Chapter 26: Pitiful Villain

Having the launch of our day once again, the only difference this time around was that Antelmo is present.

"Three months."

Antelmo suddenly spoke, breaking the silence that filled the room. However, when he said those words I immediately understood what they meant.

In short, he was reminding me that I have three months left before I set out into the outside world.

"I hope you won't disappoint, or else you'll experience something much worse than death" Antelmo then added with a nonchalant look. As if what he said to his son—To me, was normal.

His statement made me wonder if Antelmo even loved his son, based on his behaviour. He obviously doesn't. Leaving those ideas aside. Actually, I'm looking at Antelmo right now, I appear sophisticated and indifferent, but inside I'm intimidated by him because Alfonso's emotions were affecting me.

Though it's not as hard to manage as before. To be precise, I feel like I want to puke because of Antelmo's presence but I bit my lips in response so I could endure the anxiety I felt.

The contradicting feelings I felt inside were confusing as hell. One side is scared but at the same time, I don't want to show I'm scared because there is this feeling where I want to look tough and impress Antelmo.

‹I guess the reason why Alfonso turned into a horrible person has something to do with his father too...› I pondered because of how Antelmo treats his son Alfonso.

Experiencing how Alfonso is being treated by his father made me really question whether Alfonso even had the chance to become a better person.

His actions were unforgivable and horrible in the game and can't also be an excuse to kill people. But his actions in the game made me further understand them.

‹What a pitiful villain...›

Soon I responded, "No need to remind me, Patriarch, I'm a man of my word. I'd rather kill myself than swallow such words in shame."

With that, I once turned silent again, only for Antelmo to snort in response.

To be honest, I've been calling him Patriarch because I feel a sense of irritation if I even think of calling him my father with the use of my mouth; To be precise I wanted to utter the words ‹Fuck You! You don't deserve to have a child› but I couldn't say it because of Alfonso's emotions and perfectionism that always want to look perfect. Despite that, even if Alfonso is not merged with me I still won't utter those words, or else I'll seriously be in a tight spot or dead.

These irritating feelings though were not coming from Alfonso but purely mine!

"..."

With me still processing my emotions, Antelmo then continued speaking,

"Alice, that also applies to you. I hope you won't disappoint me," he said in an intimidating tone while he stared at Alice with his cold and vacant gaze for a brief moment. Observing her reactions.

"Yes... Patriarch..." Alice quickly responded with a meek voice, only for Antelmo to nod his head in return.

While watching the scene unfold in front of my eyes, I could only speculate that Antelmo just pressured Alice to meet his expectation of becoming a great mage.

Well, in the game, she certainly will become one but rarely appeared in the future since she is a side character. I don't even know how powerful she is but one thing is for sure. She is a talented mage and an Elementalist.

Why is she considered talented in the first place?

I haven't explained it properly but in this world, there are different methods to get an ability or talent, they either can be acquired through some contracts, or they can also be inherited through bloodlines or from your genes, though these things are something that I could easily acquire through the use of my system.

There are different kinds of people that they call in this world, and their names depend on their abilities.

Mage/Wizard, Elementalist, and Contractors there are more but I'm gonna explain that in the future. Anyway, Elementalist and being a mage is not so different in this world.

Since if you have all talents required for all elements then you would automatically be called a genius of a mage and an Elementalist.

Why is it? since the two of them are similar, like being able to control mana, It will be easier for you to turn into a mage. Since all you need to do to turn into a mage is to memorize the spells and depends on how high your mana pool is to be able to make these spells work. Including how you control mana to produce destructible spells.

Another reason why they would call you a genius if you possess all elemental abilities is that you can apply these abilities to your advantage if you turn into a mage. Making you stronger than an average mage. Because spells that are connected to those elemental abilities are all available for you.

Unlike most people who only have 2 or 1.

If both of your parents possess the same elemental abilities, you may also inherit them. This is also the reason why Alice is considered a genius. A person that has all affinity is very rare! mind you, she has all affinity.

One thing I forgot to mention, Alfonso's mother actually has an earth elemental affinity that's why it's not so strange that I have earth affinity; the reason why I chose earth element in the first place. Whilst Antelmo has water, probably fire too if I remember, the same as Victor and Valentina.

Lastly, Contractors, are people who made a deal to get abilities. People who exchanged their lifespans for talent and affinity for other elemental abilities. They even exchange their loved ones to get the affinity they want.

They could either choose whether it's the goddess or the seven deadly sins with whom they can make a contract to.

Each side has its cons and pros, for the demon side, you are weak to the power of a priest whilst, for the goddess, you have a limited amount of times that you can use an ability. However, for the demon side, you can spam a lot of magic/abilities and no such thing as a limit is required.

 

 

"..."

 

 

With such thoughts inside my mind, I then looked at Alice who was just sitting and eating quietly with her usual head down posture. However, as I looked at her, an annoying feeling quickly waved through inside me.

"Raise your head up Alice, I believe that you are capable of anything you set your mind to. If there's anything that's bothering you, just inform me so. However, you're in front of the Patriarch right now so act like a noble! and stop acting so lowly!" I suddenly voiced in a forced friendly tone but I knew my voice still emitted a cold one. No rather cold, I sounded like I'm scolding her.

I could only blame Alfonso's perfectionism urge at that moment for why my mouth just suddenly blurted those words out; because of how Irritated I am by how undignified and embarrassing Alice looked like in front of Antelmo.

"Hooh?" Antelmo who heard my response then immediately chuckled. Finding my response amusing.

"Believe huh...? I didn't expect that to come out of your mouth." Antelmo quietly whispered.

With that, the atmosphere once turned silent again that is until.

"I have a question, Patriarch," I said in a respectable tone.

Antelmo then looked at me with a nonchalant look that says go on

"Once I set out of this place. May I know? where, why, and how did the assassins appear at the Lopez territory."

But as I said those words, Antelmo silently looked at me.

"And what would you do?" He then enquired.

"That's something you'll have to look forward to in the future" I replied, followed by my cold gaze.

Antelmo who heard my response then touched his chin, trying to analyze what I am thinking.

"Was it because a woman broke your heart that you've been doing these?" Antelmo suddenly blurts out as he chuckled in a villainous laugh.

"KUHAHAHA! Just what happened to you these three months I've been gone? Though this development of yours is not too bad. I'm willing to fully embrace it."

After he was done saying those words,

"But"

He continued as the atmosphere suddenly went weary and heavy.

"I hope that you are just not barking"

He said with a deadly voice that could make my body tremble because of Alfonso's emotions.

"Once Mary is back, she'll inform you." Antelmo then added as he started taking food in his mouth. While the atmosphere around me quickly went back to normal.

The beating of my heart then soon slowed down. "Thank you, Patriarch," I responded.

To be honest, I could have just asked Mary without informing Antelmo. However, it's not that simple. I want to make Antelmo more curious of me and think of me as someone who has value.

But, Why am I doing this?

It's so that I can have his support. A strong man like him will be of use if I were to show what I'm capable of and what I'll be able to offer.

Why do I even need his support in the first place? Well, if you could remember. I said that Alfonso died because of the heroines and that... Antelmo was not present in his house because of some busy task.

I can use Antelmo in that certain time as a way for me to save myself or him protecting me from being killed by the heroines. I have also speculated that he'll probably protect me so he could spread his kin but here's the thing. I think Antelmo will rather choose his duty of strengthening his powers than save his son. Who is in his eyes... Useless!

As fucked as it can be, I'm sure and based on the way he treats his son... My only speculation as to why in the game Alfonso was easily killed... It's probably because Antelmo rather chose to continue his work of strengthening his powers when he went out than save his useless son.

Though, Antelmo is only just my backup kind of plan. Making him do that will take time. I need to do something where I can make a request from him that he cannot deny.

‹Maybe a bet...› I quietly thought.

Soon, I shook my head as a question popped into my mind.

‹I am his son so why I can't automatically just get his support?›

Well, Antelmo is not that kind of guy like I have mentioned. He's the type of person who'll only help you if you have value or have earned it.

Despite being horrible, he has some principles. That's what makes him an interesting villain.

Even in the game, if you were able to win one of his bets. He'll spare your life.

Anyway, if I'm able to show how I can become powerful in the future, I'm sure he'll use me as a chess piece to strengthen our territory's power.

And if I have value... He'll probably take risks or even efforts just to save me.

The only speculation I can think of why Antelmo deeply wants power is to conquer the entire region or maybe even conquer the entire world. His motivations though or reasons are unknown however, I could only say that it's probably because of his greedy nature.

‹Probably...›

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With me sitting and currently at the place outside of our town again. I whispered exasperatedly, "Trash..."

Another day and a week passed again, in that short amount of time. Mary who is done with her duty finally came back. For some reason, though, her arrival made me kind of happy. As if Alfonso missed her... But without wasting more time, I immediately asked her about the assassins. She then quickly told me what she did and what she knows about the assassination.

You might be asking why I asked about the details of the assassins and why would I want to know about them right? To be honest, I already know where they are but I need to act or show that I worked my ass up to find them.

I can't just suddenly act like I knew the place, can we? How the fuck am I supposed to explain that?

But anyway it's related to my quest. So... Let's go to the topic of the quest that was given to me.

And that's...

[Quest has appeared]

¹{Mission: Destroy or eradicate the Deathbringer's group from the map Reward: 5,000 points Penalty: Failure to do so might cause your impending death in the future Time limit: Until you turn fourtheen}

 

 

Yes, that's right! It's because of this quest... Not only that... But because it says that if I don't get rid of them. My death in the future will occur.

However, this is still a win for me because I'm planning on getting rid of them in the future so that I can quickly solve the world's end arc in the future and no shit like troubles like them could appear.

 

"..."

 

Without furthering my thoughts inside my mind, I then shook my head as I focused on the present.

Today I'm sitting on this green land, but there is one problem... I made no progress with my earth elemental ability to create large objects. Which is the reason I muttered trash earlier.

Not completely useless though, since I'm able to perform a much faster way of creating shapes and even creating a large amount of them. However, my ability to create large objects still is... Yeah, you guessed it right, Trash!

With a dignified appearance, I then touched my chin. ‹Should I buy techniques on the system's store? Like books so I can use them for my ability?› I quietly pondered as I considered the huge amount of prices that each book has.

"..."

At that same moment, a thought suddenly popped into my mind.

‹Maybe I can ask Alice for some help with this? I mean... This field is her expertise. It can also help me deepen my relationship with her, I can't neglect me being poisoned by her can we?› I quietly reminisced and added the thought that I could even save some points with this idea.

‹It's decided then...›

Soon, I stood up and turned my head at Mary.

"Where's Alice?"