Became the Patron of Villains

Chapter 21

Alon already had some understanding of why the nobles blatantly ignored him.

“Because all the rumors have finally died down.”

Until now, the nobles had feared Alon because they believed he was the mastermind behind taking down Avalon, which had controlled the vast underworld of the East alongside Leo.

However, the nobles no longer considered Alon to be the mastermind. After he became a count, he had done nothing significant for several years.

The Palatio Count family, from the time of Alon’s grandfather, had always been known as a notorious household that never failed to wield influence in the underworld. The Palatio family had consistently dominated the Eastern underworld, though the degree of their control varied over time.

But ever since Alon became the count, the Palatio family no longer exerted influence in the underworld. As a result, the current Eastern underworld was now divided and devoured by packs of wolves that used to scavenge for the leftover crumbs outside the domain governed by the Palatio Count.

Furthermore, the power of the Palatio Count family had also weakened, which was natural. The power they wielded up until now had mostly been fueled by the wealth generated from the underworld. However, since Alon became count, he no longer used money to maintain power. His desired life was not one of grand success in the underworld, but rather, a comfortable and prosperous life that any noble could enjoy.

In other words, he had already achieved what he wanted.

However, by completely withdrawing from the underworld, rumors began to spread among the nobles.

Some speculated that perhaps the current Count Palatio wasn’t a mastermind at all, but merely someone who became count by chance.

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As time passed and Alon continued to do nothing, the rumor gradually became accepted as truth.

Eventually, Alon’s reputation had devolved into that of a “lucky fool who happened to become count in the place of the real mastermind.”

Of course, there were still a few nobles who remained suspicious of Alon, but even they had begun to agree with the spreading rumors.

After all, it didn’t make sense that Alon, if he truly had the power to destroy Avalon in a single day, would not have used that power until now.

In any case, Alon had somewhat expected this kind of treatment, but he hadn’t anticipated that people would go out of their way to mock him like this.

Alon looked up at the two nobles, whose faces radiated slyness. He didn’t recognize either of them.

However, based on the crest engraved on their carriage, it was easy to tell that one was from the Crylde Count family, and the other from the Edolon Count family.

‘They both look old enough, but isn’t this too childish?’

Alon laughed to himself as he noted how aged their faces were.

He quickly understood why the two nobles had come all this way just to mock him.

‘...Ah, I see. This is a gathering of the victims.’

The Palatio family, notorious as they were, had also been a powerful family in the underworld. As a result, they naturally provided benefits to the surrounding families but also exploited them beyond necessity.

The families that were frequently treated like tools were none other than the Crylde Count family and the Edolon Count family.

To summarize the current situation, these families, who had suffered under the Palatio family, were now venting their grievances on Alon.

Of course, it wasn’t Alon but Leo, the first son of the count family, who had exploited them.

In short, Alon had no real reason to be the target of such mockery.

But to the two nobles who were eagerly mocking him, what mattered wasn’t that he was Alon but that he was the Count of Palatio.

“All those underworld forces you had, did they vanish because you couldn’t manage them properly?”

“Looks like you haven’t been taking care of your carriage properly either. Would you like to borrow some money?”

The two counts, like anonymous trolls commonly found on online communities, made every effort to scratch at Alon.

“Hmm.”

Alon briefly thought, ‘This is kind of annoying’, but he chose to follow his reason rather than his instincts.

If he were to fight now, he could easily crush the two nobles before him—maybe not slaughter them, but leave them beaten to a pulp. However, doing so would only complicate things. The moment he fought with them, Alon would have to leave the gathering and move separately. And that might lead to unnecessary trouble, like running into bandits.

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Clearly, responding to their provocations was exactly what they wanted.

‘There’s no need to entertain these fools,’ Alon decided to ignore them.

He wasn’t stupid enough to fall into such an obvious trap.

That day, Alon ate two ears of corn, using the jeers from the two counts as background music.

‘Delicious.’

The roasted corn tasted even better in the slightly chilly weather.

‘It would’ve been nice to have some butter,’ Alon mused, staring absentmindedly at the moonlit sky.

***

For the next few days, the uncomfortable coexistence continued.

Every evening, Count Crylde and Count Edolon would emerge to hurl their mocking remarks, and every time, Alon pretended not to care, brushing off their words as if they were nothing.

The one who ignores and the one who tries desperately not to be ignored. Naturally, the one who ignored always won.

Alon had deeply internalized one of the life lessons he had learned from a certain online community: ‘Don’t feed the trolls.’

At least in this place, no one could beat him at that game.

Of course, after several days of this, other nobles began to mock Alon as well, whispering that he lacked dignity as a noble or scoffing at him for staying silent under the insults of Crylde and Edolon.

But despite this, Count Crylde and Count Edolon, who had been the ones persistently mocking him, were not feeling particularly satisfied.

“Damn it,” growled Count Crylde.

To make matters worse—

“Wait, isn’t that Mark?”

Among the horde of goblins, the body of a seasoned mercenary who had been assigned to external surveillance for precautionary measures was being devoured savagely.

“Krrk—”

In the hands of a massive goblin was what remained of Mark’s body.

The mercenaries who saw this sight—

“This... this can’t be happening...”

—felt a rising wave of fear within them.

Mark, the mutilated corpse in front of them, was a veteran mercenary who could easily handle dozens of goblins on his own.

The fact that he had been killed without even being able to report the approach of this massive goblin horde suggested one thing to the mercenaries:

The mutated goblins before them were anything but ordinary.

The knights, who were holding their weapons alongside the mercenaries, also recognized that this was a dire situation.

Even if there were only hundreds of goblins, this fight would be incredibly unfavorable for the knights.

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Individually, they might manage, but the knights had nobles to protect now.

And goblins were cunning monsters, capable of easily exploiting that vulnerability.

While the mercenaries seemed to be paralyzed with fear at the sight of the goblins’ strange appearance and Mark’s death, the knights who could sense magic were aware of something more.

They realized that the goblins before them were imbued with magic power.

Even a small amount of magic within a monster significantly enhances its physical abilities, and the knights understood this well.

Just as the knights were grimacing at the goblins’ bizarre howls and their impending charge—

Thud!

A wall of stones and rubble suddenly rose from the midst of the goblin horde.

All eyes were instantly drawn to it.

The wizard, who had cast the light spell, recognized that the wall was a “Rock Wall,” a third-tier spell.

As the translucent barrier of a second-tier shield formed beyond the wall, the knights’ expressions shifted from despair to confusion.

The goblins’ malicious stares were now entirely focused on the wall.

“Enhance!”

A calm voice echoed through the air.

And then—

“Compress.”

With a loud cracking sound, the translucent sphere rapidly shrank, distorting the stone wall as it collapsed inward.

Thud, thud—

In the ensuing silence, the sound of footsteps drew the attention of the knights and mercenaries to one direction.

A man was approaching. Even in this life-threatening situation, he appeared completely unfazed, walking with an indifferent expression.

The nobles and knights quickly realized that the man was Count Palatio.

“Vacuum.”

As soon as his lips moved again, the round shield transformed into a rough, rock-like shape, about the size of a soccer ball you might find by the roadside.

And then—

“Return to origin.”

With Alon’s final words, the bracelet on his wrist began to emit a faint gray light.

Boom—!!!

The compressed stones exploded outward like a shotgun blast, tearing dozens of goblins to pieces.

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It all happened in an instant.

The nobles, knights, and mercenaries stood in stunned silence, their mouths agape as they watched the magic-infused goblins get shredded into mere lumps of flesh.

Among them, Count Crylde and Count Edolon’s eyes widened as if they were about to tear apart.

With all eyes now on Alon, he simply said:

“Stop standing there in a daze and get ready.”

His voice was calm as he looked ahead.

...The knights and mercenaries, as if mesmerized, raised their swords.

The fear that had been spreading in their hearts had, as if by magic, vanished entirely.