Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

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67th Chapter. Is This Really Fantasy?

My dormitory remained unchanged. I tried to turn on the light in my room after a long time, but I hesitated for a moment.

The sight of countless dust particles dancing in the light seeping through the dark room’s arched window was truly a spectacle.

After being left empty for over a month, it was a sight one might expect. I couldn’t possibly sleep with that kind of dust around, so I hurried to clean.

First, I opened the window for some ventilation and started sweeping up everything on the floor. Then I mopped it all down and finished up neatly.

Maybe because it was a three-star dorm, the servants didn’t often keep it well tidied.

Still, it was pretty remarkable that I managed to wrap it up so lightly. The neighboring rooms had already become noisy not long after school began.

I took a look at the situation, and it was quite a sight to behold.

Why were they setting up a coat rack and hangers there? Where had they put the magical devices and documents hidden in the drawers? The roommates were all in a frenzy over it.

If that’s the case, I don’t understand why they’re even living together. In contrast, I wrapped up all my tasks swiftly and could collapse onto my bed.

This is the leisure of someone who got a single-room dorm. I hope I can keep using the room alone in the future.

“Since there’s time left, can I take a short nap?”

“If you’re that relaxed, shouldn’t you play with me instead?”

“Uh?”

I glanced around, wondering where the voice was coming from.

There hadn’t been a knock, nor had anyone come in through the door. Moreover, the way they spoke felt unnatural for someone entering through the door.

Taking a deep breath, I looked toward the window. It had been opened for ventilation…

“Hey, buddy!”

“Ahhh!”

At that moment, a tiny girl popped out like a mole in a whack-a-mole game.

Startled, I fell off the bed, and Mary, who I hadn’t seen for a while, landed in my room from the window.

And that too, with her shoes on…

“Long time no see! I missed you so much!”

“Did you really have to come in wearing shoes?”

“Uh?”

After cleaning, now footprints appeared all over the floor. Plus, it looked like Mary had been rolling around somewhere since she was drenched.

Had she been swimming in a lake, catching bugs or something? Please don’t walk around my room in that state.

Squish, squish—

“What happened?”

“Ah, come on!”

Mary, who didn’t seem to grasp my words even a little, dripped water everywhere, leaving more footprints. Eventually, I ended up forcibly carrying Mary outside. It seemed I’d have to clean up again shortly.

‘What a primitive little savage.’

*

The opening ceremony was over, and more than 48 hours remained until classes began. This leisurely time allowed all the students to finish the arrangements they needed to make before the start of the semester.

Apart from cleaning their rooms and gathering materials for classes, everyone had free time.

Thanks to the help from the Chain Silver Family, Jenny and I had prepared everything already. So I was supposed to take a nap after I cleaned up. That was before Mary showed up…

Once I brought Mary outside, I found Jenny and Luska waiting in front of the dorm. This was all part of a plan.

In the end, I was dragged along to the café, a famous spot at the academy, by the atmosphere they created.

The sweet aroma of coffee filled my nose. The café was surrounded by flowerbeds, painting a scene that anyone would associate with paradise.

Thanks to that, the female students frequently visited for tea time.

Despite it being free time, everyone seemed busy, and there weren’t many people here taking a break.

Instead, fellow students I recognized were already seated and waiting.

“Long time no see, Radon Crawler.”

Crona Delaware stood up, holding her skirt and greeting me like a proper lady. Seeing her aristocratic demeanor, I responded warmly, feeling glad.

“I’m glad too. I don’t remember your name though.”

Baimon Dreadnote adjusted his glasses with his middle finger as he engrossed himself in a large archive.

To me, it was like someone checking important work materials on a tablet in the modern world.

I expected him to act that way but… his greeting was truly lackluster.

And then…

“….”

“….”

I couldn’t believe he was here. My eyes met those of Lyman Begilius, giving off the most dangerous vibes of all.

He had a cynical gaze toward everything, radiating a coldness comparable to a tattooed thug in a back alley.

“How have you been?”

“Yeah…”

When he finally asked, I shrank back, only waving my hand. Even though we weren’t on bad terms, I could feel an unspeakable aura from Lyman that made it hard to approach him.

Still, since he was the main character, one might expect his personality would be decent… but that would be a foolish assumption. After all, we were in a merciless overpowered world.

In this typical fantasy setting, if you thought of the kind protagonist who was kind to everyone, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say you’d lose your head the moment you tried to talk to him.

Having him as an ally would be reassuring, but the moment he turns hostile… let’s not talk about it. Just thinking about it sent chills down my spine.

Such was the case with Baimon, too—how could there be a single normal male character here? I began to suspect the producers simply disliked bright and passionate male characters.

The only one who could be considered is Professor Radian, but knowing that this person’s future would soon darken, it felt far from passionate.

‘Who would have thought I’d miss a protagonist with a gullible nature this much?’

While that one may seem kind, I’d feel frustrated as if I was about to burst like swallowing a whole sweet potato, but over here, I’m under pressure without being able to relax.

Is this what you call a balancing patch?

“Are you the only ones who haven’t shown up yet?”

“Seems like the others are still busy.”

“Then shall we at least start among ourselves?”

The reason why we, a group of individuals that could make even the student council cry, gathered around the same table was nothing special.

It was just an informal gathering to catch up on what we did over the break, nothing more.

Even so, I found it natural to drink coffee while they spoke, feeling no sense of repulsion.

First, Luska mentioned she had no home and stayed at the academy to help the professors.

Then, she got the chance to go to the Holy Cross Sect headquarters through an arrangement by Cage, and she met Angela again.

Although they were step-siblings, talking with her only family improved Luska’s complexion compared to before the break.

Moreover, everyone was astonished to learn Angela had been designated a Saint.

In fact, it wasn’t much of a surprise… After all, Angela was born of a divine beast’s lineage and a warrior tribe mother.

Considering the two powers stemmed from the ancient Thousand-Year Fox, Angela was something like a mini version of the Thousand-Year Fox. Who could possibly be a better candidate for a divine representative?

And Mary went back to the White Magic Tower to experiment with new magic. When Jenny asked how she made it, she smiled and said,

“Thanks to the new world Radon showed me!”

“Ha ha!”

I spit out the coffee I’d been sipping. And the next words almost made me collapse with laughter.

“It’s a magic that manifests the illusion I saw back then. The first people I showed it to were my mom and dad.”

She showed that to the great magicians as soon as she got home? Was she out of her mind?

“So my mom praised me and said what a good daughter I was, but my dad looked like a volcano about to erupt and started yelling at me?”

He had every right to be mad! She’s just a child, and she’s already learning such vulgar magic!

Even if I were the Master of the White Tower, I would have warned against introducing her as my daughter in public.

“So what happened after that?”

I hastily asked, and Mary immediately showed a disappointed expression.

“It got wiped out.”

“What?”

“My dad… told me I better not let my eyes rot from that kind of magic… and he erased that magic from existence forever.”

That was a refreshingly wise decision. Honestly, some things ought to be cleared up like that in order to be called the Empire’s greatest Tower Master.

I was so moved that tears nearly welled up. Even though I feel wretched now, I wanted to treat him to expensive alcohol someday.

“I worked hard to make it… I hate my dad.”

Hate? What’s to hate? He’s a good father.

Seeing Mary sulk unexpectedly, Crona gently patted her shoulder. With that, she quickly returned to her bright demeanor and continued speaking.

“But my dad is looking for the person who inspired that magic.”

“What?”

“He’s planning to unleash high-tier magic on whoever taught my daughter such vulgar skills as soon as he finds them.”

“….”

-I… I take back what I said about treating him to expensive drinks! Please forgive me.

Suddenly turning pale, I internally repented. Please, just let me live.

With the power of high-tier magic, it’s no joke—a change in geography could occur… Unless that was an exaggerated expression and he meant it sincerely, it was obvious.

I really wanted to live a long life.

Please don’t let me reach the academy. Master White Tower, I beg you.

This time, Jenny and I recounted our vacation. Baimon, who had been staring blankly at the archive, surprisingly showed interest in the story we shared.

Then he asked,

“Did you two sleep holding hands?”

“What?”

Jenny jumped and her face turned bright red. I, too, was caught off guard, even if not as much.

After all, it was a topic that couldn’t be avoided when talking about a guy and a girl living in the same house.

Besides, I was the only boy who spent several days at the Chain Silver Mansion over the break.

“Then you two were close and cozy…”

“Not at all!”

Crack!

The ground beneath Jenny’s feet froze like a skating rink. Silver Age activated purely by accident.

It was an ironic scene where her body heated up while freezing was occurring.

It was quite strange to hear such a remark from someone who hadn’t picked up on any cues about alchemy at all.

Every time she heard this, Crona gritted her teeth and shot me a furious glare. Considering her feelings toward Jenny… I couldn’t exclude the possibility of jealousy.

‘I’ll need to clear up this misunderstanding later.’

Next, it was Lyman’s turn to speak, but I didn’t have anything to say to him. Lyman didn’t have a family or even a clan, so he had stayed at the academy during the break.

His only goal was to receive his diploma along with the Eternal Flame, with no special regard for the academy itself.

‘For a level 99 character to enter a beginner’s server and cause a ruckus, what passion could he possibly have?’

However, something unexpected occurred with his view of the academy… I found a genuine desire to live there forming inside me.

“I don’t care about anything else, but I want to ask you both…”

Pointing at Jenny and Mary together, Lyman said. At that moment, his previously sharp gaze seemed to soften considerably.

“How are your fathers doing these days?”

Gerard Chain Silver, head of the Chain Silver House.

Taily Lurdisiel, Master of the White Tower.

They were heroes who had thwarted the Demon King’s invasion 30 years ago… and they were Lyman’s mentors.

Back then, Lyman was called “older brother” by them, and he treated them like younger siblings.

While he may not age as an immortal being, hearing that his younger siblings had grown to be self-made would have undoubtedly brought him joy.

Moreover, he never imagined he would meet the daughters of those brothers here at this academy.

“Oh, they’re busy as usual. They’re not really sick, and their strength is almost like steel.”

“I see.”

“My dad is totally clueless! How can he just delete a creation made by his daughter?”

As Mary pouted and sulked, wrinkles formed on Lyman’s forehead.

“Your father is more righteous than you think. Grow up a bit!”

“….”

His expression resembled that of an old man scolding a brat. Despite Mary being quite a handful, she could only shrink back in front of the true troublemaker, Lyman.

If she were merely the daughter of the Master of the White Tower, she’d be dealt with verbally. But if it were an ordinary extra, she’d end up in a sorry state without a kernel of corn left to chew.

“Then Baimon, what have you been up to?”

Last to speak was Baimon.

He pointed to a direction and there, a doll made of metal was wandering about.

“I made that.”

From just a glance, it could only be called a robot; in this world, it was referred to as an Artificial Golem.

The idea for these artificial spirits came from the royal family’s servants.

– Dessert. Enjoy your meal. Beep!

Another Artificial Golem approached our table and delivered the cake we ordered, then continued on its way.

That kind of quirky motion was unfamiliar to both the students and me. There was no such high-tech in the world I lived in.

At that moment, a student dashed past and accidentally bumped into the Artificial Golem.

Had it been a human, they’d have suffered a concussion from how hard the Golem hit the ground without holding its head properly.

However, the student hesitated for a moment and just went on, offering no apology whatsoever.

Since it wasn’t a human, they felt no need to treat it like a person. This was all the more true given the era’s background.

*

“Did you hear that just now? They both lived in the same mansion.”

Two students were hiding in the bushes, observing a group of people sitting at a table.

Rumors circulated that Radon Crawler had come down from Jenny Chain Silver’s carriage. I thought it was nonsense until hearing that recent bit confirmed it.

“Hehe! Kent will go crazy hearing that.”

“Let’s not just inform anyone; we should distort it as much as possible. With it being anonymous, no one will be able to figure it out.”

The two quickly pulled out their student IDs and accessed the archive. Just as one was about to leave an anonymous post, they hesitated for a moment.

“But we haven’t had our warning removed yet. If we get caught again, we’ll be suspended until we graduate from the archive.”

“Then we can just use the archive set up in the Information Hall; unless you’re in the student council, it can’t be accessed at all.”

They immediately dashed toward the main information hall’s public archive room.

In there, they could access the academic bulletin board more easily than looking through the back mirror of the archive, and they could enter using their student IDs.

Leaving just one post was trivial, but that alone could create a tremendous butterfly effect.

Breeed and Rudical hadn’t forgotten what Radon had done to them. A malicious laugh echoed, one that took pleasure in bringing down the popular.

Surviving as an Academy Scammer.