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203. Festival Day 5

The fifth day of the Magical Banquet has dawned.

Today, there were more carriages entering the village and people arriving by train than usual.

It may be because it’s the last day of the festival, but today held the most significance for Aligieri.

It was the memorial day of the Great Sage Dantia.

In the memories of most citizens of the Divine Empire, she was the Great Sage who would ignite a revolution in this era.

Thanks to her contributions to scholarship, higher technologies have advanced and will continue to do so.

In gratitude, a sacred ceremony will be held.

A ceremony she once enjoyed called “Festival.”

“The festival… such a nauseating expression.”

A man with pointy ears remarked.

He stood on the balcony reserved for dignitaries, gazing down at the audience entering the village.

His waist-length blonde hair and pointy ears made it clear that he was an elf.

“Of course, it will be the last day today.”

As he fiddled with his fingers near his ears, his pointed ears transformed into ordinary ones.

While pointy ears might be normal for elves, it was undeniable that he had become ‘human’.

His golden hair also turned black. In an instant, he morphed from an elf into a human.

Grisha Highend.

The master of the Yellow Magic Tower, skilled in archery and high-level magic.

He was known for his friendly image as a famous tower lord engaged in interspecies exchanges, despite having black hair.

Yet, no one knew that he was the leader known as Number Four of Doomsday.

Even the members of his faction were all in cahoots.

“Lord Grisha.”

A wizard appeared in his room using teleportation magic.

He, too, had black hair and was an elf who had transformed into a human.

“Everything is ready. The ceremony can be conducted by today.”

“Thank you for your hard work. By the way, have you found any traces of Aisha?”

“Well…”

At Grisha’s question, the wizard hesitated.

Understanding it was not a good result, Grisha’s eyebrows twitched.

“I’ve searched for days, but I couldn’t find anything. It seems difficult to initiate anything due to the magical resonance coming from the festival.”

“I see.”

Though it was a corpse revived by an artificial spirit, it was still his only daughter.

Surely, she must be somewhere in Aligieri.

“I’ll have to find her myself.”

He had an appointment to observe the tactical martial arts demonstration in the evening.

With time still remaining before then, he stepped outside to wander around the village.

People were still bustling around, laughing and enjoying themselves as the decorations for the upcoming parade were set up around the village.

Many children were out with their parents.

There were also many walking around chattering with friends.

Family.

Friends.

“How enviable.”

Once upon a time, Grisha had those too.

The moments spent strolling along forest paths with his one and only daughter and wife, donned with a flower crown made by his daughter.

The times he made oaths of friendship and brotherhood with friends while overcoming hardships.

But all of that was burned away alongside his homeland, the forest.

By Aligieri.

“Principal! Nice to see you!”

At that moment, the lively voices of the villagers reached him.

There is nowhere that isn’t vibrant during the festival, but Grisha snapped his head around at the word “Principal.”

“Hahaha, you’re all working hard.”

“Working hard? It’s you, Principal, who’s busier than anyone else at a time like this, isn’t it?”

“Don’t overdo it, everyone.”

“See you again, Principal!”

A man cloaked in a robe bearing the emblem of Aligieri stood there.

The head of the Aligieri academy, the strongest wizard in the Empire who had reached the pinnacle of elemental magic.

Kaiden Jodiatz…!

Upon spotting him, Grisha tightened his eyes momentarily. He almost let his anger show but calmed himself, considering the ramifications.

The other party was indeed Kaiden. Even though his strength had waned and he was aging since taking on the principal role, his achievements remain unchanged.

However, it was natural for Grisha to nearly lose his composure upon seeing him.

The event when his beloved elven forest was set ablaze by followers of Aligieri, led by Kaiden.

“Oh, nice to meet you, Lord Grisha.”

“Ahem… Likewise. Principal Kaiden.”

Grisha and Kaiden’s eyes met.

Kaiden greeted him casually, but Grisha could only return the greeting after a moment’s awkward cough.

“What brings a person as esteemed as yourself to wander the streets alone?”

“Haha, I just wanted to see the village.”

“It might be dangerous to walk around alone with the beastmen causing a ruckus lately. I’m out for the same reason.”

In truth, those beastmen were all individuals brought in by Grisha and Prince Charis.

Kaiden, who was merely following the orders of the royal family, was unaware of this.

“Thanks to recent threats from other races, vigilance has heightened significantly. I can only express my gratitude to you, Lord Grisha, for keeping them in check.”

“What a peaceful individual you are. However, if we don’t initiate an attack, they wouldn’t have retaliated, would they?”

“Are you saying we attacked first?”

Grisha suppressed his resentment and said.

“It’s about the incident with the burnt elven forest from long ago.”

“Ah, I’ve heard rumors about that. It was a terrible event where unidentified humans suddenly destroyed the forest.”

Since human presence was rare in the woods, no one could pinpoint the incident.

The news of the fire only made its way out months after everything had already transpired.

“It was an incident caused by a great misunderstanding. A girl was supposedly kidnapped by the elves, and that’s what prompted the invasion.”

From just hearing the news, it was a lamentable incident.

At the time, relations with the elves were not well-established, so it’s plausible that the public believed in “kidnapping.”

Moreover, the elven forest was a region no one knew about. The most catastrophic of misunderstandings had layered upon one another to cause such an accident.

But Grisha, who had been there himself, remembered.

“Was that truly a misunderstanding?”

“What?”

In the blazing forest paths, elves bled as they were cut down by human swords, struck down by elemental magic.

Humans laughing as they slaughtered them.

Among those humans was Kaiden Jodiatz, who had revealed his face.

“Does the Principal know anything about the incident back then?”

“Know anything…?”

Kaiden pondered, feigning indifference to how it had any relevance to him, and his answer was utterly ridiculous.

“I don’t have a clue.”

“Really…?”

“Yes, all I heard was about some mysterious mercenary group that invaded to rescue the kidnapped girl.”

Crack—

Grisha clenched his fist so tightly that it bled. Red droplets dripped onto the village ground.

It was indeed undisclosed which mercenary group went to rescue the girl.

However, Grisha had witnessed it all. The face of Kaiden, who tossed aside his mask after killing people.

And yet he claimed ignorance.

With an expression that didn’t even show signs of guilt.

“One can ascertain that the incident worsened relations with the elves. I can’t imagine what would have happened if it weren’t for you, Lord Grisha.”

Principal Kaiden continued to speak calmly.

That very calmness almost caused Grisha’s simmering rage to erupt violently.

Humans should all perish—

“Excuse me!”

At that moment, a woman began rushing towards them, pulling a cart.

To avoid a collision, they both had to turn their heads, which allowed Grisha to defer his anger.

“Just passing through.”

Inside the cart that the woman was pulling were several artificial golems.

Seeing the unmoving golems like dolls, Kaiden spoke up.

“What are these?”

“My daughter requested these. Out of the blue, she said she made a friend and wanted me to fetch them.”

“Isn’t she going to break them? After all, they belong to the Academy…”

“Don’t worry. I merely picked up things that were never used in the first place.”

Artificial golems are rather heavy. Even a single one would weigh at least 40kg.

No matter how strong one was, pulling five of them at once would be quite a task.

But the fact that a single woman was pulling them off so effortlessly was indeed remarkable.

Yet neither Kaiden nor Grisha could fathom the secret behind it.

“There’s a spirit at the back.”

“Oh, it seems that the Principal has keen eyesight.”

Grisha could see it as well.

A bear spirit made of wind was helping her pull the cart from behind.

She looked like a woman who might have had a child, yet her proficiency in spirit magic was exceptional.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way.”

“Take care. Just don’t cause any accidents with that!”

Clatter clatter—

Thanks to the spirit’s power, she took off swiftly, even while toting along something heavy.

Watching her, Grisha found his boiling anger subsiding as he zoned out.

“Who on earth was that woman?”

“She’s a member of a family that has come to support from the Duke Chain Silver territory. Her name is… I think she mentioned Skilla Crawler?”

“Skilla…?”

Grisha’s eyes widened at the familiar name.

It was the name of a ‘human’ girl who had once been close friends with his daughter, Aisha.

And that girl was also the reason why humans set the forest ablaze.

*

“What are these golems?”

I came to our family’s event and was greeted with a bizarre sight.

My mother, Skilla Crawler, had piled up heaps of junk.

Upon closer inspection, I realized they were golems.

“These are from your sister, Amy. It was quite a task, but I’ll endure it a few times for our Amy’s future.”

“What do golems have to do with Amy’s future?”

It’s not like Amy wants to become a front-line model mechanic or something.

As I questioned her, my mother replied succinctly.

“Secret.”

So what exactly are they?

The nuance felt like preparing for a surprise party, making it awkward to pry deeper.

“Come on. Did she get a boyfriend related to golems or something?”

“Huh?”

My mother’s fur suddenly bristled.

What? Could I have guessed it right?

I just randomly threw out a question!

“I’m not sure about that, but anyway, I’m gathering these to give to someone as a present.”

A boyfriend gift being golems? Is she really dating a mechanic?

No, more importantly, does Amy already have a boyfriend? Honestly, it’s hard to imagine.

Taming such a fantastic creature in such a short time during this festival day is impossible.

“I don’t know who it is, but what a bizarre gift.”

“Hehe, no matter how young she is, Amy is still a girl. The heart of a girl is something no one can know.”

To my mother, who beamed proudly, I handed over a mask.

“What’s this?”

“A gift.”

“Ah! I know what this is. This is the merchandise from the famous assassin ninja!”

Recognizing it at a glance. Is this the result of Amy’s boasting around?

“My son’s novel is turning into merchandise already? That’s pretty amazing.”

Isn’t it?

It’s only been a day since its publication, and that’s how popular it has become!

If it were a web novel, it would have already been shopped around!

However, while there are merchandise, there hasn’t been any illustrations released yet.

“Mama! Did you gather everything?”

“Here, take a look.”

At that moment, Amy ran up and saw the mountain of golems piled high.

Her eyes sparkled at the sight, and then she transformed into a muscle-bound figure with a pop!

Truly an unsettling visual to see no matter how many times.

“Then I’ll take them.”

“Sure.”

With her mother’s spirit magic, the pile of golems melded together to become a giant ball.

As expected of someone who once was a wizard, her skills allowed her to apply magic to each individual golem.

However, what was even more astonishing was…

“Mom! Brother! I’m off!”

“Have a good trip.”

It was my younger sister, effortlessly lifting the giant ball with one hand.

“La la~”

While humming a strange tune, she headed off somewhere.

Who on earth was she planning to give that to?

And moreover, it must be only Amy who parades around with such a physical stunt after transforming into a muscular form.

“But then again, well, as long as it’s not used for anything bad.”

There’s no need to worry that much.

Boom!—

Fireworks erupted from the direction of Purgatory Mountain.

It was a signal that the tactical martial arts demonstration, which would draw everyone’s attention, was about to start soon.

“Then I’ll be off now.”

“Speaking of which, I heard your friends are participating, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know who will win, but can you trust your friends?”

Before I left, my mother asked one last question, and I just smiled as I replied.

“I have no choice but to believe.”

With those words, I made my way to the arena.

Having just given the mask, our family could feel safe now.

It was a mask created by Lord Shaikar. It would protect the common folk from the impending turmoil.

Boom!—

With the booming fireworks, the greatest and worst banquet began.

Surviving as an Academy Scammer.

 

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