The Girl Who Hacked The Magic System-Chapter 130 - The old arena (4)

"Do you think that was a good idea, Aurea?"

"Did you see the look in their eyes? They were already believers in the tales of ’saint’ Lillian. I simply gave those beliefs form and a goal. And now, they are fanatics who will follow us anywhere."

"Are you playing the Atreides game, by any chance?"

"Huh?"

Lovelace and I are sitting in a corner of the arena, talking together as the knights and the residents work things out.

And I didn’t expect her to bring this up.

From time to time, when I’m feeding her mana, I allow her to visit parts of my memory. Namely, the ones where I’m consuming media from Earth.

And the one that caught her eye is also the one who I loved so much and that was my bedside book for years. The Dune book series.

It probably earned her attention because it’s about a mortal who exploited the beliefs of the people to make himself adored as a god and led his people in a genocidal war.

It’s basically a cautionary tale against charismatic leaders. ’Playing the Atreides game’ would mean, then, to make use of people’s fanaticism for political advantage.

"I don’t plan to become a goddess, Lovelace. And even less to become a queen. So, the short answer is ’no.’ But I won’t put myself beyond seizing an advantage when I see one."

At this moment, we are interrupted by the knight’s leader. What was his name again...? Ah, right. Seufroy.

"Your Highness. We organized everything with the residents and set up a safety perimeter so they won’t be caught in any side effects of our training."

"Perfect, Seufroy. Well done."

"Thank you, Your Highness. What are your next orders?"

"I would like to give proper burial to the remains of the people inside that place, but I don’t think we can do it here."

"We also need to guarantee the anchor for the portal, Your Highness."

"I know, Lovelace. The space below seems great for that, and it would make for a very nice office to be our headquarters. There will be some objects with a very strong and deep relation to this place."

"The remains themselves would be the best possible."

"No, that’s out of the question. There’s no way I’ll desecrate them like that."

I notice that Seufroy is looking at us with a ’what the hell are you talking about’ face, so I chuckle and explain it to him.

"One of the spells I developed, which can’t be cast through the System, being only possible outside of it, is spatial magic. I can create portals for immediate transport between places, no matter how distant they are."

The way his eyes widen and his expression changes as understanding dawns on him are just so funny that I have a hard time containing my laughter.

"So, you’re saying that you can make a way for us to come and go through those portals?"

"Yes. One end of the portal will be in a basement in the palace, while the other will be here. And I was thinking that the space behind that gate is perfect for that, but we need to take care of the remains first."

"A hundred or more dead bodies, right?"

"Yes. None of them are human. They were the slaves who used to fight in this arena for the amusement of the humans, four hundred years ago. When the arena was outlawed, they were locked in there to die."

"Beastkin and fae folk?"

"Yes. I want to give them proper burial so that at least their remains receive the deserved respect they never had when they were alive."

The leader of the residents, a young man called Elberth, had come to us to speak about something, but heard our conversation and decided to butt in.

"I can’t believe we were living so close to something so terrible... I thought that we were in a really bad situation, but compared to them... we were living a life of luxury."

"It isn’t a competition to see who had it worse, Elberth."

"Oh, I’m sorry, Your Highness. I spoke out of turn."

"There’s no need for such formality, Elberth. Here, I’m just Aurea, and there aren’t turns for speaking. So please, be at ease."

"Thank you, Your H... Aurea. We are simple farmers, so we don’t know much about the proper rituals for burial, but we will help with anything we can."

"Oh, don’t worry. There is no need for rituals. We aren’t the Church. What they need is just proper respect."

"Aurea. I can identify the remains by using some skills. I could write down the names to have a plaque commemorating them."

"You are so amazing, Lovelace. I probably could do it as well, but I don’t..."

"Don’t worry, Aurea. You don’t need to deal with that sight again. We’ll take care of everything."

"Yes, Your Highness. Some of my men are very proficient in earth magic, so we can dig some graves real quick."

"Great. Do that, then. In the meanwhile, I’ll go play with the children there to make sure they don’t see the bodies."

Yeah, to make sure I don’t see the bodies.

I mean, I don’t care much about gore. I’ve seen enough of it in my life already that I’ve become kind of desensitized about it. Even my own gore.

But the scene down there doesn’t even count as gore. It was just skeletons. No, it’s the sight of the cruelty and injustice that bothers me, that makes my blood boil.

That’s the reason why I’m leaving this for them to take care of. Because I know the mood that the sight of it will put me in.

So I’ll just play hide-and-seek with the children.

There are four families living here, around thirty people. Yes, these are old-style countryside families, not the nuclear families we’re used to in modern times.

In total, there are five kids of the age to play hide-and-seek. It’s time for auntie Aurea to show off some nice little tricks.