I Became the Patron of Villains

125. Half-Baked Sorcerer (4)

The Duke stared blankly ahead.

What he saw was a world of ashes.

Next, he saw a barren land where not a single blade of grass grew.

A land where everything had disappeared.

A land where everything had vanished.

As the Duke began to see a familiar face on that barren land, he realized one thing.

This was a memory of the past.

A faded past that was now hard to recall.

But with the flow of fair time, it had become something he could only see in dreams.

It was the reason he had survived until now, and at the same time, the yoke of memories that tormented him.

The Duke couldn’t take his eyes off it.

There were the backs of the sorcerers he knew well.

Among them, he saw many faces.

From the face of the sorcerer who had been there before he became the master’s disciple.

To the face of the one who became a sorcerer around the same time as him.

To the face of the one who became the master’s disciple later but became a sorcerer faster than him.

They were all walking across the barren land, into the abyss.

Next, he saw the smiling face of his master.

Her smile was always benevolent.

‘It can’t be helped. ■■■. The moment the soul of the world is filled, it can’t be helped anymore.’

If she hadn’t been shedding tears, he might have mistaken it for a moment.

‘■■■, I’m glad you didn’t become a sorcerer.’

No.

That wasn’t it.

He should have become a sorcerer.

He, too, should have been of help.

Thinking so, he seemed to have said something in his memory.

What could he have said?

He couldn’t remember.

Vaguely guessing, he probably whined about wanting to follow along.

But unlike his own forgotten words, he remembered his master’s appearance.

‘If you’re not a mage, it’s just a futile death. So instead, I’ll leave the future to you.’

His master’s face, making a resigned expression.

‘Survive. And protect this world. The world that we-‘

The world that the mages protected.

The last voice, as he patted his head, now taller than his master.

With that, his master and the mages walked into the abyss, leaving him behind.

To stop the sin crawling up from the roots.

To protect this world.

To protect humanity.

To protect the half-baked mage,

They left him and headed forth.

The last thing he saw was────────

“Ugh-!”

As the ashen memory twisted and turned, the duke coughed up blood.

He looked around with powerless eyes.

What he saw was a world of ash.

And a barren land.

“…….”

Yet, he realized that this place was not the blurred memory of the past.

Though it resembled that time, there were clear differences.

“…….”

Duke Comalon-

■■■ stared blankly ahead.

In the place where the mages once stood in the faded memory, a man was standing.

The half-blooded sorcerer, with an expression devoid of any emotion, silently looked down at him.

The Marquis of Palatio stood there, looking down at the Duke.

The Marquis did not appear to be in good condition.

Although it wasn’t clearly visible earlier, his hands and neck, which were not covered by the black coat, were blue.

It was a severe case of magical intoxication, so severe that it was strange that magical hardening (硬化) hadn’t occurred.

Was that all?

The wounds near his blue skin were mostly minor, but his right arm was severely injured.

However.

That did not leave a significant impression on Duke Comalon.

“……Cough.”

Unlike the Marquis, who could still stand, Duke Comalon himself was sitting down.

He lowered his gaze.

There was a huge hole there.

A hole so large that it was impossible to continue living as a human, even with the use of an abyssal body, had been pierced through the middle of his abdomen.

“Ha-”

The Duke involuntarily let out a laugh.

Duke Comalon did not realize why he was laughing.

Was it because his mind had gone strange?

Or was it the sense of liberation from finally being freed from a heavy burden?

What was it?

What could it be?

………

……

…

In fact, Duke Comalon knew.

He knew well why a hollow laugh was drawn on his lips.

To be precise.

‘Survive. So that you can protect this world. The world that we-’

After hundreds of years, the fragments that had functioned as nothing more than a blind purpose in his mind now resurfaced clearly, allowing him to finally guess again.

‘-the sorcerers protected.’

The face of the master in the rising memory was faint.

In that faintness, there was another emotion.

A feeling of pity and sorrow.

■■■ knew why the master had such a face.

She never expected anything from ■■■ in the first place.

The master never thought that ■■■ could protect the world.

He was too insignificant to place such expectations on.

Even ■■■ knew that the master’s words were just to console him, who was throwing a tantrum.

He might not have had talent, but he wasn’t oblivious.

But even if the master didn’t expect anything, even if no one expected anything, he made a vow as he watched the mages descend into the abyss.

He vowed to protect the world they had safeguarded.

He vowed not to let their sacrifices be in vain.

However, the start of such a vow was laughably more for self-satisfaction than for a grand cause.

A half-baked mage who had never been acknowledged, to be recognized as a mage.

It was a vow to proudly think and say that he was a member of the mages.

Even if no one acknowledged him, he wanted to believe it himself.

In other words, the smile on his lips now was self-mockery.

“In the end, I’m just a half-baked mage-“

■■■ unconsciously chuckled, blood dripping from his mouth.

In the end, he had accomplished nothing.

Just as the master had predicted.

…Just as the mages had predicted.

He let out a dry sigh, realizing that his vision was gradually blurring.

The death he had postponed for countless years for a single purpose was now approaching.

“Duke.”

He turned his head at the voice that reached him.

There stood Marquis Pallatio, looking down at him with the same emotionless expression as before.

He soon opened his mouth.

“You are, indeed, a mage.”

A low whisper.

He couldn’t understand why the Marquis had said such a thing.

But regardless of the Marquis’s intentions.

“……Ha”

■■■ couldn’t help but let out a faint smile.

Whatever the intention, it was quite sweet to the Duke.

……The words the Marquis had uttered were words he wanted to hear, even if they were lies.

Thus, the smiling Duke.

“……Go to the southern end of the ‘border’ to the east. With the crest you received, you might get some help. You might even see the truth.”

He closed his eyes, offering his own form of gratitude.

As the abyss approached, his mind began to slowly sink into slumber.

And finally.

What he recalled, ironically, was his last memory.

A memory he couldn’t recall until the very end.

‘Survive. Protect this world. The world we, the mages, have protected.’

The last words of his master.

‘You are a true mage.’

That was the last memory he recalled as his mind completely sank below the surface.

‘So, you believed in me……’

Finally, the half-mage fell into eternal sleep.

With a small smile on his lips.

And.

───The ‘eyes’ that the half-mage couldn’t see quietly watched his death.

####

Three days had passed since the death of Duke Komalon and the end of the artificial foreign god incident that threatened to destroy the entire Kingdom of Ashtalon.

In conclusion, the Kingdom of Ashtalon had regained peace.

Although the nobles at the ball attended by Duke Komalon were massacred, and several territories were completely wiped out, causing chaos, the immediate crisis was over.

Other countries where artificial foreign gods had appeared also found peace by defeating the artificial foreign gods before and after the Duke’s death.

And in that peace.

“……I’m going to die.”

Marquis Palatio, Alon, had been groaning in terrible pain for three days straight.

Of course.

In the battle with the Duke, he had downed no less than thirteen bottles of mana potions.

The previously insufficient mana pool had increased, the efficiency of his magic had improved overwhelmingly, and he hadn’t used much self-manifestation.

However, the battle with Duke Komalon had pushed him to use more magic than his limits allowed.

“Hoo-“

The pain remained unchanged.

As Alon groaned, Evan, who was attending to him, spoke.

“Still, it’s something. The priest said you could have gone straight to the grave. It’s a relief. Until yesterday, you were groaning and couldn’t even speak, but now you can talk.”

“…That’s true.”

Alon recalled the priest who had cautiously asked, with a shocked expression, ‘Are you perhaps not human?’

The priest had said that it was a miracle he hadn’t died, given the severe mana poisoning.

“Still, it would be best to be more careful with these things, Marquis.”

“…I would like to.”

“You take on too many dangerous tasks.”

“Are you worried?”

“Of course.”

“…Not because you have to follow me around?”

“Hmm- that too, honestly, just a little.”

Alon, who had been smiling inwardly at Evan’s joke,

“Master-!”

soon saw Seolang burst through the door.

“Are you alright!?”

Seolang rushed to Alon as soon as she saw him.

“I’m… alright, but,”

Alon nodded and then looked at Seolang’s collarbone.

It seemed the priest’s treatment hadn’t fully healed it, as there was a large wound that hadn’t been there before.

“That wound-“

“Oh- this? I couldn’t dodge an attack properly last time, so it ended up like this! But it’s okay, Master! It doesn’t even hurt!”

Seeing Seolang laugh it off as if it were nothing, Alon wore a complicated expression behind his stoic face.

No matter what she thought, that wound was one she had gotten while helping Alon.

“……I’m sorry.”

“Huh? Why are you sorry, Master? It was just my mistake.”

A genuinely puzzled expression.

But Alon’s gaze did not easily leave the wound.

“It’s a wound you got while trying to help me. And, you know, scars can look ugly. I feel ashamed.”

At those words, Seolang briefly erased his smile and turned his gaze to his own collarbone.

Seolang, who was staring intently at the scar etched from his right collarbone to the end of his shoulder, soon looked at Alon and spoke.

“Hey, Master.”

“Yes?”

“What do you think?”

“…What do I think?”

“Yes, in your eyes, does this scar make me look ugly?”

At Seolang’s question, Alon was silent for a moment before shaking his head.

“That’s not it.”

“Then it’s fine!”

“…Is that so?”

Alon, whose face showed no change but was inwardly bewildered.

However.

“Yes, as long as it doesn’t look strange in your eyes, I don’t care at all!”

Seolang cheerfully exclaimed with a smile on his lips as before, and Alon felt his heart twinge once again without realizing it.

And then.

“Huh?”

Evan looked at Alon’s face with a very surprised expression.

And for good reason. Although it was very faint.

‘…He’s smiling?’

Because Alon was indeed smiling, albeit very slightly.

Evan, who had served him for nearly ten years but had never seen any change in his expression except for small changes, was momentarily stunned by the unfamiliar sight.

After seeing Seolang off, who had left to receive treatment, Alon greeted an unexpected visitor who came to see him.

The troublemaker, Karsem.

He came to visit the sick.

In fact, he had no connection with him other than accompanying Seollang.

Why is he here…?

“Are you alright, brother…!”

“???”

Seeing the royalty of the colony suddenly bowing down with a look full of respect and kindness, he couldn’t help but be bewildered again.

From noble mtl dot com