[{"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-414":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},759504,1006,"Chapter 414: The Second (3)","became-the-patron-of-villains-chapter-414",414,"\u003Cp>There were, broadly speaking, five great mage towers in the Allied Kingdoms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Blue Mage Tower, with Selaim Mikardo as its tower master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Red Mage Tower, with Parkline as its tower master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Purple Mage Tower of Norton Mirage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Green Mage Tower of Sharan Poranu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the Brown Mage Tower led by Manram.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These five places were the pillars leading the magic world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And because of that, their tower masters held a Grand Conference once every five years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Grand Conference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, the Grand Conference was not all that different from an ordinary magic conference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tower masters still taught the mages beneath them in the hierarchy, and each mage tower still presented the spells and theories they had developed in cooperation with one another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, there was only one reason this event was called the Grand Conference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namely, because every mage tower master gathered there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Basically, attendance at a magic conference was not mandatory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So if someone did not particularly want to participate, they did not have to come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But at this Grand Conference, if no other mage absolutely had to attend, the tower masters certainly did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And countless mages also flocked there to obtain fragments of the knowledge the tower masters possessed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, with some time still remaining before the Grand Conference began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All five tower masters had gathered in the Central Tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t even know how long it’s been since we all gathered like this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Selaim chuckled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Seriously. We haven’t all been together since the last cycle.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that, Parkline, the Red Mage Tower master, and Sharan Poranu, the Green Mage Tower master, nodded along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Brown Mage Tower master and the Purple Mage Tower master were watching those three with sulky expressions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why are you looking at us like that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Selaim spoke at those gazes, the Red Mage Tower master and the Purple Mage Tower master frowned as if they ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) had planned it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tch, you’ve got some nerve talking like that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Manram, whose build hardly made him look like a mage despite his age.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Norton Mirage, with purple hair befitting the Purple Mage Tower master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even at the sharp reaction from the two tower masters, the Blue Mage Tower master only shrugged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t play dumb, Blue Mage Tower master! How many times did we ask you to introduce us to Marquis Palatio— no, the King of Palantia, only for you to ignore us!?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unable to hold it back anymore, Norton Mirage shouted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Selaim played innocent again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come on, sorry, but I told you that isn’t my territory.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even so, couldn’t you at least have talked to him!?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hm— could I?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Grrrk—!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the continued feigned innocence, Norton clenched his teeth and tried to continue, but Selaim cut in first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, but when you were sneering at us for looking ridiculous, sitting around doing calculations, what was that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Struck right in the weak point, Norton faltered for a moment, then started making excuses belatedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, well, how do I put it...... it just seemed pathetic for people who are supposed to be mage tower masters to gather in the Central Tower and do nothing but basic calculations—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So why are you saying this now after saying you hated it before?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Urk—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And at the criticism that followed, a groan slipped out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was exactly as he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back when the Blue Mage Tower master, the Red Mage Tower master, and the Green Mage Tower master were all busily working with a ghost of the past and a calculation machine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Norton had mocked the three of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mage tower masters were supposed to be struggling to rise into the next tier, so to see them doing nothing more than basic calculations—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>it had looked thoroughly pathetic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The new methods and formulas born from helping with that calculation work had certainly been useful to the magic world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, that did not change the thought that it was pathetic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On top of that, Alon had not looked particularly good in Norton’s eyes either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Norton had not liked the situation itself, where mages who ought to be contributing to the advancement of magic were being made to help with nothing but mere calculations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That had been only a few months ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason Norton, who until then had been clicking his tongue at the tower masters helping Palatio Alon, was acting like this now—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>was none other than Divine blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Divine blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The disaster that had fallen to the surface after the war that destroyed Ashtalon, something no mere powerful individual could possibly stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the moment that existence descended into the Allied Kingdoms and revealed itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And not only that— now that Norton knew Palatio Alon was in fact Divine blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And beyond that, that he had come to be able to handle Divine blood—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘No matter what......!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Norton had to forge a connection with Alon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally so.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point in time, the only one who could stop Divine blood was the marquis, and Norton was the master of the Purple Mage Tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, if Norton did not establish a connection, there would be no way to hope for help when Divine blood came attacking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Norton had belatedly tried to build ties with Alon through Selaim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, a connection to Alon, and the depth of that connection, had become something that could function as power in its own right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, well...... how should I put it...... perhaps I was mistaken last time......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hm— and yet you said we were the pathetic ones.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s true. You sent me a letter saying exactly that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Me too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Red Mage Tower master and the Green Mage Tower master immediately agreed with the Blue Mage Tower master’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Norton squeezed his eyes shut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How was I supposed to know it would turn out like this!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How was I supposed to know he’d become someone this important!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I’d known he’d become this important, do you think I would’ve done that!!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>......That was what Norton wanted to scream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, Norton had far too much to lose for that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And while Norton still had not reopened those tightly shut eyes—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ahem— then...... would it perhaps be possible for me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Manram, the Brown Mage Tower master, asked cautiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t you say the same sort of thing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wh- what was it again? You called us a bunch of scrubs, didn’t you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wasn’t it the scrub trio who got beaten by a scrub noble......?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the three of them digging up even stronger things in reply, the Brown Mage Tower master also let out a “Ghk—” and squeezed his eyes shut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>......Since Manram really had used expressions like that while egging on the Purple Mage Tower master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Purple Mage Tower master and the Brown Mage Tower master, grieving for their past selves who had failed to foresee the future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two looked at each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you hadn’t been the first one to tempt me into cursing him out!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you hadn’t been right there beside me making a damn scene!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—for a moment, they glared at each other with those exact expressions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Selaim, who had been observing the two of them, rubbed his chin and smiled strangely—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To be honest, it’s not like there’s no way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was what he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>““......Not like there’s no way......?””\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At those words, the two tower masters turned their heads at the same time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Selaim was very pleased with that reaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To be exact, if it’s carried out properly, it’s the sort of thing that could build an extremely solid connection with him. More so than gifting him any item you could possibly offer.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He grinned leisurely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So then, what do you say? Want to hear it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he threw out an offer they could not refuse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>####\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few weeks passed after that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Traveling while continuing his magical research as usual, Alon arrived in Theria, the capital of Asteria.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......Did Divine blood really invade this place?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Asking whether the Information Guild would lie, I suppose it must have, but......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment they saw the outside of Theria, Penia asked in surprise, and Evan nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason the two reacted that way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was because—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......For a place that was invaded by Divine blood, it’s unbelievably intact.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Theria was far too whole for a city that had supposedly been attacked by Divine blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They stood there blankly for a moment, staring at Theria, spotless and showing no sign of repairs whatsoever, as though there had never been a Divine blood invasion in the first place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......Let’s go in first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Right.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the group entered the capital of Theria.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After lightly passing through the city gate, Alon looked over the inside of Theria and thought,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Did Divine blood never make it inside to begin with?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like its exterior, the inside of Theria was also extremely clean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As though it had never been attacked by Divine blood from the start.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But through the Information Guild, Alon knew Divine blood had invaded Theria.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>......And that Siyan had stopped it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, Alon recalled the Divine blood he had encountered in Colony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Divine blood that had been so powerful it had been hard to face them practically alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>......The Divine blood Alon had only managed to stop after Colony had already been completely wrecked, despite all his efforts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘What in the world...... is this?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet Siyan appeared to have stopped them without a single trace of damage, and the questions in Alon’s head only deepened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he knew it, they had arrived at Theria’s inner castle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, once Alon entered the royal castle—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hello.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We heard you were coming, so she’s been waiting.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As always, after briefly greeting her secretary, who bowed politely as ever, he headed toward where she was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, then,”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The secretary bowed and stepped back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind that, the door came into view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing before the door to the office rather than the audience chamber as usual, Alon quietly took hold of the handle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, he felt a strangely ominous sensation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because something had suddenly come to mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Wanderer, whom he had seen in Rosario, the one who claimed to be the true body of the Goddess Sironia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could it be, could it really be that Siyan had ended up in that kind of situation too?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thought crossed his mind for a moment—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but he quickly shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew that no matter how much he worried right now, it would mean nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After steadying his breathing, he quietly turned the handle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And soon, there—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s been a while, my dear.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He found Kritenia Siyan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Siyan, who looked little different from the one he knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......It has.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that, Alon relaxed without realizing it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he greeted her, Siyan gave him the same calm smile as always.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And she invited him to take the chair that looked as if it had been prepared in advance in front of her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alon naturally moved over and sat down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And as though it had all been arranged beforehand, she set a sweet potato down in front of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......This is.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Eat. Don’t you like it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a moment, Alon was about to answer, but closed his mouth and began eating the sweet potato instead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As always, Siyan rested her chin on her hand and watched Alon eat the sweet potato.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A relaxed smile hung at the corners of her lips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And, at last, around the time Alon had finished the whole sweet potato—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To be honest, after you arrived, I found myself wondering what I ought to speak to you about first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Siyan slowly began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There are truly many things I now have to tell you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I... see?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. To be honest, even while you were eating the sweet potato, I kept thinking about it. About what I should speak of first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......So, have you decided?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Alon’s question, Siyan gave a faint smile, then nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And lightly flicked her hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that came a soft thunk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Alon looked at her in confusion,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, pay it no mind. Since this is a conversation between the two of us, I simply wanted to make sure no one could eavesdrop.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Siyan waved her hand as if it were nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, looking at the dim red brooch and green badge on Alon’s chest—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My dear, what do you think it would mean if the world you are living in had already reached its ‘end’ once before?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was what she said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......What? What does that—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My, was that a little hard to explain?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Alon, momentarily blank, asked back—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......Yes, in that case, perhaps it would be better to put it this way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Siyan—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If your life were not the first, but the ‘second,’ what would you think then?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—threw out the words in an utterly calm voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The still lake rippled.\u003C\u002Fp>",2174,"2026-06-02T12:43:45.413Z",1,"novelbin.me","19b87b34d7a66941206a1f24018a5cf8d29193530af2974ba8443a0868955fcf","became-the-patron-of-villains-chapter-415","became-the-patron-of-villains-chapter-413",479,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbecame-the-patron-of-villains-cover.jpg"]