Maybe the universe is just screwed up

It was a good decision to leave our carriage so far away from the now forever changed site. Safe from all the shockwaves and the ongoing thunderstorm, the horses were just as healthy as we left them.

The three of us — Edith, princess Loeya, and myself — left the scene immediately before the city guards showed up to investigate. Don't worry, we didn't abandon the captives, but we didn't take them along either. Before leaving, I gave them 3 instructions to follow. One, not tell a word about the three of us being at the scene. As far as they know, an unknown presence showed up, killed the kidnappers, and saved them from their captivity. Two, they should be aware of each other's whereabouts for the next 12 hours. In other words, they should stick together for the time being. Three, they all ought to show up at my estate — under construction — the following afternoon. Of course, I'm going to make them my followers; is that even a question at this point?

Our ride home was pretty quiet, except for the thunders that followed us for half the distance. "Uh… " the princess abruptly spoke, searching for her words. "Lord Zenith, I—"

"That sounds forced," I interjected, looking at her. She couldn't make eye contact with me anymore. "Call me Zenith as you did, Loeya. I only expect respect in one's actions towards me, honorifics are not necessary."

I also realized my pigmentation skill was still in effect, so I reverted it, morphing my hair and eye color back to black. That made her feel a little more comfortable, hopefully. "Understood. I was going to ask, Zenith, are you God?"

Well, I'm sure everyone saw that question coming. I answered, "Technically, no. But by definition, it depends."

"What do you mean?" She frowned

"Technically no, because I was born a human. By definition, it depends on your concept of God. So, who is God according to you? Is he the creator or the destroyer? Is he the one you should worship, or is he the one you should fear?"

"Wouldn't he be both?"

"Hm, If that's your view, then there are two Gods. The one who created this universe, the Omnipotent. And the one who threatens it, me." My explanation may have been a bit vague, but telling her all the details would only confuse her more. "Loeya, all you need to know is the fact that I'm trying to establish an environment for myself, where I will not be provoked into destroying this world. Eden is a peaceful land, and I wish to keep it that way."

> State of Mind: Reassured

Princess Loeya bowed her head in response. "Then I shall continue to assist you with the best of my abilities."

…

Soon, we reached the academy dorm to drop princess Loeya off. She seemed pretty confident about sneaking back in without her disguise; it's almost as if she has been doing it for more than 3 years. She hopped down the carriage, bowed to me, and proceeded to leave. That's when I remembered something important that I forgot to tell her. "Loeya, don't go to school tomorrow; call in sick. And come to our estate some time before noon, whenever is convenient for you."

She was definitely curious, but she obeyed without asking any questions. Edith and I rode back to the inn, and settled in our room. Devon was not around, so I assumed he was still occupied with the construction of our estate. Although it was almost 2 AM, Devon working so late — or early — didn't surprise me, but I was a little concerned. I suggested to Edith that we stay and rest for a while, and head to the estate at around 7 AM.

"Let's wash up first," I said. Needless to say, we were a chaotic mess after the battle. I was covered in dirt and ashes, over which I was wearing Edith's jacket. And Edith was an even bigger mess, covered in the blood of her enemies as well as the captives she helped carry out of the warehouse. The blood and sweat soaked her shirt to the point of exposing the shape of her small breasts.

Now, it may sound like I'm sexualizing my companion, but that's not it. I'm making an observation about her build. She was a 7 foot tall woman with more upper body strength than most men. As a biological robot meant to be my bodyguard, wouldn't it have been more practical if Edith was designed to be male? The reason I'm bringing this up now is because, I think the reason behind the decision to make Edith a woman had something to do with the fact that there were 4 unprompted immortals in this world.

Anyway, into the attached bathroom we went together. After stripping off our clothes, we prepared the bath. Edith used her magic to warm the water, which she didn't realize was unnecessary because temperature difference can't affect me. We soaked ourselves in the clean water, and then helped wash each other's blind spots. It was during then, I asked Edith a question that I had in mind since we left the battlefield. "Edith, remember when we first met? You asked me, what was my reason to destroy your kingdom." I was referring to the charcoal kingdom.

"Yes master Zenith, I remember," she responded while scrubbing my back. "I apologize if I offended you—"

"No, that's not my point. Ever since then, you have been obeying me without raising any questions. Which is fine if it's because you trust me. But… if you ever think my intentions or actions are questionable, then I want you to raise it with me. I will gladly explain my thought process, for us to be on the same page. Got it?"

With a smile that I saw with the corner of my eyes, she replied, "I am grateful, master. I understand." Apparently, she thought that I showed concern on this subject because I respected her feelings. Honestly, I just wanted to ensure she wouldn't betray me in the future. You see, although she was hardwired to obey me unquestioningly, because of my recent encounter with Heath, I now had reasons to believe that the Omnipotent didn't do a perfect job in creating these biological robots. So, if there is a chance of Edith's rationality overcoming her hard-coded instructions, I must prevent it.

After the bath, we sat down around the coffee table in our bathrobe. It was a pleasure to relax ourselves after all that we had to go through in a single night. Time passed by us unnoticed, and the sun rose to shine its rays through the windows. Right then, I heard the innkeeper behind our door, placing down our breakfast and freshly brewed tea by the doorstep. Just what I was waiting for. I told Edith to call her inside, because I had an order for her as well.

"Lord Zenith," the innkeeper entered and bowed before me. "How may I help you?"

Edith placed the breakfast tray on the coffee table, and sat back down on her seat. "I want you and all the other followers to spread a rumor in town, same thing as last time." Apparently the news about the gargantuan apple tree hadn't reached our province yet. So, it's yet another opportunity to spread rumors under the same pretense as we did for the eastern forest incident. "This is important, so I ask you to prioritize."

"Your commands are always prioritized, my lord," she said with a content smile. "I will proceed with it right away. Excuse me." And she left the room. After enjoying our breakfast and putting on some spare non-enchanted robes, we also left and headed to our estate. We didn't actually have any spare clothes, because we had always relied on Devon's instant washing and drying magic to keep wearing the same attire. So much for being filthy rich, we didn't even own more than one set of clothes.

Anyway, we travelled by foot and reached the estate. Fragrant flowers, trimmed grass, and the sound of the running river invited us. In the middle of all that, the construction of the mansion was progressing fast. The foundation was already built, and the wooden frame for the house was built for 2 stories up. There were scaffoldings surrounding the building, and we spotted Devon on it, climbing down from the first floor. "Devon," I called out to my workaholic companion.

"Master Zenith!" I kid you not, he was so pleased to see me that he just jumped straight down with no concern for his safety. He definitely broke his ankle from landing weirdly, but he tried playing it off while it healed, so I naturally pretended like I didn't see anything either. "I'm assuming your clothes got dirty. How did things go?"

"We have a problem, a big one," I responded, and received a concerned expression. Edith and I explained to him everything that happened. His reaction was as you would expect — baffled and worried. Neither of my companions knew about the existence of beings like themselves other than themselves. Obviously, they would have mentioned it to me if they did, but they didn't even have a faint clue. It was almost as if the Omnipotent didn't expect me to run into those extras.

Regardless, this is a big problem in our current situation. By that, I mean it significantly impacted our preparations thus far. Mainly our AL enchantment scam, which was only initiated successfully because of Devon's immortality, which we assumed nobody in Eden had any idea about. But with immortals existing among our enemies, it's a different story. They know the effects of immortality because they own the skill, and it wouldn't be a huge leap to suspect Devon's identity as an immortal. When that happens, the scam will be exposed, and so will we.

However, "Maybe we don't need to worry about this as much as we are," I said, upon realizing something delicate.

My thoughts were interrupted by the familiar voice of princess Loeya, calling out to me from behind. "Zenith, I've come!"

I turned around and greeted her as warmly as she was dressed. A light blue, sleeveless, one piece dress, topped off with a matching hat and a pair of Cinderella shoes. "Hello, Loeya. I didn't expect you to show up in such a formal attire. I didn't think you would want to be spotted on your way here."

Her smile disappeared as I said that. "I…" It's funny how she didn't give it any thought until I mentioned it, and now she was overthinking about it. Was she really that preoccupied with wanting to make herself look presentable to me? Maybe.

"Relax, it's fine." Or maybe she just has ADHD. "I believe you know Devon. He is also a valuable companion of mine."

She showed more respect compared to when I introduced Edith to her. "Greetings. My name is Ann Loeya Graham. It's a pleasure to make acquaintance with you."

"Likewise," Devon greeted back. "I admire you for having earned master Zenith's trust. I hope nothing changes in that regard." Not subtle at all, this man just threatened the royal princess while holding a smile. I saw her visibly sweating after that.

Okay, let's not get sidetracked anymore. Princess Loeya came in at a good time, because now I can orderly explain all aspects of our current situation, for all to hear. We sat down randomly on piles of wood, sacks of cement and whatnot. First and most important, I told the princess not to go out of her way to spy on the red mages anymore. Because recollecting the recent events, the immortal Heath mentioned that he expected my arrival. 'I'm glad you showed up as I hoped' were his exact words. "That means they are already aware that you're conspiring against them," I told the princess.

"But is that a problem?" She asked in return. "I mean, if it comes to it and they try to fight you, you can just kill them like you killed lord Heath."

There were so many things wrong with that statement. "One, they are smarter than that. As in, they are not going to blindly try to fight me, not after the tree I planted in their turf. They are going to be as careful with me, if not more than they are with the king. Two, I did not kill Heath. At least, I didn't make sure, but I'm certain that a few lightning bolts is not enough to kill an immortal. And three, for reasons you need not know, I am not going to physically involve myself in another battle for some time."

You see, allowing the virus to take control over the battle against Heath was a stupid decision for two reasons. One, my entire purpose in this universe is centered around me gaining control over the virus, not the other way around. I just went in the completely opposite direction from my primary objective so to speak. And two, the whole idea behind the seal's override functionality was only a theory when I decided to give control to the virus. Even if I had known of its existence, I wouldn't have known what lasting side effects it would have, so it could have very well left a permanent scar on my abilities. But fortunately, things worked out well this time as far as I could see.

> Level: 387

> Mana Capacity: 54000

> Mana Control: F

> Skillset: … Seal (Complexity - S , Activated) ; Seed Modification (Complexity - S) … Growth Spurt (Complexity - A+) …

> Character Trait: Logical, Malevolent, Opportunistic, Calculating

> State of Mind: Excited

My level seemed to have jumped up quite a bit from only performing 2 skills under the direct influence of the virus. And those two skills are now maxed out in terms of efficiency, complexity, and output. Consequently and unsurprisingly, my mana control became even worse. It's upsetting, considering the fact that I expected it to improve during that operation. But then I also expected my enemies to be easily killable human beings.

"So, what do you suggest we do, master Zenith," Edith asked.

But before I can answer, Devon concernedly chimed in, "More importantly, doesn't this mean that the king..." He trailed off.

"That's right," I responded, knowing exactly what he was trying to say. Because, I had the same question in mind. "The king, a naturally born human being, is somehow stronger than the immortals."

"Somehow?" the curious daughter of the person in question asked.

I didn't mind explaining it to her, at least the surface level of things. "Basically, there is a limit to which a normal human being can grow in terms of magical powers. For reasons I won't get into, the people I refer to as immortals are supposed to be leaps and bounds above that natural limit, like thousands of times over. Ergo, it should be impossible for your father to be as strong as the immortals, let alone be stronger. Either he is not really a natural human, or he is not really that powerful and is hiding behind a deceit."

Naturally, that scared her on an emotional level. It had something to do with her father-daughter relationship, which I didn't bother understanding. "But there's also a third explanation, which now that I think about it, may be more likely." I let out a sigh, being completely done with everything. "Maybe the universe is just screwed up in even more ways than I'm currently aware of."