I Became the Patron of Villains

85. Title Conferment Ceremony (1)

For a moment, Alon was bewildered by the situation he had never heard of, where he was said to have buried more than seven nobles.

While pondering how to clear up this misunderstanding, he eventually decided not to respond to the remark.

In ordinary human relationships, it is best to clear up misunderstandings quickly, but the person he was talking to was one of the masterminds of Asteria.

“……So, is that the only reason you contacted me?”

When Alon neither affirmed nor denied, Duke Altia nodded.

[Yes, I have reported everything.]

As she said, Alon nodded, having received a report about Kalpa before this conversation.

[Then, I will see you at the coronation ceremony.]

Seeing Duke Altia bowing her head in greeting, Alon sighed softly and thought.

‘Come to think of it, there was a coronation ceremony.’

Recalling that, Alon, who was looking through the letters piled up on one side of the desk in the office, soon found a letter with the royal family’s seal and the paper below it.

The paper left by the royal secretary along with the letter contained various trivial comments, but in summary, it stated that the Count Palatio had been absent for a long time, so they left only the letter.

“The coronation ceremony is…… in four months.”

Four months.

Recalling a period that could be long or short, Alon suddenly remembered one more thing.

‘After about four months, it will be just under a year until the start of the original work.’

The time he had experienced countless times in the game was approaching, which was nostalgic in many ways, but only for a moment.

‘……By then, there will still be a truckload of b*stards to deal with.’

He recalled the enemies that would emerge at the start of the original story.

‘The agent has been dealt with, but I haven’t taken care of the Ghost Castle.’

Alon, recalling the memories he had checked before going to the colony, let out a small sigh and leaned back in his chair.

There were more things to handle than he had thought.

‘I have to deal with the rampaging b*stards right now, and also the hidden foreign gods.’

In fact, dealing with the rampaging b*stards wasn’t that difficult.

Anyway, except for the foreign gods and the five great sins in Psychedelia, the beings that would plunge the entire United Kingdom into chaos and turmoil only become active at the start of the original story.

Of course, Alon’s goal was to live a leisurely life by the time such beings appeared.

That’s why he supported Elivan, the protagonist of the original story.

‘I should support him again when the original story begins.’

Thinking of Elivan, who would ensure his peaceful future, Alon sighed again and turned his thoughts back to the foreign gods.

Apart from the beings of the future, Alon had to deal with the foreign gods.

‘The problem is, I don’t know where this guy is… Even if I find him right now, it’s a problem.’

In fact, the reason Alon had been able to predict victory against the foreign gods so far was because they hadn’t fully manifested yet.

That’s not all.

He had also won because he knew the various characteristics, or weaknesses, of the foreign gods.

In other words, if he were to face a hidden foreign god, it would be a completely different fight from before.

‘…Well, as long as I can find out who the foreign god is, I can prepare in my own way. But the problem is the complete manifestation.’

If the foreign god is hiding on the continent, there’s a high chance he’s already fully manifested.

A few months after descending to the earth, the foreign god would fully descend as a sage god.

And a fully manifested foreign god would be incomparably stronger than the ones he had faced so far.

In short, even if he found the foreign god in the current situation, the chances of victory were slim.

…No, not slim, but 100%.

Alon’s magic was strong enough to work against the foreign gods, but even so, there were more shortcomings in facing a fully manifested foreign god.

The number of times he could use magic was clearly limited, and the time it took to implement the magic was overwhelmingly long.

The advantage was that the magic he implemented worked on the enemy.

‘I guess I have to prepare. First, I need to gather information about the hidden foreign god.’

Therefore, he judged that it was necessary to prepare for the fight against the foreign god and looked at the letter from the royal family.

…The four months didn’t feel as long as he had expected.

####

As Alon sighed softly while organizing the tasks ahead with the letter from the royal family.

Now that more than three weeks had passed since Count Palatio left, Fenia Crysinne and Felin Crysinne were still accompanying Radan.

Of course, the reason Fenia continued to accompany Radan was purely for comfort.

Most of the things she had to investigate in this Raxas were about the illegal outflow of materials or finished products from the Magic Tower.

Moreover, since Alon had asked for a favor before leaving, Radan was treating Fenia and Felin quite well.

Thanks to this, Fenia was able to handle her tasks a little faster than planned with the help of the pirates.

Today, she was currently inside the royal castle of Raxas.

With Radan, no less.

Of course, even though she entered with Radan, their purposes were different, and the timing of their entry was different.

No matter how much Fenia didn’t care about the surrounding gazes, she had no intention of publicly spreading the fact that she was traveling with the Pirate King.

Therefore, Radan was here as an envoy to negotiate the future relationship with Raxas as the Pirate King who unified the Seven Isles.

Fenia was in the royal castle to question the secret outflow of some of the illegally distributed magical items from the kingdom.

Having finished all the tasks she had to handle.

“It’s been a while. How long has it been, Fenia?”

“Since I saw your face when you came as an envoy last time… about four years?”

“Wow, it’s already been that long?”

“Well, yes?”

She was meeting Serena Raxasia, the first princess of Raxas.

The relationship between Serena Raxasia, who was smiling at Fenia, and Fenia was quite deep.

Because of the current Blue Tower Master, Selaim.

As his former disciple learning magic, Fenia, who had come to the Blue Tower due to her talent in magic, was a fellow student under him along with Serena, who also had a talent for magic.

Of course, in Serena’s case, she eventually felt the limits of her talent and returned to Raxas without completing her magic studies, but the two had already become very close due to their childhood bond.

“So, how’s your magic achievement these days?”

“Um… I think I’ll be able to surpass it soon.”

“Wow, really? That’s amazing.”

“Isn’t it?”

Serena, as a princess.

Fenia, as a deputy tower master… although they originally lived without those titles…

Anyway, how long had it been since the two of them, talking like friends without any formality, had been chatting and blooming their conversation?

####

“Ah, come to think of it, I heard some interesting news.”

“Interesting news?”

“Yeah, they say you’re living under a man’s control?”

“…Huh? Me?”

Serena nodded as she looked at Fenia, who had an incredulous expression.

“Yeah, who was it? Um… Ah, Count Palatio? I think it was some noble like that. Is it true?”

“Huh? Living under control? Absolutely not.”

“Hey~ The rumors are all over the place. They say you, who can’t hide your personality, are so demure in front of Count Palatio?”

“….”

Fenia frowned slightly at Serena’s words and tried to say something but remained silent.

Come to think of it, what she said wasn’t entirely wrong.

But she didn’t want to just accept it either.

“No, it’s really not like that.”

When Fenia weakly denied it, Serena opened her mouth with a look as if she had found something incredibly amusing.

“…You really like him, don’t you?”

“What? Who do I?”

“Count Palatio, of course.”

Fenia looked incredulous at Serena’s attitude, as if she knew everything.

“No way?!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, absolutely not – even if the sky falls, it’s not like that?!”

As Fenia frowned, recalling the nonsense Felin had said last time, Serena made a peculiar expression.

“Really?”

“Really! I don’t understand why everyone has such a misunderstanding in the first place!? I really don’t like him!”

“Hmm-“

“It’s true! Who in the world would like such a stone-hearted person?! All he knows how to do is put on a stern face and extort-“

“?”

“Extort-“

“Extort?”

Serena’s questioning.

However, Fenia couldn’t continue the story from there.

And for good reason,

‘Why, why is he here-!’

Ladan, who should have been deep in conversation with the king, was staring at her expressionlessly from the window opposite.

‘What, what is this…!’

Fenia’s shoulders trembled for a moment.

In fact, from her perspective, it wasn’t that Ladan was particularly scary.

She had seen his strength firsthand, but she didn’t think she would lose to him if they fought on land.

However, despite thinking that, the reason she was trembling was because she knew that Ladan was very likely to report this matter directly to Count Palatio.

Because of that, Fenia, with trembling pupils, desperately pretended not to see Ladan.

“-I won’t, tear it apart.”

“…What?”

“Count Palatio is a very wonderful person. He is very wonderful… and, and very cool.”

“…? I think I’ve heard you say ‘cool’ three times already.”

She desperately continued the conversation.

“You know? When you see the Count’s magic, it’s like you get drawn in. Count Palatio’s magic is very unique.”

“…Then don’t you like him?”

“That- absolutely-“

“Absolutely?”

“-might be true.”

With a creaking sound, Fenia lowered her head and spoke, and Serena, as expected, had a joyful expression.

“I see~ you like him.”

“Y-yes… that’s right.”

Fenia, with her head lowered, glanced somewhere.

At the end of her gaze was Ladan.

Nod-

Ladan, with a satisfied face, nodded once and disappeared from the window.

“Whew-“

Fenia sighed in relief.

But Serena, seeing Fenia like that…

From noble mtl dot com

‘It seems like his personality makes it hard for him to make a move easily.’

A brief moment of such thought.

‘Hmm, my friend has revealed his true feelings with such difficulty, should I help him a bit?’

……She decided to show a bit of goodwill to her irreplaceable friend.

A goodwill that Fenia never expected.

“Hehe-”

Serena, having made her decision, chuckled softly.

It was a sly smile, one that never even dreamed she was mistaken.

####

Four months later.

While gathering information to uncover the identity of the foreign news, training to increase the magic hole, and exploring magic, Alon, who was heading to the capital, Teria, in a carriage for the coronation ceremony, was.

“Count.”

“Why?”

“Do you know?”

“……What is it this time?”

“There’s a rumor going around about you these days.”

“……A rumor about me?”

“Yes.”

Evan shared a somewhat strange rumor.

“I heard that Fenia Crysinne is in love with Count Palatio.”

“……What?”

“Fenia Crysinne. The vice-lord of the Blue Tower.”

“…….”

An absurd, strange rumor.