[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-became-the-patron-of-villains":3,"chapter-became-the-patron-of-villains-became-the-patron-of-villains-chapter-382":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Became the Patron of Villains",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},759672,1006,"Chapter 382 : Magic (2)","became-the-patron-of-villains-chapter-382",382,"\u003Cp>After Alon’s rather lively birthday ended, three days passed since the strange incident in which an angry Seolrang had charged at Yutia, only to let out a squeak and crash face-first into the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can you handle these documents—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Got it, brother.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And this one—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, I’ll do it, Master!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you talking about? I was waiting first!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh? But I’m the one who got the paperwork!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You cut in line!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For some reason, even though the birthday had long passed, the people who hadn’t gone home yet kept Alon’s house lively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at the scene in front of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sheet of paper, stretched to the point of tearing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ryanga and Seolrang each held one end, glaring at each other with fire in their eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon couldn’t help but sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing anyone other than Penia and Evan—who usually helped him with the paperwork—moving about in his office felt strange, and he couldn’t quite understand why these two were doing this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even after hearing Penia’s explanation, it still struck him as unusual. She said their behavior was extremely rare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before long, Alon discovered the cause of their strange behavior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed to stem from the title “Sister.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be exact, they wanted to be called “Sister” by Alon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, Alon had no intention of calling anyone that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thirteen years ago, when he had lost his memory, every woman had seemed older than him, sure—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even then, the thought of actually using that title felt terribly awkward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he first met Yutia, the word had slipped out instinctively, but now, being as old as he was, it felt far too embarrassing to deliberately call someone “Sister.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crash!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he was thinking that, Ryanga and Seolrang stormed out noisily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“For someone with a goal in mind, she’s not acting the part,” Penia muttered as she quietly joined the paperwork. Alon silently agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With calm people like Magrina and Historia, the word “Sister” almost slipped out unconsciously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But with Ryanga and Seolrang, not a chance—they were about as far from that image as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“……Anyway, are we almost done?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm—yes. Once we finish this batch, we’ll be done.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s impressive how much paperwork there is. Did the old me always deal with this murderous workload?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Penia replied to his weary tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, not really. It wasn’t this bad before.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Really?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. I was here too, and besides, Alexion handled most of the territory’s affairs himself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, that guy…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the game, that same man had lived a miserable life in the slums of Raksas—so why was he living such a diligent, salary-man life here?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That thought crossed his mind, and Alon nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then why is there so much now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, you’ve probably noticed while going through them, but there are a lot of matters related to ‘Divine Land’ and ‘diplomacy.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, that’s true.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon recalled the contents of the documents he’d processed so far.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“‘Divine Land’ is still being managed by Sili, but we’re at the stage where we need to build a system that can function without her. That’s why the paperwork increased. And as for diplomacy—well, that’s because of the Divine Blood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Divine Blood…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. There are more reports than actual requests for approval, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s true.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of the diplomatic papers coming in now were reports—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And many of them didn’t look good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It seems the Divine Blood are starting to move in earnest. You’ve probably seen it in the reports—there haven’t been direct attacks yet, but unusual entities are appearing more frequently.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So it’s time to be cautious.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly. That’s why there’s so much for you to check. These kinds of reports have to go through you directly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Penia pointed at the stack of reports that was already about two finger-joints thick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon let out a quiet groan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Better hurry.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pondered the timing deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>####\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three days later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those who had gathered at Alon’s house began to leave one by one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“See you next time, Master!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yeah.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After seeing Seolrang off, Alon finished up a few papers and headed to the secondary office with Penia faster than usual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today was the day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The day he would test whether the idea he had gotten from Yutia was actually useful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Phew—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Alon exhaled in the secondary office, Penia looked up from the papers and said,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There’s no major issue with the spell formula.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So it all depends on whether I can actually manifest the magic properly, huh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pretty much. Of course, if our hypothesis is wrong, it might not work at all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and conjured a sphere in his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A small orb of mana—something any first-rank mage could create—flickered faintly with light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—The chant exists to apply the law of magic, right? So why does it have to be spoken?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He recalled Yutia’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason he’d been unable to find a proper improvement method until now was that he had always assumed the hand signs and incantations were mandatory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those enforced components inevitably lengthened the casting time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet he couldn’t simply omit them—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without them, he’d be just an “ordinary” mage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Caught in that deadlock, he had reached no conclusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Yutia’s advice had sparked something in him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her words had broadened the narrow perspective he’d been trapped in while seeking ways to “improve.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fuu—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At its core, Alon used hand signs and incantations for one reason: magical power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But, looking deeper, the true reason was that they allowed him to connect with the laws engraved by the Divine Blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The power didn’t increase because of the hand signs or the words themselves—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was because performing them brought him closer to those laws, granting his spells special properties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, the essence was simple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hand signs and incantations were merely tools to reach the law.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And what Alon intended to do now was—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Let’s try it.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was trying to change that “means.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Staring at the glowing orb of mana hovering over his palm, Alon closed his eyes and began to gather mana again. What he was attempting now was a little different from any magic he had performed before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, the spell he was creating was merely to produce a sound. A sound that resembled his own voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, what he was about to test was whether he could replace speech itself—not by uttering words, but by using magic as the medium.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Calmly exhaling, Alon fine-tuned the spell. To make it sound as close to his own voice as possible, he had to constantly adjust multiple aspects in real time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his eyes closed and his focus absolute, Alon finally succeeded in creating a perfectly calibrated spell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Refract.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a faint crackle through the air, a subtle vibration rippled outward. Opening his eyes, Alon saw it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It looks like it worked?” Penia’s voice said beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked down to see the small sphere resting in his hand, its surface trembling with tiny, tangled lines of light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>####\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The hypothesis has been proven,” Penia said after confirming the result. “So what’s your next step?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do you mean exactly?” Alon asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The direction of your research. Now that we know a spell can be activated simply by reproducing the syllables through magic instead of your mouth, are you planning to study how to embed those syllables directly into a spell?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon nodded slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course, that’s worth researching. But I think it’s probably just one part of the process.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...One part of the process?” Penia tilted her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you can successfully compress an entire incantation into a single spell, wouldn’t that already mean you’ve solved the enhancement problem?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, that’s one way to see it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wasn’t wrong. Their goal had been to minimize the time required to perform hand signs and incantations. And this new hypothesis could indeed resolve that issue at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But that’s not what matters most right now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Not what matters?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The key point is that even if you change the means, the magic still works.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was true that part of his experiment was to confirm whether magic could serve as a substitute means. But that was only a byproduct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What Alon truly wanted to confirm was the means itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could magic manifest through something other than speech?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the essence of his test—and it had succeeded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It signified one thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The method of reaching the Law was irrelevant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which meant—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If the act of touching the Law matters more than how you reach it,” Alon said quietly, “then it doesn’t matter what means I use, as long as I reach it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do you—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The means can be changed freely.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Penia froze for a moment, her face blank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then her eyes widened in sudden realization.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No way...!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon’s lips curved into a confident smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And at that same moment—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Kingdom of Fildagreen—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My, you’re early,” Rine said softly. “Even Magrina hasn’t returned yet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I had some business to take care of,” Yutia replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two stood facing each other with polite smiles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And within the shadow nearby—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hidan trembled silently as he watched the scene unfold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the two women paid him no mind, gazing only at each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So,” Rine said, “what business brought you here? You could’ve sent word for me to handle it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm—this is something I can manage on my own.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, I see. You came to work and to tease me, is that it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yutia smiled faintly. “Now what makes you think that, Rine?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re not really asking because you don’t know, are you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, you mean Lord’s birthday? I wasn’t teasing you about that. Why would I?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Really?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course. Whether you came to the party or not wouldn’t change much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That sounds like teasing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh my, does it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Yutia’s tone was mild and her words polite, something in the air hinted at hidden meaning—so much that Hidan instinctively crouched lower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could feel that just a few more exchanges and he’d need to run for his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, if that’s how you want to play,” Rine said calmly, “I suppose I’ll have to tease you back.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Contrary to Hidan’s fears, she didn’t look angry at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her expression remained composed as she reached into her cloak and took something out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Yutia… Sister?]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the sound of Marquis Palatio’s voice echoing from the stored magic orb, the gentle smile vanished from Yutia’s face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well,” she said sweetly, “I was going to just hand it over, but now—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crack!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The orb in Rine’s hand split with a sharp sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I suppose it’s my turn to have a little fun.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1784,"2026-06-02T12:43:45.413Z",1,"novelbin.me","4667c95b94248b0f65deb00bce1e26e6968551056f4ce7926552c27cfe2b1cf6","became-the-patron-of-villains-chapter-383","became-the-patron-of-villains-chapter-381",479,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbecame-the-patron-of-villains-cover.jpg"]