Episode 237. The Strongest Spirit (2)
My body was being sucked into deep darkness.
I wonder if this is what it would feel like if you were driving like crazy, not sparing any fuel, in a tunnel with no end in sight.
I don’t really know what happened to me, since I was swallowed by a spirit as huge as the group.
Anyone who saw him would think he was dead, but his heartbeat was normal and his body wasn’t melting in digestive juices or anything like that.
It was just a pitch-black space. From the floor, a voice of resentment and misfortune began to echo.
It was the grudge of the elves that made up Diora’s body, and they gradually took the form of ghosts and glared at me.
“Kkiyaaaaah!”
『Mommyaaa …
“Please save me!”
“What crime did we commit? Why are we hereeeeeeeeeee!!!”
“It’s because of you. It’s all because of you!! If only it weren’t for that woman!!”
I felt like my head was going to burst from the screams coming from all directions.
Each and every scream of the ghosts causes a headache so severe that it is difficult to move.
But if I stay still, the ghosts will cling to me and consume my body with their curse.
[Increased erosion rate: +1%]
[Increased erosion rate: +2%]
[Erosion rate increased: +3%]
Every time they clung to him, the rate of erosion of Liar’s curse began to increase.
Accepting a curse and using it as power is actually a double-edged sword.
It was a risk that I hadn’t noticed because I had been using my main force without any worries, but in fact, it wasn’t strange for it to turn out like this.
『Save us!!』
“Give mommy and daddy back!!”
“Preiaaaaaaaaaa!”
Ghosts are busy screaming, “Save me,” “Find my parents,” or calling out the names of their lovers.
They certainly had a difficult situation. Their village was suddenly invaded by humans and burned down along with everything they held dear.
At this point, it becomes clear why Grisha, that human, began to cry out for destruction.
however….
“It’s not my business.”
I started walking, trying hard to ignore the ghosts’ contact.
One guy was grabbing my ankle like a water ghost, but it was no use.
In the end, the ghosts could not withstand my strength and were all shaken off, and they did not easily stick to me as I moved.
“Don’t leave me!!”
“Please! Help us!!”
This time again, he makes my head spin with his screams.
But the same trick never works twice, so I walked on without caring.
It definitely felt like my head was going to burst, but that’s only by the standards of an ordinary person.
In the process of changing my position to ‘Lord Commander’, I already acquired resistance to mental attacks.
Their screams were nothing more than a gnawing pain to my stomach because I had enough defenses to not be bothered by countless pieces of information being shoved into my head.
-Chief! We’re in trouble!
At that moment, a voice different from the ghost’s scream was heard.
It wasn’t just a head-spinning, head-splitting scream for help.
-They say humans have now broken the forest barrier!
It was clearly a rational conversational voice.
It is impossible for ghosts who have lost their minds to speak with such sane voices.
This was definitely their memory. The voice contained in their memory was coming from somewhere.
And after walking for a while, something started to appear in the sky.
The sight of countless elves gathered and meeting in a dense forest. It was none other than the spirits’ memories from their past lives.
-What is this! Why did they do something like that when they had maintained a smooth relationship with us until now!
-That’s right. Not only the barrier, but even the spirits guarding the protective stone have all been affected.
-This can’t be happening! I have to meet them myself.
-No! According to the sentries’ gazes, your eyes were not normal. You will definitely be killed!
It was a scene of the leaders surrounding the village chief having an emergency meeting in the elf village before it was burnt down.
The situation seemed to be one that was just before the bloodshed.
And even though he was relatively young, I could tell that he was Grisha Highend, sitting in the village chief’s seat.
-father…?
-Ah, Aisha! Something dangerous is about to happen, so get out of here quickly.
-What about your father?
-This father has something urgent to do. Now, hurry up and evacuate the children!
-Then can I go with Skilla?
-Skilla?
Young Grisha paused for a moment, then answered a beat later.
-Yeah! We need to evacuate that child too. Even though he’s a different species, he’s a resident of our village.
Grisha at that time seemed like a completely different person.
Unlike his current decadent appearance seen in game illustrations and cutscenes, he was just a kind-hearted elf at the time.
-The entrance is already starting to burn!
-Those foolish humans! Don’t you know that there is a human child here?
-This is not the time to be chatting! Hurry up and rebuild the barrier… Argh!
An elf who was touching a magic stone was struck by an arrow and fell.
Soon, humans armed with swords and bows rushed in and began slaughtering the elves indiscriminately.
They use fire magic and fire arrows indiscriminately to burn down all wooden buildings and large trees.
As if they had left out any trace of emotion, they applied elf blood to the blades they held without hesitation.
The sight of it was like looking at a killer robot that didn’t care about anything but its own job.
-You guys… What on earth did we do to deserve this?!
The elf holding the sword shouted as he stood next to the village chief, Grisha.
Among the people surrounding the two, a man who appeared to be the leader approached.
It was a man with his face covered by a cloak and mask.
He took off his mask and pulled back his hood, revealing his face.
Elf and Grisha were shocked to see his bare face.
-You are…, Keiten Zodiac?
The face of Keiten, the current principal of Alighieri, was clear.
Although he was not the principal at the time, he was still an important figure on Alighieri’s side.
-So the humans attacking us now… are all Alighieri guys!
No, that’s a mistake.
It definitely has the exact same face as Kayten, but that’s not Kayten.
The leader of the mysterious mercenary group simply drank a potion that transformed him into Keiten.
Because we do not know this fact, we believe that this is Alighieri’s atrocity.
-Why are you doing this!
The elf holding the sword shouted loudly, even as blood flowed from his shoulder.
Because I don’t think an official from a great magic institute would do something like this on his own.
Then the mercenary with the face of Keiten grinned and said.
-You kidnapped a human girl.
-what?
-We came to rescue the kidnapped child and punish you barbarians.
-What the heck is that…!
It was so absurd that I had to think as fast as I could.
Is that really true? There could be a human girl in this elf village… .
-ah…!
There was a girl who was abandoned in the forest a long time ago and was saved.
A girl who is currently the best friend of Aisha, the village chief’s daughter. Namely, Skilla.
-No! We didn’t kidnap him!
-You can make excuses when you get to the other world.
-No!!
The mercenary leader who had borrowed Kayten’s face was laughing with blood on his sword.
Apart from rescuing the girl, he just seemed to enjoy the bloodshed.
The village chief saved his life with the teleportation magic tool that his subordinate elf had forced upon him… but his daughter did not.
Then, the flashback screen showed Aisha lying down, stabbed by an arrow.
And the flashback ended with the mercenaries carrying away Scylla, who was unconscious next to Aisha.
『Alighieri… I curse you!』
“Don’t forgive Aligieri!”
“They are devils! Everyone in that uniform too!”
“Please judge them… Make them pay for their sins!”
As a result, these resentful spirits were born.
I, who am currently wearing that uniform, can also be seen as an object of their resentment.
Since this is Diora’s belly, it’s like I’ve literally stepped into lava.
“You are a cadet of Alighieri.”
Suddenly a giant tentacle stretched upward from the ground.
It was exactly the same tentacle that Diora had swung earlier, and as expected, it was aimed at me, so I had to turn my head to dodge.
And then the floor started to turn into a swamp and something started to rise up.
It looked like a person standing on two legs, but its entire body was made of scales.
It has reptilian hands and wings and a tail on its back. Its head is shaped like a dragon, not a human.
I could tell that he, who was no different from a dragon, was Diora’s true form.
“Besides, I smell the same blood as a girl I know very well.”
Diora, who had fully revealed himself, asked me.
“Let me ask you. What is your name?”
“Radon Crowler.”
『Crowler… Hahaha! I see. Then your mother’s name is Scylla Crowler. Right?』
Diora knew who my mother was just by smelling me.
It wasn’t too surprising, considering he was a hatchling raised by Aisha and his mother.
“This is definitely my stomach. If I hadn’t suppressed the curse inside my body, you would have been eaten by darkness and died long ago.”
“Why do you insist on keeping me alive?”
『The reason is obvious. Because you are Scylla’s child. And… .』
Aisha appeared next to me in human form.
Being Scylla’s child and Aisha’s contractor was the reason he kept me alive.
“I’ll have to thank my mom for this soon.”
“How can I be grateful? There’s no guarantee that I’ll come back alive from here.”
It was a spine-chilling sound, but it wasn’t wrong.
Originally, he should have died when he was swallowed, but because he was a child of Scylla, he only had more time to breathe.
『As you can see from the past, the source of my curse comes from my hatred for Alighieri. Right now, I am keeping you alive like this, but soon, there will be a limit.』
“So are you out of your mind?”
Listening to the story, it seemed that Diora himself was of sound mind.
Since he was none other than the highest ranking lord, it seemed natural that he would have high intelligence.
『My body is now made up of the curse of the elves. If I can control that curse, it won’t be difficult to control my body.』
“Do you sympathize with the curse?”
『Yes. Using this, someone who is weaker than me can control me.』
Understanding that the village was destroyed by the Alighieri guys.
The curse of the spirit is no different from the protagonist of a tragic melodrama. If the audience sympathizes with it, it can be accepted to some extent.
Perhaps Grisha and Carmine took advantage of that to protect the ruins.
‘It was probably just a tearjerker, though.’
If only we could know what the grudge that formed the spirit’s body was, at least we wouldn’t be attacked.
『That’s why I stopped attacking when I saw Aisha. Aisha’s presence saved your life.』
Judging from the conversation like this, Diora himself seemed to be fine.
The problem was the curses that made up Diora’s body.
If it weren’t for Aisha, this opportunity wouldn’t have come, because those guys’ resentment towards Alighieri is through the roof.
『But once you’ve been eaten by me, it’s impossible to escape. Even if you take off that uniform, you’re already considered an enemy.』
“I didn’t come here to be eaten. I came here to make a contract.”
“huh?”
Diora tilted his head upon hearing that.
And then I opened my eyes wide at the words that followed.
“You make a contract with me. Then these curses will accept me, right?”
『Kekekeke, you idiot. Even if you are Scylla’s child, that’s impossible. As I said before, the curse surrounding my body recognizes you as an enemy.』
“Isn’t that because I’m a student of Alighieri?”
『That goes without saying. And I also sympathized with that curse, which is why I became like this.』
The past, once it has happened, can never be changed.
The fact that humans burned down the elven village and cursed them is a fact that will remain in history forever.
But that history must be studied in detail without being distorted.
“Do you really think that was Alighieri’s doing then?”
“what?”
Diora was taken aback by what I said.
Then, all the ghosts gathered next to me started rushing at me.
It was as if people were reacting sensitively, as if asking what that meant.
“The reason you harbor hostility towards me is because you think Alighieri burned down the village.”
『… .』
“Of course I saw it too. Our Headmaster Keiten slaughtering the elves. But you know….”
I patted my head and raised the corners of my mouth.
“Aren’t you curious to know if that’s really Principal Keiten?”
At that time, those mercenaries were clearly commissioned by a force hostile to Alighieri.
Under the pretext that a child had been kidnapped.
If there are any enemies of our academy, they would be those who inherited the will of Emperor Machia from long ago.
The biggest leader of those guys is none other than Enviel.
“Are you saying that it wasn’t Keiten’s doing?”
“curious?”
It was Shaikhar who sent us here.
She had finished researching this place before sending us here.
Her subordinate life spirits are spread all over the place, so gathering information would have been easy.
And she passed me something, saying it might help.
Something came out of my pocket.
“Shall I tell you the truth about that day?”
It was a crystal containing memories taken from the spirits of life that once inhabited this place.
Yes, these are the memories of the spirits who witnessed that tragedy.
Surviving as an Academy Fraudster
