I Became the Patron of Villains

156. The Path of Return (3)

The Spirit World.

The Dragonkin, who had sealed themselves away and had been trapped for over a thousand years.

[Screeeech!]

[Shut up already.]

They thought while modifying the artifact to give to Alon in real-time.

About the ‘black thing’ attached to Alon’s back.

‘…What on earth is that?’

The Dragonkin had lost most of their power by sealing themselves.

Even their name and abilities were similarly weakened, as they had thrown them somewhere in this world when they sealed themselves.

Yet, despite this, the Dragonkin could see the two eyes behind Alon.

The divinity they had possessed since the age of forgotten gods made it possible.

‘…A being that can interfere with longing…’

Unlike the ‘blue thing,’ the ‘black thing’ actively blocked their attempts to speculate about it without Alon noticing.

With overwhelming power.

‘That power-‘

It made their whole body shiver.

Clearly, even though they were in a spirit state.

Just by scattering its echoes, it could erase their very existence without a care, a terrifying power they had never felt before.

In fact, even if it hadn’t threatened them, there was little the Dragonkin could speculate.

Yet, even so, it didn’t seem like the black thing would harm the last remaining mage in this world.

No matter how incomprehensible the being was, they could grasp some of its intentions through its actions.

‘…No, it even seemed to help.’

The Dragonkin finally let out a deep sigh.

Even if they tried to imagine, the information they had was too scarce.

Therefore.

‘…What on earth is that guy to carry such an incredible thing behind him…?’

They could only mutter quietly and drift aimlessly through the spirit space.

About two weeks later, as they were about to finish crossing the desert.

“Godfather, I think I’ll head back now.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’ve finished my tasks, and I have something else I need to do.”

“You seem to have a lot to do.”

At Alon’s words, Rine let out a small laugh.

“Most of it is handled by my reliable secretary, so I’m not that busy, but there are still things I need to do myself. Like preparing a gift for you, Godfather.”

“…A gift for me?”

“Yes.”

Alon replied, feeling a bit puzzled inside.

“…I don’t really want anything extravagant.”

It was true.

He had felt a tiny bit of disappointment when no one celebrated his last birthday, but he didn’t expect a big gift.

…Of course, a big gift would be nice, but what he really wanted was just to have his birthday acknowledged.

“No, this is something I really want to give you.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. I want to give you a gift that you’ll remember.”

“If you insist, I won’t stop you, but don’t overdo it.”

“No.”

Rine slowly shook her head.

“I want to build a relationship with you too, Godfather.”

“…A relationship?”

“Yes. Like Seolang.”

Why is Seolang being mentioned here all of a sudden…?

After a moment of contemplation, Alon spoke.

“…Both Seolang and you are like family to me.”

“Really?”

“Yes. If you’re preparing a big gift because of that, you don’t have to. No matter what you think, I truly consider both of you the same.”

Alon cared equally for all the members of the Five Great Sins.

“Then please do it for me too. That thing.”

“……That?”

“Yes. The thing you did for Seollang.”

Unlike before, Rine actively requested it, and Alon, though slightly hesitant, gently covered her ears with both hands.

A moment of silence.

“Hmm- thank you.”

At the end of it, Rine smiled again.

“……Were you satisfied?”

“Yes.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

A plain conversation.

Yet, the surroundings became rather noisy.

[What are they doing? It seems meaningless. Is it some kind of body temperature assistance?]

“Ugh, pathetic. Well, what would a snake without hands know-“

[Ha, the human brat is acting up again. So, you claim to know something?]

“Of course I do.”

[What is it?]

“I don’t know.”

[?]

“? “

[Didn’t you say you knew?]

“I was lying.”

[……]

Basiliora glared at Evan with a look that said, “This guy?”

Observing such banter, as they were about to completely leave the desert.

“Then, I’ll be going, godfather.”

“Yes, I’ll visit you next time.”

“I’ll come see you on your birthday too.”

Alon parted ways with Rine.

After that.

As the carriage Alon was riding reached the very end, Rine turned around.

“It’s not… this kind of relationship between me and the Godfather.”

Muttering softly.

“…I want to have a deeper relationship than anyone else.”

Scattering gentle green eyes,

“More than anyone.”

She quietly moved her steps.

####

It was about two weeks later when Alon arrived at the Marquis of Palatio’s estate.

And as soon as he checked the estate’s view.

“…Is this, the Marquis’ estate?”

Alon couldn’t help but be surprised.

He had only been away for about a month, but the Marquis’ estate had become larger and more magnificent than before.

“Wow, it’s only been a month, but it changed so quickly. Is this thanks to that magic construction?”

“Magic construction?”

“Yes, I heard that if you have a lot of money, you can use a wizard to quickly build buildings.”

“I see…”

Only then did he understand why the estate had changed so dramatically and quickly.

When he finally entered the house, what he could see was.

“Hello.”

“Are you okay…?”

“Uh, well… I think I’m okay, but also not okay.”

It was Fenia, who looked extremely exhausted.

“…Did something happen?”

She looked wilted, as if she had been torn apart.

Alon asked with a slightly awkward feeling.

Fenia gave a self-deprecating smile and then.

“A lot of things happened- Ah.”

She suddenly seemed to realize something and came to her senses.

“Nothing happened!”

She hurriedly finished her words.

“Yes, really, nothing happened. Yes. That’s right.”

Penia’s words gradually slowed down as if her tension suddenly dropped.

Alon only made a strange expression for a moment.

He realized why Penia looked so dejected.

“Wait, did you finish this?”

“…Didn’t you ask me to do this?”

Alon glanced at Penia, who had a resentful expression, then turned his gaze back to the research journal she brought.

The sheer thickness of it was enough to be considered a law book, and Alon slightly opened his mouth in surprise.

“No, what I mentioned was just a preliminary summary.”

“…What? What do you mean?”

“…Didn’t I actually say it? I clearly told you to only summarize the magic array according to the elements-“

“Doesn’t that summary include the combination methods?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

What? Then what have I been doing all this time? Penia’s face turned blank with despair.

“……Gasp-!”

She was startled.

“Th-this- where did you get this?”

“Why do you ask?”

Penia trembled as she questioned.

Alon was also puzzled by her intense reaction.

“Th-this is unbelievable-! This is an incredible catalyst that can’t even be found in the Forest of Distortion……? With this, I can finish the experiments I couldn’t do before, or at least try them five times……!”

Penia muttered something to herself, her eyes sparkling as she lifted the glass bottle, the look of injustice from earlier completely gone.

####

About two weeks after the return of the Marquis of Palatio.

Leaving the land of the elves, Greynif, Fildé and Perion arrived near the Marquis of Palatio’s estate.

“Hmm-“

“Are you that pleased?”

Perion looked at Fildé, who was humming as if in a very good mood, and Fildé nodded.

“Of course I am- I enjoy wandering around human villages more than Greynif.”

“That’s an unusual preference.”

“It’s curiosity. I’d rather travel the world and do research than be stuck in a room studying magic.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes.”

“……But usually, aren’t you just wandering around drinking leisurely?”

“Hmm- is that so? That might be nice too.”

Despite Perion’s remark, Fildé leisurely took a sip of her drink.

Perion, who was looking at her with some distrust, shook his head slightly and continued.

“But Fildé.”

“Why?”

“Have you ever seen the First Elf?”

“Nope.”

“……The Eye of the Spirit can see souls, but if you haven’t seen the soul of the ‘First Elf’, how can you distinguish it from other souls?”

Hmm, after a moment of contemplation, Fildé answered lightly.

“You can’t distinguish it?”

“What?”

“I said you can’t distinguish it.”

“……Then, are you lying to the Queen right now?”

As Perion’s expression hardened, Fildé chuckled.

“Lying? No way. There’s a method.”

“……What is that method?”

“Listen carefully. The thing about souls is- they are perfectly matched to the body. So if a soul that doesn’t fit the body is inside, it means the body and soul don’t match.”

“So- if you just confirm that the soul and body don’t match-“

####

“That’s it.”

Filde brought the bottle of liquor to his lips once more.

“Well, to be honest, the chances of that happening are less than 1%.”

“……Is it that low?”

“I’ve never seen it happen.”

“Then isn’t the probability practically zero?”

From noble mtl dot com

“You said you were suspicious, didn’t you?”

Perion maintained his silence for a moment before realizing.

“……You just wanted to come out, didn’t you?”

“Partly? Well, we’re checking anyway, aren’t we?”

Perion’s eyes turned cold as he watched Filde burst into a strange laugh.

‘……This is a wizard of the 9th rank……’

He sighed briefly.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Yes, is this the place?”

Filde, who was in a good mood from the alcohol, snapped his fingers as they arrived at the Marquis of Palatio’s estate.

Using the elves’ unique spirit magic, a magic circle was formed, and in an instant, a secret magic circle was created on the outer wall of the estate.

Perion let out a low sigh at the magnificent sight.

A moment of silence.

Filde, who had been closing his eyes, suddenly-

“Found it.”

He opened his eyes with a playful smile.

At that moment, the image projected in front of the magic circle was the Marquis of Palatio working in his office.

“Now- shall we check-“

With a languid voice, she opened her spirit eyes-

“Oh……?”

Perion saw it.

The face of Filde, who had been smiling lightly until a moment ago, suddenly turned terrifyingly grim.

And, he heard it.

“……The soul, doesn’t match?”

A bewildered murmur escaped her lips.