I Became the Patron of Villains

49. The Magic Society (2)

Penia, the deputy tower master of the Blue Wizard’s Tower, was a genius, but there weren’t many wizards who liked her.

There were three reasons for this.

Because she was extremely rude.

Because she was extremely rude.

And because she was extremely rude.

Basically, wizards gather around those with high ranks, regardless of their personality.

For wizards, what mattered was not the individual’s personality, but their research.

In other words, no matter how terrible their personality, if they could learn something, they would try to gain knowledge from them.

But even such wizards couldn’t stay by Penia’s side.

She was a genius, but unbearably arrogant.

As a result, Penia’s presence always created various disturbances in the society.

No matter which wizard she met, if they weren’t of tower master level, she would openly ignore them, inevitably causing conflicts.

Therefore, all wizards called her a scoundrel and disliked her. The wizard Milan from the Green Tower, who had just fought with Penia, was no exception.

He had a lot of grievances against Penia.

To the extent that it had been his long-cherished wish for seven years to suppress her with magic and make her apologize every time they met.

Since he became a proper member of the tower, able to present theories at the society, he had been tormented by her.

So, Milan couldn’t understand the situation unfolding before his eyes.

“How long has it been? …Hmm, it seems like more than half a year.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

“You don’t have to be so formal. I think I told you last time that you could speak casually.”

“S-Should I speak casually…?”

“Ah, come to think of it, I told you to do whatever is comfortable. Do as you please.”

“Yes…!”

Milan blinked unconsciously as he watched Fenia sigh in relief, as if she was very happy to continue speaking formally.

‘Is this… illusion magic?’

He even cast a dispel spell, wondering if he had fallen under Fenia’s malicious illusion magic, but the situation before his eyes remained unchanged.

“Anyway, it’s nice to see you here.”

“I-I’m glad to see you too!”

Fenia, who wouldn’t even speak formally unless it was to a tower master, was showing her belly like a neighborhood puppy beyond a gentle lamb, shocking everyone.

…Even Milan’s master, who was beside him, had used the dispel spell more than five times due to the intensity of the shock.

But their shock didn’t end there.

“Come to think of it, what happened?”

“Ah, that-“

“Not to meddle, but isn’t it good for wizards to get along?”

It wasn’t even a reprimand.

Just a simple remark.

However, upon hearing those words, Fenia turned her body and looked at Milan.

“I’m sorry!”

She apologized.

“???”

At that moment, all the wizards had a dumbfounded expression.

The sight of that scoundrel, who seemed incapable of apologizing, bowing her head and apologizing while speaking formally, was excessively surreal.

Likewise, even Milan, who had achieved his long-cherished wish after seven years so futilely, couldn’t react at all despite receiving the apology he had dreamed of from Fenia.

“No… how?”

Rian, who was with Alon, also looked back and forth between Fenia and him with an expression of disbelief.

A little while later.

“Then, see you tomorrow.”

“Y-Yes…!”

As she nodded her head vigorously at the man’s words and disappeared hurriedly, all eyes soon turned to one man.

To Count Palatio, who not only tamed that scoundrel into a gentle lamb but could handle her freely.

‘…She seems even more rigid than last time.’

And Alon, who was watching Fenia running away in the distance, thought so.

“?”

Recalling the wizards and Riyan nearby who were staring at him with their mouths agape.

‘…Did I do something wrong?’

He quietly rolled his eyes, feeling a bit embarrassed, and gauged the situation.

After Fenia disappeared barefoot.

Similarly, the wizards who had been watching Alon realized that he was the Count of Palatio and left, uttering mysterious exclamations(?).

“…Fenia is called a scoundrel?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting.”

Alon tilted his head as he listened to Riyan talk about Fenia.

‘…I knew Fenia was extremely arrogant in the game… but I didn’t know he was called a scoundrel among the wizards… Well, it wasn’t an important setting, so it’s understandable that it didn’t come up.’

Thinking about it, the protagonist recruiting Fenia as a companion happens a few years from now, and it was always when the kingdom was half-destroyed, so he shrugged his shoulders at the thought.

“…Rather, I want to ask you that. How is that scoundrel so quiet in front of you, Count?”

At Riyan’s continued question, Alon was silent for a moment.

Somewhat amusingly, Alon also didn’t really know what kind of misunderstanding Fenia had to act that way.

But as he pondered how to answer, thinking it would be awkward to just say he didn’t know.

“Here it is.”

He turned his gaze to Riyan’s voice that soon followed.

“This is…”

“A tier transfer device.”

There stood a structure that resembled an elevator from his previous world.

“So, the 38th floor… you said you were going to the library?”

Recalling what he had requested before coming to the tower, Alon nodded at Riyan’s words.

“That’s right. Can I go in now?”

“Yes, but I have something to prepare in advance, so I won’t be able to stay with you.”

“You don’t need to stay with me. I’m just curious about the library.”

In fact, considering what he had to do in the library, it was better for Alon if Riyan wasn’t there, so when he nodded, Riyan pressed the button on the right side of the structure.

“So how can you handle Fenia like that, Count?”

Just as Riyan asked that question again.

Vroom-!

With a loud resonance, the door of the inter-level transfer device, which had been firmly closed until just a moment ago, opened.

“……”

The expression of Liyan, who had been smiling lightly until just a moment ago, crumpled mercilessly.

Her sudden change of emotion.

Alon naturally turned his head to where her gaze was directed, and at the place where their eyes met, a man who seemed to be dissatisfied with the world was walking out.

And then.

“Oh, who is this? Isn’t it our cute Liyan?”

“……Baruch.”

Liyan spoke with a blatant expression of dislike at the man’s words, who was smiling with a not-so-friendly smile.

“Did you come to see me?”

“No way.”

“Really? I wanted to see you. That’s a shame.”

The man called Baruch chuckled and then turned his gaze from Liyan, who was glaring at him, to Alon.

“Who? A face I haven’t seen before.”

“He’s Count Palatio.”

At Liyan’s words, Baruch briefly pondered and then scanned Alon up and down.

With a gaze that felt like a superior looking down on an inferior, which wasn’t very pleasant, he soon seemed to recall something and let out a low exclamation, “Ah.”

“Oh, that person? The one who helped deal with the foreign entity that appeared after hundreds of years?”

Baruch, with a sly smile, nodded to himself.

“Nice to meet you, Count Palatio. I am Baruch, a mage of the Purple Tower. See you next time.”

He slightly nodded his head to Alon and then passed by him.

A moment later.

‘……The son of the Purple Tower Lord……’

Riding the inter-level transfer device, Alon felt his whole body floating and recalled the story Liyan had told him earlier.

‘……I don’t think he ever appeared in the game.’

Although he didn’t believe in physiognomy, Alon, who was thinking about how Baruch had acted like a real jerk, soon decided to stop caring about him.

According to Liyan’s story, he seemed to do shady things like stealing research results and presenting them as his own, or subtly badmouthing others behind their backs, but he wasn’t an important person to Alon.

After thinking that, some time passed.

Wooong-!

“Oh.”

With a great resonant sound, the closed door opened, and Alon couldn’t help but exclaim at the sight before him.

The scene before his eyes was truly a space made up of endless books.

The unreal space, befitting the name of the Wizard’s Tower, was covered with bookshelves and books from the ground one stepped on to the ceiling, making him exclaim involuntarily.

‘There are two things to find here.’

For a moment, Alon immediately began to move his body and walk among the numerous books.

Although he was surprised, he moved without hesitation as if he was already familiar with the place, having been there dozens of times through the game, but it took a little more time than expected because reality was different from the game.

However, it wasn’t long before he found a book.

A book with a particularly black cover, unlike the other books.

‘This is it.’

He felt satisfaction beyond his expressionless face as he took out the book and checked it.

The cover of the book he took out had nothing written on it.

It was a book with no title or author, made by someone unknown, but he opened it without hesitation and confirmed the pages, which were as blank as the black cover.

However, as if it were nothing, he continued to turn the blank pages one by one.

When about a third of the pages had been turned, Alon finally found the secret space created in the book.

‘Found it.’

Inside, he found a piece of jewelry that could be worn on a finger.

A black ring that seemed to swallow even light, just like the clothes he was wearing.

Alon naturally put it in his pocket and returned the book to its original place.

‘With this, I’ve found the first one- the second one will take more time, so I’ll just prepare for now and go.’

Alon confirmed the texture of the ring in his pocket and immediately began to prepare to take the second item.

‘This is the end, the rest… I’ll come back in two days.’

He set the second hand of the large broken clock on the left side of the library, which seemed to be no longer in use, to 12, regardless of the current time, and fiddled with the ring again.

‘I want to use it right away.’

As he expected, this ring would greatly help with his current magic use, so he wanted to use magic right away.

‘…Well, it’s not like I only have time today.’

He shrugged his shoulders, recalling that it was already late evening, and left the library.

The next day, after obtaining what he wanted.

The magic society began.

And then.

Right after the presentation of the Green Wizard at the conference, during the friendly match attended by most of the wizards who came to the conference.

“I would like to test my skills against Count Palatio, who handled the foreign press in the North for the first time in hundreds of years. What do you think?”

Alon received a duel request.

From Baruch, the son of the Purple Tower Lord, who was smiling slyly as if he had some ulterior motive.