Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

---

80화. Is That the Power Mage I’ve Heard About?

After the A-3 group meeting ended, we all scattered to our respective tasks.

Trisha and I had activities for the Newspaper Department, Jenny and Mary were researching materials related to our mission, and Luska had a special errand from the department head.

Everyone seemed busy.

As soon as my Newspaper Department activities concluded, I did not return to the 3rd Star Hall but headed to the 1st Star Hall instead.

According to Jenny, we needed a certain ring magical device to pass through the snowfield. That magical device is in Crona’s possession.

Unfortunately, Jenny mentioned that she would be quite late and urged me to go find it myself.

But I didn’t have to comply with every request.

Jenny would return before dark, and she could just ask for it herself at that time. Since the 1st Star Hall was the same place, it wasn’t far.

However, I did not refuse her request.

The reason was Crona’s creepy tendencies.

I had been so focused on other characters, including Lyman, that I had momentarily forgotten.

Crona’s obsession with Jenny was enough to make even the Joker shake his head.

“Are you coming to your senses?”

“Ah….”

As I opened the door, Crona, who had been frothing at the mouth and collapsing, finally opened her eyes about 20 minutes later.

Though that was a surprisingly quick time for someone who had fainted, it was really just her excessive fussiness causing the incident.

Crona’s disheveled eyelids fluttered, almost closing, then suddenly became bright.

She jumped up and backed away from the bed she was lying on.

“Radon Crawler!”

“Hello.”

“Hello, what are you doing here…?”

Bang!—

“Ouch, ouch, ouch!”

As Crona backed away, she forgot there was a wall behind her and bumped her head.

Holding the back of her head with both hands, Crona groaned, and I looked at her sympathetically.

“Ugh…! What’s with that expression, Radon Crawler!”

“Not that it has a bad meaning or anything.”

“Hah… to show such a humiliating sight. I’ll never get married now!”

Crona pursued a dignified, perfect appearance. It was natural for her to want to hide any dirty aspects.

With me having laid her down on the bed after she had been frothing at the mouth, how could she not feel embarrassed?

“Why are you even here? You’re not here to provoke me, are you?”

“I just knocked and came in. What provocation? Are you paranoid?”

“Don’t act innocent! Then why are you looking for a ring?”

“A ring? Ah, right.”

I almost forgot after spending 20 minutes taking care of her.

We needed a magical device in the shape of a ring to raise the heat while passing through the Crevasse Snowfield, and I had come to ask her for it.

“I heard from Jenny that you wear rings often.”

“That’s right! Are you trying to steal it and seduce Jenny? Who do you think you are?”

Suddenly, she raised her mana, and Crona’s body began to steam like a hot potato. Her reaction was excessively hypersensitive for a state of alert.

‘Looks like she really is paranoid.’

Her anxiousness was likely due to dissatisfaction with the group arrangement.

After all, she didn’t get to be in the same group as Jenny.

Her dedication to Jenny induced a chill.

“I can’t believe Jenny isn’t participating in the same group.”

“You….”

Crona’s eyes widened as if struck by a dagger.

She couldn’t be unaware that Jenny had been giving me attention lately.

This naturally led to concerns that she might be spending less time with Crona, and I worried she might end up feeling incredibly lonely.

“I have a good idea of how much you care about Jenny. So I’ll say this: Jenny will never abandon you.”

“Huh?”

“You probably know from the rumors, but I stayed at Jenny’s mansion during the break. Do you know what she said about you then?”

“….”

[Erosion Rate Decrease: -3]

[+300 Credits]

I had never really heard much about Crona.

However, it was essential to fabricate a story to calm her down.

She was now the leader of a group. If her unstable mental state caused her to mess up the mission, it might hinder future progress.

“She said you’re her one and only eternal friend. And whenever she talks to me, she always praises you.”

“…!”

[Erosion Rate Decrease: -15]

Crona’s eyes trembled significantly at my words.

While I hadn’t actually said that, it was true that Jenny’s feelings for Crona were genuine. When lying, mixing in more than 1% of truth works best.

“But she hasn’t been seeing me at all…”

“Honestly, she was probably negligent in caring for you because she was too focused on a new friend like me. But do you know?”

“…?”

“She has everything related to you. She even showed me a necklace that you gave her as a child, saying she had kissed it.”

“R-really!?”

[Erosion Rate Decrease: -25]

Suddenly receiving such a tremendous emotional boost, Crona began to tremor.

Her expression brightened as if she had embraced a savior.

Most of the tale was fabricated.

However, the necklace truly existed. The one that young Crona had deemed too dirty to wear was given to Jenny.

Jenny accepted it as a present from a friend and had kept it in her room ever since.

Of course, she had never introduced it to me.

“I see… she really hasn’t abandoned me.”

Now, she clasped her hands together in a gesture resembling prayer.

It was like watching a deluded cultist, as if she had heard the voice of an imaginary god.

“I’ve been worrying for nothing.”

“….”

“I’m really sorry for showing such an undignified appearance. Anyway, what was your request?”

“Could you lend me five of the rings you always wear?”

“Right! How very un-noble of me! Hohohoho!”

The girl who had been sulking just moments ago was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a refined lady.

It seemed as if she had instantly changed her mask. Scary, very scary.

“But unfortunately, I don’t have five right now. If I request them from my family, I can get them easily, but it will take about six days.”

“Six days? That’s a long wait?”

“The ring I’m wearing is a rare type. It’s a magical device called ‘Atalif’ that increases sensitivity to heat.”

She mostly wore it to boost her resonance with Sun Red.

Thus, I thought she should have more than ten of them.

“I’ll contact the family right now, so just wait a few days. And! Please keep my previous state a secret! Got it?”

“Sure, I got it.”

“Oh, and thank you for telling me.”

After Crona thanked me shyly, I left the room.

Once alone, Crona suddenly ducked her head under the bed and reached out towards it.

A large bag was dragged out beneath the bed.

Looking at the bag on the floor, Crona’s expression was strange.

Her face lit up with excitement, and she slowly opened the bag.

“Hohoho.”

The contents, however, were far less impressive than her meaningful laughter suggested.

Sweaty, worn-out gym clothes, some pens, a broken wooden sword, a handkerchief, and a water bottle.

It appeared to be just the belongings that some Combat Department student had carelessly discarded.

Yet, the original owner of those items was…

“I’m so glad. Jenny.”

*

“Hmm….”

“Jenny, what’s wrong? Are you catching a cold?”

“Not exactly. Suddenly my body is shaking….”

The next day, the first class was a joint session between the Combat and Magic Departments.

During this crucial time of learning how different fields could collaborate in combat, Jenny suddenly felt a shiver.

“Could it be from being outside for too long yesterday?”

“Well, that doesn’t explain why you look like you’re catching a cold. It must just be a temporary phenomenon you experience sometimes.”

Thus, I reassured Jenny and focused on today’s class.

Today was a joint session with the second-year students from the Magic Department. It was also an opportunity to spar with them autonomously, and there was one senior among them I had to keep an eye on.

“Hey there, little sibling! Did you have good dreams last night?”

“Seeing your face just made my good mood crash back down.”

Students from each department were sitting in a gigantic circle.

Inside the circle, a first-year student and a second-year senior faced off in a one-on-one duel.

No need to say, it was a dueling field.

The first-year, Luska, looked vexed, while the senior, Trisha, continued to view Luska cutely.

Because of that, Luska felt disgusted.

The duel was chosen arbitrarily by the first-year side. Since we were in the same group, it was necessary to understand Trisha’s abilities.

“Just so you know, if you can’t keep up with our level, we won’t hesitate to leave you behind.”

“Guess we’ll just have to see.”

As Trisha answered cheekily, the professor shouted “Start.”

Luska was the first to strike.

[Break Arrow]

An arrow that should have only been shot once multiplied into more than ten and flew in various directions.

The speed of the arrows was astonishing, leaving the Magic Department students in a dilemma. They had to quickly cast their defensive spells, but the arrows were already almost upon them.

No intention to give any mercy.

It might be that Luska had been annoying when living together as roommates, but the current mission was rated A.

They couldn’t afford to babysit a trailing student.

“Our junior is quite good.”

“…Huh?”

Trisha still smiled. Luska squinted his eyes in doubt.

Most magic users were physically weak, even if they weren’t students. But now, the opposed magic user was catching every arrow with her hands.

“Isn’t it my turn now?”

Trisha, who displayed skills usually unattainable for a standard mage, smoothly twirled and threw arrows one at a time.

Not only did she just return them, but each arrow was inscribed with elemental spells.

She had swiftly applied magic even in the brief moment before tossing them!

“What?!”

Luska was in complete shock at the unexpected opponent’s movement.

Even Jenny and I were wide-eyed, unable to believe what we were witnessing.

She had helped me with water-element magic during the Lycanthrope incident.

But that was something any mage could manage, so aside from being the Newspaper Department leader, I thought she was just a normal senior.

[Blood Wind]

Arrows flew back faster than they had been shot. The impact was magnified by the magical inscriptions, and the destruction needed no further explanation.

Dodging was far more sensible than trying to block, so Luska accelerated to escape.

Swish!—

Even though all her thrown arrows had been used up… Trisha threw something else.

Luska, with his remarkable reaction speed, quickly noticed what it was. It was none other than a staff vital for casting spells.

Throwing away her equipment? What’s wrong with her?

After evading that too, Luska approached Trisha, aiming his twin-edged sword at her neck.

In that moment…

“Sorry about that.”

Trisha’s voice from behind made Luska’s nerves stand on end.

While Luska couldn’t realize it, both Jenny and I had witnessed it.

That staff she had thrown had inscriptions too, and the moment Luska dodged it, the magic concealed in it activated.

It was a teleportation spell to the location of the staff.

As the staff floated right behind Luska’s head, Trisha could effortlessly move to that spot, leading them to the very edge of a showdown.

The blade of wind from the staff was already aimed at Luska’s neck.

With that extraordinary combination of physical agility and magic, most first-years were left in awe.

‘No way, is that from B class?!’

Of course, I felt the same.

Surviving as an Academy Scammer!