Became the Patron of Villains

Some time passed after that.

After leaving the demonstration room, Alon was finally able to have a proper conversation with Sharan, who had been barking like crazy earlier.

“So, you’re saying you want to learn primitive magic?”

“That’s right?”

Sharan subtly watched Alon’s reaction.

She looked way too shabby to be called the Master of the Green Magic Tower.

“Wow.”

Hearing a natural exclamation from the side, Alon turned his head and saw Penia, looking genuinely surprised.

“Why?”

“N-No—”

Realizing a bit late that she had made a sound, Penia tried to close her mouth.

But then, as if giving up since she’d already been caught, she sighed and leaned in to whisper in Alon’s ear.

“Do you remember what I said last time? That she’s extremely arrogant.”

“Yeah.”

“You get what I mean now, right? That’s why it’s fascinating.”

Penia spoke so softly that the Tower Master wouldn’t hear, then acted as if nothing happened.

Just how outrageous was her behavior to make Penia react like this?

Alon suddenly found himself curious and stared at Sharan.

She wasn’t like this in the game.

However.

“…Should I bark again?”

“I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“This time, I can do even better.”

Alon barely held back his disbelief and looked at Sharan again, finally understanding what Penia meant.

‘She definitely doesn’t have a normal way of thinking.’

As Alon was revising his evaluation of Sharan, Celaime, who had been quietly watching, spoke to Penia.

“When it comes to personality, aren’t you more famous than the Green Tower Master?”

Alon immediately turned his head toward Penia.

Penia ground her teeth and glared at Celaime.

“…Master. Please shut up.”

“Last time, you only asked me to be quiet. You’ve become fiercer in the meantime.”

“You’re the one evolving me, Master.”

“I only told the truth.”

“Excuse me, Master, but is it time to exchange ‘truths’ right now? Because if so, can I also share some ‘truths’ I know?”

“…Let’s just say I lost.”

Though Celaime was smiling, his eyes weren’t, and he subtly looked away from Penia’s fierce gaze.

Alon suddenly remembered Penia’s “past” that he had almost forgotten.

“Well—”

She really had been something.

He muttered without realizing it, but then noticed Penia rolling her eyes at him.

Clearing his throat, he quickly turned his gaze back to Sharan.

Sharan somehow gave off the vibe of “I’m ready to bark anytime.”

‘What do I do?’

In fact, even if he accepted Sharan as a disciple, there was no real benefit to Alon.

The “primitive magic” she wanted wasn’t something he could teach anyway.

That’s why he hesitated for a moment over her request.

“Hmm.”

Finishing his thoughts, he finally spoke to Sharan.

“First of all, I don’t think I can teach you the magic you desire.”

“Should I bark harder?”

How did she come to that conclusion?

Sharan seemed even more out of her mind than he had thought.

“Rather than that, it’s just that the magic I used is extremely difficult to explain.”

“Ah—”

“Do you understand?”

“Should I bark more?”

‘Is this really the Green Tower Master?’

“Master—”

“What?”

“…Green Tower Master, she seems a bit lacking in intelligence.”

“This happens a lot. She’s usually quite brilliant, but once she gets fixated on one thing, she becomes like this…”

Then, Celaime started twirling his finger next to his head, and Penia nodded as if she finally understood.

‘…She could all hear that, wasn’t that rude?’

Alon awkwardly cleared his throat and continued the conversation.

“That’s not it. I can’t teach it, but if you only want to research the magic, I can help with that.”

“Research…?”

“Yes. But first, we’ll need to talk a bit more. If research alone is enough for you—”

“Please let me do it.”

Sharan replied without a moment’s hesitation.

Alon nodded and immediately used the floor transfer device to head to Heinkel.

[You’re here?]

“Yes.”

[I saw the demonstration. I never imagined that beastmen would influence it that way. Do you understand the principle behind it?]

“Not exactly~”

[Then how did you find the right seal?]

“I had already prepared various seals before, so I just tried them one by one.”

Hmm— Heinkel trailed off, about to sink into thought, when Alon quickly spoke up.

“Heinkel, I have a suggestion.”

[…? A suggestion?]

“Yes. It’s about the Green Tower Master.”

He then presented an idea to Heinkel.

[You want to involve the Green Tower Master in the research?]

“Yes, I heard there’s a lot of simple calculations involved. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to have more manpower?”

That was why Alon wanted to bring the Green Tower Master into the research.

Most of the process of extracting information from hierarchy magic required countless simple calculations.

The more people there were, the faster they could process the information.

‘The Green Tower Master should be more than enough help.’

[Hmm—]

After some thought, Heinkel nodded.

[Well— I don’t really mind if she helps with the research, so why didn’t you just bring her over?]

“…Wasn’t it because you didn’t want to be seen by other mages?”

Alon knew that Heinkel had been moving secretly to avoid the eyes of other mages.

But she just lightly shrugged her shoulders.

[Well, that’s true, but it’s not like she’s some random nobody, so I don’t have to worry that much.]

More importantly, she started to say “precious slave” but corrected herself at the end to “mage who will help with research,” and Alon pretended not to notice as he nodded.

***

Right after receiving Heinkel’s permission.

Not wanting to miss the chance, Alon quickly brought Celaime, who had also expressed his desire to join the research.

“……”

“Is this really the Primordial Chalice…?”

“I had heard rumors that she was in the tower, but to think I’d see her in person~!”

Their eyes were filled with pure admiration.

As if they had forgotten they were tower masters themselves, they looked at Heinkel like children meeting their childhood hero.

[Hohoho~]

Seeing Heinkel strike a confident pose as if to say, “See? This is who I am,” Alon glanced at Penia.

‘Penia used to look at her like that too.’

While he was thinking that, the mages started conversing with Heinkel.

“Heinkel, if it’s not too rude, may I ask about your past?”

[What is it? Go ahead—]

“Didn’t you develop the mana condensation process?”

[Hmm, you know that well?]

“Of course we do. Thanks to you, modern mages are able to reduce casting time and actually manifest magic.”

[Oh— You even know that it connects that far?]

“Haha— Well, since we’re tower masters in this generation.”

Sharan continued awkwardly, and Celaime nodded repeatedly next to her.

Watching them, Alon called Penia.

“Penia.”

“Yes, Marquis?”

“Did you know about that?”

“Oh, the ‘mana condensation process’?”

“Yeah.”

The mana condensation process.

It was an incredibly difficult theory if explained in detail.

In simple terms, it referred to creating a mana array on paper rather than in the air, and Alon also knew about it.

He couldn’t have properly learned magic otherwise.

“I had never heard that it related to casting time before.”

“Well~ Originally, it was created for the convenience of manifestation, but just by adding to the array according to the desired form, the casting time becomes faster. I’m sure you also use it, Marquis.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. You know that basic structure you use when casting light magic? That wasn’t originally there.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, so when we simplify light magic, that process gets removed.”

“…Oh.”

Alon looked at Heinkel again with new eyes.

“She’s even more amazing than I thought.”

“…More amazing than you thought?”

“Yeah.”

“How exactly did you imagine Heinkel in your head, Marquis…?”

After pondering briefly, Alon answered quietly.

“A ghost who’s good at magic, floating around because she wants to look taller…?”

It didn’t take long for Penia’s face to turn cold.

Not long after.

The three mages kept discussing complex theories that even Alon didn’t fully understand, going on and on for almost several hours without a break.

As Alon watched, thinking, ‘With them, the magic analysis will definitely be faster,’

Heinkel suddenly approached him.

[How long are you staying?]

“About a week, as before.”

[Hmm, this time I might be able to tell you a bit more. While analyzing the second hierarchy, I found something quite interesting.]

“That’s good news. Oh, and there’s also something I’d like to discuss about the magic from the demonstration earlier.”

[The magic from the demonstration?]

Confirming her interest, Alon explained the doubts he had while implementing the new magic.

[…You completed it, but you feel like there’s another way to use it?]

“Yes.”

Hmm, muttered Heinkel, thinking deeply to herself.

A moment of silence.

And then.

“!”

As if she had a light bulb go off in her head, she spoke with a bright expression.

[This is just a hypothesis, but want to hear it?]

Not long after.

[…If that’s the case, what do you think?]

Hearing that.

“I’ll have to try it.”

Alon nodded several times.

***

Kalannon, the Lightning Receiver.

No, now acting as the mascot(?) of the Church of the Lightning Receiver Kalannon, had been enjoying quite happy days recently.

There were two big reasons for that.

One was thanks to Alon’s “hint,” she was, albeit in a limited way, being worshipped by the people of Divine Land.

The other was that her faith had recently been recovering rapidly.

Of course, compared to when she existed as the original Lightning Receiver, the amount of faith was still terribly small, but she was satisfied nonetheless.

Even if it was small, it was far more than when she had to painstakingly accumulate it piece by piece inside Alon.

…Of course, she sometimes wished to regain the faith she had during her prime.

But thinking back to the days when she was terrified her existence might disappear at any moment, her current situation felt luxurious.

Living in Divine Land, receiving praise from knights and mercenaries, Kalannon was content.

“…You want to spread the faith to regular villagers too?”

“Yes, brother. We also need civilians who follow him.”

“…I know that, but the Marquis didn’t specifically order us to do that.”

She was listening to a conversation between Sili and Deus.

“But I think the Marquis would want it.”

“Hmm, but since he hasn’t given that order, I think we shouldn’t act on our own.”

Deus responded as a loyal subordinate.

However, Kalannon knew that he was already taking actions Alon hadn’t ordered, rallying people like banging drums.

She also knew roughly why Alon had created Divine Land.

‘Hmm, should I tell them?’

Up until now, she had only acted as a mascot, but she had recently gathered enough faith to convey messages as the “mascot(?).”

‘…If things get too big, he’ll have a hard time too.’

Knowing the Marquis’s personality, Kalannon was about to stop the siblings, who were like a runaway train.

“But it’s such a shame, isn’t it? If we could involve the surrounding villagers, his faith would rise even more.”

“…You mean, it would greatly help the Marquis?”

“Yes, of course.”

Freeze—

She paused the faith she was about to use.

“But aren’t there only small villages around here, Sili? With just that number of people, I doubt we’d gather much faith.”

“If you look only at the nearby villages, that’s true.”

“…What do you mean?”

“That’s just the foundation, brother.”

Kalannon’s ears perked up.

“If we offer them a little help along with our teachings, faith in him will naturally spread from there.”

“Just from that?”

“Yes.”

Deus looked at her, unable to believe it.

But Sili smiled and replied purely.

“It might be small to us, but it won’t be ‘small’ to them.”

While quietly listening, Kalannon couldn’t help but think back.

To when she was the Lightning Receiver itself.

At this point, it was impossible for her to regain her old power.

But if faith accumulated faster here?

…If, just as Sili said, they could truly start gathering faith from humans?

Thump thump—

Kalannon’s heart started to race.

Before she knew it, she was imagining herself 600 years ago, when she had all people under her.

If she could steadily gather even more faith than now.

Even as a “mascot(?),” it might be possible to reclaim her prime power.

Therefore.

“But brother is right too. It might not be right for us to act without his order~”

As Sili murmured regretfully.

[No.]

She used her divine power.

“!”

“!”

Sili and Deus looked at Kalannon in surprise.

[Don’t be alarmed. I’m his guardian.]

Reassuring them, Kalannon hesitated for a moment.

Was it really right for her, knowing the Marquis’s true intentions, to say this?

That moral hesitation stopped her for a second.

But at that moment.

Recalling her prime self—

[—He wishes for more and more faith to gather.]

Instead of stopping the runaway train, she decided to jump on board.

“Is that true?”

[Yes.]

“If that’s what he wishes…!”

And thus, the train began to run in earnest.

[‘I—I can’t stop this now…!!’]

With the handle and brakes shattered, it was going so fast that no one could get off anymore.