I Became the Patron of Villains

176. Those Who Noticed. (2)

The Apostle of Greed looked at the man with an incomprehensible gaze.

With a friendly smile under the blue moon, he stared at Emil with eyes as bright as the blue moon.

Splurt-!

The blood that spurted from Emil’s mouth flowed down her neck and dripped onto the sword that pierced her body.

Soon, the red blood dripped down.

“Who… are you?”

Sensing death, Emil asked.

With a pale face, the smile had vanished before he knew it.

However, contrary to Emil’s serious expression, the man’s smile was ever so calm.

“Is that important right now?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Emil’s voice was calm, unlike his stiffened face, as if he didn’t want to reveal that he had lost his composure.

The man casually spat out.

“Why?”

“Shouldn’t I at least know the name of the person who killed me?”

“Kill you? That’s impossible-“

“Then, are you going to let me live at this point?”

“No, there’s no need for that, is there? Anyway-“

Thud-!

“You’ll come back to life, won’t you?”

With those words, Emil’s expression hardened even more.

He had somewhat expected it when the man came here and stabbed him in the back, but he was now certain from what he just said.

The fact that he knew about his reincarnation technique, which only the apostles knew.

Emil’s mind began to race.

Starting from who among the apostles had revealed the secret of the reincarnation technique.

To how accurately and in detail the man in front of him knew about the reincarnation technique.

But her thoughts didn’t last long.

“Ugh- Ah-!”

As if to punish the silence, the man’s knife dug even deeper.

She coughed up another mouthful of blood.

Splatter-!

Red blood splashed onto the man’s pants like chaotic raindrops.

However, the man’s face remained calm.

“You don’t have to worry so much.”

“……”

“I don’t know the location of your next reincarnation spell either.”

Emil gritted her teeth.

She didn’t believe his words.

If the man truly didn’t know the location of the reincarnation spell, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to kindly inform her.

Emil’s face was now filled with anxiety and impatience.

She looked up at him with difficulty.

The man was still smiling.

Even in a situation where blood was splattered everywhere, he stood against the blue moon with an unchanging, friendly smile.

Eventually, he reached out his hand as if offering salvation to a suffering person-

“I came here to give you a warning.”

“…Warn, ing?”

He gently caressed her cheek.

“That’s right.”

“About, what?”

For a moment, his eyes flashed coldly.

“Don’t mess with Marquis Palatio.”

“…What?”

“I told you.”

Thud-!

“Ugh-!”

“Don’t mess with Marquis Palatio. Of course, I know he’s not someone who would easily fall even if you did. But you know, people are…”

Squeeze-!

“…worrisome.”

Hahaha, am I being too nosy? Elivan scratched his head awkwardly, letting out an inappropriate laugh for the situation.

Emil, who was slowly approaching the brink of death, felt a very strange sense of incongruity.

As if she had seen the man before.

A very uncomfortable déjà vu.

“Anyway, that’s why I came to tell you. Actually- it might seem a bit cold-hearted, but I don’t care what you guys do. Do this or that, it’s up to you.”

Emil kept pondering where this sense of incongruity was coming from.

Continuously.

As if she was buried in that thought.

“But, the Marquis of Palatio is not allowed. He must never fall now.”

Even in the face of imminent death.

She, who was endlessly pondering the question that echoed in her mind.

“Ah.”

“Then, remember my words. Apostle of Greed- no, Emil.”

She realized.

The identity of this unknown déjà vu.

“If you don’t want to end greed and enter eternal sleep, you’d better remember my words.”

Where she had seen the eyes of that man who held her weaknesses and flaws.

“Never touch him.”

That was definitely, seen under the roots,

Deeper than themselves-

Nebula.

Thud-thud-thud-!!

Emil’s thoughts could no longer continue.

The world went dark.

The moment she realized the identity of the discomfort, her head had already turned twice and her neck was broken, losing her life.

And Elivan.

As if he had never smiled, erased like a lie.

Silently turned his body and walked away.

####

A few days after leaving Lartania.

[Hmm, I’m tired.]

“Why, are you tired because it’s so pathetically cute?”

[Human, if you say one more word, I might really slaughter you.]

“What are you going to do?”

[Ugh- if only I could incarnate, you would-!]

“You can’t, so what can you do?”

[Argh-!]

As if he had caught a big fish, Evan had been teasing Basiliora for days.

The impact of Deus’s words, “pathetically cute,” was tremendous.

Watching the two bicker, Alon sighed inwardly.

In Lartania, things had happened in succession, so he hadn’t had time to think properly, but now that he had some free time, there was so much to ponder.

The first thing that came to mind was the mental world he saw when he met Kailas.

A world of destruction where nothing remained.

[What nonsense are you talking about, kid? This mental world is yours.]

Recalling Kailas’s words, Alon tilted his head in confusion.

According to what he knew and what Kailas said, the mental world essentially depicted the inner world.

According to Kailas’s explanation, the mental world was one of two things.

Either the inner world was clearly defined, like that of a mage who received mental images and spells.

Or, if not, a very intense memory was expressed in the inner world.

……Of course, Alon could use spells, but he hadn’t received any mental images or spells.

So, the remaining conclusion was one.

‘……An intense memory.’

That the world of destruction stemmed from Alon’s intense memory.

And Alon couldn’t understand this point.

It had been over ten years since he started living here.

He had essentially become a person of this world, but strictly speaking, Alon was an entity from another world.

There was no way he had an intense memory of seeing a world of destruction.

Then, was this memory originally that of Palatio Alon?

-If so, it was also infinitely close to impossible.

When he became Alon, he hadn’t even reached the age of majority.

And that scene of destruction was not something a young man, especially a noble, would have seen.

In other words, the memory of the world of destruction wasn’t that of the ‘real Alon’ either.

‘Then the only thing left is that I can’t remember……’

A forgotten memory.

Thinking this far, Alon unconsciously rubbed his chin.

Unless he had been to a place where he could see such a scene, he couldn’t think of any other explanation.

If I were to think of a similar place, it would be the north.

But it wasn’t the north either.

The feeling of a land where life cannot exist and a land where life has perished is fundamentally different.

After pondering for a while, he silently fiddled with the “Foot Running Through the Past” in his bosom.

“When I leisurely arrive at the colony, I can go back in, so I’ll ask any additional questions then.”

After organizing his thoughts, Alon petted Kkamangi, who had somehow slipped out of his chest and was rubbing his cheek against his hand.

…It was midsummer.

####

About a month later.

Teira, who had entered the royal castle by the order of Carmaxes III, soon heard the name of a person suspected to be a sage from Carmaxes III.

“Marquis Palatio, is it?”

“Yes. Confirm it when he arrives.”

“Understood.”

Although he answered so, his mind was full of questions.

To be honest, he couldn’t grasp why Carmaxes III was suspecting Marquis Palatio to be a sage.

“…Well, his achievements are indeed remarkable.”

Of course, even Teira, an archaeologist, was not unaware of the stories about Marquis Palatio.

He had piled up great achievements as a noble, dealing with foreign affairs and handling monsters.

Because of that, his fame was widespread across the continent.

But even considering all that, Teira thought Carmaxes III’s suspicion was misplaced.

Of course, Carmaxes III must have reasons unknown to him.

Nevertheless, he was certain.

Hadn’t he already seen a sage before?

From the beginning, a sage couldn’t help but stand out.

Was that all?

If Marquis Palatio were truly a sage, there would be no reason to hide his identity.

“Well, he might have a reason to hide his identity, but-“

Even so, there was no reason to hide his identity as a noble.

…Honestly, no matter the reason, he couldn’t understand a sage disguising himself.

At that moment.

The door to the audience chamber opened, and soon a man walked in.

A man in a dark coat, showing no change in expression even in front of the king.

‘That is the Marquis of Palatio.’

Teira couldn’t help but admire.

He had seen him once from afar, but meeting him up close, the Marquis of Palatio exuded a very peculiar aura.

An indescribably strange aura.

For a moment, he stared at him in a daze.

“Have you been well, Marquis of Palatio?”

“Yes.”

Quickly clearing his throat, he regained his composure at the sound of Carmaxes III’s voice asking after the marquis.

He must seize the opportunity and execute the secret order.

While the two were engaged in small talk, Teira cautiously began to draw up his magic and channel it into the artifact hidden in his bosom.

The artifact with a blue orb pattern that he had obtained from one of the jungle ruins ten years ago.

The effect of this item was simple.

It materialized the power possessed by the opponent right before his eyes.

In the past, he had used this artifact on the sage god in the land of the lizardmen to find out what the power of a god looked like.

‘If the Marquis of Palatio is truly a god, a sphere bound in chains will appear, and if not, just a round sphere will appear.’

He didn’t know why it manifested in that form.

However, the power of the sage god had indeed been represented by a chained sphere.

Recalling that memory, Teira felt the artifact activate.

Soon, his eyes, which had been watching the marquis without much expectation, began to widen.

The reason was.

‘No way…’

Just like when he had seen the sage god in the past.

A sphere appeared in front of the marquis’s chest.

A sphere bound in chains.

Teira’s reaction didn’t end with his eyes widening.

Even though Carmaxes III had instructed him to handle the matter quietly, he couldn’t help but gape.

And for good reason,

In front of the Marquis of Palatio-

‘Four… spheres?’

Even the Sage God had only one, but there were four floating there.