After a short discussion, it was decided to keep the prisoners in the Kingdom, but to place them separately, away from the center, on the territory of the rings of the seasons.
However, what exactly the prisoners would do during their stay remained unresolved. Idan asked everyone to think about this issue.
Although the prisoners were already Silver-ranked, they weren’t much different from ordinary mortals. They still needed food and water to survive, and no one wanted to keep 12 captives for free. And no one wanted to kill them for nothing either.
"The issue of the Eye of the Web must also be resolved," Idan thought. "Last time, we ignored him and did not take action, believing that he posed no threat to us. However, now the Eye of the Web has actively participated in the conspiracy against us."
"Even if his actions were motivated by curiosity, he still helped others enter our territory. It would be wrong to turn a blind eye to this again and leave everything as it is." Idan decided that it was necessary to take measures against this mysterious awakened one so that he would realize that it was not worth prying into other people’s affairs.
While Idan was thinking, a System window suddenly appeared in front of him, without any warning.
"Oh? Are you suggesting cursing him?" asked Idan, glancing at the System window with a list of curses available for purchase in the "Trade" function.
* The Curse of the Invisible Threat* — the cursed person constantly feels someone’s gaze on him and hears rustling behind his back, as if someone is standing behind him.
At night, this effect increases.
* The Curse of the Long-Lasting Shadow* — ...
* The Curse of Shared Memory* — ...
"These curses are too complicated and strange..." whispered Idan. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel•fire.net
There were many different curses on the list, which were classified according to various criteria.: from strength to a rank corresponding to the level of the creature they were targeting.
"I need a simple but effective curse that will make target not only regret, but also reflect on target actions in the future." Idan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"System, is the curse of diarrhea on the list?" he asked, remembering the unpleasant illness that first came to his mind.
The system reacted immediately and displayed a dozen different curses in front of Idan, which had effects similar to diarrhea on the target.
"Heh," — Idan grinned.
"Perhaps this will do," he soon discovered what he thought was a suitable curse. "Let him change his place of residence to a toilet until he makes an official apology and swears allegiance to us."
Idan was adamant: if he had the opportunity to bind this mysterious awakened with unique abilities to himself, he wasn’t going to miss this chance.
"Now all that remains is to tie the curse to the bait and throw the hook so that the fish can swallow it."
Idan carefully studied the descriptions of the curses and realized that certain conditions must be met to activate them. Each curse had its own characteristics.
The curse Idan had chosen required the target to interact with the cursed item in some way.
What surprised Idan was that the curse purchased in the Trade function only worked on the chosen target, and not on a random person who came into contact with the cursed item.
Soon, Idan appeared in front of Yulaya again and, asking for the prisoners’ belongings, began to inspect them in search of bait.
Knowing what the Eye of the Web’s ability was based on, Idan quickly found what he was looking for—Lucian’s personal smartphone.
After examining the smartphone, Idan noticed that all important data had been deleted for security reasons.
"How prudent," he mentally praised the Eyes of the Network.
After spending 1,000 System Points, Idan acquired his chosen Platinum-ranked curse.
"This should work. Even if he’s very skilled, it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to defend against it," Idan grinned, attaching the strange parchment to Lucian’s smartphone. The parchment dissolved and soaked into the device, making it cursed.
Teleporting in front of the Access Portal leading to the Guild Branch building, Idan stepped inside with a smartphone in his hands.
"Now the main thing is that he notices and checks the smartphone with his abilities so that the curse can affect him," Idan mused, appearing on the underground level of the branch.
However, to Idan’s disappointment, nothing happened.
Finding a secluded spot, he put down his smartphone and headed back to the Kingdom. For some reason, he was sure that, despite all his caution and foresight, the curiosity of the Eye of the Net would sooner or later get the better of him, and he would check Lucian’s smartphone, falling into the trap that Idan had prepared.
Idan was right. Shortly after he left, the smartphone screen lit up, and strange green inscriptions appeared on it. Then the screen went blank.
At this time, in an unknown place, a slender figure who was alone suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach and hurried to the toilet.
After returning to the Kingdom, Idan first fed Rizzy, who, as scheduled, demanded his blood. After he finished, he returned Rizzy back to her star without revealing her existence to the newcomers. Then Idan had breakfast with everyone who was in the Kingdom, including Arabel’s parents.
As newbies, they couldn’t help but admire the taste of the prepared dishes. When they found out that these delicacies were prepared by Idan and their daughter Arabel, they couldn’t stop praising them. This further convinced them that Arabel had found, if not an ideal, then a good future husband for herself and a son-in-law for them.
After finishing breakfast, Idan, after spending some more time in the Kingdom, returned to the place where he stopped on his trek to the southern border.
When he arrived there, he did not immediately set off. Instead, he sat down, made himself comfortable, and pulled out a Small Low-quality Soul Crystal. He began to saturate his recovered first Star in order to restore a piece of Ned’s remaining soul.
"Already?" — Idan was surprised when he realized that he had not fully absorbed the energy from the Soul Crystal, as his first star had already filled up.
He checked and found that the remaining part of Ned’s soul was slowly starting to absorb energy, and it would take some time to absorb the full amount that the first star contained.
"It looks like it’s going to take a long time," he said.
After removing the incompletely used Soul Crystal, Idan retrieved the next item that he had acquired just before he came here, and it was called the "Threads of the One Blood". With this artifact, Idan hoped to find his biological father, if he was still alive.