I Got a Fake Job at the Academy
chapter-75

"You don't have to cover your face anymore. You have a beautiful face at best, so it's better for you to show it."

“…!”

Violeta's face turned red.

She hurriedly stepped back and lowered the black cotton yarn to cover her face.

"I-I appreciate what you said, but I'm comfortable being like this for now."

“I see.”

Ludger no longer advised her to show her face.

Violeta calmed her fluttering heart.

Was he being considerate?

It was strange. Why was her heart beating so hard?

It was like someone stomping their feet on it.

‘No way.’

She had vowed to herself not to give her heart to anyone while doing that job.

She didn't think it would come to her when she truly liked and loved someone.

—Because she was a prostitute who was treated with contempt by everyone.

It was like that until then.

And it was going to be like that in the future as well.

‘Yeah. It's just the joy I have because my old scars are disappearing.’

Violeta, who organized her feelings by herself like that, finally managed to regain her rationality.

She smoothed the place where the scar once existed with her hand.

The rough texture had disappeared, and she could feel her smooth skin.

How could he heal a scar that even a priest gave up on healing in an instant?

‘This is Real Magic, he said?’

Magic is magic, what did he mean by “Real Magic”?

For Violeta, who learned about magic only by watching, it was also a difficult word to understand.

The definition of magic that she thought seemed to be shaken all over.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"…I'm going to handle things according to what you told me to do for now. Tomorrow.”

"It's good that you're fast."

‘Yeah. Let's not put my interest in him.’

Violeta had seen and heard a lot of things.

—About how dangerous the person called James Moriarty in front of her was and how great he was.

His ability was clearly demonstrated a moment ago.

It was nothing more but mere goodwill that he removed her scar.

It was just the kindness bestowed upon her as a matter of course. The more she put meaning into such goodwill, the more it would be a loss to herself.

Of course, Violeta realized the reality.

Even though they were in that dark alley while standing facing each other in the same space…

He was a different kind of person than her.

"Anyway, today's meeting was impressive. Then, goodbye.”

“Violeta.”

Ludger's voice held Violeta from leaving.

She stopped in her footsteps.

“What?”

Why did he call her? She was sure that they were done with their business, or did he have anything else to say?

Ludger was staring down a complex alleyway, not at her, when a complicated thought swirled through her head.

His gaze was looking beyond the alleyway as if he was seeing through the darkness.

“Why on earth did you call me… Kyaa!”

Violeta couldn't finish her sentence.

—Because Ludger stretched out his arms and hugged her waist while pulling her hard.

It was so sudden that Violeta became bewildered.

“Wha-what on earth do you want…?”

As soon as she was about to argue on it, an arrow passed by her cotton yarn.

Whoosh!

The tip of the arrow trembled after striking the wall.

Violeta muttered in bewilderment after seeing it.

“…Ambush?”

“It seems so.”

Ludger said so and then invoked his mana.

"Don't hide. Come out."

As soon as those words were said, people with weapons appeared one after another throughout the alley.

Ludger narrowed his eyes as he watched them.

'I didn't bring my gun.'

In other words, they had prepared accordingly while knowing that he was a wizard.

Come to think of it, the arrow that flew during the ambush…

‘To be exact, it was a crossbow.’

I can't believe they even used this kind of stuff.

'It's a method specifically designed to aim at a wizard.’

Ludger was bound to nod his head, thinking that he had caused someone to hold grudges against him to the point they did a sudden ambush in this back alley.

"Are you the rest of the Crimson Society who are still alive?"

“James Moriarty.”

Among the crowds surrounding him, a man in his mid-30s with a dirty beard smiled, revealing his yellow teeth.

"I can't believe such an important figure is walking around alone without an escort. You are really daring. No. It’s a good thing instead. Thanks to that, I have gained a chance.”

“I don’t know who you are.”

"Well, what's the point of knowing? You will soon be a dead body.”

"What a fool. Don't you know how the Crimson Society disappeared?"

“Yeah, I know. I know that you’re a wizard as well. But do you think we didn't even prepare for that?"

“Hm.”

Ludger belatedly realized that the mana that he had invoked did not move properly.

He wondered what they believed in to be so bold, so it was this.

Ludger sighed quietly inwardly.

‘It's not a very good situation.’

It had taken considerable strength for him to repair the scar on Violeta's face.

He needed time to recover, so he didn't expect to be ambushed at this moment.

The timing was not good.

“Please, let me go.”

“Oh, my. Excuse me."

Violeta glanced at Ludger over the black cotton yarn, and then she fixed her posture.

“Are you going to fight?”

"We're already surrounded. You're not going to tell me to run now, are you?"

Violeta snapped at him as her pride was hurt.

Ludger shrugged his shoulders.

"If it sounded like that, I apologize."

“Never mind.”

Violeta said so and took out a black parasol from the inside of her skirt that was full of black frills.

It was not an ordinary parasol. The material looked extraordinary as well.

Ludger realized that it was a self-defense weapon.

Had she been hiding something like that?

"You carry around something that's quite interesting."

"For a lady, hot sunlight is poison."

Ludger held his cane and put his back against Violeta.

"I can't believe Violeta, who leads the Black Rose Women, is here with James Moriarty. My fortune is very good, huh. I didn't know when the meeting would end, so I was really lucky."

"I can't believe you've been waiting for me like that. They're words that make me teary because of gratitude."

“Hah. Are you pretending to be relaxed, even in this situation? That’s good. I need to see if you can maintain that attitude if your arms and legs are cut off."

Before they knew it, the remnants of the Crimson Society that surrounded them took out their weapons and slowly approached them.

Ludger glanced at their faces but did not lower his vigilance.

‘The guy who first shot the crossbow is in this direction.’

Ludger couldn't see the guy's face.

His murderous intent was almost undetected, and his stealthiness in hiding right after he shot the crossbow was quite good.

The timing of the ambush was also remarkable.

‘Is he hiding among the other people and aiming for our lives?’

It was not simply an act of back-alley vagrants.

Even a member of the Crimson Society could not perform with that level of skill.

‘He’s a pro.’

He was also the kind of person who was a master at killing people.

A contracted assassin…

They were after him now.

‘I guess the remnants of the Crimson Society raked in all their money and hired those assassins.’

Whatever it was, if they killed him and took back their stolen business, they would be able to earn money again.

Ludger breathed in calmly.

He felt a subtle smell through the stagnant air in the narrow alleyway.

It was a scent that made the tip of one's nose sting, not the dark and musty smell of the alley.

‘Is it a diffusion scent? It's a drug that interferes with the utilization of mana.'

‘It's sprinkled around here.’

It was a kind of drug that interfered with the wizard's mana utilization and caused a major setback in the casting of spell techniques.

It caused no harm to a wizard’s body.

The effect of the diffusion scent was not to invalidate the mana itself, but on the contrary, it excessively raised the mana's conduction rate so, instead of being condensed, it made the mana scatter extensively to the surroundings.

In other words, even if he tried to make a flame ball, the fire would spread to its surrounding, so the power could not be concentrated, and the use of spell would also be damaged.

‘It's used to manufacture artifacts, so it's really hard to get and expensive. Are they using that kind of thing?'

Sealing attack magic itself was painful enough for a wizard.

Of course, magic like Silence of Fire was more widespread, but they hadn’t brought any firearms.

But what was also important was the contracted assassins who were hiding among them.

'There's nothing more deadly when dealing with professionals than showing a moment of weakness.'

They were waiting for him to panic.

‘What a fool. Even if they don't use this expensive scent, it's hard to use magic recklessly now anyway.’

In fact, if Ludger overdid it, he could still use magic in his case.

However, his power had decreased, so there was a disadvantage that the duration needed to cast the spell became quite long, but in the case of the duration needed to cast the spell, it was practically meaningless to use Source Code.

‘Even so, if there is an assassin, the poison will be quite lethal to the wizard. Even putting up these meat shields on purpose… Is it trickery?'

Ludger issued a warning to Violeta, who had her back against him, in a low voice.

* * *

* * *

“It's a scent that interferes with the utilization of mana. I recommend you not to use attack magic if you can because the attack magic will scatter before it's even completed.”

“…You know that as well?”

"When one goes through many things, they will know a lot."

“It’s a bother. Using my body to fight is not my cup of tea."

Even though she said so, she fixed her posture to attack the enemy.

Her posture was something much more practical than just self-defense.

‘Did she learn martial arts or something like that?’

‘Well, one has to learn everything in this tough world.’

The same went for Ludger himself.

He was also a wizard, but he didn't just use simple magic.

“Their total is 30 people. But there's a dangerous guy hiding among these guys. I don't think there's only one person, they're in a team at least… their number is three.”

"They're the ones who shot the crossbow at first, right? Those who kill people for money."

“Do you know them?”

“Well, they’re quite famous. I have a rough idea of who they are. There are people who came from the southern desert among them as well. I know that their fee is very high because their job is almost always perfectly done. They must have spent a lot of money trying to kill us."

"It must be me, to be exact."

"I'm on the same boat with you already, so the same goes for me."

She was strangely stubborn on that part.

Ludger shrugged and smirked. But still, he didn't really hate it.

“So, Lady. Do you know how to dance?"

"I will dance without letting you be embarrassed with my dance."

"I'll trust my back to you."

“Me too.”

Aaaaargh!

Realizing that they would not use any magic, the attackers screamed and rushed in.

Each of them were armed with steel pipes or blades.

But Ludger's expression as he fought with them was extremely apathetic.

***

Baam!

A rough noise broke out in the alley, and a huge shadow flew through the sky and was thrown into the garbage.

The remnants of the Crimson Society's faces who saw their colleague beaten by Ludger's cane turned pale.

“Wha-what? They can't use magic, so why can't you knock them down!"

"They're rushing at the same time!"

Whoosh!

A black parasol swung at the face of the man who was shouting.

It sunk deep into his face and knocked away his broken teeth.

Her feet in black shoes hit his head hard, which was falling backward.

“Kill her!”

The remnants of the Crimson Society rushed behind Violeta, who had just knocked one person down.

There was a long sword swinging at the back of her head.

Ludger intervened in the middle of them and defended her with his cane.

Claang!

There was a clash between a sword and a cane.

To his surprise, however, his sword couldn't cut through the black cane.

“Wh-what kind of cane…!”

"It's a special product."

Ludger said so while spinning his cane gently.

It was a movement that was too natural.

The upper body of the man who was putting his strength into his long sword was tilted forward.

“Oh?”

It was when the man stepped forward in confusion to fix his position.

Ludger's spinning cane hit from his bottom to the top with centrifugal force.

Whoosh!

It was a neat and clean hit that aimed at his lower jaw.

As soon as his head was about to move to the back, the ring-shaped handle of the parasol popped out and fixed his neck so that he could not fall down.

It was Violeta.

"There you go, gentleman. One more?”

“As many as you want.”

Ludger swung his cane with all his might as though he was swinging a bat.

Baam!

After being hit on the forehead, the man spun several times in the air and then fell to the floor.

More than 10 people were already foaming at their mouths around him.

“Wh-what? Why are they fighting so well when they're just wizards?”

"They're only two people! One of them is a woman!”

"They're already tired anyway! We just should push them a little more!"

Looking at the members of the Crimson Society who were chatting among themselves, Violeta shook her shoulders and breathed heavily.

“Haah. Haah. It’s a bit tiring. Maybe it's because I don't do enough exercise."

"After this is finished, you should build up your stamina first."

"…You should've at least given me encouragement at times like this.”

"It's a shame that I can't be such a kind person."

“Heung. You still really look like you're in perfect shape, Professor Moriarty."

"Actually, this is pretty close to my main job."

Ludger replied so, but he didn't forget to look at the assassins.

‘That man…’

The assassin who came from the South clenched his fist unconsciously at Ludger's gaze.

‘I’ve been waiting for him to show a gap of weakness for a while, but he doesn't allow any gaps, not even once.’

At least he had a few chances to aim at the woman, but every time that happened, that man named James Moriarty blocked his attack, interrupting him.

His flow of fighting was cut off all the time.

'He's been wary of me since the fight started.’

Usually, if such a large number of people worked together, their opponents were bound to be distracted by the number.

Ludger had never lowered his vigilance towards him even once.

Even within that fight, his eyes kept busily trying to find something.

‘That man… is a pro like us. No, maybe more than that. I've had more than one or two experiences like this.'

He was told that the opponent was a wizard who knocked down two semi-knights.

That was why he spent a lot of money on spreading the diffusion scent that interfered with the utilization of mana.

But there seemed to have been a mistake.

He should've raised the rates for his assassination target.

Even if he received more than 10 times of the paid down payment, it was still not as profitable for him.

‘But the contract is already signed.’

They were professionals in this field.

Since they'd said they would do it, they had no choice but to do it.

‘First of all, the woman is already tired, so I should focus on that part.’

The number of people who were still standing was quite large.

If they dragged a little more time with that situation, they would have a chance to rush in.

It was the moment when he made that judgment…

Ludger suddenly showed an odd behavior.

‘What is he trying to do?’

Since he got rid of his cane, was he going to grab the woman with black cotton yarn with both of his hands and run away?

‘Oh my!’

He didn't expect for them to escape at that moment.

Moreover, right then, several people had fallen and their siege had been loosened.

There were plenty of ways for Ludger to get out.

“Chase him!”

***

“Wh-what are you doing right now?!”

"If you keep fighting in that spot, it will be a loss for us anyway."

Ludger ran fast into the alleyway while holding Violeta.

“P-please put me down. I can run, too.”

“Aren’t you already tired?”

"They'll catch up with us soon anyway."

“We should find out about it first. Be careful not to bite your own tongue."

“Pardon?”

It was before Violeta could ask anything back…

Ludger used a mechanical device that was installed on his left wrist.

Wire launcher.

Ludger's body soared directly into the sky while he embraced Violeta with one hand.

The attackers, who were chasing them from behind, stared blankly at such a view.

“Damn! That bastard went to the rooftop!”

The assassins decided to step up directly, as they thought it would be impossible if they kept going on like that.

The assassins, who had hidden in the crowd, climbed the wall in swift movements. Two assassins climbed up the gap between the window frame and the wall, and the other one ran on the steel stairs attached to the outer wall of the building.

“They won’t be able to go far anywa—!”

Staab!

It was a sword stick's blade that greeted the assassin who went up the rooftop first.

The assassin, whose forehead had been pierced, collapsed back and fell down the alley without being able to step on the rooftop properly.

“There are two of them remaining.”

Ludger was waiting for that moment.