Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

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282. Summer Rest – The Queen of Heavy Snow (3)

It felt like I had just faced a storm.

Jenny wiped off all her makeup, put on a cardigan, and stepped outside.

The sound of waves whispered gently as they wet the sand.

Sitting on the beach, which offered a clear view of the sea, Jenny sighed.

“How embarrassing.”

She was well aware of her terrible makeup skills.

While it was unclear why she needed makeup for scary stories, experiencing it firsthand left her feeling hollow.

‘I thought I looked fine when I first saw myself…’

Of course, she looked in the mirror while applying her makeup, confirming how it turned out.

But even after seeing it, how did such results come to be?

Moreover, it wasn’t until Radon showed her the mirror that she realized the outcome was horrific.

It was indeed strange.

She looked fine to herself, but only after someone else showed her the reflection did it seem odd.

Just like how one can’t smell their own scent.

Is this what they call an “artistic disease”?

“Still….”

Jenny was enjoying the moment.

She felt satisfied hanging out with her friends, having laid down all the burdens she had been carrying in her heart.

Now she controlled the Silver Age at 100%, cut off all lingering attachments to her mother, and eradicated the rival Viole Family.

However, that didn’t mean all burdens had vanished.

The Emperor’s inauguration ceremony was approaching. Soon, Jenny, who would become a princess, would also attend.

No longer just a princess, but now a soon-to-be empress.

While she would grasp limitless power at the pinnacle of the Empire, it was a significant concern for a girl like Jenny, who wasn’t corrupt.

She knew very well the weight of the position she was about to ascend.

Could she fulfill the expectations of the Empire’s citizens?

Would she need to make judgments and act independently from now on?

‘Mom, can I do well?’

The dead do not speak. No answer comes.

Instead….

“Here you are?”

There was someone to share her feelings with.

*

Tired of the ghostly makeup, Jenny hurriedly washed her face.

Then she quickly grabbed her cardigan and dashed outside.

Even though she feared ghosts, no one could create ghostly elements better than Jenny herself.

It wasn’t hard to guess where she had gone.

“Here you are?”

I found Jenny sitting in front of the beach.

The sea breeze gently blew through the quiet space where no one had come.

“Ah….”

Jenny looked like she wanted to ask how I found her, but soon gave up.

As if she had anticipated my presence.

“Radon predicted how I would act, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Then you must have known I can’t do makeup?”

“It’s not just that you can’t do it; it’s cursed level bad.”

Although I heard a sarcastic tone at the end, Jenny held back. It was an undeniable fact.

“Indeed, Radon was from that other world, wasn’t he?”

“….”

I had predicted all their information and behavioral patterns.

Until now, I had been making rational judgments and taking action accordingly.

Since I understood Jenny well, she couldn’t help but feel assured too.

“The Destruction God said in the Illusory World that Radon knows everything.”

He was deceiving you all while knowing everything, the Destruction God insisted.

Such occurrences must have happened while I was lying half-broken on the ground.

“What do you think about me?”

I cautiously asked, wondering if she had grown weary of me.

Knowing everything might sound nearly omnipotent.

In reality, I had played tricks on them multiple times just to get out of sticky situations.

Yet Jenny and her friends denied those words of the Destruction God.

“Surely Radon knew everything. But he didn’t neglect our affairs, did he? Radon led our discussions well. We are grateful for that.”

Jenny was quick to realize the Destruction God’s claims were fallacies.

So it felt odd that she wouldn’t side with me.

With a smile, she continued.

“And you probably predicted that I would say this, too?”

“Exactly.”

“Then is our story spreading in Radon’s world?”

It’s not just spreading; it’s being sold for money.

It might sound like copyright infringement, but there’s no such thing, or else I would never have ended up in this world.

“There are many who know about you besides me.”

“Then how are we rumored?”

Strictly speaking, it’s a work featuring Lyman as the protagonist, but they were main characters, thus achieving a decent level of recognition.

Mary is infamous for being a lunatic reminiscent of a Joker, and Luska is known as a lady who pretends to be tough but feels shy inside.

Especially in the context of PixXBr.

“Nebia was… originally destined to die?”

Given that she had come out as a villain from the start, it was only natural her fate was set.

If I hadn’t been there, she’d have followed that destiny.

“What about me?”

Jenny had many nicknames among users.

In a positive light, she had the image of an ice queen overcoming trauma, while in less flattering instances….

“A coward… a ghost?”

“More or less how she’s called.”

There was no need for detailed explanations.

There were plenty of bizarre fan arts related to ghosts.

In the world, they would be common memes, but Jenny and her friends wouldn’t have a good response to them.

That’s because they had no mental resilience to accept that.

“Hahahaha… If I get the chance, I want to visit that world! Hahahaha…!”

Jenny clenched her fists, releasing mana.

The moment she emitted even a little, the air seemed to grow cold.

But Jenny quickly calmed down and asked.

“Then in that story… does it mention my accession as princess?”

Since I had experienced every ending to the point of exhaustion, I was aware of what would happen to other characters.

However, among them, there was no mention of the Chain Silver Family ascending to the throne.

When I shared that fact, Jenny displayed a pitying expression.

“I see… I thought I could foresee what I should do.”

“Even I can’t know every future. For me, it was as if that future cut off right after the last magic martial arts segment.”

That was the last time I shared a narrative resembling the main story.

Now, this moment didn’t even exist as a future before.

“A new future begins from now. So don’t dwell too much on anything; you have to make your own decisions.”

It was the obvious truth of life.

No one provides perfect answers.

“Indeed.”

“I see you have concerns about becoming a princess?”

“Yes. I’ve seen how those who sat on the royal throne met their ends.”

The fates of the children of Emperor Kamain, including Makia.

Jenny was concerned that they might eventually fall and torment the citizens.

The citizens’ reactions vary.

They would likely value Jenny’s skills and academic performance highly, but there would also be numerous responses questioning why such a novice would suit the role of princess.

In a developed and information-oriented world like Earth, this would be akin to conflicting opinions on social media.

Right now, she could only guess the reactions indirectly. That alone made Jenny uneasy.

Having no resilience to gossip, if this were a world with active social media, Jenny would have long lost her sanity.

‘The Great Sage must have chosen not to share the Archive across the entire continent for a good reason.’

By continually researching the Archive, this place might evolve into an information age like Earth.

But it was still too soon to accept that.

The people of this world weren’t prepared in mind for it yet.

As a soon-to-be princess, Jenny needed to solidify her resolve faster than anyone.

This would be her homework from now on.

“Can I really endure that oppression alone?”

“Who’s saying it’s alone? Look at how many people are beside you.”

Caring for flowers is a human trait, but letting them wilt is too.

Dealing with those humans would be a task for Jenny in the future, but she had solid support.

Her friends she had met so far in Aligieri.

And….

“You no longer have to keep calling for your deceased mother. You’ve grown strong enough to overcome that.”

There was a boy who understood Jenny better than anyone.

Holding his arms with both hands, Jenny asked him.

“So from now on, we’ll be together forever?”

The beach seemed brighter than ever today.

The constellation of stars sprinkled across the night sky made the sea and sky even more radiant.

There are many humans who let flowers wilt… yet the starlight is beautiful.

No matter how much they try to sully that star, humans cannot pluck the stars from the sky.

The hearts of humans inspired by those stars will surely change.

“Radon….”

With a bewitched look, Jenny leaned her face closer.

I couldn’t help but be startled, realizing our lips were getting closer.

But I couldn’t evade it. Just as I was about to resign myself to accepting it.

“What are the two of you doing over there?”

“Eeek!”

Startled by a sudden voice from behind, Jenny accidentally bumped her lips into my chest instead of mine.

They were the ones who had participated in the scary story, interrupting that historic moment.

“You scared me!”

“I’m sorry for startling you.”

“But it certainly doesn’t feel good for us to be watching that.”

“Bwahahaha! Hey, buddy. No cutting in line!”

Luska, Nebia, and Mary all gave mischievous looks.

Feeling irritated, Jenny wondered why they were each holding something in their hands.

“Wait, why are you holding that?”

“Why, if not now, will we ever get a chance to try this?”

Each of them held a table, basket, or a bowl with a metal container.

The table spread right in the middle of the beach was perfectly set for a midnight snack.

Then, from the basket, what appeared were wavy, square noodles.

Although everyone was curious about what it was… I was the only one who knew.

“I heard this is food that only exists in Radon’s world. How do we eat this?”

“What’s the taste like?”

“Ooh! A new insect flavor?”

While Mary was excited, I gave them a detailed explanation.

As can be seen, it was ‘ramen.’

Of course, similar foods exist here too.

You can mostly find them in restaurants that adopt eastern continent culture, but you wouldn’t get the unique taste of Earth’s cuisine, which was disappointing.

“I’ll teach you how to cook this.”

Since there was no gas stove here, I went to cut wood to start a fire with magic.

I placed the metal container, which would act as a pot, on top and poured in water.

Once the water began to boil, I dropped in the noodles and waited until they were fully cooked.

“Is it like spaghetti?”

“Looks like it isn’t different from dishes served in restaurants, huh?”

As they each made faces, the noodles were perfectly cooked.

Normally, ramen would be prepared instantly with soup seasoning, but this wasn’t just any ramen.

I quickly turned off the fire and poured water on the bottom.

“Why are you suddenly pouring that?”

“Weren’t we cooking noodles?”

As expected, they expressed their doubts, but I proceeded regardless.

With the water gone, it was time to pour ‘that’ into the container filled with cooked noodles.

I held a small jar containing ‘that.’

“You can tell it was made well by the territory citizens, right?”

“Yep. It’s made with all the knowledge in Radon’s head.”

Strictly speaking, it was the knowledge left to me by Dantia before her ascension.

Anyway, as I poured the contents from the jar, the red essence mixed with the noodles.

“It looks delicious somehow.”

“Indeed.”

Mary and Luska seemed dazed from just catching the scent.

It seemed they were intoxicated by the spicy aroma of the essence.

The cooked noodles blended entirely with that essence and turned a vibrant red.

Thus, I served the completed dish into bowls and placed them on the table.

“Is it done?”

“It really looks just like spaghetti.”

“Yes, unless you exclude the curly bits.”

“Can we eat it now?”

To the still bewildered girls… I took a bite and said.

I would have used chopsticks, but given the world’s characteristics, there was no choice but to use a fork.

“You can eat now.”

I passed the noodles casually.

At that moment….

“Yes! This is the taste!!”

The flavors I had long forgotten from living in this world rushed back.

How long had it been?

It was that sweet taste I had eaten twice a week in my studio apartment.

I hoped they could taste this ultimate flavor too.

“It seems like there aren’t any issues. I read your mind through your voice, Radon.”

Nebia gave a decisive answer.

Of course, because I wouldn’t have prepared anything weird to assassinate you all.

“Really? Then let’s try it before it gets cold.”

-Thanks for the meal!

…along with those words, they all took a bite of noodles.

At that moment, the spiciness of the essence stimulated their nerves through their tongues.

“It’s delicious!”

“Wow~ Is this food from the world Radon lived in?”

“It’s a bit spicy, though….”

“Bwahahaha!”

They frequently sent noodles down their throats.

Painting joyful expressions as their tongues were seduced by the taste, they looked happier than expected.

Yet….

“Wait, this is kind of spicy, isn’t it?”

“Um… is there no water?”

“Shoo, my tongue is on fire.”

“Friends, I feel weird! It’s like my stomach is boiling!”

Their faces grew redder as they started to drool.

Inevitably, a catastrophic event unfolded.

“Ah… I can’t handle it! Water, waaaater!!!”

“AHHHHH!! It’s spicy!! So spicy!!”

“Haah! Haah! Water! Ice!”

“Screech!! Kyaaaaaaah!!!”

They began to scream as if they had swallowed lava.

Among them, Mary was thrashing about like a bug being incinerated.

“Radon!! What’s happening!!”

“You filthy fiend! You said it would be delicious!!”

“Did you deceive us again? We won’t let this slide!!”

“Buddy!! Save me!!”

Suddenly, they began blaming me.

But I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Is it really just this spicy?”

“What??”

It wasn’t wrong to say it tasted good.

They had just said it themselves.

Above all, I….

“It’s delicious, just right!”

I didn’t lie.

“I wanted something tasty! I didn’t want this! Shoo, shoo!!”

“No… how can you eat something like this?! Are you even human?”

“Water… waaaater!”

“Friend…!!”

They all wore pitiful faces as they jumped into the sea or used Jenny’s Silver Age to cool their tongues.

Yet they could not easily erase the lingering spiciness, and they all collapsed in exhaustion.

“Weak friends.”

Contrary to them, I finished every noodle without leaving a single strand.

Then I asked the collapsed girls.

“Are you leaving some behind? Should I eat yours?”

The idea of eating their leftovers made their eyes widen.

They had a mountain of things they wanted to say to me, but I swallowed every noodle they touched.

“….”

“….”

“….”

“….”

Then, those who had been suffering from the spiciness suddenly donned expressions of relief.

As if they had achieved something.

-Yes, that’s all it takes.