~ Chapter 19: The consequences of my actions… ~

The Urkin was stripped of all noteworthy materials, including the eyes and brain, which was no bigger than a baby’s fist. Angius and Rufus received the report of the battle from me, while Nanya kept watch from far away. I made sure to leave out the small detail of her missing panties and what happened with me and Ayuseya that morning.

The sun had set by the time we were on our way back to the academy. Although I carried all three of them with my [Telekinezy] ability, only Nanya seemed to be in a bad mood. Angius and Rufus were talking about the bountiful harvest as well as how they could use the many materials for their classes. From what I heard, Zertan would be very pleased to get his hands on the Urkin’s organs, but for what reason, even they didn’t know.

After we arrived at the academy, Rufus and Angius returned to their rooms, while Nanya stayed back and waited until they were gone. I knew I was supposed to receive a long sermon from her, but instead of hearing how mad she was, there was a graveyard silence between us.

The teenage-looking teacher was staring at the ground with her hands crossed at her chest. She wore a difficult expression on her face as if something serious was troubling her. I was standing right there, in front of her.

A few minutes passed before she finally said anything, but her words weren’t a scold, but a simple question.

“Illsy… did the Teslov princess ask you to get rid her of her curses?”

There was no point in lying to Nanya, and I didn’t wish to upset her anymore, so I spoke honestly.

“No… She was playing the violin in the gardens, and I happened to listen to her a couple of times. When I finally introduced myself, she didn’t mention anything about them. It wasn’t until I asked her why she was using the blackboard to speak that I found out. Since I really enjoyed listening to her play, I couldn’t bear to know that such a talented player was robbed of her voice because of a stupid curse, so I offered to try to remove it for her. She actually didn’t believe me at first and was very skeptical. Actually, she didn’t even expect that I would try the family one. In the end, I cured them, but I don’t see what the big deal is. I cured Shanteya as well.” I shrugged.

They were just a bit costly. Honestly speaking, I’m wondering why the kingdom’s priests weren’t able to do it. If they worked together, maybe they could have gathered the required Magic Energy? I thought calmly, but I had no idea just how serious and important the removal of any sort of curse was.

“Illsy, I wasn’t joking when I said those sort of things should be impossible to remove.” she told me with a serious expression on her face.

I gulped.

“What do you mean? I know they are costly, but…” I said.

“Costly? Illsy, even if a thousand priests gathered to undo a curse like that, it still wouldn’t work. The previous kings of the Teslov Kingdom tried various things to have themselves or their children free of it!” she retorted.

“But… what about dispels or purification spells?” I asked a bit confused by her words.

If what she was saying was the truth, then it was impossible for them not to have tried such methods.

“They tried it… but there’s no spell capable of removing something like that. It’s said that the 78th king actually tried black magic to remove it, but all he ended up doing was slaughter half of the mage population of the country and reduce the duration of the curse by 200 generations. Because of him, the Paramanium Kingdom was able to launch a preemptive strike and take over most of their territory. At that time, it was called The Great Draconic Teslov Empire, but after that king’s mad act and the ensuing war, it became the Teslov Kingdom, vassal of the Paramanium Empire.” she explained.

As I listened to her story, a chill ran down my spine. I was finally able to understand a little bit about what I had just done. By freeing Ayuseya, I may have just given the Teslov Kingdom the perfect opportunity to gather its forces and reforge its past strength.

“But that’s just one family, shouldn’t the army hold stronger generals and warriors?” I asked with another gulp.

“That is true, but no draconian general would listen to a weak king. It’s instinctive for them, unlike it is for humans. That was why most of their generals and powerful warriors left the kingdom in search of other places where they could gain their fame and glory. Because of that, only peasants, craftsmen, and merchants form now most of the population. Very few warriors remain. There is no dungeon there either, making the country’s worth quite low. Actually, the only reason why Paramanium allowed its existence so far was because many of its strongest adventurers and generals arrived from there. Even if Paramanium’s population is mostly human and elf, the draconians are the third. Teslov obeys every order given by Paramanium and as long as no powerful king or queen is given the seat, then they have nothing to fear.” explained Nanya, showing him a serious look in her eyes.

“So, because I freed Ayuseya of her curse…” I said softly.

“You may have triggered a possible war. Because you are on Shoraya lands, Paramanium might attack both us and Teslov. The draconians could even rebel against Paramanium and seek to join their new leader. If that happens… the Allasn and Thorya continents will turn red from war.” she explained gravely.

“Wait, that can’t be… I mean, she’s just one person…” I said a bit shaken when I heard the word ‘war’.

“One person, but she is also a possible future queen, no… because you removed her curse, she’s going to become a queen. Her children won’t bear the curse, and the bloodline of the Pleyades family will grow strong again. The draconians warriors will return and will seek to join her. She isn’t just some simple draconian, Illsy, she’s a royal.” she explained.

I gulped.

“Still… I don’t regret it. Maybe that family curse was too much, but the [Curse of Absolute Silence] was something I had to remove…” I said shaking my head, but deep down, I realized that if word got out of Ayuseya’s recovery, the academy’s peace would crumble to dust.

There was the possibility of locking her up in my dungeon and keeping her as a secret, but I wasn’t that kind of a monster. Erasing the gentle smile of a girl just because I feared the dangers that smile would bring me wasn’t something I could do. Besides, maybe for this exact reason it was why I received the opportunity to become a Godlike. If I didn’t accept it back then, Shanteya’s assassination group would have managed to accomplish their goals, and I would have evolved normally. Then again, I wouldn’t have saved Shanteya from her torture within her former guild, and Ayuseya would have been killed right under my eyes.

Thinking of those possibilities made my stomach clench. Without my Godlike abilities, this Magic Academy would have gone through many terrible times. I did many things because I thought them to be simple or easy, but maybe that was exactly what allowed the students to live in peace here. Without a Dungeon Territory as big as mine, Nanya and the others may have had a hard time keeping bandits and monsters away.

While I was thinking about those things, Nanya asked me “[Curse of Absolute Silence]? That’s terrible… But removing something like that isn’t as politically troublesome as removing the other one. A High Priest or an Emperor Ranked mage with at least Master Rank in Healing can remove it with a bit of help. The poor girl was probably in pain for weeks after she was forced to drink something like that. Of what type was it? A thousand flesh-eating worms? A thousand parasites? Man-eating fish or birds?”

I blinked and looked at her a bit surprised.

Those are some nasty variants indeed… I thought and then replied “Flesh-eating worms.”

“That’s the worst… Poor girl. I can’t imagine the pain she had to go through when she was fed that concoction…” said Nanya as she shook her head.

“Do you think her fiance might have been the one who forced her to drink it?” I asked as I remembered what Ayuseya told me about him.

“Fiance?” she asked raising eyebrow.

“Yes, someone by the name of Dankyun Alttoros?” I replied.

In that moment, something changed in Nanya. The air around her turned cold, and I could feel a deadly killing intent being emanated from her. I moved back a bit, although I had no reason to do so. She clenched her fists, and her expression turned into one of anger.

“That bastard actually did it…” she cussed.

“Someone you know?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, I do… He is a backstabber who stole a Supreme Spell Scroll from me when we were exploring a dungeon on the Sorone Continent. We were both Emperor Rank back then, and I had no idea what he was actually like. At first, he seemed nice, I even started to like him a bit, but when we reached the last room, he intentionally triggered a trap in the dungeon. It killed half of our party and gravely injured the rest, except him. I managed to survive somehow, but my fellow comrades didn’t… Long story short, he left me to die in that dungeon and ran away with all the treasure, including the ancient scroll we were initially after, a very rare Supreme Spell Scroll.” she told me through grinding teeth.

“Supreme Spell Scroll?” I asked.

“To gain a Supreme skill, you can do it in two ways: either you stumble upon one in the form of a scroll or you discover one through intense training. A Supreme adventurer can make a scroll with that skill if he knows how. Unfortunately, you need to be at least a superior Godlike Rank to hold enough power to even attempt to learn what’s written in it.” she explained and then closed her eyes, trying to calm down a bit.

“But how did that man become Ayuseya’s fiance?” I asked.

“The Pleyades royal family marries their children only to draconian Supremes. In exchange for their power to protect the throne, they are granted access to the national treasury and can act as high nobles. In our days, many view their words as equal or greater than that of the current king.” she explained.

“That’s a bit messed up…” I said.

But wait… if that guy is Ayuseya’s fiance, then he’s a Supreme? I asked myself.

“To think he became a Supreme… That bastard! I wonder when he learned it? No, even if he is ranked as one, he might just be a lower Supreme.” Nanya mumbled to herself.

“Then this is really bad… Did I just… Did I just condemn this country to war and turned Ayuseya into a target of the Paramanium Empire? I just wanted to repay her for her beautiful song. I never intended for any of this to happen…” I said as worry began to sink its dark tendrils into my heart.

“Those are just the worst-case scenarios, Illsy. But, don’t worry, now that I know this, I’m not going to let that bastard do as he pleases! After the duel is over, we’re going to have a little chat with Princess Ayuseya. What’s important right now is to get her out of Dankyun’s grasp and make sure your secret as a Godlike doesn’t leave this academy.” she said as she bit her nail and looked at the ground.

She was seriously thinking about the dire consequences my act of kindness may have brought upon the students of this academy and maybe the entire continent as well. War wasn’t something to joke about no matter the world. Pain, suffering, and destruction were the perfect ways to describe both sides.

“I understand… meanwhile, I’ll try to grow stronger. I’ll fix my dungeon tomorrow and start building the third level. I’ll make it even harder, just in case we might need to use it as a refuge…” I said.

“You should start thinking about defending your core as well.” she suggested.

“An enclosed room deep underground?” I asked.

“You will be an easy target there. Just like there are magic items that can tell your level, there are also items that can detect your core. They are very rare, but not impossible to find.” she explained.

“I see…”

“For now, go and rest. We’ll continue tomorrow and don’t be late for my duel! You need to learn the difference between a Godlike Rank adventurer and a lower one just as badly as that kid does! Good night, Illsy.” she told me.

“Good night, Nanya…” I replied as I watched her make her way back to the dormitory.

After that, I returned to my room, where Shanteya was waiting for me, sitting down on a chair and reading a book.

“I’m back…” I said.

“Welcome back, Master.” she replied with a smile and laid down her book.

That night, it was a bit difficult to fall asleep. My mind was filled with all sorts of worries, but Shanteya’s bosom managed to free me of some of them. One thing was clear though: a Godlike Dungeon and maybe even Demigod ones can remove impossible curses or remove various afflictions cast upon a mortal’s body. Even I wasn’t that much of an idiot to haven’t noticed such a thing from the conversation I had with Nanya.

The following day, I woke up early, but Shanteya didn’t mind. While she kept guard on my Crystal Body, I went to check my dungeon. Just in case, I raised the points she received through [Bond of Trust] from 10% to 20% of my total stats.

My poor dungeon was a complete mess. Most of the traps on the first floor had been completely destroyed. My Magic Energy drained quite fast from the repair skills I kept using. The second floor was an even bigger mess. I found half melted walls, bent ones too, Tuberculus’ face imprinted on one of them, probably because he did something to a certain teenage-looking girl, and most of the summoning circles were completely destroyed. The puzzle rooms had been cleared normally, so I just had to reset the puzzles there. One of the weirdest things I found was an imp who was infatuated with Angius’ boot and did all sorts of nasty things to it, which I would rather not describe. I calmed down the imp with a 200 Magic Energy Points [Fireball]. The repair of the area was done afterwards.

At the very least, my bosses were still alive, but the first Minotaur had his head buried in the ceiling. The others were beaten severely, and the final boss was cowering in a corner. The AGLMC lasers had been destroyed by pieces of the floor that had been thrown at them. There was a lot to repair there, but I was done before the clock struck noon, and I even gained another level.

Before I left, I created the entrance to the third floor and used up half of my magic energy to expand the room as much as I could. For this one, I wanted to make a lava floor with many platforms filled with traps. Normal adventurers had no chance there, but powerful ones with a good leap skill could jump from one platform to another. Spring traps and harpy spawns were supposed to be the main annoyances. After this chamber, I was going to start building something more complicated and use as many traps as I could. I even planned on creating a spawn room filled with magic circles, but all in due time. For now, I had to go to Nanya’s duel.

At noon, the teenage-looking girl was standing in the middle of the training ground with her hands crossed at her chest and wearing a grumpy expression on her face. There were many students who gathered there to watch the show, including the other teachers. Princess Ayuseya and a few other draconians were there as well. They had gathered around her, but I couldn’t tell if they did so because she was royalty or because they found out about her curse. As for the requester of the duel, the young el’doraw was waiting patiently for the moment when he was to declare the start of the duel. As far as I could guess, they were waiting for the right time to do so.

“Did I miss anything?” I asked while I approached Nanya.

“No. We were waiting for you.” she replied.

“Sorry, I was busy repairing my dungeon.” I told her.

“Yes, no worries. I was the one who insisted on waiting for you anyway because over the past few weeks, I realized that you don’t understand the difference between a Godlike and another rank below it. This battle will make it clear. I’m a superior Godlike Rank, and he’s an inferior Master Rank.” she told me with a calm look in her eyes.

I can’t argue with that. She’s right… I told myself.

“Shall we start now?” asked the man.

“Yes.” replied Nanya.

Looking around, I saw that Shanteya wasn’t there. She remained next to my real body, protecting it from any idiot who thought a beautiful busty maid couldn’t fight back. I forgot to check, but I was pretty sure all of her stats at that point were above 300 and almost at 400.

“In the name of Keltaru Dowesyl, I challenged teacher Nanya to an official duel of might! If I win, I shall receive the Urkin’s harvested materials and a formal apology from her! If she wins, I shall be the one to apologize!” he declared, but the rewards were a bit in his favor rather than Nanya’s.

“I accept. Let’s get this over with.” said Nanya waving her hand as if she was getting really bored with all of those details.

“Very well, but I’ll warn you, unlike the others, I’m a Master Rank adventurer!” he declared confidently.

“Is he serious?” I accidentally asked while raising an eyebrow.

“Unfortunately, yes.” said Tuberculus, who was also watching the official duel.

“Shouldn’t we do something to stop it?” I asked out of curiosity to see if there was anything we could do, but there was no way Nanya would lose or severely injure the poor fellow.

“And miss the fun? No. Besides, Illsyore, you might not know this, but sometimes young nobles need to be made aware of the limitations of their own powers before they run off and do something incredibly stupid.” said Tuberculus with a sigh.

“Such as venturing into a deadly dungeon or challenging an adventurer willing to land the killing blow?” I asked.

“Or worse. If they are knights or guards, they could endanger their master by choosing to fight when they could just as easily flee from the battle.” his last words were spoken with a heavier tone as if he was remembering something similar from his own past.

If worse comes to worse… can I even flee from this academy? I asked myself as I saw the young el’doraw taking up a battle stance, while Nanya didn’t even move from her spot.

Thus, the duel between the two began.