I Became the Patron of Villains

181. Birth, day……? (2)

“Marquis, this time you must be pleased?”

“Really?”

“Yes, the kids all said they would celebrate your birthday, didn’t they?”

Birthday, birthday.

Alon cleared his throat for no reason.

“Indeed, I am grateful.”

“Oh, pretending to be calm.”

“It’s not pretending to be calm, it’s just how I feel.”

“For someone who says that, your lips are subtly curling up?”

Alon gently covered his mouth with his hand.

To be honest, it was true that he was somewhat looking forward to it.

He had never received a birthday present from the ones he had supported until now.

Of course, it was natural since he had never really told them his exact birth date.

Moreover, he didn’t save and support the kids to receive birthday presents, so he wasn’t disappointed.

……Really.

“Oh, when Rine said she would give you a present last time but didn’t send anything, you were sulking, weren’t you?”

“I don’t think my expression changed much.”

“Now, it’s obvious.”

“……Was it noticeable?”

“Rather than you showing it, after serving you for nearly 10 years, I could tell to some extent.”

“Really……?”

“Yes.”

As Alon awkwardly touched the corner of his mouth,

[Hmph, after watching for 10 years, it’s funny that you couldn’t notice more than that.]

Basiliora, who had been quiet until a moment ago, crawled out.

“Here we go again.”

Now, even when Basiliora just appeared, Evan clicked his tongue.

Not to be outdone, Basiliora retaliated.

[Ha, for a human, you have no manners. I was just telling the truth, so why are you reacting like that?]

“What truth?”

[It’s been 10 years, and you’re only now starting to understand a little? Doesn’t that just mean you haven’t been fulfilling your duties as a vassal?]

“I feel like giving you a flick on the forehead. So, you can immediately understand the Marquis’s feelings just by looking at him, is that it?”

Basiliora straightened his insignificant body with confidence.

[I don’t know.]

“?”

[Why that expression?]

“You were just ranting about understanding expressions a moment ago!”

[That’s your problem. Whether I understand expressions or not doesn’t matter at all, does it? Am I a vassal of Alon? No, I am-]

“You are?”

[A god!]

Basiliora burst into a villainous laugh.

Evan turned his head towards Alon, as if Basiliora wasn’t worth responding to.

“Marquis.”

“Why?”

“You said you were going to the Tower of Magic conference soon, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

Evan pointed at Basiliora with his chin.

“Why don’t we leave it to that Heinkel or whatever his name is?”

[!? What are you suddenly talking about! I was just saying the right thing! Why is the conversation going that way…!]

“Maybe we should.”

[Nooo!!!]

Just thinking about those days seemed to revive his trauma, and Basiliora suddenly twisted his whole body.

[Squeak-]

Kkamangi looked at Basiliora pitifully and shook his head.

“Marquis, don’t you think we don’t need this guy anymore?”

Evan didn’t stop.

“Basiliora, you mean?”

“Yes, haven’t we hardly used him since last time?”

“Hmm- we’ve only used him once.”

“Since it has come to this, let’s just hand it over to Heinkel.”

[?! What are you talking about! Speak some sense, you fool!!!]

Basiliora, now foaming at the mouth in shock, looked at Alon as if to say it was unfair.

[It’s not that I don’t want to fight, it’s just that you don’t summon me!!]

“That’s not entirely wrong.”

Basiliora’s voice was louder than usual, perhaps because he genuinely didn’t want to go to Heinkel.

Indeed, Basiliora was one of the most powerful forces Alon could use.

Of course, he wasn’t useless.

Though he now appeared as a stubby snake about 30cm long, his essence was divine.

‘And-‘

Alon glanced down at Kkamangi and Basiliora.

What Kailas had once told him,

To properly handle the Shadow Dragon, he needed to practice.

And what the Shadow Dragon could do.

If that went well-

‘I could make Basiliora even stronger than he is now.’

Having made his decision, Alon looked down at the bracelet on his wrist, ‘The Savior of the Wandering.’

‘It’s about time to recharge it, maybe I should do it before stopping by the Elf village.’

He organized the necessary plans in his mind.

[You beastly human! Are you trying to send me to hell with your mind tricks!?]

“How does it feel to have your life threatened by a beast? And how does it feel to have a win rate of less than 50% against that beast?”

[Don’t talk nonsense! I’m over half and you’re below that!]

Watching the two of them still getting heated over useless arguments.

Alon relaxed in the scorching desert heat.

####

It was about two weeks later that Alon arrived at the Palatio estate.

“Is that, the auction house?”

Occupying the center of the Marquis’ estate.

A massive building that hadn’t been there when he left.

“So they say.”

“……It’s huge.”

Is that all?

Buildings were springing up like mushrooms around the massive auction house.

Alon couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.

……Of course, he hadn’t done anything himself.

In a slightly excited state, he passed the gigantic auction house and arrived at the marquis’ mansion.

What greeted him was.

“……What is this?”

“Documents.”

“……This much?”

“Yes.”

From the floor to the ceiling.

To anyone else, it would look like a towering stack of papers.

Alon sighed.

The pride that had filled his heart was replaced by gloom.

‘Going straight to the elf village was impossible from the start.’

Of course, it wouldn’t be a big problem if he didn’t handle it right away.

He had postponed it many times before.

But one thing was painfully clear.

Eventually, he would have to deal with all those documents.

“Whew-“

A complicated sigh echoed through the office.

How could he handle all this alone……

“Evan.”

“Yes.”

“Post a notice.”

“What kind of notice?”

“To find someone to handle the office work.”

However.

“……Posting a notice is fine, but shouldn’t the marquis handle this kind of work himself? Most of these documents are probably important.”

“……Is that so?”

“Of course. Usually, if you leave this kind of thing to someone else, they’ll just skim off the top.”

Nothing in this world comes easy.

Alon let out a groan.

“……Well, is there anyone trustworthy?”

“Hmm- Not sure. Maybe that one?”

[Damn.]

Basiliora’s short interjection.

Evan continued speaking as if he didn’t care.

“Well, but I’m terrible at paperwork.”

“Hmm-”

Suddenly, a face came to mind.

‘……Should I ask Yutia?’

Alon pondered for a moment but soon stopped overthinking and sat down.

After all, it takes time to hire someone.

Therefore.

“……Shall I give it a try?”

Alon picked up a document.

He was in a good mood after returning for the first time in two months.

Thinking it was better than being outside, he flipped through the documents,

“……Hmm?”

Suddenly, a clever idea struck him.

####

Alon managed to process all the piles of documents stacked from floor to ceiling in just a week.

How was it possible?

“Huff- Huff-”

Thanks to the promising talent, Fenia Crysinne.

Even after faithfully fulfilling her role as Alon’s magic research assistant, Fenia did not return to the magic tower.

She had set up a lab in the second office.

It was to conduct experiments with the catalyst Alon had given her.

‘A talent was right under my nose.’

Alon took her and assigned her to assist with paperwork.

Of course, at first, she was not pleased.

She said she would do it, but her eyes strongly argued, ‘Why on earth me?’

But now.

“Is it… all done?”

“Yes. Good job. Thanks to you, we saved some time.”

“That’s a relief.”

Despite having worked overtime for several consecutive days, Fenia was genuinely happy.

The reason she could be so.

It was because of the condition Alon had presented to Fenia.

‘I only told her that I would arrange for her to learn magic from Heinkel regularly, yet she handled it so enthusiastically.’

Alon recalled Fenia from the past few days.

Handling not one or two, but as many as eight pens simultaneously.

She was like a reassuring Asura, and he almost put down his pen to applaud her.

‘What on earth is magic?’

Despite her stamina being nearly exhausted, Fenia never lost her smile.

What on earth was magic to her?

Why did she rush into tasks that others would avoid without hesitation?

Alon, who had an image of a strict magician in his mind.

‘…Rather, being a magician might be the easiest thing in some sense.’

He decided to correct that image from today.

“Alright, take a rest today. From tomorrow, let’s start magic research.”

“Understood—… What?”

Fenia, who answered reflexively, widened her eyes as if they would pop out.

As if he knew everything, Alon patted her shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to tell Heinkel about this as well.”

“Gasp! Understood…!”

It didn’t take even a second.

Until the face that was about to become gloomy regained its vitality.

Penny, who suddenly seemed to have newfound energy, dashed out.

Watching that scene.

‘…As expected, being a magician is easy.’

Alon quietly nodded.

####

The morning of Alon’s birthday, which had come before he knew it.

Alon, who woke up early, looked beside his pillow.

There was Kkamang, now very familiar, curled up and sleeping.

After gently stroking the soft black fur, he got out of bed.

‘Is it today?’

Even in his original life, and after being possessed in this place, he had never considered birthdays special.

However, now that the kids said they had prepared a gift, it felt different from usual.

‘What kind of gift could it be?’

A thought that came naturally while changing clothes.

He was by no means expecting an expensive gift.

This anticipation was an emotion unrelated to the ‘type of gift.’

Whatever it was, the fact that the kids had ‘prepared it for him’ tickled Alon’s heart.

Alon himself felt unfamiliar with this strange emotion.

‘Well, good things are good.’

He let out a faint smile and drew back the curtains covering the window.

“…?”

Soon, he discovered something strange.

A statue of enormous size, easily surpassing the Marquis’ mansion and even lightly overwhelming the walls of the Palatio estate.

“…???”

A gigantic statue of himself, Alon, with a black coat fluttering and one hand leisurely raised, with huge diamonds embedded in both eyes—

It stood tall in the middle of the estate.

Alon stood there, frozen in place for a long time.

Then.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, he felt a strange sense of discomfort.

The source of the strange discomfort was the posture of the statue.

It was incredibly familiar.

Where had he seen it before?

As he retraced his memories.

“Ah?”

He realized.

That posture-

“That…”

It was similar to the posture of the statue of the northern leader he had seen in his previous life.

…The birthday had begun.