A Beginner’s Guide to Being a Scoundrel

Chapter 82

Heroes and fiends were beings that stood at symmetrical opposing points.

Each individual possessed power approaching that of a Sword Master, or surpassing it.

As the story moved toward its latter half, many such individuals appeared.

However, the reason fiends became the highest-priority threat was not merely because of their physical strength.

If heroes underwent special awakenings due to ancient bloodlines and inherited legacies, fiends obtained immense power through direct contracts with the demon race.

What truly made them terrifying was the fact that they specialized in bewitching people to build factions—or to cause them to collapse from within.

Until they revealed their power, they were no different from ordinary humans.

If even one or two such individuals infiltrated a massive group and began scheming from the inside, a powerful organization would be torn to pieces in an instant.

They themselves were those who had fallen by being drawn to overwhelming power, so they understood human weaknesses better than anyone.

The three-inch tongue that slipped into the gaps of vile desires was impressive enough to make even me, who was reading through it, let out an involuntary admiration.

“…….”

I did not hastily answer their questions and instead gauged their momentum.

Fortunately, they had not reached Master level; I could clearly sense that they were of a lower tier than me.

Roughly speaking, both had reached the upper level of Sword Expert.

They were not easy opponents, but they were not enemies I could not defeat.

Moreover, I even had Excalibur.

If things went well, I could probably contend even with a Master-class demon.

“Should we just capture him and interrogate him?”

“It would’ve been nice if that bastard Pirtel had come. Mental domination is his specialty.”

“Leave it. I don’t even want to associate with that filthy bastard.”

As if they had mistaken me for a fish already caught in their net, the two bickered among themselves.

When I let out a small chuckle at that, one of the fiends looked at me with a twisted, clown-like face.

“You laughing?”

Tadadadat-!

He then charged at me at high speed by running along the wall.

I, too, drew my sword against the claws flashing in his hand.

Kang-!

A sharp metallic cry echoed through the alley.

There was a busy district nearby, so it would not cause an immediate commotion, but if the fight dragged on, it would inevitably draw attention.

The fiend seemed to find that bothersome as well and slightly frowned.

‘Then…….’

I rapidly turned my thoughts.

Pretending to be defeated and letting myself be captured did not seem like a bad idea either.

If I had plenty of time, I would have done that and wiped out the fiends in one sweep, but lunch was already nearing its end, and I still had two afternoon matches remaining.

‘Should I postpone it to the next opportunity.’

Originally, they were not supposed to appear yet.

If I could just figure out what was going on, there was no need to provoke them unnecessarily.

Sswaeaeik-!

Several exchanges of blades passed even as I organized my thoughts.

I blocked every strike of the fiend’s claws and countered by aiming for an opening, but he kicked off the ground and widened the distance, deftly avoiding it.

He then frowned and looked at his companion.

“He’s not an ordinary guy.”

“Ah, what a pain. We still have work left.”

Watching the two of them exchange irritated looks, a good idea suddenly occurred to me.

Their relationship with the Anti-Imperial faction—and, if things went well, even a way to learn their objective.

“I’ve never heard of clowns like you being in this kingdom. Are you the Empire’s dogs? How dare you show yourselves before me, a member of the Anti-Imperial faction.”

I flared my murderous aura and snapped at them instead.

At that, they were visibly flustered by my words.

“Anti-Imperial faction?”

“We’re the Empire’s dogs?”

“Hey, it seems there’s some misunderstanding. We’re not the Empire’s lackeys.”

“Dogs don’t admit that they’re dogs.”

At my firm denial, the fiends waved their hands hastily, looking anxious.

“We’re also here to help the Anti-Imperial faction. It seems there’s a misunderstanding between us, so let’s get our stories straight.”

I continued to stare at them without dropping my guard.

Sensing that their words had worked to some extent, the fiends hurriedly tried to strike up a conversation with me.

“If you’re that skilled, you must be a core member of the Anti-Imperial faction. We’re assassins dispatched to eliminate the mages for the operation on the last day of the academic festival.”

“Assassins?”

Recalling how they had concealed their presence and taken my back, it sounded convincing.

‘The same type as Alice, huh.’

I measured Alice against them in my mind.

Since she possessed the hero’s privilege, there would be a difference in strength even at the same realm.

One-on-one, she would have the advantage; two would be evenly matched; three or more would probably be difficult.

I wanted to kill them, but it was not yet time to reveal my identity to them.

So I pretended to accept their explanation and sheathed my sword.

“Since this was a mutual misunderstanding, I won’t apologize. I, too, am here under that person’s orders.”

“General Sword Marshal Isaac?”

“Do not dare speak that person’s name so lightly!”

I had not expected fiends to know even that much information, so I flinched slightly, but for the sake of perfect acting, I barked at them sharply.

Perhaps that gave them confidence, as they chuckled and waved their hands apologetically.

“Well, it’s a relief that the misunderstanding’s cleared up.”

“I’d like to know your name. It’s surprising that someone as strong as you isn’t known.”

The fiends’ eyes gleamed eerily.

They looked ready to recruit me if the opportunity arose, but I spoke calmly, pretending not to notice.

“I live in the shadows of the kingdom. I don’t have a name worth giving to you.”

It was a plausible excuse.

At that, the two clowns shrugged as if it couldn’t be helped and left the spot, saying they would prepare everything without a hitch and see me that day.

“…….”

Left alone in the now-empty alley, I let out a shallow sigh.

It was fortunate that they were fiends.

If they had been people with normal reasoning, they would certainly have noticed the unnatural parts in our conversation just now.

But their brains, eroded by demonic energy, prioritized instinct over reason.

That was why they would not have found anything strange in my vague answers.

They might realize it later after thinking it over on their own, but by then, the situation would already be over.

“But now it’s certain.”

On the last day of the academic festival, the Anti-Imperial faction was plotting something.

The venue would be under strict protection by mages’ barriers and the knight order, but if fiends stepped in, neutralizing that would not be difficult.

I wondered if they were really planning a coup.

If that were the case, it would mean the current king had nothing to do with the Anti-Imperial faction.

If not, then the primary targets would likely be the Empire’s princes.

If Carius and Darius were truly captured or killed, the repercussions would far exceed what I could handle.

‘This is getting troublesome.’

If the story were to follow the original plot, this terror attack had to fail.

And the only one who could stop it was me.

An individual versus an organization.

Time was short, and the difference in power was clear.

At a glance, the gap in scale seemed overwhelming, but it was not a hopeless situation.

I still had several cards in my hand that I had yet to use.

“Honestly, where did you disappear to without saying a word?”

When I returned to Madrid Academy, it was just before the afternoon matches began.

Petra, who also had her own match, was running around drenched in sweat, searching for me.

When she said she thought I had been forfeited and clutched her chest in relief, I apologized to her with a guilty expression.

“I’m looking forward to facing you in the finals, so don’t lose.”

“Are you confident you can beat Darius?”

At that, she smiled confidently, saying she wouldn’t give up victory so easily.

After that, fortunately, the event proceeded smoothly.

Up through the fourth day, I won my matches decisively without issue, and Petra and Darius did the same.

The only upset was that a man considered one of the championship favorites was utterly crushed by Darius.

With that, all that remained were three from Bayern Academy and one from some distant kingdom.

Then came the fifth day.

The remaining four competed once again.

Winning here meant advancing to the finals on the sixth day, while losing meant playing another match to decide third and fourth place.

Alice’s group arrived not long after I destroyed my opponent and stepped down from the stage.

Since tomorrow was the weekend, they could have come at their leisure, but for some reason, they all looked like they had rushed over in a hurry.

Aside from that, whether it was because of the Bayern Academy uniforms or simply because they were all striking in appearance, they drew plenty of attention.

“A first-year making it into the rankings.

This might be unprecedented even in academy history.”

Werner spoke with shining eyes.

The others wore similar expressions and praised me for how impressive it was.

“You’ll all be coming next year anyway, so calm down.”

As I sat with them in the stands chatting about this and that, Petra and Darius’s match soon began.

From the start, the two fought a fierce, evenly matched battle, displaying skill such that it would not have been strange for either to win.

In the end, perhaps due to the difference in bloodlines, Darius claimed victory.

Since it was truly a paper-thin margin, she voiced deep regret, but there was immediately another match to decide third and fourth place.

She had failed to advance to the finals, but surely she had to place in the rankings.

With that resolve, she steadied her breathing and entered the match again.

Both had the commonality of having lost once, but while Petra was still perfectly fine, her opponent had been utterly shattered by me, his fighting spirit broken.

Seeing the tip of his sword tremble, the outcome was obvious even without watching closely.

Thinking now was the right moment, I lightly tapped Werner’s shoulder as he watched the match with an excited expression.

“……?”

He looked at me as if asking what it was.

I pointed outside, and Werner glanced at the stage with slight reluctance before following me without complaint.

Since I needed a discreet location, I borrowed the empty classroom where I had spoken with Isaac before.

Werner, just as I had done last time, casually perched on a desk and spoke with a puzzled expression.

“Are you about to confess or something? Too bad, but I like Alice, so I’ll reject you in advance.”

“That’s unfortunate. She doesn’t have a taste for men like you.”

He grumbled that my words were too harsh.

I chuckled while looking at him.

Even though Werner knew my status, he treated me the same as everyone else.

He never tried to stick close to me for gain, nor did he show any intention of using me.

Perhaps among these people, he was the one who saw me simply as me.

That was why twisting our relationship like this felt slightly regrettable, but that was just how the world worked.

“You know about my status, right.”

The moment I said that, his eyes narrowed.

Judging by his expression, he had not expected me to bring it up first at this timing.

“…I thought it was going to be relationship advice or something.”

“What.”

At my dumbfounded reaction, Werner shrugged and spoke, saying my relationships with women had been too complicated lately.

I was always with Alice, Eli-sang, and Leysias, and before I knew it, I had even grown close to the senior Petra.

“Do you know how jealous Alice gets when you’re not around? Elysia is also subtly showing interest. You’re not going to say you didn’t notice.”

“…….”

With nothing to say in response, I let out a short sigh.

Then I tapped the desk and waved my hand.

“Let’s put the headache-inducing talk aside for now.”

At my attitude of getting to the point, he smiled slightly and opened his mouth.

“So then, what business does the Empire’s prince have with the prince of a vassal state?”