Episode 59. Fantasy Family
There have been many instances where I was confused as to whether it was a dream or reality. For example, being possessed by Devil Aka right now.
I never really blamed him for getting beaten up by the bullies the first time or for being threatened by Jenny and Ruska.
Why? Because there was sufficient causality.
Most of the misfortunes that have befallen me like this have had an understandable introduction. The current situation may not be a misfortune, but it is certain that it is at least giving me a tremendous shock.
“Radon Oppa!~ It’s me! It’s Amy!”
“….”
Amy Crowler.
The fact that the name was Radon Crowler’s younger sister was discovered through letters piled up in the room.
Father – Lotas Crawler
Mother – Skilla Crowler
Eldest Son – Radon Crowler
Second Daughter – Amy Crowler
This is the current family tree of the Crowler family. They were once a noble family, but they have already fallen into decline, so most of the information has been lost.
As he had fallen, he would have naturally ended up kicking cans on the street. Then, it is highly likely that his children would not have grown up in a good environment.
I guess I’ll find at least one dark spot. And now… I’ve already found one.
“It’s been so long! Is it already vacation time? Time flies.”
“….”
“How about me? I showed off my skills with my newly grown body this time. They even gave me a lot of prize money.”
I was walking down the street with Amy.
Judging from the fact that the child was smiling brightly enough to remind one of Mary, she didn’t seem like a bad person. If you just look at her face, you could even say she’s cute.
Yeah… just the face.
“Why aren’t you answering, oppa?”
“Huh, huh?”
“Are you surprised by my body?”
Then, if you were me, wouldn’t you be surprised?
“Do you not like it?”
“No, that’s not it. Haha… It’s been a while.”
[Erosion rate decrease: -1%]
[+100 Credits]
For a moment, I saw my sister’s expression turn ashen and I got goosebumps. And then I remembered why I was walking so obediently with her.
Because I don’t want to get hit.
A boy like me boasted palms that could shatter flesh and bones with just a single strike.
When you face someone armed with such physique, you can’t help but feel a chill down your spine.
Even if he was dragged to the Room of Truth and beaten up for saying just one word out of the blue, he would still nod.
“You’ve grown quite a bit. Since when have you grown so much?”
At least you have to pretend to know.
“It’s been a month. I’ve been trying so hard to get to this point and I finally succeeded!”
No, so… you’re saying that you built that body in just one month of health training? And by a girl?
Wouldn’t it be grossly inadequate for an adult male to do 500 times a day three times?
What kind of horrible hybrid is this?
And my sister…? My sister??
…it really leaves me speechless. I’d rather be like the little sister in a light novel who says, “Brother, if you don’t wake up soon, you’ll be late!”
“You must have searched a lot since we moved, right? It may not be as safe as our old house, but it’s safe enough, so you’ll be fine.”
“Is that so?”
My sister and I, who were like older siblings to me, entered the forest. We passed a place where trees formed a fence, crossed a waterfall that formed a small rainbow, and arrived at a large cabin.
The wooden building, connected to the large tree, seemed quite large for a remote residence.
It’s a scale that can barely be built by dozens of people, so I don’t think my poor parents have the budget to hire them.
“Be careful of the barrier when you come in.”
“what?”
I entered the cabin without knowing what it was saying. Then I felt a resistance as if something transparent was pushing my body out.
It felt like I had broken through a vinyl wall. It looked similar to the barrier surrounding the academy. As expected, my parents didn’t seem to be easygoing people.
‘Well, even the youngest has that level of physical strength. At least it doesn’t seem like he was pushed back by brute force.’
As the cabin door opened, a woman with hair similar to my sister’s came out. I didn’t have to think long about who it was.
“Welcome, Radon! I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
She was a married woman with children who looked quite young. She greeted me in a fluttering dress.
Skilla Crowler. She is my biological mother.
“Mom! I’m back~”
“Amy, did you go out again with that body? I told you to restrain yourself because you still can’t control yourself.”
“Hey, but thanks to this I even won some prize money.”
“Oh my! You can’t go around showing your face so carelessly. You know very well what our family’s situation is.”
“Ugh….”
The muscular younger sister sagged. And then with a bang! Her body shrank.
“But what do you want me to do? My body won’t listen to me.”
I doubted my eyes once again.
My younger sister’s body, which was reminiscent of a bodybuilder, has transformed into the body of a pure young girl!
She was as tall as Mary, and her bright eyes and face looked like they couldn’t kill a single fly. She was such a cute girl that it made me wonder if everything I had seen until just now was a hallucination.
In fact, this is its real form, and the bulky thing from before seemed to have changed form through some trickery.
“Are you surprised that Amy suddenly changed into this? Don’t worry, it’s actually magic.”
“Is it magic?”
“I’ll tell you the details when I get in. Were you hungry on your way here?”
“yes….”
I followed my mother’s guidance with a trembling expression. Still, aside from the strange incident just a moment ago, it seemed like a normal family.
“How is it, son? It’s a fortress made entirely of steel.”
yes??
“That’s right! At this level, you can block thousands and tens of thousands of cannon shots without getting hurt. I told you, my dad’s magic is the best!”
“Our daughter just looked so cute. She’s gotten so tiny.”
“Then should we try making it smaller?”
“No. Then it will shrink and you will never be able to find it again.”
Hmm… Just listening to their conversation, I got the feeling that the whole family needed to see a psychiatrist.
But we must not forget one thing.
<'Liar's Curse' Erosion Rate - 45/100>
What kind of troubles this whole family is going through.
* * * * *
Unlike the exterior, which looked fancy for a wooden building, the interior was extremely shabby.
It was common for the floor to creak whenever you walked. The lights hanging from the ceiling flickered like a ghost house.
“It’s a truly paradise-like atmosphere, isn’t it?”
“Yes… there is no heaven.”
[Erosion rate decrease: -2%]
[+200 Credits]
I also had to lie to myself. I expected that this window would pop up for everyone in my family, not just me.
‘But don’t these people have a system window?’
Come to think of it, these families probably don’t know what the erosion rate is. Which means… they have no choice but to lie so blatantly.
“This way.”
My mother showed me to the room.
Since it was a place I had just moved to, it must have been a very unfamiliar place for Radon before Bing. Maybe that’s why my mother and younger sister didn’t think much of it when I showed up looking helpless.
It’s pretty good timing.
The room was filled with all the necessities of life, such as a mat and a desk. But that was it.
The creaking floor was so weak that it wouldn’t have been surprising if it collapsed at any moment.
And the rafters that formed the ceiling were in disarray, and the beams that supported them were so rotten that you could tell they would break at any moment.
I saw it as I walked, but it wasn’t just my room. I don’t know about the rain, but if a typhoon came, the building itself looked like it was in danger of collapsing like a kukdas.
There are probably two reasons.
First, my father did not know any architectural knowledge and built it according to his stream of consciousness.
Second, it is a flaw in the being that was created instantly by magic.
‘The latter seems most likely, considering the magical power flowing through the building itself… .’
I wonder if this building is maintained by magical power 24 hours a day.
I don’t know how he ended up like a beggar, but his father was once a count. It wouldn’t be strange for him to have advanced magical skills.
Just like the barrier from earlier, it’s also rotten and ready to be used. I don’t know where they got the wood, but it looks like they picked up some discarded stuff.
It’s so hard, it’s so hard.
“I feel the curse…”
At that moment, a black snake emerged from the shadows. As expected of a high-ranking spirit, Muto immediately sensed the curse.
He licked his tongue, fearing that someone might say he was not the shadow of gluttony.
“Four of the same curses are gathered at the same time. But I can’t eat them.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Have you ever thought about why I don’t rebel even though I’m absorbed by you?”
What is this kid talking about?
『As you know, the curse placed on you is no ordinary curse. It is a curse placed directly by a being from a far higher dimension, so it can attract beings like me. You cleverly used that to control the main force.』
I only absorbed him while he was sealed, but he is still a high-level spirit. He is a man who can be considered the best among his compatriots, so he must know everything about curses.
“Why are you telling me that now?”
『Why should I help a piece of trash like you? I won’t get anything out of it even if I try to figure out something so immature. Hahahahaha!』
“This is killing me!”
Swish! – Muto disappears as soon as you try to hit him. It was really annoying to see him hide his body after provoking you because he didn’t want to get hit.
Who would say that he is not a lord?
[The spirit ‘Muto’ sneers at you.]
[Insufficient intimacy to make a contract.]
As the system’s notification window says, I didn’t make a contract with that guy. I just took advantage of the gap in his seal to suppress him with force.
Another task is to complete the contract. In order to survive the bosses that will come in the next chapter.
“Have you been waiting long? Since Radon is home after a long time, I prepared it so that he won’t be disappointed.”
I came down to the kitchen on the first floor at my mother’s call.
The table was laden with corn soup, roast duck, cheese fish cutlet, salad, and steak of unknown animal origin.
It was obvious that the food was not purchased at the market, but was hunted and cooked in the wild.
The food looked delicious, but the atmosphere was dark. Judging from the single candle on the table, it didn’t look like a black magic banquet.
But since it was a very lavish dinner, of course I had to eat. I said I would eat well and stabbed the steak with my fork.
“Radon! You’re here already!”
Just as I was about to take a bite, a man came in from the back door of the kitchen. He was wearing a wild boar’s fur over his head. He was Lotas Crawler. He was my father.
“You must have been very hungry. Don’t worry about this father and just eat. We are the ones who couldn’t give you a lot of food money because our finances are so poor.”
The father sat down at the table, feeling sorry but also happy that his son was back. It was the first time in a while that the family was together, so he couldn’t break the labor pains by talking about something depressing.
“How have you been? How was the Academy?”
“It was pretty fun. I made a lot of friends.”
“I see… As expected from a descendant of the Sword Saint!”
“yes…?”
At that moment, I remembered why I had fought with Jenny in the first place.
And after looking back at the family letters that had piled up in the dormitory… I was able to realize that this was the person who had instilled in Radon the illusion before Bing.
“Just a swordsman? Our Radon is not only the strongest in the world, but also in the universe. Who can stand up to him?”
“Then you were flirting with all the girls in your class? You’re the best!”
I’m going crazy, I’m going crazy. I don’t need to tell you why these people are so delusional.
Because of the curse, you never know when you’ll die, so you have to lie every now and then to extend your life.
This is clearly not a situation that can be laughed off. And yet these gentlemen are enjoying telling such lies. Could it be that they are addicted to it? Or is this also the effect of the curse?
“By the way, Amy. Did you go out to town again this time?”
“Yeah! I won the prize money in the strength test. Good job!”
Even though they had fallen, their conversation was so free-spirited that you’d wonder if they were really nobles at one time. Well, what’s the point of etiquette? They’re just trying to make ends meet.
“What’s the big deal? I told you not to go out if possible. There are so many guys out there targeting us.”
“But I wasn’t caught thanks to the transformation magic that my father taught me.”
“Don’t brag about something you don’t know how to control properly yet. If you can’t do it, then it can’t be done.”
Amy pouted her lips in disappointment.
After listening to the conversation carefully, I asked my father.
“Did you have any accidents?”
“….”
It was practically a passing remark. The fact that there were people targeting him meant that my father had been caught.
“Hahahaha!”
“….”
“You are right.”
this…!
“I once sold a sleeping pill I made by hunting, claiming it was a potion. But the customer happened to be the daughter of a duke’s family, so they summoned an army to capture me.”
“Hahaha! Your dad did a really great job.”
“Yes, if our family joins forces, we can even fool the Emperor.”
Is that really the man who was once a count?
Even if it wasn’t a curse, the thought crossed my mind that perhaps the family was destined to fall from the start.
Or maybe he just lost his experience after a long period of retirement.
“My father is truly amazing. My thumb has already pierced the mountain peak and reached into space.”
[Erosion rate reduction: -6%]
[+600 Credits]
I gave a thumbs up with a sour look. As the erosion rate dropped, the family burst into collective laughter.
The sound of “Wahahahaha” filled the table. It would be a natural sight during a family meal, but it was very unfamiliar.
“Haha… hahaha.”
Am I going crazy now? I found myself laughing.
I was trying to figure out if this was a real laugh or if I was just laughing because I got carried away with the atmosphere.
“But our Radon is also amazing. He must have learned a lot at the Academy because he’s gotten so strong.”
“Haha… Thanks for the compliment.”
“But, how did you come to be able to handle the main force at such a young age?”
“yes?”
The laughter stopped.
I don’t think I’ve ever told you before.
“And when did you absorb the snake spirit behind it again?”
I saw Muto secretly stealing steak and eating it in his father’s eyes.
For a moment, I got goosebumps.
“Shall I tell you, father? How to make a contract with that guy?”
It wasn’t for nothing that he had been acting as the head of a family.
Surviving as an Academy Fraudster
