Chapter 59: Olivia’s Great Humiliation!

Leaving Zerato behind, I exited the dungeon, only to find someone waiting for me.

“No—no, Olivia!”

“Huh? Syria? You’re still here? What about the others?”

Syria was there, but the others were nowhere in sight.

“I explained about Zerato just in case and sent them back first. I decided to stay behind. That Zerato—”

“Realizing I might kill him, he fled to the seventh floor.”

Quick to escape, that one.

“And in the meantime, did an expansion project? Aren’t you going after him?”

“Judging by the fact that he left the core on the fifth floor, it seems he couldn’t lay out traps or monsters.”

Syria looked disappointed at my words.

“Then… was he really uncatchable?”

“He likely turned the paths into a complete maze, but as a noble, I can’t stoop to crawling through such disorganized places in an unrefined manner.”

Even so, I am a lady of noble standing.

“But if we leave things as they are, it’ll be difficult to catch him, especially if people come too late.”

“That’s why I intend to kill him, don’t I?”

She was saying strange things.

“How would you do that without chasing him?”

“I noticed a stream flowing near the dungeon. Who builds a dungeon in a place like this? What do you think would happen if I disturbed that? For example—”

Boom!

I stomped on the ground with all my might.

At that moment, water burst from the walls within the dungeon.

Geographically, it seemed like this stream was part of the river flowing outside the capital.

The dungeon, already fragile with the river nearby, collapsed instantly under the pressure I exerted.

Water poured in, and the dungeon began to crumble.

Rumble! Crash!

The entire terrain surrounding the dungeon started to sink, as if swallowed.

It was all man-made anyway.

It would take Zerato ages to recover his mana—if he even survived.

Drowning seemed more likely.

The water began rushing underground as the dungeon structure gave way.

“This… it looks like flushing a toilet,” I mused.

“We could call it the ‘toilet method,'” Syria quipped.

Honestly, I wanted to bury it in a more dignified way, but this wasn’t so bad either.

Zerato would have no choice but to emerge on his own.

“Eugh, that’s not a pleasant thought,” Syria groaned.

Crash! Roar!

Water poured in torrents, creating a deafening roar.

What a delightful sound.

He might really die this time.

The dungeon was collapsing faster than expected because of the water.

Time to fish him out.

“With just a bit of mana in the water’s flow, I can pull a living being to the surface.”

“That’s really possible? Zerato’s on the seventh floor, though.”

“No need to look so surprised. I’m just manipulating the water’s flow. It won’t last long, but bringing up trash from the seventh floor is simple.”

Zerato, desperate to live, must have latched onto something.

He wouldn’t have anticipated being swallowed by water.

By directing mana into the water at the right moment, I could extract him.

Adjusting the flow of cascading water was easy enough.

And just like that—success.

Crash! Boom!

The dungeon completely collapsed, barely by a hair’s breadth.

“Cough! Cough!”

“Ah, it’s been a while,” I greeted.

The traitor looked like a lump of mud.

He had come close to death.

***

A moment later, and he would’ve died in the rubble, unknown to anyone.

Not that anyone needed to know, as he was destined to die soon anyway.

“You filthy woman… you dared flood this place to catch me…” he rasped.

“Why struggle so much? Just die already.”

Crack!

I shattered the hastily rebuilt mana circuits inside Zerato’s body.

He collapsed in agony and passed out where he stood.

It was amazing he had survived at all.

“You… miserable… wretch,” he spat weakly.

“You’re the impressive one. Most people would’ve died already, but you keep clinging to life like a cockroach.”

His mana circuits were destroyed, the core obliterated, and I had taken the fragments.

There were no more variables left.

Clanis, unless foolish, wouldn’t risk rescuing this man.

Besides, he always used Zerato as his vanguard; he had never shown any intent to save him personally.

Zerato said nothing more and lost consciousness.

He wasn’t dead—I wouldn’t let him die so easily.

“What are you going to do now? Can I dissect him?” Syria asked.

I pondered for a moment.

“Would there be anything worth extracting?”

“Probably not. Zerato must’ve prepared for his death, and his knowledge was all black magic, useless to me or Syria.”

“His knowledge isn’t particularly meaningful. Kartian magic isn’t that remarkable. It advanced further through the kingdom’s empire.”

***

The Kart Kingdom was often called the Magic Kingdom.

It was prosperous in its time, but that’s history now.

Ancient techniques weren’t necessarily efficient today.

There were rumors of other magical civilizations in the distant past, but Zerato wasn’t one of them.

He only knew Kartian magic.

“That’s a shame. Then, can we turn him into a doll?”

“We can’t do that. This guy is a descendant of the Kartian royal family.”

The illustrious Kartian royalty, noble beyond compare.

Armen, who betrayed the Holy King of Kart and married into the half-blood Von family, went on to build the Empire.

Feeling guilty, the Armen—no, the Armenia family—wiped out the royal family entirely.

Perhaps Zerato wasn’t the only one to call them a family of harlots.

Back then, captured Kart royalty might have used the term for Armen.

“Really?”

“The imperial family of Armenia, the Armen family, was heavily insulted as a household of harlots.”

If someone said that openly in the capital, their head would be off in no time.

Of course, in the Empire, where even a lousy emperor might be criticized, insults weren’t uncommon.

It wasn’t unusual to hear someone in a tavern call the emperor a scoundrel.

However, it was different when the critic was a descendant of the Kart royal family.

The imperial army would kill Zerato to erase the remnants of the past entirely.

“Well then.”

“We must deal with him thoroughly and decisively.”

While I understood the situation, 1,500 years seemed too long to hold such grudges.

After all, I too bore the same blood.

Every imperial citizen had inherited half the blood of the half-bloods and half of Kart.

Zerato’s denial of the Empire was essentially a rejection of all those who carried Kart’s blood.

“He could’ve defected to Pastia instead. Why did he go so far as to turn into a demon?”

The Pastia kingdom, founded by remnants of Kart’s people, had been obsessed with finding Kartian royalty to rebuild their nation.

They failed, of course, and now it was little more than a federation of nobles.

The royal family of Pastia claimed to be a branch family of Kart royalty, but that could easily be a fabricated lineage for legitimacy.

Regardless, Zerato had to die.

His actions against the Empire were too egregious to overlook.

Moreover, as Clanis’s subordinate, there was no way to let him live.

“Such a pity,” Syria remarked.

“By the way, Noah, how’s life as Lady Ashtar?”

“It’s alright, I guess? Wait, what did you just say?”

‘I doubted my ears for a moment.’

‘What was she talking about?’

“Your voice cracked, Noah.”

‘Damn it. No wonder she’d been oddly kind to me earlier. She must have known all along and was toying with me.’

‘Look at that smug face. So infuriating. She had already figured it out and was playing with me. What a joke.’

Under certain circumstances, I should curse her mouth shut.

“How did you figure it out?” I asked sharply without meaning to.

Syria grinned mischievously.

“To be fair, I’ve mentioned this before—telekinesis isn’t something just anyone can use. In my entire life, I’ve only seen one person capable of using it: you, Noah. Telekinesis isn’t simple magic. It’s in the realm of manipulating gravity.”

“That’s absurd.”

In the Land of Ruin, children learned it growing up.

Sure, I was particularly strong, but everyone aimed to learn telekinesis.

Now, only Noelle and I were left.

“Always so thorough, yet so careless in certain areas. That’s why I caught you. Lucky it was me, though.”

“You—!”

Of all people, Syria had to be the one to notice.

“Actually, I planned to keep watching silently. But then I thought, others might recognize you because of your telekinesis later—like the Seven Stars. So, I figured I’d better let you know first.”

‘She was right. I was quite close to the Seven Stars. If what Syria said was true, this telekinesis magic was dangerous.’

‘If Syria hadn’t noticed, someone else might have sooner or later.’

“Damn it, how could I make such a mistake? You—”

“I won’t tell anyone, but in exchange, explain what’s going on.”

Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

I had no choice.

This was all my fault for being ignorant about the world.

Noah’s life had been entirely oblivious to the Empire.

Perhaps this wasn’t so bad.

Having someone aware of my situation to help cover for me might not be the worst outcome.

“Alright, let’s do that.”

This was Olivia’s great humiliation.

***

“Hey, are you guys okay?”

A while later, Adran arrived with some other professors.

I nudged Zerato’s head with my foot.

“Professor, you’re late. This guy already destroyed the dungeon.”

“This guy—isn’t he that one?”

At least Adran remembered him.

Zerato had caused trouble for more than a few people in the Empire.

“Your students almost died because of him.”

Whack!

Adran struck Zerato, who was already unconscious, with all his might.

Watching him get hit again while unconscious was quite a sight.

“You’ve done well. You two managed this together?”

“No, our dear Saintess of Magic handled it on her own.”

Sigh.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips.

Knowing my situation, ‘couldn’t they at least call me a mage?’

“You look pretty worn out. Was it tough?”

“Ah, women have sensitive days, you know. Can we leave now?” Syria interjected, linking her arm with mine and addressing Adran.

‘Who gave her the right to make me out to be a sensitive person?’

“Oh, um, sure. Anyway, the dungeon issue has caused quite a stir among the dean and professors. Today’s class is dismissed.”

As soon as Adran gave permission, Syria dragged me to a nearby teahouse.

Seating me firmly at a table, she gave me a sly grin.

“Alright, now explain everything.”

“Ughhh!”

And so, I spent a long time explaining the connection between Olivia and Noah.