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193. Festival Day 1 (1)

The day of the festival had finally arrived.

A vibrant atmosphere unfolded throughout Aligieri Town.

Amidst the excitement of the crowd, the students who prepared the events were still busy with last-minute arrangements.

From the archery corner came the sound of bowstrings twanging followed by something dropping.

In the dining area, the sizzling of food and the delightful aroma stimulated the taste buds of the tourists.

With just those sensations, people searched for sights and experiences.

The reason why so many came all the way to Aligieri was that there were enjoyable activities worth the journey.

One could say the Tactical Martial Arts event was a prime example.

Most of the happenings in this town served merely as filler while waiting for the grand feast.

Of course, care must be taken to avoid any slip-ups in even the smallest event.

Otherwise, ignorant folks from the countryside tend to complain and make a fuss.

Just like right now.

“This is quite troublesome. Other guests are waiting too; how can you occupy the space like this?”

Rotas Crawler, overseeing the archery event, spoke up.

He was in charge of one of the festival activities at the request of the Chain Silver Family.

However, some guests were causing trouble.

“Bows are meant to be shot, so quit interfering! We can’t finish until we hit every target!”

“I’m sorry, but each person is limited to three arrows. You can’t just make up your own rules.”

“Whether you like it or not! The hunt isn’t over until every target is silent! Right, guys!”

– Hahaha!

– Very true, brother!

– Those weaklings should just clear out!

They were disruptive guests. I had a hunch from the moment they cut in line.

They weren’t ordinary humans; they were members of the Beastman Tribe. Given their rough behaviors and language, it seemed they had traveled from far away.

Of course, Rotas didn’t want to belittle all Beastmen.

In other regions, some had managed to adapt among humans or even flaunted their noble status.

But these particular guests were an entirely different story.

While some hybrids had adapted to human society, others had not.

The way they spoke about hunting made it clear their true home lay in the wild.

Their glaring absence of manners and rudeness made it easy to guess.

“What are you staring at! Want to die? Should I treat you like a wild boar and put an arrow through you?”

Behind them, guests yelled for them to behave, and the Beastman threatened with his bow.

Seeing this, Rotas furrowed his brow.

`Absolutely do not aim a bow at a person.`

That was a clear violation of the event rules.

Be it Beastmen or not, I couldn’t let such scoundrels just run rampant.

“Get out this instant.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear?”

Flame—

“I said to leave.”

Rotas conjured a fireball in his hand as a threat.

The heat radiating from the fireball—about the size of a serving tray—thoroughly startled the Beastmen.

Though it was a fitting intimidation, it couldn’t change their mindset.

“Hah… Using magic for something like this. How petty!”

“What did you say?”

“You’re preparing this pathetic event. I’m curious about the intelligence of the planner!”

Rotas’s patience snapped.

That was an insult directed at the Chain Silver Family, who had looked after them.

Initially, they had simply been in a position of relying on their territory, but they had grown closer, even sharing drinks with the higher-ups of that family.

Gerard, the family head, was no exception.

Giving the event a shot was a result of that relationship.

Thus… I couldn’t let that remark go unchallenged.

“What do you mean by trying to roast us?”

“Try it! If you do, we’ll go to war with you!”

I could only imagine how formidable their forces were, living in the wild.

Surely, there’s a powerful figure called a chieftain among them; if they charged as one, it would spill a lot of blood.

But we, too, had backing. Just as a lesson, I aimed to roast one of them alive.

As long as it didn’t kill them, that should be fine…

“Stop.”

Suddenly, a girl’s voice rang out.

The Beastmen turned to see what kind of girl it was and gasped in shock.

“Those people… could it be…?”

A guard unit made up of Paladins and Clerics surrounded two girls at the center.

It took no more than three seconds to realize those girls were Saints of the Holy Cross Sect.

Even the rough Beastmen couldn’t help but widen their eyes at the presence of a saint.

One of the Saints was a Beastman just like them.

“Oh, Saint Angela!”

The Beastmen had heard of her by rumor.

The first Beastman Saint to ever be born. Just hearing about it filled them with awe.

Finally, they had the chance to put humans in their place.

Though there was another saint beside her, their standing as Beastmen would surely rise.

Being of the same kind, they were naturally on their side…

“Step out now. You lot.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear? I said step out now.”

Saint Angela commanded them, gesturing sharply with her hand, her gaze piercing through them.

Like a beast holding a grudge. The Beastmen felt a chill run down their spines.

Her words were reminiscent of the event organizer who had previously conjured fire.

“Get them out.”

At Saint Angela’s command, the Paladins moved forth. The ones they dragged out were indeed the Beastmen.

“Wait a moment! What is the meaning of this?”

“Saint Angela! Why all of a sudden…!”

“We’re on the same side!”

The Beastmen protested, but Rotas clicked his tongue.

They think they’re on the same side? Could such a flimsy connection convince the saint of their status?

It was clear they had no clue what was going on and were showing their ignorance.

“Don’t do this! We’ve done nothing wrong!”

“Right! We’ve only acted as we usually do!”

“It’s that lowly human’s fault…”

The Beastmen were spewing nonsense that didn’t hold water.

At that moment, Angela’s expression turned fierce.

“Shut up.”

And with that, she extended her tail like a whip, choking them and lifting them into the air.

Though she meant no malice, they gagged in pain.

Nonetheless, the Beastmen’s ears were keen enough to hear her words.

“If you’ve come out of the forest, you should have followed the rules there. The most vile and disgusting ones are you!”

“How dare… cough…!”

The Beastmen losing consciousness in that manner. Angela callously tossed them to the ground and addressed the Paladins.

“Dump them outside the village. Just like you did with the similar sorts a moment ago.”

“Yes!”

The Paladins moved swiftly, as if they were already well-practiced.

While they carried out that order, the two saints approached Rotas.

“Are you the father of Radon’s elder brother?”

“Oh, yes. I suppose this is our first face-to-face meeting.”

“I will apologize on behalf of their rudeness.”

Angela bowed her head towards him, embarrassed, as she herself was no different from the Beastmen.

Seeing her flushed face made Rotas feel there was no need for that and held back.

Then the green-haired saint beside her greeted him.

“Nice to meet you. I am Nebia Chromag, a fellow saint of the Sect. This is also my first time directly meeting you.”

“Yes, we only exchanged greetings back at the party that day.”

This was Rotas’s first face-to-face encounter with Saint Nebia, and he felt quite nervous.

However, he sensed an affinity from her expressions towards him.

“And… since we’re meeting, I want to express something.”

What was that, he wondered, and Nebia said,

– Thank you.

It felt full of goodwill and tugged at his heart, but he was utterly confused.

But when Nebia explained the reasoning, he could barely comprehend.

“Are you saying that my buying all the sacred artifacts back then was helpful?”

“It may have been a nuisance to the other believers, but it greatly helped me. Because I didn’t have to listen to that wretched mother’s nagging.”

Because Rotas, back when he was a count, had snatched all the sacred artifacts, his mother lost her voice.

Yet for Nebia, that was an extraordinary stroke of fortune.

Her mother’s voice still haunted her as a trauma.

“But why did you claim all the sacred artifacts back then, Lord Rotas? I’ve heard that rather than gaining anything, you instead faced downfall.”

From anyone’s perspective, that was peculiar behavior.

Common sense dictated that’s a path to losing more than what you had in return.

Yet, she wanted to know why he had hastened his family’s decline.

Because that man, Radon Crawler, belonged to that family.

“Saint Nebia, are you familiar with the Layered Family?”

“The Layered Family… I’ve heard they are a branch of your Crawler family.”

She remembered it. The disgrace of the party at the Chain Silver Mansion.

Then Rotas spoke words that were shocking.

“They’ve apparently been wiped out.”

“What?”

“In a single day, no less.”

It was the family that seized the count’s rank the Crawlers had held.

Using the stolen powers of that family, they had risen to high ranks near the royal family, so their standing would have been significant.

But wiped out? Just like that?

“Are you telling the truth?”

“….”

Rotas thought; he wished it were a lie.

If it were false, the rate of decline could have been reduced greatly.

“What do you think is the cause?”

“I’m not sure.”

It was already an absurd situation; how easy would it be to figure out a cause?

But Rotas did throw out a hint.

“Rumor has it that all bloodline members, including the head of the Layered Family, have completely perished. There were witnesses claiming they turned to sand and disappeared.”

“They turned to sand and disappeared?”

“By the way, our Crawler family is always on the brink of that fate. Even now.”

“….”

The more they listened, the more convoluted it became.

Were they suggesting they, too, were about to wither into sand soon?

And it was a current, ongoing threat?

What on earth? For what reason?

“Could it be a curse?”

“■■”

“Pardon?”

“….”

He felt certain that had been spoken, but understood nothing.

And for some reason, irritation bubbled within him.

Asking a question but being met with silence was infuriating… Nebia, the saint of melodies, seemed to hear something different.

In that voice, there was definitely… no will of ‘Rotas Crawler.’

How strange. That voice must have come from Rotas himself.

From it emanated a powerful feeling of evil. The energy seemed to spark a rebellion within one’s soul.

“I thought I was going to throw up after hearing what you just said.”

“Because I wasn’t saying anything…?”

“That’s not it! I didn’t hear a sound from your mouth… yet my ears cannot be deceived.”

Nebia glared sharply, her gaze intense.

“I could have sworn I heard the voice of a demon just now. As a Saint of Melody, I could endure it, but… anyone else would definitely feel repulsed by you.”

“…!”

For the first time hearing such information, Rotas widened his eyes.

This muting phenomenon that happens every time he speaks of a curse. This was the very reason he had been treated as an oddity and faced downfall.

Naturally so, it made sense. When it came to crucial moments, he could not utter a word.

But what if there was another reason?

“Having watched Radon all this time, I found it odd, but now I understand.”

“….”

“What exactly has befallen your Crawler family?”

*

Jenny and Crona stopped at one event building while exploring the town.

That place was a bookstore showcasing Nobel records, prepared by members of the Newspaper Department.

However, the Nobel records were not solely authored by the Newspaper Department… but rather involved several contributors, including the Student Council.

So they had high hopes for a piece they had contributed to.

“Why is there so little displayed?”

Crona was immensely disappointed at the sight of the shabby bookstore.

Her best scenario script was included there, and she hoped someone would read it.

Since it was anonymous, her real name wouldn’t be exposed.

Just as she was about to slump her shoulders in defeat.

“What about changing the interior?”

“You want to completely overhaul its appearance?”

Jenny felt similar to Crona.

It wouldn’t be good to have the work of her friend Radon rot away without anyone seeing it.

Looking inside the bookstore felt as if she were gazing into an old antique shop.

With such a dreary setup, who would bother showing up?

Moreover, a sign displaying Radon’s records read:

– It’s totally fun. Probably.

The handwriting felt distinctly like Radon’s.

Setting that aside for a moment, it was easy to deduce why it was unpopular.

“It’s too lame. We need to change it.”

“But how exactly do we change it?”

“I learned from Radon. People focus their attention on the cover and title.”

It was knowledge derived from mastering the Illusion Sword Technique.

Originally, drawing their interest was a shortcut of deception, but captivating attention was practical in multiple realms beyond deception.

“Nobel records are the creations of young people like us. So we need to redesign it to match that image.”

“Hm… You’re suggesting we convert it into a space for kids?”

“That doesn’t sound too bad!”

There was a prevalent prejudice that Nobel records were just for kids.

Therefore, it was vital to attract the attention of children.

“Great! Let’s start the renovation immediately!”

No sooner had she said that than a throng of people gathered to the bookstore for remodeling.

Their ultimate goal was to draw in their peers.

However, they overlooked one detail.

The bookstore became overly vibrant and colorful.

As a result, even younger children started visiting the bookstore.

Thinking it was a storybook shop.

– It’s totally fun. Probably.

And many children fell for that line.

Thus, the story of surviving as the Academy Scammer commenced.

 

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