Became the Patron of Villains

Heinkel, the great mage called the Cup of the Beginning, and the one who had interpreted Light magic for Alon, actually hadn’t been all that interested in this demonstration—there might have been curiosity, but not much beyond that.

There were two main reasons.

One was that Heinkel couldn’t use the magic Alon could use.

Heinkel didn’t know why, aside from Alon, no one else—or even Heinkel themself—could use it.

But from what Heinkel had vaguely noticed,

it was at least that Alon could use that kind of magic because of the eyes behind him, or because of the they attached to him.

And the only other new information Heinkel had gained this time was, at best, that the magic Alon was using was the kind of magic used by those called “True Mages” in a forgotten age.

And the other reason was that the magic interpreted this time was Light, a first-tier spell.

A very simple one.

It was such a basic spell that anyone walking the path of a mage had never failed, and must not fail, so it hadn’t seemed like something worth worrying about much.

Of course, when it came to finding hidden information, there were plenty of interesting parts in many ways.

But even taking that into account, it wasn’t the kind of spell you’d place any new expectations on.

...Up until the moment Alon demonstrated “that” Light.

[.......]

Heinkel stared blankly at the mages who had fallen into silence.

Every single one of them had their eyes wide open as they stared at Alon.

Normally, Heinkel would have secretly watched those mages and sneered.

There were plenty of mages who demonstrated an easy assignment that could be done with a finger snap, then rejoiced as if it were some great success.

But this time, Heinkel couldn’t laugh.

Heinkel hadn’t looked in a mirror directly, but their face probably wouldn’t have been much different from the mages down there.

No—Heinkel might have been trembling even more than them.

From the moment Heinkel watched Alon’s magic with their own two eyes,

Heinkel was naturally preparing to dismantle other tier spells and extract information from them.

For hundreds of years, Heinkel had only lived by soothing a bored life, teaching mages they found interesting in moderation.

But now, their curiosity spun taut.

The magic Alon had shown was enough to reignite the greed Heinkel had been killing off while waiting for a new “time.”

It captivated Heinkel.

While all those desires mixed together and Heinkel looked at Alon with trembling eyes—

‘I feel like I’m going to throw up—!’

Alon felt his stomach churn and slightly frowned.

At first, he hadn’t noticed because he’d been shocked by Light’s true power, but once he came out of that emotion, he realized mana depletion had hit him.

“Hm-hm—”

Alon endured the rising dry heaves with superhuman patience.

Honestly, if no one had been there, he would have wanted to vomit right away, but he was still an ordinary person.

Of course he was aware of the atmosphere around him.

He could feel every single person holding their breath and locking their gaze onto him, so he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of so many people.

So he naturally turned his body and started walking toward Penia, who was staring at him with a shocked expression.

And at the moment Alon was about to move—

“May I ask just one question?”

A mage in a green robe, who had been sitting in silence until just now, slowly rose from their seat.

Swallowing down his churning stomach, Alon turned to the mage as if he had no choice.

Tense, the mage worked their throat, then—

“...That magic you showed just now... what in the world was it?”

The question everyone here wanted to know.

But the question they hadn’t been able to easily say out loud.

Once again, gazes stabbed into Alon.

Forcing himself to endure the pressure, he thought about how to answer, and then—

“Light.”

He told the truth.

“...You’re saying that really was Light?”

The mage asked again in a trembling voice.

Alon hesitated, wondering if he should explain in more detail, but it was getting hard to hold back the nausea rising up from inside him, so—

Nod—

He only gave a simple nod, then turned and left the demonstration hall.

Right after Alon left.

“That was really Light?”

“No way—”

“But it definitely was. Didn’t we all see that faint light?”

“We know. There’s no way there’s an idiot here who couldn’t even recognize that.”

“Then—what in the world was what the marquis showed—?”

The heavy silence that had continued seemed like a mirage.

The moment the person involved left, the mages began opening their mouths one by one, and the demonstration hall instantly became a commotion.

“Then what the marquis showed...... could it be, Light’s next stage...?”

Because of what one mage threw out—

“Something like that exists?”

“That’s impossible!”

“But if not, we can’t explain the magic the marquis showed. That wasn’t Origin.”

“...Right. What the marquis showed was definitely Light.”

A demonstration hall that prized quiet and decorum turned noisier than a marketplace in an instant.

Exactly one hour after that.

The mages who had dragged their feet and only now appeared in the half-destroyed demonstration hall to start their own demonstration—

“...T-the marquis’s magic is amazing and all, but....”

“Our research results are......?”

Looking at the empty space with not a single person left, they couldn’t help but feel a sudden emptiness.

Right after, Alon immediately used the divinity of the primordial elf to recover his body.

Feeling the lingering aftertaste of mana depletion that hadn’t completely vanished inside him, he muttered,

“...Now I can live.”

He let out a haah of a sigh, and then Evan, who had kept wearing a blank expression, called out to him.

“Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“That... it really was Light, right?”

“How many times are you going to ask?”

“No, no....... It’s just, no matter how I think about it....... it felt really different, you know?”

Evan scratched his head.

...To be honest, Alon inwardly agreed with that too.

He truly hadn’t imagined it would become a spell with that level of power either.

“Honestly, I did think there’d still be some difference. I thought there would be, but I didn’t think it’d be to this degree. Isn’t that only natural?”

As Alon affirmed with silence, Penia beside him also nodded.

“Right....... Light is everyday magic, after all. But there’s something even scarier.”

“What is it?”

“...You didn’t form the hand seals, did you?”

At Penia’s words, Alon slowly nodded.

It was exactly as Penia mentioned.

What Alon gained this time with Heinkel’s help ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) was only five spell-phrases.

He hadn’t obtained the hand seals.

Meaning, the magic Alon demonstrated this time still wasn’t complete yet.

“...Don’t tell me that power wasn’t even the finished product?”

“It’s like last time with Ice Crystal Flower Spear. You followed the marquis around, so you saw it, didn’t you?”

Penia answered Evan’s blank question crisply.

Evan, who had fallen silent for a moment, then said,

“Marquis, when you use that, please use it from far away if at all possible.”

“...All of a sudden?”

“I don’t want to suddenly get roasted.”

Evan said it firmly, recalling Ice Crystal Flower Spear.

Seeing that, Penia continued.

“It probably isn’t fixed like that. There’s a high chance it’ll be a different form.”

“I think so too.”

“...Seriously, the more you dig into past magic, the more it makes you want to explore. To the point I want to clear everything away right now and research.”

“Same.”

Alon nodded as if agreeing.

In truth, up until now, Alon’s magic research had mostly been like that.

Grasping at a tiny hint in a vast ocean and moving forward little by little.

But now?

A signpost Alon had been searching for had appeared.

And it was a signpost both of them knew very well: tier magic.

Because of that, Alon’s mind was currently full of anticipation.

He knew extracting information from magic itself was an absurdly difficult task, but that anticipation was enough to move Alon.

So.

‘Should I spend a little more time and figure out the hand seals first? No, figuring out the hand seals is important, but maybe it’d be better to learn the method of extracting information from tier magic more precisely from Heinkel—’

While Alon was burning with motivation—

[Is your body feeling better?]

Heinkel appeared, coming right through the wall.

“I’m fine.”

At Alon’s affirmation, Heinkel, as if they’d been waiting, immediately brought up the topic.

[Then I want to get to the point now.]

“...What?”

[I want to properly research tier magic, but could you cooperate? I hate to say this, but you’re having a hard time exploring tier magic, aren’t you?]

Alon nodded.

In reality, he was struggling with extracting information from tier magic itself.

[I’ll help you with that.]

“Then I—”

[What you have to do is simple. Just keep showing magic. That’s all.]

Heinkel looked somewhere and seemed to flinch, but then their complexion settled, and they quickly turned their gaze back.

“I don’t think I have a reason to refuse.”

[Then the deal is made.]

They could exchange satisfied smiles.

A day passed after that.

After learning properly from Heinkel how to extract information from tier magic, Alon left the conference.

He wanted to stay a little longer, but he couldn’t leave Ryang-a unattended for too long.

“Mmm— It’s a shame. I kind of wish we could’ve learned for a few more days.”

Penia muttered with slightly drooping shoulders, and Alon replied.

“But we learned everything we needed.”

“That’s true. And over there, was it Sparrow? We attached that person, so Heinkel-nim will make faster progress researching tier magic too.”

When leaving the conference, thinking it might help Heinkel, Alon handed over the jewel containing Sparrow.

“Then since Heinkel-nim said they’d do the first tier, we’ll do Magic Bolt?”

“Before that, let’s start by finding the hand seals.”

“That obviously has to come first.”

While Alon and Penia were talking about future plans—

“Ah, Marquis. I have something to report.”

“Information?”

Evan came with a report.

“Yes. The strange phenomenon revealed in Ashtalon. They say they’re deploying strong people to stop it.”

“...Strong people?”

“Yes, it looks like about three are being deployed.”

“Is Historia participating too?”

“No? I don’t think Historia was included....... I heard it’s someone in the north, the Dragon King, and a hidden person? Those three.”

“I see.”

“Ah. And we also have news related to our Divine Land.”

“What is it?”

Alon listened closely to Evan’s voice.

Evan made an “Mmm—” sound and scratched his head.

“Um, they said the number of people in Divine Land increased.”

“People......?”

“Yes.”

“...Didn’t they say it would decrease?”

“I don’t know the exact reason. But it’s true that people are still continuing to enter Divine Land.”

“...Why?”

“...How would I know? Well....... It could be that more people are coming than leaving?”

“It feels like it’s been quite a while already.”

“That’s true, but....... Ah, how about you check your divinity once?”

At Evan’s suggestion as if Evan had just thought of it, Alon immediately caught the intent and closed his eyes.

And.

“...?”

He opened them.

“Did you see it?”

Evan asked right away.

But Alon didn’t answer, and closed his eyes again.

“?”

Evan tilted his head.

But Alon opened his eyes wide again and—

“???”

filled his head with question marks as if he couldn’t understand, then closed his eyes once more.

And there.

‘......What is this?’

...There was a Divine Land planet that had become absurdly huge.

In the bewildering situation,

he instinctively gained one single realization.

‘What? What is happening......???’

That something he couldn’t handle was happening to his cute little Divine Land tycoon.