Power Corrupts: Separate Ways (ch. 78) (Patreon)

The mansion had a library with a pretty decent selection of books. They ranged from myth to simple fiction, to non-fiction, romance, mystery, thrillers, and fanfiction-worthy garbage. I wasn't sure where exactly the world was in tech development, but it would seem that the printing press was a thing since books weren't treated as rare or sacred objects because of their value.

It didn't really matter much to me until I caught a title in the corner of my eye -- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It caught me off guard for a moment before it clicked that one of the people that Aqua had sent over had shamelessly plagiarized the novel series on top of adding their own spin on it in an attempt to make it better.

They failed. And I didn't even care about the Harry Potter series one way or the other. But, it was really stupid to think that all you had to do was plagiarize a popular series to reach the same level of success. It wasn't enough to just be good. There are plenty of good series out there that deserve to blow up into the next big thing. Most of them deserve it more than whatever series did blow up -- Harry Potter is an example of that.

More than being a good story with an interesting premise, you needed to be lucky. You needed the right combination of circumstances -- such as the absence of one dominating piece of fiction at the time, a huge windfall that comes out of nowhere, and a whole lot of luck that out of the countless pieces of fiction out there, what you wrote was the lucky draw.

This is why the plagiarizing idiot ended up becoming a starving artist that actually starved to death, only to have his dozens of plagiarized series see an influx of popularity after his death.

Two hundred years ago.

"Something isn't right," I muttered to myself, flipping through some of the pages of a heavy tome in my hand. The library currently looked like it had been ransacked, with piles of various books piled high on the tables. I had worked through the night in an attempt to avoid Darkness humping my leg. Which was why all the doors were barred. I settled on a page, read a short passage, and mentally added a name to a growing list.

The Demon King had reigned for nearly three hundred years at this point. A figure that was shrouded in so much mystery that no one knew a thing about him. That was worrying in itself, but there was a more pressing concern. In that three hundred-year period, there were five hundred figures that had appeared to defeat the Demon King.

It was impossible to tell who had been sent here by Aqua, and who simply were natives that rose to the challenge. It was easy enough to mark some of them out when they carried super special cursed swords or abilities that I recognized from other series. Things got a little muddled when another hero 'found' the OP item and made their own attempt on the Demon King. At the moment, I had a solid one hundred confirmed isekai's and four hundred maybes. That was after a single night of research.

There was no telling how many had simply washed their hands of the quest early on without ever making a name from themselves.

So, Aqua's initial estimate that she had sent something like a thousand people with OP items might be closer to the truth than not.

It also meant that at least five hundred people had done this song and dance before me and Kazuma. Yet, the Demon King was still here and the figures of legend weren't. All of which shared an ending -- they went to fight the Demon King only to never be seen again.

"I don't like this," I decided, snapping the book closed and tossing it on the table with the others. I had a sneaking suspicion since the start, but I was finding a worrying amount of evidence to support that suspicion. It was mostly circumstantial, and I'm sure history remembered it's heroes with rose-tinted glasses, so all of them were probably idiots, but… even a blind squirrel finds a nut eventually.

After two hundred years and five hundred tries, the Demon King should be dead already. I really didn't like the fact that he wasn't.

Swallowing a sigh, I strode towards the barred door. Grabbing the table, I easily lifted it -- tactile telekinesis was such an underrated power. It made lifting things so much simpler and I didn't have to worry about the thing falling apart in my hands because of awkward positioning. Setting it down, I pushed open the door and was greeted by Darkness taking a swing at me with her sword.

I'm not sure how she missed. I was anything but a small target and I practically took up the entire doorway, but she still managed to whiff the swing.

"You can't escape me!" Darkness declared, completely ignoring how she had completely whiffed the swing as she staggered by me when I stepped forward. "You can't hide any longer either!"

Right. "Oh no, you got me. I really hope you don't find the secret passage to my sex dungeon in there," I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm as I turned and walked away. I heard Darkness gasp in delight, a rosy tint coloring her cheeks before she looked at the library. She was practically- no. There was no practically. She straight-up started drooling.

"I'll let you get away this time while I… I r-rescue those you have trapped! Who knows what fiendish traps you have…" Darkness said, entering the library, and I could hear her tearing through the place in search of a nonexistent sex dungeon.

That was easy. Darkness really did let her vagina do all of her thinking and it showed.

That was the third sex dungeon she was searching for.

I walked through the halls and felt a slight vibration run through me as the mansion trembled ever so slightly. That, I'm guessing, was Megumin firing off her one shot of Explosion Magic. I had bought the surrounding land, so as long as she didn't blow up the house, I really didn't care… but she really was hammering the property line. It was like she was trying to blow up the city while hiding behind the excuse of private property.

So, I should probably grab her before I leave for Axel. Actually, it might be worth grabbing Aqua and taking her with me. Kazuma had spent a couple of days with Wiz, so he should be a solid mage build by now. Aqua still needed to spend her points, and Wiz was one of the best to learn from. With that thought in mind, I-

I caught a flash of movement in the corner of my eye as I rounded a corner. My head jerked to the side, only to see nothing was there. But, something had been. Perfect memory made it next to impossible for my eyes to play tricks on me. Something had been standing at the end of the hall, but I hadn't been able to see what it was.

Weird, but whatever.

"Aqua! I'm heading to town. You're coming with," I informed her as I shouted down the hallway. I heard Aqua groan loudly as I approached her door, so it wasn't a surprise when I opened it that I saw her in a heap under her blankets.

"I don't want to go," she protested, acting as if the blanket was some kind of shield to protect her from me. "I'm tired!"

By that, she meant, "You're hungover. You can fix that, you know?" I corrected her and pointed out. There was a long second of sullen silence.

Then the covers began to glow, "Sacred Heal…" Aqua muttered under her breath as if I couldn't hear her. "I don't want to go," she decided, her hangover cured. She was really lucky that she decided to be an Arch Priest. She'd be dead from alcohol poisoning or liver cirrhosis a dozen times over a week into our stay here.

It was tempting to force the issue, but I chose not to. There wasn't a point. I needed to clear it with Wiz first, then make sure it was clear that Aqua couldn't purify the lich.

That being said, "Aqua -- the people you sent down before, I had a question about their items or abilities. I was reading up, and apparently, two separate people used the cursed sword Masamune about a hundred years apart. Is it the same one?"

"Nooooo…" Aqua groaned, apparently irritated with the question. "It's too much work to collect the items after the losers I sent died since they always died in super-inconvenient places. So, I just left them wherever. No one else can use them, so they're just hunks of junk."

Hm. "And the repeats?"

"I dunno. People kept picking the same things even though I gave a whole bunch of options. It's always the edgy stuff too -- cursed swords that can kill with a single cut, or like your Soul Edge… now go away. I'm sleepy." Aqua waved me off by slipping one hand from underneath her duvet and making a dismissive gesture.

Annoying, but interesting. That meant that there were repeats of items. They were just worthless to me. That being said, it might be worth tracking them down since they might be made of unique materials. It was a side quest worth considering while Kazuma was off doing his thing with the others.

Now, off to find the wayward student so I can make sure he's ready.

…

Wiz's shop was a quaint little place, I thought as I eyed it. Humble. You'd never think that it belonged to a woman that had kicked down the Demon King's front door and fought him into a truce to prevent harm coming to civilians.

Stepping forward, I pushed open the door, letting a small chime ring out. The place was homey -- shelves that were filled with items, each tagged with a price, and there wasn't a single one that didn't have at least four digits. The stuff behind the counter had at least six or seven. I heard movement coming from the backroom as I checked the place out.

Or, rather, the items. Crystal balls that deepened friendships by sharing the most embarrassing memories of their holders. Potions that increase your stats at the cost of giving crippling diarrhea. A cane that gives you the ability to fly as fast as you could limp. A nightlight that summoned ghosts to your room to hide in the shadows. Each and every single one of them was a monkey paw of an item. A downside that was directly proportional to the benefits that were offered.

Wiz stepped out, looking a bit disheveled with an eager look on her face.

That promptly fell the moment she saw it was me.

"Hello, I'm-" I began, only to be cut off as Wiz took her place behind the counter.

"I know who you are," Wiz answered, her tone curt. It seemed wildly out of place given the sweet demeanor that the show portrayed her with. I blinked, caught a bit flat-footed, but I guess this was what happened when you didn't care about your reputation. Wiz was a sweet girl, but she was also a fierce fighter and very protective. She didn't know me. All she knew of me was what she heard.

So, I'm guessing learning magic from her was out of the cards. Shame, but I couldn't do much about it. Given what I knew about her death -- I'm betting that she taught Explosion Magic to Kazuma already, so I guess I didn't have much of a reason to pursue it anymore. I was better off further mastering the Thu'um.

"Is Kazuma here? I was hoping to talk to him," I said, and I was lucky that glares couldn't do damage because Wiz glared dangerously at me.

"He's not," Wiz answered curtly. It got weirder the more I heard her speak. "He's currently on a quest with his new party that value and support him." She continued, her tone testy. Wow. I could only imagine what rumors she had heard to get this reaction out of her. Seems like asking to be taught how to make magic items was out of the cards too. Sheesh.

"Oh? Who’s he with?" This was… good news, for the most part. It meant that Kazuma had teamed up with unknown quantities, but it also meant he was separated from Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness. The first two were hard maybes in joining his party, while the latter was a hard no.

"Why does it matter?" Wiz responded, her tone frosty.

"Because I want to make sure they aren't idiots that'll get him killed, level 100 or not?" I tried, narrowing my eyes right back at Wiz. I liked her, but if she was going to treat me like an enemy, I wouldn't hesitate to return the favor. "And to make sure that it hasn't gone to his head and he runs off to fight the Demon King half-cocked?"

To that, Wiz's lips thinned. I could tell that she wanted to argue the points just because they had come from me, but she didn't. She took in a breath and ten seconds later, she responded, "He's in a party with some seasoned Adventurer that I introduced him to. They're all very good at what they do and are powerful in their own right. Kazuma is in good hands with them." Now she sounded like a mom that was forcing herself to be polite, only to come off as passive-aggressive.

"Has he picked up any skills yet?" I asked, and Wiz gave me a look.

"He has, but that is no longer your concern," Wiz stated in no uncertain terms. She really didn't like me based on a few rumors, huh? I didn't think she was that shallow, but whatever.

Wiz glared at me for each step I took, but it fell when I produced a ring from my pocket. "Would you mind giving this to him whenever he comes back?"

The ring was the one that had been enchanted for me -- the proof of concept for my armor that weakened me. It would take off twenty-five points of strength. For me, that was pretty much nothing. For Kazuma, that was like a fourth of his total strength. The plan was the same for my own growth -- weaken him to make it easier to improve your base, then stack buffs when you needed to.

Wiz's jaw dropped the moment she saw the ring, taking it with numb fingers. "A ring?" She questioned, her voice suddenly very quiet.

"He'll know what to do with it," I stated, content to leave it at that. No point staying in hostile territory when I didn't need to and Wiz was a character I wasn't completely sure I could beat in a fight. My numbers were bigger than hers, but she was also in a league of her own when it came to being a mage. With that, I turned around.

It was when my fingertips brushed against the door, I heard Wiz speak. "Wait!" She requested, making me turn around. She had the ring clenched in her hand, which was in turn pressed against her chest.

"Yeah…?" I questioned, wondering what was going on.

"I… jumped to conclusions and I didn't once think how painful this must be for you," Wiz said, offering a bow so she missed me blinking slowly in confusion. "I'm very sorry. Please forgive me for my rudeness."

I had no clue what was going on, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Wiz changed her mind about me for some reason. Apparently giving a gift to Kazuma was all that it took?

"Don't worry about it. At this point, I'm used to it. The rumors got way out of control since there's nothing to do in this city but gossip," I dismissed the issue. To that, Wiz winced so badly you'd think I slapped her or something. I guess that was the downside of a guilty conscience.

She shook her head, "That's not an excuse for judging you so harshly. Is there anything I can do for you?" She questioned, and I saw my in.

I scratched at the back of my head, "Actually, you can? My job is Craftsman, but I was hoping to create magic items. I was supposed to be taking a tour of the city to find a specialization that I liked, but since the rumors got around, no one is willing to teach me anything."

Wiz gasped, "How cruel," she stated, a hand going to her mouth in shock. She seemed to think on it for a brief second before she nodded, "I would be delighted to teach you!" She decided, and I guess giving Kazuma a gift really was all it took to put me in her good book after taking me off the shit list. It was a bit weird, but I guess if she thought that the rumors were just bull and combined with her own airhead good nature…

Perfect. "That's great," I admitted, my tone honest as I walked back towards her. "And I can sign a non-compete or something if you want. I'm mostly wanting to learn to create items for personal use, and stuff to help Kazuma kill the Demon King."

Wiz actually got a little teary-eyed as she shook her head. "You don't save to sign anything. I'll even help you open a little shop next to mine if you'd like." Wow. Her lack of business sense wasn't exaggerated at all.

How to say no to that? "I appreciate it, but I don't think I should. With the rumors and all, I doubt anyone would buy anything I have. But, if you're willing, I could sell stuff through your shop instead? Provided that I can reliably produce magic items?" It was a nice compromise, and the truth.

For such an introverted woman, Wiz was fairly expressive. More so than I expected. Was that a change from the anime compared to the light novel? I had never read it, so I had no clue. Unlike Skyrim, I didn't know the story here inside and out. Everyone looked the same, but was I in the LN version of the world or the anime?

It stood out because Wiz looked away sharply, her bottom lip quivering as she nodded her head. She really was an empathetic person, huh? "If you think that would be best, I'll help you however I can," Wiz decided before her gaze dipped down to the ring in her hands. Slowly, almost cautiously, she held the ring out to me. "But… I think you should give this to Kazuma yourself. It will mean more coming from you."

I… guess? "Okay," I agreed easily, taking back the ring. Wiz shifted from foot to foot, seemingly incapable of looking me in the eye.

"He's with the party I mentioned earlier, but he hasn't left on the quest yet. If you leave now, you can still catch him and tell him how you feel!" Wiz stated, sounding like she was cheering me on for something. "He should be at a special bar. I don't know where it is, but I heard it's what makes Axel worth protecting."

"... Okay?" I muttered before internally shrugging to myself. This whole conversation felt a bit off, but it was important that I got to Kazuma before he left. I needed to see if the Adventurer Card system worked like my falna. "Thanks, Wiz. I'll see you later?"

Wiz gave me a pleasant smile and a nod, prompting me to leave the building to find Kazuma. Based on the description, there was only one place that he could be. I haven't been there, but I knew where it was thanks to my mapping function.

Rolling the ring between my fingers, I headed there. The bar was something of an open secret -- it didn't broadcast its location, but it was easy enough to find if you knew where to look.

Which was why a few minutes later, I found myself walking down a set of steps, ducking to enter the basement, and looking out at the succubus club. Dozens of scantily clad women wandered about -- some taking orders from those that were going to have wet dreams. On the other side was a bar counter, and on the sides were a few booths where Adventurers sat down with a succubus in each arm.

It was easy enough to spot Kazuma. The green track suit stood out, as always, but it was mostly because a group of meatheads were chanting his name as they surrounded him. It made it difficult to see Kazuma for a moment… and to recognize him.

Kazuma's head was pressed down, so I could only see the top of his head before it slowly moved to the side. As I approached, I saw that a succubus was laying down on the table and…

Was Kazuma doing a line of coke off a succubus's body?

"YAHHOOO!" Kazuma screamed at the top of his lungs, throwing his hands up in victory. The action was mirrored by his meathead party. The succubus looked thoroughly amused, a finger tracing up her nude body, scooping up some kind of blue powder that looked a lot like glitter before she sucked off what Kazuma had left behind.

I swear to fuck. "Really? I take my eyes off of you for five minutes and it's sex, drugs and rock and roll?" I questioned, announcing my presence to everyone else. People seemed to freeze, but none more so than Kazuma. It looked like the blood froze in his body, turning him into a statue with a blue glitter mustache around his nostrils.

The meatheads recovered first while the succubus simply pushed herself up, not bothering to cover her body. They press forward, throwing on mean mugs.

“You aren’t welcomed here, Jericho,” one of them said. He was a solidly built man, fairly tall by most standards but still a head shorter than me. “I, Sam-”

I grabbed him by the face and squeezed. Not enough to crush his skull or anything. Just enough to make it clear that he wasn’t strong enough to throw his dick around when I was in the same room. “Ahhhh!” His tone changed, climbing in pitch, the man screaming out in panic rather than pain. Another tried to do something, so I grabbed him by the face too and squeezed. Lifting both off the ground, I casually tossed them to the side while the other handful of men looked on in absolute terror.

I had to give credit where it was due, though. They still tried something. Just not hard enough that it took more than me squeezing their heads for a few seconds to break their will and send them scampering out of the club.

“S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-Senpai…?” Kazuma stumbled back a step, looking less like a level 100 adventurer and more like a teenager that was caught red-handed partying by their parents. The bronze-skinned succubus stood up before draping her arms over his shoulders, pressing her lips against his neck.

“Oh? Is this him?” She questioned, eying me up. “I must say, you do have… excellent taste.”

I'm just going to ignore that. What else would a succubus remark on? "What's going on here, Kazuma?" It was a genuine question. Kazuma was meant to be the one competent member of the party. The one I could trust not to fuck everything up. So, why in the hell did I just catching him snorting up glitter off a succubus's stomach?

Kazuma swallowed thickly, his green eyes darting around to look at everything and everyone but me. "I… I'm preparing for a quest. With my new party?" Kazuma answered, though it came out like a question. I crossed my arms, and he winced.

"Care to explain how snorting that stuff is supposed to help you defeat the Demon King?" I asked, cocking my head at him. Where did I go wrong? This was in some way my fault simply because this hadn't happened in canon. Did I spoil him too much? Give him too much freedom? I should have just toughed it out in the stables for a little while. Then he would understand the value of the mansion.

The same with his strength. Going from level 1 to 100 had clearly gone to his head. I should have slowed his advancement, driven home just how weak he was before power leveling him. This was my fault.

Kazuma shifted, "It's… it's pixie dust! It's not bad for you!" He protested, the edge of the shock wearing off and he started to find his voice again.

"Oh? Is that so?" I pressed, and he winced, caught in the lie.

So, he switched tactics. "It was just a one time thing. I can stop any time I want to," he argued.

"The problem is that you did it at all. What made you think it was a good idea, huh? Did those idiots pressure you into doing this?" I should have just crushed their skulls and been done with it. Kazuma looked away, his face twisting into a scowl. "Look, you're free to do what you like, Kazuma-"

Kazuma scoffed, "Am I? Can I really be free when you come down here, scaring off my friends and making all of my choices for me?"

My eyes narrowed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I didn't get a say in anything! You made all of my choices for me!" Kazuma shouted, jabbing a finger in my direction.

The little punk. "So, you're complaining about that now? You certainly never spoke up when we were in the same party, even though you had pleanty of chances. Forgive me for not being able to read your mind, Kazuma. I made those choices because I thought you were okay with them." The plan was always to have Kazuma deal with the Demon King as fast as possible, but there were a bunch of ways that could have worked out. Ways that didn't end with Kazuma snorting pixie dust off a succubus in a club. "But maybe I should have made your choices for you anyway. You clearly don't make good ones on your own."

Kazuma puffed out his chest, "I do too!" He argued, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "I'm choosing to have fun! I died, you know! I'm entitled to enjoy myself."

"I died too, you idiot. Again, not saying you can't enjoy yourself, but you don't have to ruin your life to have fun," I pressed, and maybe that was a mistake. The more pressure I put on him, the more Kazuma seemed to rebel against me.

"What do you know about fun?!" Kazuma bellowed, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're all work, work, work -- kill the Demon King. Kill Alduin. Do this, do that."

"Gee, I fucking wonder why?" I retorted, unimpressed. "It's almost like they're world ending threats or something."

To that, Kazuma's face twisted as if I had shoved poured an entire lemon tree worth of lemon juice down his throat. "I left because you're way too controlling. I'm a level 100 now! You can't tell me what to do anymore!" I noticed that he pointedly did not argue the point about the world ending threats. "I want to have fun. Something you clearly don't understand."

I shook my head, feeling my grasp on the situation slip between my fingers like grains of sand. Kazuma was rebelling against me to snort drugs. He was choosing to ruin his life.

My lips thinned -- maybe I was a little too close to the issue. I hated drugs. Despised them. I wouldn't say I hated those that took them, but I certainly thought less of them. And the fact that I had apparently drove Kazuma to this didn't settle well with me at all.

"Fine. I'm done," I said, holding out the ring and dropping it on the table. "That's the last thing you'll get from me until you've given some serious thought into what your life is becoming." The succubus gasped at the ring, while Kazuma looked down at it. I could see a glimmer of panic in his eyes when they darted up to me. "Don't worry about the Demon King either. I'll handle him-"

Kazuma shook his head, looking very alarmed, "No! Don't do that!" He protested, interrupting me. "I can kill the Demon King!"

That's what he was concerned about? "Then prove it," I said, ending the conversation to walk back upstairs. A succubus stood at the entrance and passed a slip of paper to me, a hesitant smile on her face. A coupon for a session with a succubus giving me a wet dream.

Leaving Kazuma and the club behind, I sighed before I went to run a hand through my hair. To my sorrow, the man bun that Hestia had made was coming loose. I would have to tighten it up when I got to the mansion. With that thought in mind, I let my feet carry me back. I got some dirty looks, but I didn't care.

My plan was falling apart at the seams. It was looking more and more likely that I would have to handle the Demon King myself.

Another sigh escaped me as I neared the mansion some minutes later. Pushing open the door, my feet carried me to the library -- I would comb through what was known about him, then I would talk to Wiz. It would take some time to enchant my armor, but by then, Kazuma would either have his ass in gear, or I would handle things personally.

Reaching the library, I froze misstep when my eyes landed on a gap in the bookcases. A secret passage way… that brought the sound of giggling to my ears. Blinking a few times, I cocked my head and headed for it, mildly surprised. But maybe I shouldn't be. Secret passageways were pretty common.

As were sex dungeons, I learned when I reached the bottom of the stairs to see what could only be described as a BDSM dungeon. Whips, canes, gags and toys lined the walls. More equipment was dotted around, but my gaze landed on Darkness, who laid in the center of the room.

Her armor was on, but her arms and feet were bound with rope, keeping her in place. Glancing back, I saw a trip wire on the stairs.

"Huh," I muttered, looking back at Darkness, whose face was flushed and her breathing was ragged.

"I didn't expect that."