Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

83. The Voice of Fantasy

In the snow-covered village, rows of white-armored clerics and those in civilian clothes stood in line.

Gold trim stood out prominently on their attire and all their belongings. The piles of snow contrasted sharply with their colors, almost as if a path of light had been carved through the snowfield.

Current time, noon.

As the Paladin at the front of the procession received the report on the time, he shouted to commence.

It was a rather late start.

The prisoners we were dragging along were captured only a few days prior.

Heck, we were itching to take them away as soon as they were bound, if it weren’t for the blizzard obscuring our view.

“I can finally see ahead!”

“Only now can we escort the prisoners. They’ve really held on well.”

The clerics that set off began to mutter among themselves.

I expected they would maintain their decorum at all times, but that wasn’t the case during a march.

With days ahead where their legs would work tirelessly, such things were quickly pushed aside.

In fact, proper etiquette is usually only preserved in the holy land of Kreuz.

“This region’s blizzards are unnecessarily long. How many days has it been?”

“When it hits hard, it feels endless. It seems like it’s already been a week.”

“I was anxious they might try to escape. Thankfully, the deputy director’s measures were perfect.”

They hesitated to proceed too quickly, fearing being swallowed by the blizzard.

Due to its proximity to the Crevasse Snowfield, the blizzard’s duration here was significantly longer than in other areas.

A few days’ walk until the next village, and if we made a wrong turn, everything could be over.

If we couldn’t find the way out of the snowfield, we might wander in the blizzard for the rest of our lives.

In which case, even the efficacy of our warming magical devices would gradually diminish, and we would collectively turn into frozen fossils.

For that reason, we had to remain in the village until the blizzard calmed.

Even with the risk of the prisoners escaping, we waited until the weather settled down.

And today at noon was the precise moment when the blizzard was expected to wane.

“How can we walk for several more days in this biting wind and manage both sleeping and keeping watch? I just hope those criminals don’t freeze to death alongside me.”

“By the way, I still don’t get it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are we bothering to keep such repugnant humans alive and transporting them? Each of them deserves execution by their crimes. Are you sure this is the Cardinal’s order?”

“Who knows? The leader’s command is the Cardinal’s command.”

The deputy director, Sir Crudy.

And above him, the head of the 1st Order, Gamur Brutus.

He was the one who ordered to keep the prisoners alive.

The sentences were so harsh that he left them in limbo, arguing that execution would merely provide them rest.

Monitoring those locked behind iron bars would only allow fatigue to pile up.

“But do the students from Aligieri know about this?”

“Of course, they don’t. I told them they were ordinary bandits… but that’s far from the truth.”

Here we were, a unit led by the Pope, dealing with merely a band of thieves? It didn’t feel natural at all.

“They’re members of Helheim, once notorious across the continent.”

*

It was evident from the introduction of the main story that this wasn’t a typical prisoner transport. In episodes about such transports, ambushes tend to occur.

And behind it all was the leader of the 1st Order standing at the very front.

Gamur Brutus. The brilliant Paladin leading the elite order was, in fact, a criminal himself.

When he was tasked with eliminating these criminals, he had already lost his body to one of them.

No matter how high-ranking a commander, unexpected variables can easily overwhelm. Added to that, the criminal he faced was quite a skilled adversary.

He was once a high-ranking member of the infamous Helheim organization.

In the end, the soul of this man, Gamur Brutus, was pushed aside, and in its place, the soul of a criminal settled.

So, while he appeared to be a Paladin leader on the outside, inside was a psycho who couldn’t be reasoned with. Truly, a monstrous facade.

‘From the start, it seems odd to be dragging these criminals along.’

It would be simpler to execute them outright rather than endure unnecessary risks escorting them to the holy land?

Does that even make sense?

“Ugh… The blizzard has stopped, but why is it still so cold?”

“Well, it is said to be the coldest place on the continent, after all.”

“Should I try taking off my ring for a bit?”

Even fully equipped with warmth tools, I could still feel the cold.

What if I removed the Igrit ring I was wearing now?

Driven by curiosity amidst the cold, Mary reached for the ring…

Swish!—

“Ugh!! M-my… body…! My body!!”

“What the hell! Put it back on quickly!”

Mary finally understood what bitter cold truly meant.

Luska was irritated, but Mary couldn’t move as her hands had gone numb.

“I-it’s freezing… I-I’m sorry… I guess this is my end…”

Now even her lips were freezing, rendering her speechless. Mary regretted taking it off deeply.

“There’s no way it’s over! Seriously!”

Unable to stand by any longer, Luska wrapped around Mary and put the ring back on her hand.

Due to their height difference, the scene could easily be misconstrued as sisters.

Though she looked icy on the outside, Luska’s face, caring for her friend, made Mary look up and smile brightly.

“Thank you! You’re still my forever friend!”

“J-just don’t cling so much! It’s ticklish.”

“Hehehe…”

Just as she had done for me, Mary nestled her face against Luska, savoring the softness.

While they were being all cutesy, Jenny was keeping a close watch on the wagon carrying the prisoners.

I approached Jenny and asked,

“Who do you think they are?”

“What?”

“You mentioned there’d be someone among them controlling werewolves.”

“…I still don’t know for sure.”

It was Jenny who had insisted on this risky mission despite knowing the danger involved.

Her reason was there might be a sorcerer here who had controlled the Lycanthrope that killed her mother.

“But it wouldn’t do to ask one by one, right?”

“Exactly. There’s no guarantee they’d respond easily even if we inquire. However, it’s not without clues. According to reports, that sorcerer has claw marks on his back like a beast’s.”

“So, should we strip them all one by one…”

“Of course not!”

While the urge to find the enemy was strong, there was no chance I would cross that line.

Even to just probe with words, they responded quite sensitively.

“We still have a week left, so there’s no need to rush. Let’s take it slow.”

“Yeah…”

While I was comforting Jenny, one of the criminals glanced our way. It was Juster Margil, whom I had locked eyes with before we set off.

He still wore that annoyingly stupid grin that made me want to crush his skull with Leviathan.

The pervert was looking at me as if he had me marked, which only made me angrier.

‘I want to smash his face in.’

I genuinely wanted to pierce his skull with my finger.

Had it not been for that damn long hair, I wouldn’t feel this way.

However, even if not right now, there would be a chance for me to punish that bastard soon enough. Until then, all I needed to do was walk.

Before long, as we entered the forest, a Paladin turned his back to us and asked,

“Are you struggling?”

“No, not at all. Are you all okay?”

When the leader Trisha asked each of us, we all simultaneously replied, “No.”

Since I was the only guy, my voice was overshadowed.

“I thought you’d be nervous since this is your first official mission, but you seem surprisingly composed.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already done something similar back in my first year, so I can guide well.”

“Hahaha. That puts me at ease, then. Let’s all do our best, ladies.”

“We look forward to your guidance as well.”

Just as the warm exchange was wrapping up, I was the only one who felt awkward.

Wait, what? Ladies?

The realization that included me in that grouping made me exhale deeply and fall into a dilemma.

*

Once we entered a certain range of the forest, the clerics stopped walking and sat down.

It was already 9 PM. Having walked non-stop since noon, it wouldn’t be surprising if everyone had cramps in their legs.

To walk from here to Kreuz would take about a week. For a non-machine being, walking that distance 24 hours straight was unreasonable.

Moreover, we couldn’t access the Warp Gate right now, making walking unavoidable.

No matter how enhanced their bodies were with divine blessings, they couldn’t overcome fatigue and hunger.

“In three days, you will receive food. After that, you’ll have to look after yourselves, so keep that in mind.”

“Thank you.”

Trisha distributed the bread and a cup of juice received from the clerics to our teammates.

It seemed she had packed this before leaving Aramos Town. But given that they only managed to get three days’ worth, it’s likely that town had its limits too.

As the others chatted while slowly eating, I rushed to finish mine and stood up.

“Radon, where are you going?”

“To the restroom… I mean, to pee.”

“You have to go far away!”

[Erosion Rate Decreased: -2]

[+200 Credits]

Honestly, I wasn’t even that desperate to pee.

The reason I left my seat was quite different.

It was time for Gamur, who would ignite a rebellion among the transported prisoners, to make contact with someone.

I pushed through the dense trees, going deeper into the forest.

As flakes of snow fell from the branches, I reached a spot where a man cloaked in black stood.

『Hey, you filth, why did you suddenly come here? And what’s that?』

‘Looks like a guy who’s going to do some awful stuff in the future.’

This man was a member of the fanatical “Doomsday,” to which Enviel belonged.

Soon, he would be meeting Gamur to conduct a secret deal. Specifically, a drug that turns humans into monsters.

I bet Gamur was planning to mix the drugs he received from that fanatic into the bread and juice we had just eaten.

Thus, the signs of transformation into monsters would begin today at dawn. Specifically, into Lycanthropes.

Coincidentally, there was a sorcerer among the prisoners capable of controlling Lycanthropes.

Using his skills to manipulate priests turned into wolves would disguise them as criminals.

And they would plan to pose as clerics upon arriving at Kreuz.

To slay the saints.

『I feel a dark energy coming from that guy…』

‘Are you hungry? Then eat.’

『Really?』

‘But you have to spit out that black cloak first.’

The fanatic seemed distracted, waiting for Gamur.

It was a perfect opportunity to assassinate him.

Swish!—

“Ugh!”

The fanatic, seeing something burst from his belly, spat blood.

The spirit’s tail pierced through from behind, and with that, he was lifted off the ground and swallowed whole by the spirit.

It was stealthy and perfect, leaving no trace or dying cries.

『Phew!』

Muto spat out the cloak he had swallowed, as promised.

Thud thud—

As the sound of footsteps drew closer, I hurriedly wore the cloak. Then, I transformed Muto into a shadow and draped him over my face once more.

Even if the colors turned white, his abilities as a shadow remained intact. This way, I wouldn’t need to use my spirit power and could completely conceal my appearance.

And inside my pocket rested the drug for transformation.

Thud thud—

As the sounds grew closer and then suddenly stopped, I turned to the direction it came from to see Gamur, clad in armor, standing there.

Though it was a disguised form, his lion-like head shimmered like the sun.

“Are you from Doomsday?”

He asked me in a respectful tone. Just as I was about to answer naturally to avoid suspicion—

『Wait, filth. Wouldn’t it be risky to let your voice be heard here?』

‘What?’

『You’re currently in league with that guy. If he hears your voice unmasked, he’ll become suspicious.』

If we chatted like this and sent him back, I’d be suspected when we later met face to face. Was that the gist of it?

‘Good point.’

『So I’ll speak on your behalf. Despite appearances, I’m capable of modifying my voice at will.』

‘You have such a function?’

『Just sit back and watch.』

Indeed, being a high-ranking spirit seemed to include several functions even I didn’t know. This time, I found Muto quite useful.

But it was me who was entering the dialogue. I conveyed everything I needed to say to Muto’s mind.

Then, my face automatically spoke in a modified voice.

“Are you that young master from Helheim? Your disguise is quite remarkable.”

“Thank you for taking the tough journey.”

“My honor. It’s a perfect opportunity to test my drugs in practice.”

The voice sounded quite sweet.

The voice modulation felt so natural; it was like I had completely turned into a different person.

“But it’s surprising. I didn’t expect a woman…”

“…?”

Upon that instant, I stopped speaking. I felt a huge disturbance in the altered voice.

And as my brain short-circuited, one thought buzzed through my mind.

‘What the hell.’

How am I going to roast this damn snake soon?

Surviving as an Academy Scammer.