Deities weren’t necessarily gods. Not all deities were gods but all gods were deities- or so the headmaster said.

Apparently, they ranked higher than high spirits but lower than actually established gods. Which did make me think, were all gods just fiends with exceptional influence over our lives?

From what I’ve gathered, Askavan probably did exist in the past, and maybe still exists to date. However, the god lost all interest in men and had left our plane of existence, or so my conclusion. But what if… what if he was dead? Spirits could die. That meant gods could die. And that meant… they weren’t really gods.

We made them gods.

“I have a lot of questions,” I said. “But I’ve found the answer to most of them. Instead, I have requests.”

“Requests?” the headmaster said. “Name them.”

“First of all, this is an educational institution. If you can’t stop the church from killing people here, resign please,” I glared. “And shame on you!” I spat on the floor.

His face was covered but I could have sworn he had a scowl. I’d heard many things about him but almost everything were merely rumors. He was supposedly some hero of the bygone era. But in truth, he was just an old man who did nothing but wank his dick on the tall white tower all day and do nothing but kiss the pope’s toes. Okay, wanking dick part was made up but still!

He was worthless!

Free from the church he said. Free from the nobles, he said. Grr… I seriously wanted to punch Den one of these days. Guess I’ll write that letter.

Ahem. “Anyway, requests: Make sure the church can’t do squat here. Protect every single student with your utmost ability.”

“Weren’t you starting an Askavan Fan club? And your mother is a priest.”

“I’m aware,” I said. “But it doesn’t change the fact that things have gone quite astray. In the previous years, the death toll never surpassed 100. And yet, just last month alone 59 students have died. How will you take responsibility for their death?”

“What do you know of responsibility boy? Marching into death just because your pet cat-” he paused, apparently, he couldn’t breathe.

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you,” I said.

My mana increased?

“Oh?” His bandages stretched as though he was smiling.

It was hard for me to breathe too. He can also? Not impossible, just hard. But I forced air into my lungs and although I was probably damaging myself, I was fine.

He clicked his tongue but motioned a surrender. Geezer thought he was funny; he was not. “And? Even if let’s say I try to protect the kids, who’ll protect them from other assassins?”

“Well, why don’t you ask this guy out,” I said. “He’s strong.”

“He tried to kill you,” Shia said. “No, he killed you. You shouldn’t even be alive.”

True. I probably had died last week. However, that didn’t change the fact that he was… “Will you do it or would you just fight for money?” I stared at him.

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He stared at me. “You’d trust my word?”

“I don’t trust you at all. But I do trust you’re not a liar.”

“Why?”

“I have my… reasons. And you’ve never lied to me.”

He shook his head. “I cannot stop before finishing work I already got paid for.”

“Which is?”

“Seven more heads. Including that friend of yours. Gerar was it?”

“You cannot turn down requests after taking them? And Gerar isn’t even ordinary.”

“No.” He shook his head. “Your friend is ordinary. He is merely pretending and tarnishing his family game by spending all his time indoors.”

Sigh. Honestly, I didn’t want to kill this guy. Why? Had I gotten attached?

To this murderer?

To this…

“But,” he continued. “I could always quit.”

“What?”

“I quit being a mercenary.”

“Why?”

“I don’t wish to continue this life. This life of… hate and blood.”

“And they’ll just let you go?”

“I doubt. But I also doubt they’ll be idiotic enough come after me. After all… I went toe to toe with a deity,” he almost chuckled. Almost.

“And died,” I said. “You’re only alive because-”

“Because you spared me, I know. But I won’t thank you for it. And I won’t serve you for it. And I won’t apologize for having killed you. It was my judgment and I stand by it.”

“I don’t need your servitude.”

“Anyway,” Shia cut in, “You should rest. You haven’t eaten anything in a while. Hungry?”

Now that she’d mentioned it, my stomach was kind of… going nuts.

***

I could actually walk around. And food didn’t really leak out of my guts like I feared. So all good!

No, no it wasn’t. It stung! It really fucking stung!

“You should really stay in bed,” Shia said, helping me walk. I had the kitten in my arms. It was the scratcher one. He’d never liked me and always bit me and stuff. Yet, he was just staying in my arms, and he was staying put. A twinge of loneliness in his eyes… sometimes letting out a mew.

I was walking, but I was walking in the infirmary.

I walked over to Alustur. “So,” I said. “I didn’t know the kids you killed, so I can’t ask you about them. But you killed this guy’s mother. He’ll never get a mother back. He’ll never get his siblings back. You… better take responsibility... as a father.”

Alustur again just stared. He stared for a while. “I will.”

I spent the next two days in the infirmary. On the second day, the headmaster fully recovered and left. Meanwhile Alustur’s burns were severe and it was going to take a while for him to fully recover but he still left before me stating he had some things to finish before leaving completely. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to kill any more students but I gave the headmaster a heads-up via Shia (that I’d pound the shit out of him) just in case.

I wish I could have used some elixirs but I was running dry. I’d given a lot to the duke and my own supply was strained. On top of that, I’d burned all the elixirs I was carrying on hand that night. My backup two were in my room hidden…. Maybe I’ll try dungeon diving once I’m older.

Apparently, a lot of things happened while I was out. One of which was that my fan club, as the headmaster put it, had declared me the next Saint of Askavan out of sheer boldness. We were literally just a school club, and it wasn’t even official just last week. What in the actual fuck were these imbeciles even doing?

Anyway, that wasn’t all. Apparently, Nisa’s mother had gotten somewhat better and she took a leave of absence instead of staying by her Fiancé’s side. A bold move but we weren’t lovers so I could totally understand why she did that.

Mike meanwhile, had never visited me in the infirmary. No, it wasn’t just him, no one visited me in there. And there was a good reason for that. After all, Alustur… wasn’t really dead like the announcements claimed.

The most shocking change was simple;

My bodyguard… who’d been hanging in the outer campus with a sign stuck on his back. It read- ‘I’m a useless guard who likes to fondle woman and gamble instead of protecting my master. I’m and embarrassment to myself and my lord.’

Embarrassing and wait, he was having fun times while I was going through shit?

I should just fire him.

No wait, I didn’t hire him so I couldn’t. Shit. Better ask Shia to teach him some lessons. Whether I admitted it or not, Shia Barack was pretty shrewd and knew how to handle people. She was an excellent noble lady when it mattered and I could just leave things to her.

But it’s only a matter of time before- …. What would she do when she found out I wasn’t her brother? Would she abandon me?

Or would she curse me?

Maybe even try to kill me for deceiving her?

She said she cared and was hurt when I told her not to. But honestly… I was afraid. Afraid of getting too close and… hurting both her… and me.

Should I just- No… not yet.