I Became the Patron of Villains

5. Becoming the Dark Secret of the Count’s Family (5)

Two more years had passed since Alon had obtained all five of the great sins, and it had now been four years since he began exchanging letters with Utia.

There were now six years left until the original story began.

Count Palatio had died.

The official cause of death was a heart attack.

However, anyone within the count’s household or those well-informed would easily know the true cause of Count Palatio’s death.

It was an overdose of drugs.

In true dark fantasy fashion, Count Palatio died a dark fantasy death.

Yet, no one mourned his passing.

The servants and retainers accepted the news of the count’s death with calm indifference.

It was not surprising, given that Count Palatio had already been thoroughly ruined, abusing drugs as if in a final sprint before his death. It would have been strange not to expect such an outcome.

Moreover, having wasted his life in debauchery and drugs, not a single noble expressed condolences upon hearing of the count’s death.

This included his two remaining sons. The eldest, Leo, had long anticipated this outcome and remained indifferent.

Rather than his father’s death, he seemed more concerned with the recent battle against the Blue Moon, constantly discussing it with his loyal retainers.

Alon was no different.

From the beginning, their father had never cared when the eldest and youngest sons openly tormented him. Remarkably, Alon had never spoken to the count since his possession.

Their relationship was one of mutual indifference.

Thus, the count’s death ended quietly, without a single tear shed.

A week after the count’s death.

Due to the ancient tradition of Palatio, which stated that a new head of the family would not be elected in the year the head died, the position remained vacant.

However, nothing changed.

Since the time of his possession, Count Palatio had done nothing, and the retainers managed the household, taking what they could for themselves.

And during this time, Alon was…

“Young master, it’s truly astonishing.”

“Why?”

“…To reach the 2nd rank in just two years without entering the tower or having a master… Do you think such talent is possible?”

He was learning magic for his own protection.

‘Though it’s only half-baked.’

Alon looked at the three small spheres spinning in his palm, then brushed them away with a light sigh.

‘It was good to have talent, but…’

Two years ago, Alon was overjoyed to discover that he had a talent for magic.

In this world of Psychedelia, magic was something that could only be used if one had the talent for it.

Moreover, Alon’s magical talent was quite exceptional.

Considering that it usually took wizards an average of four years to reach the second rank, the fact that he reached it in just two years without a master meant that his magical talent, while not exactly heaven-sent, was at least as good as a dragon emerging from a small stream.

Even Alon himself felt that his ability to finely control magical power was far superior to others.

Just a moment ago, Alon had been orbiting three spheres of lightning above his hand, a useless act, but one that required the ability to finely control magical power.

‘…It would have been nice if my mana hole was bigger, though.’

This was the reason Alon considered his talent to be half-baked. His innate mana hole, which every human was born with, was small.

Not just small, but very small.

Of course, with constant training, the mana hole could increase slightly, but in his case, the innate size was absurdly small, so it was better not to expect much.

The mana hole was literally like the body size one was born with.

‘If this part doesn’t work out, there is a way…’

As Alon continued his thoughts, licking his lips, Evan asked.

“Young master, what do you plan to do now?”

“What?”

“Next year, the first young master will become the head of the family, won’t he?”

Evan, who had almost called him a commoner out of habit, quickly changed his words, and Alon, realizing what he was asking, replied.

“I’ll leave.”

“…Are you planning to leave the territory?”

“Not completely, just downwards.”

“Downwards… do you mean Rodmil?”

Alon nodded at Evan’s words.

“Yes.”

Rodmil.

On the map, it was a village about four days south of Pallion, the territory of the Count of Palladio, and it was moderately prosperous under the Count’s rule.

“I’m planning to go there.”

“…Why?”

Evan asked, as if he didn’t understand.

Of course, it might have been a bit difficult for Evan to understand, but for Alon, this was the culmination of the plan he had been working on.

From the beginning, his goal was to save the Five Great Sins from misfortune, overthrow the United Kingdom, change the future, and live a leisurely life as a noble in a future where the United Kingdom does not perish.

‘At that point, Rodmill is a very excellent region.’

First, Rodmill had the mansion of the 3rd Count Palladio.

Second, it was a region that had grown ambiguously, so it wasn’t a place that Leo, who would soon become a count, would particularly covet until he died.

Third, it was about four days away from the count’s house, so it could be completely unrelated to the protagonist’s story of good triumphing over evil at the start of the original work.

In other words, if Alon just went to Rodmill, his plan would end successfully, but he was too lazy to explain this to Evan, so he simply threw out a word.

“Everything has its time.”

“…Young master, do you know you always say that when you’re too lazy to explain?”

He didn’t bother to answer Evan’s words.

Instead.

“Since we’re on the topic, let’s pack our bags.”

He began to prepare to head to Rodmill.

Exactly one month later.

Leo, the eldest son of the Palladio family and currently a big shot in the underworld known as Avalon, was contemplating as he watched his younger brother board a carriage with a knight in the distance.

‘What should I do?’

Whether to kill Alon or not.

“…”

In fact, Alon was not much of a nuisance to Leo.

It had been that way since they were young.

If Tonio, who had suddenly died a few years ago, had always bared his teeth and aimed for the successor’s position, Alon, on the other hand, was busy reading the room and bowing his head.

Of course, something had changed a bit since a few years ago, but his attitude itself had not changed.

Even now, Alon was volunteering to go to the frontier to avoid getting on Leo’s nerves.

“Hmm…”

In fact, originally, he had planned to quietly eliminate him by getting him addicted to drugs when the count died, but if he left for Rodmill on his own, there was no reason to do so.

Alon was crawling to Leo and didn’t seem to have any intention of antagonizing him in the first place.

There was clearly no longer any reason to kill Alon.

Yet the eldest son was still contemplating.

Amusingly, it wasn’t for any particular reason.

It wasn’t because he was worried that Alon might go to the frontier and take the successor’s position.

On the contrary, it wasn’t that Alon groveling like this was unpleasant to see as a family member.

From the beginning, Leo had never felt any familial affection towards Alon, or rather, towards the entire count’s family.

“……,”

In the end, the reason Leo was contemplating killing him was simply because he found him annoying.

A month ago, when he came to him and bowed his head, saying he would go to Rodmill first, it somehow irritated him.

Perhaps it was because he had heard that one of the branches of Avalon had not met its performance targets at that time, which put him in a bad mood.

Just, with that level of feeling, Alon’s life was placed on the judgment seat.

“Alman.”

“Yes.”

“Quietly follow behind the carriage.”

In less than a minute, Alon’s fate was decided.

From Leo’s perspective, Alon was someone who could be killed in an instant, just on a whim.

With such sentiments, he gave the order.

The figure that appeared behind him before he knew it.

“……Does that mean, to kill him?”

Asked a strange question.

“……?”

Leo felt puzzled by it.

Since two years ago, when he seemed useful despite his youth and went through numerous verifications, he had become Leo’s right-hand man, never questioning his orders.

He just followed whatever Leo said, without ever asking questions.

“Do you think family means anything to me-“

Therefore, even though Leo slightly frowned, he was about to open his mouth to correct any misunderstanding he might have had.

Puk-!

“……Huh?”

Instead, what burst out of Leo’s mouth was red blood.

He vomited blood with a look of incomprehension. And still unable to grasp the situation, he stood there blankly, then looked down.

A sword was embedded in his heart.

“Be, trayal-“

Leo’s eyes began to overflow with vivid anger, but the man who had stabbed him from behind answered indifferently.

“It’s not betrayal. I was never your right-hand man from the beginning.”

“What, did you say?”

“I was just waiting for you to speak.”

“!”

With that single word, Leo’s expression, which had been marred by anger and confusion, slowly began to turn into one of shock, and finally, a face appeared in his mind.

The face of Alon, the third son of the Count’s family.

However, at the same time, Leo wore an expression of incomprehension.

After all, it had been over two years since he had kept Alon, no, ‘Hidan’ by his side.

He had already allowed Hidan to watch his back for a year and had dispelled his suspicions about him.

In other words, Hidan could have killed him at any time if he wanted to.

Therefore, Leo, looking at Hidan with eyes filled with shock and doubt, soon received an answer.

“We cannot move unless commanded. We are merely his sword, moving as he wields us. This is our creed, taught by the Red Moon, a creed that must not be broken. But-“

Squeeze-!

“Kaak!”

“Exceptionally, if someone directly tries to harm the Great Moon, our sword can move on its own.”

Swoosh.

“That is the reason you have been able to live until now.”

Thud-!

As soon as the sword was drawn, Leo’s head hit the ground, but he still opened his mouth, unable to erase the look of anger from his eyes.

“My subordinate- is, just-“

“Don’t worry. The moment you said that, Avalon will now completely disappear from this continent.”

Hidan, a member of the Blue Moon organization and one of Yutia’s direct subordinates.

“……It’s a pity, the Great Moon gave you a chance.”

With those words, he turned his body.

Leo, not understanding the meaning of those words, met his death as it was.

It was a cold death.

Three days after arriving in Rodmill, Alon returned to the Count Palatio’s house.

The reason was that Leo, the eldest son of the Count Palatio, had died.

And with that inexplicable death.

Due to the absence of a maid, Alon, who had been leisurely toasting bread in a corner of the mansion, hurried back to the Count’s house, and by then, he had already acquired a nickname that people whispered with bated breath.

The alias of the Count’s family shadow.

“……”

……Yes?