

As he sat there in a stupor, lost in his train of thought, the magical energy he was tasked with feeding into the crystal ball—which required a precise equilibrium—fluctuated ever so slightly.

Noticing the orb appearing as if it were about to power down, Hidan frantically stabilized his mana flow, but—

Wooooong!

Because the stream of his mana had been momentarily severed and then re-established, the crystal ball produced a strange resonance as it rebooted.

And at that noise—

[Hmm?]

[!]

Seolrang, who had been reveling in her triumph, and Yutia, who had just exhaled a sigh of fatigue—

“……!!”

Both of them snapped their attention toward Hidan’s location.

Releasing a shallow sigh, Hidan instinctively ducked his head.

He debated internally whether he should immediately launch into an apology and squeezed his eyes shut tight.

Which course of action offered a higher probability of survival?

Right at that juncture—

[It is quite unusual for Seolrang to be the first one here.]

[Hi!]

[…………It’s Rine, I see.]

With impeccable timing, Rine joined the session and offered a greeting, pulling Yutia and Seolrang’s focus away from Hidan.

Shortly thereafter, Deus also joined.

[……You are late.]

[Welcome, Deus! However, your complexion seems poor today. Is something the matter?]

[It is nothing.]

[Are you sure? You do not look well at all.]

[Indeed. Did an incident occur?]

[……..A tragic event occurred.]

Hidan exhaled a quiet breath of relief.

Approximately thirty minutes later—

[……Apologies, I am running a bit behind.]

Pretending to be unconcerned, Hidan greeted the group as though he had only just logged on.

[Oh, Hidan! Welcome. So, what is going on?]

[It is rare to witness Deus in such a gloomy state.]

The Moons acknowledged his entrance casually before shifting their focus back to the First Moon, Deus.

[I have arrived as well! Huh? Deus, why do you appear so depressed?]

Silver Moon was the next to enter, adding to the growing concern regarding the First Moon.

Heaving a deep sigh, the First Moon finally broke his silence.

[…….To explain this properly, I must recount an event from a few months ago in the forest.]

He commenced his tale.

[!]

[!]

[!]

In that instant.

Everyone, with the exception of Red Moon, wiped the worried looks from their faces and froze.

They had just realized it.

That they had personally laid the groundwork for Deus to ramble.

[Uh—perhaps we could just skip to the main point—]

Radan instinctively moved to cover Deus’s mouth.

[It all began… yes, on that morning. When I awoke as I usually do, my beloved and adorable younger sister, Sili, was nowhere to be found—]

[Ah—]

[Ah…]

[……]

It was already too late to stop him.

As the floodgates of his story opened, the Moons let out a collective sigh.

‘If First Moon began with a personal anecdote rather than a story about the Great Moon… We are looking at least five hours… No, perhaps six hours.’

Hidan, feeling a pang of sympathy, murmured to himself inwardly.

Then—

Hidan suddenly sensed eyes upon him and turned his head.

There, his gaze locked with Rine’s.

And—

He saw it.

Rine was silently mouthing a sentence:

<Tell me what Seolrang and Yutia were discussing earlier.>

Hidan realized that Rine’s abrupt entrance moments ago had not been a stroke of luck.

Nod.

He quickly gave a subtle nod of confirmation.

And so, the meeting proceeded.

The Following Day

Alon finally grasped the reason behind the rapid surge in Kalannon’s faith.

“So, you are suggesting that Reinhardt utilized Kalannon’s power on the northern battlefront?”

“Precisely.”

“…That fact alone does not seem sufficiently convincing, does it?”

“Which aspect specifically?”

“Regardless of how powerful Reinhardt is, the notion that knights would suddenly begin revering Kalannon as the deity of knights simply because he utilized some power seems slightly peculiar.”

Evan nodded, indicating he understood Alon’s skepticism.

“When you phrase it like that, it does sound odd. I was initially confused as well.”

“Is there more to the narrative?”

“Not exactly, but I received an explanation regarding the context.”

As Evan detailed the circumstances of that time, Alon paused to reflect before responding.

“In summary, Sili’s usage of Kalannon’s power failed to resonate with the knights, whereas Reinhardt’s succeeded?”

“Correct. To be candid, no matter how graciously you phrase it, Reinhardt participated in faith-based activities with great reluctance.”

To put it another way—

Wait, so Reinhardt, who barely exerts any effort, is utilizing divine power?

Does that imply that I am capable of it as well?

—That was the mindset created, Evan added.

Alon found himself unwittingly convinced.

‘So that is how the situation unfolded.’

From Alon’s viewpoint, this wasn’t particularly problematic.

In truth, it was advantageous if the knights held him in high regard.

The more faith the knights amassed, the greater Alon’s divinity would escalate.

‘However, for this phenomenon to be sustained, I will need to utilize faith to transfer power to them…’

Alon rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Naturally, the distribution of divine power was not an especially arduous task.

But—

The difficulty lay in selecting the appropriate individuals to receive it.

“Hm~”

If Alon had been an ethereal deity lacking a physical form, this would not have been an issue.

Regrettably, he existed in a physical body.

‘For the time being, public attention is fixed on Kalannon, the lightning receiver, and the theory that Marquess Palatio is actually that god is largely brushed off as nonsense or met with doubt.’

For now, distributing divine power at random might offer more benefits.

But in the future, that would not hold true.

If a recipient of divine power were to abuse it—

Ultimately, Alon would be the one to bear the full consequences.

Therefore—

‘I should probably have a discussion with Kalannon about this… It is about time she made an appearance, isn’t it?’

Alon glanced toward Kalannon’s horn, where Blackie was curled up, purring as if utilizing it as a cat tower.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Alon rose from his seat.

In any event, unless Kalannon initiated contact, Alon had no method of reaching her.

‘Well, she is bound to show up eventually.’

Having settled his thoughts, Alon directed his steps toward Penia’s secondary office.

He had business to conduct with Penia today.

“Ah, you have arrived?”

“Yeah.”

“I have everything ready, so please take a seat!”

Penia welcomed him with more warmth than usual and gestured for him to sit.

Noting that the dark circles beneath her eyes had grown more pronounced, Alon commented,

“…The linked Original Pattern must have sparked your curiosity quite a bit.”

Alon’s objective for the day was straightforward.

He intended to convert Penia’s mana into his own and utilize it to recharge the Footsteps of the Past.

If Alon attempted to do this alone, it would require nearly a month.

Even if he did nothing but pour mana into the artifact without conducting any magic research, it would still consume one to two weeks.

However, Penia Crysinne, a future Archmage acknowledged even by Psychedelia,

“Yeah! It was truly fascinating! Where did you even locate this artifact?!”

…Possessed such a colossal volume of mana that merely utilizing a fraction of it was sufficient to fully charge the Footsteps of the Past.

‘…How envious. That level of talent.’

As Alon observed Penia sliding on the ring, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy once more.

“……Huh?”

For a split second, he had the sensation that the red brooch flashed with a brief crimson light.

He glanced down at it but quickly shrugged the thought away and averted his gaze.

After all, a gemstone wouldn’t simply illuminate on its own accord.

“Very well, let us begin.”

“Yeah, I’m relying on you.”

A short time later—

Penia, who had also placed a ring on the middle finger of her left hand mirroring Alon, began to unleash her mana.

Wooooong~!

A tremendous surge of mana radiated in all directions before swiftly funneling into the ring on Penia’s hand, traveling into Alon’s ring, and finally being absorbed into the Footsteps of the Past.

The artifact, which had previously been a dull gray, rapidly adopted a blue luminescence.

After approximately one minute—

“It is finished.”

“Oh, done already?”

“Yeah.”

Witnessing that the task, which would have cost him an entire month, was finalized in a mere minute, Alon once again felt the stark disparity in their natural talent.

“U-um! Then, would it be acceptable if I studied this a little longer?”

Penia, her cheeks slightly flushed with excitement, asked eagerly as she examined the ring.

“Go ahead. At this stage, I do not have much use for it anyway.”

“Thank you!”

“In exchange, I will be counting on your assistance in the future as well.”

“Of course!”

With a slight nod, Alon picked up the fully charged Footsteps of the Past.

Paah!

A brilliant white light swallowed his vision—

And when the brightness faded—

“You are late.”

He found himself standing face-to-face with Kylrus, who was positioned with a massive black dragon looming behind him.

The sight of the dragon’s overwhelming presence never failed to inspire awe in him, but Alon quickly centered himself and looked at Kylrus.

“Before we commence training, I have an inquiry. Can we speak for a moment?”

“What is it?”

“I went to the Horizon.”

“And what is it you wish to ask?”

At Kylrus’s prompt, Alon provided him with a concise summary of the events that transpired there.

Finally, he arrived at the core of his question.

“What exactly is that place?”

Kylrus fell silent for a beat.

Then, he spoke.

“Palayon’s companion.”

“……What?”

“That space was created by the close friend of the great human, Palayon—the individual who first disseminated magic across this world. And—”

He continued in a composed tone.

“They were the sole mage in history to wield the technique known as ‘Reversal.’”