Became the Patron of Villains

Fildagreen, the elves’ kingdom.

It had once been completely wiped out because of the Sins, but now, with the help of mages, it was regaining its old appearance again.

......If it weren’t for the incident a few months ago, when the entire west side of the royal castle got smashed to pieces all at once, it would’ve been restored even faster.

Rine, who had been looking at that scenery, lifted her gaze to the sky and thought about the question that had formed recently.

The first thing that came to mind was the Machine God.

In the past, she couldn’t even get a sense of it, but now, after devouring the Myriad Library, even if she didn’t have perfect operation, she had reached the point where she could manifest it in this world—a “manufactured god.”

In Rine Grof’s view, the Machine God could display overwhelming power with its mere manifestation.

Enough to lightly crush the Sin she’d faced before in Fildagreen.

Along with that, Rine had been feeling puzzled lately.

A fact she’d additionally learned from the Myriad Library, which she still hadn’t fully explored.

‘......The black ones were created around the same time as the Machine God.’

That plain—yet absolutely impossible-to-be-wrong—fact was creating a sense of puzzlement in Rine.

Up until now, Rine had thought the Machine God was an OOPArt—meaning, a relic from a past so ancient she couldn’t even see any records of it.

But it wasn’t.

There was mention that the Machine God had been made around the same time as the black ones.

In other words, it meant that at the time the black ones were running rampant to destroy the world, the Machine God also existed.

......And yet a Machine God that could deal with the Sins immediately, with mere manifestation, had existed.

It felt like something didn’t line up.

From the point the black ones were created, the world suffered damage close to destruction because of the black ones.

Even if that world ultimately ended to some other existence, in the end, the black ones were the starting point.

Even though there was a Machine God that could overwhelmingly press them down.

“.......”

Of course, Rine still didn’t properly know about the Sins.

Her hundreds of years had been used solely to manifest the Machine God.

At this point, when she still hadn’t devoured all the knowledge, there were many guesses Rine could make.

And among them, the inference with the highest reliability was twofold.

‘Either there’s something about the Sins I still haven’t uncovered, or else—’

Tuk—

‘—it was to stop some other existence, not the Sins.’

Rine suddenly recalled last time.

The Red Moon—

No, the night Yutia Bloodia came to find her.

“.......”

Back then, Rine went all-out.

To show that she stood on equal footing with Yutia, she brought out the Machine God.

But in an instant—

“.......”

Everything had returned to nothing.

The Machine God that had clawed its way out by tearing through the Milky Way had vanished, as if it had never existed in the first place.

The manifested god had erased its trace.

And all that existed there was the shining sky.

And then the Red Moon, who was smiling but looked like she was holding back anger, flicked Rine in the forehead.

‘The Great Moon isn’t yours, you know?’

Without realizing it, Rine rubbed at her head and recalled Yutia’s words.

Yutia spoke as if soothing a child.

......Of course, for treating her like a child, it had been an excessively painful flick, to the point it felt like her head was going to split open.

“.......”

As Rine recalled that, her expression sulked and her cheeks puffed out.

She’d always known there was a difference, but realizing it properly again like this made her extremely bitter.

Rine kept rubbing the spot she’d been hit for no reason.

“......Martial force isn’t everything.”

She comfortably rationalized it, and once again thought back on the new question she’d been holding.

About the Red Moon, Yutia Bloodia.

“.......”

A Machine God that was clearly stronger than the Sins.

And Yutia, who naturally nullified Rine’s full power.

In an instant so small Rine couldn’t perceive it.

Just by lifting her index finger.

‘......What was that, exactly?’

After that, Rine searched through the library for a long time about Yutia’s power.

She even tried looking up the very existence called “Yutia.”

But she couldn’t find it.

With how much she’d searched, it felt like at least one thread should’ve turned up.

But not a single letter of information about Yutia appeared.

As if someone had erased it.

“.......”

Of course, given the amount of knowledge stacked in the Myriad Library, there were countless “books” Rine hadn’t yet devoured.

“.......”

Her thoughts continued for a long while.

The Light created before Alon’s eyes was so faint it looked like it was about to lose its glow at any moment.

To anyone, it looked like a failure to manifest the magic.

“──────”

However, among the mages in the demonstration ground, there wasn’t a single one who thought Alon’s magic was a failure.

Even a second-tier mage who had only now been granted the qualifications to be called a mage.

Even a professor who’d researched magic for decades—

And Sharan, who was holding Alon’s magic in her own two eyes right now.

It was natural.

The magic that had only been giving off a faint light until just a moment ago—

─────!!!

—had become a gigantic sun, melting down the demonstration ground.

And at the casually created magic—

“See, I told you. That’s Light—”

“That’s impossible—”

“You saw it yourself and you’re still saying that?”

The mages who had been showing awe from the start spoke toward the ones who had been doubting Alon’s magic.

It also meant it was a phenomenon so hard to believe unless you saw it that it could split factions.

And so, the moment the mages who had witnessed it first swelled up with satisfaction and pride that their words had been right—

“Eye of the Sun—”

A question quickly settled into their eyes as well.

Because the Marquis’s magic, which they’d been sure was “complete,” started transforming one more time.

Even after all the magic ended, Sharan kept staring blankly at Alon.

More precisely, at Alon and the place where his magic had unfolded.

What the Marquis had spread out was definitely Light.

It wasn’t any trick Sharan had suspected, or anything like that.

If it was magic, her instincts—sharp enough to grasp principles just by looking at the structure—told her what she’d seen was Light, and her eyes agreed as well.

But what spread out before her eyes was nothing like the Light she’d known before.

She had clearly watched, with her own two eyes, exactly how Alon’s magic changed into a different structure.

‘How... how in the world is that possible?’

But even after witnessing it directly, she couldn’t perceive what principle made the magic change like that.

Even though she prided herself on her exceptional eyes.

No matter how she looked at it, the Marquis’s magic was impossible to interpret.

His magic was strange.

It had the structure of Light, and yet within that, the magic changed.

‘What structure did he use to weave mana that densely? How did he use expansion in there? Reverse triangulation? Lichman’s paradox?’

Countless hypotheses rose and collapsed in her head.

But no matter how her mind spun and spun, she couldn’t understand Marquis Palatio’s magic.

And a new emotion welled up along with that.

In her head, the antipathy she’d had toward Marquis Palatio was already gone.

Of course, the pride she’d had in the achievements her predecessors had stacked up over hundreds of years was the same.

What Sharan felt right now was the countless pieces of information and urge to explore, stimulated and bursting out from the overwhelming talent that had made her the youngest tower master—and one thought.

‘That isn’t ordinary magic.’

Even then, his magic wasn’t Origin, either.

“Origin” was making your own unique magical system, not twisting an existing magical system.

‘Clearly—’

Her sharp mind began gathering, one by one, the rumors she’d been hearing about Marquis Palatio for a very long time.

The Ashtalon Kingdom’s mastermind in the shadows.

A mage who handled primal magic, which barely existed at the present time.

Kalannon, the Lightning Receiver.

The Lightning Receiver Kalannon’s apostle.

Beyond that, countless rumors turned into knowledge and filled her mind.

And where she focused was—

‘Primal-form magic.’

That’s right.

Primal-form magic, almost rejected by modern-day mages.

Sharan instinctively gained an insight close to certainty.

‘In there, there’s a way to climb to the ninth tier.’

In the primal magic Alon had unfolded, there was a method to reach the ninth tier—something she’d never once found even a hint of, like chasing clouds until now.

And so—

‘I want to learn—’

Different from when she’d learned Origin and then vainly chased the invisible ninth tier, she felt an incredibly clear goal and her eyes shone—only for a moment—

“......Ah.”

She let out a low exclamation without realizing it.

Because yesterday’s incident came back to her, belatedly.

“.......”

Her pupils trembled lightly.

Even if she was crazy about magic, she wasn’t ignorant of basic human relationships and community dynamics.

Meaning, Sharan could fully guess just how huge an offense she’d committed toward Marquis Palatio.

......To the point that even if the Marquis blatantly showed hostility toward her, she’d have nothing to say.

Of course, yesterday’s Sharan could’ve brushed off Marquis Palatio’s hostility without a care, but today’s Sharan couldn’t.

‘I should’ve listened to the Blue Mage Tower master—’

With her eyes squeezed shut, regret flashed across her face.

But regret alone wasn’t going to improve this hopeless situation.

So she started turning her brain as hard as she could.

No matter what it took, she wanted to learn that magic from the Marquis.

But that magic looked like something you’d only be able to learn if you became a disciple, even if you were close—and in her current state, it didn’t look like the Marquis would ever tell Sharan.

‘...I have to be forgiven...!’

With wildly trembling eyes, she looked down at Marquis Palatio standing with dignity below.

‘So I tensed up without realizing it.’

Alon let out a sigh.

When he first demonstrated Light magic, he’d made a mistake and used no hand seals, so he canceled the magic and manifested it again.

‘......Did it go well.’

After confirming Heinkel quietly giving a thumbs-up from above the demonstration ground, Alon looked forward with an awkward expression.

Because the demonstration ground had been smashed to pieces again, just like last time.

‘......Will it be okay.’

Of course, he didn’t need to compensate for it.

No, strictly speaking, he probably should’ve had to pay for it, but—

‘Penia said it was fine.......’

Penia had said she’d handle it last time too, so it would be the same this time.

......Even so, it still made him awkward.

Feeling his current body situation—where if he stirred his mana even once more, mana depletion would definitely happen—he reflected on the complete form of “Light” he’d unfolded a moment ago.

‘This should be the completed form.’

Different from using only spell phrases and sentences, he found and used hand seals.

With that, Light—no, “Eye of the Sun,” ran more perfectly than before, and was clearly completed.

Among the hand seals he knew, this was the only one that ran properly when he tied together Light’s interpretation and the seal.

In conclusion, Alon perfectly manifested Eye of the Sun.

But he felt a strange doubt.

‘Something’s off.’

And that was because—

‘......Somehow, it feels like the usage is different.’

As the caster himself, he couldn’t erase that feeling or thought.

The first Light magic he’d made using hand seals was, no matter who looked, closer to an attack-type.

But the magic he’d made now, after even finding the hand seals, was more than an attack-type—

‘It’s like a component of some other magic.’

While he was worrying over it alone,

Alon felt the mages’ voices slowly ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) growing louder, and then turned his body toward Penia.

“Marquis!”

“Penia.”

“It manifested well.”

“I see. But I still have doubts.”

“Ah, that? That it feels like this is different from the previous magic—”

As expected, Penia, who had researched magic with him, was thinking the same thing.

“Yeah. That.”

“Mm. Still, it also feels like it’s right. You compress it to the limit and burst it to one side to let it erupt temporarily, so the destructive power is—”

Penia glanced toward the cliff.

“It feels like it’s not just enough, it’s overflowing.”

As Alon nodded like he agreed—

“Marquis Palatio—!”

Selaim hurried over from the audience seats before he knew it.

“Tower Master.”

“Whew— I watched it well! It was truly incredible! Was that really Light?!”

You could call it a different magic, but in any case, the essence itself was still Light, so Alon nodded.

“What you saw was right.”

“Keuh— I see. You truly are incredible!”

Selaim lifted Alon up a bit too much.

Around the time Alon, thinking Why is he like that? but still awkwardly accepting it—

“......Ah.”

He realized Sharan was standing behind Selaim.

With her head lowered, he couldn’t even guess what expression she was making.

Alon naturally recalled yesterday.

‘......Did she say she’d become a dog and become my disciple?’

Of course, he had no intention of taking her as a disciple.

And he had no intention of watching her bark like a dog with gusto, either, so Alon calmly—

“Tower Master. If it’s about yesterday, I don’t mind—”

“Woof.”

“......?”

He couldn’t continue.

“Woof— woofwoofwoof!!! Grrrrrrr—!”

“.......”

The demonstration ground that had been about to get noisy again was filled with silence once more.

......In that wide space that had grown so quiet, only barking echoed loudly.

“No, um— you really don’t have to—”

“Grrrrrrrr— woof woofaaaawooof!!”

“.......”

Watching Sharan bark like a dog like a lunatic, as if the dignity of a tower master had never existed in the first place—

‘W-what is this......? Did something happen to her head......?’

Alon felt fear.