I Became the Patron of Villains

131. Al (1)

“Hoo-ah-“

Near the Marquisate of Pallatio, a girl who had entered a hideout let out a leisurely sigh as she sat down, and soon someone approached.

“You’re back. Yuna.”

“Yes.”

The man was none other than Hidan.

“Are you doing your job well?”

“Under Eunwol’s orders, I’ve been watching Alexion, but it seems like he won’t be doing anything strange anymore.”

In response to Hidan’s question, the golden-haired girl Yuna, who was stretching her legs as if exercising while sitting, asked back.

“And you?”

“I’m moving as Red Moon commanded.”

“You must be busy.”

“I’m just doing what needs to be done.”

Nodding her head with a hum, Yuna smiled and said.

“So, when is our meeting?”

“Meeting?”

“Yes, Eunwol told me to attend this meeting and report on the territory issue.”

“…Is it that good?”

“Of course!”

Yuna’s face lit up with a smile, as if she was already looking forward to it.

“It’s a meeting with the high-ranking people! And I get to see Red Moon and Purple Moon too! I haven’t seen them for so long, I missed them- I also want to see what the high-ranking people’s meeting is like!”

Her voice was lively.

On the other hand, Hidan’s expression as he listened to her was…

“The atmosphere-“

…a bit, subtle.

“What’s wrong?”

Yuna asked, puzzled. Hidan seemed to ponder for a moment.

“…No, it’s nothing. Just… how should I put it. Never mind.”

He decided to keep his mouth shut.

“Huh? Why did you stop talking!?”

“…You’ll understand when you attend the meeting yourself.”

Recalling the meetings he had seen, Hidan decided to protect Yuna’s illusion for a little longer.

It has been exactly half a year since Alon blocked Duke Komalon.

At this point, Alon’s magic addiction had improved significantly, allowing him to use magic as he once did.

Thus, even though he could now move towards the border, he was currently not moving.

To be precise, he was unable to move.

“Then, I look forward to working with you!”

“The pleasure is mine.”

“No, no! Ah, and this- this is a gift.”

“…A gift?”

“Yes. It’s a sculpture carved by an artisan from the Fombashi territory.”

“…I will accept it gratefully.”

The reason was the recent influx of people flocking to the Marquis.

Alon let out a small sigh as he watched the head of the oil merchant guild, who had bowed at a right angle, leave, and the intricately carved cat sculpture he had given him.

“Evan.”

“Yes.”

“How many are left now?”

“Congratulations, Marquis. After this, your schedule is completely clear.”

“That’s a relief.”

Alon nodded a few times and leaned back in his chair.

A month after he had told the Duke of Zenonia that he would not refuse his help, Alon had practically succeeded in the auction house business.

Of course, one should not use the word ‘success’ lightly.

From noble mtl dot com

Business is something that can go well but then crash into an unexpected obstacle and shatter.

Having wandered through more than a few ‘good startups’ in the previous world, Alon knew this better than anyone.

It was also the reason he was endlessly conservative in business.

However, even Alon couldn’t help but think that at this point, he had practically recovered his principal and that the business was successfully settling in.

There were too many things he had gained in the month he had invested for the business to fail.

…Of course, it wasn’t so much that Alon had seized them himself, but rather that they had come to him on their own.

“Marquis, the business is a success nonetheless.”

“Does it seem that way?”

“Yes. They say the top-grade specialties from five territories will be auctioned here. With this, the merchant guilds will definitely come. Moreover, there are many parts where agreements have been made.”

“But we’ve only succeeded in attracting them, haven’t we?”

“Hmm- That’s true, but the conditions have been quickly met. I think there’s no lack for it to rise as a tourist trade territory.”

Alon nodded at Evan’s words.

He had been thinking the same thing.

Thus, as Alon was reviewing the documents anew, he suddenly opened his mouth, curiosity rising.

“Evan.”

“Yes, Marquis.”

“I’ve been too busy to think about it until now, but why are the merchants and neighboring territories flocking to us like this?”

Of course, Alon knew that Duke Zenonia had used some kind of power.

But even so, isn’t it strange that nobles and merchants would voluntarily come to this extent?

“……Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“I often think that you underestimate yourself more than you realize.”

“Do I?”

“Yes. Just look at it. Most of those nobles came to form a connection with you, didn’t they? Some of them are even nobles from the aristocratic faction or the royalist faction.”

Only then did Alon let out a low sigh, “Ah.”

“……Bribes to get on my good side, something like that?”

“Probably. It might even be a subtle signal that they want to join the Kalpa.”

“……I see.”

“Surely, you weren’t unaware of this?”

“……Hmm.”

Rather than being unaware, it would be more accurate to say he hadn’t paid attention to that part.

As Alon didn’t bother to answer, Evan’s expression turned peculiar.

“We’ve been together for a long time, but sometimes you still surprise me, Marquis.”

“What do you mean?”

“……It seems like you’re doing something, but in reality, it feels like you’re doing nothing.”

“That’s why I’m working right now.”

“……Not that kind of thing……. How should I put it? It’s like you don’t pay much attention to your surroundings…… No, that’s not quite it either-“

Evan pondered how to explain it, then his eyes widened as if he remembered something else.

“By the way, I meant to tell you earlier, a letter came from Rine.”

“A letter?”

“Yes. It seems to be a reply to the letter you sent last time?”

“Come to think of it…”

It reminded me that a month ago, I had contacted Rine about the ‘Egg of the Spirit Dragon.’

Originally, I had planned to visit her and ask directly after my magic had fully recovered, but due to recent changes in the egg, I had sent a letter in haste.

“Here it is.”

The conversation topic changed in an instant.

Soon, Alon received the letter from Evan and looked at the egg of the spirit dragon.

The egg had grown slightly larger than before, and since last month, it had stopped absorbing Alon’s magic.

That was why he had sent the letter.

Alon soon unfolded the letter and began to read.

The beginning of the letter was a light greeting.

The middle part was about what she had been up to lately.

Then, it described the recent events in Lartania.

“Hmm-“

The next page had similar content.

And the next page.

“…?”

With a puzzled expression, Alon finally checked the number of pages in the letter.

“…Twelve pages?”

“Wow, that’s quite a lot. I did think the envelope felt a bit thick.”

A letter spanning twelve pages.

A slight sense of guilt arose in Alon’s heart.

‘I… barely managed to fill one page.’

…Since he was planning to visit her anyway, he decided to buy a small gift for Rine.

Anyway, as Alon continued reading the letter, he finally found information related to the egg of the spirit dragon after about five pages.

After reading the entire letter.

‘This could be dangerous.’

He looked at the egg of the spirit dragon.

The letter contained a lot of explanations, but they could be summarized into about three points.

1. Information about the egg of the spirit dragon is extremely limited.

2. According to ancient records, the egg of the spirit dragon, as the name suggests, contains a ‘spirit dragon’ that, under certain conditions, can possess power comparable to that of a dragon.

3. However, if it is exposed to human blood while still in the egg state, it must be thrown into the sea ‘Pamilon’ outside the continent and destroyed.

‘…The reason is that a dragon exposed to blood is born much stronger than a normal dragon, but the probability of it becoming extremely violent due to its power is overwhelmingly high…isn’t it?

The way to know if it has been exposed to blood is by the color of its eyes. If the eyes of the born dragon are not blue but red, it means it is already mad.’

Alon alternated between looking at the letter and the egg.

‘Then, isn’t this a bit dangerous?’

In fact, the reason Alon had been steadily giving magic power to the dragon’s egg until now was because he thought it had not absorbed any blood.

In reality, the dragon’s egg was far away from the corpse of the wizard.

But if the ritual itself must be free of blood, then the story changes.

According to Alon’s memory, the dragon egg he had was exposed to the blood of the dead wizard during the ritual conducted by Theon.

Therefore.

“…Hmm.”

Alon looked at the egg with a slightly serious heart, despite his emotionless face.

‘…Should I abandon it?’

He began to worry.

####

That night.

When Alon fell asleep without making a decision about the egg.

Thud-thud-thud-!

The egg, which had not moved at all until now, began to slowly vibrate subtly, and the shell started to crack.

To be precise, it was not that the shell was cracking.

The fallen black shells were turning into a black mucus and being sucked back into the black egg.

It was not a normal hatching, but the overall shape of the egg was changing.

Soon, with a creaking sound, what appeared was.

[─────!]

A monster with red glowing eyes and drooling at the mouth.

Although it had a somewhat ‘dragon’ shape according to the name ‘dragon’s egg’, its appearance was too ugly and grotesque to be called a dragon.

The black ‘thing’ that moved like a shapeless mist constantly transformed its body, and the head that barely retained the shape of a dragon was no exception.

Swish-!

Dozens of eyes were attached densely on the black head.

The monstrous eyes looked around and it descended from its place.

The instinct for destruction began to surge madly in his mind.

Unlike ordinary dragon spirits, it could become even stronger by absorbing the blood and flesh of its enemies. The psychological state of the Death Shadow Dragon (死影龍), despite being born not long ago, was clearly craving destruction and slaughter.

However, despite the constant surge of destructive desires in its mind, the Death Shadow Dragon moved its body, setting aside those urges.

To Alon, who had infused it with enough magic to be born.

Its body instantly turned into mist, swallowing even the light of the blue moon, and flew into the sky outside the window.

In an instant, it descended into Alon’s bedroom, dripping black saliva as it approached the one lying on the bed.

It was, of course, to kill Alon.

No matter how much blood it had consumed to become a Death Shadow Dragon, its essence as a dragon spirit did not change, so it was somewhat bound to the one who had given it magic.

Therefore, the dragon spirit intended to kill Alon, who could hinder it, before growing its body.

There was no other reason for it to seek out Alon.

To finish its goal immediately, the Death Shadow Dragon approached Alon and opened its mouth wide.

Screeeech-!

Its mouth grew so large that it was hard to believe it belonged to a creature the size of a large dog.

The mouth, which seemed to be able to devour the entire room, instantly encompassed the whole area where Alon was.

At the moment when the gigantic mouth was about to close.

Snap-!

The Death Shadow Dragon’s mouth stopped.

As if time had frozen.

And with it-

Shudder shudder shudder shudder─────!!

-The Death Shadow Dragon, unknowingly, closed its mouth and began to tremble like an aspen tree.

The reason was

Swish-!

Eyes.

The black eyes staring at the Death Shadow Dragon, which had its jaws open towards Alon.