I Became the Daughter of the Academy’s Villain

<84 - The Difference Between Real and Fake>

Hiding under the principal’s desk to evade the students was fine, but now I felt a much larger gaze looming over me.

– “You reckless little one from the Wiheomhae Foundation. What are you doing under my nostrils?”

“Can’t I just hide a bit longer…?”

– “If you’d like to be roasted as crisply as a fried snack while I blow fire from my nose due to a sneeze, I won’t stop you. Perfect for a snack before dinner.”

Tch. The principal probably only turns a blind eye for about a minute.

I get it.

It must be annoying when students rush to hide around your face.

Reluctantly, I crawled out from under the principal’s nostrils.

…But in that brief moment, the situation took a turn.

“Oknodie is missing!”

“It’s your laziness that caused this!”

“We followed Princess Masugaki’s orders, didn’t we? Are you accusing the princess of being lazy now?”

“Do you think you’re the only ones with a princess? We have Princess Yayoi!”

“Ha. Using a fallen princess who’s behind in the inheritance line as a shield is just shameful.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“I’ve said it all! You’re all dead today. I’ll load your basket with nothing but fake flags!”

The students, missing the target, started fighting amongst themselves, causing chaos.

Oh, well.

This isn’t my fault!

I quickly took off the school uniform jacket of a fallen student nearby and slipped right in.

Phew, got a freebie.

I was planning to hide here for the next 30 minutes when someone suddenly lifted the jacket.

Uh-oh, I’ve been spotted!

“Here’s Oknodie…!”

Ziang was trying to gather the students with a loud call.

I hastily shoved a flag into her mouth.

“?!”

“If you don’t get it right, I’ll give you two more!”

Ziang squinted her eyes like a flatfish and held up three fingers.

“Alright, three it is!”

With four flags in her mouth, Ziang was about to throw the jacket back over when she suddenly leaned her head into the jacket.

“Are you serious about what you said last time? You really have never attended the Night-time Activities for Adventurers Course?”

There was no escaping this situation.

In this cramped jacket.

Our eyes met, our breaths almost touching, and she had a grip on my wrist.

Pupil, breath, heartbeat.

Ziang was sharpening her senses, ready to detect a lie.

An assassin’s skill also requires the ability to read the target’s psychology and set up ambushes, meaning she is adept at detecting deceit.

“Actually, it’s a lie.”

“I knew something felt off.”

I gave up on deceiving her.

Ziang didn’t hide her resentment.

“Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t want Hestia to find out that I was taking night classes.”

“Why?”

“I can’t say.”

“You don’t want to be hated? Want to be friends with that gorilla-like, muscly woman?”

Noddle, noddle.

Carefully nodding to keep the jacket still, mischief sparkled in Ziang’s eyes.

“So, Son Ohchun and Hestia also like muscly people, regardless of gender?”

“Not at all!”

“A strong denial is a sign of affirmation!”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“See? You admitted it!”

No, seriously.

I shot her an annoyed glare, and Ziang chuckled softly.

“Fine. I’ll keep it a secret.”

“Really?”

“Since you showed me something good this dawn, I’ll let it slide.”

Being an assassin, it’s rare for someone like Ziang, who leans toward the villainous side, to show mercy.

If she hadn’t shown me the Room of Double-sided Strips, her mouth wouldn’t have stayed shut.

“Are you going to keep hiding?”

“I’m confident in hiding!”

“True. I came in here to hide because I was annoyed, but I didn’t expect anyone else to be here first!”

I think I know…

Considering I’m the shortest in the academy and standing next to the now-grown princess Masugaki, I’d say Ziang’s likely the next shortest!

Since our heights and builds are similar, it makes sense we both picked the same hiding spot.

“How’s it outside? Did they swipe a lot of flags from the Warrior team?”

“Not at all.”

“Then what’s the Warrior team doing?”

“Nothing.”

“Just watching?”

“Yup.”

Not good.

Such calmness isn’t possible without a lot of confidence.

My hunch that all the Warrior team’s flags might be real was likely right.

“Well, then I guess I have to break the situation.”

I didn’t want to be this petty, especially for newcomers living only once. But there’s nothing more embarrassing than letting that first place slip through my fingers while being lenient!

—

The warrior felt regret.

If Oknodie had called for help, he would have been more than willing to assist.

But since she ran off without looking back, there was no chance to help her.

“That person fights really well.”

“Right? If we’re just judging by strength, I’d recruit her as a warrior.”

While Jigoku was darting around after running out of bullets and Lotto was being dragged around by his hair, Hestia was astonishingly holding her ground.

Bang! Bang!

With all her might, she slammed shoulders against her opponent, gripping each other’s hands tightly to pin one another down. In this fierce struggle of strength, it was Leff the Iron Charcoal Barbecue who lost.

‘This dull gorilla woman, how does she have this much strength without Mana Refinement Technique?’ Instead of such cliché outcries, Leff activated the Mana Flow Technique.

Whoosh!

Chhiiiing-

Hot steam began to gush out from Leff’s armor, and the temperature of their clasping armors soared dangerously high.

“My iron plate armor and gauntlets can raise the temperature from 50 to 150 degrees Celsius. If you keep holding on, those massive hands of yours might get roasted to a crisp!”

“And your hands?”

“Are protected by the Mana Flow Technique.”

“How sneaky.”

“Why not give up now?”

“Not happening.”

There were no foes exhibiting this level of patience even among fellow apprentice knights.

“Don’t overreach. Your main weapon was a two-handed weapon, right? What do you plan to fight with if you lose both hands? A body that’s grotesquely oversized?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“If it were me, I’d toss aside a warrior who can’t wield a weapon at all. A burnt-out ember is nothing but trash. You’ll be discarded by Oknodie in that state!”

Hestia scoffed.

“Oknodie has never once shown any distaste for me, despite all the rumors surrounding me. An honest and kind girl trusts me enough to have you face me.”

“150 degrees Celsius? The might of the three great meritorious families? I don’t care, don’t want to know.”

“What I’m only curious about is one thing.”

Her muscles bulged significantly.

“It’s the scream you’ll let out!!!”

Without a care for the scorching heat, both fists tightened with all her might.

“?!?!”

Crack! Crunch!

The sound of steel gauntlets snapping echoed, the bones in her hands crunched under pressure.

One more push, and they’d be fully squished.

—

[The Iron Charcoal Barbecue Ducal House of the Three Great Meritorious Families]

—

Click!

Vwooosh- Boom!

The armor around Leff’s wrist sprang open, releasing a tremendous burst of heat.

Steam erupted like a cannon explosion, and the searing hot air instantaneously forced Hestia away.

Whoosh.

Using the Rescue Flora of the Mana Flow Technique handed down through the family, a moment’s delay might have meant crushed fists.

“Honer Honor Fried Chicken. What are you doing? Didn’t we agree to fight together?”

“I clearly said, didn’t I? We called a truce.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear? Oknodie proposed to all of us.”

Both Leff the Iron Charcoal Barbecue and Hestia, who were intensely brawling, were taken aback by the absurd news.

“For now, we’ll gather all the flags from each team and choose real flags as we wish.”

“Then why were we fighting?”

“Um… maybe for your entertainment?”

Recognizing the gazes of students gathering around, shame washed over them.

If they had at least claimed victory, that would be one thing, but after all that struggle, they barely managed to pull back their bodies.

“Hestia, that girl is no joke.”

“She faced off against two heirs from the three great meritorious families, all by herself.”

“Moreover, isn’t she a Berserker?”

“What about it?”

“A Berserker gets stronger as they bleed, right?”

Having been taught by a new generation, Honer and Leff, who had been exhibiting unusual iron plate assault techniques, were astonished at how Hestia wasn’t even scratched.

Even without bleeding, she was formidable as is – imagining how powerful she would become once injured was terrifying.

“Good work, Hestia!”

“Sorry. I could only bind two of them, so Lotto got beaten up by the others.”

“Nothing you can do. Those two were strong!”

“Did I help?”

“Absolutely. Thanks to you holding your ground, I could convince the other teams to reset and rearrange everything.”

Threatening that any team that didn’t reset flags would have to face Hestia, they reluctantly agreed to Oknodie’s proposal.

All the flags in the basket were thrown onto the ground simultaneously, and they all chose their genuine flags to collect.

This was the last chance for those students piled up with more fake flags than real ones to flip the script and claim victory.

“The flags Oknodie gathered were among that pile over there. I remember it clearly.”

“Ugh, everyone’s going to aim for that. I wonder how many they can grab.”

Calmly unbuttoning his wrist and rolling up his sleeves, the warrior Ishtar wasn’t anxious like those nearby.

Most first-years were marking their flags with frost or bending the flagpoles to create their own “marks” to distinguish the real flags.

However, there was another method of identifying real flags without needing any markings.

‘Jezel’s fake flags may look quite detailed externally, but they actually differ by 13g in weight.’

It all came down to the difference in materials!

“Our team’s flags will all be mixed in. Since we can pick everything anew, let’s add the flags from other teams too.”

Once we gather all the flags and claim first place, I’ll extend my hand to Oknodie.

Oknodie’s collecting skills and my observational skills will combine to ensure we can conquer any lecture to come.

If persuasion works, Oknodie will become my comrade.

If she desires, I can also welcome Hestia, who she cherishes, into the fold.

‘Smart people can move ahead faster than others, even starting from the same conditions.’

As the flag-collecting commenced with three minutes left, the warrior leisurely gathered real flags when he noticed someone snatching away the genuine flag he was aiming for.

With small white hands, her movements were swift and sure.

Giggles escaped as she smugly grabbed another flag without hesitation.

‘Could it be that you can tell the difference too?!’

Oknodie.

She too distinguished the genuine flags from within the pile of fake ones.

And she did so much faster, without needing to weigh or judge them.

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