Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

18. The Blizzard Queen (1)

Mary was about to rampage with the Nobel Record in her hands. However, stopping her turned out to be surprisingly easy.

While trying to halt her excited thrashing, I accidentally dropped the pudding I had tucked away in my pocket.

It was saved for later instead of drinking, but as soon as Mary spotted it, her intentions changed.

“Pudding! Can I have it?”

“Sure, but just sit still for a bit.”

“Thanks! I’ll enjoy it!”

Mary put the record back in place and picked up the dropped pudding.

It felt like I negotiated with a tyrant bent on launching nuclear missiles over merely a snack.

Thinking it over, Mary has an outrageous sweet tooth. Especially when it comes to pudding, she behaves as if she were about to pounce and steal it.

I recalled that in her character setting, one of the things she “likes” included sweet treats, especially pudding.

Thanks to that, we could skip any potential clashes and proceed peacefully.

No matter how much I waved my fishing rod, it would be impossible to handle her, so this was a fortunate development.

“Mmm~ Sweet. You’re truly a friend of friendship!”

Eek! Get away!

Mary hugged me like a little child.

Getting fondness from a cute girl is a good thing, but it’s her I want to avoid.

I even gave her that cursed record as a declaration of severing ties.

A girl’s smile that could resonate with anyone’s heart… it’s the first time I’ve seen it look this ghostly.

I only realized after entering the game that this was the feeling of the surrounding extras.

‘So this is how the extras feel.’

Who would’ve known that the fishing record I originally gave to cut ties would lead to such a spectacle?

To not only be a despicable item that makes one’s eyes rot but also to turn into a time bomb to hold? These are utterly unhelpful things.

– Here, keep it for life.

“Uh? But who painted that picture?”

Just being near the fountain in the student plaza allowed a great view of the outdoor training ground.

A large banner hung at its entrance; it would seem very peculiar in this world.

It was a painting I had made.

“How’s that painting?”

I casually asked for feedback as though I was submitting it for evaluation.

Even if Mary couldn’t tell mud from fermented soybean paste, I figured she could still give a good assessment of paintings.

Plus, since I hadn’t mentioned I made it, she wouldn’t just automatically shower me with praise, right?

“Hmmm…”

Mary pondered for just over three seconds before speaking.

“It’s really well done. I wonder who could have painted it?”

Huh huh, huh. Hearing that made me struggle to hold back my laughter.

When was the last time I received such a compliment? I couldn’t keep my stoic poker face anymore.

“Yeah, why are you laughing? Is it you?”

“No, I can’t draw.”

[Decline in Corruption Rate: -2%]

[+200 Credits]

“Really?”

“Really. If I had talent for that, I would’ve joined the Art Department. Why would I join the Newspaper Department?”

[Decline in Corruption Rate: -3%]

As you might expect, that was a lie. There’s nothing to gain by telling the truth.

If Mary, the chatterbox, starts yapping about it, the Art Department will most certainly get excited.

Considering the personality of that balding leader, they’d likely seek to scout me.

I hate troublesome matters. Right now I’m extending my survival through the Newspaper Department’s activities, and it would be a waste of time to juggle painting too.

If that were to happen, I’d end up with a triple job. It’d be a hell I’ve never even experienced while living on the Korean Peninsula.

So I warned Crona to keep it a secret on purpose.

“But what does that picture express? Is that Jenny and Crona?”

Mary tilted her head while looking at the painting. It seemed the composition appeared rather unusual.

“Maybe it metaphorically represents those two?”

“Is that so?”

It was more effective to depict Jenny and Crona in other forms than actually drawing their faces.

The embodiment of Jenny, the goddess of cold, and the embodiment of Crona, the goddess of passion, are shown striking fists together… it looked like a representation of a battle between absolute powers.

“That painting… it seems to make my heart swell the more I look at it!”

“Hmmm…”

In the original story, it wasn’t this well done; instead, a picture that looked like it was drawn with feet brought laughter from everyone.

But now, the Art Department was giving it a favorable review.

“It’s about time to start.”

It was already 9 o’clock. By then, the students had been spending their time reading books or playing music in the plaza.

Making leisure time more enjoyable was the spectacle of observation. That was in the outdoor training ground right next to us.

A historical backdrop where there’s neither TV nor screens.

If magical devices were used, there might be a chance of reproducing it, but it didn’t seem to have been realized yet. In this era, there’s no alternative to speak of.

“Oh! They’re coming out!”

Mary got excited seeing two students entering the outdoor training ground.

A girl with blue hair and a girl with blonde hair appeared, each taking their positions. Immediately, the number of students gathering to observe skyrocketed.

There’s nothing as enjoyable as a duel among Class A students.

Strangely, the students at this moment showed even more interest than during the practical exam.

Is it a sense of disconnect between class and leisure time, I wonder? From my perspective, it feels no different than taking an exam that is supposed to be in the classroom, only outside.

But well… considering their fields of interest, it should be viewed as somewhat subtly different, right?

Boom!—

As expected, enough said.

A huge crash sound rang out from the outdoor training ground. In the brief moment my eyes blinked, several fireballs lighting up the dark night sky floated above Crona Delaware’s head.

And the staff she held was glowing a fiery red, as if it were on fire.

True to her title of “Blazing Sun,” Crona Delaware’s fundamental base is fire magic.

She indiscriminately unleashes flames that can even melt metal in a single strike, with firepower that doesn’t fall behind even the upperclassmen’s levels.

When she appeared as a boss in the game, her brutal attack power boasted a game over with just two hits from the fireball pattern.

Users referred to her as the “Burning Spear.”

Boom! Boom! The fireballs relentlessly targeted Jenny Chain Silver. From my experience in boss battles, many thoughts crossed my mind about Jenny.

‘The speed of the fireballs has increased compared to before.’

‘It’s not easy to close the distance.’

‘Her movements are incredibly fast. Has she increased her physical agility? Or has she applied fire magic to enhance her reflexes?’

These are script lines that come out during boss battles. My heart was filled with admiration and praise for Crona Delaware, who hadn’t slacked off in her training.

While they superficially appear as rivals acting all prim and proper, in reality, they are much closer to childhood friends. It’s just that their expressions of emotion are clumsy, so it seems distorted in the eyes of others.

Observing it, it seemed to flow in the same direction as the main story.

Although Jenny had developed several negative feelings because of her contact with me, in front of Crona, all those feelings would simply vanish.

No matter what negative influence she was under, everything becomes equal before Crona. Thanks to that, her emotions were well controlled, allowing her to fight while suppressing the Silver Age.

That’s also why Jenny Chain Silver willingly accepted this duel.

Though a few words couldn’t be heard due to the noise, they could roughly be overlapped.

“Hahaha! You’re running away quite well!”

“Considering you’re boasting like that, you must have trained enough to handle yourself?”

“You won’t be able to compare it to before. Watch! I’ll show you my true power that I’ve built up!”

Thus, if one only saw the content, it might seem like they are sworn enemies meeting on a narrow bridge, but considering their relationship, it’s a warm situation in itself.

The aura leaking from Jenny’s wooden sword split the fireballs in half. But it seemed difficult to continue dodging the follow-up hits, so she had no choice but to fall back.

While Jenny appeared to be getting tired from holding off the fireballs, Crona wouldn’t be an easy opponent either.

She also has limits to that immense firepower. The more she used, the more she would sweat and breathe heavily.

It was a tense situation where neither side would yield an inch. Although they were fighting with practice weapons, the urgency felt the same as in a real battle.

“Jenny looks like she’s having fun.”

Mary murmured beside me. Her smile was still present, but it wasn’t as disturbingly wide as it had been moments ago.

There was never any depiction in the game of what Mary’s reaction would be while watching this situation. Only the notion that she’d be playing around somewhere crazy would pop into my head.

I had thought I was one of those users too, but now I realized that wasn’t the case.

When it comes to matters related to friends, Mary becomes a perfectly normal person.

“Hmm? Where’s Radon going?”

“To the bathroom.”

[Decline in Corruption Rate: -2%]

[+200 Credits]

I’d like to watch a bit longer, but I had to leave my seat. It was about time for that event to occur.

“Come back soon~”

“Okay.”

[Decline in Corruption Rate: -1%]

[+100 Credits]

I decided to watch the situation from the rooftop of the student council building, farther away. I had the foresight to carry binoculars, so I could observe from that distance.

From now on, this was not a place for me to intervene. I couldn’t meddle in the ‘serious’ matters that were about to unfold.

They could handle it perfectly fine on their own, so there wouldn’t be any problems.

‘In the game, I couldn’t tell due to graphics, but they really do look like they’re having a great time.’

I used the binoculars to observe Jenny and Crona.

The atmosphere of friendship was heatedly ignited. A nice scene and quite emotional. However, unfortunately… their sacred duel was soon to be interrupted.

‘That monster is about to descend.’

‘Lycanthrope.’

A 10-meter beast walking bipedally in the form of a werewolf. It always targets the blood of the strong and possesses fur tougher than steel.

And its specialty is stabbing enemies to death with the spikes that grow on its forearms.

This monster is the final boss of this part and belongs to the same species that killed Jenny’s mother. Not just one of those monsters, but two were going to show up.

One would be marked by the surrounding students, while the other would be tackled cooperatively by Jenny, Crona, and Mary.

They were incredibly strong. They were of the same kind that had slain Jenny’s mother, who had senior knight-level power.

Of course, they wouldn’t be as strong as the same entity, but they were not someone to treat lightly.

With the students barely managing to take down two together, that says it all.

‘It’s going to be quite painful. Physically and mentally.’

Jenny isn’t a saint who could maintain her sanity upon seeing that monster which had tainted her childhood.

The moment before, she was energetic, but that would instantly turn into terror, trembling like a young lamb abandoned in a storm.

And so the rampage of the Silver Age would unfold.

But from my perspective, that was nothing shocking. It was no different from watching a story cutscene.

Arooooh!—

At last, their howls could be heard. The beasts landed from the sky, howling like wolves.

Students were startled by the sudden loud beast sounds. If it had proceeded to this point, it meant…

“They’re here!”

Boom!

Through an immense leap, a gigantic creature landed in the outdoor training ground. It interrupted Jenny and Crona, who were about to clash.

Dust blew around from the shock, making it impossible to identify who the intruder was. Only silhouettes of two entities emerged, and it was a clear fact that they weren’t human.

Finally, they revealed themselves with crimson glow in their eyes.

“This… thing is…!”

Jenny’s pupils widened. Crona and Mary also recognized it as a Lycanthrope, their mouths agape. The observing students turned pale and fled.

And…

‘Huh, why are there five of them?’

… I was surprised too.

Surviving as an Academy Scammer.