Chapter 23: Iselei Samaha
The dark room felt suffocating.
A woman wearing round glasses flashed a manic smile, her eyes gleaming with twisted excitement. In her hand, a test tube sloshed with a crimson liquid that radiated an unmistakably foul aura.
"This is it! This will be perfect!"
"Now all that remains is for that day to arrive...!"
Once that day comes and this plan succeeds, I will rise far higher than I am now. Perhaps, when everything is over, I might even become the first woman in the empire to receive the title of marquess.
The woman's golden eyes burned with naked ambition. Before her, the red liquid swirled once more.
There were only two days left until the festival began.
My lecture preparations were going smoothly, yet something felt off. The reason was simple: Pellermil had been far too quiet lately.
Given that bastard’s personality, he was definitely cooking up something. And it would be nothing but some cowardly, underhanded scheme.
Why don’t you ask that bitch again? Who knows, maybe she overheard something last night.
No chance. I had already asked once. According to her, Pellermil hadn’t shared any of his plans. And knowing the man I remembered, that made perfect sense.
There was no way he would entrust top-secret information to Bella, who never thought before she acted and always did whatever the hell she felt like.
Which means I’ll have to find out myself…
Was there any good way to do that?
The fastest way is to grab one of them and beat the shit out of him, right?
That’s exactly what I was thinking.
I quietly recalled the memories from my time as Aslan. One suitable target immediately came to mind.
Good. Let’s go.
Oho. For some reason, I have a feeling today is going to be fun.
I asked Bella and the princess for a brief moment of understanding and quietly slipped out of the training room. Bella tried to follow, but when I promised to pin her down and fuck her senseless later, she gave up immediately.
Moving like the wind, I stealthily approached a certain building. I cast a light Fly spell and scaled the wall all the way to the seventh floor, then peered silently through a window.
Just as I thought.
It was the professors’ private study. Inside, a man and a woman were locked in a passionate embrace, lost in heated lovemaking.
Wow, they’re really going at it. Just watching them is making me all hot and bothered!
Calm down, miss.
What do you say? Want to barge in and make it a threesome?
I ignored her.
I pressed my ear against the window and slightly dispelled the soundproofing magic. Immediately, the wet sounds of flesh slapping flesh, fierce moans, and occasional conversation poured out.
"Ayla! How is it? Does it feel good?"
"Ah! Ngh! Y-yes, Professor…! It feels so good…!"
Encouraged by her words, the man thrust his hips even harder. The speed at which his cock plunged in and out of the woman’s pussy increased dramatically.
Finally reaching his limit, the man cried out.
"I’m cumming!!"
"Yeeess…!"
Hmm. So he came inside her?
Perfect timing to make my entrance.
I used magic to conceal my face and voice, then threw the window open and stepped inside.
The couple jumped in shock and scrambled to their feet.
"W-who are you?!"
"Me? Well… I suppose you could say I’m someone who knows about your little relationship and came to pay a visit."
"What?!"
Both the man and woman’s eyes widened. They must have been wondering how I could possibly know when they had hidden it so carefully. The only person who knew was Aslan, and he was already a corpse.
"An impure relationship within the academy, hmm…"
"T-this is…"
"The age gap is over twenty years. If the young lady’s family hears about this, it’ll be quite the scandal."
Both their faces twisted horribly. They looked completely fucked.
But it was still too early for expressions like that.
"I wonder what would happen if I told your wife at home… She holds quite a bit of power, doesn’t she, Count Osphel?"
"W-wait… What do you want? Just tell me. I’ll do anything I can!"
"M-me too! I’ll do anything, so please, just don’t tell my family…!"
The girl’s young so her terror makes sense, but why is the man acting like this?
Ah, his wife back home has a lot of influence. Her family holds real power in the empire.
I see. So instead of saying he was seduced by a young girl, it’s more like he was pressured by his wife’s dominance and acted on impulse. The guy himself isn’t a bad person. As for the girl, she simply fell for the charm of a powerful middle-aged man.
I looked down at the pair in silence. They stood with their heads bowed like criminals, waiting for my verdict.
If it were me, I’d at least put up a fight.
Can’t. He’s a scholarly professor with zero combat ability. Heh heh.
What a sad reality. Heh heh heh.
I stepped closer. With every step I took, they lowered their heads even further.
"Count Osphel Renatri."
"Y-yes."
"For now, let’s go into the side room and talk privately. And Lady Ayla?"
"Y-yes?"
"Stay right here and wait quietly. I’d rather you didn’t move around trying to wipe the cum dripping from your cunt and end up with your neck snapped."
"Y-yes…"
After giving the warning, I dragged the professor into the attached room.
I shoved him into a corner and immediately began negotiations.
"From now on, if you help me and obey my commands, I will solve the two problems currently facing you."
"T-two… problems?"
"That’s right. I’ll cover up what just happened here, and I’ll also resolve the issue with your wife. This is a deal."
"R-really?!"
The man’s eyes widened. But after thinking for a moment, he hung his head.
"If it involves killing my wife at home, I cannot agree. If I do that, then…"
"You’d lose your power and connections. I know that much. I simply mean I will help you regain your authority within your household."
The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed visibly. His wide eyes trembled; he clearly couldn’t imagine it.
"W-what must I do?"
"Count Osphel Renatri. From now on, you will serve me as your master."
He let out a cold laugh. It was only natural; the demand was utterly absurd.
"You don’t seem to have much of a choice, do you?"
"Heh heh… That is true."
"And it seems you don’t know much about me. There is no mage in this empire who can stop me. Even the dean would have to bare his neck before me."
"You’re quite the braggart."
His face was filled with ridicule. But let’s see if you can keep that expression after hearing this.
"If Aslan were still alive, maybe. But now that he’s dead, I have nothing holding me back."
At those words, the man’s eyes bulged. His whole body began to shake as he stared at me, then he slammed his head to the floor.
"S-surely… you can’t be the cult leader Islay Samaḥa?!"
What the hell? I don’t know this guy. Who is he?
Seeing the man’s extreme reaction, Beres asked with clear interest. It made sense. This all happened while she was sealed away.
Islay Samaḥa, the leader of a mad cult. I killed him. Officially, I never said I killed him, though.
Thirteen years ago.
After spending thirty years on the battlefield, I received an imperial order to exterminate a rising cult that was spreading recklessly near the front lines. Although it was a group of lunatics who offered people as sacrifices, the empire had never directly suppressed a religion before…
At the time, the cult had a system of selling allied intelligence to the enemy in exchange for funds. Once the emperor learned of this, he ordered their eradication.
The problem was that the cult leader at the time was no ordinary mage.
How strong was he?
In reality, he was only slightly stronger than an average professor. But rumors snowballed until he was known as the strongest mage in the empire.
And Aslan succeeded in wiping out the cult. In recognition of his wartime achievements and the extermination, he was appointed as an academy professor.
However, while I had actually killed the cult leader, I reported that I had simply let him escape. Telling the truth would have caused too much trouble given how famous the man’s name had become.
A mere commoner-born mage who hadn’t even graduated from the academy claiming to have taken down such a legendary figure? It would have caused an absolute uproar.
So right now this guy is hearing your words and mistakenly thinking you’re that cult leader?
Exactly. And I plan to keep pushing that narrative. I needed a secret identity to move in the shadows anyway.
Islay’s specialty was debuffs. And when it came to debuffs, I had two I was particularly confident in.
Impotence and Despair.
"Even if the Second Prince Kenesis, whom you serve, sends his right-hand man Pellermil, he won’t be my match. So make your choice."
"If… if you truly are him, then s-show me proof. Only then will I believe you."
"Proof, huh… Do you have a magic grade measurer?"
The man nodded and went outside, returning with a tool. It was a crystal orb about the size of a child’s head.
I placed my hand on it and activated Impotence.
Silvery letters faintly engraved themselves within the black orb.
Debuff type. Judgment: A.
Impotence
Type: Debuff
Judgment: A
"A… A?!"
The man’s eyes widened dramatically.
Magic grades ranged from F to SSS. Anything from S onward was considered the realm of dragons. In other words, A was the highest rank a human could realistically hope to attain.
Not bad at all.
Well, I was pretty confident in this particular spell.
"Do you believe me now?"
"Y-yes! I will pledge my loyalty to you from now on! So please, show mercy for my earlier rudeness…!"
"Don’t worry. I am endlessly merciful to those who belong to me."
"T-thank you! Thank you so much!"
He slammed his head against the ground repeatedly in kowtow. He hit it so hard I thought he might draw blood, but I deliberately let him continue.
If I was going to act as Islay, doing it properly would only help my future moves.
For someone who supposedly wasn’t that impressive, he seems incredibly terrified.
The people of the empire probably have him etched into their minds with the same terror as the Black Dragon that appeared two thousand years ago. Back then the rumors were so bad that even children were told, “If you don’t behave, Islay Samaḥa will come and kidnap you.”
You still managed to lead the operation back then?
What are you talking about? I wasn’t the leader. I was the only one who survived after everyone else died.
Five thousand imperial troops who had been promised discharge were deployed. Only I came back alive. That was probably why the memory remained so horrifying.
In truth, the commander at the time gave dogshit orders.
A green young man who had never even stepped onto a battlefield was the one giving commands… In a way, the outcome had been inevitable.
"Then, Count Osphel Renatri, I have a question for you."
"Y-yes! Please ask me anything!"
"I heard the dean is trying to keep the Third Princess in check lately. Tell me what kind of plan he’s scheming."
"W-why are you…?"
"Why? Because once I topple that dean bastard, this entire world will belong to me. From now on, I plan to obstruct every single one of his schemes."
I brought my face right up to the man’s nose. My eyes were hidden by magic, yet he still averted his gaze as if avoiding my stare.
"So speak. What exactly is he plotting?"
The man remained silent for a long time, his body trembling. He had only intended to cover up his affair, yet somehow it had come to this… He was probably thinking something along those lines.
But he could no longer refuse. If he did, his neck would fly off at the hands of this vicious cult leader.
The man’s lips finally began to move. Forcing his trembling jaw to work, he spilled every last detail about what the Second Prince’s faction was planning.