Surviving as a Con Artist at the Academy

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274th Chapter. Summer Rest – Saint (2)

Suddenly collapsing, Nebia found herself dreaming.

Though it felt like a long time, it was actually a relatively short span of just a few moments.

In that dream, she saw her family, all those who had been with her.

Her father, elder brother, and even her mother.

They all wore expressions not of poverty, but rather of warmth, reminiscent of the past before their family fell apart.

What on earth had created this sight? And why was her fiery mother smiling so joyfully?

Was this a nightmare born from her inner fears or a sanctuary created by peace? She couldn’t say.

Her father and elder brother were one thing, but her mother didn’t deserve to be here in between them.

Yet their mouths formed a single message.

[I’m glad you’re alive.]

The words spoken by her family echoed in Nebia’s ears.

Seeing them all wearing such pleasant expressions left Nebia speechless.

Because it was in a dream, she couldn’t read their emotions through sound.

In the first place, these figures didn’t exist, so it was impossible to communicate.

What were they truly? Had her desires conjured this illusion?

But such questions no longer mattered.

[Thank you.]

That one final statement resonated within her.

In an instant, the fear that had been lurking inside her vanished completely.

Beneath the magnificent façade of the Saint that Nebia wore, her true face was that of a coward.

Were she to stand in a place where the authority of the Saint did not hold sway, her true colors would be revealed.

The defense mechanism she maintained to hide that fear was none other than anger and disdain.

Otherwise, for someone like Nebia, who hadn’t known how to live, hearing the word “thank you” held immense significance.

So much so that tears flowed without her being aware of it.

*

“Sleeping soundly, aren’t you?”

I turned my back to Nebia, who had fainted momentarily, and laid her on a flat rock.

However, the rock was too hard to serve as a proper pillow for her head, so following Senior Trisha’s advice, I became her knee pillow.

According to Senior Riplain, upon examining her condition, she was alright.

She would likely wake up soon, leading to the conclusion that I needed to stay by Nebia’s side in the meantime.

No one disagreed with that.

『Honestly, it sounds like you walked around for ten hours just to impress her, so it’s only right that you embrace her. Hehehe.』

“What are you laughing so much about?”

Muto stared at me with a grin on his lizard-like face.

This little snake was annoyingly consistent in his behavior.

『It’s not exactly wrong. This person is never calm in front of the Master.』

As expected, Aisha spoke in her normal tone.

How can the first Spirit be worse than the second?

“That ten hours was wasted on shopping, that’s the issue.”

Considering I spent that long wandering around shopping for clothes, it made me sigh.

Is it really an excuse to say my eyes hurt because I had been staring at the monitor for ten hours while playing a game?

No, I ought to metaphorically say I was staring at the monitor for ten hours to buy a reserved ticket, right?

In any case, putting in the time to try was true.

『What’s this? Is she crying?』

Muto muttered something out of the blue that turned out to be true.

A single drop of water flowed from her closed eyes.

Yet, her face weirdly looked bright. It was as if she were overjoyed to reunite with her deceased parents.

“Leave her be. Maybe she’s having a good dream.”

What kind of good dream could Nebia be having?

Certainly not one that involves crushing Angela and dominating saints like in her former villainous days.

That dream had long been discarded. The desire for control was merely a surface to hide her own fears.

But now, after that façade had cracked, who knew what direction she might turn?

『By the way, that earlier moment of you hiding your swimsuit was pretty amusing.』

“….”

Aisha’s comment prompted various thoughts about Nebia.

Is she really the ugly villain I once viewed in the game? It seems fair to claim that character persona has completely vanished.

Her current self clashed against that image, making it feel quite distant.

Had she always been such a clumsy character?

Was it possible that she had changed due to the chaos in her life?

“Umm….”

Finally, Nebia began to open her eyes.

With a dazed expression, her eyelids slowly lifted.

Struggling to regain her senses, Nebia rolled her eyes, examining her surroundings.

“Where am I? I was sure….”

“Are you awake?”

“Senior Radon…?”

The first thing Nebia saw upon awakening was my relaxed face adorned with a smile.

Realization of her fainting came flooding back to her.

Memories of feeling embarrassed to show off her swimsuit and forcibly getting it taken off by Angela came rushing back.

Thus, she fainted and now found herself in the present.

“Ah, ah, ah!!”

Remembering everything, Nebia shot up, enveloping her body with her arms.

She wanted to cover herself entirely, but with only her two hands, she could barely cover her chest.

Her face flushed deeply, looking quite distraught as she gazed at me.

Seeing that adorably shining look in her eyes made her seem incredibly cute.

It instinctively triggered my protective instincts.

“Don’t tell me… you didn’t do anything weird to me, right?”

“What kind of weird thing would I do?”

“Don’t play dumb. While I was asleep, you definitely… did something…!”

That paranoid thought crept into her mind.

The fear that someone violated her was vividly displayed on her face.

She looked like a mouse trapped in a cage, trembling in anxiety.

“Can’t you tell by hearing my voice?”

With her acute hearing, Nebia could grasp a person’s inner thoughts just from their voice.

Because of that, she eventually recognized that nothing untoward had occurred.

“Oh… I didn’t do anything.”

So what’s good about it?

“But I can hear your sympathetic thoughts.”

There was no harm done, yet it seemed something about my true feelings irked her.

Honestly, it wasn’t wrong. Every time I thought of what had just happened, I couldn’t help but find it amusing.

She looked like a person who tried riding a conveyor belt for the first time and ended up falling flat.

“The truth is, what can I do about it?”

“Ugh…! I didn’t want to wear this in the first place!”

“Saint, this is a swimming pool. A swimming pool! It’s only natural to wear short clothing here just like how one would wear thick clothing at a sledding hill, so why are you crying so much?”

As I pointed out the obvious, Nebia shot a glance at her own figure.

Specifically, she turned her eyes to the swimsuit.

“But this… doesn’t it seem too revealing? If it’s gonna be like this, I might as well come out in my underwear!”

The green bikini melded seamlessly with Nebia, like it was made for her.

It matched her hair color and gave an almost three-dimensional appearance, as if she was destined to wear it from birth.

“But it seems you appreciated those ten hours spent wandering around.”

“What do you mean?”

“You look great in it. It’s impossible to pull my eyes away.”

“Ah….”

Hearing that made Nebia’s face redden even more.

It was something I’d completely forgotten; she had fainted after receiving a similar compliment not long ago.

However, perhaps thanks to having built some resistance, she didn’t faint a second time.

Instead…

“That can’t be! There’s no need to force yourself to use flattery! If this outfit looks pretty, then everyone would be walking around in just their underwear!”

Another paranoid episode was beginning.

The tremors in her facial muscles blatantly showcased her fear.

But a world where people wandered about in their underwear… That would surely be fascinating material for a doujinshi artist.

“Didn’t you pick that outfit yourself, Saint? No need to blush so much….”

“No! I wanted to wear something else, but that fox woman Angela suddenly shoved this at me!”

According to her, Angela insisted this would suit her perfectly and was adamant about having Nebia wear it.

And when she tried it on, Angela couldn’t help but exclaim.

She felt that wandering around for ten hours was worth it.

“I actually wanted to wear something different. I spent a long time distracted, but this is just….”

There are swimsuits, like one-piece suits, that look less revealing than bikinis.

Of course, Nebia preferred that route.

While those too would have been embarrassing, at least they wouldn’t expose her navel or chest.

“Then why did you come out wearing this if you’re so restless?”

“That’s….”

Nebia trailed off, hesitating.

Seeing her face turn even redder, it clearly seemed she was embarrassed to speak.

But she finally opened her mouth.

“It’s for you, Senior Radon.”

The fear was still evident on her face.

It was just a swimsuit everyone else wore… why was she trembling like a model soldier in training?

The reason was simple. Nebia had been hiding her fears until now.

Especially when it came to a specific person she had designated, she couldn’t hide her fear at all.

“You probably already know, but I’m a coward. The desire to dominate which I used to mask that fear has now become powerless.”

Nebia, having distanced herself, approached the rock again and sat beside me.

Her expression showed she had regained a bit of composure compared to before.

“However, that doesn’t mean all my fears have vanished. I could only endure because people were beside me.”

Seeking to overcome her fears through friendships instead of domination.

Through the newly formed bond with her friends.

“I thought I wouldn’t be scared with my friends around. But when faced with a different issue, the anxiety began to creep back in.”

Nebia fiddled with the straps of her swimsuit as she spoke.

The swimsuit she wore to impress me was overshadowed by her embarrassment.

To Nebia, the aspect of appealing her charm to others was a new area entirely.

“When others see me, it doesn’t feel like a big deal… but when it’s for you, I get nervous.”

“….”

“It’s strange, isn’t it? It’s something I prepared for you.”

With both Jenny, Luska, and Mary absent, Nebia viewed this as her chance.

Though she hastily prepared, the moment she approached, anxiety washed over her.

Despite her ambitious preparation, when facing the interviewer, her mind went blank.

“After all, it seems I can’t control my emotions in front of you, Senior. Hence, the fear I thought I had overcome has returned in full force.”

This time, it wasn’t fear of the world; rather, a new kind of fear began to emerge.

The fear (embarrassment) directed toward the one she liked.

To overcome it, Nebia shifted closer to me.

“Senior Radon.”

And she said,

“From now on, could you drop the formalities when you’re with me?”

Until now, I had spoken formally because I couldn’t fully understand her behavior.

It was certainly a different tone than how she spoke to Angela, acting like a younger sister.

While it was intended out of respect for her as a saint, it seemed Nebia had taken it to heart.

“I think it would ease my fear if you called me by my name.”

As she said that, she leaned against my shoulder.

The sound of small waves from the ocean rolled onto the beach.

Various debris from the underwater world glimmered as they washed up onto the sandy shore.

The sea sparkled faintly beneath the red sky, dyed by the setting sun.

Sitting beneath it was not the Saint, the symbol of the Sect, but simply a girl ready to reveal her heart.

“Alright, I understand. Nebia.”

For the first time, I called her by her name rather than the title Saint.

At that, Nebia’s fear turned into joy, overwhelming her, and she embraced me.

The heart of the happiest girl in the world shone red along with the sea.

Surviving as an Academy Scammer.