LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 277
277th Episode. Summer Rest – Battle Tribe (1)
The Aligieri Students who came to the resort were enjoying a barbecue party by the shore.
But then, a glamorous woman interrupted, causing the students to wonder.
However, the moment the woman took off her bracelet, her body transformed, and—
“Ta-da! It’s me!”
The students, realizing it was Mary in her transformed appearance, were left utterly speechless.
It was only natural that they were astonished to see the little peanut of a girl turned into a mature woman.
I felt the same way at first.
But then I looked around and felt something was missing.
“Where are the Saints?”
“Angela and Saint Nebia just stepped out for a bit.”
Crona said that they had been urgently summoned to the sect’s branch.
Apparently, if you’re a saint, it’s not easy to have some leisure time.
Mary looked gloomy at the fact that the two weren’t there.
“I wanted to show them this.”
“Well, Luska will be here tomorrow. How about showing her?”
“Is that so?”
The moment Luska was mentioned, I could see Mary grinning mischievously.
She was clearly scheming something.
I just hoped she wouldn’t get beaten up by Luska.
*
“Is this Rube Town?”
Luska, who got off the magical train, looked around with her bag in hand.
Rube Town, the Empire’s top resort.
After finishing the errands for the Cage Department Head, Luska decided to meet her friends here.
The day before they left, Teaching Assistant Adela had packed a bunch of stuff for her, and just thinking about the swimsuit among those items made Luska’s face turn red.
‘Can I wear that in front of others?’
Having worn it just once, Adela showered her with compliments.
It was Luska’s first time at the sea or a resort, so she felt excessively shy.
Given that she had spent more than half her life amidst turmoil, she was unaccustomed to ‘feminine charm’.
‘It’s fine. I’ll surely be okay.’
If she just sat there, she wouldn’t be Luska Mad Eye.
And inside her bag was her diary.
The existence of that diary was a secret even from her roommate Radon.
She wrote in it only when he was asleep, so only Luska knew about it.
No one should ever see that diary.
If someone did, who knows what would happen?
“Roar!”
“Mommy!”
Luska let out a cute scream at the suddenly heard voice from behind.
Thinking it might be some kind of ambush, she turned around, only to find a familiar girl standing there.
“Hello, friend!”
“What the… it’s you?”
The one who startled her was the small-statured Mary Ryudshiel.
And beside her was Radon Crawler, who had come along to greet Luska.
With her heart racing, Luska grimaced and said,
“I thought my heart would drop!”
“It’s okay! We’re friends!”
“Then how about you get hit by a friend?”
She was still as quirky as ever.
But if she pointed out her immaturity, she might transform into a lunatic again, causing trouble.
“Hold on. She’s always like this.”
“….”
Radon was absolutely right.
Teaching Mary common sense was like putting words in a deaf ear.
It was easier just to give up.
“What about the others?”
“They’re all waiting for you. They even prepared fireworks to welcome you.”
“What fireworks? My birthday has already passed.”
Turning her head, Luska wondered why everyone was making such a fuss when there wasn’t even a festival.
But deep down, she seemed a bit embarrassed as a shy smile danced on her face.
“Yeah! Your friend will be really happy when she arrives!”
Mary rubbed her face against Luska’s side as she spoke.
Even though she was the most burdensome to deal with, Luska felt no aversion towards her.
Mary was the first to call her a friend.
Maybe that’s why she even felt like she wanted to pat Mary on the head.
“Hey? But what’s that?”
“Huh?”
Mary was holding a thin book-like object in her hand.
To Luska, it looked oddly familiar, and she felt her bag was slightly emptier.
Sure enough, she confirmed that the bag was partly open.
“Wow! That’s a book usually used for diaries, right? My dad uses one too.”
“You… don’t tell me…!”
“Do you also write in a diary, friend? That’s really amazing! I want to read it.”
What Mary had sneakily taken from the bag was none other than the diary.
A book that should never see the light of day and must remain confidential.
A book whose contents Luska never wanted to show anyone.
Luska’s eyes blazed fiercely as she saw her diary being taken away.
“Give it back….”
“What?”
“I said give it back!!”
With a loud shout, Luska swung her arms to forcibly reclaim it.
But Mary jumped lightly to evade and attempted to open the book.
“I wonder what interesting things are written inside?”
“NO!!”
Radon was taken aback by Luska’s sudden fervor.
Had Luska actually been writing a diary?
They shared the same dorm, yet he had never seen her writing anything.
She seemed far from the type.
Yet here she was.
“Give it to me NOW!!”
With a monstrous shout, Luska lunged to grab Mary.
People passing by were startled and even children, who were walking with their parents, cried out.
“Ha ha ha ha! The friend’s diary~!”
“Stop right there!!”
A thrilling chase ensued at breakneck speed.
Radon had to heave and puff just to keep up with those two.
Mary and Luska dashed out of the station and headed into a dark alley.
Though it was a less populated area, avoiding trouble for others, Radon felt a mix of awe and disbelief.
He had never seen Luska in such a frenzied state.
“Where could she be?”
While pursuing, Mary suddenly vanished from sight.
There were several people around, yet none of them included Mary.
Was she small enough to hide easily?
But then Radon spotted a woman among the crowd and couldn’t help but chuckle.
A glamorous woman with golden bracelets and pink hair.
Though Luska couldn’t recognize her, Radon knew who she was and stifled his laugh.
But….
“There you are!”
Luska approached the woman and spoke to her.
Without a hint of doubt, she gave the woman a cold stare.
“Yes…?”
“Don’t play dumb. You’re Mary, aren’t you?”
At that moment, the woman’s expression froze as if she were walking on thin ice.
Radon reacted similarly.
How did she figure it out without any hints?
“What do you mean? Who’s Mary….”
“I can smell it. Your distinct scent.”
Being a Yōho, her exceptional sense of smell allowed her to instantly recognize Mary’s transformation.
Especially since Mary had lived on bugs, she emitted a different scent than humans.
With Luska’s sharp senses, that kind of distinction was like a piece of cake.
“Wa-wait… do you recognize who I am?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t?”
Even in her adult form, it was the first time to see Mary so tense.
It was the situation of a cornered cat on the verge of being devoured by a wolf.
No one knew what kind of tricks she had used to transform into this adult form…
“Hand it over or I’ll take it by force.”
Luska showed no interest in anything else at the moment.
“….”
Seeing Luska’s fierce expression, Mary swallowed hard.
Before her diary, friendships meant nothing. It was either life or death.
“Of course, I’ll give it to you.”
Even Mary felt the danger and obediently handed over the diary.
Taking the diary with a fierce glare, Luska asked one more thing.
“Tell me you didn’t secretly look at it while running away?”
“I didn’t look.”
“Not even a word?”
“Yup! Nope!”
Mary nodded her head twice.
Luska then relaxed a bit before Radon asked her.
“But did you really write a diary?”
“….”
Luska turned her head coldly, as if saying it was none of his business.
If she had known this would happen, she wouldn’t have brought it.
Luska hurriedly attempted to put the diary back in her bag.
“Hey?”
Just then, her vision suddenly went dark, and the space shifted in an instant.
It wasn’t just Luska; Mary and Radon experienced the same.
They found themselves standing in an unexplored location, having left the town alley.
“What’s going on?”
Before them was a dark and gloomy space.
It seemed like a hidden chamber that one might find underground, but it was quite spacious for that.
“Huh? What’s this?”
A large magic circle spread across the floor.
Mary ran towards the exit, but bumped into an invisible wall.
“Ugh… is this a barrier magic circle….”
None could leave this magic circle.
Someone had intentionally summoned them here and trapped them.
“You know your stuff. You’re smarter than I expected.”
A voice from a man echoed in front of them.
He had a rather cynical impression and tanned skin that was quite striking as he emerged from the shadows.
At the same time, his companions appeared one by one, all sharing a similar tanned complexion and having either blonde or silver hair.
Radon frowned upon seeing their faces.
They resembled the so-called ‘Gold Sun’ types from his world.
And he had seen them before.
“These bastards were the ones from yesterday.”
“Do you know them?”
When Luska asked, Radon explained about them.
They were the hunting men who had been harassing Mary yesterday, notorious for being a rotten group in town.
“Let’s see… was their leader’s name Erte?”
“Do you know me?”
The most foul-mouthed looking man among them spoke.
Erte Daniel. That was definitely his name.
Yesterday, they had tried to hit on Mary with an impolite attitude.
Honestly, Radon felt no regret in chasing them off.
“Are you guys looking for revenge for what happened yesterday?”
Given the characteristics of such hoodlums, they wouldn’t do something like this without a motive.
“I have no interest in boys like you. What we are interested in…”
They looked at Mary with lecherous eyes.
It was painfully clear what their intention was in summoning them against their will.
They intended to resume the ‘hunting’ they hadn’t completed yesterday.
“Scum like you.”
As Luska expressed her disdain, they stared at her intently.
Then, with smug expressions, they revealed their dirty desires.
“Wow… this side isn’t too bad either.”
“You have a nice body.”
Hearing those words made Luska’s spine tingle.
She had faced several crises in the past, yet now she felt a different kind of discomfort than before.
“But she falls short compared to this lady.”
“Ugh…!”
Luska bit her lip when compared to transformed Mary.
Then came another shocking announcement.
“Boss, that guy said he’s this lady’s boyfriend.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes, he said so himself.”
Suddenly, Luska’s heart began to race.
It felt as if an alarm warning of danger was ringing in her chest.
She felt as if something as crucial as her diary was being stolen away.
“Really? Then it wouldn’t be too bad for that boyfriend to be violated by someone else, would it?”
In front of Radon, Erte attempted to assail Mary.
He was almost blinded by the moment he laid eyes on the grown-up version of Mary.
His desire overflowed as he wanted to claim this glamorous girl as his own.
“Come over here.”
“Huh?”
Before she knew it, Mary had teleported right in front of them.
And Erte grabbed onto the shoulders of the grown-up Mary.
“Boss, it’s our turn.”
“Alright, just keep in order.”
She was even more beautiful than he had imagined from the photo.
As expected of ruffians, they intended to act inhumanely.
But Mary didn’t even blink when she looked at their crazed faces.
“Hey boys, am I pretty?”
“Of course you are.”
“Then….”
Boom!—
Suddenly, the mature woman exploded.
And where she stood was a girl resembling her.
Her pink hair looked as if the woman had just reverted to a younger age.
“Am I really pretty?”
“….”
“….”
“….”
The ruffians were left completely dumbfounded.
And it felt as if all their dreams had shattered like a glass house crashing down.
Surviving as an Academy Scammer.