Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

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271. The End of Evil (2)

Days have passed since the Papias incident.

In the meantime, efforts to handle the aftermath of the events unfolded, alongside various discussions.

Essentially, the Papias Kingdom completely collapsed as its foundation became fully exposed.

With half of the city already devastated, it was in no condition to serve as a nation, let alone a village.

To make matters worse, a confidential research facility hidden underground was discovered, drawing widespread condemnation from the public.

Additionally, the Yellow Tower’s Grisha Highend and all those involved in the affair were arrested.

An Aligieri student was distributing flyers, and the crimes committed in a bid to usurp the Emperor’s position were uncovered, ensuring they wouldn’t be released anytime soon.

Among them, one person faced more than just imprisonment.

“Harkel Viole. Who would have guessed he was the true mastermind behind the Demon Beast War?”

Kaidan, standing in a vast underground chamber, reminisced about the past.

A horrific event from thirty years ago.

Countless people lost their lives due to the Demon King’s emergence, resulting in a major disaster in which the heroes and saints, once the Empire’s hope, also perished.

“For me, it’s not a pleasant memory. While my actions during that incident led me to where I am now, I don’t want to boast about it.”

Gerard, too, remembered that time.

He was one of the greatest heroes, pushing forward by massacring the rampaging demon beasts and monsters through the skills he had honed over the years.

That is the image of Gerard Chain Silver a citizen remembers.

However, he had a different opinion due to the mistakes he made.

“I harmed someone precious to me.”

The death of a saint due to his mistake.

Though the citizens were the ones who killed her, Gerard believed that he himself created the butterfly effect leading to her demise.

“But Sir Gerard is not to blame.”

“….”

“The real guilty party is the likes of Harkel Viole, who caused that tremendous chaos yet pretended to be a hero.”

News of this had already spread throughout the Empire.

Thanks to the information passed by a boy named Totema, all material evidence was fully revealed.

“He was struggling to surpass Sir Gerard, and that was the root cause. Is he going to take the blame for this too?”

“That’s… not the case.”

This time, he was not to blame at all.

Harkel Viole had always been the type to pick a fight with Chain Silver just because he saw him on this side.

To bury Chain Silver, he spared no means or methods.

He didn’t shy away from framing others, and whenever they found themselves in a tricky situation, they consistently deflected the issue.

“But today, our fateful relationship ends.”

“I’d say calling it ‘fateful’ is rather generous.”

As their conversation came to a close, Nebia and Angela stood before the door.

Just beyond it were two prisoners cursed moments ago.

The two saints clasped hands, and a mysterious light began to flicker around their bodies.

The principal certainly couldn’t be unaware of what that light represented.

“Could it really be possible to produce such a thing?”

It was the exact same light as the Eternal Flame distributed through graduation certificates.

This implied a connection between Great Sage Dantia and the saints.

“Then….”

“I will begin.”

The two saints positioned themselves on the right and left.

They touched the door with hands imbued with holy energy.

As a result, the door too began to be stained by the sacred aura.

“Is it my turn now?”

Next up was Mary. Standing in the center, her horns and wings were exposed.

The deformed appearance symbolizing a Demon King caused the adults to swallow hard.

However, there was no need for concern. Everyone present already understood the situation.

That was why her father, Tayli Rudiochiel, was here.

“Then I’ll begin too.”

A dark energy flickered in Mary’s hand.

Imbuing it with the demonic energy opposite to that of the saints, she touched the door in the same way.

Sacred light seeped into the door from the left and right, while black energy flooded in from the center.

At first glance, it seemed the dark energy was obstructing the process, but the energies had no adverse effects on each other.

“Friend, you must lift the curse.”

With that, the ritual commenced.

The unbinding of innocent souls… and the punishment of the sinners who incited all the events.

*

Meanwhile, in the archive space beyond the door.

This place, seemingly made of rainbow-colored auroras, contained immense information.

The origin of the student ID mirror archive also lies here.

And from the door just opened, dark and sacred energies began to flow in evenly.

The ritual to lift the curse had finally begun.

“Do I have to wait a bit until my body adjusts to this?”

It hadn’t been long since entering the archive space.

Thus, I was just about to quietly wait for the process to complete.

“Y-you… I know that face from somewhere!”

Suddenly, Makia was startled upon seeing Lyman’s face.

Lyman sneered at Makia, saying, “Aren’t you the Emperor obsessed with the Great Sage? Just because someone surpassed you, you want to wipe out an entire lineage.”

“Wait… that face…!”

It clicked.

There was always some little brat sticking close to that detestable Great Sage.

Since he was called the son of the Great Sage, I naturally couldn’t harbor any good feelings toward him.

Makia, who always persecuted anything related to Great Sage Dantia, expressed his disdain.

“The son of the Great Sage…!”

“Only now do you recognize me?”

Lyman spoke nonchalantly, smiling at him.

At that moment, he felt a bit hurt that Makia didn’t recognize him despite having met in Papias.

“Still, I appreciate you remembering me now.”

“How are you still… alive until now!”

“Did you not know? I became immortal due to a curse. Of course, it was a curse imposed on me by my mother, unrelated to you.”

“Wait, did you orchestrate all of this?”

Makia’s eyes bloodshot as he displayed great anger.

Aspiring to rule the Empire as Emperor after three hundred years, his ambitions dissipated in an instant, leading to a crushing sense of deprivation.

But Makia had no right to be angry at anyone.

“You lived your life that way and ended up like this. Aren’t you ashamed?”

“You made me this way! You and your mother deserve to fall into hell together!”

“Haha… I’m not even surprised anymore.”

“And you’re no better! Maya!”

This time, he shouted while pointing at Mirona.

She then wrapped her arms around Lyman’s, leaning against him.

“Maya… what are you doing?”

“Father, today I’ll erase all memories of you from my mind.”

“What?!”

“So, I’m no longer Maya. From now on, I’ll be Mirona….”

She hesitated momentarily, seeming a bit embarrassed.

But that didn’t last long; her determination became clear.

“I’ll now live under the name Mirona Vegilius.”

“Huh…?”

“What?”

Everyone present gasped in surprise at her declaration.

What did she mean by changing her family name to the same as Lyman’s?

The answer was clear.

“You mean…?”

“That’s right. I’ll be living with him now.”

Her declaration embarrassed Lyman as well, causing him to wear an awkward expression.

I approached Lyman and whispered, “A public confession here? That’s quite gutsy, isn’t it?”

“Who are you to say that when you have four people clinging to you?”

Well, he wasn’t wrong.

Jenny, Luska, Mary, Nebia. When it comes to numbers, I had no room to tease.

But the bond between Lyman and Mirona spanned three centuries.

Such a connection could never be measured by mere numbers.

“Maya… are you really going to go this far against your father!!”

“Still, thank you for everything. I now have a reason to strive to avoid becoming a person like you, Father.”

Hearing those words, Makia’s gaze completely died.

Inescapable circumstances and an inability to exert any force.

All that remained in his heart was concern for himself.

“Why are you abandoning me… what have I done?”

“You’ve done plenty. So much you can’t even count.”

When I cut in, he looked at me like a drowning man grabbing at straws.

His eyes begged for salvation, but… that was hopeless.

“You killed your own sister and used it for political gain, playing with people.”

“How do you know that?!”

“Right here, the true scammer stands before me.”

I had struggled to survive as a conman until now.

My family had done the same.

There was a thrill in deceiving people too. For instance, calling something mild and giving a spicy sauce instead.

But in comparison to Makia, my family’s tricks were child’s play.

“And you’re the same.”

I directed my gaze at Harkel.

They were scammers who had deceived the entire nation.

Their end was clear without needing to see.

“Those living by fraud will ultimately perish by fraud.”

“Don’t make me laugh!”

Two of them glared at me as they ground their teeth.

They still wore expressions of injustice, denying any wrongdoing.

When a regular person’s heart becomes desperate, they often resort to lies.

But what’s funny is when they bully the weak and then complain about their own struggles.

The lies of such scoundrels morph into sacrifices of the innocent.

Like the propaganda that labeled the Great Sage a witch three hundred years ago, or the Demon Beast War from thirty years back.

“Huh?”

At that moment, something began to surge from within our bodies.

The sacred energy that spread through the space finally consumed our bodies.

The archive was materializing that which was being expelled from our bodies.

The curse.

“Ugh!”

Black orbs emerged from my body, as well as from my family’s, Mirona’s, and Lyman’s.

Simultaneously, something materialized before my eyes.

[‘Curse of the Liar’ has been lifted.]

[You are no longer affected by ‘Erosion Rate.’]

Finally, for the first time since arriving in this world, I freed myself from that damn curse.

But it wasn’t over yet.

“Just as I thought.”

“W-what is this?!”

My body began to crumble into dust.

Seeing this, my family, including Rotas, displayed great concern.

“I don’t know what it is, but… are you all dying?”

Lyman and Mirona’s bodies were slowly collapsing as well.

Makia, laughing maniacally at the thought of his daughter possibly dying, was enjoying the sight.

This was the reason Lyman died at the end of the main story.

Due to a backlash between the curse and the sacred power, his physical body crumbled.

However, I had already devised a countermeasure.

“Don’t worry.”

This time, a dark energy, not the sacred one, began consuming our bodies.

It was the Demon King’s power held by Mary. As a result, the physical collapse ceased.

“See? It’s fine now.”

The collapse halted, and the curse was completely expelled.

Thanks to this, the Crawler Family couldn’t hold back their tears, and Mirona looked as if she were wondering whether this was a dream or reality, overwhelmed with emotion.

Eventually, they embraced each other warmly.

Watching their happy interaction, Makia’s expression twisted in agony.

“How can that wretched girl be smiling… why….”

“Why is it important? You only care about your own smiles; you regard others’ joy as mere trash.”

“What’s wrong with that?!”

While he was quick to judge the wrongdoings of others, he completely disregarded his own faults.

It was at a level bordering on sociopathy.

“I told you.”

—Those living by fraud will ultimately perish by fraud.

I opened the iron bars that had confined Makia and Harkel.

There was no risk of being attacked, so it was safe.

And with telekinesis-like magic, Lyman lifted the black orbs that had emerged from our bodies into the air.

As if to shove them somewhere.

“Wait… could that be…?”

“Oh no, right?!”

A ‘wait’ will surely catch someone off guard.

They were already disgraceful beings to be called human.

“Hey, our ancestor’s dear brother.”

I dragged Makia down to the floor, speaking to him.

“You loved your younger brother Rodan. And we are the descendants of that Rodan.”

The family members, who had also had their curses lifted, looked at Makia.

I spoke on behalf of my family.

“Then, could you take the curse in place of our ancestral lineage, Rodan’s descendants?”

“Ah, no! No!!”

His eyes filled with fear.

And he began to show his true colors.

“Please don’t do this. Save me. Please let me live!”

“When did we say we would kill you? You’ll simply inherit Lyman’s immortality.”

“Immortal?”

“Yes, living forever and writhing under the curse.”

Thanks to being immortal, he wouldn’t die.

But due to the curses of Liar and Mirona, he would feel torment that made him wish for death.

“There’s a special place I prepared for you.”

Lyman, wrapping his hand with strange magic, flung it into the air.

As the space was severed, another dimension began to appear within the gap.

It was only possible for Lyman to open paths between dimensions using the archive.

“So, shall I send you off on a dimensional journey?”

Just like how the Great Sage isolated the ancient evil gods at the dimensional boundary, they too would share the same fate.

Let’s send them!

To the Demon World!

Survive as Academy Scammers!