Became the Patron of Villains Novel MTL - Chapter 293

C293. The Sin of Greed (4)

Magrina looked at Eliban.

Eliban also looked at Magrina.

But there were no words between them.

Only silence.

How much time had passed like that?

“…To be honest, I didn’t think you would recognize me.”

In the midst of the silence, Eliban was the first to speak.

“You think so?”

“Yes. Although for me not much time has passed… for you, quite a few years have passed, haven’t they?”

“I would say we are in the same boat.”

“I don’t know… I am still human, after all.”

At Eliban’s voice, which carried a slight laugh, Magrina responded with a subtle smile.

“Being someone who has lived so long, isn’t it a bit strange to still say you are human?”

“Living so long… well, let’s say that is half true and half false.”

Magrina’s smile disappeared at that answer.

In contrast, Eliban continued to show a calm smile as he opened his mouth.

“Can I ask you a favor?”

“What kind of favor?”

Eliban, who had appeared relaxed the whole time, took a breath for a second.

“I would like to ask you to keep this a secret from the Marquis.”

At that, Magrina began to think.

A hesitation that lasted a little while.

But Eliban waited for her without any rush.

“…Alright.”

The acceptance was surprisingly light after such a pause.

“How unexpected. I didn’t think Your Majesty would accept so easily.”

This time it was Eliban who spoke as if he were surprised.

“Really?”

“Yes, I thought I’d have to drag out the conversation a bit more. I also thought I’d have to show something more of what we are both hiding.”

“Hiding?”

“Come on—I admitted it without resisting. Can’t you do the same?”

At that response from Magrina, Eliban let out a small laugh, then said—

“You ate him, didn’t you? Baarma.”

As soon as he pronounced those words…

Magrina’s face, which had been smiling, completely hardened.

“…You are more perceptive than I expected. No one had noticed until now.”

“It’s just that I know a few things. Like for example… that Your Majesty has surpassed the level of simply controlling Baarma’s power.”

“…You really know a lot of things.”

“But don’t worry, just as you won’t reveal my identity to the Marquis, I have no intention of revealing yours either. So this will be a shared secret.”

Eliban raised his pinky finger.

Magrina looked at him in silence, and slowly her lips parted.

“……Then since we are at it, I will tell you one more thing, Eliban.”

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“If you ever do anything… to my older brother—”

In that instant.

The world, illuminated only by the blue light of the moon, changed abruptly.

The vision around them was dyed red and purple.

The colors mixed as if painted with a messy brush, forming a strange world.

The moon in the night sky turned purple.

Krrrrk—

And strange things rippled in the sky where the Milky Way was located.

They were so grotesque that they seemed more like madness than reality.

And in the middle of all that…

Magrina, expelling a magic that caused chills, said:

“—You better think very carefully about what would happen.”

Her red eyes pierced the darkness and locked onto Eliban.

At her warning, Eliban remained silent for a moment.

“…Don’t worry. I would never harm the Marquis. In fact, wasn’t it precisely because Your Majesty reached the same conclusion… that you accepted keeping my secret?”

He replied without backing down.

And it was true.

Magrina hadn’t revealed Eliban’s secret because she had judged that he would never harm Alon Palatio.

The power Eliban possessed was not normal.

If he had wanted to, he could have harmed Alon Palatio at any moment.

But he didn’t do it.

He even, for unknown reasons, returned Alon Palatio’s ring to Magrina.

Even so…

Just in case, Magrina had unsheathed her strength.

But Eliban didn’t flinch.

No, on the contrary—

He showed an even clearer smile.

“I will repeat it once more, don’t worry. After all… I also received the same thing as you.”

“……The same thing?”

“What was it that you received from the Marquis?”

Magrina had received many things from Alon Palatio.

He saved her life countless times, protected her, solved her problems.

Not only that.

He gave her the strength to live among those unpleasant members of her race.

He gave her the chance to become their queen.

And he gave her…

He gave her…

He gave her…

Too much.

So much that there was no way to list it completely.

That is why, among all the things Alon Palatio had given her, Magrina chose the words that could encompass everything.

A single word:

“Hope.”

He, who extended what she needed most while she was in the nothingness of the abyss.

“Me too.”

While Magrina evoked those memories, she heard a voice and looked up.

Eliban was still there.

With his blue eyes shining as if they would never go out. And with a tranquil smile, he said:

“I also received hope.”

And he added clearly:

“A hope akin to salvation.”

---

In the east of Greynifra.

Ramu, one of the members of the Shadow Blades who followed the Queen’s orders after the purification of the World Tree’s roots—

Keeeek!

She observed the horde of goblins and orcs throwing themselves at her.

There were at least several dozen.

But Ramu showed no sign of worry, she just gripped her spear.

A few moments later…

Around her, nothing remained but corpses of greenskins.

All pierced exactly in their vital points.

But Ramu’s face showed no satisfaction whatsoever.

The reason was in front of her: something strange about the greenskins’ bodies.

They weren’t common creatures.

They were fiercer, stronger… there was a clear difference.

But what caught her attention the most was—

An ash-grey tone spread across their skin. Not a common grey.

“Ash… why?”

It was exactly the same type of ash found under the roots.

Seeing the particles detaching from the corpses, Ramu began to walk in the direction of their origin.

And when she advanced deep into the forest…

“Eya-diya.”

She could see it.

…

The figure of the “Ash Sowers” that the Primordial Elf had exterminated that time. And not one—

‘…Four?!’

There were four.

Her surprise lasted barely a few seconds.

Ramu turned around to run to Greynifra immediately.

She had to report this as soon as possible.

But—

Unfortunately, Ramu had to stop soon.

The reason:

Kreook—!

An absurd amount of greenskins surrounded her, as if they had been waiting for her.

Ramu gritted her teeth in silence.

---

“…The control is still unstable, but at least it will be helpful for your techniques.”

“……Really?”

“But don’t keep it up for too long. Or you’ll end up burning your brain without realizing it. If you feel overload, turn it off.”

Alon Palatio was listening to Kylus’s explanations.

“Understood.”

Alon Palatio nodded.

But Kylus looked at him strangely.

“I tell you just in case: never try to ‘complete’ it. With your current body, you wouldn’t survive.”

He stated again.

“…You worry too much. I don’t want to die either.”

“I have never seen someone who ‘doesn’t want to die’ push their body as much as you.”

Alon Palatio remained silent at that, and then changed the subject.

“Then, does this part of the training end here?”

“You could say so. You still need to practice more, but from now on you will have to do it alone.”

[Kyu—]

While he caressed Blackie, who was on his shoulder, Kylus added:

“I remembered something I had to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“You asked me how to unite your powers into one.”

Alon Palatio let out a small sigh.

After confirming that the Sins were definitely appearing, he had also asked Kylus that same question.

“Instead of uniting them, I feel they are too scattered.”

Kylus observed him for a moment before speaking.

“I’ll be clear: I have no idea how to unite your powers. I am a True Mage, not a god.”

“I see.”

“But I can tell you how to become stronger.”

“……You mean the Spirit Dragon?”

“No. I’m already teaching you that.”

“Then…”

At the question, Kylus touched his temple and said:

“You are different from me. Without inheriting any Inscription, you can use the magic of other Mages without problem.”

He continued speaking.

But suddenly…

He clicked his tongue and fell silent.

“What is it?”

Alon Palatio asked.

Kylus replied:

“…Seems like it’s not the time to explain it. Something urgent happened outside.”

He extended a black shadow towards Alon Palatio.

And in the next instant—

Alon Palatio understood that he had been expelled from the current of the past where he was training, just before being reached.

While he was bewildered…

“Marquis!”

Penia’s hurried voice reached him.

And seeing her, Alon Palatio’s eyes opened slightly.

Penia, who before he entered training was quietly reading books in the library…

“What is happening?”

“It’s terrible—!”

Penia took Alon Palatio by the arm with an expression more serious than ever.

Sensing that something was very wrong, Alon Palatio stood up immediately.

And upon following her to the walls of Fildegrin’s capital—

“…That is…”

He was left speechless.

What was before his eyes was exactly what he himself had destroyed before:

An “Ash Sower”.

But not one like the one at the roots—

“A… Ash Sowers…?”

There were four.

And they were spilling magma, reducing the green forest to a burning hell as they advanced towards Fildegrin.

At that vision, Alon Palatio froze without realizing it.

Not because of the Ash Sower’s power.

Alon Palatio knew that he and everyone in Fildegrin together could stop them.

What froze him was the simple fact that they existed.

According to what he knew…

That creature only appeared when the Sin of Greed emerged.

And if four were gathered in one place—

‘It can’t be… the Sin of Greed…?’

It meant only one thing.

Alon Palatio had to accept it.

At this very moment,

The Sin of Greed had been born.