155th Episode. Contract with Me

As soon as I entered, feathers were scattered across the room that had been meticulously cleaned.

Luska was the first to suggest cleaning, deeming the room dirty due to the dust piled up from being vacant for a few days.

Taking the cue, I cleaned my own space too. Since she was outstanding in housework, the room was spotless in no time.

-Whooosh!

That tidy room was about to get messy again. A strong wind blew, scattering feathers everywhere.

Thanks to that, the pictures and books on the shelf fell to the floor.

“Damn it…”

Aisha appeared out of nowhere, stirring up the wind. She took the form of a crow the size of a person.

‘Muto. Keep an eye on Luska to see if she wakes up.’

『Got it.』

Muto passed through my body, heading towards Luska’s section behind the screen.

It was midnight. Luska in the opposite section was sound asleep. Since the screen was completely drawn, she wouldn’t wake up easily.

Of course, she inherited the blood of the ‘Yohos’.

She would wake up if she caught a strange smell, but she had grown accustomed to the spirit smell emanating from me, so she wouldn’t wake up.

Still, it wasn’t a bad idea to send Muto just in case. She wouldn’t sense anything since she lacked sensitivity.

『….』

Aisha looked this way with eyes similar to a pet dog begging for food.

Surprisingly calm, I felt intrigued. Although it was annoying that the room got dirty, it seemed solvable through communication.

“Do you remember who I am?”

『….』

Isn’t she being a bit too quiet? It felt like she was completely ignoring my words, prompting me to gently tap her head. It was a gesture of “wake up if you’re dozing off.”

In response, she curled up and started to shrink.

What’s happening? The form that looked like an adult male began to diminish, and all the feathers disappeared. Gradually, she transformed into a human shape.

『….』

It was a girl with purple hair. Although not as tall as Mary, she appeared petite, watching me with amethyst-like eyes.

She looked just like a finely crafted doll.

Thinking back, Aisha is an artificial spirit created from a corpse. Considering that she was based on the preserved body of a dead girl, this must be her true form.

And that corpse wasn’t an ordinary human but an elf with pointed ears. The fact that she wasn’t blonde made her quite distinctive.

『Why did you keep me alive?』

Finally, Aisha opened her tightly shut mouth. Her tone seemed devoid of emotion.

It felt a bit eerie, as if a doll were speaking, but given that the original was a corpse, it seemed unsurprising.

“If possible, I’d like to utilize you as part of my power.”

If I could contract with another strong spirit besides Muto, I would be immensely satisfied. Of course, considering her affiliations, it wouldn’t be easy.

“What will you do? Right now, you can’t defeat me. You have the choice to either work under me or be extinguished. The decision is yours.”

In terms of power, she was stronger than Muto in prime condition. However, she was in a weakened state, severely affected by sacred magic, which is the spirits’ natural enemy.

It was the sacred magic from none other than two saints. It was a miracle she wasn’t already erased.

Thanks to that, I was able to absorb her weakened form with my talisman.

『I ask. What is your true identity?』

Instead of answering, Aisha countered with a question. To be honest, from her perspective, it was understandable to want to bang her head against a wall out of curiosity.

“I’m the heir of Elder Enviel… I guess you wouldn’t believe it anymore?”

『….』

“I’m just the firstborn of the Crawler Family, 17 years old this year. As you can see, I’m a student at the Academy.”

『Lies.』

Believe it or don’t.

Anyway, I had answered her. Though I hadn’t mixed in a single lie, Aisha squinted as if she couldn’t comprehend.

“Choose whether to disappear like this or accompany me. Considering your current state, Muto could either clean up the mess or sprinkle a whole lot of these raindrops to eliminate you.”

I took out the rain droplets of the many worlds in advance. From the start, the skill ‘Genetic Metamorphosis’ she possessed had come to me.

She needed this ‘Genetic Metamorphosis’ to assassinate a high-ranking official during the Magical Banquet in Chapter 5. Alongside that, having lost her power, her role was basically over.

It might be better for her to take her own life rather than return to those 7th League folks.

『I’m under the direct command of the 7th League. I can’t act according to my will without their permission. If that’s not possible, all that awaits me is death.』

What does it matter? You’re already dead.

『Let me ask one last time. What are you? How can I feel the power of Enviel? And what is this strong curse energy?』

It seemed she could feel it while being absorbed by me. Of course, she couldn’t disclose it.

“Just a curse. Thanks to that, our entire family has fallen into shambles.”

『….』

Suddenly, Aisha looked curious, her eyes slightly rolling away, then she noticed a photo that had fallen to the floor.

『Is this your family?』

What would it change if she knew? Aisha stared at the information that seemed useless to recognize.

『…!』

Suddenly, her hands twitched. She looked surprised by something, and I asked, “What’s up?”

『This woman… is she your mother?』

“Huh?”

In the family photo was the face of my mother, Skilla Crawler. Aisha seemed to recognize her and asked again.

『Is this woman your mother?』

“That’s right… do you know her?”

『I don’t, but for some reason… the moment I see her, I almost felt a surge of emotion.』

Feeling emotional with such a soulless face seemed a bit off… Could it be that she has a connection with this lady?

『Then what is this woman’s name?』

“Skilla Crawler.”

『….』

Aisha, who pressed her lips together again as if in thought, finally made a decision.

『Did you say your name was Radon Crawler? Honestly, I have many doubts about believing you. But still, I want to ask you for something.』

“….”

『Radon Crawler. I will agree to contract with you.』

Though she spoke like a doll, there was power in the hand gripping the photo.

Despite her expression, it seemed to hold a certain will.

And her pointed ears trembled as if touched by frost.

*

“Number 7 is dead.”

In the middle of a beautiful garden, cloaked figures were sitting in a shelter.

Their faces covered, they all showed signs of deep sorrow.

“It seems you’ve already heard the news. This plan has completely failed.”

The top executives of Doomsday, the 7th League, received word about the student council president election at Aligieri.

At first, the reports came in saying everything was proceeding smoothly. However, it turned chaotic when Jason’s true nature was revealed during the candidates’ speech.

In a bid to counter this, Demora Crevasse, number 7, was on standby at the Academy…

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw number 7’s head cut off.”

Number 2, cloaked in orange, expressed sorrow. As he had a fairly close relationship with Demora, he was the first to mourn.

“I never imagined that guy would fall to a princess. We need to take immediate revenge…!”

“Calm down. If we move recklessly, we could all end up like number 7.”

As number 5 cautioned, number 6 chimed in with a sharp remark.

“Do you mean we’ll end up like number 7? Are you saying that we could be defeated by mere brats from Aligieri?”

“That’s the second time such a thing has happened. Think about what happened to our number 1, Elder Enviel.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself! We can’t be so quick to determine that number 1 is dead!”

His corpse hasn’t even been found. While some argued to hold onto hope, pessimistic opinions began to emerge.

If… Enviel had been present, they wouldn’t be squabbling like this.

“This is turning into a pack of wolves.”

Pointing this out was number 3, cloaked in yellow.

“The only real issue we have now is the death of number 7. We can develop the plan any number of times.”

“….”

“I’m not saying we should take the death of a comrade lightly. However, we must not forget our objective.”

‘To prove their own justice.’

That was the goal of Doomsday, to summon the Ancient Evil God through that means.

The Ancient Evil God was an entity cast into a distant dimension by the Great Sage Dantia 300 years ago. Therefore, in order to catch a clue about that dimension, they would need even a speck of the ‘Archive’.

“Agreed. Let’s stay calm for now.”

Number 5, cloaked in blue, stepped in to help soothe the situation.

“Anyway, Princess Mirona has officially been designated as an enemy from now on. Though our subordinates, who infiltrated the Empire, did their best to woo her, it seems that failed.”

Mirona sought to become the president to gain her father’s recognition. What’s more, her desire to make a good impression on the royal family fueled the attempts of their infiltrators.

“However, I don’t think it was Princess Mirona who killed number 7. There’s no way a novice like her could handle number 7.”

At the time, the faculty members couldn’t intervene. Thus, the only conclusion was that someone among the students defeated him.

Even if Mirona was involved, she wouldn’t have done it alone. There must be someone else with enough power among the students to fell Demora.

There were more questions beyond that.

“And one more thing. It seems Saint Nebia has been freed from the Blood Parasite. Therefore, she apparently revealed everything during the speech.”

“How is that possible? Jason couldn’t have made such a blunder.”

They had also received news regarding Jason’s death. The fact that someone of such a high rank had failed was astonishing.

He too was found as a decapitated corpse.

“The fortunate part is, even if Saint Nebia has turned against us, she doesn’t know our faces.”

“It’s clear that someone intervened, causing this failure. Even our connection with Aisha has been severed.”

“Really? If that’s the case….”

Aisha was designed in such a way that she could never betray the 7th League. This would imply that she had been suppressed.

The deaths of numbers 7 and Jason, the betrayal of Saint Nebia, and the severed connection with the vital force Aisha.

It was undoubtedly a dire situation. While it was certain there were saboteurs, identifying who was extremely difficult.

At that moment, number 4, wearing a green cloak, suddenly spoke up.

“We cannot just sit idly by.”

The sudden grinding of his teeth revealed immense anger, as he was the one who had created Aisha.

“We must start preparing [that thing]. By now, the planning should be completed.”

“Calm down, number 4. No matter how urgent, [that thing] is only theoretically possible.”

Number 6 replied, as if to indicate that although they had drafted a design, they hadn’t yet attempted to create it. But number 4, instead, smiled.

“The reason it’s only theoretically possible is the shortage of mana to sustain the corpses. But there’s a solution that recently emerged.”

They would cast spells on corpses to animate them as soldiers. This ritual was known among them as ‘RE-Union’.

While it simply resurrected people into zombies, they would perish without regular mana injections.

If the resurrection target had strong potential while alive, it would be difficult to succeed. However, if successful, there would be the advantage of not needing mana injections thereafter.

In this manner, an unimaginable strong soldier would emerge.

“What is that method?”

“I received good news from Epsilon and Zeta, who infiltrated the royal family. They seem to have found a rather useful mana source.”

They were those who had sought to make up for the failure of the Mosria plan. It seems their reflection from the previous time paid off with favorable outcomes.

“Oh! Then we only need to collect corpses. After all, we can bring back anyone with just a drop of blood.”

“I found a few excellent materials in the meantime.”

As number 4 spoke, the masked subordinates of Doomsday dragged in three coffins. Those opened coffins contained what could indeed be called corpses.

And they were the remains of strong figures from the Demon World Great War 30 years ago.

*

On the rooftop of the Aligieri Dormitory. In the moonlight, a student sat with a bottle of alcohol in hand.

The white-haired student was petting what seemed to be some sort of bird.

“You’ve worked hard.”

『Kyuuru~』

That bird, now nothing but bones, moved as if alive.

The skeletal bird that appeared undead was originally a wild spirit known as ‘Karon.’ But thanks to Lyman Begilius, it had been tamed.

“Farewell.”

『Kyak kyak!』

As he released Karon, it flew away like an ordinary sparrow.

Lyman had entrusted Karon with surveillance over Jason’s every move, and everything Karon witnessed was recorded within an artificial golem.

I felt a pang of regret letting go of Karon, who had been obedient like a pet all this time. However, letting go of a pet brought another memory to mind.

“I miss you. Leaf.”

Seven years ago, a young wolf had lingered by his side.

It was a creature left behind by the former saint, one he couldn’t abandon and had taken along.

But through his negligence, it had transformed into a monster… ultimately harming a person.

“I’m really sorry.”

Lyman drank the alcohol to forget the stress of that day.

Yet, the full moon shining on the rooftop of the 3rd Academy continued to evoke the sadness of that day.

Surviving as an Academy Scammer.