~ Chapter 95: Deciding their fate ~

[Illsyore's point of view]

Upon our return from the world of the gods, I found my wives waiting patiently for me inside the cave. Ayuseya was sitting on the ground in seiza position, Nanya was making holes with her claws in the stone wall, Tamara was taking a catnap while being petted by Shanteya, and there were no signs of fresh battles, meaning no pirate dared to disturb this place while I was gone.

“Welcome back, Illsy. Did you receive any advice?” asked Ayuseya as she looked my way with a gentle look in her eyes and an aura of elegance floating around her.

“Yes. I met with the gods who govern over Justice in this world.” I said and let out a sigh.

“Welcome back, Illsy. So, what did they say?” Nanya asked as she stopped poking holes in the wall and walked over to me.

“Welcome back, my love.” said Shanteya with a gentle smile.

Tamara was still sleeping.

“Well, they said it was alright for me to absorb this island and kill of the majority of the pirates here, but I have to figure out a way not to kill those the gods would deem as innocent.” I replied and crossed my arms at my chest.

“Kill the majority?” Ayuseya wrinkled her brow as she looked at me.

“The old Illsyore would certainly not have thought about that and rather wanted to just leave this island peacefully.” Nanya shrugged.

“It was my initial intention, but for what I came to understand, this place is just a gathering of no-good human extremists who keep on gaining more and more power. If they end up gaining the favor of several Supremes, then this place would end up being considered a country of its own, but with the way things are managed, it would be just a centralized pirate heaven where criminals of all kinds gather.” I replied calmly.

“Would they hinder the construction of your academy?” Ayuseya asked.

“Yes.” I nodded.

“How?” Nanya asked.

I let out a sigh and then began to explain “These pirates have a free reign on Paramanium's waters, so when I establish my academy, the main transport route will be by water or air.”

“An island Magic Academy?” Shanteya tilted her head to the left.

“Yup! Located at the very center of the three major continents. So, what will happen when that place becomes crowded with vessels that both do trade and transport wealthy people?” I pointed out.

“The pirates will flood in.” Ayuseya squinted her eyes.

“Indeed, but unlike the random bunch with one or two vessels in their fleets, these guys will be an organized bunch who won't battle for territory. In other words, it would be the same as being under constant attack by an enemy nation. The difference would be that you can negotiate and threaten an enemy nation, but these pirates can just claim they are affiliated with no one. The waters around the academy will be just a high-risk high gain hunting ground for them.” I explained.

“But you killed their Pirate King, right?” Nanya asked.

“Yes, however, what will happen if I leave this island? The pirates will struggle for the open seat of power and try to claim this whole island. Even if they will be destabilized for a few years, when they make their comeback, it will be in full force. This is because of these things: 1) the centralized base of operations: this island; 2) the agreement with the Paramanium Empire.” I explained.

“We'll still have trouble in dealing with other navy forces.” Ayuseya pointed out while rubbing her chin.

“True, but at one point or another, they will give up and accept the Illsyore Magic Academy as it is.” I lifted a finger up.

“At the beginning, they will show hostility, but once they understand what sort of power they are going up against, they will stop any reckless acts. Afterwards, it will be only a matter of time before they understand that fighting against us will only bring about losses, while if they show their cooperation, they will obtain high benefits.” Shanteya said.

“Exactly.” I nodded.

“In that case... how do you plan on sorting the good seed from the bad seed?” asked Nanya, bringing us back to the initial problem.

“Well... I was thinking of making a threatening announcement that a Dungeon captured this place and that I require slaves as tribute in exchange for the chance of departing this island in one week.” I replied with a smile.

“That will only create panic.” Ayuseya raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, but they are humans in the end, right?” I pointed out.

“Them not being of the valiant type, they will gladly give up the slaves and even force those who possess some to give them up. The slave merchants will be the main targets of the mobs. Then, sorting the slaves out will be far easier.” Zoreya nodded.

“We can then free those worthy and even help them start a new life. The Pirate King had more than enough funds to support such an endeavor.” Ayuseya said.

“Tamara is good at finding out liars, and I can be of use too in this regard.” said Shanteya who kept petting the sleeping nekatar.

“All that's left is to sort out the good pirates from the evil ones.” said Nanya.

“Human nature will solve that dilemma. The evil ones, cowards included, will try to take advantage of the good ones, stealing their spot on the ships. At the same time, its highly likely that they will not be just as strong. In a society dominated by evil, usually the good ends up stomped into the ground. Those who will be unable to leave will be, for the most part, the good people.” I said.

“That's mostly your presumption though... There can be exceptions, and in time of crisis, most sapient species proved to be quite shrewd, turning from good to evil in the blink of an eye.” Ayuseya pointed out.

“Well, I trust the gods will sprinkle some luck on the worthy ones, if not, let us just do what we can.” I shrugged.

“One question though.” Shanteya lifted her hand up.

“What is it?” I asked.

“What of the vessels filled with evil pirates?” she asked.

I shrugged “I never said I would keep my word regarding their safe departure, did I? If left be, they will wander the seas and do a lot of damage, so I plan on destroying all of their ships and let fate decide if they survive one way or another.”

“Then... As a last question, is there any reason why we shouldn't take our time with this plan?” Shanteya asked.

“They will notice the disappearance of their king soon enough... So even a week is stretching it. If I do not act fast, they could also flee and establish their base somewhere else. I don't want to have that... So, we need to save as many as we can and eliminate the rest. Unless one of you has a better plan than mine?” I replied.

When I said those words, they all looked at me and then at each other. Their expression turned serious and entered in deep thought, but I was certain that by now they all formed their own opinions about this matter. The question was if they considered them to be good enough to voice them out or not.

Half an hour later, the first to speak was Ayuseya.

“I find their human supremacy views to be the most dangerous element about them. Considering the high number of individuals that have gathered under this banner, they are no better than other supremacists like the draconians or el'doraws. Such elements should not be left to go about their ways unhindered because sooner or later they would bring about a great chaos to those around them.” Ayuseya explained.

“Then what do you suggest?” I asked her.

“I agree with your decision, but the purging of this element should take into account their opinions regarding these extremist views.” she pointed out.

“I see.” I nodded and crossed my arms at my chest.

She did have a point. Besides their violent ways as pirates, they were also adepts of this dangerous ideology. The reason I thought of it as dangerous was simple, my Illsyore Magic Academy was going to be an institution that pushed forward the belief of coexistence and equality among sapient species; a rather obvious move if one were to look at my wives.

That being said, the next one to speak was Shanteya.

“If it was up to me, I would have just saved the children and left the adults to rot in a hole where nobody would find their remains. The way they treat them is inhumane no matter how much they scream they are right in accordance with their idiotic beliefs.” she declared.

I had a feeling she was a bit at an edge because of her maternal instincts kicking in, especially with a child of her own on the way. Seeing parents treat their children in an awful manner wasn't something the beautiful el'doraw could forgive.

“Well then, what about you, Nanya?” I asked.

The demoness looked at me and crossed her arms at her chest. With a stern look in her eyes and a whip of her tail, she replied “Six years ago, when you turned into The Darkness, I could not accept nor bear the thought of killing you. That was because I knew I wasn't seeing the real you. In the case of these people, very few are hiding their true selves, unfortunately, that face is one that is worse than the mask they show. We have neither time, patience, nor the authority to judge them one by one. If we did so, many would try to find a way to lie to us and show a 'good' mask. As you said, only in time of crisis the people of this world show their true selves. I say you give them a good scare, make them tremble in their boots and while they do so judge them appropriately. Those whom we can save were meant to be saved, the others were simply unlucky. Or maybe fate had something else in store for them. Either way, I can only see our arrival on this island as an act of the gods as well.”

“An act of the gods?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

“Just think about it for a moment. It was a coincidence we met a pirate vessel and not a trade or navy vessel. It was a coincidence the Pirate King was so foolish as to bring us here. It was a coincidence nobody around you tried to take your items the moment they 'captured' you. It was a coincidence none of the pirates ratted us out. It was a coincidence we, the scouts, managed to spot only those few situations that gave us a clear understanding of what's going on on this island.” she explained.

“Too many coincidences...” I nodded.

“Indeed. I think the gods of Justice are acting through us in order to prevent a catastrophic event as you mentioned before: a moment when the pirates unite themselves under the same banner and rise up as an independent country.” she uncrossed her arms.

“Sigh... but why me?” I asked.

“Because Illsy is the only one with the power to act on his own, but also kind enough to worry about the few who could be innocent among the many guilty. A general with your might would not have hesitated even a second from destroying and subjugating all these pirates, let alone ask the gods for permission to do it.” Zoreya replied.

“Sigh... I guess so...” I looked up and then scratched the back of my head.

Even in my previous world there were many who would not think twice about using their absurd power in order to trample on the weak. There were very few who would first check to see if they were stomping on the right bunch or the wrong one. On another note, as a Dungeon, I knew it was perfectly NATURAL for me to wipe out all of these humans without a second thought. So much that a part of me was wondering why I wanted to save some of them in the first place.

“I guess the matter is settled...” I crossed my arms at my chest and nodded.

Going out of my body, I flew up through the mountain and observed the entire island. There were many pirate ships coming and going, while others lifted a trade flag and set sail to exchange the plundered goods for gold and other stuff.

Looking around, I summoned several AGLMC Laser Cannon around the coast and hid them in the natural décor. Unlike the first versions of these weapons, these were vastly improved and several times more powerful and precise. To put it bluntly, if I were to attack Dankyun with these puppies, I would have simply shattered his Magic Armor faster than he could say 'dungeon'.

The only problem I had with them was the name... I could not figure out if going with Amplified and Generated Light with Magic Crystals was better than Generated and Amplified Light with Magic Crystals. I was lately rooting for the latter option because it made more sense, but I got used to the first version... But as they say, it was good that the name was indeed the most pressing problem regarding its development.

With the weapons in place, it was time to use a new spell I developed for making announcements at the Academy. It was called [Broadcasting], and as the name implied, its purpose was to send my voice throughout the entirety of my Dungeon Territory. If anyone else used it, they would have to specify the range and a bunch of other details: such as if it should avoid the mountains or not. I cared not for such things... What was 1000 Magic Energy points extra for someone with my pool?

“Well now... Let's get this show on the road!” I declared and then for 3650 ME points, I cast [Broadcasting].