Count Zenonia stared blankly ahead.

Before her was Marquis Filboid, the leader of the noble faction and someone whose power in the political world could not be ignored, bowing his head to Count Palatio.

‘What…?’ 

Though Count Zenonia had once operated mainly in the underworld before creating Kalpha, that didn’t mean she was entirely ignorant of current politics.

After all, the Zenonia family had, at times, maneuvered between factions to reap benefits.

But even if she had never been involved in politics, this situation was astonishing.

Among nobles entrenched in politics, those with significant authority never bow to others.

In contrast to the underworld, where one might bow in front and stab in the back to achieve one’s goals, the political world of nobles valued justification, principle, and prestige.

Such a gesture was never made lightly.

In a world where justification, principle, and prestige determined almost everything, bowing to someone meant giving them tremendous leverage, both internally and externally.

‘How…?’ 

Count Zenonia turned her gaze to Count Palatio.

Even though Marquis Filboid was essentially declaring his defeat, Palatio’s expression showed no hint of surprise.

It was as if he had anticipated this outcome all along.

Feeling a tingling sensation at her fingertips, Count Zenonia couldn’t help but smile.

‘As expected, remarkable.’ 

Of course, she had no idea what method Count Palatio had used to force Marquis Filboid to admit defeat, and honestly, she couldn’t even imagine.

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But what mattered to her was the power itself, so she could only look at Count Palatio with admiration.

‘…What is this?’ 

Meanwhile, Alon was watching Marquis Filboid, bewildered, as he bowed his head.

Silence.

Though Alon was not silent by choice, he was simply trying to grasp what was happening, as he had no idea either.

‘Did I do something?’ 

Alon, who had even forgotten to chew the financier in his mouth, was racking his brain, but soon shook his head.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t recall doing anything, and besides, he had been too busy to even consider dealing with Marquis Filboid.

‘…Did a rumor spread?’ 

Naturally, Alon began considering other reasons.

‘Come to think of it, there had been rumors lately about my closeness with Seolrang.’ 

Alon thought of Duke Altia and Count Zenonia, who knew about the rumors spreading from the Colony, but soon dismissed that theory.

While it was true that he had been treated with respect by other nobles after the rumors spread, it still didn’t make sense for Marquis Filboid to bow just because of Seolrang.

As Alon continued to review one hypothesis after another, he eventually arrived at only one conclusion.

‘What in the world did these two do?’ 

Alon subtly glanced over at Duke Altia and Count Zenonia, who were both staring intently at him.

Even though he was ignorant of politics, he knew enough to realize how absurd it was for the leader of a faction to bow his head like this, so Alon found himself staring blankly at the two of them.

‘…Ah.’ 

He suddenly recalled that the two women behind him were supposed to become two of the three hidden powers of the Asterian Kingdom.

‘I need to be careful.’ 

Just as Alon finished his musings,

“Truly, I have lost…”

Marquis Filboid, the leader of the noble faction who had never bowed in public before, lowered his head even further and begged for forgiveness.

And there was no trace of shame or anger in the Marquis’ expression.

In fact, his face was filled with fear.

The reason for his fear was a single letter he had received a few days ago.

Shortly after Duke Limgrave had been dragged to the Holy Kingdom after receiving a conversion letter, Filboid had received a letter as well.

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The letter didn’t contain much.

There was only a small magical orb and a single sentence.

But that small magical orb and single sentence were enough to instill a chilling fear in Marquis Filboid.

Because the magical orb, which was capable of storing a one-time video, had shown:

[A-ah, I really don’t know anything. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry~] 

The image of Duke Limgrave, trembling uncontrollably, strapped to a white chair, as if triggered by a seizure, repenting.

And after the magical orb finished playing, it shattered into pieces, leaving behind only the letter.

[You’re next.]

That single sentence was written.

But even that alone was enough to instill fear in Marquis Filboid, and he could easily guess where this backlash was coming from.

‘Count Palatio…!’

Marquis Filboid couldn’t understand how Count Palatio had connections within the Holy Kingdom stronger than the high-ranking cardinals they had bribed.

However, that wasn’t the important issue.

What mattered was that Duke Limgrave, who had been scheming with him to bring down Count Palatio, had been caught in the backlash and dragged to the Holy Kingdom, where he was left half-destroyed.

And the next target had been decided to be himself.

If he hadn’t received this letter, Marquis Filboid would never have bowed to Count Palatio.

While receiving a conversion letter would certainly be a serious political issue, as long as he wasn’t truly in league with heretics, there wouldn’t be any significant personal danger.

But Duke Limgrave had suffered this fate despite having no ties to heretics.

In other words, it was highly likely that Duke Limgrave’s downfall was entirely due to Count Palatio’s scheming.

Not wanting to be dragged off to the Holy Kingdom and meet the same fate as the Duke, Filboid, overcome by continuous fear, eventually bowed his head.

“Please~!”

And not just bowing his head—he dropped to his knees, completely prostrate on the floor.

It was a desperate plea, expressing his desire to abandon his political career and live out the rest of his life in peaceful retirement.

In response,

‘Amazing…!’

‘As expected of the Count…!’

Count Zenonia and Duke Altia looked at Alon with eyes full of admiration.

‘…Amazing. What in the world did he do?’

Alon glanced at Count Zenonia and Duke Altia with a somewhat uneasy expression.

That day,

“…I’ll consider it.”

Alon, muttering something even he didn’t fully understand, left the ballroom under everyone’s gaze.

This event cleanly erased any suspicion that Count Palatio might merely be a proxy leader to allow Altia and Zenonia to move more freely, which had lingered since Kalpha’s founding.

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***

About three days after the debate began, Alon left the Verityun estate and started moving east.

The purpose of this journey was to participate in the Magic Society, which was essentially the reason for this trip.

Because of this, he left the debate, which still had about two days remaining, and on the fifth day of his journey toward Blugill, a territory near the Magic Society, as indicated in the letter from Liyan,

Alon heard from Evan that Marquis Filboid had finally received a conversion letter.

“He was dragged off in the end, huh…”

“Huh? Wasn’t that your doing, Count?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“Do you really think I had the time for that while I was with you the whole time?”

“Well, that’s true…”

Evan hesitated, then revealed his thoughts.

“These days… whenever I see you, Count, I get the feeling that you’re hiding something.”

“Me? What would I be hiding?”

“I don’t know… just, magic and other things. Not too long ago, you said you weren’t doing anything, but now you’re suddenly the leader of a faction.”

Alon paused, thinking for a moment, then replied,

“…Becoming the leader was really just a coincidence.”

“Is it even possible to become a leader by coincidence…?”

As he considered the absurdity of his situation, even for a moment,

“It seems we’re almost there.”

Evan, with a relaxed expression, pointed out that they were near Blugill, a territory of the Kingdom of Ashtalon, close to the Magic Society.

Shortly after, Alon met Liyan, who was with magicians from the Red Tower at their arranged meeting place.

“Hello, Count.”

“Good to see you.”

Unlike before, Liyan bowed courteously, and they headed straight for the Magic Society.

Thanks to traveling by carriage as soon as they arrived in Blugill, they reached the central tower while the sun was still up.

“Wow… it’s huge,” Evan said in awe as soon as he saw the central tower.

Alon, too, was impressed as he gazed up at the tower.

Of course, he had seen illustrations of the tower many times when playing Psychedelia, but seeing it in person was entirely different.

‘Isn’t this taller than Lotte Tower?’

Unlike the in-game scenery he had seen before, the presence of such a towering structure in a fantasy world left him feeling overwhelmed.

As he compared the size of the tower to massive buildings he had seen in real life, he wondered how long he had been staring up at it.

“It’s really big, isn’t it?”

“Indeed.”

“Let’s head inside.”

Alon entered the tower alongside Liyan.

“As far as I know, on the first day, the Green Tower is set to present the new theory they recently established. After that, there should be a small friendly competition. Then, tomorrow—”

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Alon listened to Liyan’s explanations as they walked inside.

“There aren’t as many people as I expected.”

“Well, it’s not the main event of the grand conference.”

“The Grand Conference?”

“Oh, did I forget to explain that?” 

As Liyan began explaining again, Alon nodded in understanding.

“So, to summarize, the Grand Conference is the gathering where all the Tower Masters participate.”

“That’s right. Because of that, there are usually quite a lot of magicians at the Grand Conference. It’s the same with this one too.”

As Alon nodded again, acknowledging this new detail that wasn’t present in the game, 

“Hah, these idiots, seriously.”

“What? That’s way too harsh!”

“Harsh? If they can’t even understand this much, they’re definitely idiots. Don’t you agree?”

Hearing the familiar voice filled with irritation coming from one side of the central tower, Alon raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Liyan sighed deeply.

“Looks like someone’s picking a fight with the Blue Vice-Tower Master again.”

“The Blue Vice-Tower Master?”

“Yes. I’m sure you know by now, but she’s someone who thinks very highly of herself, so she’s probably causing another argument.”

Recalling the # Nоvеlight # previous time when Liyan had shown open disdain for the Blue Tower, Alon was about to ask her a question when,

“Hey! Let’s do it again!”

“What’s there to redo, you fools? Do you really think you can beat me? What, are you going to bring twenty people this time because ten weren’t enough?”

“Hey!!”

From the direction of the friendly competition space, a very angry group of magicians emerged, led by Penia, who was smirking openly as she walked.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Penia noticed Liyan and curled her lips into a sly grin.

“Well, well, who do we have here? Isn’t it the half-baked magician who couldn’t even hold her own against me last year?”

Her taunt was obvious.

Liyan furrowed her brows and glared at Penia, but the latter just laughed it off as if Liyan’s anger was beneath her notice.

“What’s this? Did you bring a friend this time to help you stand up to—”

She shifted her gaze to the right.

“Uh…?”

She froze.

“?”

Her expression went pale.

Just moments ago, Penia had been mocking everyone around her as if they were beneath her, but now, it was as if she had completely shut down. Liyan, confused by the sudden change, looked at her in bewilderment.

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“H-Hello…!”

The words Penia finally blurted out left Liyan speechless.

She had spoken in formal speech.

The fact that Penia, who Liyan had never imagined would ever use polite language, was speaking so deferentially for the first time left Liyan stunned.

And then,

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Penia, who was infamous as a notorious troublemaker among magicians despite being hailed as a genius by outsiders, responded like a soldier snapped to attention.

Not just Liyan, but the angry magicians who had followed Penia were also left gaping in silence, staring at Count Palatio, who had somehow managed to make the impossible happen right before their eyes.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep