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234th Episode. New Mission (3)

Even though it’s called the Land of Death, Ružeto Village has been enriched by abundant ore resources.

As I delved deeper into conversation with the village head, I learned that this village was originally managed by another noble.

Count Lucian Breedman.

He was a noble who enjoyed tremendous trust from Emperor Kamain, but suddenly went missing.

It seems the Viole Family is trying to swallow up the vacancy he left behind.

As if it were preordained.

—At the noble meeting surrounding the royal family, we spotted that elf. Spike, disguised as Enviel, detected him but ultimately lost track.

Before departing on our mission, Shaikar relayed the reports he received from his subordinates to us.

It was good that we thwarted Makia’s plot and protected the academy.

However, as a result, the highest vested position of the Emperor has been left vacant, and this will inevitably lead to further bloodshed over that power.

Twisting the already filthy history has resulted in another filthy history emerging to fill that gap.

While the academy turns a blind eye to bloodshed, others may end up spilling blood instead.

—I hear that elf is one of the seven executives of Doomsday? We can’t leave that damned group untouched. Furthermore, it’s suspicious that he popped up suddenly at the royal meeting.

So, at Shaikar’s suggestion, we settled in Ružeto Village.

Once a forest of elves, it can be called the hometown of Grisha Highend.

The others, apart from the four of us, are investigating different regions.

Although fatigued, Lyman also stated that it’s not over yet and is busy hunting for traces of Doomsday.

‘Right, there won’t be any next chapter.’

Makia, the mastermind of the main game, is already in a state of downfall.

Ultimately, the Destruction God, the root of Chapter 6, is unlikely to resurrect, but… I still can’t let my guard down.

Another bloodstorm is brewing over the Emperor’s throne.

The well-being of the underlings caught in this will simply become fodder for their wicked desires.

It wouldn’t be strange for me to be caught up in that situation.

Hence, we must nullify the new chapter they’ve crafted.

To that end, I bore down hard and accepted the Ceremony of Flash to crossdress(?), but…

“Radon Crawler? Who’s that?”

“Huh?”

Standing before the entrance to the ruins guarded by the knights of Viole, I was with Luska.

I had certainly undergone the Ceremony of Flash to deceive the knights’ eyes. There was no choice in the matter for the mission.

But hold on. The village head and the villagers do not know of my existence.

Does that mean the knights stationed here are likewise unaware?

No matter how directly affiliated with the Viole Family they may be, if the villagers don’t know, they won’t either.

Even Harkel, who just came in to meet the village head recently, ended up just handing over my photo to him.

He didn’t meet with the knights separately and just breezed out.

Because the village head would spread the word for him.

“Who’s that?”

“Is it someone we should know?”

Thus, such reactions from the knights were inevitable.

My hair was longer than usual, and even a gentle breeze made it sway with shine.

I appeared as an innocent and pathetic girl.

“That was unnecessary…! Damn it.”

Moreover, thanks to Muto’s trickery, the voice coming from my mouth was that of a woman.

Feeling an immense loss as I had to crossdress again—something I never wanted to do in the first place.

The accompanying anger exceeded my imagination. At this point, I felt like wanting to grab Luska by the hair and start a fight…

‘In a brawl, I’d definitely lose, right?’

I was furious but needed to assess the situation carefully.

Luska also seemed genuinely distressed, sporting a confused expression as if she felt guilty about my predicament.

Yeah, it’s not just her fault. My misjudgment of the situation was also to blame.

Sigh~

I glanced at the knights with a crestfallen expression.

Seeing that, the knights suddenly lit up and spoke.

“By the way… what’s your name?”

“If there’s something you want, just say it. We’ll help you.”

Smiling warmly at me, they started to shift nervously, twirling their bodies in excitement.

It was reminiscent of club guys unable to contain their excitement upon spotting an attractive opposite gender.

They got closer to me, their faces lighting up.

“Don’t look at me all weird.”

“Yeah, no need to make a strange face. It’s just… because you’re pretty, that’s all.”

Ah, I want to plug my ears.

“Ugh!!”

I immediately screamed and started banging my head repeatedly against a nearby large tree.

Thud-thud—The sound echoed as one massive tree fell like a stick.

A significant wound appeared on my forehead, but… I couldn’t find any reason to care about the pain.

“Jeez!!!”

As I screeched like a dragon, the knights panicked, trying to calm me down.

“Hey, Miss, what’s wrong?!”

“Did we offend you? If so, I apologize.”

Maybe believing it was their fault, their faces grew pale.

It’s just that they think I’m a pitiful lady and that’s why they’re being so considerate.

At this moment, I wanted to chop my long hair and show off my proud manly symbol.

But it was Luska who stopped my wild rampage.

“Sorry! We just want to pass through this forest. My sister has had a bad experience lately, and her mind is quite unsettled!”

Surely, she was the only one capable of subduing me in a frenzy.

But wait, did she just say sister? Did I eat my food upside-down or something?

As I prepared to scream again, she whispered in my ear.

“Listen well. If we pass safely here, we’ll reach that ruin without incident. To do that, we need your beauty strategy.”

“B-beauty strategy?”

I felt like my mind hit an emergency stop.

In that brief moment, countless curses rushed through my head, almost spilling from my mouth before I short-circuited.

Of course, I need to get through here. If the villagers approached, they’d surely draw their swords at once.

We had no choice but to pass here on the condition of accompanying the knights.

So I had to put on the most disgusting act ever.

Starting with a deep breath…

“Excuse me, gentlemen, may we pass through here?”

I clung to the knights, acting cute and flirtatious.

Holding their hands and rubbing my body against them turned their faces red, with some even starting to nosebleed.

This was absurd.

It was so absurd.

But I had to endure.

“Of course.”

“But you’ll have to travel with us.”

I succeeded in my act, but at the cost of emotional scars.

If I replayed that scene in my head, I’d definitely foam at the mouth and faint.

Thus, a multitude of knights accompanied Luska and me.

Considering that our faces weren’t widely known, they deemed it fine for us to enter this forbidden area.

Meanwhile, Jenny and Mary were investigating the forest in the other direction with the village head’s help.

That direction probably leads to the hidden path of the mine.

“But, ladies, you are Aligieri students?”

“Well, yes.”

“Every time I see that school uniform, it feels a tad disappointing. Our lord’s son was also a student there, but he got expelled for pulling some absurd stunts.”

From my perspective, it was an incident that needed no long explanation.

It seems Luska felt similarly, maintaining a calm demeanor.

“Travell Viole was fine when at the mansion, but he changed a lot after entering that academy.”

“….”

Having received thorough education under my father, my manners were fitting for a refined noble.

However, that education included the false indoctrination concerning the Chain Silver Family.

“What was it again… was it Lycanthrope? He got kicked out of the family over playing with that and ended up in prison. Additionally, I heard he starved to death recently in there.”

It was a rather surprising story, and Luska’s eyes widened, but I was already aware.

I was the one who turned him into that. Of course, I have no regrets.

“Our lord is quite strange. Even after losing his child, he didn’t shed a single tear.”

“….”

“I can’t fathom what guts he has to aim for the Emperor’s position when he doesn’t even value his own family.”

Knights also had their own families and responsibilities to protect.

That’s why they aspired to become knights, yet those controlling them had the audacity to insult their very goals.

It echoed the background setting in Devil Academy.

So when many knights had attempted to switch over to the Chain Silver side… Harkel detected them and beheaded them.

That response only heightened the backlash from the knights of the Viole Family.

They lost the reason to feel a sense of duty to the family. Just like those knights accompanying us now.

“You’re really here to investigate that ruin, aren’t you?”

One of the knights, seemingly an executive, asked us.

Now that he said that, it seemed he’d figured us out, so Luska immediately summoned her weapon.

But I stopped Luska by grabbing her hand.

“Planning to knock us out and charge through to that ruin, weren’t you?”

“….”

There was no room left for excuses.

Thus, Luska glared at them, ready to be defensive, but I continued to restrain her.

Naturally, it made her angry.

“Why do you keep stopping me? We’ve already been found out.”

“It didn’t really matter if we got found out.”

Luska looked puzzled at what I meant, but after carefully examining the knights’ actions, she started to realize.

Despite having noticed our movements, they weren’t holding a single weapon.

They stood there unarmed, arms crossed or dangling loosely at their sides.

“Rest assured. We won’t fight you.”

Knights who belonged to Viole yet had no intention of serving Viole.

Realizing this only now, it was hard for Luska to understand.

“Aren’t you going to stop us?”

“Why would we? Frankly, if your lord gets ousted, that’d be a blessing for us.”

Even with those grievances, they couldn’t easily change their allegiance.

Families may be trapped in the territory, or they might owe immense debts, or they might have skeletons in the closet. They all had their reasons.

“Recently, the lord’s tyranny has intensified in the struggle for the vacant Emperor’s position. If he ascends to the throne…”

For them, it would bring about a nightmare.

Excluding the retainers indoctrinated by some lords, this country was bound to become hell.

“But it would be wise to give up going to that ruin.”

“Why? You all are definitely… Ugh!”

At that moment, something surged from the front.

Luska narrowed her eyes, honing in on the wicked and unsettling aura.

Of course, I sensed the aura as well, and my heart nearly sank.

“It seems we can detect the presence of ‘that guy’ now.”

“That guy?”

“Do you know why we guard this path so no one can pass?”

Though I hadn’t realized it until now, the closer we got to the ruins, the more overwhelming craziness transmitted from it.

As a spirit sorcerer, I could identify what that dreadfully unnatural aura was.

“A spirit is residing there. A very troublesome one at that.”

If judging by its aura, it would surely be among the highest tier.

Survivor of the Academy Scammer.

 

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