---

149. You, who don’t know the charm of love…

A curse passed down through generations.

If caught by such a thing, one would surely want to blame their ancestors.

Living an unjust life due to an unwanted curse brings significant mental anguish.

If this is what has been rooted in the ancestors, it’s truly chilling.

Over 300 years, how many descendants must have branched out?

‘Those descendants certainly don’t just exist in the main family.’

In fact, I have pondered this for a long time.

Blood ties include relatives beyond the main household, but can those relatives also escape the curse of the Layered Family?

Given the nature of the curse passed down through generations, it wouldn’t be surprising if it spread to them as well.

This is a fact that can be understood with just a little thought.

Therefore, one can’t help but wonder if the branch family members are alright.

“I have to… tell a lie….”

“….”

I looked at the guy and fell into a deep thought for a moment.

From my position of sharing the same curse, his behavior seemed quite strange.

Firstly, the way he was rambling about lies made him look like someone whose will had been taken away.

I don’t know when this started, but if he’s been like this since he got cursed, then that’s rather peculiar.

I’ve never been like this, after all.

‘Could it be a side effect of the curse? But why are my family and I unaffected?’

For now, our Crawler Family has grasped the essence of the curse and is dealing with it step by step.

On the other hand, it seems Markray has become afflicted without understanding anything.

It’s likely that the Layered Family, including Markray, is the same.

If they had failed to deal with it and ended up like this, it would make sense.

“So, this person is an enemy, right?”

“But it seems he’s not in a state to fight.”

Nebia and Angela said, looking at the unconscious Markray.

They had woken up again after the paralysis poison wore off.

Sure enough, being a saint gave them incredible resistance, so it didn’t take long for them to recover.

“But Radon, you just knocked us out, didn’t you?”

“Isn’t that a bit too much, even if it was to trick a slave?”

The two saints shot sharp looks at me because I knocked them out a little while ago. Nobody would feel good after being stung by bugs, including me.

“Okay, I’ll make it up to you with rice balls later.”

“If you don’t, I’ll tell my sister everything.”

Hmm… Please let that be the only thing I have to worry about.

Considering I share a room with that sister, that’s a serious threat.

I need to be careful.

“Lies… I’ve got to… lie…”

Suddenly, Markray’s condition became even stranger.

He spoke with an urgency that seemed desperate, as if he was hoping for something.

The redness in his eyes while looking this way was absurd.

“Please… save me…!”

“…?”

“Quickly… break this curse…!”

No matter how I looked at it, it was odd. His words sounded as if they were interrupted intermittently.

“What are you talking about?”

“Hey! Can you explain that in a way we can understand? Otherwise, how can we help or not?”

They didn’t notice anything, but having experienced it myself, I felt I understood.

“Please…!”

This was undoubtedly the silent treatment that occurred whenever he spoke.

He was desperately begging for the curse to be lifted right now.

But no more sound could be heard from him.

“Save me…”

In an instant, Markray turned to sand and disappeared.

“What, what the hell!”

“Eek!”

The sudden change startled the two saints as well.

I had indeed heard from my father that if the curse’s erosion rate filled up completely, the body would perish on its own.

I instinctively realized that this scene was now unfolding before my eyes.

“Before long, you might end up like this too.”

‘….’

The two saints next to me looked dazed as if they were struck by a bolt from the blue. They seemed completely unaware of the curse.

A curse even the saints couldn’t perceive… truly a headache.

But I felt there might be a way to lift it.

Looking at the two saints, who had been rivals but now seemed to have softened.

*

Jason Baikel.

He was born into a small swordsmanship family known as Baikel. Gifted from a young age, he took great pride in his strength.

Jason had a tendency to feel he needed to be satisfied with whatever he did. If he didn’t achieve a satisfactory result, he would never stop.

With that resolve, he worked hard and became an excellent swordsman at a young age.

His strength was undeniable, achieved through his own efforts. However, he wasn’t satisfied with just that.

Everyone must look up to him. If not, he would not be satisfied once again.

Through relentless effort, he became a genius admired by many.

But there were those who did not see him as someone to look up to, who belittled him instead.

Jason’s feelings, which could only be satisfied, were not pleasant at all.

‘Why? Everyone else looks up to me, yet why do they do that?’

‘Are they perhaps disabled? Do they have antisocial behavior issues?’

‘They must all be filled with inferiority complexes. Yeah, they’re probably crawling around like bugs.’

He was excellent.

Everyone around knew that.

Still, not treating him well was a foolish act.

Minds that were less developed… in short, bugs.

Thus, he could not be satisfied at all. Anything that prevented his satisfaction was all bugs.

Such a mindset gradually took root in Jason’s head.

However, even though they didn’t treat him preferentially, they never blamed Jason either.

They were not particularly bad-hearted people.

Yet, they were bugs. By the point they didn’t satisfy him, they were all pests.

Jason’s thoughts were excessively one-dimensional.

‘They’re nothing but inferiority complex-ridden fools. Such people are bound to cause a big incident soon enough.’

Everyone was stupid.

Being stupid meant they lacked morality.

Then surely, they would mess up and be expelled from wherever they found themselves.

In this way, while Jason was soothing himself, something very unpleasant happened.

The one who didn’t look up to him finally left the family.

However, it was not for being expelled; he was succeeding and moving on to greater heights.

Thus, there was no need to stay in the Baikel family.

‘Why?’

Wasn’t that guy supposed to be some inferior loser?

But why was he not making a fool of himself, instead thriving?

Moreover, those who had looked up to him were congratulating that guy.

What? Just this once, they’re asking him to spare them?

‘Screw that.’

As expected, it didn’t go well, and stress followed.

Those who betrayed him were also pests. Therefore, he could not forgive.

So right before the guy left the family, he broke his leg in the dead of night.

The agonizing screams echoed dreadfully. Hearing that, he was finally satisfied.

How could it be this enjoyable? An extreme pleasure came without him realizing it.

Could this satisfaction come from the screams of others?

Is it similar to the satisfaction felt when catching bugs wandering around the house?

‘What the hell is wrong with me?’

And unsurprisingly, Jason was punished before his father.

Once a great knight, now bedridden due to illness, his father scrutinized his child with a serious face.

‘Is this really how you have to feel your so-called “satisfaction”?’

‘What did I do wrong?’

‘What…!’

Without a single change in his expression, Jason replied.

‘People must rightly worship those with talent and power. The one who ignored me was that guy. It’s inappropriate for him to gain praise more than me, being weaker than I am!’

He merely punished for taking away the trust bestowed upon the strong.

He only punished the thief who stole the strong’s bonds.

His argument seemed to have worked, as his father’s expression lightened a bit.

‘Yes, your talent is indeed exceptional. It isn’t unreasonable to say it’s valid not to praise you, the outstanding one.’

His father looked relieved. However, suddenly he stood up and grabbed a sword.

‘But you can’t do that.’

‘Father…?’

And with that, he swung the sword at his own child.

‘Talent? Satisfaction? Those are just excuses. You’ve already been devoured by greed!’

I gave birth to a monster. That was the meaning behind my father’s sword.

Fortunately, his illness made him weak. He could easily retaliate, but… in the process, his father died.

Jason stained his hands with his parent’s blood.

But he felt no discomfort. Rather, he found only satisfaction, as if he had just killed a fly.

In the end, as a murderer, Jason was dragged to the royal prison. No one looked upon him favorably.

Now, no one looked up to him anymore.

He couldn’t be satisfied like this. Soon, everyone began to look like bugs to him.

Pests that hindered his satisfaction.

*

“Ugh… I’ll exterminate them all.”

Wounded all over, Jason knelt, exhausted.

“Haah… haah…!”

Yet, it seemed the same was true for Adela.

She spat blood from her mouth along with her saliva and shot back.

“Jason, come on. Do you have to sacrifice even innocent students just to fulfill your silly plan?”

“Shut up, you bug…!”

Both had suffered terribly. Regardless of how long they fought, it felt like ages had passed.

They glared at each other, poised to kill, but there was an unexpected fear in Jason’s eyes.

He had been caught by surprise by the girl.

The girl, who’d once been rolling around in the village, had become this strong.

Even managing to inflict a serious wound on him while wielding the Holy Sword.

It was infuriating, but he couldn’t express his anger. His heart was instinctively wanting to flee from Adela’s tremendous growth.

So, there was no room for him to mock her.

To say he was one of the destruction team members who killed her parents.

“Are you scared? Why are you so quiet?”

“…!”

Jason jumped at Adela’s provocation.

With two horns on her head and red eyes, it appeared she had unleashed her kin’s power but looked like she might topple over.

Still, she stood strong to protect the students behind her, Radian and Professor Stella.

“Scared? Me?”

Creak—

Caught off guard, Jason gritted his teeth in anger.

There’s no way he’d be scared of such a girl. He couldn’t acknowledge such a fact, and his rationality snapped.

Moreover, his wounds were too severe; he couldn’t know how long he could fight.

On the other hand, that girl was a kin. Being quicker to recover than him, she could fight longer.

Everything was stacked against him. Just when he wanted to lament why she was hindering him like this, he spotted someone behind the girl.

‘Professor Stella!’

She was indeed beautiful as always. The only being in this world not a pest.

He wanted to make her surely his own. If only Radian wasn’t beside her, he would have conquered her easily.

The effort he put into obtaining the Demon Flower would be for nothing.

‘Wait, the Demon Flower…?’

Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind. A means to break through this unfavorable situation.

Jason quickly took something out from inside his robes.

Upon seeing it, Professor Stella’s mouth dropped open.

“That’s…! Rashumer?”

“Hahhahahaha!”

The Demon Flower Rashumer, which heals any wounds. Jason swallowed it in one gulp.

Immediately, Adela’s expression darkened.

All the wounds painstakingly inflicted were beginning to heal.

Meanwhile, Jason pondered what led him to possess this.

It was none other than thanks to Stella.

He had met her, felt his heart race, and leapt into the flames to obtain this flower.

She had enabled it all.

“Professor Stella… Professor Stella… Hehehehe!”

“Uh…?”

Suddenly, she was taken aback by his frenzied laughter calling for her.

Radian felt considerable disgust as well.

And Jason, raising both hands with the Holy Sword, shouted.

“I truly love you!! Professor Stella!!!”

His roaring voice pierced everyone’s ears.

Could he tear his throat? That roar was greater than that echoing from a mountaineer, resonating throughout the academy.

Even the monsters assaulting the academy and the students fighting against them momentarily turned their heads.

The vibrations caused cherry blossoms to fall like rain.

“Is he going mad?”

Adela mused, watching.

Surrounded by the cherry blossoms scattered in the air, Jason looked as if he were saved.

Thanks to her, all his wounds healed. Indeed, Stella was the only one for him.

“What… what is that?”

However, Stella’s reaction was far from good.

His sudden confession sounded insane to anyone who heard it.

But Jason didn’t care about that.

As long as she remained unscathed…

“Professor! Get over here, it’s dangerous!”

“Yes!”

Yes, as long as she is unharmed.

But what’s that? Radian was right next to her.

Professor Stella was… nestled in Radian’s embrace.

That damned Radian was hugging the one and only Stella in this world.

It felt like he was challenging him, saying, ‘You don’t know true love.’

At the same time, the scattering of cherry blossoms dwindled.

“Get away from her… Get away right now!”

Screaming like a dinosaur, Jason unleashed his mana.

As a result, the cherry blossoms scattered once more.

But the spring breeze completely disregarded him and began to blow in the opposite direction, as if fanning towards that direction.

Thanks to that, the scene of Radian and Stella embracing was beautifully adorned by the warm cherry blossom wind.

“Get away from my angel right now!!”

Jason’s enrage tightened his vision as he furiously raged.

Living as an Academy Scammer.

 

---