Became the Patron of Villains

Chapter 16

The status of a wizard on this continent has a rather peculiar structure.

Like in many other fantasy worlds, wizards generally hold a high status, but when a wizard belongs to a “Tower,” their rank eventually reaches a point where they hold a status comparable to that of nobility.

This isn’t just because of the difference in skill between wizards who are part of the Tower and those who aren’t, but fundamentally because of the Tower itself.

There are only six Towers in this world, and they monopolize the production of various essential goods for the United Kingdom, including high-ranking nobles.

In other words, the combination of a wizard’s combat prowess and the exclusive production of necessary goods elevates the Tower’s power to the level of noble authority.

Moreover, the authority of the Vice Tower Master, who can be considered the deputy master of such a Tower, is said to pierce the heavens.

Despite knowing all of this.

“Isn’t this treatment a bit much?”

Alon looked at the Vice Tower Master with a bemused expression, though his face remained impassive.

She, draped in a blue cloak symbolic of the Blue Tower and with long blue hair cascading down to her waist, leaned her head on one hand, as if bothered by everything in the world, while holding a pen in the other.

Her name was Penia Crysinne.

In Psychedelia, she appears once or twice in the main story as a wizard who, at the young age of 22, had reached the 7th Rank—a ridiculous talent.

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She was also a powerful wizard with an Origin.

However, at this point before the original story begins, she has not yet become the Tower Master and seems to be at the 6th Rank rather than the 7th.

“...As I mentioned before we met, I’ve come to talk about the Shimon.”

“What about it?”

Alon continued, watching Penia wrestle with a stack of papers without even looking at him.

“I can get rid of the Shimon.”

At Alon’s words, Penia’s gaze suddenly shifted, her eyes hysterically staring at his face.

There was a hint of curiosity in her expression.

But soon after, she made a blatantly disappointed face and clicked her tongue.

“Well, if you’re done, you can leave.”

“...I haven’t heard your answer.”

“What answer?”

“I said I could get rid of the Shimon.”

“Ha.”

At Alon’s words, Penia looked at him with a ridiculous smile.

“Excuse me. Who are you again?”

“Count Palatio, Alon.”

“So our Count Palatio says he can get rid of the Shimon?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, I see~ Our Count Palatio can get rid of the Shimon, huh?”

“...Why are you acting like this?”

Alon asked in response to her blatant sarcasm.

“Do you think you’re the first person to say that? Do you think you’re the only one who has come here seeking the treasure you can get by eliminating the Shimon? Hmm?”

Seeing Penia shake her head as if she were completely fed up, Alon spoke up.

“I’m not lying. If you guide me to the Shimon, I’ll show you right away.”@@@@

“How many people do you think have said that in front of me?”

“I can definitely get rid of it.”

Alon’s words made Penia suddenly drop the pen she had been holding and frown openly, releasing her magic power abruptly.

Snap!

This wasn’t the implementation of a spell.

It was merely a surge of magical energy.

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The waveform, which was blatantly scattered based on her emotional state, instantly began to cause abnormalities within the office.

The entire room trembled as if an earthquake had struck, and scrolls and parchments on the shelves fell to the ground in an instant.

In the midst of all that.

“Excuse me.”

“It’s starting to come to light that you only became an Count because a bunch of trash conveniently died, and now you’re desperate for a move to turn things around, but you shouldn’t be causing trouble here, right?”

As Penia lowered her voice, filled with hysteria, Alon realized two things anew.

The first was that, despite seeming to be consumed by work, she was surprisingly well-informed about the outside world.

In fact, just as she said, since becoming a Count, he had lived quietly without interfering with the underworld, and rumors about him had started to spread.

The other realization was that the anger that had surged within him, unable to tolerate the way she treated him earlier, had strangely subsided, as if it had been cured.

‘She’s terrifying.’

Alon thought, realizing that despite not having reached the 7th Rank, Penia was clearly a superhuman who had transcended the realm of ordinary humans, as evidenced by the strange phenomena she created with just a scattering of magical energy.

‘I shouldn’t push my luck, or I’ll end up snapped in half.’

Even though he was a 2nd Rank wizard, Alon fully understood that if Penia chose to use her magic, his life would be in danger, so he spoke.

“? “

Penia was slightly intrigued as she watched him suddenly raise his hand to form the Wisdom Fist Seal.

Instead of using a staff as a medium, he used his own hand, employing a method that was considered ‘primitive’ even in ancient magical texts—methods rarely studied, even in academic circles.

“Just come out.”

However, Penia was only mildly curious; she had no intention of giving Alon any more time.

She never imagined that someone using such an outdated method from a strange book could close the Shimon.

But—

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The moment he softly muttered something—

“Ah, just come ou—”

Penia’s irritated words stopped abruptly.

No, not just her words.

Everything stopped.

Her half-open mouth.

Her furrowed, irritated eyes.

Her body.

Even her breathing.

Everything stopped.

And then—

She saw it.

The thing that emerged before the Count.

Screeech—

In front of Penia’s focused gaze, something that was once purely black made an unpleasant sound as it opened its ‘eyes.’

Upon realizing it, she saw that it was an eyeball.

An eyeball with two red rings.

It simply stared at her.

If it had ended there, it would have been fine.

But—

Penia’s ‘Eyes,’ the talent she needed to advance beyond the 6th Rank, instinctively discerned the essence of what was before her.

She didn’t know what it was.

But she understood.

This allowed Penia to grasp one piece of information.

That thing was a concept so simple it could be encapsulated in a single word.

It was—

“Ghh—!”

The moment she began to realize it, Penia forcefully halted her thoughts.

Her magic, which had stopped even her breathing, moved instinctively to cut off her thoughts.

Because she knew.

That thing in front of the Count was something she must never comprehend.

Understanding it would be akin to drinking from a poisoned chalice that would inevitably lead to destruction.

So, at the very moment she stopped thinking, barely remembering to breathe—

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Heh—

The eyeball, which had been staring at her until now, smiled.

Then, with a black hand that had formed at some point, it gently raised its index and middle fingers to her lips.

An absolute command of silence.

Understanding that this was Alon’s demand, Penia, filled with sudden fear, blinked her eyes, and as the eyeball disappeared, the magic ended.

The place where the purple rift had disappeared was now calm, and Alon let out a small sigh.

“It’s done.”

For Alon, who had closed the Shimon countless times in the game and knew how to do it, closing the Shimon wasn’t particularly difficult.

After all, Shimon wasn’t closed with magic, but with a special—

“I—I swear I won’t tell anyone.”

“...? Well, I appreciate that, but there’s no need to—”

“I—I mean it, I swear, I won’t tell a soul. I’m actually very tight-lipped.”

Despite suddenly breathing heavily and even tearing up as she nodded fervently, speaking in formal language, Alon—

“...?”

‘Why is she suddenly acting like this...?’

—could only tilt his head in confusion.