I Became the Patron of Villains

175. Those Who Realized. (1)

Archaeologist Teira.

He was once a 5th rank mage of the Red Tower, but after becoming interested in the artifacts discovered in the colony, he had spent about 20 years exploring the relics of forgotten eras, undeterred by danger.

He first felt puzzled by the summons from Carmaxes III.

Thanks to the support of Carmaxes III, he was able to stay in the colony and study archaeology, but Teira knew.

That Carmaxes III had little interest in archaeology itself.

What he wanted was merely the byproducts that accompanied the ancient items Teira discovered and unearthed.

Therefore.

“Does the Sage God really exist?”

He became even more puzzled by Carmaxes III’s words.

Such a question, suddenly summoned.

Had he suddenly developed an interest in archaeology?

But Teira answered sincerely.

“……So, according to you, the Sage God might actually exist, is that what you’re saying?”

“Rather than ‘might actually exist,’ it would be more accurate to say that the Sage God truly exists.”

“Can you take responsibility for those words?”

“Yes.”

He nodded confidently even at the repeated confirmation.

For he had actually seen the Sage God.

It was a time when he was exploring the mysteries of ancient times.

He witnessed it in the land of the Lizardmen, risking his life if discovered.

Different in appearance, but also in power.

A sage god who handles the essence of power itself, not the borrowed divine power like the priests.

Awe, fear, exhilaration.

The heat surrounding the crowd of Lizardmen who revered him was still vivid.

But why is Karmakses III curious about the ‘sage god’?

I thought it might be a shallow curiosity picked up from somewhere, but-

‘It’s serious.’

His expression was more serious than ever.

As if he were pondering a matter of great importance to the fate of the nation.

“……Is there any way to confirm if it’s a sage god?”

“Confirm, you say?”

“Yes.”

It was an unexpected question.

“I’m sorry, but what exactly do you mean…….”

“Just as I said. Can you confirm if the other party is a sage god?”

“Rather than confirming, sage gods are just different from ordinary humans in appearance. You can easily identify them with the naked eye.”

“……Really?”

Karmakses III’s face twisted strangely once again.

After a moment of contemplation, he cautiously opened his lips.

“……Then, if a sage god disguised himself as a human, is it possible?”

“If you’re purely asking about the possibility, I can’t say it’s impossible.”

“Then is there a way to see through that disguise? Preferably without the other party knowing.”

With the continuing questions, Teiara began to vaguely understand why he was asking about the sage god.

‘Has someone suspected to be a sage god appeared?’

A brief speculation.

But lacking sufficient information, he nodded without further thought.

“I’ve never tried it even once, but to conclude, there is a way.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Teiran recalled the item he had obtained from one of the recently forgotten ancient ruins.

“Then I’ll call you when the time comes. It won’t take long, as they said they would come to the colony soon.”

“Understood.”

Teiran answered, setting aside his curiosity, and withdrew.

Soon, Karmakses III was left alone.

‘…If Marquis Palatio is truly a god-‘

His eyes sank infinitely deep.

####

The next day.

After finishing all his business in Lartania, Alon met Line before leaving.

“You’re leaving now.”

“I must.”

“That’s a shame.”

Unlike yesterday, the discomfort had vanished from her expression.

She seemed even better than usual.

No, she was trying hard to appear ‘better.’

With a faint smile, she was desperately trying not to show any other emotions.

Watching her, Alon pondered for a moment.

And then.

“Line.”

“Yes?”

He spoke calmly.

“The past is just the past.”

The smile that had been lingering on Line’s face slowly faded away.

In fact, Alon had been debating whether or not to bring this up.

It was because it would break the mask she wore to appear normal and drag out the part she didn’t want to talk about.

But even so.

‘If it can make Line feel even a little more at ease, that would be good.’

That feeling took precedence.

Of course, he doesn’t know exactly.

What she has been through in the past.

Why she feels fear when the past is revealed.

The two things he can guess are.

The past – probably an incident related to the Apostle’s trickery left a big trauma on her.

And when that incident is revealed, Rine fears that the perspectives of others, including Alon, might change.

Alon didn’t want to forcefully expose the wounds he was desperately hiding either.

However, if not exposed, there is no chance for new flesh to grow.

That’s why, after much deliberation, he spoke.

“Ri-“

Alon slowly swallowed the sentence he was about to continue.

Instead.

Tap, tap-

Lightly, he tapped her shoulder.

Even if it was for Rine’s sake.

Saying something without knowing what she had been through could be a deception to her.

And, there was no need for more words.

Even if it was not Seolang, Rine would have understood Alon’s meaning.

“Let’s go.”

After patting her shoulder a couple more times, Alon was about to move.

“…Thank you, godfather.”

The voice that soon followed made his heavy heart feel a bit lighter.

Because a smile had formed on Rine’s lips.

Not a fabricated smile, but a faint, natural smile.

Seeing that, Alon thought, perhaps this was the first time he had seen Rine’s true expression.

“Yes.”

He answered softly and turned around.

Although Alon didn’t realize it, a small smile had also crept onto his lips.

A small canyon on the northern outskirts of Lartania,

In the silent desolation, where only a few monsters existed.

Thud-!

Suddenly, a hand emerged.

A bluish arm, as if it had been buried in the soil for a long time, like that of a corpse.

Soon, a cracking sound was heard several times as if bones were being aligned, and gradually, the arm began to regain its color.

At some point, the mound of dirt crumbled, and a naked female body sprang out from within.

“Hoo-”

With a low sigh, the one who emerged was none other than Emil, the Apostle of Greed.

She stood up, brushing off the dust from her body as if it were a nuisance.

Her blue naked body, reflected in the blue moonlight, looked like that of a corpse.

But soon, her entire body began to make cracking sounds as it started to reconstruct.

Before long, her body regained the color of a living human.

She examined her restored body as if appraising it, then smiled and murmured softly.

“Oh, I died-”

A slightly regretful tone.

But her reaction to death was too light to be considered a proper attitude towards it.

However, for her, death was not something to be feared.

Unlike other apostles, the memories granted by Greed had given her the power to resurrect a few times, defying death.

‘Marquis Palatio, was it?’

The Apostle of Greed, who had fully regained her life, recalled the man who had ‘killed’ her.

A wizard—no, a sorcerer—who used magic with an endlessly indifferent expression.

‘No matter how I think about it, it’s strange. He must be a half-baked one without even a proper ritual, so why is his magical ability so outstanding?… Well, even if he’s strong, what’s with the divine power mixed in his magic?’

Emil made a peculiar expression.

In fact, she had the power to escape the prison created by Alon.

She had stored enough magical power in the ‘Book of Rotten Wood’ she wielded to enable her escape.

However, due to the divine power contained in Alon’s magic, she couldn’t properly use the magical power stored in the ‘Book of Rotten Wood.’

‘The vessel was slightly stronger than expected… Well, I thought there were various things when I checked the information, but meeting him in person, it’s even more so.’

She admitted that she had underestimated Marquis Palatio.

‘It might have been better to break him first before executing the plan.’

The reason Emil had dealt with Marquis Palatio somewhat leisurely was to awaken Rine as a vessel through him.

All the circumstances had told him.

The Marquis of Palatio was an extremely important figure to the Vessel.

At that time, it was judged that he had value and should not be killed.

‘Well, what’s done is done. Let’s focus on recovery first.’

Emil looked down at her trembling hands.

Of course, she couldn’t revive infinitely, and the risks were also significant.

First of all, the moment she revived, her abilities would drastically decrease.

The reason was that resurrection was achieved through ‘body transfer.’

Instead of reviving in the same dead body, the soul would separate and transfer to a prepared body.

In other words, no matter how hard she tried, the moment she died, she would lose all physical abilities, even if she retained her knowledge.

In game terms, it was like inheriting only the traits and starting again from level 1.

Of course, since knowledge was preserved, the speed of regaining her original abilities was fast.

‘Well, I can prepare again. It’s good that I didn’t use the ‘materials’ in advance.’

Emil began to reconstruct her plan in her mind.

Without underestimating the Marquis of Palatio, she would ensure that Rine awakened as the Vessel.

Thus, Emil revised her plan for a while.

‘This time, let’s prepare slowly and leisurely.’

With a small smile, she stepped into the dark forest-

Thunk-!

“Huh?”

-She couldn’t move.

“Hello?”

Under the blue moon, with clear blue eyes shining.

From noble mtl dot com

By the person who gently stabbed a knife into her back.