Episode 82. Why are you looking at me?
-Radon Crowler. Your hair is longer than usual. Beep.
“I know, too.”
– I think it will be unnecessary during the mission. Can I cut it off? Beep.
“No need. We have to leave it like this for the time being.”
The day of departure for the external mission arrived.
As I was preparing a reasonably large bag for an easy mission and gathering the supplies I had prepared, an artificial golem spoke to me.
-The current temperature in Aramos Town is -15 degrees Celsius. There is a risk that the temperature will drop further as time passes. It has been estimated that it will take two weeks to detain the prisoner. Please prepare your plan properly. Beep.
“That’s why you’re already doing it.”
Even in the game description, it is depicted as a very cold place.
I have sad memories of having been through the bitter cold twice during my military service. But compared to what I will experience now, it will be nothing.
Except for Lyman, everyone else was walking around trembling.
Even Jenny, who has freeze resistance, says it all at the point where she ends up looking the same after a few days.
-There are some magic stones placed in the village of Aramos that will raise the temperature, but as soon as you start your journey, you will feel like you have entered a refrigerator. So I recommend that you listen carefully to the advice of the priests. Beep.
“If you stick close to them, you will be able to receive blessings.”
-In particular, you must never take off your rings. Beep.
The golem pointed to the ring on my hand.
This is the Artifiph Ring I received from Crona yesterday. With this, I can walk around in the bitter cold without any help from the priests.
When it comes to arresting criminals, we can’t hold them back.
“Then please clean the room while we’re away.”
-Just leave it to me. Beep.
This is a golem that Ruska has personally hired for the past few days.
They were ordered to keep a guard on duty and clean the room once a day, in case someone came and went while they were away.
Ruska’s thoroughgoing side was indirectly visible.
“I’ll be back soon, so take good care of your room.”
-Before that, I have a question. Beep.
“What is it?” I asked, turning my head towards the guy before leaving.
-Radon Crawler… Are you a man or a woman? Beep.
“….”
* * * * *
‘Of course it’s a man, but do you look like a woman, you tin can?’
As I boarded the carriage and headed to my mission destination, my stomach was seething.
Do you think it makes sense to be treated as a woman just because you have long hair?
On the topic of robots, can’t they even recognize human gender?
That’s definitely not the case.
Are you just suddenly getting upset because you lost your yellow stamp?
That wasn’t all.
When I got out at the village entrance terminal and got on the carriage, the guide and the coachman spoke to me kindly, saying, “Are you going on a mission with five other people?”
‘The more I think about it, the angrier I get.’
To be honest, I felt like my body looked a bit weak. Every time I looked in the mirror, I felt like I lacked the wildness that other male fighters have.
What if I had straight hair, the source of beauty, and all I could prove that I was a male student would be my uniform and student ID.
But now that we are heading to a very cold region, we are wearing several layers of clothing.
In a situation where people of all ages and genders wear thick clothing, gender distinction would be made by the hair or face.
‘Okay, let’s just hold on this one time!’
Let’s think as positively as possible.
Look around you now. There are only pretty girls around me.
What would others think when they see me standing there?
‘Rather than being labeled as the only man and giving off a harem vibe, it would be better to go this way.’
Besides, this is the best way to fool others. If you think about how the groom and the guide got fooled, the others probably won’t be much different.
Suddenly-
As soon as I finished, I bounced slightly as if I had stepped on something bumpy, and a different background appeared outside the window.
Before we knew it, we had passed through the warp gate and arrived in a different area.
“Friends! Look at the sky.”
Mary looked up into the sky and discovered something unusual.
It’s snowing. It must be only the beginning of autumn, but fairy-like things are starting to pour down from the sky.
And as we walked, the air became colder.
“We will soon reach the Crevasse Field. Right now, it’s only snowing, but I have information that a blizzard will hit a little further.”
Trisha said, spreading out a map on a table inside the carriage.
Our current location is said to be about 7km away from Aramos Town. A few kilometers further on, Refrigerator World unfolds, so it will be difficult to get there by carriage.
Because horses have no tolerance to cold.
“So let’s get ready to get off.”
* * * * *
As expected, a blizzard began to blow in, blocking our view.
We had to get off the carriage because the road we had been able to see disappeared because of the snowstorm and we couldn’t go forward.
“Oh my… It’s cold! If you go straight from here, you’ll reach Aramos Town, so you have to go carefully.”
“Thank you so much for giving me a ride.”
“Then, ladies. You must be safe!”
‘Ladies…’
The coachman rode out of the blizzard, wishing us relief.
As I watched the carriage disappear with a sense of unease, they patted my shoulder one by one.
And said.
“Don’t be too disappointed, sister.”
What… sister?
“Okay, don’t worry about it and just go your way. Sister.”
Sister…?
Crack! Crack!-
“Hipp!”
“Ugh!”
Jenny and Mary suddenly felt as if they had been hit in the head by something and held their heads and cried.
And I was holding Leviathan in my hand.
“If you do that again, I’ll call you a ‘hoe-tta-gi’ so keep quiet.”
“okay.”
“Ugh.”
The more I walked, the louder the crunching sound became. Before I knew it, a thick layer of snow had piled up where I was stepping, and light began to appear in my vision that had been blurred by the blizzard.
“We’re almost there. Let’s just hold on a little longer.”
As Trisha’s words were true, the snowstorm began to weaken. Only then did I gain visibility and the light’s true nature was revealed.
A number of buildings and lights formed the town. I felt a little relieved that I had finally arrived.
“Still, be careful. There was also information that there might be monsters hiding in these eyes.”
“I know. We also found out through the artificial golem.”
“That golem was really comfortable. I immediately understood why the professors went to the trouble of developing something like that.”
Jenny and Ruska also gave it high praise. In the world I used to live in, it was almost like a smartphone.
Trisha was also satisfied with the golem.
“That’s right. You’re so smart. You even packed the supplies I forgot.”
“Are there any supplies you forgot?”
“Nobel Record. I’m the type of person who can’t sleep without it.”
“You really brought that with you? Are you in your right mind?”
I looked at Trisha with a contorted expression of shock. Then Trisha replied as if to ask what the problem was.
“Don’t worry, it won’t be too distracting. If anything, it’ll make you more motivated to do your mission. Alright, let’s go!”
“Oh my.”
As I was sighing, thinking, ‘Let’s stop talking,’ a giant pair of tongs rose from the snowfield.
The guy who jumped out with a rough sound and broke the snowball was a snow scorpion. He was charging forward with a body the size of a building.
Each of them took out their weapons and prepared for battle. But before they could do that…
Boom!-
As soon as Trisha’s figure disappeared, Scorpion’s head exploded as if a bomb had been planted on it.
Standing above him was Trisha, who had moved at some unknown time, and on Scorpion’s shoulder was a staff that may have been thrown at some unknown time.
In an instant, he teleported and tore the guy’s head to shreds with a blade of wind.
-So how can you say he’s a wizard?
“That’s amazing.”
“It’s nothing. They don’t seem to be in a big group, so let’s go quickly while we have time.”
“yes.”
As Jenny and Trisha were talking, Mary was staring blankly at Scorpion’s corpse. She had a look on her face like, ‘Oh my! I have to buy this!’
Ruska asked Mary with a displeased expression.
“You’re not… trying to collect that, are you?”
“Of course I should! I can’t just pass up such a precious ingredient… Ugh!”
“Just shut up and follow me. Are you trying to make us die of food poisoning?”
Ruska pinched Mary’s cheek and dragged her forcibly.
She also seemed to absolutely hate things like bug side dishes.
* * * * *
“Vice-Captain, I heard that the new students from Alighieri Academy have just arrived.”
“Okay, I understand. I’ll be out soon.”
“yes!”
After receiving the report, Crudy watched his subordinates leave and looked around the inside of the barracks.
This is the end of my life here. From today, I will return to Kreuz with the students of Alighieri and lead the criminals.
Crudy, the vice-captain of the Paladins, took the family photo that was placed in his barracks.
My wife, with her long brown hair, and my daughter, who looked like her, were smiling side by side.
I went out with a joyful heart, knowing that in just two weeks I would be able to return to them.
“I brought them with me. These guys are the cadets who will be joining us on this expedition.”
The subordinate knight led some young men to the front of his barracks.
You could tell they were from a foreign land just by looking at them, since they weren’t wearing gold armor like the others.
“Hello, Sir Crudy. This is Group A-3 of the Alighieri Academy.”
“So you’re Trisha Marelin?”
“Yes, and you guys…”
Even before Crudy could ask, the cadets introduced themselves.
“This is Jenny Chain Silver.”
“This is Mary Ludsiel~”
“This is Ruska Mad-Eye.”
“This is Radon Crawler.”
If it’s a list of applicants, I already received it a long time ago.
There were five people in total, and among them, a tall and slender-looking female cadet was the leader.
Crudy opened his eyes sharply and observed the cadets.
This mission is more dangerous than you think. You can’t take it on with mediocre skills, so you need to gauge their strength.
As a result of seeing the potential through the eyes blessed by the Holy Scriptures…
‘Not too bad.’
Surprisingly, each and every one of them was showing a fighting spirit that was far higher than that of the average soldier.
I was relieved that Alighieri’s side did not make a mistake in judgment.
“You said your name was Radon Crowler?”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“Are you a man or a woman?”
“I’m a man.”
“….”
If you listen to his voice, you could definitely say he’s a man. But because of his long hair and innocent-looking appearance, he looks more like a woman.
That wasn’t the only thing that caught Crudy’s attention.
‘She looks a lot like my daughter.’
I don’t know what he was thinking, but for some reason I felt like punching him in the face.
* * * * *
After meeting the vice-captain of the paladin, we were ordered to wait outside for a while.
I was feeling a bit uneasy because everyone was making strange assumptions about me, regardless of whether I was you or not, so I was going out to get some fresh air.
“That knight was staring at you earlier.”
“So what.”
“Congratulations on falling in love with a guy.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
Ruska’s provocation almost made me raise my fist again. Although Ruska spoke indifferently, her expression was very fox-like.
I wanted to give him a hard time, but then a question suddenly occurred to me. Why was that knight staring at me?
Cruddy Luming. He is the vice-captain of the Paladins who will be in charge of this line going forward. He is an extra who only appears by name in the main story.
However, if you enter his barracks and talk to various objects, you can find out information that he is the head of a household.
You can see his family photo on a drawer in the corner of the barracks.
‘There, clearly… my wife and daughter’s hair was brown.’
I thought back to the family photo of Crudy that I had seen back then. Then I took out my student ID and checked my appearance in the back mirror.
‘Shit…!’
That’s right. Crudy has projected his wife and daughter onto me now.
The back of my neck tingled at this ridiculous fact. Then Ruska asked with a laugh, as if adding fuel to the fire.
“Was it that sad?”
“I’m just going to die from exhaustion.”
At that moment, a carriage began to pass through the middle of the street.
But what the horses were actually pulling was not a stable, but iron bars, and inside were people with decadent looks.
“Are those prisoners those guys?”
“okay.”
Prisoners whom we must safely transport to Kreuz. And beasts in human skin.
The horse that had to lead those guys was also unusual, as it was wearing golden armor over its head. It was equipment to protect the horse from the cold.
“It seems like that person keeps staring at you?”
“who?”
“That guy,” Ruska says, pointing to the iron bars that he came out of last. Among the many prisoners locked inside, there was one who was staring intently at me.
I don’t know all of them, but I remember that one guy even though he had a brief role.
Justa Margil, aka ‘The Girl Hunter’. As his nickname suggests, he is a sexually transgressive and crazy psychopath.
As is the cliché in these scenarios, the prisoner’s handcuffs come off and a commotion ensues. That guy is the real problem.
He’s the kind of guy who drools over the heroines because they have such great looks.
He is target number one for assassination.
“Chururup.”
As expected, the moment he saw Ruska, he started drooling in an unpleasant manner. The person who saw that felt dirty and left the place.
“Ugh, I feel sick.”
Now that Ruska is gone, the guy has lost his interest.
however…
“Chururup…”
Huh? Why are you still looking this way?
A chill ran down my spine.
Surviving as an Academy Fraudster
